Chapter 98: Someone Who Cared About Her

Summer tilted her head, looking at the caretaker standing right in front of her. From what she could remember of the original owner’s memories, she had barely interacted with him, let alone the other residents of this rundown motel.

Had the original owner done something to annoy him? Was that why he had rushed over the moment he saw her?

"Is this about my rent?" Summer asked cautiously. "I remember paying for it until next month."

The caretaker frowned at her. "Why would I care about that?! That’s the landlord’s business!"

Summer blinked, growing even more confused. Before she could ask anything else, the caretaker suddenly stepped forward and grabbed both her hands.

"Miss Beaumont, I honestly thought you had been killed during your last mission with your boyfriend!" he exclaimed, looking at her as if he had just seen a ghost. "But then the other residents told me to check my social media, and that’s when I found out you’re a big star now!"

Summer awkwardly turned her gaze to the side. She hadn’t expected such an enthusiastic reaction from someone she barely knew.

"I was... lucky," she replied with an awkward smile.

"Lucky?! Oh, don’t be ridiculous!" The caretaker shook his head, clearly refusing to accept her answer. "Miss Beaumont, I heard you’re an SSS-Rank Guide now!"

His eyes lit up as a huge smile spread across his face. He looked so happy for her that Summer almost wondered if he had become an SSS-Rank Guide himself.

"Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!" he continued excitedly. "Do you want me to help you pack your belongings? Someone as important as you shouldn’t have to live in this hellhole anymore!"

Summer blinked several times in surprise. To be honest, she had expected the caretaker, who seemed to be named Mr. Alfred, to feel jealous or even unhappy when he learned that someone like her had suddenly risen so far in rank.

But who would have thought he would react in the exact opposite way?

Looking at his face, Summer could tell that he was genuinely happy for her. He looked like a proud father who had just found out that his daughter had been accepted into a prestigious college.

"Why?" Summer couldn’t help asking. "Why are you so happy?"

She had never seen anyone react so enthusiastically to her success before. Naturally, she couldn’t help but feel curious.

"What do you mean, why?" Mr. Alfred frowned even harder, then gave her shoulder a few friendly pats. "I’ve watched you struggle with money for so long! Of course I’m happy to see that you’ve finally struck it rich!"

"You probably don’t have to eat instant noodles every day anymore, right? You can finally afford proper meals!" Mr. Alfred said, looking as though he was even happier about that than Summer herself.

Summer stared at him for a moment before letting out a small laugh. "Well, I can certainly afford better food now."

"That’s good! That’s really good!" Mr. Alfred nodded several times, looking genuinely relieved. "You have no idea how worried I was whenever I saw you coming back here looking so exhausted. I wanted to ask if you needed help, but you always seemed to be in a hurry, and I didn’t want to bother you."

Summer’s smile faded slightly as she listened to him. She had assumed the original owner of this body had lived here without anyone paying much attention to her, but it seemed that at least one person had noticed her struggles.

"Thank you, Mr. Alfred," she said sincerely. "I appreciate that."

Mr. Alfred waved his hand dismissively before suddenly turning his attention to Archer, who had been standing quietly beside Summer all this time.

"And you even brought a new friend!" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "He’s even more handsome than your boyfriend! What’s your name, young man?"

At that moment, Summer realized that Mr. Alfred truly was someone who didn’t use social media.

He had probably only seen the news about Summer becoming an SSS-Rank Guide and called it a day.

He didn’t even recognize Archer!

"Thank you," Archer replied, looking even more awkward than Summer. After a brief pause, he added, "My name is Archer."

"Archer, huh? That’s a nice name!" Mr. Alfred said with a friendly smile before glancing at Summer. "You must be quite close to Miss Beaumont to accompany her all the way here."

Archer glanced at Summer before giving a small nod. "You could say that."

"Oh, I see!" Mr. Alfred chuckled, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "Well, please take good care of her. She’s had a hard time, so she deserves to live a better life now."

"I will," Archer replied, his expression softening slightly as he looked at Summer.

Summer let Mr. Alfred and Archer chat for a while without interrupting them.

However, when she noticed that Archer was looking more and more awkward, she finally decided to step in.

"Just like you said, we’re here to collect my things, so we should get started before it gets dark," she said with a smile.

Mr. Alfred immediately turned to her. "Do you need my help?"

"It’s alright. I don’t have that many things anyway," Summer replied casually.

With that settled, Summer and Archer headed up to the third floor. After walking down the narrow hallway, they finally stopped in front of Room 333.

She had no idea where the key was, but fortunately, Mr. Alfred allowed her to use a spare one.

The moment Summer unlocked the door and pushed it open, a terrible musty smell hit her nose. Dust filled the air, and she immediately scrunched up her face before breaking into a fit of coughs.

Damn it! How could anyone live in this hellhole for so long?!

The room was in an even worse state than she had expected!

The air was stuffy, the furniture was covered in dust, and some of her belongings had even started growing mold after being left untouched for so long.

Summer stared at the mess in disbelief before shaking her head.

"Maybe... maybe we should just forget about it," she said between coughs. "Let’s just throw all this junk away!"