Chapter 1

Prologue

Q. Have you ever thought about becoming a hero, an esper, or a mage?

A. No.

Q. …Not even once in your life?

A. Not even once in my life.

Q. What superpower do you want?

A. Gushing capital, solid connections, overflowing luck.

Q. …Is that really a superpower?

A. It is a superpower.

A. An end-of-the-world disaster.

Q. …For you personally?

A. A disaster, I said.

Q. We're close, right?

A. Who might you be?

[Update in progress]

A. Hello?

[Restarting the game]

***

Chapter 1.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing before the front desk.

"……."

What he registered first was the exaggerated splendor, and a tidiness so immaculate it felt alien.

A scene too refined to be reality. He defined this place as a "familiar hotel lobby." It was a classical style rarely seen in modern times, yet its essence was unmistakably that of a hotel.

"……?"

…He had spotted an error.

'A judgment without logical grounds.'

Consciousness surged swiftly awake.

'Why… did I think it felt familiar?'

Even in the unconscious, every judgment has its reason. This time, the only reason was the visual information he had taken in unfiltered, detached from emotion.

"……."

He felt familiarity with things he had never encountered before.

For instance, the marble tile floor.

The classical pillars and walls.

Not a single person in sight.

The vast chandelier.

The flower vases and potted plants.

'And… the cat.'

Wait.

'A cat?'

A lump of shadow draped across the top of the front desk.

Eerily round eyes and a mouth curved into a crescent moon. Too black to be called a cat, its form too pliant, its expression too extreme.

Lee Yeon-woo knew that thing's name. The "Co-owner"—co-owner of this hotel alongside the Operator.

"Coco."

Officially designated, Coco.

As if answering the call, it tilted its head halfway while keeping its smile. An unnatural motion, as though the head weren't following its gaze, but its gaze were dragging the head along by force. A discomfort tinged with dissonance seeped into the air.

The cat that was not a cat answered.

"Yes."

"Hello."

"Hello."

"……."

The answer had arrived.

'This is the hotel from inside the game.'

A horror hotel management simulation game, <Hotel One: Eden Within the Nightmare>.

'Hoone, for short.'

Why, after all this time, was he dreaming of this game now? And was this even a dream to begin with? As if answering those doubts, the exchange from moments before flashed through his mind.

―We're close, right?

―Who might you be?

"……."

[Update in progress]

―Hello?

[Restarting the game]

"……."

It appeared this had not, in fact, been a mere dream.

Therefore, the conclusion followed that he had been kidnapped.

"…A conversation…."

"Yes."

"Let's have a conversation."

"Yes."

"Yes."

***

The world, beneath its pretense otherwise, runs rather sloppily.

Lee Yeon-woo's own life was no different. Countless unforeseen strokes of luck or misfortune had barged into his life plans. Surely this was true not only for him, but for the lives of all humans.

Lee Yeon-woo called these variables.

"And unless my memory has failed me."

"Yes."

"By dictionary definition, a variable refers to an element that can change according to situation or condition. It can also denote an unpredictable factor or a fluctuating circumstance."

"Yes."

"Therefore, no matter how meticulously one plans a life, it cannot simply unfold as intended. I am well aware of this myself. My life has, until now, been shaped by variables great and small, on top of my own will and predictions."

"Yes."

"My words have grown a bit long, but what I am trying to say is this."

Lee Yeon-woo asked the cat.

"Even granting all of that, isn't this a bit much?"

The Vantablack cat, Coco, answered.

"Yes."

"It's not a bit much, you say?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any intention of conversing?"

"Yes."

"I'm starting to worry whether I've lost my mind."

"No."

It was the 44th day since he had been confined in the horror hotel inside the game.

Lee Yeon-woo had just failed his 172nd attempt at persuasion.

***

A researcher in his forties falls asleep, then wakes to find himself the 19-year-old CEO of a hotel inside a game.

"……."

…Any sane person would understand just how absurd that sentence was.

Day one of hotel confinement. Having grasped the above proposition, Lee Yeon-woo seized hold of his cat partner Coco and hurled countless questions at it.

"Those under 19 can't register a business. Won't there be legal issues?"

"Yes."

"What about the possibility of human rights organizations protesting the incidents and accidents occurring in this hotel? The conceptual resources employed here are highly likely to violate the Narcotics Control Act and the Medical Service Act."

"No."

"The horror phenomena occurring here could lead to charges of professional negligence resulting in death, as well as assault. Furthermore, this building fails to comply with the Building Act and the Fire Services Act, and isn't it also violating the Labor Standards Act?"

"No."

"Do you, esteemed cat, believe yourself to stand above the laws of the modern world?"

"Yes."

"I suppose you've lost your mind, sir?"

Had anyone ever seen such a wicked cat.

As if to make sure no one would doubt this was a horror hotel, its view of the world was bold beyond measure. Naturally, this was a ruling in which his own opinion carried no weight.

And so Lee Yeon-woo became a lawbreaker. It was one of the most bewildering events in his entire life.

"You drag off a man who'd have been perfectly fine eating well and living well if you'd just left him alone. What in the world is this situation supposed to be…."

To that, the cat said nothing, only staring at him intently.

Even so, Lee Yeon-woo poured considerable effort into escaping this place. Relying on nothing but his rejuvenated body, he didn't shy from trying to flee through the windows or the rooftop.

"Huh?"

But he couldn't even physically leave this place.

"Don't tell me… the windows won't open simply because the tutorial hasn't ended?"

"Yes."

"Pardon me, but let me ask a few more. If I finish the schedule equivalent to the tutorial, just as in the game, will the doors of this hotel open?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean I can permanently escape from the conceptual and physical domain of this hotel?"

"No."

"Do you hold a grudge against me?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem?"

Even scraping together every last bit of karma he'd accumulated in this life, something like this shouldn't have been possible. Perhaps the entire universe had pooled its strength, throwing in the karma of past lives he himself didn't know about.

"……."

But that wasn't the end of it.

'Hoone' was an unfriendly game. A textbook case of learning through dying. Even with Coco—the very embodiment of this hotel—at his side, he had died and been resurrected more times than he could count.

"…I'm not old enough to be going senile yet."

On the honor of his laboratory, he had to admit—he was beginning to feel he might go mad.

At this rate, he found himself suspecting, for the 89th time now, that he might have fallen into a coma or developed some cognitive disorder. Rejuvenation followed by resurrection—none of it made the slightest sense.

'But the current situation has long since overshot the realm of nonsense.'

All he could do was lament the fact that he couldn't deny the reality pressing in on all five of his senses.

"Once I escape from here… I'll contact NASA immediately. There's no way this is possible without extraterrestrial technology. I must contribute to the advancement of humanity and carve my name into history."

"No."

"Did I actually drop dead from overwork? Or did I fall into a coma? Unless I've become a vegetable and am dreaming this absurd dream, there's no way to explain my current situation."

"No."

"I do hope at least a missing person report has been filed. Part of me would like to call the police for rescue, but at the moment I can't even make a single phone call, and on top of that I've been rejuvenated back to 19, so rejoining society right away would be difficult."

No matter how he thought about it, it was absurd. So absurd that the words could barely leave his mouth.

"Do you want a fight with me?"

"No."

"If you don't want to watch me die of high blood pressure, I'd appreciate a bit more sincerity in your answers. I'm starting to feel I really could die purely from blood pressure alone."

And on day four of hotel confinement, Lee Yeon-woo learned the fact that a person could indeed die purely from blood pressure alone.

"……."

"……."

As a human being, it was so shameful a death that he could not manage a word for half a day.

"……."

"Hello."

"……."

"No, no. Hello…."

"……."

"Hello…."

As far as cat cries went, it was a pitifully feeble one.

"Hello, yes, no, hello…."

As Lee Yeon-woo sank into shock, Coco paced around him in anxious circles, unable to settle.

Its face still wore a Cheshire-cat grin, but the restless, hesitant gestures and the four paws pattering across the floor betrayed the monster cat's uneasy state of mind.

It looked like a child gauging a parent's mood. Lee Yeon-woo, too, soon returned to his usual state.

"…I was certainly flustered by an unexpected situation, but there's no need to worry. I simply required some time to comprehend a circumstance that defies common sense."

"Hello."

"That would be you asking if I'm all right, wouldn't it?"

It was touching that Coco had shown concern, but honestly speaking, he wasn't really all right.

'I have to question whether a creature this fragile can even be defined as human.'

If he had to name something comparable, it would be about on par with acorn jelly.

Unlike ordinary creatures, this body absorbed external impacts in full. The same was true for internal ones. It was almost commendable that he had endured the threat of burst blood vessels for four whole days in such a body.

'But… when I act in a manner befitting a game character, there are no problems with movement.'

For instance, dying by this hotel's horror elements. Walking or running at a fixed pace. Situations taken for granted by a character inside a game.

In such cases, he felt no pain, nor did his stamina and strength flag.

'But the moment I do anything outside the game's parameters, problems arise.'

Crouching was one such case.

The game had "crouching," but "standing up after crouching" was never defined. It was a nonexistent function.

And so Lee Yeon-woo had become a man who grew dizzy whenever he rose from a squat.

"……."

"Yes, no, yes, no… hello…."

"Hello."

"Hello."

"Is there some reason my body's durability is in this state?"

"Yes."

"No… my apologies, the way I phrased the question was wrong."

Coco's command of human language was limited.

"So, then,"

The most plausible hypothesis was that "human Lee Yeon-woo and Operator Lee Yeon-woo's bodies merged, and an anomaly arose." Short of that, there was no explaining how he was still alive and breathing in a body like this.

"If I act like a game character, at the very least I won't be in pain?"

"Yes."

"Is that so… thank you for the kind answer."

"Yes."

"If I'm finding my kidnapper endearing, I really must be going mad."

"No."

"This must be what they call Stockholm syndrome."