(14/20)
Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 292: A Face
Wen Jianyan turned his head and looked into the room behind him.
They were currently standing at the crooked entrance of a dilapidated house. Although the light was dim and the rain was incessant, there was still some visibility.
However, behind them lay a pitch-black darkness where one could not see their hand in front of their face.
Outside, the rain continued to fall, tapping dully and distantly on the slanted roof.
Although they had now distanced themselves from the deadly rain, the environment around them offered no sense of peace.
The depths of the room felt like an abyss that could swallow everything, making one’s heart tremble.
Wen Jianyan took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.
A faint, pale beam of light appeared, barely dispelling a bit of the darkness in the room.
The room was much larger than it appeared from the outside.
The roof was somewhat damaged, with rain seeping through and forming small pools on the floor below. Though potentially dangerous, these puddles could be easily avoided with careful steps.
But…
The real danger wasn’t here.
Wen Jianyan turned his head and looked once more at the warped window frame.
The frame was crooked, revealing the brick structure of the wall around its edges, and behind the frame was a void. The woman in white with a blurred face, who had been in the picture, was no longer there.
Yet, this absence did not bring any relief, but instead a strong sense of unease.
Beside him, a voice spoke:
“Not leaving?”
Wen Jianyan turned to look.
It was the captain of the other squad, who introduced himself as Zhong Shan.
Wen Jianyan hadn’t revealed his own codename. After all, his reputation had grown quite notorious after the last few missions, and he wasn’t planning to stand out right at the start of a new mission. So, he used the codename from his previous mission: “Wen Wen.”
Although a grown man using a doubled name had an air of forced cuteness, it at least reduced the risk of confusion or mishaps associated with his real name.
Wen Jianyan withdrew his gaze and shrugged.
“Let’s go.”
In the vast room, the sound of rain leaking through holes echoed, striking the ground at irregular intervals, creating a dripping sound.
The air was chillingly cold, filled with a damp, decaying smell.
The group carefully avoided the water stains on the floor as they moved toward the depths of the dark room.
In the dead silence of the room, their footsteps were deliberately muffled.
Wen Jianyan hadn’t activated his guiding hand, as there was no need.
The room was dark and empty, and in the area illuminated by the flashlight, there was almost nothing of value to be seen.
The room was a desolate, abandoned space, with only scattered, old furniture. A chair with a broken leg and a table with a missing corner lay tilted in the damp darkness, casting heavy shadows under the light.
Suddenly, the blond guy beside him sucked in a sharp breath.
Wen Jianyan stopped and looked over. “What is it?”
“T-There’s something up ahead.”
The blond’s voice was deliberately low, his tone slightly trembling.
“What is it?”
“The light’s too dim; I can’t really make it out.” He stared in horror into the deep darkness ahead, swallowed hard, and said, trembling, “It’s… a face.”
“…?!”
Hearing this, everyone around couldn’t help but feel a chill.
“Describe it carefully.”
Wen Jianyan fixed his gaze on Blond. “What kind of face? Male or female?”
“I… I can’t tell…”
Blond shook his head, his face pale. “The features were blurry, and it had no expression, but…”
His breathing grew unsteady.
“It was looking at us.”
Blond’s voice was filled with intense fear, which put everyone else on edge as well.
Yun Bilan and Chen Mo looked at Wen Jianyan, seemingly seeking his opinion.
Wen Jianyan paused, discreetly glancing over at Bai Xue, who was following a short distance behind the group.
Bai Xue stayed neither too close nor too far, head lowered, wet white hair plastered to his pale, bloodless skin. His face was expressionless, showing no reaction to Blond’s words.
“…”
Bai Xue was indeed eerie. The recently deceased anchor was definitely connected to him somehow… However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t a skilled medium.
There were few who could gain recognition from Orange Candy, let alone be called “the strongest.”
He’d already proven his abilities before they entered the rain.
Whatever might happen next, for now at least, their interests were aligned. Bai Xue had no reason to sense fatal danger and not inform them.
So, that “face” up ahead was either not dangerous… or it was something they could handle, not deadly.
“Let’s keep moving.”
Wen Jianyan looked away and said.
The group continued forward in the darkness.
Suddenly, someone ahead sucked in a breath. “There’s something up ahead!”
The flashlight beam wavered, and within the deep darkness ahead, a pale face faintly appeared, with hollow, empty eye sockets and a blurred expression, staring straight ahead.
The sight sent chills down their spines, a shiver rushing to their heads.
“Careful! Be ready!”
“Prepare your tools!”
With everyone’s nerves taut, ready to activate their items or even use their abilities, a sound of footsteps came from behind.
Zhong Shan gasped, turning his head.
A handsome young man parted the crowd, walking forward.
He was still wet, his thin shirt clinging to his skin, faintly revealing a slender waistline and toned arms. His damp black hair hung messily down, and under the faint flashlight glow, he exuded a strange, fragile allure.
“Captain—”
Yun Bilan called out nervously.
“It’s fine.”
Wen Jianyan glanced back at her and shook his head.
His gaze was particularly calm and composed, as if he knew exactly what he was about to do and had no doubts about it. This made everyone hesitate, forgetting to stop him.
The surroundings were dead silent. Everyone held their breath, watching as Wen Jianyan approached, drawing closer and closer to that blurred, pale face…
As he neared, the light from Wen Jianyan’s flashlight also dispelled the surrounding darkness—
Within a crooked, dusty wooden frame was a similarly blurry canvas.
It was a painting.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“…”
Even Wen Jianyan breathed a sigh of relief, finally letting his tense nerves relax a bit.
Although he had looked completely confident earlier, he was actually quite nervous and had already planned an escape route in advance.
If it weren’t for trying to gain an advantage in the upcoming events, he wouldn’t have risked being the one to take the lead.
As the others realized the danger was neutralized, they also relaxed and stepped forward, their flashlights converging on the painting.
It was a crooked painting, half-fallen on the ground.
The painting depicted a blurred woman, and possibly due to the dampness of the surroundings, the colors appeared particularly dark, blending almost seamlessly with the room. Strangely, however, her face was shockingly pale, like a porcelain mask covering her face, standing out starkly in the darkness.
Her features were indistinct, and only the stiff, upturned corners of her mouth were visible.
Yet no matter how eerie it appeared, it was, in the end, just a painting.
“…”
Wen Jianyan appeared deep in thought.
He turned to Zhong Shan, suddenly smiling as he spoke:
“So, how about we have an open discussion?”
“I imagine you came in here because you also saw the words that appeared in that notebook, right?”
With a knowing look, Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes. “Welcoming a guest into the Xingwang Hotel, correct?”
Zhong Shan hesitated before cautiously nodding.
Wen Jianyan gestured to the painting before them. “Clearly, this figure must be the ‘guest’ in question. Judging by the size of this painting and the room’s frame, ‘welcoming the guest’ likely means taking this painting and placing it in one of the hotel rooms. This seems to be our main task—it’s essential to promote ourselves from interns to full employees.”
“At the Xingwang Hotel, lights are on for three hours and off for one, with work hours running from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., meaning we can ‘invite’ up to three guests on the first day. However, as per the manual, inviting just one should be sufficient to meet the intern requirements.”
Wen Jianyan paused, his gaze sweeping over the group in front of him, his lips still curved in a slight smile.
“So, which team will take it?”
“…”
The dilapidated room fell into silence, broken only by the steady dripping from above, as drops splashed into the puddles below with a rhythmic “tick-tock.”
Zhong Shan looked at the young man before him, his eyes shifting with uncertainty.
“Of course, we didn’t encounter any danger on our way here simply by chance,” Wen Jianyan shrugged, continuing at his own pace.
He pointed at the painting.
“My guess is that from the moment we take this painting, things won’t be safe anymore.”
“And the team that takes it will likely face all the attacks.”
As he spoke, Wen Jianyan held a finger to his lips in thought. “We probably have a one-hour window to escape, corresponding to the lights-out period. If we don’t get out within an hour, the lights in the Xingwang Hotel will turn on again, closing the passage, and we may be stuck here for another three hours.”
In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:
[Wow, the host has practically cracked the game mechanics wide open, deducing so much from just this info… that’s pretty impressive.]
[No kidding! After all, Wen Wen has seen enough scenarios to figure out all the angles—he’s earned every bit of that platinum reputation!]
[Knowing doesn’t necessarily help, though; this instancee is way different from before. Remember, it jumped straight from A to S ranking, so there’s bound to be more surprises waiting for us. Let’s see what happens.]
[Honestly, Wen Wen has such a commanding presence now that he’s a team leader. Observing quietly before was cool too, but now he’s fully taking control. So amazing!!!]
Amidst the serious discussion of game mechanics and scenario difficulty, a few more bizarre comments appeared:
[Hehe, wet clothes… hehe…]
[Hehehe…]
Wen Jianyan was oblivious to the comments in the live chat.
He looked at the anchors before him and spoke unhurriedly:
“So, we have two options before us.”
“Option one: Take the painting, endure the first wave of attacks, escape within an hour, and complete the task… though it might be risky.”
“Option two: Leave the painting, observe to understand the attack mechanics, then move to the next room. This would be safer, but it would mean passing up this opportunity.”
Wen Jianyan raised a hand, brushing his damp hair back to reveal his smooth forehead and finely contoured features.
He smiled slightly, the vulnerable look from earlier now entirely gone.
The young man no longer concealed his assertive aura, smiling calmly as he stepped aside, revealing the eerie painting behind him.
“Alright, make your choice.”
