The next morning, I stepped out of the room with some regret.
Hadn’t the scenario said a monster would come to our room last night?
I’d even thought that when the monster showed up, I could play the hero and save the handsome guy, earning a few points of affection.
Maybe something romantic would happen between Bạch Vũ and me…
Why hadn’t it come to our room?
Could it have come, found no one there, and left?
The moment I reached the lobby, Tô Ngọc Đình rushed over in shock and grabbed my arm.
“You’re not dead.”
Lý Vỹ and the veteran players all stared at me in astonishment!
5.
“Those two rookies really survived.”
Everyone began whispering among themselves.
“And they don’t have a single scar on them. They even look radiant. How did they manage that?”
Seeing the shock and resentment on Tô Ngọc Đình’s face—and especially the deep bloody gashes on her arms and neck—I couldn’t help feeling a rush of satisfaction.
“I don’t know either. Maybe we were just especially lucky.”
“We left our room last night and went downstairs to cook a late-night meal. Maybe the monster came while we were gone, found no one in the room, and left.”
The rookies immediately fell into thought.
“So we can leave our rooms. Why didn’t we think of that?”
Tô Ngọc Đình gritted her teeth and looked at me mockingly.
“Sis, if you don’t want to share your secret, fine. But you don’t have to lie and mislead everyone. The sign on the door clearly says guests aren’t allowed to leave their rooms at night. Are you trying to lure people outside to their deaths?”
The rookies’ expressions changed at once as they looked at me.
“What a cruel person. She’s trying to get us outside as bait for the monster while she hides somewhere safe.”
“No wonder even her own sister hates her. We’d better stay away from her.”
Complaining comments flooded in.
[As expected, people can’t make money beyond the limits of their understanding.]
[You all thought Granny was a monster, but to her, Granny was just a kindhearted old lady from the Northeast. She not only called her a little darling but even gave her a high-level item for free.]
Just then, the electronic voice rang out over the speakers again, sounding smug.
[Congratulations, lucky players! You’ve survived your first night.]
[As a reward, we’ll announce tonight’s visitor in advance.]
6.
[Tonight’s visitor is the Red-Dressed Bride.]
[Along with the final boss you’ll face on the third night: the Hotel Owner.]
[A friendly reminder to players: If you fail to obtain a key item needed to clear the game from any one of the three visitors, you won’t be able to leave. You don’t want to know what happens if you stay at the hotel.]
[This eerie hotel doesn’t charge for lodging. It takes souls instead.]
All the veteran players’ expressions darkened.
As the rookies murmured among themselves, the veterans’ minds churned with anxious thoughts.
The fat man tugged at Lý Vỹ and whispered with a frown, “We’re really unlucky.”
A flood of comments appeared.
[Oh my god, how did this group of players get so unlucky? The three bosses in the hotel scenario are random. Usually, at least one of them is easy to score points with.]
[I can’t believe the first day brought Granny, an unkillable monster. And the second day is the ghost bride, a notorious mechanic-based monster.]
[And don’t even get me started on the third day. The Hotel Owner is one of the top super-bosses in the scenario world. Since that world was established, no one has ever beaten him.]
[The former number-one player, Hàn Sơn—wasn’t he amazing? He brought every skill and item he had and took his whole team to fight the Hotel Owner.]
[Did they win?]
[The person above is so naive. They used every powerful move they had. In the end, the boss looked at his health bar and had barely a scratch.]
[Oh my god, doesn’t that mean they were all wiped out?]
[Not all of them. The woman got Granny’s comb, so at least she could leave.]
[What about Lý Vỹ? He definitely can’t beat the Hotel Owner. He can only try his luck with the ghost bride tonight.]
[But the ghost bride is a boss ordinary people can’t beat either.]
Unaware of the comments, I fiddled with the wooden comb I’d received yesterday.
Tô Ngọc Đình came over to me. She was just about to speak when her eyes suddenly fixed on the comb in my hand.
“Where did you get that comb?”
She reached out to snatch it, but I calmly moved out of her way.
“What are you doing? This isn’t your house. Your mother isn’t here to help you steal my things.”
Tô Ngọc Đình’s expression changed, and she suddenly forced herself into a sweet smile, like squeezing toothpaste from a tube.
“Sis, I’ve been thinking. We’re sisters, after all. Things weren’t always good between us back home, but now that we’re out here in this horror world, we have to help each other. How about I talk to Lý Vỹ and get him to let you join our team?”
I immediately shook my head.
“I’m not going.”
If I went, how could I enjoy a world for two with Bạch Vũ?
I’d been single since birth for so many years, and it was rare to finally meet a guy who was perfect from head to toe.
This year, I was determined to bring him home to visit my mother’s grave and show her that I had a boyfriend too!
Bạch Vũ nodded repeatedly, too.
“I’m not going either.”
Tô Ngọc Đình shot him a look.
“Who asked you?”
She forced a smile and looked at me.
“If you don’t want to go, fine. Then I can share some information about the ghost bride. Lý Vỹ has been through this scenario before, so he knows that monster called the ghost bride.”
I tilted my head and saw Lý Vỹ talking with several rookies and veteran players who had pledged themselves to him, but they were speaking too quietly for me to hear.
To be safe, I nodded.
“All right. Tell me.”
Tô Ngọc Đình immediately smiled at me.
“This hotel was built during the Republican era. Back then, a poor girl fell in love with a rich young master.”
“Unfortunately, the young master’s parents wouldn’t let him marry her. So he and the girl arranged to meet at this hotel and elope together.”
“The girl was brought to the hotel by her only living relative, her grandmother. But she didn’t know that the young man had broken his promise to her and fallen in love with the fiancée his parents had chosen for him.”
“The girl’s grandmother fell ill from overwork and had an attack at the hotel. The girl couldn’t afford treatment or pay the room bill. When she went to the young man to borrow money, he had her beaten.”
“The girl returned to the hotel and discovered that her grandmother had died of her illness. Covered in injuries and consumed by unbearable pain, she eventually put on a bright red wedding dress and set herself on fire in her hotel room.”
“And that was the day the young man married his fiancée.”
7.
Hearing her story, I felt a little sympathy for her.
Tô Ngọc Đình looked at me mysteriously.
“What’s more, this ghost bride has a special mechanic.”
I waited for her to continue, but her eyes kept darting toward my hand.
“But I can’t give you the next piece of information for free. You’ll have to trade me that comb.”
The comments immediately flooded in.
[Did Tô Ngọc Đình realize this was a quest item?]
[She’s a veteran player, after all. She’d have to have an eye for these things. But girl, don’t give away a quest item so easily. That’s a terrible deal.]
[How sly. She’s using a vague bit of information to trick her out of a key item.]
I smiled and placed the comb in her hand.
“All right. Tell me.”
Tô Ngọc Đình examined the comb carefully, then looked delighted.
She must have seen the notification too.
She looked at me smugly.
“The ghost bride’s mechanic is that she goes around asking the players, ‘Husband, do you want to marry another woman?’”
“At that point, all a male player has to say is, ‘My lady, I love only you.’ Then he can clear the level.”
The comments erupted in outrage, though I couldn’t see them.
[Tô Ngọc Đình is so despicable! Is she trying to trick that girl?]
[Exactly. Any player who says that will be taken by the ghost woman, and most of them die.]
[She can see how much the girl likes that guy. This way, no matter which of them says that to the ghost woman, one of them will die.]
[I looked up a walkthrough. The right way is to find all the items in the hotel, then tell the ghost woman you’ll help her steal the groom—take back her bridegroom. Why didn’t Tô Ngọc Đình tell her sister the right way to solve it?]