Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 347: He was no saint, no righteous hero.
At the sound of knocking, everyone instinctively flinched.
It seemed the time had come.
Footsteps echoed outside the door, gradually fading into the distance.
Wen Jianyan turned to glance at his teammates and asked, “Still got your name tags?”
The group nodded.
“Let me check,” Wen Jianyan said after a moment of thought.
The team members took out their name tags one after another.
Wen Jianyan swept his gaze over them, roughly memorizing the number of tags each person had before reminding them, “Keep them hidden. Be careful not to take them out.”
After officially becoming hotel employees, they had been issued name tags in addition to their uniforms. Unfortunately, just like the previous tags, these still couldn’t be stored in their system inventory and had to be carried on their person. Based on past day experiences, these name tags likely allowed humans to move freely within the instance. If lost, they might end up like the Locket’s Squad—trapped in a state neither alive nor dead.
The group exchanged glances and nodded, carefully tucking away their name tags.
“Wait a minute, then why are you…?”
Chen Mo froze, his gaze landing on Wen Jianyan’s chest.
Pinned neatly to the young man’s chest was a small name tag, its bright red font displaying three tiny numbers—002.
It was clear that Wen Jianyan had no intention of taking it off or keeping it hidden.
“Don’t worry, I have my own plan.” Wen Jianyan raised a hand to adjust his collar.
He had already changed into the official employee uniform of the instance—a crisp black suit with broad, well-fitted shoulders, a spotless white shirt underneath, untouched by a speck of dust. He turned to the group, smiling faintly: “Ready?”
In the barrage of the “Integrity First” live room:
[…Wow.]
[Anchor really looks the part, huh?]
After receiving affirming nods from his teammates, Wen Jianyan pressed his palm down on the doorknob and led the way out.
The corridor was now fully illuminated.
At the far end stood the hotel manager, his face ghastly pale. A grotesquely wide grin stretched across his lips as he watched the approaching anchors with hollow, black eye sockets.
Wen Jianyan subtly scanned his surroundings.
Red Faction. Black Faction.
All the anchors from yesterday were present.
Clearly, they had reached the same conclusion as Wen Jianyan—each person had donned the uniform issued by the hotel. However…
Wen Jianyan’s gaze lingered briefly on their chests.
As expected, everyone else had tucked their name tags away. Their chests were empty, devoid of any visible identification.
Among all the people present, only Wen Jianyan wore his name tag openly, without any attempt to conceal it, as if completely unbothered by the attention it drew.
“Ahem.”
The hotel manager cleared his throat, breaking the silence. The group withdrew their covert glances and turned their attention to him.
“First of all, congratulations once again on becoming official employees of this hotel.” The manager’s voice was flat and emotionless, devoid of any fluctuation. “As you may already know, tomorrow we will be hosting a grand banquet for all the guests of the hotel. However, due to limited capacity, only ten employees will be selected to personally serve the distinguished guests. The final selection will depend on your performance.”
As soon as the manager finished speaking, a familiar mechanical system notification rang in everyone’s ears:
[Ding! Congratulations, you have successfully triggered the key phrase and obtained the instance’s completion criteria.]
[The final outcome of this competitive instance will be determined after the banquet, based on the revenue generated by the anchors from each team!]
—Just as he expected.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes slightly.
As he had suspected, the victory conditions for this instance depended on employee “performance.”
Recruiting hotel guests, completing the tasks assigned by them, and receiving tips—all three methods contributed varying amounts of revenue. Now, it was clear that “tips” were likely the most unpredictable income source in the entire instance.
Moreover, those who were chosen to serve the banquet guests would presumably have a chance to earn large tips as well.
With this, the structure of the instance was beginning to take shape.
Today was their last opportunity to complete tasks and accumulate earnings. After today, the employees with the highest “performance” would qualify to enter the banquet, where they could earn even more. This would also be their final chance to either reverse their losses or secure an unshakable advantage in the competition.
“Oh, right.”
Suddenly, as if remembering something, the hotel manager spoke again. As he did, he slowly swept his hollow, black eyes over the group. “To enter the banquet, in addition to the uniform, there is another dress requirement.”
He raised a hand and tapped his own face.
The sound that followed was not the dull thud of flesh but the sharp clink of hard objects colliding. “Without a mask, even if you meet the performance requirements, you will not be allowed into the banquet. I advise you all to acquire one as soon as possible.”
With that, the hotel manager turned and pressed the button on the elevator behind him.
A soft “ding” echoed.
The elevator doors slid open, and a dim, eerie red glow spilled into the hallway.
“Please begin your work for the day.”
Soon, under the hotel manager’s lead, the group stepped into the elevator.
The closed-off, crimson-lit space seemed modest in size. Yet, strangely, as soon as everyone entered, the interior felt unexpectedly spacious—even uncannily roomy. The red faction and black faction anchors instinctively positioned themselves in separate areas, maintaining a wary distance from one another.
The hotel manager, seemingly oblivious to the odd atmosphere inside the elevator, stepped in as well and pressed the button to close the doors.
With a quiet creak of the hinges, the elevator began its slow descent.
Suddenly, Wen Jianyan felt something cold brush against his palm.
“!”
His breath hitched slightly. He turned his head instinctively, glancing toward the metal wall of the elevator—
Under the dim, crimson lighting, the polished metal surface gave off an eerie, blurred reflection. The silhouettes of everyone in the elevator were faintly mirrored in it.
There was clearly no one beside him.
But in the reflection…
A tall figure stood at his side.
As if sensing Wen Jianyan’s lack of resistance, the cold, slender fingers grew bolder, curling gently around his hand once more, clasping him in an intimate grip.
Wen Jianyan couldn’t see his face, but he knew.
It was Wu Zhu.
He had followed him.
Wen Jianyan was a little surprised.
It seemed that while Wu Zhu was still confined to mirrors, he could now leave the employee quarters and follow him into other areas of Xingwang Hotel.
Lowering his gaze, Wen Jianyan relaxed his grip slightly, allowing the unseen presence beside him to fully interlock their fingers. His long lashes drooped, concealing the faint crimson glow reflected in his pale irises.
To “eliminate the bug,” huh?
Based on the previous system announcement, Nightmare had already become aware of the anomaly’s existence. This time, he had to remove the bug—gain Nightmare’s trust—otherwise, this might be as far as he could go. If he failed, he would never be able to reach the hidden core of the Nightmare system.
And compared to before, the difficulty had actually decreased significantly. If he wanted, he could complete the task with a decent chance of success—
No. Not yet.
Wen Jianyan subtly curled his fingers and, in turn, grasped Wu Zhu’s hand. His neatly trimmed nails were smooth and firm as he lightly scratched the other’s palm, an intentional, teasing touch.
Wu Zhu’s fingers tensed, momentarily startled—apparently not expecting such an overtly flirtatious response. His grip reflexively tightened, squeezing Wen Jianyan’s hand hard enough to sting.
“Tsk.”
Wen Jianyan inhaled sharply through his teeth.
The grip immediately loosened, almost frantically.
Wu Zhu hesitated, then, somewhat awkwardly, rubbed Wen Jianyan’s fingers—like a silent, clumsy apology for his sudden reaction.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.
He was no saint, no righteous hero. If there was a bug he could exploit…
Why not use it?
With a soft “ding,” the elevator stopped once more.
The display screen showed the current floor:
4F.
They had arrived.
The red team anchors exchanged glances before stepping into the corridor.
Inside the elevator, the black faction anchors watched their departing figures, their restraints barely concealed. Yet, with the hotel manager standing right there, none dared to make a move.
The red faction anchors stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway—
And immediately sensed something was wrong.
Compared to last night when they had left, everything seemed unchanged—
The dim, reddish hallway lights.
The worn, old carpets.
The vintage wallpaper.
And yet…
Something was different.
…Too eerie.
Even without doing anything, just standing in the hallway was enough to send chills down one’s spine.
No tools, no mediums—any experienced anchor could tell that the “Xingwang Hotel” they were in now was several times more dangerous than the one from yesterday. Otherwise, there was no way for such an overwhelming sense of cold, suffocating malice to form.
A faint dampness permeated the air, carrying with it an almost imperceptible trace of blood.
Wen Jianyan halted and turned to look behind him.
Where the elevator should have been, there was now nothing but a smooth, solid wall—seamlessly blending with the rest of the surroundings.
So, it was just as he had suspected.
The “employee rest area” from yesterday was indeed a special location—one that could only be accessed under the hotel manager’s guidance. Otherwise, no matter how thoroughly they searched, they would never be able to find it.
Wen Jianyan took a step forward.
The carpet beneath his feet let out a squelching sound, heavy and damp.
He paused, glancing at the walls.
On the dark red wallpaper, faint water stains of varying sizes could be seen. Hidden in the shadows, they were easy to overlook at first glance.
“…”
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes.
A familiar image flashed through his mind.
Back when he entered the Ouroboros area, he had encountered the exact same scene—
A waterlogged floor.
Walls soaked through with dampness.
And… horrifying, gaping holes carved into those very walls.
Could that scene have been a glimpse into the future—one that was bound to happen sooner or later?
Just as Wen Jianyan was lost in thought, a laid-back voice called out from nearby:
“Hey, want to exchange some intel?”
Wen Jianyan looked up.
The speaker was a man with messy brown hair, exuding a casual, almost careless air.
He recognized him—one of the red faction squad captains. Like himself, this person and his team had also passed the trainee assessment yesterday and officially become employees of Xingwang Hotel.
“I agree.”
A composed female voice chimed in from the side.
She was another red faction squad captain—a woman of average height, with a serious demeanor and an academic air about her. “In a situation like this, cooperation is the best way to find an optimal strategy.”
Under the expectant gazes of the two, Wen Jianyan shrugged and flashed a mild, innocent smile.
“Of course, no objections from me.”
They quickly exchanged names.
The easygoing brown-haired man was Mu Bai, from a small independent guild. The composed woman was Xi Zi, from the guild Eternal Day.
As for Wen Jianyan, there was no need for an introduction.
After all, given the way he had revealed himself in such a dramatic, high-profile manner yesterday, it was impossible for anyone here to forget him.
“Since the instance’s victory conditions are based on the competing teams’ revenue,” Xi Zi analyzed calmly, “it’s crucial that more red faction squads pass the assessment and become formal employees. Otherwise, if our numbers are lower than the black faction’s, we’ll be at a disadvantage.”
“Agreed.”
Mu Bai nodded, then turned to Wen Jianyan. “What do you think?”
“…”
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes slightly.
If they had asked him this earlier, he would have agreed without hesitation.
After all, that was exactly what he had been planning to do.
But now…
His gaze swept over the ominous hallway before them, his brows knitting together slightly.
Something felt off.
It was as if things weren’t as straightforward as they seemed.
Just as they were about to continue their discussion—
“Click.”
A soft sound echoed from down the corridor.
The distinct sound of a door unlocking from the inside.
“?!”
Everyone stiffened, their muscles tensing reflexively. In an instant, they snapped their heads toward the source of the noise, fully alert and ready for whatever attack might come.
Creak—
The door hinges creaked as it slowly swung open.
But what emerged from within wasn’t some horrifying ghost.
It was a pale, nervous face.
Wen Jianyan froze for a moment.
He quickly recognized the person—
It was the red faction anchor he had briefly encountered in the lobby yesterday.
The man also seemed momentarily surprised to see them.
“It’s you.”
Xi Zi, too, recognized him.
She exhaled in relief and stepped forward. “Where are the others? I have some information to share with you all.”
“The others?”
The man shook his head. “No idea.”
His voice was tense, as if suppressing a deep-seated fear. “Once night fell, everyone got separated. I have no idea where the others are now.”
Xi Zi immediately caught onto something in his words.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “What happened to you last night?”
As formal employees, they had been provided with a safe place to rest.
But judging by the man’s demeanor, the same couldn’t be said for the remaining trainee employees…
“Come inside. We’ll talk there.”
The man stepped aside, his gaze darting around anxiously, as if on high alert for something. His voice was low, barely above a whisper:
“It’s not safe out here.”
The damp scent in the air grew heavier.
Under the flickering hallway lights, the corridor seemed even more gloomy and oppressive—as if something terrifying lurked in the shadows, waiting to strike.
The scenery had not changed.
And yet, after just one night, it was clear that something fundamental about Xingwang Hotel had shifted.
The entire instance was teetering closer and closer to the brink of an irreversible transformation.
If they wanted to know why, asking those who had lived through it was the quickest way to find out.
Xi Zi stepped forward.
“…Wait.”
Wen Jianyan’s voice was low as he spoke.
Due to his profession, he was extremely sensitive to human intent—both good and ill.
Though the man had concealed it well…
The moment his gaze landed on Wen Jianyan’s name tag, Wen Jianyan caught it—
A sudden, intense surge of malice.
Something isn’t right.
