Chapter 30

The Explorer II

“Ah-ryeon, hold the elevator door open for a moment.”

“What?”

“Your guild leader has something to confirm.”

I immediately climbed the elevator wall. Sim Ah-ryeon gasped, looking at me like she was staring at a giant spider, but I paid her no mind.

Channeling aura into my hands, I sliced the ceiling like it was soft tofu. Sparks flew from my hands as if I was welding.

In no time, I had created a neat hole in the ceiling. This was the power of a skilled aura user.

“G-Guild leader, what are you...?”

“Shh. Keep quiet and wait.”

Upsy-daisy —I lifted my upper body through the opening. It felt like a scene from Mission Impossible.

“Hmm.”

The wind outside was biting.

The space beyond the elevator was pitch black. While the lack of lighting contributed to the darkness, it felt excessively gloomy even accounting for that.

More precisely, it felt “crude.”

The elevator car had ropes, but that was about it. I couldn't see the essential components like governor ropes or door drive units that should be there.

And for an elevator supposedly running in the "Tower of Sauron," the structure seemed flimsy. A high-rise building like this should have streamlined, aerodynamic curves in the elevator capsule.

‘Gotcha.’

The entity that created this anomaly wasn't a professional.

It was just a product of vague preconceptions and images from average Koreans who had a general idea of this hotel.

‘I avoided the worst.’

I smiled faintly.

This would make things easier.

Hup!

With a thump, I climbed back down through the ceiling.

Sim Ah-ryeon, who I'd asked to hold the elevator door open, couldn’t resist her curiosity and had peeked outside.

“Guild leader. There are people here, and they’re all fine... My God, their clothes aren’t wrinkled at all, so neat... Ah! The carpet is all messed up because of our shoe prints...”

At that moment, the “beings” in the hotel lobby all turned their gaze toward her. Their pitch-black pupils stared at Sim Ah-ryeon.

“Eep!”

“Quiet.”

Before she could scream, I immediately covered Sim Ah-ryeon’s mouth. She squirmed and whimpered as I whispered quickly into her ear.

“Don't speak recklessly. Avoid eye contact. The staff and other guests are all anomalies.”

“Mmph?”

“To be precise, they’re parts of the anomaly. More like its terminals. The entire hotel is likely one single anomaly and void. If you draw too much attention, the ‘whole hotel’ will start watching you.”

“Mm! Mm-mm...?”

“Of course, if you were an Awakener who could wield aura as easily as breathing, you could smash them all to bits. But our goal is exploration before subjugation. We need to document how this void works in detail. It might help humanity. Got it?”

“......”

Nodding slowly, Sim Ah-ryeon moved her chin up and down. Her palm felt a bit sweaty, but I tried to ignore it.

“Now, let me show you how a skilled Awakener explores the void. As long as these creatures are around, keep quiet and just follow my lead. Can you do that?”

Nod.

“Good.”

I released Sim Ah-ryeon’s mouth and walked with her toward the check-in counter.

Tap. The anomalies, or their terminals, moved their gaze precisely in sync with my steps.

If I were a regular person with little experience dealing with anomalies, this sight would be terrifying.

But who am I? The regressor who’d spent countless cycles tangled up with anomalies, resilient as the Baekdu Mountain and the East Sea.

I approached without blinking.

Creak—

The staff behind the counter parted their lips. Their mouths were as black as an abyss, and their tongues weren’t even visible beyond their teeth.

It mimicked a human voice.

-Welcome. Do you have a reservation at our hotel? If so...

“Good morning.”

The staff suddenly froze.

Unfazed, I continued fluently.

“I have a reservation at this hotel. I’m a travel YouTuber. Can I check in?”

-Ah, um?

The staff looked visibly confused, understandably so.

I had spoken in German.

Hotel staff at high-end establishments usually speak English and can respond in Japanese or Chinese. But German, French, Spanish, or Russian requires special preparation, and they can’t handle them on the spot.

Naturally, Korean anomalies had the same sensitivity toward foreigners as most Koreans. They became utterly weak.

-Ah, uh, sorry, sir. Can you speak English? Reservation? Reservation, please?

“Oh, come on. Relying only on English in today’s global era?”

-Sorry?

“I’m sorry. I can’t speak English. Deutschland. Germany. Okay?”

-Ah, Germany. What should we do? He seems German. Ah, apologies. Please wait a moment.

My flawless German pronunciation made the anomalies shrink back and panic.

“Oh, that’s why you left your backpack...”

“Right. When exploring voids, you must quickly grasp their nature and adapt. Even in dangerous voids, as long as you follow the rules, they usually won’t attack... Only about 50% of the time.”

“That’s still half!”

Which is why you should always be strong enough to smack them down if they attack. Tsk tsk.

When the elevator reached the first floor, the door opened. As a test, I took a quick photo of the lobby.

“Hmm.”

“What’s in it?”

“I’ll tell you in a bit.”

The photo showed bodies piled high like mountains.

Twenty partially-eaten corpses stood near the glass doors, and a hundred others clung to the glass, scratching it with their palms.

What looked like a pretty chandelier was actually a gruesome collection of hanging corpses.

“Let’s head out.”

“O-Okay...”

As expected, the glass doors opened naturally when I pushed them this time. A gust of fresh air rushed into my nose.

Sim Ah-ryeon plopped to the ground.

“It was so scary! So scary! Guild leader, please! Don’t drag me into this; it’s bad for my heart!”

“Here’s the first-floor photo. A souvenir.”

“A souvenir? What... AHHHHHH!”

Sim Ah-ryeon fainted.

I was satisfied. This is why it’s fun to hang out with her. Her reactions were always great.

Of course, the satisfaction didn’t last long after I read a silly post on SG Net the next day.

-[OldManGoryeo]: Dropped my footprint at ‘that tower’ in Gangnam, Seoul, lol.

-[OldManGoryeo]: Is this dungeon really that famous? I went, and it’s a joke. Those Awakeners always boast, but this crappy dungeon is what kills them?

(79th floor lobby photo)

(1st floor elevator photo)

-[OldManGoryeo]: I’ve got a spirit item, so I took some verification shots. Check if your parents’ faces are here, lol.

Naturally, these so-called verification shots were the instant photos I had given Sim Ah-ryeon.

The response was overwhelming.

-Anonymous: Where is this?

└LiteraryGirl: It’s obviously the Tower of Sauron.

└Anonymous: ?? This guy raided the Tower of Sauron alone and came back fine?

-[Samcheon] Cadet: What’s with this OldManGoryeo villain? Is this unhinged troll actually a reclusive master?

-[Baekhwa] SixthGrader: Hweeeeng. (>_<);;

-Anonymous: Wow, this guy is next-level, lol.

-[Satisfaction] CookingQueen: This is fascinating.

“Hm.”

I glanced over at Sim Ah-ryeon, fiddling with her phone in the guild’s lounge.

“Heh... hehe...”

She lay sprawled on the couch, looking incredibly happy.

Perhaps that’s what a true anomaly looks like.

Epilogue.

In the next cycle, after picking up Seo Gyu from Busan Station, I researched the “Tower of Sauron” online.

With civilization still just beginning to collapse, I easily found image files of hotel vouchers.

And using those files, I forged a reservation.

Why? The barcode was a mess, but there was no way the anomalies could verify it.

So, armed with this voucher (presidential suite, 145 m2, meals included, priced at 8 million won per night), I revisited the “Tower of Sauron” alone.

The result?

“Yes, your reservation is confirmed, Mr. Undertaker. We’ll serve you with the utmost care.”

“Oh...”

Surprisingly, the reservation worked!

That night, I not only enjoyed dinner at the finest restaurant but also took a relaxing bath while admiring Seoul’s night view from the window.

Wherever I went, the staff smiled and treated me with the utmost kindness.

“Jackpot.”

The next morning, I took a picture of my breakfast to test.

Click.

I savored my seaweed soup while waiting for the film to develop. When the photo finally emerged, I looked down.

“Hmm...”

I won’t reveal what was captured in the photo here.

But if you’re planning a trip with someone, make sure they have a strong stomach. Very strong.

Ah.

And of course, I’m not bringing Sim Ah-ryeon.

Footnotes:

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