Chapter 1: Aha! This is a prequel!
In the pitch-black darkness where not even an inch ahead can be seen.
Someone behind me whispers in my ear.
“Hey. You know. Am I. Pretty?”
The chilling voice of a woman, one that the motel’s ‘manual’ strictly forbids responding to.
—But that’s no longer the case.
“Hey—you know. Am I. Pretty?”
“Asking again? Of course, you’re pretty.”
“Really?”
“Obviously. Want me to hug you tight like last time?”
“—Y-yeah. Hug me. Tight.”
I mistook a horror game for a dating sim, but so what?
“Come here, I’ll give you a hug!”
“Y-yeah—tight!”
As long as I’m happy like this, that’s all that matters.
I, Kim Jinwoo, a sturdy young man from South Korea.
After turning on the computer for a break, I saw a red glowing screen and lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in a hospital room but in a cramped, dark, unfamiliar studio apartment.
Press…
The vivid pain from pinching my thigh.
Yeah, this is definitely not a dream or hallucination.
That means I’m alive and have transmigrated into another world.
It’s a relief I didn’t die horribly at the young age of 26.
But there’s one small problem—
“…Where am I?”
Because I transmigrated as my real self, I have no clue which world this is.
“Jinwoo, haven’t you ever been told you’re clueless?”
“Hey, you idiot, why are you so dense? Think you get these chances because you’re popular?”
If I had to describe my life before coming here in one word, it’d probably be “clueless” or “dolt.”
Honestly, I didn’t think I was that bad.
When a female coworker offered me ramen, I declined because I just didn’t feel like eating ramen.
When someone invited me to join them at a bar, I firmly refused because I didn’t want to interrupt my rare drinking session with a friend.
But now, in this situation, I’m painfully aware of how being dense and clueless makes life inconvenient.
‘Where the hell am I…?’
I vaguely remember turning on the computer to play a game, so I’ve figured out this place is inside a “game.”
But that’s where it ends.
With my lousy intuition, I can’t even guess what kind of game this is or what genre it belongs to.
I searched the room for about 15 minutes, but I couldn’t find any useful clues.
All I got was a small flashlight, a rusty screwdriver, and an old, worn-out phone.
These alone weren’t enough to figure out what kind of world this is.
Ding!
Ding!!
Just then, as if to break the frustrating silence, the phone buzzed loudly.
I slowly opened the screen to check the messenger, and a message from a contact saved as “Motel Owner” was waiting.
[Motel Owner: Payment has been confirmed.]
[Motel Owner: The motel key is in the mailbox.]
[Motel Owner: I reiterate, we are not responsible for anything that happens inside the motel.]
[Motel Owner: Check the bottom drawer at the counter for items that will help you safely manage the motel.]
[Motel Owner: Good luck.]
The vibration stopped with the ominous final words wishing me “good luck.”
“Hmm…”
The message seemed important, but I was still just as clueless.
‘Guess I should head to the motel.’
From the context, it seems I’ve taken over this motel, which appears to be the main stage of the game.
It also looks like I can gather more clues there, so I decided to head that way.
Opening the door of the studio apartment, I stepped outside and was greeted by a pitch-black villa complex.
‘The atmosphere is… eerie, huh.’
Hurrying out of the villa complex, which didn’t even have a single streetlight, I opened the old phone and searched for the motel address from the messenger.
‘900 meters? Not too far.’
Worried it might be a long trek, I sighed in relief knowing it was close enough to walk.
For 15 minutes, I stared at the map app while walking down the desolate midnight road.
[You have arrived at your destination.]
[You have arrived at your destination.]
[Navigation ended.]
[Navigation ended.]
Lifting my head at the map app’s notification, I saw an old neon sign reading [LOVE MOTEL].
A slightly aged, small motel building came into view.
‘This… is the place, right?’
No other buildings were nearby, and the address matched the one in the messenger perfectly.
‘They said the key’s in the mailbox, alright.’
To double-check, I reached into the old mailbox as the motel owner instructed.
‘Ugh, what’s this?’
Along with an unpleasant clump of dust, I pulled out the key mentioned in the message.
‘Okay, this is definitely the right place.’
I brushed off the dusty clump with a metallic smell.
Approaching the motel entrance, I inserted the key into the padlock tied to the handle and turned it.
Clank!!!
“It’s open!”
With a loud noise, the chain locking the entrance fell to the floor.
‘Phew… alright. Let’s go in.’
Trying to shake off the strange tension, I took a deep breath and opened the door, revealing a motel lobby shrouded in eerie darkness.
“The light switch… oh, here it is.”
Click.
“…The lights aren’t working?”
Click.
Click.
Click.
I pressed the switch a few times, but the lights didn’t come on.
Carefully stepping behind the motel counter, I pressed switches, including those for the CCTV monitors, but nothing worked.
The emergency lights didn’t turn on either, suggesting the building’s power was cut.
‘But how’s the neon sign on? That’s weird.’
Pushing aside the minor question, I turned on the flashlight from the apartment and started rummaging through the bottom drawer of the counter.
“Here… nothing. This one’s empty too. Oh, condoms? For sale, maybe.”
It seemed the previous owner left things half-organized, as the drawer was stuffed with random items.
After digging through the messy drawer for 20 minutes.
“This is it.”
After a long struggle, I finally found an old wooden box, likely the “helpful items” the owner mentioned.
Clunk!!
Carefully opening the heavier-than-expected box, I found inside:
Two thin guidebooks.
An old-fashioned pistol.
Four magazines.
An eye mask.
A portable saw.
A rope.
Earplugs.
Sleeping pills.
And a note saying “Thank you.”
‘…Quite an unusual collection.’
Setting the rest aside, I pulled out the two guidebooks from the box.
[Motel Manager Instructions and Rules]
[How to Handle ‘Regular Guests’ by Time]
‘Looks like a motel operation manual. I want to read it, but the lights…’
It seemed like a critical clue to understanding this world’s genre or atmosphere, so I was about to read it by flashlight when—
Flash!!
“…The lights came on?”
The counter and motel lobby, previously pitch-black, were now lit.
‘Is the power back on? Why did the lights turn on by themselves…?’
This motel definitely feels off somehow…
‘Well, it’s probably not a big deal.’
A minor hiccup like this can be overlooked, right?
What matters now isn’t the lights turning on but these two manuals.
With the lights on, I grabbed a chair from the corner, sat at the counter, and carefully opened the manual.
‘Let’s start with the Motel Manager Instructions.’
[Warning: The manager is solely responsible for any consequences from not reading or following the instructions in this guide.]
[Table of Contents]
└1. Operating Hours
└2. Safe Return Policy
└3. Cleaning and Facility Management
└4. Guest Etiquette and Rules
└5. CCTV Rules and Management
└6. Emergency Exit and Stairway Management
└7. Appendix
The first page was a standard table of contents.
The warning was a bit intense, but nothing else stood out.
If anything, it felt overly detailed?
‘Wow, they even explain how to manage emergency stairways. Very safe, huh?’
Setting my admiration aside, I turned to the section on operating hours.
[1. Motel Operating Hours]
[LOVE Motel begins operations at exactly midnight.]
[When operations begin, all lights except in specific restricted areas will turn on, so please take note.]
[Once operations start, the manager must not leave the building until dawn at 6 a.m.]
[We emphasize: Under no circumstances should you leave the building.]
‘Aha! That’s why the lights turned on!’
One mystery solved.
The rest seemed pretty standard, so I didn’t think much of it and was about to flip to the next page when a peculiar line caught my eye.
[LOVE Motel operates strictly on a membership basis.]
[If a guest claims they found this place via the internet or a map app, send them away immediately.]
[If operations begin while reading this guide, we recommend prioritizing the ‘Regular Guests’ response guide over the manager instructions.]
‘…’
I hurriedly closed the instructions and, hoping I was right, quickly opened the guide for handling regular guests.
[Warning: The manager is solely responsible for any consequences from not reading or following the instructions in this guide.]
[Table of Contents: Guest Response by Time]
└12:30 a.m.
└2:00 a.m.
└3:00 a.m.
└3:34 a.m.
└5:30 a.m.
└5:59 a.m.
‘…So that’s how it is. This world is that kind of game.’
After seeing the time-specific guest response manual, I was certain.
A rundown motel on the outskirts of a deserted city.
An overly detailed management manual, a guide listing regular guests’ visit times, characteristics, and response precautions.
Combining all these clues, I reached one conclusion.
‘Got it. This game is a dating sim.’
The genre of this game is a dating sim.