Checkout Procedure

Checkout Procedure

Dining Notice:

1. The dining hall is open from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Entry is prohibited at all other times.

2. Avoid waste. Please take food according to your appetite. You may not leave the dining hall until you have finished your food.

3. Do not take food out of the dining hall. If discovered, you will bear the consequences.

4. This dining hall offers a wide variety of meat dishes, but please do not consume more than 500 grams of meat in one meal.

5. This dining hall provides locally produced specialty Animal Crackers, which are highly recommended.

6. There are no human-shaped Animal Crackers. If you see any, ignore them.

7. Do not eat meat! Do not eat meat! Do not eat meat!

Luo Jun frowned.

The seventh rule at the end had clearly been added by hand, and it directly contradicted the fourth rule.

The situation from the corridor had appeared again. With Old Yuan's explanation from last night, Luo Jun knew this was likely a struggle between two forces within the Hotel. One side made the rules, while the other tried to alter them.

But based on what had happened last night, Luo Jun believed the altered rules had some effect as well. It was best to make sure he did not violate either side's rules.

For example, there was so much food in the dining hall that he did not have to eat meat. Thinking of this, Luo Jun felt fortunate that when hunger had overwhelmed him earlier, he had instinctively chosen Jianbing Guazi instead of grabbing the Chicken Leg beside it.

Wait... Luo Jun's brow twitched. Maybe "do not eat meat" did not only refer to the meat on the plate... He walked out of the dining hall and looked towards the Front Desk.

At the Front Desk earlier, he had seen a Roast Chicken pounce on and gnaw at a Roast Suckling Pig. Thinking about it now, it should have been a human who could no longer endure their hunger and had lost their mind, biting another person. Such a horrifying scene, like a zombie outbreak, should have caused a commotion.

Yet the Front Desk was perfectly normal now. The guests were going through their procedures as usual. There was no sign of either the murderer or the victim, not even a trace of blood.

Was it an illusion, or had some mysterious force warped reality?

Luo Jun didn't know. When hunger struck, he really had felt the urge to eat people. Could that be what "do not eat meat" meant?

As he analyzed it, hunger assailed him again. Luo Jun hurried back into the dining hall and began selecting non-meat food to fill his stomach.

"Burp..."

Full and satisfied, Luo Jun patted his belly and checked the time. It was 9:45.

There were fifteen minutes left until checkout.

After thinking it over, Luo Jun went to the Snack Area in the Food Pickup Area.

There, he found Animal Crackers.

They were the same kind he had bought from the Vending Machine before: transparent plastic packages the size of matchboxes, each containing a delicately shaped animal biscuit... Though in Luo Jun's eyes, these unfamiliar animals were more aptly called monsters.

Although he was about to leave this Hotel according to the rules, Luo Jun still felt vaguely uneasy. This place was too bizarre, and too many mysteries remained unsolved. He had no confidence at all in what came next.

Without knowing the logic behind the rules, he could only obey them mechanically. If anything unexpected happened, he would have no way to respond... Of course, most people would think these messy rules had no pattern or logic at all. But Luo Jun had a faint feeling that he was close to grasping the truth behind them.

The breakthrough was these Animal Crackers.

The corridor rules specifically Mentioned them, and excluding the handwritten addition, the dining hall only had six rules, two of which were about them. These biscuits had to be special!

Luo Jun casually sifted through the biscuits on the tray. Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, and he picked out a bag.

The biscuits in this bag were human-shaped!

A head, two eyes, and a mouth—the design was exquisitely detailed and lifelike.

According to the rules, he should ignore this biscuit. But Luo Jun felt that something singled out like this could not be so simple...

He closed his eyes, concentrated his Vital Energy in his Sea of Consciousness, and went through everything he had experienced since entering the Hotel once more.

With his current mental attributes, enhanced by Vital Energy, his memory and concentration far exceeded those of an ordinary person.

The places he had been, the monsters he had encountered, the rules he had seen... What connections were there among them?

Suddenly, Luo Jun opened his eyes, his breathing quickening.

"Could it be..."

He had a bold guess, but he did not dare confirm it. If he was wrong, it might mean eternal damnation...

No... Even if that guess was true, he did not need to verify it. At most, it was a Hidden Mission. As long as he could check out and leave normally, he did not need to take this path... But if there was a problem with checking out, this would be his fallback!

With that thought, Luo Jun looked at the Human-Shaped Biscuit in his hand.

I need to find a way to take this thing out of the dining hall!

The third dining hall rule prohibited taking food out. If discovered, you would bear the consequences.

That meant everything would be fine as long as he was not discovered!

The key was, how did the dining hall determine whether he had hidden food?

Just as Luo Jun was thinking, a shrill alarm suddenly sounded from the dining hall entrance!

Luo Jun Turned head and saw a Little Boy standing at the entrance with a piece of cake in his hand. He seemed frightened by the sudden alarm.

The server at the entrance turned towards the child and gave him a gentle smile.

"You can't take food outside." As she spoke, she narrowed her eyes. Her once-gentle smile suddenly seemed a touch more sinister.

Her tone was gentle, but to Luo Jun, her words were as cold as a winter north wind.

It was not an illusion. Only Luo Jun, whose mind and senses had been enhanced, could feel that particular Mental Intimidation.

Commonly known as Killing Intent!

The child burst into tears. A couple immediately rushed out from the dining hall, picked him up, and carried him back inside. As they walked, they kept apologizing to the server. "Sorry, sorry. He's young and doesn't know any better. We're sorry for the trouble."

Once the child had been taken back into the dining hall, the server looked away, and that Killing Intent vanished as well.

Luo Jun Breathed a sigh of relief. He believed that if the parents had not brought the child back into the dining hall in time, the server would definitely have turned her Killing Intent into action.

But this also helped Luo Jun confirm that the dining hall's method of detecting smuggled food was the alarm device at the entrance.

It was like the ones in ordinary malls—surprisingly mundane.

But how did that thing detect it? The cake in the child's hand had already been half-eaten. It had no packaging or barcode, so how had the alarm recognized it?

Since this was a bizarre world, it probably had supernatural means. Perhaps it could recognize anything that counted as food... But if that were the case, the third rule would be redundant. Since it said, "If discovered, you will bear the consequences," there had to be a way not to be discovered!

Suddenly, Luo Jun's eyes lit up, and he reached into his pocket. Inside was a bag of biscuits he had bought from the Vending Machine in the corridor last night!

Earlier, Luo Jun had briefly left the dining hall to check on the Front Desk, yet he had not triggered the alarm!

That meant food bought from the Vending Machine would not trigger the alarm. Luo Jun took out the bag of biscuits and examined it closely. Compared to the biscuits on the tray, the packaging had a slight difference.

The ones bought from the Vending Machine had a tiny silver dot on the package.

Could it be because of the packaging? Could this dot block detection?

Using his body as cover, Luo Jun carefully opened the package, took out the biscuit inside and placed it on the tray. Then he removed the Human-Shaped Biscuit, stuffed it into the Vending Machine packaging, pinched the opening shut, and tucked it into his pocket.

At that moment, an announcement rang through the dining hall.

"It is now 9:55. The dining hall will soon close. Guests, please leave as soon as possible."

The diners rose one after another and headed for the entrance. Luo Jun mixed into the crowd as well, one hand in his pocket, tightly pinching the opening of the biscuit package.

Ten meters, five meters, two meters...

He made it through!

Luo Jun successfully walked out of the dining hall without triggering the alarm!

Just as he had thought! Luo Jun was thrilled. Since this method worked, it meant his line of thinking was correct!

Food from the dining hall could only be taken out if it was placed in Vending Machine packaging. The only snack in the Vending Machine was Animal Crackers, and there were no Human-Shaped Biscuits in the Vending Machine!

He had found two coins beneath the Vending Machine. One bag of Animal Crackers cost only one coin, so the other coin was meant to bring a Human-Shaped Biscuit out of the dining hall!

Luo Jun felt he was getting closer and closer to the truth. Just then, the clock hand passed ten o'clock. He could check out now.

Luo Jun looked in the direction of the elevator, hesitated for two seconds, then walked towards the Front Desk.

This was his first time experiencing a mission. Staying alive was his Primary Objective; things like Hidden Missions and the truth behind them were secondary. If he could leave simply by checking out, then he should not take the risk.

Play it safe. Don't get reckless!

Reminding himself of this, Luo Jun came to the Front Desk. With a thought, he activated the Dice of Heavenly Secrets.

"Successfully check out and leave."

"Ding. This event is a Mandatory Event. Dice judgment cannot be used. One use has been consumed."

Another Mandatory Event? Luo Jun was slightly Stunned. Did that mean it would either definitely succeed or definitely fail?

But he could not think of any reason why checking out normally and leaving would fail.

"Hello, I'd like to check out. Room 0315." No matter what, he had to try. Luo Jun requested checkout, though he remained cautious inside.

"Certainly, sir." The beautiful receptionist gave him a professional smile and began operating the computer. "Please wait while we confirm the room."

"Okay..." Luo Jun Nodded, glancing towards the door. If all went well, in just a few minutes, he could leave this damned Hotel and return to his own world.

"I'm sorry, sir," the receptionist said. "We discovered that a chair in your room has been damaged. You will need to compensate us."

"A chair?" Luo Jun was Stunned. Then he remembered—it was the one he had broken last night while fighting that Little Girl monster.

"Uh..." Luo Jun said awkwardly, "but I don't have any money..."

"We don't accept money." The server revealed a somewhat twisted smile. "You only need to hand over your..."

"Liver!"

Every hair on Luo Jun's Whole Body stood on end!

(End of Chapter)