“You’re not from around here, are you?” the man asked tentatively, which earned a dismissive look from Lin Ya. He immediately chuckled awkwardly; after all, who from the local area would stay here?
“Then let me start from the beginning. Twenty years ago…”
Twenty years ago, this hotel was booked by a film crew.
Not only did they stay here, but they also filmed here. The movie tells the story of a noble girl who meets her Prince Charming at a banquet. They fall in love at first sight and begin a romantic journey together.
The film was titled—”Lies.”
The title suggests there is more to the story than meets the eye.
The noble girl is actually a poor commoner who, after receiving assistance from a stranger, disguises herself as a noblewoman and follows the instructions of her benefactor to win over her Prince Charming. Over time, she genuinely falls in love with him. However, during an unfortunate incident, she discovers that her beloved is actually the one who funded her.
The girl finds herself entangled in a web of confusion. To uncover the truth, she sneaks into a ball frequented by her lover, only to see him dancing with another woman who bears a striking resemblance to her.
Believing her lover to be unfaithful, the girl becomes consumed by rage and sets the entire ballroom on fire. The flames rapidly grow uncontrollable, and the whole hotel is reduced to ashes.
This is the plot of the movie, yet reality seems to be cursed by the same film. In the film, when the female lead ignites the fire, it erupts with fierce intensity—impossible to extinguish, and just like the movie’s ending, the hotel lies in ruins.
Strangely, not a single person inside the hotel escaped.
Neither the hotel staff nor the actors from the film crew.
All were consumed by the flames.
“We both died a long time ago,” the man glanced at Lin Ya, fearing yet another beating.
“Is there only the two of you in this room?”
“Uh… it was too noisy before; those actors said our room was haunted, so no one has stayed here since. After the hotel burned down, nobody came back.”
Lin Ya gave him a cool glance and got up to leave.
As he exited, the man felt a sense of relief, no longer worried about reliving the tragic scene. There was no urge now to encounter another person like Lin Ya.
Room 414 fell silent.
After Lin Ya left, he circled around again but found nothing. He glanced at his watch and noticed it was almost midnight.
Although he wasn’t mentally exhausted, he still needed to rest, so he headed back to his quarters to sleep.
It was a quiet night.
The other three exited, their eyes bags under their dark circles; they had barely slept, fearing nighttime occurrences.
This time was distinctly different from previous quests.
Preparing for a challenging adventure, they hoped to survive until they could return. Even without bonus items, selling strategies should earn enough survival points.
“What? No breakfast?” The group was taken aback by this news. Fortunately, they had eaten a fair amount of cake the previous night, so although they felt hungry, they could manage.
Lin Ya had explored the hotel the night before, and now with the wallet he found in his luggage, he made his way to the kitchen.
Su Ziyi, noticing his movement, quickly followed to see what he was up to.
He saw Lin Ya pull out several bills from his wallet and hand them to the impatient chef, who immediately brightened and accepted the money, saying a few things before turning to enter the kitchen.
After a short wait, the chef promptly returned with a tray.
It held a bowl of scallion egg noodles, a glass of milk, and two buns.
“Thank you.” Lin Ya took the tray and turned back to the lobby. To make it convenient, he chose not to enter the dining room or go upstairs, instead opting to eat at the coffee table in the lobby.
NPCs came and went, casting glances at him as he ate, yet they did not disturb him.
“Let’s go upstairs,” Su Ziyi said, seeing Lei Guang on the elevator. He urged Wu Yun to join them.
“What? You paid the chef to cook? Where did he get the money?” Wu Yun couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been surprised too many times lately.
“It must have been from the suitcase,” Lei Guang suddenly interjected. He had rummaged through the suitcase on his first day, finding not just clothes but also a wallet containing cards and some cash—though not much.
“After breakfast, let’s talk to him.” Su Ziyi admired Lin Ya’s decisiveness and courage. “If he cooperates with us, we should be able to clear this quest.”
“He does seem to be someone out of the ordinary,” Lei Guang replied without elaborating. He also wanted to collaborate with Lin Ya; right now, it was just the four of them. If they could find a partner, that would be great.
“But I don’t think I’ve ever seen him on the leaderboard.”
“Regardless, let’s team up and see what he’s capable of first,” Su Ziyi said. He hadn’t seen Lin Ya on the leaderboard either, but based on his performance in the banquet hall, he was certainly not an average player.
At the very least, he seemed more like an experienced player than the rest of them.
They were all thinking about securing a collaboration with Lin Ya, unaware that Lin Ya had no intention of teaming up at all.
After breakfast, Lin Ya continued wandering around.
On the first floor, there was a reading room, but he hadn’t entered last night due to the late hour. It was just the right time to check it out now.
The reading room was only the size of a bedroom, filled with various bookshelves, mostly well-known literary works.
His fingers gradually grazed the spines of the books, and he finally found the volume titled “Lies,” held by the woman in the artwork on the fourth floor.
The book cover was black, unlike the red cover of “Truth” in the room.
Yet, the phrase on the first page was identical.
Just reversed.
[Lies are truths, truths are lies.]
Lin Ya took the book with him, still piecing the clues together, hoping to find answers within its pages.
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