[8:00 a.m]
A burst of static crackled suddenly from the ceiling.
Fzzzz—
Eve's eyes snapped open.
The next second, the cold, flat voice echoed through the entire hotel.
"Night rules lifted."
The clock on the wall, frozen for so long, let out a small click.
Click.
The second hand began moving again.
The hotel's time had returned to eight in the morning.
Eve lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
A small sound stirred at the foot of the bed.
Udon opened his eyes, lifting his head lazily.
"Morning already?"
"It's eight."
"Good."
Udon buried his head back into his paws, apparently intending to keep sleeping.
Eve pushed herself up by the edge of the bed. Her clothes were caked in dust and grime, dried sweat clinging tightly to her skin, giving off an unpleasant smell.
She searched the manager's room and eventually found a tiny washroom.
It had a toilet and a sink. No shower.
She turned the tap.
A shudder ran through the pipes somewhere deep inside the wall, and after a long moment, cold water finally sputtered out in fits and starts.
With no other choice, Eve used the cold water to wash away some of the dirt and grime from her body. Her feet ached from all the running the night before, and several bruises had formed across her knees and calves.
Inside the wardrobe, she found a black outfit. The style was old-fashioned, but it was still better than continuing to wear her filthy clothes.
With a look of distaste, Eve changed into it.
Once she had cleaned herself up, she started looking for food.
The cupboards in the manager's room, the drawers behind the front desk, the waiting area, every corner of the lobby—
all empty.
There was an old kettle sitting in the waiting area, but opening it released a sour, rotten smell.
While Eve rummaged through everything, Udon woke up and padded over to her side, unhurried.
"A hotel this big doesn't provide any food?" Eve asked.
"There used to be a restaurant." Udon answered.
"And now?"
"Many parts of the hotel stopped functioning a long time ago."
Eve was about to press further, but Vera suddenly crossed her mind.
Last night, after they'd returned to the first floor, Vera had gone back into Room 101 alone to rest.
"Let's check on Vera first."
The dirt and scratches left in the corridor the night before had vanished, as though the chase had never happened at all.
Eve and Udon arrived outside Room 101.
Eve raised her hand and knocked three times.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Vera, it's me — Eve. It's eight in the morning now. The night rules have lifted."
No answer came right away from behind the door.
After a while, Vera's hoarse voice came through the door.
"What happened to the Name-Taker last night?"
"I threw the corrosive liquid from Room 707 onto its face," Eve answered. "It started corroding, and eventually its entire body disappeared."
After Vera confirmed that Eve and Udon were the only ones outside did she open the door.
The lock clicked softly.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Vera appeared in the doorway. Her face was still pale, faint dark circles under her eyes, the stains from the night before still clinging to her clothes.
"The night rules have lifted, and the Name-Taker really is gone," Eve said. "You're fully checked in now — an official guest of Room 101. The room's protected by the hotel's wards. You're safe staying here."
Vera was quiet for a moment, then gave a small nod.
Hearing there was no food anywhere in the hotel, Vera dug a crushed packet of biscuits and two energy bars out of her dress pocket.
"This is all I have left. Let's share it."
Eve refused immediately. "We don't know when we'll find food again. Keep it for yourself."
But Vera tore open one of the energy bars and held it out to Eve.
"If the manager starves to death first, what good would keeping all this for myself do?"
"You saved me last night. Eat something. We'll figure out the rest together afterward."
In the end, Eve accepted it.
"Thank you."
They split the food evenly between them. The biscuits were a little stale, the energy bar barely tasted like anything, but the gnawing ache in Eve's stomach finally eased, just slightly.
Then Eve noticed Udon sitting beside the door.
"You're not eating?"
"As long as the hotel still recognizes me, I won't die even if I go without food for a long time."
"Not dying doesn't mean you don't get hungry."
Vera broke off a small piece of biscuit and placed it in front of it.
"You saved us last night too. This is yours."
Udon looked down at the biscuit without moving closer.
After the hotel stopped functioning properly, his remaining food supplies had slowly run out. As long as the hotel's recognition remained, Udon could stay alive.
And so, hunger had become something he could simply ignore.
Besides, it had been a very long time since anyone had cared whether he needed to eat.
"Everyone gets a share," Eve said. "We're not leaving you out."
Udon looked at the two of them.
"Troublesome," he muttered.
Only then did he step forward and bite into the biscuit.
It didn't taste particularly good.
But for Udon, the unfamiliar part wasn't the taste.
It was the fact that, with so little food left, someone had still chosen to save a portion for him.
The feeling was like a faint trace of warmth settling into a place that had been quiet for far too long.
Udon could no longer remember the last time he had shared food with anyone.
After the previous managers left, the hotel had gradually grown empty. The remaining guests only came looking for him when they needed something.
No one treated him as someone who needed to be looked after.
And no one, while hungry themselves, had insisted on giving him part of their food.
Udon didn't like this unfamiliar feeling.
Yet it didn't push the biscuit away.
"How is it?" Eve asked.
Udon licked the last crumbs from his paw.
"Terrible."
"You ate it awfully clean for something terrible."
Udon turned away.
"I don't like wasting food."
Vera looked at him, and for the first time, the faintest hint of a smile touched her lips.
A brief warmth settled over the room.
But the empty wrappers quickly pulled Eve back to reality. There was no food left anywhere in the hotel, and she had no idea how they'd find any more.
"Did the hotel used to have places to eat and shower?" she asked.
"It did. It's been without a manager for so long, all that's left now is the most basic housing and management functions."
"Can they be restored?"
"They can. But first you'd need to gain management authority over the hotel, and enough of the hotel's energy."
"What does that mean?"
Ring—
Ring—
The old telephone on the bedside table suddenly rang.
Eve walked over almost instinctively and picked up the receiver.
[Initial nighttime management completed.]
[Management permissions updated.]
[Unmarked floor is now accessible.]
[Manager must proceed with an authorized individual.]
Eve immediately thought of the black button inside the elevator.
The one without a number.
The one that had never lit up before.
"Who's the authorized individual?"
The telephone gave no answer.
The line simply went dead.
Eve lowered the receiver and looked at Udon.
"You're the authorized individual?"
"Yes."
"Where does the unmarked floor lead?"
Udon paused.
"It's difficult to explain from here. You'll understand once you get there."
"It can answer the questions you were asking earlier."
After finishing the little food they had—barely enough to ease their hunger—Eve, Vera, and Udon left Room 101 together.
The two of them made their way to the elevator. The moment Eve and Udon stepped inside, the black button at the bottom lit up with a dim, dark red glow.
But the instant Vera stepped in after them, the glow vanished at once
[Unauthorized guest detected.]
[Access restricted to: Manager and authorized individual.]
[Unrelated guests must leave.]
The elevator shuddered violently, the light overhead flickering in rapid bursts. Vera had no choice but to step back out; the shaking stopped the instant she did.
"Go back to 101 and wait for us." Eve said. "If there's food down there, or a way to restore the hotel's facilities, I'll let you know the moment we're back."
Vera still looked worried, but eventually she nodded.
"Come back safely."
The elevator doors slid slowly shut.
In the narrow space that remained, only Eve and Udon were left.
The black button sank inward on its own.
Click.
[Manager: Eve Lam]
[Authorized Individual: Udon]
[Verifying permissions...]
The elevator jolted hard and began descending.
No floor number appeared on the display at all. The descent went on far longer than any ordinary floor would take, and a low, steady rumble began building somewhere behind the metal walls.
Eve braced a hand against the wall instinctively. The air around her seemed to grow heavier with every second, each breath costing more effort than the last.
She glanced at her watch to check the time — the second hand still ticked along normally — but the elevator's descent seemed to have no bottom at all. No matter how long passed, there was no sign of arrival.
Slowly, it dawned on her that wherever the black button led might not exist anywhere within the hotel's ordinary structure at all.
Thump.
Thump.
Like a heartbeat.
Or something enormous slowly awakening in the depths of the darkness.
Ding.
At last, the elevator stopped.
[Permission verification complete.]
The metal doors slowly slid apart.
Beyond the doors lay nothing but an endless expanse of darkness.
A moment later, a faint, dark gold light bloomed somewhere deep within it.
Thousands upon thousands of thin threads stretched outward from every direction, like veins running through a body, brightening and dimming in time with that heavy, pulsing rhythm.
All of the threads converged at the very center of the space.
Suspended there hung a massive black shape.
It looked something like a heart, and something like a cocoon wrapped in countless threads. Its surface was covered in cracks, dark gold light leaking through the fissures, faint enough that it looked as though it might go out at any moment.
Before Eve could make out its true form, the elevator's chime sounded once more.
[Welcome, Manager, to—]
[The Hotel's Core.]