Chapter 109 - 102: Being Targeted

Chapter 109: Chapter 102: Being Targeted

Inside and outside the hotel.

It was eerily quiet, with not a single sound.

"ROAR."

A roar rang out, shattering the deathly silence.

As the view closed in,

A Mutant had spotted the three of them and began to give chase, accelerating.

Screams, cries for help, and desperate sobs could be heard.

The two people behind, a man and a woman, were about to be caught by the Mutant. They glanced at each other. Although they couldn’t see each other’s expressions clearly in the dark, it was as if they were telepathic.

With perfect synchronicity, they both reached out at the same time.

"What are you doing?!"

"Don’t pull me! Help!"

"I’m going to report you! Is this the kind of service your five-star hotel provides? Ahh..."

"Even as a ghost, I’ll never... let you... go... urk..."

The person in front was instantly yanked backward, crashing into the pouncing Mutant.

Soon.

The screams grew fainter and fainter until, at a certain moment, they stopped abruptly.

The two survivors seized the opportunity to get to the stairwell. They slammed the door shut and continued running upstairs without stopping.

Their breathing was heavy, their footsteps leaden. They were running slower and slower.

Clearly, the half-hour or so since the Mist Event began had completely drained their stamina.

The two were clever, though.

The moment the screams from downstairs stopped, they opened a room, slipped inside, and shut the door.

It was all one smooth motion.

"Are we safe now?"

the woman asked.

"Shh."

The man, both startled and angry, quickly clamped a hand over the woman’s mouth and hissed in a low voice, "Keep it down."

"If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you!"

The woman nodded frantically.

Just as the man was about to say something else, a cold, sharp blade was pressed against the back of his neck, and his body went rigid.

"PAT, PAT, PAT."

The woman tapped the man’s hand, signaling for him to let go of her mouth.

But there was no response.

Terrified, she desperately tried to pry his hand away.

Just then, an indifferent voice spoke from behind them. "Keep her mouth covered. Don’t let her make a sound."

"Mmmph, mmmph."

The woman was so scared she wanted to scream, but with her mouth covered, she couldn’t make much noise.

"You... you’re human?"

The man breathed a sigh of relief, asking shakily as he sought confirmation.

"Who are you? What are your names?"

"I... I’m Zhang Feng, the hotel’s general manager. She’s Song Ni, a supervisor here."

"Have you seen Nai’er?"

"Nai’er? Oh, the streamer? I haven’t seen her, but I heard her scream upstairs about ten minutes ago."

Just then.

"ROAR!"

The roar of a Mutant came from downstairs.

The next second.

It stopped abruptly.

Zhang Feng and Song Ni shuddered, trembling in fear.

’Hotels really are all the same.’

’The soundproofing is terrible.’

’But... given a Mutant’s power, who could possibly one-shot it without any sign of a fight?’

’Mutated Beasts and Mutated Plants wouldn’t normally attack one!’

’A Resentful Corpse?’

The moment those two words surfaced in Xia Yu’s mind, she began to feel uneasy. A strange agitation washed over her, her chest tightening uncomfortably. This familiar feeling...

’It’s a Resentful Corpse!’

"Let’s go!"

Her expression changed. She realized the Resentful Corpse had started coming up the stairs, looking for her.

And it was already very close!

Without hesitation, Xia Yu recalled her Blood Butterfly and turned to leave, only to find Zhang Feng and Song Ni following her.

Her brow furrowed slightly.

’These two hold high positions in the hotel. They might know something related to this case. It’s fine to let them follow.’

’Besides, these two even knew to take off their shoes to run. They’re smart, not likely to do anything stupid.’

"No matter what we encounter, remain absolutely silent."

"Otherwise, you’re on your own."

Xia Yu warned them coldly before striding away.

Her pace wasn’t slow.

And she was wearing shoes.

Yet she made no sound.

This left Zhang Feng and Song Ni shocked and uncertain. Song Ni even thought she was ’floating’ and began to suspect she had run into something... unclean.

「A few minutes later.」

"ROAR."

The three had just gone up two floors when they encountered a Mutant.

With perfect synchronicity, Zhang Feng and Song Ni clapped their hands over their mouths, backed away, and prepared to bolt at any moment.

But the next moment, they saw the woman in front of them suddenly dash forward. In the blink of an eye, she vanished.

’Did she just float past it?’

At that moment, Song Ni’s eyes went wide. Now even more convinced that Xia Yu was a ghost, she turned and ran.

Zhang Feng, already on high alert, subconsciously followed suit.

"THWACK."

A strange sound rang out.

The monster’s roar stopped abruptly.

Xia Yu’s voice followed. "Keep up."

’That woman is still alive!’

’What about the monster?’

’Is it dead?’

Realizing this, Zhang Feng and Song Ni stopped in their tracks and looked back in disbelief.

They still couldn’t see anything clearly.

"Are you coming or not?"

came Xia Yu’s impatient voice.

Zhang Feng and Song Ni hurried to catch up. After passing the Mutant’s corpse, they both breathed a collective sigh of relief.

’They’d met one of the Strong People!’

’This is great!’

"Why did you run just now?"

Zhang Feng asked in a low, annoyed voice.

"I... I..."

Song Ni stammered, unable to answer.

’She had already figured something out: with that woman’s power, if she really were a ghost or some other spirit, she wouldn’t have waited this long to harm them.’

’Just now, she had only been scaring herself!’

...

...

「The sixteenth floor.」

Nai’er, her female assistant, and the driver had quietly arrived here.

Even so, the three of them still didn’t feel safe.

They wanted to keep going up.

The driver took the lead, his flashlight on, while Nai’er and her assistant followed behind.

Although they hadn’t encountered any monsters for five straight floors, the three of them remained extremely cautious, moving slowly.

They continued until they reached the seventeenth floor.

"Looks like the commotion downstairs was too big. It must have drawn all the monsters away."

"Plus, a murder happened here, so most people checked out. That’s why it’s so quiet."

The driver, feeling utterly drained, wiped the sweat from his forehead, leaned against the wall, and spoke in a low voice.

The only reason Nai’er and her assistant had made it this far was thanks to their will to survive, which had been fueling their bodies with a constant supply of energy.

Now that they could relax for a moment, that support instantly vanished.

They collapsed to the floor.

Gasping for air.

Their bodies were sticky and uncomfortable.

"It’s still not safe out here. It’d be better if we could hide in a room."

For some reason, the driver felt a chill, but there was no wind. It made him feel very insecure.

Nai’er and her assistant strongly agreed, but how could they get into a room without a key card?

After thinking for a moment,

The assistant said, "The housekeeper must have a master key card. Didn’t we just pass her work cart? Should we go look there?"

The driver and Nai’er glanced at each other, in full agreement.

But.

Just as the driver was about to get up, he felt a sharp pain in his toe. He frowned and said, "Damn it, my ingrown toenail is acting up. It’s probably swollen."

He hadn’t noticed it before, but now it was hurting badly.

"You go by yourself."

He pointed at the assistant and ordered, "It’s not far anyway, just down the hall."

The assistant flinched, on the verge of tears but unable to cry.

She looked at Nai’er.

Nai’er shrank back, not daring to meet her assistant’s gaze.

The assistant’s heart went cold, filled with disappointment and resentment.

"Hurry up and go!"

"If you find a room, we’ll all be safe."

The driver gave the assistant a push, urging her impatiently, "A person has to be useful for something. Now’s your time to be useful."

"Otherwise, I won’t let you follow us anymore."

The assistant trembled. She had no choice but to use the wall for support, forcing her body upright, and take one step at a time toward the housekeeper’s cart.

Thankfully, nothing unexpected happened along the way.

After rummaging for a bit,

To her delight, she actually found a key card!

She was just about to tell Nai’er and the driver when she looked up and saw, not far behind the driver, a pair of blood-red eyes!

Her eyes widened in terror, and fear exploded in her heart.

"What’s wrong?"

"Did you find a key card?"

"Say something!"

The driver, not noticing anything amiss, demanded impatiently, his tone harsh.

Nai’er and her assistant had worked together for a long time, so she knew her very well. Seeing her expression now, Nai’er realized something was wrong.

Her gaze shifted downward.

The assistant’s feet, once pointed at her and the driver, were slowly pivoting away.

Nai’er instantly understood. Her expression changed drastically, her teeth chattering, but she didn’t dare make a sound. She could only slowly get to her feet.

"Nai’er, where are you going?"

The driver still hadn’t figured out what was happening. He only felt the air grow colder as he asked strangely.

"Huh?"

"I... I’m going to the bathroom."

Nai’er said as she stood up.

"The bathroom?"

The driver found this even stranger.

’She’s sweating this much and still needs to use the bathroom?’

"Want me to go with you?"

he asked.

"No need."

Nai’er refused flatly. By now, she was on her feet.

"You’re not scared?"

The driver was starting to sense that something was wrong.

’Nai’er is a coward. She would never dare go to the bathroom alone.’

’Besides, where’s the bathroom here?’

"I’m fine."

Nai’er took a step, putting distance between herself and the driver.

"Hey, wait."

The driver reached out to grab her.

"WHOOSH."

Nai’er once again unleashed a surprising burst of potential, lunging forward and barely dodging the driver’s hand.

And then...

She took off at a full sprint!

The assistant also broke into a run.

"You two!"

The driver finally realized what was happening, his face changing dramatically.