Chapter 232: Booking an Inn

Kaelen grabbed Saha along as they slipped through the crowd in the village square.

That’s right.

The Ninth Floor was a whole thriving village filled with a considerable number of people, making it hard to spot a candidate in the crowd.

Just like on the Second Floor, Kaelen couldn’t tell if the natives of the Ninth Floor were real or NPCs. As far as his eyes could see, everything looked real, and no one paid the trio any attention.

Their first stop was at an inn, but the first two were fully booked or had only one room available. Kaelen had no plans on sharing a room with the girls, neither did they—or at least Elsa.

Kaelen speculated that in a few days’ time, newly arriving candidates wouldn’t find a room to settle down in and would have to return to their lobbies after doing their business.

The third inn they arrived at was in an old and isolated area.

"How many rooms do you have available?" Kaelen asked the lady at the front counter.

The lady ran her eyes across the trio and smiled. "We have enough room for the three of you. We charge 2 million EP per night."

"Two million?" Elsa asked in surprise.

"It’s okay," Saha chimed in. "We’ll add the cost to our demands," she said and turned to face the receptionist.

"Two rooms, please. This gentleman will pay for the two."

Kaelen frowned. "I’m not paying for anyone’s room. If you’re sharing a room with Elsa, I’m sure you two can bring one million each to pay for the room. Three million each if you spend your entire visa here before attempting the Tenth Floor."

"What? I thought we were sharing a room?" Saha asked him.

Kaelen stared at her blankly. "And why would I share a room?"

"I thought we had a plan? If I stay in a room alone, my brother can track me down and abduct me at night. You have to stay close to me, or you won’t be getting a dime for what Hara did. It’s not like I’ll be intruding on your space when I’ll be tied to the bathroom pipe."

Before Kaelen could reply, the receptionist laughed knowingly. "You see, this building was being used as a brothel before it was renovated into an inn, hence why it’s so empty, because most people who come here come for the women. But though the building has been generally renovated, we still have some special rooms with ’those kinds of equipment’," she lowered her voice to an excited whisper. "And if you had mentioned your activities earlier, I would’ve recommended it right away. It costs just six million per night and has enough space for three people to run wild," she said with a giggle.

"You should’ve said so earlier. We’ll take that room. Elsa can join us and keep watch," Saha said with a big smile.

"Token or transfer?" the receptionist asked.

"Whoa, slow down." Kaelen immediately interrupted. "We are NOT doing that," he said to the overjoyed lady and turned to Saha. "We are also not doing that."

"Would you talk some sense into your friend?" He faced Elsa for help.

She shrugged. "I mean, she’s not wrong. Her brother would definitely be searching all the inns looking for her, and once he finds her, he won’t be negotiating under any terms. So if you ask me, I’ll say we stick to the plan if you’re serious about getting compensated."

Kaelen stared at her in disbelief.

Why was everything starting to look like a set-up?

He was starting to seriously consider giving up and ditching the ladies.

He inhaled deeply to calm himself.

"Are you absolutely certain your brother can compensate me for the damages if we go with your plan?"

"1000%. He has a unique Talent that increases his drop rate like crazy, so he has a ton of loot we can split after the deal is closed," Saha said convincingly.

Kaelen was surprised by her revelation.

First, it was that she was a regressor, or at least had the ghost of a regressor. And now it was that her brother had crazy drop rates.

On the brighter side, if all she said was true, he could benefit from both.

If she was truly a regressor, she might know of a future event important for Kaelen’s progression. And for her brother, if his drop rate was that good and he gave Kaelen good loot, his reward system could advance the quality to give him another Supreme or even Transcendant item.

He no longer considered Primordial as special. He had a ton of them but had only come across a handful of the two superior ranks.

On the other hand, if she was just lying to fulfil her fantasy of getting maltreated by her captor...

He paused to stare at her for a moment.

"What? Didn’t you also drag me here to learn more about Hara, and perhaps... if she knew something about your future?" Saha asked, hitting the nail on the head.

"You do know we’re live right now, and your brother could easily find us by simply watching the stream?"

Elsa shook her head. "I’ve already given it a try. The stream is out of service for those actively on the Ninth Floor. Unless you return to your lobby, but that’s for candidates who have a Waystone, and due to the cooldown, they’ll be unable to return to the Ninth Floor before their 3-day visa expires."

The receptionist nodded with a smile, as though she understood what they were saying. Or maybe she did after all, but still insisted they were looking for a room to unleash their dark desires.

"In addition, we provide our customers with 100% privacy. Once you book a room with us, we forget your face and name in case anyone comes looking or asking questions," she said. "We also provide errand services for whatever our customers might need from the market, be it your everyday items or something to make your stay worth every penny," she said with a wink.

"What’s that even supposed to mean?" Kaelen asked blankly.

If someone made that statement back on Earth, it could only mean hard drugs.

"Stay innocent," Elsa commented from the side.

Kaelen frowned. "Well, now I want to know."

Before he could finish speaking, the receptionist pulled something out from under the counter and slammed it on the table.

"Oh my god..."