Hotel Mortis - Chapter 1 Part 3

Part 3

Above all, even though his memory was completely blank, he didn’t feel anything strange.

That’s right. He couldn’t even remember his own face until he looked at the mirror in the bathroom.

He recalled his face that had been reflected in the mirror.

‘A pale face…’

He had a frail and nervous face. He looked like he was terrified of something, as if he could foresee what was to come.

‘Is what I saw earlier really true?’

By then, he began to doubt the sanity of his mind, which could not even remember his face, age, or even his name. He wondered if he could trust the cognitive abilities of such a mind.

In an instant, he rose from his seat, driven by the swelling doubts. His gaze landed on a plaque that read ‘712.’ That’s right. He had been in room 712 just moments ago. A strange déjà vu washed over him. It felt oddly familiar. Like a scene repeated dozens, hundreds, thousands of times in a dream…

He kept his eyes fixed on the number 712 and opened the door to room 712 once again. The previous experience had made him fearful, but he wanted to confirm this situation clearly with his own two eyes.

-Rattle!

However, the door to the room remained firmly locked from the inside and didn’t open. He tried turning the doorknob several times, but the door that had closed once didn’t open again.

-Rattle, rattle!

He turned the doorknob a couple more times and finally gave up trying to enter room 712 again.  Instead, he stood in front of the door, making a rather peculiar decision. Until he could regain his memories, he decided to refer to himself as 712.

‘Since I have no memories whatsoever, if someone asks about me, I can only describe myself as ‘the man who came out of room 712′.’

712 made an effort to brush off their memory loss as if it was insignificant. Well, to be honest, it didn’t require much effort at all. His reason tried to sound the alarm, insisting that his current state was abnormal, but that was about it. Since a sense of reality was absent, his reason’s warnings felt like distant screams from someone far away. It didn’t resonate deep within his being.

Deciding to take advantage of being outside the room, he quickly descended to the lobby floor and planned to exit the hotel. It felt like a rather reasonable choice. Soon the sun would rise, so finding his way wouldn’t be too difficult – though not knowing which path to take due to his memory loss posed a problem. Nevertheless, he was certain that he would come across a police station or something similar as he walked in any direction.

‘Since I’ve lost my memory, maybe I could request a background check or something?’

Maybe they’d laugh at the absurdity of it, saying they’d never had such a complaint before. But that was fine. For now, 712 just wanted some human company, maybe because of his previous strange experiences. Maybe if he could just talk to a real person, he’d realize that what he’d just gone through was just an illusion, and perhaps… he might even find a way to recover his memories.

The corridor was dimly lit. Even if it was nighttime, there should have been enough illumination to maintain some level of visibility for people passing through. However, this hotel seemed to have a very peculiar taste. The lighting was almost non-existent. It was so dark that one could barely distinguish the shapes of objects.

“I guess it would be much more accurate to feel around with my hands.”

Grumbling to himself, 712 checked the numbers on the passing doors. He did so to determine the direction he was walking.

“Let’s see. This is 704… No, 204?”

He checked the plaque’s number and blinked. It was because there were numbers listed that made no sense from a logical standpoint. If it was room 712, it should imply a room on the 7th floor, yet right next to it was room 204 on the 2nd floor. The arrangement completely defied the usual pattern.

He continued reading the numbers as he moved forward. 

To the right of room 712 was room 204, and then further to the right were rooms 1009 and 513…

The man from room 712 looked around in bewilderment.

“What on earth is going on here?”

Everything was in disarray, jumbled together. Even the designs on the doors were different from one another. Some were sleek, modern iron doors, while others looked so weathered they resembled the entrance to a century-old prison. There were even wooden doors adorned with intricate carvings.

Room 712, room 204, room 1009, room 513, room 601, room 310, room 1111…

Unordered numbers were listed. He continued walking ahead, looking around at all the room numbers, and tried to find his way to the lobby. He wanted to locate any stairs or elevators that could take him to a different floor. However, even that seemed beyond his reach now.

‘Is there an end to this corridor?’

The man from room 712 continued forward endlessly. It felt like he had been walking straight for hours. The corridor was so dark that he couldn’t see beyond it. He could only walk forward, into the darkness, with no option for pacing or hesitation. The only evidence that he wasn’t standing still was the changing room numbers as he passed them by.

And…

“… Room 909, room 508, room 71… 2.”

After uttering the number 712, he abruptly came to a stop in his tracks.

He had returned to the starting point.

‘How is it possible to end up back here after walking straight?’

If this hotel had a massive circular design and the corridors followed imperceptible curves that eluded human eyes, it might not have been impossible. However, this was different. His instincts were whispering to him.

He once again confirmed that room 712 was locked and continued forward. There was no other way. He had no choice but to keep moving incessantly until he found an exit.

The corridor he had already traversed seemed indistinguishable from before at a glance. However…

“… What’s going on here?”

Not long after passing room 712, the man discovered a turn in the corridor. In his memory, the corridor had been straight, but now it veered to the right.

Profound confusion set in.

‘How could this be possible? Have I lost my mind?’

He continued down the corridor, still puzzled. The corridor continued endlessly as it had been.

And then, another corner.

Once again, he found himself at the starting point of room 712.

Straight, right, left, straight, straight, straight, starting point…

Every time he returned to the starting point, the shape of the corridor had changed. It was as if the corridor itself was alive.

‘Will I spend the rest of my life wandering this dark corridor?’

As he was taking hesitant steps, lost in deep contemplation.

“… Is anybody here? Is there anyone here?”

A voice echoed through the deserted corridor. The man from room 712 turned his head in the direction of the sound. It was coming from behind him. The corridor he had just passed through, where there had been nothing at all.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been extremely frightened, but given the events unfolding in this living corridor, it didn’t seem unusual. Rather than fear, he felt relief. It felt like hours had passed since he began navigating this corridor. Since awakening alone in a hotel room, he hadn’t encountered a single person. 712 desperately wished not to be alone. The solitude in this place was too dark and eerie.

“Is anyone there?” 

712 called out, as if responding to the voice. In return, he heard an echo-like answer.

“Is there anyone here?”

When he listened more closely, he noticed that the voice was deep and mature. A middle-aged man was shouting. 712 felt greatly relieved upon hearing that voice. The sense of reassurance that a seasoned voice provided was remarkable.

“Is anybody here?”

The middle-aged man didn’t seem to hear 712’s voice and continued shouting, looking for people. 712 yelled loudly in the direction from which the voice was coming.

“I’m here! I’ll come to where you are! Please wait for me in your spot! The path here keeps changing, so it seems like someone should stay put!”

“Is there anyone here?”

However, it seemed that his voice wasn’t reaching 712 from his direction. He continued shouting, filling the corridor with his voice. He didn’t feel it was noisy; instead, he felt a sense of joy. With each step he took, the sound grew louder, rumbling like thunder. It was evidence that he was getting closer to the ‘person.’

“Is there anyone here?”

712 followed the sound, step by step. The sound seemed to be coming from close by, yet he had to walk for quite a while.

After walking for about ten minutes, a somewhat bulky silhouette appeared about 2 meters ahead. The corridor was too dim to see beyond that point. However, it was evident that this was a turn in the corridor, and one could roughly discern that someone was leaning over the corner, making noise.

712 briefly assessed the situation.

‘He’s a coward.’

But he had no intention of mocking him. This place was truly bizarre and unsettling to the point that one could easily become frightened. After all, didn’t he himself hesitate and rush out when leaving room 712? If the middle-aged man had experienced something similar or even worse, it wasn’t strange for him to be this afraid.

“Is anybody here? Is there anyone here?”