Hotel Mortis - Chapter 1 Part 9

Part 9

Nodding his head, 712 decided to follow 304’s words.

“Well then, I’ll go along with your plan, sir. I guess I was a bit short-sighted.”

“Not at all. After all, it’s just a few days. It may be short, but it’s a significant amount of time. In that time, I’ve just picked up a few… tricks.”

At his modest words, 712 nodded appreciatively. They had only met a few hours after waking up, yet he felt more secure with this companion than anyone else.

“Let’s go inside now. Time is pressing. We need to hurry.”

04 patted 712 on the shoulder. Seeing 712 enter the room first, he also indicated that he would enter room 712 shortly. It felt as if 304 was watching over him, providing him a sense of reassurance.

“Well then, I’ll go in first. See you in a moment.”

712 nodded and said goodbye, then opened the door to room 402. Unlike before, the door opened smoothly without any resistance.

‘It seems like once you open a door, you can’t open it again.’

He wondered who had created such rules and why, as he cautiously set foot inside the room. The man from room 304 called out softly from behind.

“You really have to search thoroughly. Even behind a closet, under a rug, and even in small drawers under the bed. You need to explore every place that doesn’t seem like there could possibly be an exit!”

712 nodded towards him.

“Got it.”

And with a thud, the door closed behind him.

As the door closed, he felt completely cut off from the outside. 712 began to meticulously examine the interior of room 402.

This place was completely different from room 712 where he had woken up. It was too shabby to be called a hotel room. It might have been more fitting to call it a motel room. Within the narrow confines of the room, there were two single beds covered in worn sheets side by side. And there were two cheap TVs that operated with inserted coins, along with two dirty single sofas. The interior furnishings and appliances seemed to be arranged as if random items had been brought in from a junkyard.

The bathroom in such a place was undoubtedly beyond words. 712 frowned as a sense of repulsion washed over him. He decided to search the bedroom instead of the bathroom.

‘Perhaps I’m the type of person who saves the least appetizing things for last.’

He tried to inject a bit of humor into his thoughts, attempting to change his mood. However, it seemed he wasn’t quite adept at making jokes. A feeling of unenthusiasm unlike his conversation with the man from room 304 washed over him.

‘At the very least, it’s clear that I’m not good at being funny.’

With a shallow sigh, he opened the closet. Inside were a few hangers, two shower gowns, a dehumidifier, and a few clumps of dust – aside from that, there was nothing. However, he firmly heeded 304’s words and practically shoved his head into the closet, searching its interior.

“There’s nothing here.”

After thoroughly rummaging through even the pockets of the shower gowns, he muttered disappointedly.

Finding an exit this easily might be a strange occurrence, but beginners can have luck too, right? He was hoping for a miracle, like a novice gambler hoping for a jackpot.

Next, he turned his attention to the vicinity of the TV. Neglected for years, the electronics were covered in thick layers of dust. It was so dusty that even touching it seemed unpleasant. He lightly tapped around with his fingertip and examined the area below. Again, he found nothing.

He searched around the sofa and table, and the only thing he found were traces of discarded food scraps on the floor.

‘No luck. Didn’t expect to get stuck in a room like this.’

Blaming his misfortune inwardly, 712 muttered that he’d rather deal with the burdensome interior decorations of room 712 a thousand times over.

Although it was a cramped room, meticulously searching through everything took quite some time. Glancing at the digital clock inside the motel room, he saw that it was 05:00 AM, exactly five in the morning. Over an hour had passed since he had woken up with lost memories in this hotel. To him, that hour and a half felt almost like a whole day.

712 felt that time was passing incredibly slowly. Waking up in a blank state and continuously wandering around the same place might have contributed to this sensation.

He examined the area near the table, crawled gingerly on the bed, and searched each mattress by feeling around. He even checked inside the pillowcases. However, once again, he couldn’t find anything.

As he was sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping the sweat from his nose, he suddenly exclaimed.

“Ouch!”

Feeling a sharp sensation in his right ankle, 712 quickly stood up from his seat. It felt like something had pinched his ankle. He attempted to move away from the bed swiftly, but something happened before he could completely distance himself from the bedside.

“Ack!”

Something claw-like shot out from under the bed and grabbed his ankle, an immense force that left him with no option but to tumble forward. The fortunate part was that he didn’t fall backward, narrowly avoiding a head injury. However, his wrist, which he used to break his fall, was slightly twisted and hurt. But he didn’t have time to writhe in pain. Resisting whatever was gripping his ankle was of greater urgency.

“Let go, let go!”

He shook his captured right leg vigorously. With his free foot, he kicked and stomped on whatever was coiled around his ankle, but it remained unfazed. It was determined to drag him under the bed. He dug all his ten fingers into the floor and resisted with all his might.

“Ugh… W-What is this!”

As he was gradually being pulled under the bed, he could make out what was dragging him. It wasn’t clearly visible in the darkness beneath the bed, but it was something grotesque with a human-like form. The fingertips protruding from under the bed were sharp, and the fingers were longer and thicker than an average person’s. Dark blue spots spread across the wrinkled skin, resembling mold that had grown extensively, and a sense of disgust surged within him. Behind that, he could see flickering pupils and an empty mouth cavity. He had an intuition.

‘If I keep getting dragged in like this, I won’t be able to make it out alive.’ 

He didn’t want to die like this. Not in this shabby motel room, not at the hands of an unknown entity, not without even knowing who he was. He didn’t want to meet death in such a pitiful state.

That’s when it happened.

-Knock knock.

A faint knocking sound came from the door. To 712, that sound felt like the trumpet of an angel.

‘If I can hold on for about 60 seconds like this…!’

After counting to 60 outside, if the door didn’t open, 304 said he would personally open the door and come in, so he just needed to wait for about a minute. 712 hoped that 304 was one of those people who could quickly count numbers. Meanwhile, he started counting numbers silently himself.

‘One, two, three, four…’

He persevered with all his might. He even wondered if his ankle would be pulled out first. His fingertips were in pain. The fingernails he had dug into the floor were starting to waver from the strain.

‘Sixty-six, sixty-seven, sixty-eight…’

Despite having counted well beyond 60, the door didn’t open. 712 stared desperately at the door, hoping and wishing that 304 would come to his aid.

-Click!

“Finally!”

Seeing the moving doorknob, 712 exclaimed in jubilation. His fervent wish had finally come true. Even though his middle fingernail was already torn off, he was so happy that he momentarily forgot the pain.

The door slowly opened, revealing a familiar face. It was the man from room 304, with a grave expression on his face.

“Please help!”

Perhaps astonished by the unbelievable sight before him, the man’s eyes widened. 712 shouted at him again and again.

“Please help! Pull me out! Something is grabbing and dragging my ankle!”

“..…”

“Sir! Please! Help me!”

“…..”

However, the man just stood there silently, watching the scene without any movement, not even a flinch, in front of the open door. His gaze was so composed that it seemed too collected for someone supposedly shocked. No, it was as if he already knew, his gaze even carried a hint of subtle guilt.

‘He won’t help me.’

712 understood the meaning behind his gaze, yet he continued to scream for help.

“Help! P-Please help! I can’t… I can’t hold on any longer…!”

His fingernail had come off, and the strength was fading from his fingers. He was gradually being pulled further beneath the bed. A red line was drawn from the tip of his finger.

“Damn it, help, help me! You bastard! Please, save me!”

Now, his lower body was almost completely sucked under the bed. 712 directed curses and pleas towards the man from room 304. However, he was seemingly entranced, only watching as 712 came closer to death.

“I’m sorry.”

304 watched, without blinking an eye, as he saw him dying, leaving only these words behind. The existence he had believed to be his companion until just a moment ago was now abandoning him to his death. 712 writhed in agony, consumed by a sense of betrayal even more profound than the pain itself.

“I’ll curse you for eternity! Even if I have to become a ghost, I’ll curse you!”

His lower body was fully drawn under the bed, leaving only his shoulders barely visible. 712 desperately clung to the bed frame, resisting being pulled in further.

“It would be better for both you and me if you just give up now.”

304 whispered to him. But 712 had no intention of giving up his life easily. He really didn’t want to die like this.

‘An excruciatingly tiresome death.’

Humans only experience death once in their lives, so he couldn’t quite understand why such a thought popped into his mind. He felt sick and tired of death.