Chapter 36
Random Box.
Such rewards rarely appear in Howon.
“It’s a probabilistic reward, though.”
“Yes.”
It also appears as a tutorial reward. But not everyone gets it after completing the process. The quality of the reward varies slightly depending on the administrator rating.
“This game has all sorts of nasty elements, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You admit it…”
The Random Box: Manager Welcome Package was a reward given from tutorial rating B and above.
Bronze B,
Silver A,
Gold A+,
Platinum S.
“…I half expected this, but…”
“You did?”
“Is this madness?”
“Yes?”
“Who thought to make the box itself platinum? Coco, was that you?”
“No? No?”
“Really not you?”
The colorful box gleamed. The light reflected almost like a mirror. Seeing its perfectly smooth surface made Lee Yeon-woo curious about the designer’s thought process.
“Even without flexibility, to be this inflexible… Whoever designed this must not have considered that only the box color would be platinum.”
“No.”
“I won’t listen. What I’m more curious about is whether I can even open this. The game probably didn’t implement a motion for opening boxes, right?”
Even the ribbon was platinum. Incredible craftsmanship.
“Shall I tell you a surprising fact?”
“No.”
“The Mohs hardness of platinum is about 4.3, harder than gold at 2.5. And it’s heavy.”
“Coco, no.”
“However, it’s relatively malleable, so processing it isn’t too difficult. Thin sheets are surprisingly flexible for a metal. Still, the question of whether you can untie it by hand is completely different.”
Even the ribbon was quite thick.
Coco glanced between the Random Box and Lee Yeon-woo. She seemed to consider something, then quietly stood up. She bit the ribbon end and slowly untied it with her mouth.
Finally, the ribbon was completely undone.
“Oh.”
Clink.
“I never imagined that ribbons made of metal could make such a heavy sound. Getting kidnapped by this hotel is making me experience a lot of unusual things.”
“No.”
“Please, be precise about what you’re denying.”
How the metal could untangle like a ribbon remained a mystery. Lee Yeon-woo’s common sense was increasingly losing value. A pitiful affair.
Putting that aside, he safely inspected the inside of the box.
Initial Resource Set:
Nightmare Assets ×500
Mood Stabilizer Medium ×3
Purification Kit One-time, Room×2
Ingredient Box S ×1
Response Protocol Set:
Facility Automation (S) ×3
Resource Storage Organization (A) ×1
Surveillance Line Reassignment (B) ×5
The list appeared as soon as he opened the heavy box.
“…?”
And a single card.
“…What is this?”
He took it out and examined it.
It was quite large, classical, and luxurious.
“…In-game, Random Boxes sometimes dropped cards or files, but this seems entirely different, doesn’t it?”
“….”
“It’s not in the guide either.”
Memory cards, contract fragments, closed records, emotion straps. Platinum Random Boxes often contained collectible items like these. Naturally, those were still probability-based.
‘But this doesn’t look like any of those.’
Even as a 26-year veteran player, this was a completely unfamiliar item.
Lee Yeon-woo murmured,
“…The Devil.”
Tarot card, number 15.
‘Definitely a card I don’t know.’
If a symbolic tarot-like item had appeared in this game, he would have remembered. Where did this come from?
‘Or maybe it’s some concept in the game I don’t know.’
Doubts formed a chain. Lee Yeon-woo soon formed a hypothesis close to instinct.
“…I don’t know if it’s just my imagination…”
“…Is this hotel’s item?”
Lee Yeon-woo held the card in front of Coco.
Crunch.
Coco bit the card.
“….”
Munch, munch.
“No.”
“I see.”
“Yes.”
It seemed so.
‘How can something look so displeased?’
Coco normally had no expression. Just a smiling face and round eyes. Yet emotions were usually clearly reflected, and this was far more obvious than usual.
‘…Then this must be something outside both the hotel and the game system. Not in the guide. Considering I haven’t fully adapted to the hotel yet, this is a very ominous item.’
And it’s called The Devil.
‘Evil desire, corruption, obsession, addiction…’
Or materialism, or helplessness.
Lee Yeon-woo recalled the meaning of the card, mostly negative.
‘There may be good meanings too, but none come to mind.’
Definitely not his field of expertise.
He retrieved the card from between Coco’s teeth.
“Hm…”
Despite being chewed, it remained intact.
No matter how he tried self-hypnosis, it didn’t look like a normal card. An ominous piece of paper. Lee Yeon-woo carefully placed it back in the box.
“We’ll leave this for now.”
“Yes.”
“Considering that reaction, surprisingly, you’re not saying to discard it.”
“Yes…”
“Ah, is it an item that can’t be thrown away? Like a boomerang, it returns?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
A cursed doll, indeed.
“Anyway.”
“Anyway.”
“As expected of Platinum, the rewards are excellent. Initial resources are good, and the appearance of the Response Protocol Set is very encouraging. All that effort was worth it.”
“Yes.”
“This will give us some breathing room in operations.”
Surprisingly, Howon had an automation system. In short, it allowed processes that players normally handle manually to be automatically managed by the system.
‘Consumes a lot of resources though.’
In the game, this was called a Protocol. Players would have to design automation circuits, calculate the required personnel and resources—tedious work.
This item, the Response Protocol, skips all that and applies the system immediately. Areas using it are optimized for service automatically.
“Facility Automation… Resource Storage Organization… Surveillance Line Reassignment. Three items.”
“Resource Storage Organization.”
“Calm down.”
“Meal. Ingredients. Storage.”
“Calm down.”
This pig-cat.
“We haven’t even opened the greenhouse yet, so using a Response Protocol on the ingredient storage seems wasteful. We can’t afford that luxury yet.”
“Meal… Storage…”
“It’s the early stage of operation. Few guests, low risk. That’s when you need to manage the facilities carefully. Organize consumables and medicine first to improve satisfaction for guests and staff.”
“Meal… Ingredient…!”
“You’ll be eating three meals a day with me anyway. Why insist on this? If you saw the tutorial completion notice, you’d know the hotel’s fate depends on it…”
“Ingredient Storage!!”
“Oh my.”
Coco rarely raised her voice. Crawling on the floor, flailing, or pretending to cry in protest was unusual.
Lee Yeon-woo felt the pains of childcare for the first time in a while.
‘My head is spinning.’
Why should he feel such agony watching this half-done monster cat?
He tried to persuade her rationally.
“Listen. Early-stage guests rarely use the buffet or dining. Recipes are mostly unopened, so even less. Coco, you know this. Why this is necessary is unclear, but the most attention-demanding storage early on is for items and medicine…”
“Ing.”
“….”
Lee Yeon-woo shut his mouth.
‘Still, that “Ing” is surprisingly honest.’
Yet, it sounded kind of cute.
“…The ingredient storage, not yet linked to the greenhouse or automation, is too valuable to manage with Response Protocol…”
“Ing.”
“For stable operations, the safety of staff and us must be guaranteed for better management…”
“Ing. Ing.”
“…Iing.”
…Right, ingredient storage ranks around third priority anyway.
‘…With levels rising steeply, who knows what bugs may appear. If the greenhouse and automation connect, ingredient storage might be priority one.’
Not standard play. Fewer long-term guests mean less dining usage early.
‘But in hotel operations, not only facilities matter. Meals guests enjoy are part of it. Even as a formality, dining would start…’
Other zones also lacked automation. Even if items could be made in the power plant, the player would still have to buy recipes and handle them manually.
“….”
Still, the consumables storage should be automated in advance.
“….”
“Ing…”
“…I’ll consider it.”
Thinking several deaths are acceptable, am I finally crazy?
‘Being so lenient about my own death… If this is a sophisticated attempt to voluntarily discard my humanity, it deserves praise.’
But it’s early-stage operation.
‘There’s definitely room.’
At this time, consumables storage can still be managed manually.
‘Inventory cleaning, auto-suggestions and refills, tagging… even recovering Nightmare Assets… Future investment in ingredient storage may be beneficial.’
The greenhouse is high-end among the non-existent floors. Linked ingredient storage has many functions, often requiring massive resources to unlock.
“Understood. Let’s do that.”
“…!”
Coco leapt up. Her eyes seemed unusually bright today. Likely just his imagination.
Lee Yeon-woo smiled.
“We’ll aim for the greenhouse first.”
“Yes!”
‘I wonder when I’ll have the capacity for that.’
Then [Resource Storage Organization (A)] will be used on the ingredient storage.
‘Facility Automation…’
Three items.
Priority zones are the 23rd and 22nd floors, and the 2nd floor. Others don’t need much attention at the game start.
“…Since we’re targeting the greenhouse, let’s also use automation tickets for the Aqua Park, dining, and buffet. Other facilities can have circuits set up and staff assigned later.”
“Yes.”
“Good. No objections here, thankfully.”
They shook hands and sealed the agreement.
“Ah, see? I was surprised too when you called suddenly.”
“….”
“Yes, yes. I trust Writer Hong. If they send materials, I can check from here… yes. I’ll be heading there again soon.”
“….”
“…Okay.”
Director Lee Seon-hae held the phone tightly to her ear. The forced smile twisted awkwardly at a colleague’s concern.
“No problem at all.”
Soon, the call ended.
“….”
Lee Seon-hae lowered the phone and stared blankly at the ceiling. She tried to sigh, but swallowed it. Weariness pressed down on her body.
She tossed the phone carelessly to the side, leaning back onto the sofa.
“Are you satisfied?”
“Yes.”
The sturdy older man nodded.
“The master of the labyrinth kindly considered things. If we mess it up here, nothing good comes from young people noticing. And more importantly…”
“….”
“You were lucky, Seon-hae.”
“…I know.”
A contemptuous smile slipped out.