Episode 2
Let’s pause for a moment. At this point, it’s worth clarifying exactly what HelloHappyHotel is.
HelloHappyHotel was a quintessential management simulation game released during the peak of the mobile gaming craze.
You take on the role of the general manager of a place called HelloHappy Hotel, decorating and running your own hotel—a perfectly peaceful, monotonous healing game.
Yes. That’s what everyone thought at first. Until a single complaint post appeared on social media.
[Some random NPC showed up, and now the app won’t open. Is this a bug?]
From that post, reports of bugs started flooding in from all corners.
People encountered nameless, unidentified NPCs, graphics distorted grotesquely, NPCs spouted bizarre dialogue—you name it. The variety was staggering.
Honestly, it was too peculiar to be dismissed as mere bugs. Some speculated that these were special hidden content, Easter eggs, deliberately added to enhance the game’s fun.
But it was hard to stay positive when, after encountering a bug, the game would crash, the app would refuse to reopen, or, in the worst cases, the phone itself would break entirely.
Frustrated players, fed up with being burned, finally lodged complaints with the game’s development team. The gist was something like:
[Are you running this game with your feet? How are we supposed to play a phone-destroying game?]
But the response they got was beyond shameless.
[After investigation, the reported bugs could not be identified. If you encounter said bugs again, please immediately close the game.]
The audacity was jaw-dropping. And then, that bug was discovered.
A black rabbit-shaped icon that suddenly appeared in the corner of the game screen.
[Clicked the icon, and some weird screen popped up. Is this secretly a horror game?]
As the user described, clicking the icon brought up a screen that looked straight out of a horror pixel game.
Sure, the original HelloHappyHotel used pixel graphics too. But this was an entirely different beast—so different that anyone would call it a separate game.
Unlike the base game, where you had to spend resources and time to gradually decorate the hotel, this version’s hotel was already fully furnished. New maps had appeared too, though most were inaccessible, locked off from the player.
Above all, the number of bugs skyrocketed. It was almost an exaggeration to say that every tap triggered a bug that could crash the game. And these bugs were uniformly grotesque.
Distorted graphics were the least of it. NPCs started killing each other, and when they were done, they turned on the player. Blood streamed across the hotel. It was practically a horror game now.
Finally, players banded together and sent a collective inquiry to the developers.
[What the hell is this? Some kind of special event? A hard mode? An Easter egg?]
The response came quickly. It was long and polite, but the core of it boiled down to this:
[HelloHappyHotel is not currently hosting any special events. Nor is there a hard mode in development.
If you encounter the “black rabbit icon,” do not click it. Instead, promptly close the game. If you act quickly enough, no issues will arise.
If you fail to do so, please delete your account and completely remove the app from your phone. Replacing your phone with a new one is even better.
Please, do not cling to your play history. Above all else, the most important thing is the safety of you, the player.
The entire team at Studio Wonderland promises to always strive for your enjoyable hotel management experience.]
After this response went public, did players say, “Pfft, crazy game, crazy devs,” and abandon it?
Not at all! From that day forward, HelloHappyHotel earned the nickname “Neapolitan Horror Healing Game” and skyrocketed to infamy.
Some players even arbitrarily decided the “black rabbit icon” was a “hard mode” and gathered in game communities to discuss strategies. Otakus, honestly, are all out of their minds.
…Not that I can talk. I was once obsessed with cracking that “hard mode” myself.
What can I say? Back then, we genuinely believed the Neapolitan horror was the true concept of HelloHappyHotel…
In any case, that’s how HelloHappyHotel shook the youth of a million otakus, including my middle school days.
No matter how hard we tried, no one could fully conquer hard mode, and as exhausted players gradually dropped off, the game faded into a mere fragment of nostalgia.
‘I’m not even sure if it’s still in service.’
Swallowing a heavy sigh, I looked around.
The dimly lit lobby had barely any intact fixtures. The silence, replacing the gentle classical music and cheerful guest chatter, created a tense atmosphere, as if something horrific could happen at any moment.
It matched perfectly with the starting point of HelloHappyHotel’s hard mode: the hotel’s main lobby. The original game, with its bright and cute aesthetic, would never have allowed a lobby decorated like this eerie forest.
And that perverted rabbit-masked guy I met earlier—let’s call him BunnyPervert for short—was the NPC who briefly appears at the start of hard mode to explain the world. The name “Alice” he used for me is the default name given to the player character.
‘So, it’s confirmed. I’ve been possessed into HelloHappyHotel’s hard mode.’
A surge of frustration made me clutch my head. Damn it. Of all things.
As I mentioned, hard mode is so full of bizarre phenomena it could pass for a horror game. The thought of facing them in real life made my stomach churn…
‘Wait a second.’
Isn’t it… kind of a relief that I’m possessed into a game instead of a novel?
If it’s a game, maybe I can just quit to escape. Sounds simple enough!
‘Let’s see.’
First, I need to find the system menu. I’d need that to hit the quit button or whatever.
Sitting upright, I eagerly scanned my surroundings. In most game possession stories, there’s supposed to be a system icon or something in the corner of your vision.
But.
‘There’s nothing.’
Did I miss something? What was it about game possession stories again?
‘…Do I have to call it out loud?’
Like the status windows in hunter stories?
‘That’s so cringe!’
Oh no, my dignity as the eldest daughter is melting away, floating off down the Han River. Oh no, oh no…
…But is it really that cringe? Knowing about hunter stories and status windows already makes you an otaku.
“…….”
Something inside me withered. I let out a gloomy cough.
“Ahem, ahem. System…? System menu?”
A brief silence.
And then… nothing appeared!
I covered my burning face and lowered my head.
‘Damn it… Thank God no one saw that.’
If anyone had witnessed this, I’d have spent my life punching holes in my blankets… Huh?
“What’s this?”
Something glinted under the hem of my skirt, which I’d spread out carelessly. Pulling it out, I saw a compass I’d never seen before, its red rim intricately carved like a gem.
“Why’s this here… Whoa.”
As I fiddled with it, the compass started to split along a seam. What the hell? I barely touched it, why—
“Oh. It opens.”
It must be designed like a locket.
Regaining my composure, I examined it closely. Turns out, it wasn’t a compass but a pocket watch. The compass design was just a decorative cover.
…Could this be the plain pocket watch that BunnyPervert gave me, transformed somehow?
“Neat.”
Unable to hide my curiosity, I opened the watch’s cover. At that moment—
《Welcome, Alice!》
A small holographic screen, about the size of a phone, popped up above the watch.
“!”
The interface, centered on the blackened lobby graphics with various icons arranged around it, was unmistakable.
Of course it was. This was the main screen of HelloHappyHotel!
“System!”
I hurriedly tapped the gear icon in the top-right corner. If memory served, that’s where…
“There it is!”
At the bottom of the system menu, alongside volume controls and such, was an option labeled “Clock Out.” This was the quit button I’d been looking for!
“Please…”
With a trembling heart, I placed my finger on “Clock Out.” The button registered with a click, and the screen dimmed slightly.
《Loading…》
A small white rabbit face spun in circles on the screen. I clenched my fists, waiting for the loading to finish.
Soon, the rabbit disappeared, and a pop-up window appeared.
《This function is currently disabled!》
