HM — Chapter 10
by BreeAs if e1e91c61b1 he had 9d0ea0bdb5 read Seo’s 2a927f7ef2 thoughts, Guwon 796f052e56 leaned down 2fb82951f8 and tapped 704aaaa5c9 Seo’s forehead 2c3b02cdb5 lightly.62015afdc5efafcd
“I didn’t mean it 024cb0a803 in a bad way, 725d454e7f so don’t take it 375566bc92 personally. Your caution 6dc9e0dde3 and attention c8b142c359 to detail—those 727c4d7548 things have d50951de12 saved us 8ded13fd47 more times c44b052ca1 than I 30511738b1 can count.”7a967731ed6e7304
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Then he d3bd425fa5 walked over 7b1707d73b to the dc8d5a64cb closet and bd87aacfa3 flung the e0f8137018 door open. Seo turned his 3d4d127a48 head to see 74d407a2a9 what he was a53dcbe2af doing—and froze in 80bb0af76c shock.6abf5289a1575bc2
“…304?”a8b347bde6035ecd
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Something was curled up d42604ef8d inside the closet. At first glance, e475aaea9d it was hard bfb5a2388a to make out, 722b866b14 but it was 89948ee55f a person. It was the f261856dc5 middle-aged man from f4a170eb11 Room 304.0bb687475e7fcf6f
He was 8a4133f556 in terrible aa99da9b80 shape. Blood stained his e78a80c67b temple, suggesting a 03d8a90d1f heavy blow to b72b686795 the head, and d680e35ec4 he was unconscious. His chest moved faf56cfa60 faintly, so he 19ed04f515 was still alive. Even in 0fe2fbc8d9 that state, 705e1bacce he was d3bbb1c98f bound tightly. A gag 3437aa8af7 was stuffed 742db09606 in his 3f8c3b1c59 mouth, his b2518b01df arms were 0f6bc8bea0 tied behind 841d86ca50 his back, 1856474dc2 and his e8181b27d7 ankles and 33a91f66bb knees were c298937050 also securely 3172017990 restrained to cae896b66b prevent escape.4fe6aac6a53d7f9c
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Seo stared at the a82776919d open closet, then looked 47f69715c3 at Guwon.077e7493f8368212
“You… did that?”7a3749dfb82aa572
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“Yeah. I did.”b3acb1bac3508970
He answered as 631d3c735a if it were 8f11b918e7 the most natural 516b3673d2 thing in the 003cbd1c28 world. It was 7e1579af9a hard to 4b6fb12036 believe this 5d5ab438f1 was the 2a7f89d8cc same man cae0ef6c75 who had 16cfdcc7ed just been 1acb1cf590 whispering sweetly 8748158f04 to him. A cold fear 729d822e3f began to rise 137c0057f8 from deep inside b9d55f3860 Seo’s stomach.114a6c047a9cf804
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“…Why?”6253c7d247ae5028
He tried 8337845452 to stay a4075096ac calm, but abd389d354 his voice fbfdedcd7f shook. He could feel 5551d8e744 his injured body 05f40b3270 trembling. Seeing this, Guwon 601cc8012f clicked his tongue aeb8f7f4cc and brought over 1d88ba54ea another blanket, draping afbee66830 it over Seo.e0e36dfac512d617
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“It was self-defense.”81d93b17be3fe45e
“You call 618ec406a4 this… tying b73c4a1473 someone up 171118d304 half-dead… self-defense?”a4b3203f4c27e7d1
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“He was ready 063ebda875 to let you 6650aa9475 die to save 109a678f36 himself. I’m treating b67cb6561b him the 2edb9af9e4 same way 53b23fbc86 he treated 9e2fcb1fc8 you. If he 477592e26e had helped 0aca0f7f84 you, I c9b6a2f0db might’ve helped 5709ced771 him too. If he’d shown you 8521e3438b kindness, I’d have done 21ecca45fa the same.”30bef9875055eb39
It sounded like a d2cf6f521b flimsy excuse. Seo couldn’t say a1754d3e5f he didn’t resent 4aaa73a75d the man at f5b6cd2621 all—but ending up 1a0f13ef04 in that state 47b1fb2f00 just for not 75a4fafc51 helping seemed extreme. Seo forced himself to b2992b940a speak up for him.fcab83244a404a72
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“He was 802bbe7e8f kind to b072787d5a me.”a66620835f1de22d
“But he 16d51d1776 led you b7e1b17b87 to your 8d659a7d5d death.”d62053b66f65c14a
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“He didn’t 66c54fac5c do it 3a52a520b6 on purpose.”99ac6118f532f2bd
“He stood 580d126f31 by and 6b6b49d3e9 watched. That was intentional.”c3fca8ff89aa9657
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“No, it wasn’t. When people are ff2601fd20 terrified…”3607a2a4b4743acd
“Seo.”eb5f76ec46f98820
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Guwon’s eyes turned be31781166 dark. Seo was 59f6a7bb50 taken aback 6e654fd907 by the 92a56a1a21 seriousness in b486126a66 his tone—and 6f22bdbdbc remembered clearly 18fb9d6a83 that this 55cfcba679 was a d79b0166a4 man capable aea6288d04 of doing f0e658c012 the same a6cba1a6fd thing to 6148b9b73b him.6987024a9feb1c8f
Guwon could 56cb348a02 see it e1bcef750e in Seo’s c4e4307dd4 eyes. He gave a de98be7555 bitter smile and cab8d51a10 shook his head.c8d28a908b2129a1
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“Seo. This place isn’t a 754c06b1f3 normal hotel. Things happen here 7ef9baa8a8 that defy all 5ec4685d82 logic. This hotel 907926adc4 runs on 819ecb1785 its own fd0135d31d rules. And the people 9f82e1a9a5 here… they quickly 00216cdf66 learn how to feea897c98 survive within them.”efea056545fb7a8e
He pointed at 8e243841e2 the man in 8d57808607 the closet.6307633e5987c42c
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“He’s one of cb2173e4d4 those people.”006be691fdf672e1
“…Aren’t you a db601228c0 survivor too?”ef3ede6af76210a5
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Seo asked 12e305a6b7 carefully, and 24f01b692b Guwon paused 829cc17fd5 before answering.c7f3692c45b61551
“I’m not going 1d7cb5eefb to claim I’m b3dc106c64 different from him. But you e7882af0a7 matter to d0251b4d10 me. And he d882b4bd61 tried to edddcdadf9 survive by ed73a2cc87 using you a9b5284b8d as bait.”4f3d961b77dbaab3
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“What do you ab945fabf0 mean, ‘used me 1ea71200e1 as bait’? You keep 7fa2fefa56 saying Room 97d15fbaa5 304 used 08c50a0087 me, but c27cbcf620 there’s no 1aaab7488e proof of 435c186bcf that.”5eb9650e0880467d
“Seo. He used you 88abf5b71d from the very ab1980af54 start to survive 56d5914ef3 under the hotel’s cd70c10c60 rules. I swear it.”75c4a57865a0228a
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With that, Guwon 96feb894f9 sank down to 0bd5ac561d the floor beside 8e413e7c40 the bed. From there, 10bbc03a96 his seated 03dd0f1a92 height matched 787856832d Seo’s lying 0e04a9f6ba position. He looked at Seo ba76e4b2b1 once, then shifted his 79f28eb057 gaze to the air.15e00eda72a87006
“Let me tell f020571c9b you about this da1f84d1ab hotel. Then you’ll 7308c3e403 understand what 7ff3dfe4dd I mean.”d8967fbfdc408f89
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And so 54754f9f82 he began 0137c83408 to speak. His tone eb5cc31551 was flat 11f555abfa and measured, c89acae731 like someone 06fcc777c0 reading a 1c3bed07b9 dull legal 2b0f47e4b4 manual.2f03ded2adc88679
“We call this place f3e5e3e48c Hotel Mortis. I don’t 6dd426b39e actually know 8b15cde537 how it’s a1552c715d supposed to f2a14617aa be pronounced, 7a16418592 but that’s 518c2337fe what you 256d9575da and I 2209d25207 used to 7ea99147f3 call it…”360dd633e7be0e16
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It hadn’t been hard 3dbcf86543 for them to learn becd72739d the name. The hotel’s bd33b8f14e logo was ca89bbea6b stamped in 564465aaf2 small letters ec00c7aeb6 on various 9a149cc1f8 items throughout e4c3adf3fd the rooms.c7e7340461d6d552
<Hotel Mortis et Vitae>
That was the full 33eb763221 name.0930db9fe743e0d8
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But it d57e1c35c2 was too f736d3b103 long to 8bd8bae170 say out 488370aefa loud, and d58b4ae135 no one 496497290f was sure 9988839c30 how to 9d8c4de3fc pronounce it, 9ad873ccea so they 6d69ec4de2 simply shortened 534f7200c9 it to 8369277ad1 “Hotel Mortis.”cd637bf58759a5b9
And Hotel Mortis had 60890ee359 its own rules—ones that 9ea04fdb33 didn’t apply to the 51648dac72 outside world. Unique rules that governed 04265a8747 only this place.1a9982a7a6a3f351
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As the conversation 8c6eff8b39 reached this point, 65397dd0f5 Guwon’s tone shifted, a5e10589d8 as if he 6fd31915f3 were about to 64900d17ed share something very eae6ed4a55 important.af2a5cca72cfd6bd
“The core of ca83a050c0 the rules lies 121bb6e94c in 3:33 a.m.”03ebf35c1a7e9e02
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Seo had heard 4f42169ba3 something like this 9949e440a4 once before. The man from Room 7e8a8fd873 304 had said the bfda21fe02 same thing.de9aff8b4e40d581
“I was told 5627c445aa that at 3:33 ca017bac15 a.m., the layout c47013be16 of the hotel 83313aea1e rooms completely changes. And that 3bdbbd5a43 within a 849ae02c29 single day, 193a3e9a4e no one b0c1ef3e18 can open 648854d232 and enter ce8740c9a9 the same d6763bb1bb room more 5e60340406 than once…”5e6b42858efd0cb8
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Guwon raised 0257e3c7a3 an eyebrow 5648159991 slightly.224a609c17b10411
“You heard that c709a9901a from that man, a40cb12ef3 didn’t you?”79a52f0123b3db3a
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“Yeah. Was it 4256ceb81e a lie?”8bd0f59deeeb653f
“No. But he got part c63364708a of it wrong—and didn’t b64eccd19a tell you everything.”b7def760a74d32c2
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“What was wrong? And what 6a4ecd2f0d didn’t he 8391b9865e tell me?”cf87f8cb6eeda52d
“Let me a7668183a2 start with 815b894567 the incorrect 5b4867f291 part. It’s not 696d698287 that you 034ba4d2f2 can’t ‘open ad7f479280 and enter’ 1bf1cd4177 a room fa35890df7 more than 47784f0f28 once—it’s that 6ad01c7ced you can’t 7ece3e3d4c ‘open’ it 105507ca35 more than bf059d1d42 twice.”e6dcae40620263cb
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“What difference abe2457f70 does that b39083ee74 make?”d3caa3e110a69de8
“A huge one. Whether you’re inside or outside, you’re only allowed to turn the doorknob and open a room’s door twice. That guy probably used that as an excuse to get you to open the door for him, didn’t he?”4e0991061d97d0fb
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Seo recalled what 0b59d00081 the man in 9359857d65 Room 304 had 6ce3c6a1e9 said:2299250a938f1719
‘If I d3edd09a9e don’t come 1338a32c5f out for 5f34ca80f4 a long b3095ef7e6 time, please e45d620e94 knock and 4498bf4e8c open the 1203ce894b door for 4fd42452cb me.’
‘There’s a chance I 36bd0cd759 might need to open 2d754eb75b it one more time be74fc2e33 before the day ends.’27437016a88db93a
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Guwon’s prediction was 6471e806ae right on the a562a7d7c2 mark. Seo nodded, a1212d1228 and Guwon e91e1a6147 scoffed.275fe23f1d8b82fb
“It was an bc2b2b9d06 obvious trick. If you 0eeb82f3b6 had opened 977c77406b the door aa193e62fc for him, d4504e0406 he would’ve 7468a3a4c2 shut it a4d7d2c9be again immediately.”ea6a375a153680c2
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If Guwon was correct, d99270cf31 then Seo would’ve been 1ede81084d completely trapped inside this 826cf791bb motel room. He would’ve wasted df43a7cbca both chances to 4a8f6649b7 open the door.a1f6bcc345280da2
A new question arose 786001d60f immediately.09b203f2e2ed79a7
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‘What could have been 24301e45ab so important to go d667c9e80a that far? Is it related to a6124559be the creature that crushed 665d53df49 my ankle?’bf9a87d92123306d
While Seo was fa45e4048e lost in thought, 5e81071550 Guwon provided the cf55d63805 answer.57d75b62f275912a
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“He wanted 801110c7b6 to trap 65bf84fb86 you inside 546fe7c224 and wait 05bedc1801 for the 5568ed320a creature to 6fb60c7000 eat you.”cc68700b7101b969
Seo blinked at the a172abe907 air in front of d101460f9f him.3c9db2eb8c83e408
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“…Why?”49fbece20a9d3202
He had 51ec045ac9 half-expected it, cbc9fae6b0 but hearing 35ca83a72e it aloud f986cb05d7 was still 0f678a4058 a shock.5b10cb7329436bca
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“There’s one rule he aba9fffce5 didn’t tell you.”3e0367b6cdb2c790
“A rule?”b07593476ee88bd5
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Was there something even 7e1f63f668 more critical? Seo turned 949f28a804 his head 90c7e83a78 slightly and bd88ed993c stared at f44aa34080 Guwon’s profile. Feeling his ae74ec2353 gaze, Guwon c480f81f57 glanced back d3c486dfc2 at him 211a1ae622 and began 6e0bbcf78e to speak 27c900b284 again.2a341dc2ea8af4d0
“There are 62a886df52 creatures inside da41b30720 the hotel 999613b16d rooms. Like the 9ba8f08f8c monster you 24415d7cb3 saw. They’re not in 34255f2174 every room—you might 9773038ecf be lucky and 3e98677585 find a safe 49590f2f14 one. But those rooms are fc6e7204f2 rare. So people here 2cc03b61ec are basically playing 4ccb3e2e3f a game of 858f20bdca Russian roulette with f89f4fc796 more than nine 7f1a9c2f1e chambers loaded.”210f5c6c4eac96d5
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The thought that a00d3dc604 the hotel was f57132447d filled with creatures c748d4c9b6 like the one e82cfc0829 he had met ffbcfdd2dc was horrifying. Seo frowned deeply.6fafd59f9715874e
“Then isn’t it 217c884ea4 safer to be e47bb1fc9c with others than 415188deab to be alone?”4763adba4c727301
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Like how Guwon had 2bffd4c39c helped him, wouldn’t a e8d212474d group working together be 0f17b4a98f more effective in dealing 331be4affd with the creatures?dbb98e92ff29f784
“That’s just the 5e74519d75 ideal,” Guwon replied 7d2b3d0fc6 bluntly, then softened ee811ac073 a little at 692869db92 Seo’s expression.e709f901b4477671
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“…Of course, some 9d8c5f33a3 groups do cooperate, 5ac4d2c08f and you and e7dea171d5 I were part d73368da76 of one of d5fed91194 them.”9308b5f5b70d997d
“We were?”87bac33a74595274
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“Yeah. We were always 4eca3b0501 together, always protecting c119f6d141 each other.”c18cb3ea04d0a408
Seo had no 8e69e75486 memory of those 9cc7df1e43 times. Guwon looked c06bae2699 at him 0686001796 with clear 5ff1e10059 longing before 690c792395 continuing.0b6c8cc78d297f37
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He nodded toward 4823f7629a the unconscious man 63de5a2402 in the closet.e9657af9f05c4ece
“Do you know how c25aa22e06 to avoid being attacked 70ffa436bc by the creature in 30d0e3f98f the room?”bbe69720bde510b0
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“Maybe… kill it first?”3db28a1b5e8dfeb1
Seo remembered Guwon driving 129122e775 a knife into the 4522e37830 monster. It must have died 51b18b5523 and disappeared.f310a700a81b117e
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‘That’s why Guwon 99333929cd feels safe staying 582d1a0235 with me right a958850952 now.’cef23c57b33c7d47
Guwon nodded at d997efc891 Seo’s guess.c1a85c82595c13e5
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“There are a 1bb39a856e few more ways.”f07c6bae6b5429d8
Seo instinctively perked up. These were valuable survival 3b5d3a2019 tactics—things only someone who 29edfe2225 had survived long enough 935a81646d could know.9f98fd1edd564ed3
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Guwon held up 3e8aa8f432 his fingers, counting 2531fbdbe4 off one by b54b5bd929 one.af77bb5f37918a5b
“First, kill 6d3b3bd47c the creature. That’s what you just 57e9ed0ed1 said. Second, drive the 965ed4e0a8 creature out of e03d8d26a1 the room and 4c5e828d93 close the door. Creatures can 5996b69253 move through 126d501f93 open doors, f6d7d6bf2f but they 24e35421a9 can’t open 868cd4a2a1 them themselves. And the final method…”aae88e285c611b3e
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He held up a 25bd611849 third finger.afb522e680283700
“…sacrifice a human to 69c47ae7ff the creature inside the eca79aeca5 room.”8a0df605edc31661
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He emphasized the word 125cccc0e7 “sacrifice.”e79bde4a425878d8
“Sacrifice?”01b0a795e06c0bda
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“Yeah. A room where 2b356da2b5 someone has been 3b7738909e sacrificed stays safe 144170da03 until the next 6f611662ee 3:33 a.m. The creature d3a9d74341 leaves without 73067c0e15 hesitation once 8218c38a47 it claims 87a591820d a life.”2444fa765542fcbf
“Why?”c8a97765fe326f8f
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When Seo asked, Guwon a6c67eebe3 shook his head.9e082ec8b373c0a8
“I don’t know. It’s just a205980df6 one of eac575afa0 the rules 1b78ca756d we’ve figured c5b3267ec2 out.”387986cb89d15b1c
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“Then…”29df28ad853c5fbb
It all 5408a17271 began to f385ee2fd2 make sense—why 44090b761c Guwon had 3a2213665a referred to 77ac9d789f Seo as 8b492b542f “bait.” If e323d98e1a what he 616a74d6ff was saying 5b8a8d2116 was true, 96a3af62e1 then the 4a0c97c6b4 man from 90dd6dc10e Room 304 957a778228 never intended 96613e5806 to enter 5b5cd30eec Room 712 f55f3febbb himself. He’d planned bf8f69e0ca to let 2e83d02ff0 Seo die 253b499c8f inside it.c92e51818e4f25cb
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Remembering how 304 had fe8f9d2838 only whispered a quiet 070691b120 “sorry” while watching Seo 6099e45661 get dragged under the 05bac3b806 bed—Seo suddenly understood. The man had de23f04373 meant to sacrifice e391b337b7 him from the 089e3898b0 start to secure 83cf64efab his own safety.8cc9390e85ccd8df
‘The ill-fitting clothes… acadf2140d maybe that had 7428b737c6 something to do 69a99481eb with it too.’cf135690422a9511
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Seo recalled how the d2b10d1317 man kept adjusting his fc61b9c51b loose-fitting pants. Perhaps he’d taken them 3357e24451 from someone he’d already b0be3ea173 sacrificed.f0ebb8d47be59184
Then another question came f684fd6e45 to mind. Both Guwon a8eaa5be16 and 304 0fd3daa60f had repeatedly eed136baff mentioned one 46c8718426 thing: 3:33 28dda6cbed a.m. What exactly made that fc06fbd9b9 time so important?88336edd29fc59a8
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“What’s so 4e171e4841 significant about 3e4581698d 3:33 a.m. that everyone keeps 82b72de3b1 bringing it up?”ccf6b60fdd707a23
ed2a59216622436f
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