An Unannounced Guest (2)

**

Kang Se-rim looked down at me like I was pathetic.

“Jeez, what a loser…”

I couldn’t exactly argue with that. When I awkwardly asked what had happened, Kang Se-rim crossed her arms and sneered.

“What do you think? You suddenly keeled over. Everyone freaked out thinking you’d died.”

I could roughly picture what had happened after I collapsed.

“Unfortunately, you were still breathing. The old man said you just fainted and passed out…”

So that was why they’d dumped me on the bed.
That made sense.
Apparently, I’d collapsed from exhaustion and fallen asleep.

“Sorry. You must’ve been worried.”
“Why would I worry about someone like you? Die or don’t, I don’t give a shit…”

Kang Se-rim snorted as though the idea were ridiculous. We’d escaped the Mansion together, but the way she treated me hadn’t changed.
Still, maybe there had been a little change. Her tone seemed slightly less harsh than before.
Whatever.
Compared to the beginning, the fact that we could even have a conversation like this was major progress.

“Unni’s busy as hell because of someone, while that someone gets to sleep without a care in the world. Tch…”

Kang Se-rim clicked her tongue at me.
Come to think of it, Gyeong-ah was nowhere to be seen. When I asked where she was, Se-rim told me something unexpected.

“…She’s talking with everyone?”

Apparently, she was in the Dining Room explaining what had happened to us, just like last time.

“Look at all the trouble you’re causing.”

Kang Se-rim sat down in a chair and snapped at me.

“Unni will be back soon, so don’t do anything weird. Just sit there and behave.”

Her tone was oddly sharp.
She glared at me vigilantly, watching my every move.
Did she think I was going to do something creepy to Gyeong-ah behind her back?
What did she take me for?
I felt a little wronged, but Kang Se-rim showed no sign of backing off.
She’d done this before too.

‘Didn’t she tell me not to hit on her unni?’

She kept oddly trying to police whatever was going on between Gyeong-ah and me.
Typical teenager, letting her imagination run wild. Her surveillance continued until,

Creak-

the Private Room door suddenly swung open.
The moment she saw who had arrived, Kang Se-rim brightened.

“Unni! Are you done?”
“Yeah. You waited a long time, didn’t you?”

The owner of the room we’d been imposing on had returned.
As soon as Han Gyeong-ah entered, her gaze went straight to the bed.
When she saw that I was awake, she immediately walked over.

“Hey, you…”

What was she about to say?
I’d expected her to ask if I was okay, but instead,

“How could you just collapse like that?! You scared me half to death!”

She immediately started scolding me, fuming like an annoying relative at a holiday gathering.
I timidly tried to defend myself.

“…It’s not like I wanted to.”

It was all because Kim Yohan had such pathetic stamina.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault.
Couldn’t she just take it as proof that I’d worked that hard?
Maybe Gyeong-ah knew that too, because she didn’t scold me any further.

“Haah, seriously…”

After finally getting it out of her system, she asked how I was doing.

“How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. A little sore, but that’s all…”

A little late, but apparently she really had been worried. Looking exhausted herself, she dropped onto the sofa.

“While you were unconscious, I told everyone else what happened to us.”
“How did they react?”
“Thankfully, they believed me. It sounded completely absurd… but they’d already been through it once themselves.”

The group before us had already visited Floor 2. They knew this place was a Tower.
So apparently they had little trouble accepting her story.

“That’s a relief.”
“Although that’s not the real problem…”

She shot me a sharp glare.

“You’re the problem.”

There it was.
I’d been expecting this, so I nodded.

“What did everyone say?”
“I think you already know without me having to spell it out.”
“Basically, they fucking hated you.”

Kang Se-rim suddenly cut in. Gyeong-ah then gave me a few more details.

“They think the absolute worst of you. They said you should be thrown back underground immediately, that you’re completely untrustworthy…”

The bastard they’d expected never to see again had come strolling back. Of course no one was going to welcome an unwanted guest like that.

“Even though I’m genuinely sorry?”
“They said it’s obviously a lie… You brought it on yourself!”

Public opinion was brutal.
All they’d ever seen was the Kim Yohan from Chapter 1.

“So… what did you decide?”

I couldn’t help getting nervous.
The fear that they might throw me out made my stomach tighten.
Just as the tension became unbearable, Gyeong-ah gave me unexpected news.

“To give you the conclusion first… you’re going to be allowed to stay here.”
“Really?”
“Why? Don’t you want to?”
“No, I’m just surprised…”

A deep wave of relief washed over me.
As I finally relaxed, Kang Se-rim grumbled unhappily.

“Look how happy you are… Should’ve behaved yourself from the start.”

She wasn’t wrong.
Still, more than simple happiness, I was curious.

“Why, though?”
“There are two reasons.”

Han Gyeong-ah held up two fingers in a V and explained.

“As you already know… this isn’t an ordinary place.”

So that was part of it.

“This place is supposed to be a Tower, right?”
“Yes… Honestly, I still have trouble believing it. A ridiculous place like this actually existing…”

She continued uneasily.
She still looked confused, as though even she could hardly accept it.

“Anyway! We decided we couldn’t leave someone we need to keep an eye on alone in a place like this.”
“Because it’s too dangerous?”
“Yes. Both the Tower and you.”

Kim Yohan was someone who needed watching.
If they left someone like him unattended, there was no telling what he might do.
So they wanted to keep me close and monitor me thoroughly.

“What’s the other reason?”
“Haah, well…”

Gyeong-ah looked at me and let out a self-deprecating sigh.

“I can’t believe I’m the one saying this, but…”

She shook her head in resignation before slowly continuing.

“There’s the tiniest possibility that you really might be sorry for what you did.”

My eyes immediately widened.

…Seriously?

That was the last reason I’d expected.
But a moment later, Gyeong-ah firmly cut me off before I could get my hopes up.

“Don’t get the wrong idea just because I said that! I’m not saying I trust you!”

She hurriedly added,

“I’ve just changed my mind a tiny bit. The tiniest, most microscopic little bit…”

Apparently, she didn’t even want to admit that much.
Well, I had worked pretty hard on Floor 2.

Lee Sa-hyuk had handled the most important part, but technically speaking, I’d contributed the most overall.
That guy had only landed the finishing blow.

“It would be a lie to say we escaped that place without your help.”

Seeing was believing.
Showing them that I’d changed was far more effective than endlessly insisting I regretted what I’d done.

“Finally, someone’s recognizing my sincerity.”
“Bullshit… You would’ve died too if we couldn’t get out.”

Kang Se-rim looked disgusted.
Clearly, their suspicions about me hadn’t disappeared.
Still, our experience on Floor 2 had definitely left an impression.

“For those reasons, you’re being allowed to stay. But there are a few conditions.”
“Conditions?”

This time, Gyeong-ah crossed her fingers into an X.

“You’re not allowed to approach anyone else, talk to anyone else, or take a single step outside the Private Room.”

So I was under confinement.
Music to my ears.

“And I’ll be watching you the whole time. If I have to leave, someone else will take over.”

I went over the conditions one by one. Honestly, none of them bothered me.

“So basically the same as usual.”

It just meant living under surveillance like I always had.
The only difference was that my prison had changed from an underground cell to a hotel room.
This was practically heaven.
I obediently nodded.

“Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You sure know how to give a good answer…”

And with that, the little initiation marking my return came to an end.
Gyeong-ah then told me what she’d learned from the others.

“…A whole day passed?”
“Yes. Today is July 5.”

I checked the time. She was right.
It was still morning.
We’d spent several hours trapped in the Mansion, and I’d been unconscious for another two…
Yet it wasn’t even noon. Somehow, the date had changed.

“I think time might work separately on each floor. Like a day passes whenever you go up one…”
“Huh…”

What kind of setting was that?

“Einstein would burst out of his grave screaming if he heard about this.”

No wonder the group ahead of us hadn’t come back.
If this theory was right, it would’ve been structurally impossible for them to return within twenty-four hours.

“Wait. So if we hadn’t gone up that morning and just waited a little longer, everyone would’ve come back?”
“More or less…?”

All the strength drained out of me.
So we’d put ourselves through a whole lot of suffering we could’ve avoided. At least we’d managed to free that girl…

I glanced at the rabbit doll.
I’d placed it beside the head of Gyeong-ah’s bed.

‘Would that be enough for her…?’

I’d learned something new. And there was more.
Perhaps this was the main point, because Gyeong-ah paused before bringing it up.

“Floor 3 of the Tower has opened.”
“Already?”

We’d barely been back.

“It looks like it opened right after we escaped Floor 2.”

Floor 3 had been unlocked.
It felt like a new stage had just become available.

“Have you decided what to do?”
“Not at all…”

She looked troubled.

“We still haven’t reached a decision. Everyone’s divided on what we should do.”

The issue was simple.
Go straight up to Floor 3, or stay on Floor 1…

“That is a tough call.”

It was one or the other.
Personally, I thought going to Floor 3 was the right choice. One way or another, we had to reach the top of the Tower.
But I understood the other side too.

‘Who knows what’s waiting up there?’

Going upstairs meant playing another game. Another potentially deadly trial would begin.
Floor 1, on the other hand, was safe.
If we stayed here, at least we wouldn’t die.
There was an unlimited supply of delicious food, and each of us even had our own five-star hotel room.
Giving all of that up to climb to a dangerous Floor 3…
A rescue team might even come for us in the meantime.
(They absolutely wouldn’t.)

“What do you think, Gyeong-ah?”
“I’m not sure…”

Her hesitant answer surprised me. It wasn’t what I’d expected.
I’d thought she’d choose to stay without a second’s hesitation.

“Honestly, going to Floor 3 is far too dangerous. We nearly died on Floor 2…”
“True.”
“Right now, Floor 1 is the safest place. If it were entirely up to me, I’d want to stay here. But…”

Her expression grew complicated as she continued.

“There’s no guarantee a rescue team will come for us just because we sit here and wait.”

Who are you?
I was secretly impressed. She was actually saying something like that?
The old Gyeong-ah wouldn’t even have considered it.
She’d grown through everything she’d experienced.
She’d come to accept this ridiculous reality for what it was.

“That’s true. We don’t even have any way to contact the outside.”
“Anyway, that’s where things stand… We decided to postpone the decision about Floor 3.”

With that, Gyeong-ah changed the subject and began pulling something out as though she had something to show me.

“What’s that?”
“The people who went to Floor 2 before us found it.”

It was a small booklet that looked almost like a pamphlet.

“They said there were piles of them on a display beside the Hotel Lobby desk when they returned to Floor 1.”

Something that hadn’t been there before had appeared while everyone was gone.
It was downright eerie.
Completely bizarre.

‘This is…’

[Hotel Guidelines]

Guidelines?
A title was printed on the booklet’s cover. Somehow, the name alone made me uneasy.

“Have you read it, Gyeong-ah?”
“Yes. It has information about the hotel and… some basic living guidelines? Rules like that.”
She hesitated slightly.

“There are a few parts I don’t quite understand, though.”
“Let me see.”

What could possibly be written in it?
I opened the booklet and began reading the guidelines. The first line of the first paragraph read:

[Hotel Guidelines]
We sincerely welcome all guests to our TOWER Hotel!