Chapter 33
Someone wished for death.
Someone wished to live.
“Sa, save me…!”
A hand of coldness that no one managed to grasp.
“……”
A breath that quietly sank away where no one could see.
“…Hh…”
Warmth stolen away without knowing anything.
A teenage girl falls into a swollen valley stream during the rainy season and dies.
A man in his forties throws himself into a river after despairing over life.
A seventy-year-old man dies of hypothermia while sleeping outside on a rainy day.
Trapped in water yet unable to die, thus no longer human but a fish.
Cold.
They are together and they are one, yet always lonely.
Quiet.
They hate warmth and yet long for it.
Pain.
Yet because they are always in water, people call this a water ghost.
A ghost within water. A monster encountered during voyages, or a ghost ship. Often called a drowned ghost, yet the category is wider than that. It contains far more people and far more stories.
And amid all of that, a single door opened for this cold and lonely thing.
“Thank you for visiting.”
“……”
“How may I assist you?”
Strangely enough.
…It was a splendid hotel.
“……”
And originally… the memory of a water ghost is something terribly hopeless.
Only after drowning the owner of that single voice again and again did it remember. Only after killing countless times did it recognize.
What it had stared at so intently was this.
Pale skin.
Thin fingers.
A neat face.
Jet-black hair.
A precise tone of voice.
Warm.
Soft.
Gentle.
Just… something like that.
“……”
“……”
Splash!!
“…Cough…”
“……”
“Ugh…”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Hypocritical things.
The water ghost could not forget them.
“…Hh…”
Perhaps it was because the summer was long.
Lee Yeonwoo had long been considering a single hypothesis.
“This place does not completely match the game I once knew.”
It was not that the game had become reality, but rather that the game had been summoned into reality.
Therefore the monster guests before his eyes would not behave strictly according to the data he remembered. Reality was originally a bundle of variables.
Even so, one thing was certain.
They were still influenced by the game system.
“I should act based on the game information I remember, but not trust it blindly. Even considering the inconvenience, however, the information from the orphanage is useful… especially in a life-or-death situation like this.”
Strictly speaking, it was Lee Seonhae’s life that was on the line rather than his own.
“……”
In any case, the important thing was that Lee Yeonwoo had to follow the rules of the game.
“Guest?”
Lee Yeonwoo politely addressed the Wet Man.
“How are you feeling now?”
“……”
“I’m glad you seem better than before.”
Enter the twenty-third floor within eleven hours of abduction.
Secure the rescue target inside the Aqua Park.
Tutorial completed.
The Wet Man in a non-agitated state.
All conditions required for Rescue Method Two, the Management Route.
“And now it has finally calmed down.”
The creature was not smiling, nor was it walking quickly or running. It still held the knife, but that was its usual state. This was exactly how it had appeared in the non-agitated state he had seen through the game screen.
Then did that mean that all conditions had been fulfilled and the Management Route had begun?
No.
One condition still remained.
“I must carry out the forced checkout.”
If he declared, You are not my guest, it would become a successful rescue route.
“…I am slightly concerned. Your way of existing has become far more complex than I remember. I cannot be certain that the measures used in the past will still be effective.”
That was the difference between a game and reality.
What if this was not the Wet Man he knew?
Even if it was, what if the tutorial bug had not applied?
Still, Lee Yeonwoo had done everything he could.
“Therefore, I must deliver some unfortunate news.”
“……”
“…You are…”
You.
“—Not my guest.”
“……”
“……”
Silence fell.
Lee Yeonwoo blinked.
Dim lighting and strange trails of water soaking the floor. The weight of chilling air pressing down upon the beautiful scenery.
“…Ah, I see.”
He slowly brushed his hand across his mouth after confirming that nothing had changed.
“That is unfortunate.”
He had failed.
And the monster lunged.
Lee Yeonwoo widened the distance with character-like speed as he fell into thought.
“What went wrong.”
The tutorial bug might not have applied.
“It happened often in the game as well.”
A bug was a bug. Consistency could not be expected.
And since this place was reality based on a game, perhaps another irregularity had appeared.
“If it was the former then it’s nothing unusual, but if it’s the latter things will become troublesome. I hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but if so, the value of the information I remember will become far lower than before…”
“I’m lonely.”
“Tsk.”
This is bad.
“Has it entered Phase Two?”
The Wet Man spoke even though it was on land.
That meant it had begun recognizing the entire Aqua Park as a water tank.
Naturally, the danger increased.
“I’m lonely, cold. I’m cold. I’m telling you. Listen to me.”
“I am listening carefully despite appearances.”
“Why? Why? Why? Why am I alone? I’m scared, cold, and it’s quiet…!”
“You are treating me worse than air itself.”
“Hypocrite! Ah, you’re warm. Only you, only you, only you…!!”
“You sound insane.”
He kept his distance while moving his feet.
But once Phase Two fully began, there would be no answer.
They called it a phase, but it was practically an instant execution.
“Nothing goes right.”
Originally, if you were familiar with the path, you would never be caught. The Wet Man and the Operator were set to have identical speed.
But because the Management Route had failed, the creature’s speed would increase.
Ah. It almost felt like hearing the malicious voice of the developer saying, If you’re upset, you should have done better earlier.
“I don’t think the fault was mine, but if this is how the route failure penalty appears…”
“Give it to me—!!”
“I will need to be more careful next time.”
The advantage of a character body.
“I can talk while running without losing my breath.”
Oh my goodness.
What an incredible advantage.
Lee Yeonwoo trembled as he longed for items. Or skills. Or stats. If only he had an interface, he would not be suffering this humiliation.
“……”
Now there was truly no other method.
“The only escape available right now…”
Well, perhaps not the only one.
In the worst case, he could use the blood magic he had learned just before coming to the twenty-third floor and fight like a mad dog.
But that could not guarantee Director Lee Seonhae’s safety.
Rejected.
Therefore only one method remained.
“I will proceed with the Contract Route.”
Ah.
“Of all things, I really wanted to avoid contracts.”
They called it a contract, but it was no different from a predatory loan that mortgaged your life.
In twenty-six years he had lost count of how many save files he had erased because of these contracts.
“But since Phase Two has begun, there is no other choice.”
In a situation beyond control, the only thing he could still control was his own death.
That was the only initiative he could grasp.
“……”
To live comfortably himself.
To survive more easily.
Letting someone else be hurt instead.
“Such a thing…”
That could not exist for Lee Yeonwoo.
“Warm, soft, gentle…!!”
“Blood.”
Tap.
“Breath.”
“……”
“Warmth.”
The things you whispered about endlessly.
Lee Yeonwoo stood precariously at the edge of the pool.
“I have them.”
Rescue Method Three.
The Contract Route.
Self-harm events at least twice.
Structural ignition at least twice.
Enter the twenty-third floor Aqua Park within twelve hours.
The Wet Man in a non-agitated state.
And the final condition.
“……”
“How about it?”
Death in the main pool.
Lee Yeonwoo extended his hand.
“I cannot create miracles….”
“I’m lonely.”
“But I can die together with you.”
“Yes.”
The pale water ghost covered in scales smiled and lunged toward him.
“My hypocrite.”
Splash!!
The water surface exploded upward in a massive splash.
One human.
One mermaid.
If one thought about it calmly, Andersen’s fairy tales had a terrifying side.
“Were the two legs the mermaid received really a gift?”
Imagine cutting off your fish tail for love and attaching two human legs.
Everyone would say you were insane.
Was it not grotesque?
You lose the tail you originally had and attach the body part of a creature you barely understand.
You abandon your talent and pride in your singing voice.
You offer up your voice.
You walk with unfamiliar legs, suffering pain each time your feet touch the ground.
And if love fails, you dissolve into sea foam.
Is it not grotesque?
It is no different from a horror story.
“……”
The sensation of cold water flooding deep into his lungs was vivid.
“Cold, isn’t it?”
“……”
“Painful, isn’t it? Suffocating, dark, frightening.”
“……”
“I was the same. We were the same…”
“……”
“…I’m lonely.”
Unfortunately, it is not as painful as you might expect.
Coldness.
Pain.
Suffocation.
Such purely physical sensations were already distant stories for the current Lee Yeonwoo.
Perhaps he was slowly becoming that way.
“Perhaps this inhuman sensation is the most efficient tool for properly running this hotel.”
It felt as if he were gradually being bleached out of the category of human.
This place treated human emotions as unnecessary variables and forced its manager to erase them.
Yet amid those dry thoughts, an odd impression surfaced.
“It is not killing me immediately.”
That had never happened in the game.
“Then again, the conversation before falling into the pool was also never part of the game.”
The Wet Man simply pulled him downward.
Lower.
And lower.
It did not swing its sharp weapon.
Nor did it strangle him.
It was a scene the game had never shown.
In the game, once you fell into the pool, it ended.
“……”
“I didn’t want to die.”
That was natural.
The instinct of living creatures.
“I want to hear more of what it says…”
His glasses had long since drifted away.
Clear water filled his vision through strands of black hair swaying in the water.
It was a sight one might only see in the deep sea of dreams.
“A world I could not see when this was only a game. A voice I could not hear.”
Emotions beyond the data he had finally come face to face with.
“……”
“……”
And so the form of the Wet Man filled his vision.
“A mermaid.”
Of course.
It was not the romantic kind.
The Wet Man revealed itself completely.
Its form resembled a mermaid.
Though that was putting it generously.
In truth it was simply a monstrous fish.
A being that had once been human, now breathing in water instead of on land.
With a tail instead of legs.
Colorful like a betta fish.
Long like a serpent.
“……”
Breath ended.
Eyes closed.
“……”
“Sleep well.”
Yes.
“Perhaps because it is a death defined by the game… or perhaps something else.”
There was no breathing reflex.
No convulsions of drowning.
No thrashing.
No unconscious movement.
Only the sensation of the heart and brain slowly dying.
And that was something Lee Yeonwoo had grown quite used to while living in this hotel.
“……”
The cry of a deep-sea creature echoed faintly.
Andersen’s fairy tales really were not meant for children.
“…?”
Lee Seonhae suddenly noticed that her vision had brightened.
“The lights…”
The bulb flickered.
Then the infirmary lights turned on.
The heavy air pressing down on her body disappeared instantly.
The chilling sensation running down her spine vanished.
It was just an ordinary infirmary one might see anywhere.
Only without people.
And instinctively she realized.
“It’s over.”
Relief lasted only a moment.
Then a horrifying thought followed.
“Did he really… die?”
Ah.
“…Ugh…”
Gag, cough, retch!!
Lee Seonhae vomited for a long time.
There was nothing in her stomach, but foul-tasting water kept rising into her mouth.
Dizziness wrapped around her body.
Her breathing was ragged.
“No.”
Gasp.
“That can’t be right.”
Right?
“That’s impossible.”
She had no time to regain composure.
She forced herself upright.
Her trembling hand grabbed the radio.
There was no response.
Lee Seonhae stepped out of the infirmary.
Her anxious footsteps echoed through the hallway.
The corridor she saw was too bright.
Too peaceful.
As if nothing had happened.
Did this hotel even realize how horrifying such artificial peace was?
“No…”
The high ceiling.
The neatly arranged lights.
The clean tile floors and walls without a single drop of water.
The corridor stretched forward in refined elegance.
Yet it was merely a structure filled with lifeless silence.
“……”
Step.
Lee Seonhae walked forward.
A sign written kindly in Korean appeared.
Following the direction, she soon reached the pool.
Its scale was unlike any normal hotel pool.
It looked like an underwater palace or a museum floating on water.
The space radiated luxury.
“……”
Yet nowhere was there any trace of a monster.
It was simply bright.
Quiet.
Refined.
As if mocking the vivid terror she had experienced earlier.
Every threat had vanished without leaving even a trace.
“Mr. Yeonwoo.”
It felt as though someone had erased everything.
She knew the plan.
He would try persuasion first.
If that failed, he might die.
But he had said he would only die halfway.
Then he should still be breathing.
So why—
“Mr. Yeonwoo?”
Is no one here?
“General Manager.”
Her voice grew louder.
Her footsteps became almost a run.
“Lee Yeonwoo!!”
Even when she shouted at the top of her lungs, only cold echoes returned.
“……”
Lee Seonhae muttered into the empty air.
This place was ridiculously big.
If someone only died halfway…
Then they should still be alive.
Right?
Ah.
She did not know anymore.
Her head throbbed.
Her vision spun.
“What the hell is this? I didn’t take any drugs, so why is something like this… some fantasy-like situation happening? Mr. Yeonwoo… he clearly told me he wouldn’t die…”
But she truly did not know.
Why did she feel this way?
Why did it feel like—
She had left someone behind?
“……”
She looked around again.
Pleasant music flowed through the park.
The floors shone with cleanliness.
The facilities stood perfectly in place.
Artificial structures and natural scenery blended harmoniously.
The air was fresh.
The view was cool and clear.
The water filled the pool, gently swaying.
“…Haha…”
Lee Seonhae realized two things.
“Where are you?”
This was not the same place she had been moments ago.
And Lee Yeonwoo had probably died there to a murderer.
Her survival might have been built upon someone else’s death.
“Where is this?”
Escaping by sacrificing someone.
“……”
It was a terrible survival.