Chapter 7
The writer checked the time in response to the staff member’s question.
“It's just past six, so it’s about time it gets dark.”
“Then isn’t this dangerous? It was already cloudy, and now with the sun setting, it’s even darker.”
“…Honestly, I’m getting a little uneasy too. Did we leave too late?”
They were in a remote area far from the town center of Gapyeong. The pouring rain blurred the surroundings like muddy water, and the air inside the car felt damp and stifling.
“…I have a feeling this isn’t good…”
The writer looked at the director.
“We’re going to arrive when it’s already quite dark.”
“Ah, see, we got greedy and booked a place a bit farther, and now we have this problem. We could have just left tomorrow morning.”
“It’s a mountainous area, so it would’ve taken more time anyway.”
“The atmosphere is great, though… still, it’s inconvenient.”
“Anyway, we picked that place together. Its location was suitable.”
“It was good to have a place nearby since we needed to check several villas.”
They had arranged seven private villas in Gapyeong for filming. To request shooting permission from the owners, they had to quickly decide on the candidates.
“It’s all thanks to my connections, so be grateful, got it?”
“I think I’ve heard that at least thirty times already.”
“That just shows how hard I worked to get this opportunity. Do you know how picky these people are? I had to pull out every connection I had to barely secure seven places.”
“Securing seven locations of that caliber is really impressive.”
“You’ve got to use your contacts when the chance comes, don’t you?”
But it was literally an opportunity gained through a single network of connections. Delaying further would do no good, and it might even upset the fussy owners.
That was the reason they had scheduled a visit all the way into the rugged mountains. They had thought it would be quick to depart straight from Seoul, and even in summer, they assumed it wouldn’t take long.
The result, however, was exactly this.
“…Ugh…”
The rain was relentless.
Even the director’s deliberately loud voice quickly faded.
“My ears hurt, my ears hurt.”
“Told you so.”
“Was the schedule too tight?”
“Not exactly…”
“Should we have waited for the rain to stop before moving?”
“We’re fine, so don’t worry too much.”
“Hmm, alright. Let’s just say that counts.”
The director laughed lightly.
“But seriously, isn’t this atmosphere amazing? Look at this background.”
The staff member matched her laugh.
“Perfect weather for a serial killer to appear.”
“I started it, but that line is way too creepy.”
The car jolted endlessly over the unpaved road, and the trees stretched out around them like waves. The sky, already cloudy when they left, was swallowed by darkness as the sun began to set.
“But hey, you guys…”
At that moment, Director Lee Seon-hae spoke awkwardly.
“Yes, Director?”
“I think we took the wrong road…”
“…What?”
“I just realized it too, sorry.”
The director glanced at the navigation awkwardly. The driver’s marker was pinned in the middle of a mountain.
“I thought this road would go over the mountain, but it doesn’t look like it. We just keep climbing, no sign of descending.”
“W-what?”
“Ah, I should’ve updated it beforehand… It’s acting up. We’re going around in circles on the mountain. What do we do?”
“Uh… why is it doing this? I thought we were moving fine… Navigation signals can be affected, right? Maybe we went too deep.”
“Why did we bother taking this complicated mountain path? A proper paved road would have signs, but there’s none here. Did the shortcut offend the heavens or something?”
“Who would even get offended by a shortcut? Is it really deserving of divine punishment?”
“I don’t know. But I guess days like this happen. It’s my first time the GPS fails like this. At least I brought a big car just in case…”
The director turned to look behind.
“Can we just camp here overnight?”
“Ah, Director, please… You said we’d sleep in blankets.”
“See, I even brought extra blankets, don’t worry.”
“You promised a comfy blanket to sleep on, Director…!”
“Ah, just kidding. Hah, what do we do now?”
The director was at a loss.
All of them were city people from Seoul. They had no knowledge of the roads in Gapyeong. In other words, they were lost. This state would continue until the navigation worked properly.
“It seems the deep mountains and the rain make it worse. This GPS is definitely out. Anyone’s phone maps working?”
“…Mine isn’t picking up our location well either.”
“Ugh. If only we had a paper map, we could manage somehow. Our writer Hong could guide us, and we could follow his directions.”
“The map works even if the location isn’t exact.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Ah, wait, the data’s patchy…”
After some time, the online map resolution improved enough to make it readable. The writer adjusted his glasses and squinted at the map, scanning it thoroughly.
“Has the navigation stopped here? Is this our location?”
“At least it should be close. I’ve been following the route fine. The navigation was acting up, but it’s roughly here, I guess.”
“…Ah, understood. We’ve been on this road for a while now, right?”
“About ten minutes.”
“Then our location should be around here.”
The writer showed the map.
“As you can see, this road eventually ends. Maybe they started building it and stopped?”
“If they were going to open a road, wouldn’t they normally dig a tunnel?”
“That’s Gapyeong for you. Anyway, maybe they abandoned construction or left an open space.”
“Oh, there’s an open space? Ah, yes. There’s enough room.”
The director brightened.
“This is already troublesome. The car’s big… The road’s narrow… I wondered how to turn and go back. Since we’re here, it’s better to go a little further, turn the car, and head back.”
“Wouldn’t that take too long? From the distance, it looks like quite a climb. If we’re late for the guesthouse, nobody may be there to check us in.”
“Either way, it’s essentially camping. We didn’t bring much luggage, so there’s space for four people. The trunk, see? It’s huge.”
“Almost like a camper van.”
“This is why I like big cars.”
The director grinned.
“There might even be a house up there.”
“A house in a place like this? Suddenly?”
“A mountain lodge maybe? All the places we were scouting were like this. We could sneak into an unoccupied place for a bit.”
“…Isn’t that similar to our movie story?”
The staff asked nervously.
“I like fictional stories, but I don’t wish for them to happen in reality.”
“Oh my, the filming crew is being weak. Isn’t our job to bring fiction into reality?”
“That reality and this reality are different.”
“Anyway, the odds of there being something up there are low. There were no signs blocking the path, so expecting a lodge would be unreasonable. Naturally, there wouldn’t be any other buildings.”
“That’s true, but still…”
“Even if it’s a villa or something, trespassing is illegal.”
“Exactly.”
“I wasn’t thinking of entering an unoccupied place. Just saying, so relax.”
“When you say that, Director, it doesn’t sound like a joke.”
“That’s my charm.”
The director started driving again.
The road was still terrible. The rain blocked any view outside. Even on a single-lane road, they had to brake repeatedly.
They almost had accidents more than ten times due to limited visibility.
“……”
“……”
The longer the uncomfortable journey continued, the deeper the silence inside the car grew.
“…Does it feel like the rain’s getting worse…?”
“…It’s starting to get really scary.”
“Writer Hong writes worse things than this, why is he scared of this?”
“Writing and experiencing are not the same. Am I not allowed to be scared?”
“Honestly, the original author should be the bravest.”
“I’m not.”
“Look at how he panics.”
Because the mountain was steep, the road was winding and long. The car was too big to turn around, making the time almost unbearable.
And then, it appeared.
“…….”
“…Why is there light?”
“No, what…?”
“Is that a building?”
Through the rain, the enormous outline became visible. The shape of a massive high-rise building towered through the darkness.
“…Hotel, One?”
Hotel One.
It was a huge hotel.
“Why is a hotel this big in a place like this?”
“……”
“Writer, say something.”
“…I’m really scared now.”
“Meaning it’s not a hallucination, right?”
“I’ve never experienced anything intense enough to hallucinate.”
“This is really out of nowhere…”
A villa would have been understandable. All the places they were scouting were in such locations, secret villas for wealthy people, hard to find by chance.
But not a two or three-story house. A massive lodging facility in the depths of a forest. Who would even come here? A high-rise building rivaling a corporate landmark.
It was strange and suspicious. Very much so.
“I just had a thought.”
“What is it?”
“Did we come to a place we shouldn’t be at?”
“…Please turn the car around…”
“……”
“Director?”
The writer sensed something wrong. No, it was closer to danger. Survival instincts.
“Director, Director. We need to leave.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“The front yard’s wide. Let’s turn the car and leave.”
“Got it, I know…”
“You know? Know what? Why are you like this?”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“Please stop this.”
“Writer Hong.”
The director looked at her partner with a serious expression.
“What are we?”
“Don’t suddenly group us like that.”
“Fine. What am I, and what are you?”
“Director and writer…”
“What did the director and writer come here for?”
“…A movie…”
“Whose movie is it?”
“…Our movie.”
“See, we came to check out things like this from the start.”
The director had a bold expression.
“Dangerous and suspicious things. Strange and uneasy. Spine-chilling horror and dizzying thrill. Our mission is to deliver experiences and fantasies to the audience that they could never feel in reality, right?”
“……”
“You thought, ‘Do we really have to risk our lives for this?’ Not true, think realistically. If this isn’t a hallucination, the hotel really exists. But what real danger could a hotel this big pose?”
“There could be.”
“Exactly, nothing in the world is absolute.”
“So?”
“But I’m just curious.”
The director parked gently.
Then stepped out.
It was a very natural flow.
“……”
“…Haha.”
The stunned group watched as the director smiled kindly.
“Wait, wait a moment.”
Before the writer could stop her, Lee Seon-hae ran through the rain, ignoring him, and shouted.
“Sorry, everyone! I need to know what this place is!”
“Ah, Director, please!!”
“I’m just going to check!”
The original author was him, but the director was being more dramatic.
The writer and the two staff hurried to follow her. Naturally, Lee Seon-hae opened the hotel door first.
The door opened with a strangely smooth motion. The moment her hand touched the handle, the door seemed to lightly pull inward, as if drawing her inside.
As if it had been waiting.
“……”
Stepping inside, the air was completely different from the damp outside.
Beyond comfort, it was eerily dry, cool, and silent. There seemed to be nothing alive. Absolute stillness.
‘…The atmosphere is strange.’
Lee Seon-hae hesitated before speaking.
“Um, um…”
“……”
“…Is anyone here?”
And then.
“Welcome.”
Antique and lavish decorations filled the room.
At the center, stood a young-faced man.
“Thank you for visiting.”