The Young Lady's Game

Bai Feiyue was still holding Shen Niannian's arm.

She showed no intention of letting go.

"Come on, my room is ready. You're playing with me tonight."

The corner of Shen Niannian's mouth twitched.

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

Play with an A-rank uncanny being?

That sounded about as safe as playing house with a tiger.

Under normal circumstances,

she should have made an excuse and run for it without hesitation.

But just as the words reached her lips,

Shen Niannian suddenly stopped.

Because she had suddenly realized something.

Come to think of it...

She had come downstairs to ask about the checkout voucher in the first place.

She hadn't managed to ask her question earlier.

Instead, she had run into Bai Feiyue first.

And now?

Bai Feiyue was right beside her.

So was Gu Changsheng.

And judging from what had just happened, the eldest young lady of the Blood Rose Family could clearly order Gu Changsheng around.

Wasn't that a ready-made source of information?

Shen Niannian narrowed her eyes slightly.

The doorman.

Gu Changsheng.

Bai Feiyue.

That made three.

She didn't know why these uncanny beings knew her.

Still less did she know whether Bai Feiyue's claim that she had been her maid for seven days when they were little was true.

But-

One fact was already clear.

At least for the time being,

these high-ranking uncanny beings had no intention of directly hurting her.

In that case...

Why did she have to hide?

She still had an instance mission.

[Survive for three days in the Blood Moon Hotel and obtain a checkout voucher.]

Surviving for three days was only the baseline.

The real problem was the checkout voucher.

Even now, she had no idea what it looked like.

What if she really did hole up in 701 for three days?

Once the third day was up,

the system would suddenly tell her:

Congratulations on surviving.

Mission failed.

That would be quite the joke.

Shen Niannian pictured the scene.

Her little face immediately grew serious.

She couldn't just lie low.

She had to find a way to clear the instance.

Besides...

She suddenly felt as though her thinking had opened up a little.

(✧ω✧)

She didn't know why these uncanny beings treated her differently.

But that didn't stop her from making use of it first!

It wasn't as if asking for information would cost her a piece of flesh.

She just had to make sure she didn't treat this special treatment as a guarantee of invincibility.

Seeing her suddenly stop moving, Bai Feiyue looked down and asked, "Niannian, what are you thinking about?"

Shen Niannian looked up.

Her ruby-like eyes blinked.

"I don't mind playing with you, but there's something I want to ask you first."

Bai Feiyue was visibly surprised.

Then she smiled and nodded.

"Go ahead."

"Do you know how to get a checkout voucher for the Blood Moon Hotel?"

Bai Feiyue: "..."

The smile on her face faltered for a moment.

A checkout voucher?

What was that?

Shen Niannian looked at her.

Bai Feiyue looked back at Shen Niannian.

They were both silent for three seconds.

Then,

Bai Feiyue turned her head as naturally as could be.

"Gu Changsheng, come here."

Gu Changsheng: "..."

The livestream chat instantly erupted in laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

"Even Young Lady Bai doesn't know!"

"Did Shen Niannian just use an A-rank uncanny being as an information NPC?"

"The young lady couldn't answer, so she called the hotel manager over on the spot."

"Wait, didn't she come downstairs to investigate the checkout voucher in the first place? She's actually taking the initiative to advance the mission now!"

Gu Changsheng walked over.

"Would you like to know about the checkout voucher, Miss Shen?"

Shen Niannian nodded at once.

"The instance mission explicitly requires us to survive for three days and obtain a checkout voucher, but the rules never explain how to get one. You're the hotel manager, so surely you know?"

Gu Changsheng was silent for two seconds.

"I do."

Shen Niannian's eyes lit up instantly.

(☆▽☆)

There's hope!

"Then could you just give me one?"

Gu Changsheng: "..."

Bai Feiyue: "..."

The livestream chat:

"Hahahahahaha!"

"I knew it!"

"They already gave her 701, so what's one more checkout voucher?"

"That's perfectly reasonable thinking!"

"The craziest part is, I actually think she might pull it off and get one for free!"

Gu Changsheng shook his head helplessly.

"I'm sorry, but that isn't possible."

The light in Shen Niannian's eyes immediately dimmed by half.

"Why not?"

"Checkout vouchers aren't issued directly by hotel staff. They're generated by the Blood Moon Hotel's core rules. Even as the manager, I can't bypass the most basic requirements for clearing the instance."

Shen Niannian looked thoughtful.

That answer had instead given her a very important piece of information.

Gu Changsheng could look after her.

The doorman could be afraid of her.

Bai Feiyue could favor her.

But-

The instance's most fundamental rules still existed.

At least as things stood,

no one could simply place the reward for clearing the instance in her hands.

For some reason, that made her feel a little more reassured.

It was good that there were rules.

At least rules could be studied.

The worst thing would be if there were no logic at all.

"Then how are you normally supposed to get a checkout voucher?"

Gu Changsheng didn't conceal anything further.

"Please take out your room card."

Shen Niannian immediately pulled out the black-and-gold room card for 701.

"Look at the back."

She turned it over.

Only then did she notice

three dark-red, crescent-shaped empty slots on the back of the card.

She had been focused on the number 701 before.

She really hadn't looked at it closely.

Gu Changsheng explained, "During their stay at the Blood Moon Hotel, guests must fully experience three designated hotel services. Each time a guest completes a service, the hotel's rules will leave a stamp on their room card. Once they have collected all three stamps, they can go to the front desk to check out on the morning of the third day, and the hotel's rules will generate a checkout voucher."

Shen Niannian immediately perked up.

"What are the three services?"

"The Blood Banquet Restaurant, midnight room service, and the Blood Moon Banquet Hall, which opens on the third night."

The anticipation on Shen Niannian's face gradually disappeared.

Blood Banquet.

Midnight.

Blood Moon.

(￣ー￣)

Doesn't your hotel have any activities with names that sound a little less sinister?

The livestream chat, however, had already exploded.

"Main storyline information!"

"So that's how you get the checkout voucher!"

"None of the previously published guides had a complete record of this!"

"No wonder the Blood Moon Hotel's clear rate is only 8.7%. Just surviving for three days isn't enough; you also have to participate in all three services!"

"Shen Niannian really got some crucial information with that question!"

"Three high-risk services. Skip them and you fail the mission; attend them and you might die. That's what makes an A-rank instance truly troublesome!"

Meanwhile,

on the second floor,

three crescent-shaped empty slots quietly appeared on the backs of the remaining players' room cards as well.

But there was no further explanation.

Zhou Hai stared at the three marks that had suddenly appeared, his expression growing increasingly grave.

He didn't know what Shen Niannian had just learned.

But he knew very well.

The dungeon would never have left three slots on the room cards for no reason.

Those things.

They were most likely related to the checkout voucher.

In other words.

They couldn't hide in their rooms forever.

Sooner or later, they had to go out on their own.

On the seventh floor.

Shen Niannian pressed on. "Which one can I complete today?"

Gu Changsheng glanced at the clock hanging in the lobby.

It was 7:40 p.m.

"The Blood Banquet Restaurant officially opens at eight and stops admitting guests at ten. If you miss it tonight, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Shen Niannian looked down at her room card.

Three empty slots.

The first stamp.

It would be hers tonight.

Her goal suddenly became crystal clear.

"Is the Blood Banquet Restaurant dangerous?"

Gu Changsheng fell silent.

Shen Niannian's eyelid twitched.

"Your silence is making me feel really unsafe."

Beside them, Bai Feiyue couldn't help laughing.

Gu Changsheng had no choice but to explain. "The restaurant has its own rules. As long as guests follow the dining procedure correctly, they can theoretically obtain a dining stamp safely."

Theoretically.

Shen Niannian caught that word immediately.

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

When something needed to be prefaced with "theoretically"...

Reality usually didn't care much for theory.

"What are the rules exactly?"

"They'll be announced once you enter the restaurant."

Gu Changsheng said no more.

It wasn't that he didn't want to.

Some of the rules would only be generated by the hotel's rules after service officially began.

Shen Niannian nodded.

That was enough.

At least she finally knew what she had to do next.

First.

Complete three services.

Second.

Collect all three stamps.

Third.

Obtain a checkout voucher.

Fourth.

Get out alive.

As for why the doorman, Gu Changsheng, and Bai Feiyue knew her...

That was an important question.

But it wasn't as important as her life.

She could look into it later if she got the chance.

More importantly-

Shen Niannian suddenly realized she seemed to have been stuck in a flawed way of thinking.

Because these weird creatures had been acting so strangely.

All she could think about was hiding.

But if they really didn't intend to hurt her right now...

Why couldn't she turn things around and take advantage of this special treatment?

Gu Changsheng was the hotel manager.

Bai Feiyue was a young lady from the Weird World.

They clearly knew far more than ordinary players.

She was scared, sure.

But she could still fleece them for all they were worth!

(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

Of course.

She couldn't fleece them so hard she lost her head in the process.

Shen Niannian quickly went over the order of her actions for the night.

At eight.

Go to the Blood Banquet Restaurant.

The first thing wasn't to eat.

It was to read the rules.

Second, use [Identity Archive] to check any staff she could get close to.

Third, absolutely avoid touching any food or doing anything she wasn't sure about.

She would try to pry out as much information as she could.

Once she got the first dining service stamp, she would return to room 701 immediately, before eleven.

As for the two A-rank weird creatures beside her...

Shen Niannian sneaked a glance at Bai Feiyue and Gu Changsheng.

(¬‿¬)

They weren't hostile for now.

She could make use of them if she could.

But she absolutely couldn't rely on them for everything.

Who knew whether the weird creatures in the next dungeon would recognize her?

Just as that thought crossed her mind.

[Identity Archive], which had been quiet for a long time, suddenly displayed a new notification.

[Host detected to have officially begun the process of clearing an A-rank dungeon.]

[Conditions for a permission upgrade have been unlocked.]

[Current identity permission: Level 0]

[Upgrade condition: Complete one A-rank or higher weird dungeon.]

[After successful clearance, Level 1 identity permission will be unlocked based on dungeon completion.]

Shen Niannian stopped in her tracks.

(⊙o⊙)

This household registration system...

Can level up too?

She immediately asked in her mind.

What new functions come with Level 1 permission?

[Insufficient permission. Unable to check in advance.]

Shen Niannian: "..."

(￢_￢)

A classic empty promise.

Still, a promise was better than nothing.

At least it meant one thing.

As long as she successfully cleared the Blood Moon Hotel, she could truly grow stronger.

Shen Niannian didn't want to rely forever on the inexplicable goodwill of these weird creatures.

The doorman knew her today.

Gu Changsheng knew her.

Bai Feiyue knew her too.

What about next time?

What if the boss in the next dungeon didn't know her at all?

What if she ran into one who had a grudge against her?

Entrusting her life to others.

Was unreliable in the end.

Only by truly possessing power herself.

Could she be safest.

At that thought.

For the first time, Shen Niannian truly felt a desire to clear the dungeon of her own accord.

Not because the dungeon was forcing her onward.

But because-

She wanted to make herself stronger.

Seeing her suddenly turn serious, Bai Feiyue couldn't help asking, "Niannian, what are you thinking about now?"

Shen Niannian tightened her grip on the room 701 card.

Her ruby-like eyes took on a rare seriousness.

"I've decided."

"Decided what?"

"First, I'll go to the Blood Banquet Restaurant and get the first stamp."

Bai Feiyue raised an eyebrow slightly.

Gu Changsheng glanced at her too.

The serious expression Shen Niannian had held for all of two seconds suddenly crumbled.

She reached down and rubbed her little belly, which had already begun to protest.

(.・ω・.)

"And get something to eat while I'm at it."

Bai Feiyue: "..."

Gu Changsheng: "..."

The livestream chat fell silent for a second too.

Then it erupted with laughter.

"I was wondering why she suddenly got so fired up!"

"In the end, it's still about stuffing her face, huh?!"

"Wrong! She's progressing the main quest and the food quest at the same time. That's called efficiency!"

Shen Niannian couldn't be bothered with the chat messages she couldn't see.

She just looked down at the three empty slots on the back of her room card.

The first one.

She had to fill it tonight.

Just then.

A cold announcement rang out across the entire hotel.

[Dear guests, the Blood Banquet Restaurant will officially open in twenty minutes.]

[Guests who need to obtain a dining service stamp, please proceed to the restaurant on the first floor between eight and ten p.m.]

[Attention, please.]

[After entering the restaurant, please strictly observe the Blood Banquet Restaurant's dining rules.]

On the second floor.

Zhou Hai's head snapped up.

The other surviving players' expressions changed at the same time.

Three blood-red Chinese characters had now slowly appeared in the first empty slot that had suddenly shown up on their room cards earlier.

[Dining Stamp]

Zhou Hai took a deep breath.

He finally understood.

To clear the level.

She couldn't hide.

And the seventh floor.

Shen Niannian looked down at the first empty slot on her room card.

Her expression grew serious as well.

The first test of rules that truly belonged to the Blood Moon Hotel-

Had finally arrived.