The Hotel of Illusions — Lobby.
As Go Eun-bi and I stepped into the lobby, we immediately spotted Yeon Ha-neul seated by the window.
She was gazing out at the garden beyond the glass, but upon noticing our approach, her rabbit ears perked up in a twitch of recognition.
“You’re here?”
“Ha-neul! Did you get my message? It took so much effort to collect them! We did a great job, didn’t we?”
Eun-bi darted toward Ha-neul and quickly claimed the seat beside her. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around her and rubbed her head affectionately against her shoulder.
“Yeah… You did great.”
“Ah, this feels so nice. Like I’m being healed from the inside.”
Caught off guard by Eun-bi’s sudden embrace, Yeon Ha-neul stiffened, visibly startled. But she made no attempt to push her away—she merely received the affection with mild discomfort.
Looks like she likes Ha-neul, I thought.
The way Eun-bi sought praise from her, reminded me of an eager puppy wanting to be petted.
Given that Eun-bi was shorter than Ha-neul, the effect was even more pronounced.
And I clearly wasn’t the only one thinking it.
“You did really well, too.”
“You too, Ha-neul!”
With a hesitant hand fumbling in the air, Ha-neul finally reached out and gently patted Eun-bi’s head. Eun-bi leaned in closer, fully surrendering to the comforting gesture.
Smiling quietly at the scene, I took a seat across from them.
“No one followed you, right?”
“Oh, plenty did. You’ve no idea how hard it was dealing with them all.”
While continuing to stroke Eun-bi’s hair, Ha-neul turned her gaze toward me, puffing her cheeks in mock annoyance.
Just like Eun-bi, she was fishing for praise from me too.
Her expression was just too cute.
“Well, I trusted you could handle it. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even come up with a plan like this. Good work. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Hmph. I’m fine. What about you?”
“Not a scratch.”
“Me neither!”
“What about the chips? Are they all swapped?”
“I changed them all out before you arrived. Eun-bi, just a sec.”
“Aww, I was enjoying that…”
Ha-neul gently peeled Eun-bi off her side, then pulled out a set of chips from the pocket at her waist and laid them out on the table.
We began counting them.
“One hundred thirty-three,” I said.
We’d gathered quite the haul.
All that running through the forest had been worth it.
“Alright, time to divvy them up like we promised.”
“Okay.”
Fifty chips were required to book a suite room.
I pushed five stacks of ten toward Yeon Ha-neul and three stacks toward Go Eun-bi. That would leave her with thirty chips—just enough to book a deluxe room, two levels below the suite.
She had insisted from the start that she’d only take enough for that.
“These are yours, Eun-bi. But… are you really okay with this?”
“Yeah. It’ll take a little longer, but I could have gone for a higher-tier room…”
Seven more chips and she could’ve reached the premier room.
Ha-neul and I double-checked with her.
Eun-bi twisted a lock of her brown hair between her fingers before answering.
“I’m really fine. I know my own limits.”
“…”
“If I had your help, I probably could book a suite. But my abilities aren’t at that level yet. If I push for a top-tier room and mess up the fourth practical test… what’s the point? So I’m sticking with what suits me. Thanks for worrying about me, though.”
Just like she had the first time, Eun-bi politely but firmly declined.
And her reasoning made sense.
Whatever the fourth test was, it clearly let you choose your own difficulty.
Blindly choosing the hardest one wouldn’t do you any good. Knowing your limits was a skill in itself.
Still, with her skills, the premier room wouldn’t have been impossible… I thought.
But if this was her firm decision, I would respect it.
And it seemed Ha-neul agreed.
“If that’s how you feel, then so be it,” she said. “So… what should we do with these?”
I had fifty. Ha-neul had fifty. Eun-bi had thirty.
That left three chips unclaimed.
None of us had any need for them now.
“Hmm. What should we do with these? Should we just leave them here? Or give them to someone else? Who knows, maybe it’ll come in handy later.”
“Or we could give them to the twins? They’ve been working hard collecting chips, too…”
“No way. We worked too hard to just give these away.”
“…”
What to do with the leftover chips?
No need to even think about it.
I scooped up the remaining chips and crushed them in my fist.
“If we don’t need them, we destroy them. Why should we let someone else benefit from our work? Let the twins work harder next time.”
“Wow. You’re really…”
“I had no idea you were secretly evil.”
Ha-neul and Eun-bi both clicked their tongues at me.
I chose not to hear it.
At the lobby desk stood the proctor collecting the chips.
After handing ours over, we each received our room assignments.
“Congratulations to all three examinees on passing the third test. Please take your keys.”
The proctor handed them to us one by one.
“You’ll find a notice on the table inside your room. It lists the rules you must follow while staying at the Hotel of Illusions for the day. Be sure to read it carefully. Violations will be punished accordingly.”
“…”
“Also, as the notice will explain, there will be a banquet at 7 PM. Your attendance is mandatory. Instructions for the fourth practical test will be given at that time. If you don’t attend, it will be considered forfeiting the exam.”
The proctor warned us sternly.
We nodded and headed toward the elevators.
The doors opened.
“What do you think?”
“About the test?”
“Yeah. What kind of test could they be planning in a place like this?”
“Good question…”
As the elevator ascended, we watched the numbers tick up, each one bringing more silence.
None of us had the faintest clue.
Finally, the number stopped at six.
“This is me! You guys did great today. Let’s team up again if we get the chance.”
“Take care.”
“See you later.”
Go Eun-bi, assigned to a deluxe room, stepped off.
Ha-neul and I waved as the doors closed.
The elevator climbed steadily, finally reaching the top floor, where the suite rooms were located.
“Which way do we go?”
“There’s a floor map—over there.”
“Hm… I’m on the right.”
“Then I must be on the left.”
“Guess this is where we split up. The banquet’s at seven, so until then, let’s rest in our rooms.”
“Agreed. Meet back here ten minutes early? Or should I come find you?”
“No need to wander around. Let’s just meet here.”
“Okay. We should be able to wash up in the rooms, right?”
Since the third test had lasted until 7 PM, the fourth was likely to begin after that.
Until then, we had free time.
We scanned the floor map and went our separate ways.
I headed down the right corridor.
This should be it.
My room was at the very end of the hall.
I unlocked the door with the key given at the desk and stepped inside.
“…It’s huge.”
The room was divided into a bedroom, bathroom, restroom, and lounge.
Spacious enough to accommodate several people comfortably.
For one person? It was overkill.
Ha-neul would probably be stunned.
A small chuckle slipped from me as I explored the suite.
It lacked for nothing.
Everything needed for daily life seemed to be provided.
Truly, it was worthy of its name.
…Even this is here.
In the bathroom, there were shampoos, body washes, towels, robes, disposable toothbrushes, razors…
Even something that looked suspiciously like Vitamin C.
Won’t be needing that.
It had been in the previous hotel, too.
But under Ha-neul’s watchful eye, I never got the chance to investigate.
At some point, it had disappeared—probably tossed by her.
I hadn’t seen it since.
But now… Ha-neul wasn’t here.
Finally giving in to my curiosity, I peeled the wrapper.
And made a water balloon.
“Oh…”
It kept expanding endlessly.
Any more water and it would’ve burst into disaster.
Just in time, I shut off the faucet and poured the water out.
Mystery solved.
There really were so many strange things in the world.
Thoughts rushed in, but as always, the moment you tried to put them into words, they slipped away.
Still, I could say this much—
Truth is both distant and incredibly close.
I, still a minor, had glimpsed a shard of that truth.
And I’d carry it in my heart, never forgetting.
“…Now, what’s this painting?”
Back from the bathroom, I turned to the picture hanging on the wall opposite the bed.
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