The Strange Arrival 15

To keep a rampaging Weird under control, it had to be fed human flesh.

That was not good news for the Players.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!" Heavy footsteps echoed from above the ceiling.

"Boom!" Something was smashed down to the floor below, producing a piercing crash.

This was followed by furious sounds of smashing and collisions. The commotion was so tremendous that Ye Zhao felt the entire hotel shake along with it.

It was not an illusion. It really had shaken. Though the movement was slight, it was unmistakable—one could only imagine the Granulation Ghost's tremendous strength.

Ye Zhao pulled back the curtains and took a look. The ground was already piled with mountain-like heaps of trash: bedsheets, duvet covers, windows, and even large sections of walls.

Who would have thought the Granulation Ghost's destructive power could be this terrifying? Everything above the fifth floor was now lying on the ground—the Granulation Ghost did not have much of a brain, so it had flattened every obstacle standing in the way of its search for food.

And as the Granulation Ghost grew increasingly frustrated, its abilities actually became stronger. This was completely opposite to the usual boss-fighting pattern. After being worn down like this, other bosses would have long been at death's door.

Yet the Granulation Ghost only became more energetic.

Thinking of the scene shown by the Prophet, it seemed that the resentment of wanting something and failing to get it was what nourished it. The fuller it was, the weaker its destructive power became.

This was practically driving the Players to their deaths.

Over the past few days, Ye Zhao had allocated five points to Strength in her personal attributes every day, raising her Strength to 70. Even so, she did not dare claim she could contend with the Granulation Ghost. After all, the system had classified this Weird as a Level 3 Weird.

She looked over her personal attributes.

[Name: Ye Zhao]

[Constitution: 155 (no equipment effects)]

[Strength: 75 (no equipment effects)]

[Speed: 69+50 (equipment effects)]

The commotion upstairs did not subside with time. Instead, it only intensified.

Ye Zhao lay perfectly still on the bed, scrolling through her phone. She was used to it anyway.

But before long, things began raining down from the ceiling. She looked up and, sure enough, saw several finger-width cracks spreading across it. Dust and shattered stones drifted down in a scattered shower.

Ye Zhao rolled off the bed, covered her mouth and nose, and moved into the living room.

At the Granulation Ghost's rate of demolition, the hotel probably would not last through the final three days. When that happened, either it would be monopolized by the Granulation Ghost, or the Weirds watching covetously outside the hotel would tear it apart.

Just then, Ye Zhao received a message from Nie Yun. He said that, given the Granulation Ghost's destructive power, the fourth floor would likely fall very soon. They did not plan to remain there any longer and would relocate to the second floor.

The second floor was mostly offices and banquet halls, so they could find an office to hide in.

Nie Yun: [Sister Zhao, it turns out we weren't the only three people in the hotel. When Old Wang and I went out to scout yesterday, we ran into four other Players. We're planning to act together from now on!]

Nie Yun's group had already begun moving. The Granulation Ghost's rampages had become increasingly frequent these past two days. It was practically going berserk every moment, and the entire hotel was on the verge of collapse because of its madness. The once magnificent hotel had become a dangerous building.

The Players Nie Yun had just encountered had been forced to relocate from the upper floors.

Ye Zhao opened her door and, sure enough, saw Nie Yun and the others at the end of the corridor. Carrying backpacks and holding blankets, they were quietly making their way downstairs.

After thinking for a moment, she returned to her room, picked up her backpack, and went downstairs via the stairwell on the other side.

Nie Yun had previously worked at the hotel and knew it very well. He led them to the general manager's office.

The general manager's office had the best conditions. There was even a lounge behind it. For the group, who had been sleeping on the floor squeezed into a standard room, this was already a decent option.

They also found some snacks in the desks of other staff members. They did not lack food, but at a time like this, no one would complain about having more.

"Only three days left. I believe that as long as we support each other, we'll definitely make it through safely!"

The speaker was a man in his thirties. Before entering the game, he had been a minor executive, so it was only natural that he became the leader of their group of six.

Several of them made beds on the office floor, while two others went out front to keep watch and observe the Weirds' movements at all times. Their division of labor was orderly and well organized.

Manager Liu said, "Little Nie, has that girl you mentioned arrived? Does she want to join us? It's too dangerous for her to be alone. She'll have a better chance of surviving if she joins us. Try to persuade her."

Nie Yun said, "I sent Sister Zhao a message. She said she knew."

Manager Liu frowned. "What does 'she knew' mean?"

Nie Yun scratched the back of his head, looking a little simple-minded. "Sister Zhao is really strong. She probably won't be in danger, right?"

Manager Liu was speechless. "No matter how strong she is, can she be stronger than a Weird?"

"Manager Liu, forget it. We all know you mean well, but good advice can't save someone determined to die." A female Player walked over and hooked her arm through Manager Liu's. "She doesn't even care about her own life, so why should we worry ourselves over it? If she can't survive, she'll only have herself to blame."

Manager Liu thought, What do you know? A woman who has survived in the Weird world until now must have some game items to keep herself alive, right?

After seeing the Black Hole Game descend and witnessing those miraculous game items, he had known that times had changed. The foremost resource humans fought over was no longer ordinary worldly possessions, but game items!

Since that was the case, besides surviving in the game world, the most important thing now was acquiring more game items!

He glanced at the Exorcism Bronze Mirror in Nie Yun's arms. It was indeed a fine treasure, but only a fine treasure.

"Just persuade her anyway. Tell her to come join us. Lone wolves don't survive long in the survival world!"

Nie Yun scratched his head, feeling that Manager Liu had a point, and sent Ye Zhao a message: [Sister Zhao, you must be careful by yourself!]

But just then, the Player sent out to keep watch rushed back. With a panicked expression, he said, "This is bad! It skipped the fourth floor and went straight to the third floor. What do we do? Should we go back to the fourth floor?"

Manager Liu glanced at the man. What an idiot. On the second floor, they could still keep running downward. If they went to the fourth floor and something happened, were they supposed to jump down and feed themselves to the Weird?

Old Wang said nervously, "What do we do? There are only three days left. At this rate, this building probably won't hold up!"

"We can't go to the basement either. The Drone footage showed that it's full of strange entities down there!"

Someone was nearly in tears. "Is there really no way to calm it down? It's demolishing the building day and night. We really won't make it to the end!"

Manager Liu said, "Earlier, we found a Drone and dropped two Exorcism Talismans on it. Unfortunately, the Exorcism Talismans that worked so well on other strange entities were nothing more than a tickle to it. Xiao Nie, do you have any stronger Exorcism Props?"

Nie Yun hugged the Exorcism Bronze Mirror in his arms and shook his head. "Other than Exorcism Talismans, this is all I have."

Everyone's eyes turned to Old Wang again. Old Wang repeatedly waved his hands. "I don't have any either. I only have two Exorcism Talismans left. I only survived because Brother Nie saved me. Otherwise, I'd have died a long time ago..."