Chapter 104: Trap (4)

Su-myeon looked at the Heart playing card sitting at the counter.

Waiting for me? No, why the hell would I go in there after hearing something like that?!

That thought did occur to him, but Su-myeon immediately looked at his companions, who were scattered around, unable even to regroup and wandering about in confusion.

The masters of the two ghost stories, fighting violently, still were not showing any interest in the humans.

For now.

'Not yet.'

The moment they noticed their presence, the situation would definitely change.

Because of the violent fight that kept destroying the surrounding structures, a low cloud of dust had settled over the area.

Thanks to that, it concealed the forms of the group as they crouched down.

But how long could they keep avoiding them like this?

Could they find the exit while avoiding them like this?

'It won't be easy to get out.'

Then those two would stop fighting and try to capture the humans in order to obtain causality.

Su-myeon had to make a decision before this dust settled.

Boom!

Once again, along with a violent noise, the sound of something enormous slamming down onto the ground rang out.

A noise filled with an overwhelming force that seemed utterly impossible to resist.

"For now, let's go inside."

In the end, Su-myeon decided to face that playing card.

If communication was possible somehow, then he might at least be able to coax the other side.

Rather than getting swept up in a blind brawl between monsters and being crushed to death like a shrimp whose back breaks in a fight between whales, it was right to do something he could actually do.

Seeing Su-myeon enter Dream Arcade, Han-su also approached while leading Jae-hak.

No physical threat reached this side at all, so approaching was not difficult, and for the moment they could feel relieved.

When they stepped inside, the playing card, which had moved to sit at the counter inside, spoke to them.

"Have you been well?"

At the gentle question from the playing-card employee, Han-su and Su-myeon could not answer easily.

The last time they had parted from that playing card, Han-su had cleanly cut off one of the playing card's arms.

And even now, one of the playing card's hands was still missing.

Was a peaceful greeting like this really appropriate between them?

As though the answers of the two did not matter at all, the playing card continued speaking.

"Lady Alice has always been waiting for the day you would visit again."

Ju-hee, Cheshire, Hwi-yeon, and Mu-yeon soon approached behind them as well.

With his shoulders growing heavier by the number of people in the group, Su-myeon answered calmly in as gentle a tone as possible.

"......I don't know. I only needed somewhere to hide for a while. I didn't come because I intended to accept your proposal."

Because he had no intention of giving in easily.

At Su-myeon's cautious tone, the playing card raised its long mouth into a smile.

"Ha ha, then would you like to stay here and go outside when you feel comfortable?"

The artificial laughter coming from a face without eyes felt unpleasant enough to send a chill down his spine.

Saying that, the Heart playing card raised its one remaining hand and pointed outside.

Following the gesture and looking outside, they saw that the fight was already coming to an end.

At some point, the parasite had extended more than ten long legs, as though making an insect specimen.

It was piercing the Pied Piper into the ground dozens of times.

And then, leaving the limp giant, the Pied Piper, behind, it slowly approached the front of Dream Arcade.

As though waiting for someone.

The body of the child it was using as a host stared blankly at the entrance to Dream Arcade with unfocused eyes.

"......."

He really, really hated this.

If they left this place in this situation, what kind of ending awaited them was so obvious there was nothing to say.

Even if they stayed here and held out.

There was no way to estimate how long they would have to endure.

Su-myeon turned his gaze back toward the Heart playing card.

It seemed that admitting the other side had the upper hand in this conversation and finding out its objective would be a more productive conversation.

"Why is Alice waiting for me?"

"Because you are special."

That did not seem to answer the question very well.

When Su-myeon narrowed his eyes at the Heart playing card's vague answer, the playing card continued.

"The causality that you, Su-myeon, are gathering in cooperation with Lady Bell should be in the form of currency. Correct?"

Su-myeon did not answer the playing card's question.

But he knew that silence was no different from affirmation.

"And do you not possess another currency as well, Su-myeon?"

"...What?"

Around that point, Su-myeon began to take an interest in what the Heart playing card was saying.

Indeed, just as the playing card had said, there was currency still remaining that he could not use right now.

'Alice Hotel vouchers.'

That too was a type of currency, and he still had some left.

As though Su-myeon had realized something, the playing card once again merely smiled with a strange expression.

It did not explain anything more specifically.

But Su-myeon could make one guess from the context of the conversation.

Was it not Bell's Rose Coins that were special, but rather that currency inside a ghost story itself was causality?

Considering the characteristic of ghost stories being expanded and maintained through causality, it was a reasonable explanation.

In other words, then.

'......The causality I have at Alice Hotel....'

Just how much was it?

But there was still something strange.

That was not currency Su-myeon had brought in with him in the first place.

The hotel itself had given it to him....

"Lady Alice wishes to speak with you again, Su-myeon. That day, you were so focused on leaving that it was impossible to continue the conversation."

Of course. That's because if she talks to someone and likes them, she makes them stay there permanently. Damn it.

"I didn't have much time then...."

Giving an ambiguous answer, Su-myeon felt exhausted by the conversation, where it was difficult for him to gain the upper hand.

The weight of the lives of the companions who were only looking at his back grew heavier and heavier.

Somehow, he had to get out of here safely right now.

Erasing the conversation that had gone off on a tangent from his mind and focusing on his objective, Su-myeon spoke to the playing card again.

"......So, you're asking me to come back to Alice Hotel?"

"Yes. All you need to do is give us 'permission' so that we can escort you there whenever you wish to visit."

Even now, Su-myeon did not know the exact method of accessing Alice Hotel.

Even though he had already been there once, he still did not know the method.

All he knew was something as broad as falling asleep and then waking up there.

Perhaps through this conversation, he might be able to learn what the condition was.

Although, with his life hanging in the balance right now, that was hardly important.

"Then, I have to get out of here somehow before I can go there. Right?"

The playing card did not readily answer that question from Su-myeon.

For the first time, it felt like the upper hand in the conversation had shifted.

The playing card's silence meant affirmation.

"First, you'll have to give me a way out before I can give permission for anything or not."

"No. If you give us permission...."

From this point onward, the playing card had difficulty continuing the conversation and hesitated several times.

It looked exactly like a service worker troubled over the line between what they were allowed to say and what they were not allowed to say.

That excessively human attitude made Su-myeon feel even more uncomfortable.

If he thought about it theoretically.

'This person must have been human once too.'

Had they somehow become entangled with Alice Hotel, turned into an employee in that form, and forgotten about themselves like Cheshire?

While Su-myeon was thinking that.

The playing card seemed to finish organizing its thoughts and began speaking.

"I am an employee of Alice Hotel, and this place is under Lady Alice's jurisdiction and also belongs to the hotel grounds."

After suddenly explaining the situation, the playing card added at length.

"Su-myeon. I promise you. Lady Alice is not inviting you with the intention of harming you, and in addition, we playing cards will never again take any action that causes harm to your mind or body."

Damn. They sure know how to sell something.

As with any ghost story, if they wanted to exploit a loophole in that promise and pull some trick, there would be any number of ways to do so.

But conversely.

Breaking a promise at Alice Hotel was an act that required an equivalent price.

Based on that promise, Su-myeon could also find a loophole and use it against them.

"That promise means you'll provide me with an exit, correct?"

Before answering carelessly, Su-myeon asked once more.

Rather than something that merely sounded convincing, what Su-myeon wanted first was an immediate chance of survival.

But because the premise of this question was practically the same as saying that if they gave him an exit, he would revisit Alice Hotel.

Han-su and Ju-hee, who had been watching the situation, grabbed Su-myeon from behind.

Su-myeon deliberately did not look back and waited for the playing card's answer.

"......We are also borrowing space within this ghost story, and there are matters we have agreed upon with its master. Therefore, I cannot promise to provide you with an exit. However."

The answer was negative, but the nuance was strange.

While Su-myeon waited calmly.

The playing card continued speaking in a very composed tone.

"Since the master of this story has made its intention to harm you, Su-myeon, quite clear, in order to fulfill our promise not to cause you harm, we can create a back door for you."

"Good, then. I'll go. First, a safe back door...."

Han-su cut off Su-myeon's answer and asked the playing card.

"Wait. When exactly is he supposed to go to the hotel?"

At Han-su's question, the playing card did not answer immediately and looked at Su-myeon.

Su-myeon, who had been secretly thinking that perhaps he could just run away as soon as they opened the back door, decided to give up that foolish plan.

He did not want to do something where the penalty for trying and failing was death.

"...Right. Since we're making a promise anyway, it's better for both sides to make it clear."

"If you designate a date as soon as possible, we will keep a suite vacant for you."

As soon as possible....

Because it was an ambiguous expression, Su-myeon asked first.

"......Would one month from now be all right?"

"Yes."

"Then what about two months from now?"

"......Shall we create the exit two months from now as well?"

Ah, that would be difficult.

With nowhere else to retreat, Su-myeon nodded for now.

Still, if the condition in exchange for saving six people was revisiting Alice Hotel.

It was not a bad condition.

For now.

"Then one month from now...."

Su-myeon went through various negotiations with the playing card, trying to secure as much safety as possible.

Outside, a mannequin-like boy with unfocused eyes was watching them, and in front of him, a playing-card head without even eyes was speaking.

Even in this situation, Su-myeon somehow managed to carefully check this and that in detail, and the playing card remained kind until the very end.

"Very well. Then I will make the reservation accordingly, and exactly next month, on the same date, if you go to sleep, we will meet again."

"......What happens if he doesn't go to sleep on that date?"

When Ju-hee suddenly asked again, the playing card spoke in the same gentle voice.

"You would be breaking your promise."

Promises at Alice Hotel carried absolute meaning.

Ju-hee had also experienced Alice Hotel before, so she had not forgotten that rule.

"Then, please take care on your way back."

Beyond the back door opened by the Heart playing card, a staircase that led straight upward could be seen.

But even while looking at the escape route, Su-myeon could not help feeling uneasy.

Had it been the wrong choice?

It felt as though, just to survive right now, he had escaped piranhas by jumping into a shark cage.

But either way, he had to survive today first before he could think about what came next.

"......."

He could still see the parasite staring fixedly at this side from behind.

Still, since it could not touch them from over there, how fortunate was it that they had at least gotten an opportunity like this.

"......."

Wait.

Su-myeon, who had been heading toward the escape route, suddenly stopped again.

"May I ask one more thing?"