486 Room Service
Han Fei had stayed for 3 hours inside the cryptic world already. He only needed to finish one mission and he could log out. Plus he had his neighbors with him this time so he was not that worried. After gaining the altar owner’s personality fragment, Han Fei became more confident. This confidence had nothing to do with ability, it was a presence imbued in the soul, it was a present from an Unmentionable.
Han Fei had no idea if the personality fragment had any use. He merely felt his mood had improved recently. It was as if parts of his soul had been fixed and his personality was becoming more complete.
“Pure Hatred and Large Lingering Spirits would be noticed instantly if they crossed into the other zones, I didn’t want to wage war with the plastic surgery hospital yet so the few of us will go first.” Han Fei stood beside Xu Qin and assigned different missions to his neighbors. Some would go to the mall to gain items to improve themselves and to inform Mirror God about Wang Pingan. Some tenants had to stay behind to defend Ziggurat. The rest would follow Han Fei to infiltrate into the hospital zone.
Among them, the least easy to be discovered was Han Fei, who was surrounded by Soul Mist. Even Unmentionables couldn’t see into his secrets. That combined with the passive of the Beast Mask was double security. As long as Han Fei didn’t show himself, others wouldn’t discover him. With absolute invisibility and a number of passives that increased his speed, Han Fei could look after himself already.
“There has to be more than 1 Grade E building at the hospital zone. We are not going near the abandoned hospital at the center of the zone. Our goal tonight is the residential area connecting the hospital and Ziggurat.” Han Fei had memorized the map Fu Sheng left behind. To help his neighbors, Han Fei drew out the map of the hospital zone and the buildings that they needed to pay attention to. “Overall, the hospital zone is smaller than Ziggurat. However, there are at least 3 Pure Hatreds there, so we can’t be too careful. We will do this step by step. If we run into like-minded friends, we can get them to join us; if we encounter people who are too stubborn, then we’ll consume them. The conclusion is nothing shall go to waste. Every encounter is a chance.”
Han Fei’s words gained everyone’s approval. The rise of Ziggurat depended on the tenants’ willingness to make friends. After setting up the plan, Han Fei departed.
Drake, Lee Zai, Weep and Ying Yue entered the urn. Xu Yin walked beside Han Fei. They exited the mist and entered the strange cluster of buildings.
“Sis, thank you for your meat and paper doll, without them, I wouldn’t be able to leave the altar.” At the corner of the dark city, beside the twisted buildings, Han Fei and Xu Qin walked in the shadows.
“You don’t need to thank me. I’m very happy that you like my cooking.” Xu Qin’s pale skin was covered in curses. She was a unique presence made from endless curses. If her curses were unsealed with 13 table knives, then she was as powerful as a Large Lingering Spirit.
“The pattern of curses on your body seems to have deepened.” Han Fei walked closer to Xu Qin. She didn’t wear any perfume but she carried a very special smell of meat. It was very alluring.
“Perhaps I’ve assimilated too many curses lately.”
“Assimilated?”
“Yes, the way I become a Pure Hatred is different from normal. I need to collect 1000 types of female curses.” Xu Qin was calm when she said these things. “If I can collect 10000 types of female curses, perhaps I can become a Cursed Unmentionable.”
“I think you are perfect right now.” Han Fei still remembered how Xu Qin was when she lost control at Cattle Alley. At the time, there were only several hundred curses inside Xu Qin. If a Xu Qin with thousands of curses lost control, no one could stop her.
“Right now is not bad but to preserve this present, then I have to ingest more curses.” The curses in Xu Qin’s eyes burned. Her red eyes regarded the street. “I’ve been meaning to come here a long time ago. This place hides many curses I want. It hides many people’s desire for beauty. This kind of twisted desire is my best food.” Hearing that, Han Fei felt like he needed to improve himself too. After all, it sounded like he had to take responsibility for implanting that thought in Xu Qin’s mind. Walking down the street, Han Fei’s group finally came to their first destination.
“According to Laughing, this is the where the wandering souls disappeared.” In front of them was a hotel. It was 11 stories tall. It was one of the tallest buildings inside the hospital zone. “There are no ghosts around, so there might be a Large Lingering Spirit inside this building.”
Once a powerful ghost entered the hospital zone, they would attract the Pure Hatreds. For the sake of security, Han Fei had Zhuang Wen stay at the mist closer to the Ziggurat. If they ran into danger, Zhuang Wen would rush over.
They observed at the entrance and went around to the side door. ‘The few players sure know where to hide. A hotel is a good choice but in the cryptic world?’ Han Fei checked the side door. The door had been jimmied with. The lock was on the ground. This signaled that the person who ruined the lock hadn’t gone far. ‘At least they know to use the side door.’
The chill wind blew as the door opened. Han Fei officially entered the building.
“I haven’t visited a high-class hotel before, who would have thought my first time would be in the afterlife.” Han Fei looked at the classy décor and stuck close to Xu Qin.
“I also didn’t expect that my first trip to a hotel would be with you.” Xu Qin’s lips parted to reveal a smile. Han Fei felt like there was a deeper meaning to Xu Qin’s statement but he didn’t have time to linger on it. He took out Rest in Peace. “Be careful.”
The hotel had 11 floors and there were many rooms on each floor. Han Fei had no idea where the group of players had hidden. Han Fei found the map of the hotel beside the safe passage. The hotel was called Wen Hwa Beauty Hotel. It was a modern art hotel. The first floor was the lobby, the 2nd floor had 3 ballrooms, the 3rd floor had the buffet restaurant and art fusion restaurant; the rooms were from the 4th to 9th floor; 10th and 11th floors were the galleries.
The décor was highly artistic. Various oil paintings hung on the wall. There were also introductions to the hotel owner. The hotel owner was a talented but also narcissistic person. His artworks and pictures could be seen everywhere. They all came with long-winded explanation.
“Can the elevators be used?” Han Fei was very cautious of elevators in the cryptic world. The enclosed metal box was the perfect space for ghosts to kill. Soon the elevator opened on the 1st floor. The elevator was empty. No one entered it but the doors closed and it started to move on its own. Other than the elevator, Han Fei didn’t discover anything on the 1st floor. He led Xu Qin upstairs.
Normally at this kind of high-class hotel, most guests would use the elevator. The safety staircase would only be used in emergencies. However, Han Fei noticed the safety passage was covered in traces of footprints and heavy objects being dragged.
Han Fei planned to stop on the 2nd floor to check out the ballrooms but he spotted a strange book on the landing between the 2nd and 3rd floor. “How to negotiate a good relationship with your mother-in-law?” Han Fei picked up the book and to his surprise, this was a skill book from the surface world. “This should be left behind by the players. But what kind of players are they that they carry this kind of book with them?”
Han Fei paused when he reached the 5th page because the latter half of the book was covered in blood. Han Fei looked up the stairs, there were all sorts of trash there. It appeared like the player had dropped everything in their inventory to stop the ghost. Looking at the pots and pans as well as vegetable on the ground, Han Fei believed one of the players was a casual player. They played Perfect Life to enjoy the scenery, grow some vegetables, and decorate houses.
“They must have had an exciting night last night.” If pots and pans could scare away ghosts, Han Fei’s life wouldn’t be so hard. He followed the trail of everyday items and stopped on the 4th floor.
‘The trail ends here. The player had gone hiding on this floor?’ Han Fei pushed open the safety passage door. He didn’t walk far and saw a person standing at the end of the corridor. It was too far and too dark so Han Fei only caught the silhouette. Han Fei blinked and the silhouette became clearer and closer. Holding the knife, Han Fei was ready for battle when the figure disappeared. “Has it entered one of the rooms?”
Han Fei walked down the corridor and he realized the paintings had changed. They became gory. The paintings had the same style so they seemed to be telling the same story. “The first painting is a travel group arriving at the hotel, the 5 laughed happily. Then from the 2nd painting onwards, the style changed. The people in the paintings became less and less. More red is used. They appeared to have turned on one another.”
Han Fei stopped before Room 404 because a bloody statement was written on the door—do not enter the room at the end of the corridor!
Perhaps it was the influence from Ziggurat, Han Fei was sensitive to every room that had the number 4 in it. Han Fei pushed the door and realized the lock had been destroyed. He easily entered Room 404. The scary scene didn’t greet him. There was no dead body on the floor. The only interesting thing was the electric stove on the table and the poker deck on the bed. “They sure know how to have fun.”
Han Fei was about to leave when the phone in the room rang. In the dead silence, the ringing was scary. To prevent the ringing from attracting more ghosts, Han Fei answered the call immediately. The static was piercing to the ear. It sounded like the other party was grinding meat. After about 10 seconds, a female voice said, “Hello, did you call for room service?”
Before Han Fei spoke, the system said, “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered Grade F Mission—Special Room Service.
“Special Room Service: Wen Hwa Beauty Hotel near the plastic surgery hospital offers a very special room service. No user has given it a negative review before.
“Mission requirement: Find out the content of the room service within the next 90 minutes.”
After the system notification ended, Han Fei was rather disappointed that it was just a Grade F Mission.
“O well, at least I can log out after doing this mission.” With this in mind, Han Fei became reenergized. He said into the phone. “What kind of service do you offer? I want the most special kind.”
“Hello, did you call for room service?” The woman repeated.
The woman kept repeating the same question. Eventually Han Fei surrendered and said, “Yes, I did. Arrange it now.” The call ended right after.
“Such a horrible attitude and they have zero negative review? Is it because no user is left alive?” Han Fei turned around and saw Xu Qin sitting on the hotel bed. Her red jacket was a great contrast to the white bed. ‘It doesn’t feel right being alone with her inside a hotel room.’
Han Fei moved to the study table. He was about to sit down when the doorbell rang. A cleaner appeared at the door pushing a cart filled with toiletries.
