"Knock knock knock—knock knock—"
Gu Xinghe tapped on the table at the reception desk, and when he realized that the young man in front of him was still not awake, he had no choice but to increase the force of his tapping.
"Uh...ah, what's wrong?"
The young man, finally snapping out of his daze after being reminded, rubbed his eyes and looked at Gu Xinghe with a confused expression, still feeling drowsy.
He didn't seem embarrassed at all about being caught slacking off at work.
At this moment, he seemed to have finally figured out Gu Xinghe's identity, but he still spoke lazily.
"Ah...sir, is there anything I can help you with?"
"I would like to order my meals for the next five days. Please have them delivered to my room when I need them."
As he said this, Gu Xinghe took out a wad of cash from his pocket, far exceeding the cost of five days' meals, and handed it to the young man.
Upon seeing this, the young man's face instantly lit up with a warm and friendly smile, as if the customer were God.
He accepted the money swiftly without giving Gu Xinghe a chance to react, and also noted down his room number.
The young man did not point out that Gu Xinghe had given too much money, but knew that Gu Xinghe must have something to ask for in this situation, so he asked directly.
"Yes, sir, is there anything else you need?"
Have you seen anyone pass by my room?
Upon hearing Gu Xinghe's question, the young man hesitated for a while before finally coming up with an answer.
"Sir, I'm so sorry I couldn't help you."
Because a very famous painter is going to hold an art exhibition in the town.
So recently there have been a lot more tourists and new faces coming in, so…
"It doesn't matter."
Faced with the young man's reply, Gu Xinghe almost already knew the answer from the beginning, so he didn't care.
"Sir, my name is Ryan. If you need any further assistance, please feel free to contact me."
Upon hearing this, Gu Xinghe nodded in agreement and instructed Ryan to serve dinner immediately before returning to his room.
...
"Knock knock knock—"
Under the onslaught of spending money, Gu Xinghe quickly became the focus of service for Ryan, the young waiter from the hotel.
At that moment, he delivered what was considered a lavish meal in the hotel to Gu Xinghe's room.
Gu Xinghe, who was having dinner at the only table in the room, planned to take this opportunity to "peek" at the situation of the other players.
Instead of broadcasting live from a private room, Gu Xinghe chose to use a mirror to "peep".
When Eris gave him the fragments of the magic mirror, she stated that the fragments could control ordinary mirrors within a certain range.
And his tentacles, which had devoured the fragments of the magic mirror, naturally served the same function as the mirror itself.
This is also why he initially imagined that each of his tentacles might have different abilities in the future.
But in this hotel with rather poor accommodations.
Unlike the original Doom Tavern, which had a large number of bottles or glasses that could replace the concept of a mirror.
There aren't even any glass decorations here; the only mirror-like feature is the actual mirror in the bathroom.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to directly empathize with the note and the door, but instead could have retraced the events through the mirror in the hotel.
So, Gu Xinghe, who had quickly finished his dinner, went to the bathroom and started watching his one-man movie.
At this moment, he closed his eyes, touched the mirror with his right hand, and used the mirror to "peep" at the current situation of the other people in the room.
At this moment, after a brief observation, Gu Xinghe discovered that Ji Shanfang, Shen Pingliang, and Chen Ye had gathered in a room.
The last player, Qi Kangle, still did not seem to have returned to his room or rejoined the others.
But when he saw that the other three had created a new "group chat" excluding him, Gu Xinghe wasn't surprised.
Perhaps it was because the strange sense of oppression that Gu Xinghe gave them when they first met was too strong.
So you could say they're now deliberately avoiding him.
But Gu Xinghe simply watched his "little movie" without paying any attention.
Because the single rooms in the hotel are extremely small, the bathroom door is left unclosed.
The mirror located within the room provides almost complete coverage of the entire room.
In fact, this is also why Gu Xinghe was able to see their situation directly under these circumstances.
After observing for a moment, Gu Xinghe discovered that the information these people had gleaned was basically the same as the information he had gathered himself—
Despite the various controversies surrounding the recently famous painter Mia, it seems that few people have actually seen her face.
Including this art exhibition, most of her external communication needs are handled by her housekeeper, Fils.
But after a brief exchange of information...
Gu Xinghe discovered that among the three players, Ji Shanfang had the idea of escaping the town to avoid the game system's missions.
"If all we have to do is escape this town, then..."
However, before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by another player, Shen Pingliang.
"Then I suggest you don't. I once saw a player who went crazy in front of me and died after failing to complete a mission."
Upon hearing this, the three people present fell silent.
At this moment, Gu Xinghe also began to ponder the game system's punishment mechanism.
If it were a closed space like the one in the previous dungeons, it would be fine.
Now that the game has given players access to the entire town, how will the game system manage and restrict players in this instance?
Now, Gu Xinghe seems to have found the answer.
For typical survival-oriented dungeons, failing to complete the main quest usually means death.
However, if you refuse to complete the task in other types of instances.
According to Shen Pingliang, the game system's punishment of players seems to be a form of mental pollution.
This seems to fit the very nature of this world.
Seeing that their conversation had ended, Gu Xinghe also stopped his "spying".
Having experienced empathy with objects several times today, Gu Xinghe even felt as if he was beginning to show signs of objectification.
He decided to get some rest tonight.
...
"Knock knock knock—"
The next morning, just as Gu Xinghe finished breakfast, there was a knock on the door.
Based on what happened last night, it seems that other players will not come to him on their own initiative, and Ryan has obviously already brought him breakfast.
So, could the person knocking on the door now be the mysterious person who handed him the note yesterday who asked for help?
Thinking this, Gu Xinghe opened the door and saw a man dressed as a sheriff.
Upon seeing Gu Xinghe's appearance, he seemed somewhat surprised, but still spoke to Gu Xinghe.
"Sir, we would like to ask you about some information regarding a murder case that was discovered this morning."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
