Why Did He Still Die After Following Shen Niannian's Lead?

After the doorman bowed.

The lobby fell silent for over ten seconds.

Wang Jianguo, the middle-aged man whose fingers had just been broken, was still crouching nearby.

Blood dripped onto the floor.

Shen Niannian glanced at him.

Then she looked at the doorman standing respectfully before her.

No matter how she looked at it, the scene felt completely wrong.

The doorman soon retrieved a special room key card from the front desk.

It was a pure black card.

Its edges were inlaid with dark gold patterns.

There was only one number on it.

[701]

"This is your room key card. Room 701 is on the hotel's top floor, and it is also the only guest room currently open on the seventh floor. If you need anything, you can contact us using the service bell in your room."

Shen Niannian took the key card.

She glanced at the wooden tags in the other players' hands.

Then at her own black-and-gold card.

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

The others were on the second floor.

Or the third.

She was on the seventh.

The others had ordinary wood.

She had VIP treatment.

No matter how she looked at it, this didn't seem like a good thing.

She ventured, "Could I stay a little closer to them? It's my first time entering a dungeon, and I'm a little scared to stay alone on the top floor."

The doorman's body went rigid.

"We don't recommend changing rooms!"

His voice suddenly rose.

Shen Niannian's shoulders jerked up.

Σ(っ °Д °;)っ

The doorman realized he had overreacted and hurriedly explained, "Room 701 has already been prepared, and it is much safer than the ordinary guest rooms. The conditions in the other rooms might not meet your expectations."

Shen Niannian nodded outwardly.

Inside, alarm bells were ringing wildly.

I can't switch.

I have to stay alone.

Top floor.

A room to myself.

The perfect spot to get picked off alone in a horror movie!

These ghosts really are up to no good!

Scared as she was, though.

She had no intention of pressing the matter of changing rooms.

Wang Jianguo's fingers were still dripping blood.

The lesson from rule one was right beside her.

If she kept asking, who knew whether her "reasonable request" would turn into "deliberately making things difficult"?

Since she couldn't turn down 701 for now.

She would stay there.

At least she had the key card.

The first-stage objective was complete.

Shen Niannian looked down and ran her fingers over the black-and-gold key card in her hand.

Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, she looked up at the doorman again.

"Oh, right, I have one more question. The dungeon requires us to obtain proof of checkout. Do we get that at the front desk?"

The doorman paused noticeably.

"Matters related to checkout are outside the doorman's responsibilities. After checking in, guests may consult the hotel management."

Shen Niannian's gaze shifted slightly.

He hadn't answered.

But he hadn't said she couldn't ask, either.

In other words.

The doorman probably knew.

It just wasn't his responsibility.

Shen Niannian silently noted down a new clue.

[Proof of checkout-ask the hotel management.]

The hotel was so big.

It had to have a manager.

Maybe even an owner.

She would ask when she met them.

(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

At least she had a direction now.

Meanwhile.

Chen Hao, the yellow-haired young man in the crowd, had fixed his eyes on her key card.

Chen Hao was a newcomer too.

But he had watched plenty of livestreams before entering the dungeon.

He had seen everything that had just happened very clearly.

Wang Jianguo had asked to change rooms.

And had his fingers broken.

Shen Niannian had likewise made a request about her room.

Yet she had been given 701.

Why?

Chen Hao soon reached a conclusion.

The problem wasn't "making a request."

It was "attitude."

Wang Jianguo's tone had been too aggressive, so he had been deliberately making things difficult for the staff.

Shen Niannian, on the other hand, had been very polite.

So she had successfully made use of rule one.

[The hotel will do its best to meet guests' reasonable requests.]

People in the livestream were making similar guesses.

"Could Shen Niannian have stumbled onto the right way to use rule one?"

"As long as you're polite enough, can you ask the hotel for better service?"

"Wang Jianguo got punished because of what he said in the second half!"

Zhou Hai, however, kept frowning.

He couldn't help feeling that things weren't so simple.

The doorman's attitude toward Shen Niannian.

It wasn't service.

It was more like...

Fear.

But why would a B-rank eerie being be afraid of a nineteen-year-old newcomer?

Zhou Hai couldn't figure it out.

Soon.

Everyone began returning to their rooms.

Chen Hao's room was 208.

He pushed open the door.

A powerful stench of decay hit him in the face.

The walls were covered in mold.

Dark red stains seeped through the ceiling.

There were even large patches of dried blood on the sheets.

Chen Hao's expression grew increasingly ugly.

They were both newcomers.

Why did Shen Niannian get to stay in 701?

While he had to stay in a place like this?

Just then.

The sound of a cart came from the hallway.

A waitress dressed in black happened to pass by.

An idea occurred to Chen Hao.

Here's my chance.

He hurried over.

"Hello, my room is really dirty, and the smell is very strong. If the hotel has any other vacant rooms, could I trouble you to move me somewhere with slightly better conditions?"

His tone was polite.

There was no questioning.

Still less any attempt to make things difficult.

It was almost exactly like Shen Niannian's.

The waitress stopped.

Her pale, stiff face slowly turned toward him.

"Guest, are you sure you need to change rooms?"

Chen Hao was delighted.

"Yes."

"Of course. Please follow me."

The livestream immediately perked up.

"It worked!"

"So it really does work!"

"Did Shen Niannian really find a loophole in the rules?"

Chen Hao couldn't help smiling.

It seemed an A-rank dungeon wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.

As long as he was smart enough.

He could still find loopholes.

The waitress led him down the hallway.

To the third floor.

Then the fourth.

She finally stopped in front of a dark red door.

[404]

"Guest, the conditions in this room should meet your requirements."

The door opened.

A soft carpet.

A large double bed.

A private bathroom.

There was even a magnificent chandelier.

It was more than ten times better than 208.

Chen Hao was completely reassured.

"Thank you."

He stepped inside.

Click.

The door suddenly locked behind him.

Chen Hao's expression froze.

"Huh?"

The next second.

Blood began seeping through the wall.

It writhed like a living thing.

Finally, it formed a line of text.

[Room 404 occupancy rules]

[This room only accepts guests with missing body parts.]

Chen Hao's pupils constricted.

He looked down at himself.

Both hands.

Both legs.

All intact.

A chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The waitress behind him was already inside the room.

Her mouth had split open to her ears.

At some point, a rusty bone saw had appeared in her hand.

"Sir, your physical condition currently does not meet the requirements for staying in this room."

Chen Hao rushed toward the door in a panic.

"I don't want to change rooms anymore! I want to go back to 208!"

The door wouldn't budge.

The waitress kept smiling.

"Your room change has already been completed. But don't worry. The hotel will do its best to accommodate guests' reasonable requests."

The bone saw rose inch by inch.

"Since you like this room, we can modify your eligibility to stay in it."

"No!"

Riiip-!

A scream rang out across the entire fourth floor.

In the livestream, the barrage of comments about a "loophole in the rules" vanished in an instant.

A dozen or so seconds later.

The sound stopped completely.

[Player Chen Hao has died.]

After a brief, deathly silence.

The comments exploded.

"He died?!"

"They both changed rooms. Shen Niannian got room 701, and he got turned into a cripple?"

"The hotel did grant his request, but it gets to decide exactly how!"

"So what happened with Shen Niannian wasn't the normal rules at all!"

"You can't copy what she did!"

When Zhou Hai saw the death notification, his expression darkened completely.

He finally understood.

The special treatment Shen Niannian received.

Absolutely could not be used as a guide for ordinary players.

On the seventh floor.

Shen Niannian had no idea someone had just died trying to copy her.

After the elevator doors opened.

She soon arrived outside room 701.

The door had just opened.

But Shen Niannian didn't go in right away.

Instead, she stood in the doorway and quickly surveyed the room.

The door.

The lock.

The windows.

The bathroom.

The bedroom.

And the service bell by the wall that the bellboy had specifically mentioned.

There were no new written rules.

Nor did she see any obvious traces of blood.

At least on the surface.

The place did look much more normal than downstairs.

Shen Niannian hesitated.

In the end, she didn't look under the bed.

According to her years of experience with horror games.

If there really was something under the bed.

It was best to respect the boundaries adults should have with one another until it chose to come out on its own.

(￣ー￣)

Out of sight.

Out of mind.

Only then did she step all the way into the room.

Then she froze.

A spacious living room.

Huge floor-to-ceiling windows.

A soft sofa.

A private bathroom.

The large bed in the bedroom even looked more comfortable than her bed in the real world.

There was also strawberry cake and warm milk on the table.

(⊙o⊙)

"Wait."

"Is this really an A-rank instance?"

A maid in a black-and-white uniform stood beside the table.

"Miss Shen, the hotel prepared these welcome refreshments for you. If you don't like strawberry, we can replace them immediately."

Shen Niannian stared at the cake.

She didn't touch it.

Just now, Wang Jianguo had said a couple of extra words.

And his fingers had been broken.

Yet now the hotel was treating her so well.

Did that make sense?

Of course not!

Unasked-for favors.

Always hid ulterior motives!

The more Shen Niannian thought about it, the more wary she became.

"Thank you, but I've been on a diet lately. There's no need to prepare so much."

The maid froze.

Her gaze instinctively swept over Shen Niannian's petite frame.

She was less than 1.5 meters tall.

Her wrists were so thin they looked as though they could snap with a twist.

"No, you're already very thin. The hotel has prepared a dinner suitable for normal human consumption, so please don't worry."

Shen Niannian jolted.

Σ(っ °Д °;)っ

They wouldn't let her diet?

What else could this be but fattening her up?

And what did she mean by "suitable for normal human consumption"?

Was there food for abnormal humans too?

She silently took half a step back.

(╥﹏╥)

Just as she thought.

These ghosts definitely wanted to feed her until she was full before eating her!

The next second.

An identity profile suddenly popped up.

[High-risk target detected approaching.]

[Target: Gu Changsheng]

[Identity: manager of the Blood Moon Hotel]

[Danger level: peak A-rank]

[Current state: extremely nervous]

Shen Niannian slowly raised her head.

(⊙▽⊙")

The hotel manager?

Wait.

Hadn't the bellboy just told her-

She could ask hotel management about checking out?

Shen Niannian stared at the identity field, [manager of the Blood Moon Hotel], for two seconds.

Her eyes gradually narrowed.

Good.

The clue came looking for me.

But...

She glanced at the last line, [extremely nervous], again.

Wait.

The ghosts in this hotel...

Why is every one of them more nervous than the last?