Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 311: Meeting in a Dream
In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:
[?!]
[Whoa, whoa, no way! They ran into each other like this?!]
[How many fire escapes does Xingwang Hotel have? At least three or four, maybe even five or six, right?]
[Hahahahahaha, what are the odds of this happening? This luck is absolutely insane!]
The footsteps from above grew closer, and everyone’s hearts jumped into their throats. They instinctively held their breath and turned to Wen Jianyan, waiting for his decision.
“…”
Wen Jianyan silently lifted his eyes, his pale lips pressed into a tight, straight line. He stared fixedly into the distant darkness, the shallow color of his pupils deepened by shadows.
The silence lasted only a second.
Almost instantly, he had already decided on the next course of action.
Wen Jianyan raised his hand, gesturing, and mouthed silently: Go.
No matter what, now was not the time to engage in conflict with the opposing team.
Not only had they not yet returned to the Red faction’s territory, but more importantly, they had just escaped the pursuit of the “guest” in Rainy Town. Neither their condition nor anything else had recovered to normal levels.
They knew too little about the opposing team, and Wen Jianyan was not the type of team leader skilled in organizing direct confrontations. Under such circumstances, charging in would only bring disadvantages, with no benefits.
—It was best to avoid them.
The group retreated silently, disappearing as quickly as possible into the stairwell on the second floor.
The footsteps from above grew louder.
Soon, a team appeared at the stairwell.
This team’s demeanor and posture were markedly different from other teams in the instance. Their movements were silent and orderly, their gazes eerie, with clear signs of distortion. They exuded an indescribable sense of oppression, marking them as a team of highly experienced anchor.
Among them, two individuals stood out the most.
One was a refined-looking man.
He had a handsome and proper face, always adorned with a polite smile. Yet, there was an inexplicable sense of dissonance about him, as if some hidden, sinister danger lurked beneath the seemingly normal surface.
This was “Gentleman.”
Although he wasn’t wearing the tailcoat from the “Secret Council” this time—having swapped it for more practical attire suited for the instance—it didn’t stop him from being the most meticulously dressed person in the team.
Beside him walked another male anchor.
Anise.
The former Rank 8.
He wasn’t particularly tall but was extremely thin, with narrow shoulders and long, spindly arms. His movements gave the impression of a giant praying mantis. He had unnervingly large eyes that moved with unsettling agility. Although his facial features weren’t bad individually, their combination made him far from attractive. His pale, bluish skin only heightened the sense of unease he exuded.
The two walked side by side, conversing in low voices.
The narrow corridor echoed with the chaotic sounds of their footsteps, drowning out their conversation.
Just as they were about to descend to the second floor, the Gentleman suddenly stopped abruptly.
The others froze and halted as well.
“What’s wrong?” a teammate behind him asked.
The Gentleman didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he crouched down, seemingly examining something.
The lighting in the stairwell was dim, making it hard for the others to see what the Gentleman was doing.
Anise asked, “Did you find something?”
The Gentleman rose slowly, smoothing the creases in his coat. He then took a few steps down, glancing toward the second floor, and let out a chuckle:
“Haha.”
The Gentleman rubbed his damp fingertips together, the smile on his face growing even more pronounced. “It seems we’ve reeled in a big fish this time.”
Anise followed the Gentleman’s gaze.
The light from the second-floor corridor illuminated the junction between the hallway and the stairwell. There, a faint, dark wet stain could be seen—likely left behind by someone who had hurried past.
“Ha.”
He also laughed.
“Indeed.”
For the anchors in this instance, their first action after the lights went out would inevitably take place within their faction’s territory. This was an absolute rule, as the instance didn’t allow enough time for them to leave. However, the next time would be different.
For experienced anchors, especially those confident in their abilities and willing to take risks, they would undoubtedly venture into the opposing faction’s territory as soon as possible. Otherwise, the amount of information they could gather would fall far behind their opponents.
The Gentleman and Anise were such individuals, and Wen Jianyan was certainly the same.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become the new Number 08.
That was why, during the first gathering, the Gentleman and his team chose to reveal their identities and aggressively take control of the Black faction. They also warned them to watch out for potential infiltrators from the Red faction before the next lights-out. Judging by the situation now, it seemed they had failed.
However, Gentleman hadn’t had high hopes to begin with.
Confrontation-based instances were rare in Nightmare, and death-match instances targeting the top ten anchor were even rarer. Even seasoned players like Orange Candy weren’t familiar with the mechanics here. But the Gentleman was different.
Not only was he a former top-ten anchor, but he was also the Vice President of Oracle, granting him access to far more information than anyone else. He understood the deeper mechanics of this type of instance.
Given the rankings of their team, the other anchor in the instance couldn’t be ranked much higher. They lacked the ability to clear the instance on their own.
In fact, after just two rounds, the number of ordinary anchor might have already dwindled significantly.
This was the key difference between confrontation-based instances and faction-based ones.
While both had Red and Black factions, their core logic and combat methods were entirely different.
Here, aside from the two core teams, the other anchor were essentially useless. With their skill levels, they wouldn’t even have been assigned to this instance, let alone survived independently. In Xingwang Hotel, the only ones who could influence the outcome of the instance were the two core teams. The rest were merely cannon fodder, background characters, or tools to be exploited at will.
They were the players, and everyone else was disposable pieces.
From what the Gentleman had observed since entering the hotel, the opposing team seemed unaware of this fact. Not only had they allowed the “pieces” to interact freely, but they had also relinquished their status as players.
How foolish.
The smile on the Gentleman’s face deepened slightly.
If the other side had chosen to team up with him earlier, he wouldn’t have hesitated to share this information with them. That way, they wouldn’t have made such a poor judgment. But unfortunately…
“Let’s go.”
Anise gestured, leading the group out of the stairwell and into the second-floor corridor.
The hallway was bathed in dim, reddish light. Both sides were lined with tightly closed hotel room doors, and the floor was covered with a dull, worn-out carpet. Scattered, damp stains stretched forward, forming a clear trail.
It was obvious that the other team had heard them descending and retreated into the second-floor corridor to evade them.
The problem was, they had fled so hastily that they overlooked one crucial detail: the people who had just left Rainy Town were wet. The rainwater carried supernatural energy and couldn’t be easily removed.
The water droplets they left behind were like breadcrumbs in a fairy tale, exposing their movements without fail.
The opposing team clearly hadn’t realized this. If they had, they wouldn’t have left that puddle in the stairwell, giving away their presence and inviting pursuit.
The group followed the wet trail, moving swiftly and with precision. Their eyes gleamed with excitement and cruelty, eager for this unplanned confrontation.
The narrow corridor echoed with their hurried footsteps.
Their pace was so quick that, in such a confined space, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to escape their pursuit.
They were getting closer.
The wet stains on the floor became irregular. Clearly, the other team had realized that the water was betraying their position and was trying to change the situation.
But it was useless.
There wasn’t enough time to change clothes.
Whether they tried to escape via another stairwell or hide in a room to ambush them, it wouldn’t make much difference.
As long as their movements were tracked, any advantage would be lost.
In terms of direct combat strength, the opposing team was no match for them.
According to the Gentleman’s earlier investigation, the new Number 08 wasn’t skilled in combat, and Bai Xue was purely a support role. With their strongest members being like this, the rest of the team was hardly a concern.
Just as their excitement reached its peak, Anise suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The others paused, following his gaze.
Not far ahead, something dark and motionless lay in the middle of the corridor floor.
“…”
The group exchanged glances.
One of them shook their head. “No danger.”
The Gentleman stepped forward, bent down, and after a moment, said slowly:
“…It’s clothing.”
He picked it up by the edge with two fingers.
It was a damp, heavy coat, still dripping water.
Beneath the coat was a toy car, a low-level item from the system store.
In most low-tier instances, it could be used to distract ghosts. But in higher-tier instances, where ghosts could track humans by their life force and scent, it had little to no value.
No one expected such a basic prop to appear in such a high-level instance…
And to actually work.
“…”
A brief silence fell over the corridor.
Until the Gentleman laughed.
“Ha, hahaha…”
His laughter echoed in the hallway, an ambiguous mix of amusement and anger.
“Who would’ve thought they’d use such a childish trick,” the Gentleman said with a laugh. “And it actually worked… haha!”
“…”
The others remained silent, their expressions dark.
The simplicity of the trick made their falling for it seem all the more foolish, and that realization infuriated them.
“In that case,” one of them said, “they must be hiding in one of the rooms we just passed. The water stains won’t disappear, and we can use tools to—”
The Gentleman interrupted, “No need. It’s unnecessary.”
He released the coat, letting it fall back onto the toy car. The smile faded from his face, and without it, his previously friendly expression took on a sinister, unsettling quality.
“Did you forget our next objective?”
“……”
That person choked on his words, stammering, “No.”
“Then that’s enough.”
The Gentleman spoke as he elegantly pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his damp fingers, and said lightly.
Anise: “Let them jump around a little longer; it doesn’t matter. We have more important things to do next, so there’s no need to waste time here.”
“Let’s go.”
With that, Anise turned around and left first.
The others quickly followed.
Listening to the footsteps outside gradually fade away, Blond felt his legs go weak. If it weren’t for Chen Mo and Yun Bilan supporting him, he might have collapsed straight to the ground.
Although Chen Mo and Yun Bilan didn’t react as dramatically as he did, they were also drenched in cold sweat, their faces pale.
They were all too aware of how dangerously close the situation had been.
After confirming the footsteps had disappeared, Wen Jianyan pushed the door open slightly, peeking out through the small gap.
There was no one outside.
Next to the gap was the toy car and the damp coat draped over it.
That’s right.
The toy car had never been started from the beginning.
They had indeed hidden, but not in any of the rooms along the hallway. Instead, they had hidden right next to the toy car.
Moments ago, there had only been a thin wall separating the Gentleman and Anise’s team from them.
If the other side had chosen to search the area, pushing open a few doors at random, they would have been discovered without a doubt, with no chance of escape.
“Huff… huff…”
Blond gasped for breath, pressing a hand against his wildly beating heart. Sweat had unknowingly covered his forehead and the tip of his nose.
It was terrifying.
Utterly terrifying.
He could clearly hear the footsteps and conversations of the team on the other side, as if they were happening right next to his ears. If this happened a few more times, he was sure he’d develop a heart condition.
After confirming there was no one outside, Wen Jianyan stepped out from behind the door.
He was wearing only a damp white undershirt, clinging tightly to his body and faintly revealing a pale, supple flesh tone. The shirt outlined the thin muscles on his body as he moved.
He picked up the coat from the floor and draped it over his arm again.
The hallway was completely empty.
Wen Jianyan turned his head to look in the direction where the gentleman and his team’s footsteps had disappeared, his expression thoughtful.
To be honest, the reason he had taken such a big risk earlier wasn’t just to avoid a direct confrontation with the other side. It was also because he needed information.
Earlier, in the stairwell, he had overheard the Gentleman talking to the others.
Due to the distance, Wen Jianyan hadn’t caught the details of their conversation.
However, he knew the topic of their discussion must have been very important.
Otherwise, given their level of vigilance, it shouldn’t have been Wen Jianyan’s group discovering them first—it should have been the other way around. Based on this logic, they must have been discussing something crucial and time-sensitive, which had caused them to let their guard down and fail to notice the sound of Wen Jianyan’s group ascending the stairs.
This inevitably reminded Wen Jianyan of the speculation he had made when he first entered the instance.
As the vice president of the Oracle Guild, the Gentleman had clashed with Wen Jianyan’s guild multiple times. Why, then, would he be so eager to promote himself, hoping to be invited into this instance? Even after being rejected, he had gone to great lengths to insert Bai Xue into Wen Jianyan’s team just to gain access.
Wen Jianyan had a strong hunch that the other side knew something he didn’t.
Or perhaps…
They had some plan or objective that he had yet to uncover.
From the beginning, Wen Jianyan knew that being soaked and leaving water stains in the stairwell would expose their tracks.
He did it on purpose.
If the gentleman and his group had no ulterior motives and were genuinely aiming to complete this instance by helping the Black Faction defeat the Red Faction, they would never have let the toy car go unnoticed. Instead, they would have opened each door one by one to search for traces of Wen Jianyan’s group. Judging by the skills displayed by the anchor in this instance, as long as the other side could kill them, victory would be assured.
Moreover, Wen Jianyan’s group choosing to avoid confrontation during this encounter had already sent a signal: they were currently in a weakened state.
The other side would never pass up such a golden opportunity, nor would they give away such a strong chance of winning.
But if the situation were reversed…
It would be a different story.
If the Gentleman had entered this instance with another agenda and had made a deal with the former No. 08 based on that, he absolutely wouldn’t waste time searching any of the surrounding rooms.
Wasting time was one thing.
More critically, the Xingwang Hotel instance had an extremely troublesome mechanic: the “paintings” would follow people. The first room entered after the lights turned on would contain the painting that would appear in their room once the lights went out.
Therefore, to achieve his objective, the gentleman and his group would never waste their next opportunity to enter a specific area of Rainy Town on searching for Wen Jianyan’s group.
That’s right—this was a high-stakes gamble.
If they lost, they would face their greatest enemy head-on at the very beginning of the instance, before fully understanding its mechanics and in their weakest state, potentially leading to a fight to the death.
However…
Wen Jianyan never gambled without odds in his favor.
He had found too many clues, all pointing toward his final deduction. He only needed one last key piece of evidence.
And just now, the brief conversation the others had outside the door perfectly confirmed Wen Jianyan’s hypothesis, filling in the most crucial link in his logical chain.
—The Gentleman must be scheming something.
It was buried deep within this instance, with a very low chance of being discovered by ordinary players. It might never even surface during the process of determining victory or defeat.
But if he could uncover it, it would completely decide the outcome between the Black and Red Factions. Otherwise, someone like Anise, whose life would be at risk if they lost, would never have given up chasing them and left with the Gentleman instead.
“…”
Wen Jianyan froze, as if something had suddenly occurred to him.
He instinctively reached out and slowly turned the ouroboros ring on his finger. The heavy metallic texture pressed against his fingertip, bringing a faint sting of pain.
After entering the instance, he had occasionally glanced at the discussion in the live chat. From that, he learned that this instance had been previously closed and later reopened with increased difficulty.
Wen Jianyan recalled the follow-up task the system had given him before the instance began: Eliminate the Bug.
And the triple mirroring effect within the Xingwang Hotel…
“Ah-choo!”
A chill ran down Wen Jianyan’s spine, and he lowered his head, sneezing.
He raised a hand to rub his nose, his eyes welling up slightly with reflexive tears.
Damn it, he’d caught a cold.
Shrugging his shoulders, he turned and walked back into the room.
At the doorway, the rest of the team watched him, their expressions a mix of confusion and concern.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and said, “Next, I might need to take a nap.”
“…Huh?”
The others froze, clearly not expecting Wen Jianyan to say something like that.
“Take… a nap?”
“Yes, a nap.”
Wen Jianyan’s face was impassive, but he nodded firmly and said slowly.
But it wasn’t just a nap.
It was a meeting with the mad dog in his dreams.
