After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Old Gede had the attendants lead them to their rooms to rest. They had all been assigned the most luxurious guest rooms, right next to one another.
"Whew, I'm sleepy. I'll take a bath and turn in. I wonder what interesting things will happen tomorrow?"
March 7th yawned as she stood before her room, speaking to everyone with anticipation.
"Little March, every time you looked forward to something, something uniquely bizarre did happen the next day. Like when we landed on that planet and crashed into the embassy, making everyone do volunteer labor for half a month."
{The author forgot which planet that was.}
Dan Heng calmly teased March 7th as she immediately grew embarrassed.
"It wasn't on purpose... Still, I do feel bad for dragging everyone into it."
March 7th said with an awkward, bitter smile.
"Hopefully, nothing happens tomorrow. But my intuition tells me it won't be that simple."
"Dan Heng, I'm sure you noticed Supreme Guardian Cocolia Rand too, didn't you?"
Theresa turned to Dan Heng and spoke quietly.
"Yes. Something about her felt off. She was somewhat arrogant toward us at first, but once she learned about the Stellar Core from us, she became extremely wary."
Dan Heng looked at Theresa and replied evenly.
"Normally, when locals can't handle a problem themselves, they should be delighted when someone comes to deal with it. But Cocolia's reaction was the opposite. She seemed extremely unwilling to let us handle the Stellar Core. Doesn't she know her planet is already in a very dangerous state?"
Even March 7th seriously put her mind to work as she spoke.
"That's one of the suspicious points. I suspect she has come into contact with that Stellar Core, and it seems the two have already reached an agreement. Otherwise, why would she refuse to hand over a Stellar Core that this planet can't deal with to us? Besides, she concealed a great deal of crucial information in her words."
"Even though she tried her best to keep her expression neutral afterward, I still noticed that she had become wary of us. Unless something unexpected happens, something unexpected will probably happen soon. In any case, everyone should rest while you can and prepare for a likely betrayal tomorrow!"
Theresa {Stargazer} said solemnly to everyone.
"Was that why you suddenly acted foolish yesterday, Theresa? To make Cocolia pay less attention to you?"
Stelle began pondering as well and looked at Theresa as she asked.
"After all, normal people instinctively keep their distance from things that make them uncomfortable. That also gave foolish Theresa a chance to observe her closely."
"In any case, everyone needs to be careful here. Stay on your guard."
Dan Heng said this as he entered his room and closed the door. The others also said their goodbyes and returned to their rooms to rest.
After seeing everyone shut their doors and turn in, Theresa recalled that Old Mi had apparently placed a Phantylia easter egg here, along with that story about the knocking ghost.
Theresa's expression gradually became one of delighted brilliance. That was right, she was going to court death!
With a look of pure genius on her face, Theresa quietly made her way to the end of the corridor and slowly listened for sounds coming from inside the rooms.
The last and second-to-last rooms were utterly silent. From the third room came the panicked, suppressed sobbing of a man. Theresa listened carefully for a while, but aside from the sobbing, there was nothing unusual. After listening at several more guest rooms, she finally heard a man and woman conversing in deliberately hushed voices.
"Darling, it was only a nightmare..."
The woman's voice was clearly gentle as she comforted the man, whose voice sounded somewhat hysterical.
"You have no idea how terrifying what I dreamed was. I was holding an axe, and I... did something to you..."
The hysterical male voice cried out softly.
Then came the woman's tearful voice and the cries of a child. Theresa pondered for a moment before leaving that door and moving to another to listen. She was trying to see whether she could trigger that easter egg.
"I checked. There was nothing in Room 237. He was probably just bored and wanted to get our attention, so he made himself look like some kind of ghost."
A man's deliberately lowered voice came from within the room.
"No, darling, we should leave. There's definitely something in this hotel. Sometimes, when I'm asleep, I hear something knocking against our window!"
A terrified female voice whispered through tears.
The room then fell silent for a while. Just as Theresa was about to leave, an angry male voice suddenly came from within.
"I will never leave this place! No one can make me leave here... Heh heh, hahahaha!"
An unsettling, crazed laugh echoed out. Theresa listened for a while, then realized the room had fallen completely silent.
So Theresa left that guest room and went to listen at others. Some rooms contained murmured whispers, while others had the sounds of limbs crawling. When Theresa tried to listen more closely, the crawling sound seemed to notice something and immediately went still, leaving her somewhat disappointed.
She had expected the thing to jump out and attack her, but it didn't. Her gleeful plans to stir up trouble had fallen through.
"Knock, knock, knock. Is anyone there? Teri Teri~"
Theresa called softly in a mischievous tone.
"Ugh~"
The thing in the guest room seemed frightened. Theresa heard the frantic sound of limbs crawling, seemingly moving away from the door.
"Tch, that was seriously lame."
Theresa muttered. She was already bored. After all that, she had failed to trigger anything fun, and she sighed in disappointment as she prepared to return to her room, wash up, and rest. After all, she might have to fight the Silvermane Guards tomorrow.
Just then, Theresa suddenly felt a chill run through her body. She sensed that someone behind her seemed to be watching her.
Theresa immediately grew excited. It was here, it was here—the easter egg was here!
Theresa swiftly turned around and looked toward the deepest part of the corridor. There, a pair of twin sisters were staring at her with distant, lingering gazes.
?
Theresa stared at the twin sisters with a look of pure genius.
{Just tell me, was this Theresa brave or not?}
"Hey~ Want to come play with us?"
"Forever..."
"We'll be together forever, okay~"
"Hehe~"
The twin sisters stared at Theresa and laughed eerily.
"I could tell at a glance that you two weren't human!"
"Divine Dragon of Might, taste my Judas!!"
To their astonishment, Theresa pulled out an enlarged Judas with a look of pure genius and prepared to smash it at them.
Something like that?
"!!!"
The twins vanished in terror. Theresa's shout also caused several guests to open their doors in surprise. But when they saw Theresa's perfectly harmless expression, every one of them shut their doors in fright. The eerie atmosphere in the area dissipated considerably.
"Ugh, Theresa, what are you doing again?!"
Wearing a pink nightgown, March 7th rubbed her eyes and looked at Theresa, who was carrying Judas on her shoulder.
Stelle and Dan Heng also looked in confusion at Theresa, who stood at the end of the corridor with Judas over her shoulder, having no idea what stunt she was about to pull this time.
Daily image post. The Phantylia easter egg. It wasn't that the author suddenly wanted to write a horror story; the game was just making its own reference.
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