Chapter 2 The Next Day

The next day, early morning.

More than a dozen figures stood silently in the lobby of the Dolphin Hotel, waiting in silence.

Tap, tap, tap.

Loud, crisp footsteps echoed in the corridor at the end of the lobby.

Li Ang, wearing a white coat with his hands in his pockets, walked unhurriedly down the stairs, nodded to the players in the distance, and said, "Yo, good morning."

"Don't come any closer yet."

Wanli Fengdao, with transparent words floating above his head, shouted from a distance, "Player information."

To prevent players from being replaced by evil spirits and lurking among them to seize opportunities,

They had discussed beforehand that every time they saw each other, regardless of the number of people, they would first show their player level and nickname.

All the players present displayed their information to verify their identities before gathering together.

Only thirteen people left... missing that one named Kafi.

Under the dragon head mask, Li Ang raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Everyone's here."

Bai Haozheng pushed up his glasses and said calmly, "Let's share what happened last night first.

As soon as the curfew time of 00:11 arrived, a note appeared out of thin air on the back of the chair I was sitting on."

He took out a pale yellow note from his pocket and showed it to everyone.

"After I saw the words 'Don't open the door' on it, there was a knock on the door of my room, 1408. After detection, it was a pair of feet wearing rain boots..."

Bai Haozheng explained in detail the special situation he encountered, stating the facts plainly, and specifically mentioning when adding personal opinions, as objectively and calmly as possible.

"Throughout the entire night, all the doors in the room struggled, trying to open, until the curfew time of 07:07 ended and things calmed down.

If my power system hadn't been relatively special and I hadn't prepared sufficiently, I probably wouldn't have been able to hold out until then.

Of course, there is another possibility—the system or the hotel itself conducted a detection scan and deliberately set up an anomaly that just fit within my ability range, close to my ability limit.

It could be completed,

But if it failed, it would lead to direct death.

Of course, this is just my personal guess and needs more evidence to support it."

Bai Haozheng paused, looked at everyone, and said calmly, "I'm sure you've all noticed the special nature of this hotel. It will be difficult to survive without unity, cooperation, and information sharing."

"Mr. Bai is right."

Hei Shengzi tilted his head, reached out his arm, and opened his palm, which held a wrinkled note.

"00:15:15, this note appeared out of thin air on the living room window. The information on it asked me to look through the peephole of the security door.

I walked to the door, put my eye to the peephole, and saw a gray, angular humanoid object made of concrete standing outside the door, pressing its hands against the wall, peeking.

I raised my hand, and the concrete humanoid also raised its hand.

I retreated, and the concrete humanoid also retreated.

It was imitating me,

No matter how small my movements were, even just the rise and fall of my chest when breathing,

The concrete humanoid facing the wall could detect and imitate."

Hei Shengzi's narration was calm, as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself.

"As time went on, I found my movements becoming slower and slower,

While its movements became more and more agile, its originally angular body became gradually smoother, and color began to appear on its gray surface.

I had a premonition,

If I continued to stalemate like this, I would become it, and it would replace me.

So..."

Hei Shengzi raised his palm and said indifferently, "I dug out my own heart."

Bai Haozheng narrowed his eyes, "...Did the monster die?"

"Yes."

Hei Shengzi nodded and said, "It fell to the ground, faded quickly, and turned into a pure, unremarkable pile of concrete.

A few minutes later, it melted into a puddle of wax-like substance, seeped into the carpet, and disappeared.

However, in order not to violate the contents of the note, I continued to watch through the peephole until the curfew time ended."

Bai Haozheng was silent for a moment, "...What time did the monster melt, approximately?"

"Around 00:22, why?"

"It's nothing."

Bai Haozheng shook his head and looked at Mu Yin Zhi Gui.

The latter snorted coldly, took out a note from his pocket, which read "Please sleep."

Mu Yin Zhi Gui began to recount that he found this note on the back of his clothes around 00:14.

Although the note only said to go to sleep, without specifying a sleeping location,

For safety's sake, he returned to his bedroom and bed,

After setting up a defensive position and making preparations, he closed his eyes and began to sleep.

According to Mu Yin Zhi Gui, he had a skill that forced sleep, and he soon entered a dream.

In the dream, he found himself standing on a misty stone arch bridge, unable to use his extraordinary player abilities, and returned to being an ordinary person.

In his confusion, he vaguely saw a blurry figure holding an umbrella not far ahead on the stone bridge.

He couldn't see the height, appearance, clothes, or even discern the gender.

At that time, Mu Yin Zhi Gui only felt a chill permeate his body, and an unnamed fear seeped into his brain.

He desperately wanted to escape, but he couldn't move at all.

Bai Haozheng frowned and pressed, "What did that figure do to you?"

"It didn't do anything."

Mu Yin Zhi Gui said slowly with a cold gaze, "When I woke up, the time was already 07:07. Nothing happened overnight, and the defensive magic circle I had left by the bed had not been triggered at all."

"Didn't do anything..."

Bai Haozheng groaned, his mind pondering something.

Next, everyone recounted their experiences last night.

Bob received a note at 00:12 last night asking him to lie in the bathtub.

He followed the instructions, went into the bathroom, and lay in the bathtub. Although there was no water in the bathtub, his skin felt submerged.

Soon, Bob was submerged by invisible water.

Just as he was at a loss, his five senses were suddenly deprived.

Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—he couldn't sense anything.

He seemed to be in a dark, vast, zero-gravity space, floating alone.

He didn't know how long he had been trapped. Since he couldn't feel his heartbeat or pulse, he could only determine the time by counting.

However, after counting past thirty thousand, he despairingly found that he still had not awakened from the state of sensory deprivation—this time had far exceeded the 07:07 curfew end node.

Bob wanted to move, but he didn't dare to.

He wasn't entirely sure of his current state. If he moved rashly, he might leave the bathtub, violate the contents of the note, and court death.

Finally, after counting to one hundred and seven thousand six hundred and seventy-three, his five senses returned. Looking at the clock again, it was exactly 07:07.

In the bathtub, his perception of time was slowed down by a factor of four.