"Found you."
The woman's voice was soft.
Soft as a lover's whisper, murmured close to the ear after a long, long separation.
But to the real Vera, it landed like a death sentence.
She stumbled backward violently.
Her heels scraped against the wet floor, the sound sharp and uneven.
"It's not possible..."
She stared, unblinking, at that face in the corridor — identical to her own.
"I already died once."
The other Vera tilted her head slightly.
For the first time, something changed in her rigid smile.
It gazed at Vera, its voice soft and gentle, almost as though Vera had wronged her.
"I really did lose track of you."
It lifted one bare foot and set it down gently on the dark floor of the corridor.
Tap.
"But then..."
Another step.
Tap.
"I heard your voice again."
The real Vera's whole body went rigid.
Suddenly, Eve remembered.
When Vera had been standing outside the hotel doors, she had spoken her own name aloud.
—My name is Vera.
Could that have been the moment?
Eve stood between the two of them, an inexplicable chill crawling up her spine.
Two faces, utterly identical.
And yet she could tell them apart almost at a glance.
The thing in the corridor wore Vera's face, but it didn't move like something truly alive.
Its face was too still.
It didn't breathe.
It didn't blink.
Even the way its wet hair clung to its cheek looked deliberately, meticulously copied.
And when it smiled, only the corners of its mouth moved.
There was no emotion in its eyes.
Eve kept her voice low.
"What is that?"
Vera didn't answer.
Her gaze never left the creature, her pale fingers trembling slightly.
"I already checked into the Long Night Hotel..."
She seemed to be asking Eve — and trying to convince herself, both at once.
"Isn't this supposed to be a safe place?"
"Didn't I already lose you?"
The other Vera's smile slowly deepened.
"Safe?"
It lifted its foot again.
Bare soles pressing into the wooden floor, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind it.
Tap.
Udon suddenly rose from the tall stool.
The black fur along his spine bristled slightly.
"Don't let it get near the front desk."
Eve's heart tightened.
"Why?"
"The key."
Udon stared at the brass key beside the registry.
"If it gets the key to Room 101, things are going to get very troublesome."
Eve followed his gaze.
The brass key engraved with [101] still sat quietly where it had been left.
She reached out and snatched it up.
Almost at the same moment, the creature in the corridor stopped.
Its gaze drifted slowly down to Eve's hand.
For the first time, something close to longing crossed its face.
"Give it to me."
Its voice was exactly the same as Vera's.
"That's my room."
Eve tightened her grip on the key and didn't move.
She turned to Vera, unsettled.
"Why is it following you?"
"It wants to replace me."
Vera's voice trembled faintly.
"The first time it appeared, it was only a voice."
"I couldn't see it. I'd just hear it call my name, whenever I was somewhere alone."
"After that, it started growing my face."
The creature in the corridor watched her quietly.
The corners of its mouth curled upward again, slowly.
"Not just the face."
It corrected her, its voice gentle.
"Your voice."
"Your memories."
"Everything you are."
With every word it spoke, it sounded a little more like Vera.
Even the small pauses in her speech — it copied those too, exactly.
A cold feeling settled in Eve's chest.
"If it's already become you, why is it still hunting you?"
Vera stared at it, her throat tight.
"Because I'm still alive."
"As long as I'm alive, it can't truly use my face or my name. It'll always be nothing more than an impostor."
"It has to kill me with its own hands."
The smile vanished from the creature's face.
Then—
it moved.
A burst of rapid footsteps erupted from the dark.
No longer the slow tap, tap from before.
The thing charged toward them at a speed so unnatural its body seemed almost distorted.
"Run!"
Udon's voice cracked through the air.
Eve didn't have time to think. She grabbed Vera's cold wrist and turned to run.
Udon leapt down from the stool at the same moment, right on their heels.
But the second Eve took her first step, a pale hand shot out of the darkness.
So close it nearly touched the tip of her nose.
Eve's breath stopped.
But the creature wasn't looking at her.
Its eyes were only on Vera.
The pale arm swept past Eve entirely, its fingers seizing a fistful of Vera's soaked hair.
Vera cried out in pain, wrenched backward.
"Let go of me!"
Eve grabbed her instinctively, holding on.
But the thing's strength was terrifying.
Vera's heels screeched against the wooden floor, her body still being dragged, inch by inch, into the dark.
"You've run for long enough."
The creature leaned close to her ear.
And in Vera's own voice, it whispered gently,
"Give the name back to me."
The next instant.
A black shape leapt through the air.
Udon's claws raked viciously across the back of the creature's hand.
"Screeech—!"
A piercing shriek tore through the entire lobby.
It didn't sound human at all.
It was Vera's scream—
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but copied over and over again, countless layers stacked on top of one another, each slightly delayed and out of sync with the rest.
And felt like it was splitting Eve's eardrums.
The creature's fingers snapped open.
"Go! Upstairs!"
Udon landed on the floor, snarling low at them.
Eve grabbed Vera and ran into the corridor without looking back.
Footsteps erupted behind them again.
Too fast.
It was catching up.
Eve gritted her teeth, her gaze darting around the corridor.
The walls.
The framed paintings.
A ceramic planter, sitting in the corner.
She abruptly released Vera and lunged for the planter, scooping it up with both arms.
The creature seized Vera's arm again, dragging her backward.
Eve clutched the planter with both hands and, using every ounce of strength she had, brought it crashing down on the creature's arm.
Crash!
The ceramic pot shattered on impact.
Dirt and broken shards scattered across the floor, the dull impact echoing down the corridor.
The creature's arm buckled beneath the blow.
But there was no sound of breaking bone.
Slowly—
it turned its head.
For the first time, it truly looked at Eve.
That face, identical to Vera's, held a flicker of confusion.
As though it couldn't understand why this stranger was trying to stop it.
Eve was terrified too.
Her hands were shaking, uncontrollably.
But she didn't back away.
"She's already checked in."
Eve stared at it.
"You're not welcome here."
The creature studied her in silence for a few seconds.
"You're the Manager here?"
Eve didn't answer.
Its gaze slid slowly across her face, as if it had just, for the first time, found her interesting.
Udon's voice rang out sharply.
"Don't let it hear your name!"
Eve immediately pulled Vera to her feet and ran toward the stairs.
Behind them came a sickening, grinding sound of bone twisting.
Eve couldn't help looking back.
The creature's arm, struck by the planter, was bent at a wildly unnatural angle.
Black mist was seeping slowly from the wound.
It gripped its own wrist.
Gave it a light twist.
Crack.
The distorted arm snapped back into place.
Eve pulled Vera through the corridor.
The stairs were just ahead.
The creature lifted its head again.
The smile was gone from its face entirely.
All that remained was cold, killing intent.
"Run!"
The three of them turned and bolted up the stairs.
At the same moment, the creature lunged after them.
Its pale fingers brushed the hem of Vera's dress, almost catching her ankle.
Eve spun around.
Gripping the stair railing with one hand, she kicked the creature hard in the shoulder.
It had been lunging forward and was caught completely off guard.
Its body lost balance and tumbled backward down the stairs.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The sound of its body striking each step rang out, one after another.
"Now!"
Eve seized the chance and shoved Vera up the remaining stairs.
The two of them stumbled upward.
Udon followed close behind.
The creature lunged again almost immediately.
Pale fingers suddenly hooked into the hem of Vera's dress.
A soft tearing sound followed.
Vera didn't look back. Using the force of her forward momentum, she ripped the caught fabric free, leaving a torn piece of her dress in the creature's hand.
At last, all three of them reached the guest floor.
The instant they crossed the final step—
the footsteps behind them stopped.
Too suddenly.
Eve leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.
She slowly turned to look back.
The creature stopped on the last step below the guest room floor.
So close now that only a breath separated them — yet as if held back by some invisible line, it could not take another step forward.
That face, identical to Vera's, tilted upward from the shadows below, watching them in silence.
"It can't come up here?" Eve asked under her breath.
Udon's eyes stayed fixed on the stairs below, his tail tense.
"It can't."
"The lobby is open to anyone. But the guest floors above it — only registered guests can enter."
Several seconds passed.
The creature slowly took a step back.
Then another.
Finally sinking back into the darkness below.
Only that voice — identical to Vera's — drifted up from deep within the corridor below.
"I'll wait for you to come down."
Eve didn't linger.
She tightened her grip on the key to Room 101 and, with Vera beside her, followed Udon quickly down the guest room corridor.
Room 101 was the first door.
She inserted the key into the lock.
Click.
The door opened.
Warm amber light filled Room 101.
The curtains were drawn shut.
The bed was clean and neatly made.
Compared to the cold, oppressive corridor outside, the room was almost unnaturally peaceful.
Vera hurried inside.
Udon crossed the threshold after her.
Eve entered last and shut the door quickly behind them.
The lock clicked shut on its own.
Only then—
did Vera seem to lose every last bit of strength, sinking slowly to the floor.
Eve leaned back against the door.
Her chest heaving.
The key still trembling in her grip.
The room was warm.
The damp, bone-chilling air outside was completely shut out beyond the door.
The old telephone on the nightstand suddenly rang.
Ring—
Ring—
All three of them turned toward it.
Eve hesitated for a moment, then walked over slowly and picked up the receiver.
A faint hiss of static came first.
Then that voice — impossible to place by age or gender — spoke slowly.
"Guest Vera. Check-in confirmed."
"Room 101 is now active."
Eve let out a small breath of relief, then tightened her grip on the receiver.
"What was that thing downstairs?"
Silence on the other end.
Only the faint static continued.
Several seconds later, the voice replied coldly,
"Unregistered entity."
"The Manager is responsible for its removal."
For a moment, Eve thought she'd misheard.
"I'm responsible for it?"
"I don't even know what it is!"
The voice ignored her question.
It simply informed her, coldly, of what she was about to face.
"If removal is not completed before 8 a.m.—"
A brief pause.
Then the voice continued.
"It will be granted unrestricted check-in privileges."
The call ended.
Only the flat, monotonous dial tone remained in the receiver.
Eve stood beside the bed, staring at the telephone in disbelief.
"That's it?"
"What else were you expecting?"
Udon jumped onto the low cabinet beside the bed.
Black mist clung to the tips of his claws.
It flicked its paw in disgust before lowering his head to lick it clean.
"The hotel isn't a monster encyclopedia."
Eve put down the receiver.
"So do you know what it is?"
Udon's licking paused for a moment.
It lifted its palm-green eyes toward Vera, who sat on the floor.
"Nameless creatures."
"They don't have faces of their own. No voices of their own."
"So they choose the person they want to become."
Eve remembered the creature's frozen, unnatural smile.
"It imitates the voice first?"
"Then the appearance."
Udon went on.
"Last, the memories and habits."
"Once the original dies at its hands, it takes that person's name for itself, and goes on living in their place."
The room fell silent.
Vera sat with her head down.
Her soaked black hair hid her expression.
Eve asked, "Is there a name for this kind of creature"
"I told you. They don't have names."
Udon paused for a moment.
"But some of the people who've survived them call them—"
"Name-Takers."
Eve silently committed the name to memory.
Then she looked at Vera.
"You said you'd died once before. What did you mean?"
Vera's fingers curled slowly.
A long time passed before she finally answered.
"Someone told me that if the target dies, a Name-Taker will lose track of them."
"So I went somewhere very particular — a morgue."
She lifted her eyes.
A trace of unfaded fear still lingered at their corners.
"There was a row of refrigerated chambers there that could temporarily take the life from a living person."
Eve's breath caught.
"You actually died?"
Vera looked down at her hands.
"My heart stopped."
"In a certain sense — yes. I really did die, once."
"That's why it couldn't find me anymore."
"Two days later, I woke up again. I changed my clothes, moved somewhere else, and stopped using my own name."
"Later, I heard the Long Night Hotel was a safehouse — a place where people like me could stay. So I've been searching for it ever since."
Her gaze slowly shifted toward the door.
There was a hint of despair in her eyes.
"I thought I'd finally lost it."
Eve remembered what Vera had said outside the hotel doors.
—My name is Vera.
That must have been the moment.
The creature, having lost its prey, had heard her voice once more.
And found her again.
"So it followed you here."
Vera didn't deny it.
She lowered her eyes and said quietly, "I'm sorry."
The room was silent for several seconds.
Eve didn't know what to say.
She was frightened too.
Even now, her legs still felt weak beneath her.
But looking at Vera, sitting on the floor, all she could manage was a quiet question to Udon.
"It can't come up here, right?"
Udon answered calmly,
"It can't enter the guest floors tonight."
Eve finally allowed herself a small breath of relief.
But the next moment—
Udon leisurely added, "But at 8 in the morning, the night rules lift."
"And the restriction between the lobby and the guest floors disappears with them."
The relief Eve had just felt sank right back down.
She raised her wrist.
The watch read:
[03:38]
Four hours and twenty-two minutes until eight a.m.
Downstairs, in the lobby.
The Name-Taker wearing Vera's face sat quietly on the sofa.
It simply lifted its head slowly, gazing up at the ceiling.
As if it could see straight through the floorboards, straight to Vera in Room 101.
Then—
the corners of its mouth curled upward, at an angle no ordinary human face could ever make.
It was waiting too.
Waiting for eight a.m.