1. Hotel Mortis

Part 1

He woke up alone. When he opened his eyes, the ceiling seemed farther away than he had thought. As he turned his head while lying down, he could see the legs of furniture.

That’s right. He was lying on the floor.

The carpeted floor wasn’t exactly cold, but it wasn’t comfortable either, so he sat up. Stretching his languid muscles, he thought to himself.

‘For having slept on the floor, I strangely feel refreshed.’

His body felt incredibly light. To exaggerate a bit, it was as if he had been reborn.

“By the way, where is this place?”

He spoke out loud, questioning himself. It was to confirm that this room, lacking a sense of reality to an unusual degree, was not a dream. Fortunately or unfortunately, his voice was more vivid than anything else.

“Ah.”

Not long after, he realized the reason this place felt so unreal was due to its profound silence. 

Even the natural sounds that should typically be present were absent. No car noises, no chirping birds, no rustling wind, not even the faintest sounds that should naturally be heard if there were people around…

He slowly flexed his wrist joints and looked around.

It was a stylish room decorated in monochrome colors. There was a large bed that appeared to be a double size, a dresser, an iron tea table, and chairs. The subtly lit indirect lighting cast a moody ambiance, illuminating the room in a way that could have otherwise have looked austere.

‘Why on earth was I lying on the floor when there’s a perfectly fine bed?’

After getting up from the floor and taking a complete look around the room, he instantly realized what kind of place this was.

‘This is a hotel, isn’t it?’

There was a large bed with comfortable-looking bedding, furniture with a minimalist design and interior, a narrow corridor connecting to the room, a built-in wardrobe, and an adjacent bathroom. To anyone looking, it was the standard room of a business hotel.

“Who on earth brought me here?”

However, the reason for coming to this hotel room and the memories just before that didn’t come to mind at all.

Could this strange gap in memory be a result of a severe hangover?

However, despite that possibility, his mind was too clear, and his body felt incredibly light.

He soon stopped worrying and looked around the not-so-spacious hotel room. The digital clock on the nightstand flashing with the numbers ’03:37′. Glancing out the window, he saw an impenetrable darkness that made it impossible to determine anything, but it was clear that it was 3:37 AM, not PM.

He picked up the telephone placed beside the digital clock and put it to his ear. It was completely dead. He couldn’t even hear the dial tone.

“Is this thing broken? How troublesome.”

His plan to call the front desk for some answers was thwarted.

‘Did I pay for this hotel in advance? Or was I going to pay for it after my stay?’ 

He searched his empty pockets for any money, hoping that the hotel bill had been paid in advance. Since he had no recollection, he must not have walked into this place on his own. Someone else had to have left him here, and he could only hope they had taken care of the hotel expenses. Otherwise, he risked being kicked out in the early morning hours when there were no taxis around.

‘How about pretending not to know anything, wait until morning, and then pretend to leave as if I’m just going out?’

He didn’t have any money to hail a taxi, but he wondered if he could go to a police station or someplace similar and plead for help.

He paced around the hotel room, trying vigorously to recall something from his memory. However, strangely, his mind seemed completely empty, as if devoid of any thoughts.

It wasn’t just that he couldn’t remember anything; it was as if his memories didn’t exist at all. His mind was completely clean, like an emptied trash bin.

“I’ve never experienced anything this bizarre in my entire life.”

He muttered softly, realizing the truth behind his words. If there were no memories in his head, then it was indeed the first time he had experienced such a state.

But what was even stranger was that despite not being able to recall any memories, he felt no anxiety whatsoever about his current state. In fact, it was not easy to realize that this state was strange, unless he consciously thought about it. It felt like one of the senses he missed was the feeling of being on guard, as if a dull part of it had been cut off.

He lay down on the bed, endlessly pondering the fact that he was truly facing an unusual situation. The cloud-like bedding enveloped his body, and the bed felt so comfortable and cozy, as if it had become one with his being.

‘If only I were a bit tired, I could have fallen asleep right there, just collapsing onto the bed.’

He supported the back of his head with his interlocked hands and cursed the person who had left him on the floor, leaving such a comfortable bed behind.

As he slowly looked around, he saw the plain and neatly wallpapered ceiling without any special decorations. Somehow, the feeling of lying down so peacefully and carefree felt like something he hadn’t experienced in a very long time…

He slowly blinked his eyes and then closed them. He was not asleep, however. He had just woken up, so his mind was clearer than ever. No, he could not even recall a specific time to compare it to being ‘clearer than ever’ before…

He remained there, still with his eyes shut, passing the time.

Time seemed to pass surprisingly quickly. When he finally opened his eyes slightly and checked the digital clock next to the bed, it displayed ’05:49′, blinking back at him. Over two hours had passed without him realizing.

“Isn’t it almost sunrise?”

He turned his body around and lay down, peering through the curtains at the view outside the window. It was still pitch black as if someone had covered the window with black sheets. The darkness seemed impenetrable. It was almost 6 AM, and dawn would break soon, but the scenery outside the window looked so dark that it seemed like daylight might never come.

‘Was it winter?’

He didn’t think much of it. During the heart of winter, it wasn’t unusual for it to be pitch black even at 7 AM, so he didn’t find it particularly strange. However, the fact that he had completely forgotten which season it was did strike him as quite odd.

As he felt a sense of unease and tried to recall his memories, he furrowed his brow.

-Click, click, click.

A faint sound rang three times. It was the sound of a switch being pressed. It was extremely subtle, but the hotel room was engulfed in an unbearable silence. The sudden noise felt as loud as someone clapping right next to his ear.

-Click.

Following that, the sound of another clicking was heard. The disturbing noise made him frown even more. Then, faster than before, the clicking sound rang three times again.

-Click.

And once more.

‘What on earth is this sound?’

At the moment he was filled with doubt and tried to get up from the bed.

– Splaaash!

A loud noise of water started ringing noisily. Startled by the abrupt and loud sound of water, he jumped up.

The sound seemed to come from the bathroom. As soon as he realized it, the splashing water noise abruptly stopped, followed by the sound of a switch.

-Click, click.

He got up from the bed and looked around. Then, the sound rang once more.

-Click.

Simultaneously, the corridor connected to the bathroom started to dimly light up.

“… What is this?”

He doubted his eyes. Although he couldn’t directly see the entrance to the bathroom from where he was, he could tell that the bathroom light had turned on by itself.

He realized that he had only looked around the hotel room and hadn’t inspected the bathroom. 

‘Is someone in the bathroom?’

A shiver ran down his spine.

‘No. It could be… an electrical issue.’

In an attempt to dispel the ominous feeling, he struggled to recall any electrical-related knowledge he might have, even though he didn’t really know or remember anything. It was a fleeting moment of trying to calm himself.

-Click-click-click-click-click-click

The sound of the switch being pressed started ringing incessantly. Fast, fast, fast, to the point that it was almost painful to the ears. It was eerie and chilling.

Someone seemed to be frantically pressing the bathroom light switch. The light flickered relentlessly. He felt a mix of fear and nausea, fearing that the bathroom light might explode. It was a sense of unease born from the terror of the unknown.

His jaw tightened, and his whole body tensed up. The hairs on his body stood on end, and his muscles contracted tightly with tension.

-Click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click.

He stared without blinking at the intermittent flashes of light coming from the bathroom. Soon, he felt his eyes becoming dry. Tears welled up in his eyes one after another, but he couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes. It felt as if something would engulf him if he did.

He stiffened his body like a mouse in front of a snake. It was just the sound of a button being pressed, but it intensely stimulated his nerves, causing his head to ache. His heart pounded so violently that it felt like it might burst. The thumping of his heart echoed in his head along with the clicking sound.

-Click-click, click!

-Click.

How much time had passed? The hysterical sound of the switch, which seemed like it would never end, suddenly stopped.

“…..”

However, he didn’t easily let his guard down. The sound of the bathroom light turning on and off could start again at any moment.

One, two, three…

He counted silently. It was a way to regain composure and reassure himself that enough time had passed to be at ease. He looked towards the darkened bathroom and slowly took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.