Chapter 37
“Then why don’t you explain now?”
After finishing her meal, Lee Seon-hae raised her teacup and asked.
“It’s been several days since I arrived here, and you haven’t explained anything to me.”
“Have I?”
“At this point, I’m starting to feel a little hurt. Our elder seems to have quite a mischievous streak, doesn’t he?”
“Calling it mischief isn’t quite right. You weren’t in a condition to properly hear what I had to say until now.”
“Ah, I have to admit, that does sting a bit.”
It had already been five days since he had led her back to Seoul.
For the first two days, Lee Seon-hae hadn’t stepped outside her room. The remaining three days were spent consulting the doctor he had summoned.
It was undeniable that she was finally beginning to regain her senses.
“So I waited quietly. Honestly, part of it was my own confusion, but Mr. Baek Moo-jin was so incredibly busy that I didn’t even have a chance to speak. You understand what I mean, right?”
“Yes.”
Her uncle, Baek Moo-jin, set down his cup. A strong herbal scent rose from it. Young Lee Seon-hae had always wondered what could have been inside such a cup.
“Alright, what is it you’re curious about?”
“…Am I even supposed to know?”
“Normally, it would be difficult.”
“Why is it difficult?”
“The reasons vary.”
He intertwined his fingers and continued his calm explanation.
“From the start, you couldn’t see it, your senses were limited, and there are institutional obstacles. Above all, most people would consider what I’m saying mere fiction…”
“Wait, wait a moment.”
“Even if I explained it now, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Excuse me?”
“You have talent, but it never fully awakened. So even if I were to resolve your doubts, it wouldn’t cause problems, yet surviving in this society would still be difficult for you.”
“By ‘society,’ uncle, you mean….”
Lee Seon-hae worked her mind, trying to reframe his words into something she could understand.
“Is there a Harry Potter–style magical world? In reality? Really?”
“Was there such a movie?”
He seemed to consider something, then finally spoke. It was a confirmation.
“In some ways, you could say it’s similar.”
“Really?”
“Many things would be very different, though.”
“How different?”
“Brutal, dry, and crude.”
“That’s…”
“Let me simplify.”
Baek Moo-jin lifted his cup again. The herbal scent wafted.
“In this world, the concept of human rights does not exist.”
“…It doesn’t?”
“You may understand the meaning, but in practice, it does not exist.”
“…Are you implying that by ‘brutal’ you mean…”
“You value life and ethics greatly, don’t you?”
He calmly admonished his niece.
“Therefore, it is not a place suited for you. You would not survive there, so I hope your interest remains mere curiosity.”
“But you’re explaining it to me now.”
“So you won’t recklessly set foot there.”
“But you said I couldn’t see it and that my senses were limited. What difference does it make if I approach it out of curiosity? I still wouldn’t be able to go there.”
“That was true before.”
“Was true before?”
“Now your case is different.”
“I…”
“Yes, you.”
He nodded.
“It’s because you went through the labyrinth.”
“That labyrinth… what is it exactly?”
“You could describe it as a massive performance.”
“A performance?”
“In modern times, artists like us interpret the labyrinth’s structure this way.”
“Artists?”
“The stage, the script, the actors.”
“….”
“…In the past, we also called them the background, the story, or the existence.”
Lee Seon-hae frowned.
“…I don’t understand.”
“It’s unfamiliar to you, so I won’t explain everything. Simply put, you entered a dangerous den that even this society would rank highly in risk.”
“It was dazzling for a den, wasn’t it?”
“As I said, think of it as a performance. It’s another world that continuously repeats history and stories. Did it seem natural because it existed in reality?”
“No, not really.”
The design was modern enough for convenience, yet it somehow resembled a classic Western hotel. Even the general manager summoned staff with a bell.
“So… it was… a dungeon?”
“A dungeon?”
“You know, like in games. Fighting monsters and all.”
“…You couldn’t really fight them, but yes, thinking of it as the habitat of monsters is a roughly accurate analogy. Consider it in terms easy for you to understand.”
Baek Moo-jin set down his cup. A servant approached, pouring tea with meticulous movements.
“…?”
Lee Seon-hae suddenly thought of the hotel staff. Their movements were unnaturally precise. A chill ran down her spine, and she couldn’t help but ask.
“Those… the staff, are they… the labyrinth? The monsters… that?”
“Calm down.”
“Excuse me?”
“No need to worry. They are clearly human, unlike what you saw inside. I am not careless enough to invite goblins into the household.”
“Goblins?”
“What you saw.”
“No, what I saw… wait, are the monsters in the labyrinth called goblins? Is that it?”
“Roughly correct.”
He lightly shook his cup, eyes on the swirling tea.
“There exist labyrinths that have gained self-awareness. The labyrinth itself is simultaneously stage, script, and actor. We call those goblins.”
“…Then all the staff I saw in the hotel were…?”
“No, based on your account, most of the staff were likely part of the labyrinth. Goblins only interact with guests who enter…”
“And the general manager?”
“Yes, he would have been the sole master there.”
He took a sip of herbal tea and continued.
“Goblins inhabit preexisting labyrinths. It’s as if another labyrinth maintains control within the first. Whatever form the contract takes, that’s the arrangement.”
“…I suspected the hotel had two owners.”
“Sometimes labyrinths do collaborate. They are closer to concepts than living beings. When a larger story appears, smaller stories are inevitably consumed.”
Depending on the nature, form, and method of these conceptual entities, collaboration can take various forms: equal cooperation, employer-employee, even slavery. Some are absorbed entirely.
“I remember you saying the two masters disagreed. That proves the hotel and general manager are different labyrinths. If they were the same, the operational policies would not conflict so drastically.”
“….”
“Yet, it’s fascinating.”
“…What is?”
“That you came out alive.”
Baek Moo-jin’s gaze met Lee Seon-hae’s. His gray eyes scanned her as if evaluating an object.
“No limbs missing, you can speak, your vision intact. If your mind had been shattered, it would have been difficult to recover, yet five days later you’re recovering…”
“Are you cursing your lovely niece for surviving?”
“Not at all. I’m simply amazed.”
He sipped tea.
“Who wouldn’t be surprised if someone rose from their coffin at a funeral?”
“Was it really like that?”
“There was a labyrinth within a labyrinth. You were an ordinary person, utterly powerless, and how could a newborn survive an incoming tidal wave?”
“The general manager helped a lot, making sure it wasn’t dangerous.”
“That shouldn’t have been possible.”
Baek Moo-jin nodded, and a secretary handed over a folder. Lee Seon-hae looked at her uncle in puzzlement. He simply nodded for her to examine it.
“….”
Lee Seon-hae opened the folder and grimaced.
“…! Ugh.”
“How does it look?”
“I… I just ate.”
“I know.”
“What kind of gore… wait, this is a real photo?”
“You were lucky.”
“Excuse me?”
“Even victims of goblins leave traces if you’re lucky.”
The photos were horrifying.
The bodies had vanished, but the walls were stained like intestines. Furniture twisted grotesquely, imitating the victim’s final posture. One wall folded neatly like a shroud.
“Humans touched by goblins often leave no corpse. They are absorbed into structural gaps or erased as design errors.”
“….”
“Even when remains exist, it looks like that. They are structural failures, not bodies. Limbs multiply, hearts split, brains grow in the chest, expressions repeat all over the body…”
“…Ugh…”
“The skin is human, but the inside may be empty. Organs may be missing or entirely reconstructed. Spines may become wind chimes, or the death moment may repeat endlessly.”
“Wait a minute.”
“Despite enduring two labyrinths, you seem unaware of what that means. Your body and mind escaped mostly intact. That’s why I wanted to inform you of the danger of what you faced.”
He gestured, and the secretary took back the folder. Lee Seon-hae’s face had already turned pale.
“…This…”
“Goblins do this. It seems like they destroy a world not of humans. Those who meet them do not die as humans but become structural errors.”
“Ah…”
“Where someone dies, distortions appear. A door disappears, a day vanishes, or the memories of those who knew the person start to warp. Otherwise, a mark remains.”
“A mark?”
“Distortions in an intact office, a bell ringing endlessly at the corridor’s end, or a room no one remembers who died in. Things like that.”
“….”
Lee Seon-hae exhaled deeply.
“…It’s not just dying.”
“Exactly. Those who leave any trace at all, like the victims in the photos you saw, were lucky. If even they are considered ‘lucky,’ what about you?”
“…A miracle?”
“A miracle.”
A servant approached and placed a cup identical to Baek Moo-jin’s.
“Drink.”
“…When I was young, I wasn’t allowed to drink this?”
“If you belonged entirely to the surface, drinking could harm you, so I had no choice back then. If only I could have brought you to this world with a single cup of tea, how wonderful it would have been.”
“No… ha… no…”
“But you already set foot there. Fortunately, your talents made it easier to survive.”
“….”
Lee Seon-hae recalled her time at the hotel.
Encountering a massive eye in the deep end of the Aqua Park pool. When she mentioned it, Lee Yeon-woo reacted as if surprised she was unharmed.
He too knew these facts.
“…You kept saying I had talent, so I assumed it was a talent for filmmaking. Our elder constantly spoke of art.”
“And now?”
“Could my talent be… survival? That sort of thing?”
“Glad you realize it now.”
“This is maddening.”
“In this world, it’s called having a good affinity.”
A world ordinary people could never perceive or enter. Yet, some manage to engage with it through various circumstances. The number is not negligible.
“You were a child with talent to enter this world. I observed you surviving places where you should have died. Unfortunately, it seems it never fully awakened.”
“Awaken? That sounds so grandiose. What changes then?”
“Shall I simplify?”
“Yes.”
“You become a psychic.”
“….”
Lee Seon-hae clenched her jaw. She muttered.
“Really… like Harry Pot…”
“Don’t go claiming you’re a wizard anywhere.”
“Why, would that embarrass you?”
“Perhaps.”
Baek Moo-jin gestured silently, and Lee Seon-hae sipped her tea.
“….”
It was a flavor and scent she had never experienced before.
“…How does it feel…”
“Your impression?”
“Warm but refreshing? Nutty and rich? Yet light? What is this?”
“No problems, I see.”
“What happens if there is a problem?”
“You might perceive things you’ve never seen.”
“You gave something dangerous to a niece who’s about to lose her mind. Never-seen things? Like clairvoyance?”
“You may think of it that way.”
“This is insane. So ghosts really exist?”
“That’s why shamans exist in Korea.”
“This is driving me crazy.”
“In Japan, that’s why shrines exist.”
“Ha…”
“Of course, most are frauds. You can’t believe all shamans are real just because of stories. If necessary, it’s best to go through me for dealings.”
“….”
“So.”
Baek Moo-jin set down his cup. The clink broke the silence.
“Calm now?”
“…Yes.”
“Then we should continue the story of goblins.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“You’ll need to reward them.”
He spoke in a steady voice.
“There’s no harm in building a relationship with such goblins.”
“…You’re visiting them personally?”
A man who entered the office asked. Baek Moo-jin nodded.
“Would a proxy suffice for such matters?”
“The chairman seems to assume traditional goblins.”
The comment assumed interaction with ordinary goblins was nearly impossible.
“Otherwise, how could Seon-hae have survived? That weakling.”
“That may not be true.”
“It’s common knowledge that traditional goblins are scarce in Korea.”
“Except for the two elders, I don’t think any others exist. No recent event would have created a goblin either.”
“A visible incident isn’t required for a goblin to be born. Especially traditional ones. Isn’t that right, youngest?”
Baek Moo-jin put on his coat.
“I heard you’ll be moving to a subsidiary soon.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“‘Soon’ may take some time to arrange properly. Was this world really that tedious?”
“I… am also Seon-hae’s guardian, aren’t I?”
“With a little effort, it’s a world you could enter easily.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“Children are never satisfied.”
“I apologize, Chairman.”
“Brats.”
He approached the floor-to-ceiling glass. Tapping it lightly with his cane, the smooth glass rippled, revealing an abyss beyond.
“No one knows who exactly helped Seon-hae. A young goblin, a labyrinth goblin, or…”
“….”
“Truly human?”
Baek Moo-jin stepped into the black space and added,
“You’ll only know by seeing.”
His figure vanished completely.
The man left behind in the dark office quietly departed as well.
And Lee Yeon-woo…
“….”
Was crawling into the hotel on all fours.
“Did I just nearly die?”
“Yes.”
“I must be insane.”
His clothes were already soaked in blood. Each step splashed blood inside his shoes. More absurd than unpleasant.
Perhaps he looked appetizing. A blood-loving guest quietly spoke.
“May I eat?”
“No.”
“What will it be used for?”
“For me.”
“Oh.”
“Yes.”
This was mine.