ATFBETIBM Chapter 410

The seventeenth floor led to the hotel suites.

The corridor was pitch-black, with no sound of birds or insects.

Bai Lixin placed one hand on the wall and groped forward, while the other hand took out a flashlight from his backpack for illumination.

The little black furry monster was flying around his head like a headless fly, but it couldn’t do much to Bai Lixin.

A bright beam of light reached the far end of the corridor, gradually dimming until it was swallowed by the darkness.

From the decoration, this floor seemed to have nothing special.

Bai Lixin turned the flashlight, and the light fell on the walls on both sides.

The doors of each room were separated by the same distance, and the doors were all identical. There were no the golden doors seen in the [Paradise Cinema] copy.

Everything appeared ordinary and natural.

Bai Lixin looked up at the room number closest to him: Room 1704.

He tried to twist the doorknob; the door was locked. The metal lock only slightly shook with Bai Lixin’s effort, resisting his attempts with its meager resistance.

After turning it twice without success, Bai Lixin withdrew his hand and stared at the door lock silently.

Seeing this, the little black furry monster sneered, “Heehee, silly, you can’t open it, heeheehee.”

It had just laughed for two seconds when the mocking tone abruptly stopped.

Bai Lixin calmly pulled out a thin steel wire from mid-air and skillfully bent it into a slightly concave shape before inserting it into the keyhole.

The little black furry monster silently swallowed its saliva, nervously watching Bai Lixin’s actions.

In the brief yet prolonged seconds of waiting, there was a crisp “click”, and the previously tightly closed door opened.

The little black furry monster’s eyes were as wide as copper bells: “…”

This was against the rules! It was against the rules!

You need a key card to open the door, and you need an invitation letter to get the key card.

“You’re exploiting a loophole in the game rules!” The little black furry monster spoke through gritted teeth.

Bai Lixin replied disdainfully, “I’ve exploited it; what can you do to me? Blind me with your big watery eyes?”

The little monster’s fur instantly exploded, “…”

‘Ugh, so infuriating!’

Just as Bai Lixin was about to push the door open, he suddenly heard crisp footsteps coming from the end of the corridor.

—Pa-tap, Pa-tap.

—Pa-tap, Pa-tap.

The sound was like leather shoes stepping on a marble floor. But the corridor was covered with thick carpets; there shouldn’t be such footsteps.

After the footsteps, there was the sound of a room door opening and closing.

—Click! Bang!

Bai Lixin raised his flashlight and looked towards the vague direction of the sound, but the end of the corridor was empty, with nothing there.

On one side was the room he had just casually opened, and on the other side was the corridor’s mysterious end that produced strange sounds.

Bai Lixin didn’t think too long and made his choice.

Under the little monster’s glinting eyes, Bai Lixin changed direction and walked toward the end of the corridor.

The sound of opening and closing doors seemed to come from a diagonally opposite position. When Bai Lixin reached the end, he hesitated between two doors.

One door was to Room 1717, and the other was to Room 1719.

The sound of the door-opening was from one of these two doors. However, at the moment, he couldn’t clearly determine which door it was.

Bai Lixin first approached the door to Room 1717, amd places his ear against the door to listen for any sounds inside.

After a few seconds, he heard nothing apart from his own heartbeat and breathing.

Withdrawing his ear from the door, Bai Lixin silently twisted the door handle, attempting to open the door.

The long handle tightly clung to the door lock, showing no movement.

Bai Lixin stared at the door handle thoughtfully, a knowing expression appearing on his face.

After seeing Bai Lixin’s expression, the little black furry monster couldn’t help but exclaim, “You, are you planning to pick the lock again?!”

The young man raised his eyelids slightly, and when he looked at the little black furry monster, he showed an expression of approval. Not only that, he even raised his thumb in praise: so smart.

The little black furry monster with a big body and small limbs had completely turned into a fur ball at this time, “!!!”

‘Do you think I’ll be happy just because you praised me?!

You game breaker! You will face consequences!’

However, it was obvious that the young man didn’t hear the monster’s inner outcry. He casually took out the steel wire, replicating the “one-second unlocking” skill as before.

Just as Bai Lixin was about to push the door open and enter, the sound of footsteps came again.

Pa-tap.

Pa-tap.

Pa-tap.

This time, the sound wasn’t coming from a distance but was close, as if right next to his ear.

Bai Lixin instinctively turned his head.

Suddenly, a man in a suit appeared behind him.

The man appeared to be around thirty, with pale features and lifeless eyes, staring blankly at the adjacent Room 1719 door.

While Bai Lixin stared at the man, the man seemed oblivious to Bai Lixin’s presence and went straight to the door of Room 1719 and opened the door. With each step, the man’s leather shoes made a crisp sound as they hit the marble floor.

“Click.”

“Bang!”

The door to room 1709 closed again.

Bai Lixin’s scrutinizing gaze landed on the door of Room 1709, and he fell into contemplation.

S419: [Lord Host, what are you thinking?]

Bai Lixin: [I’ve seen the person who just entered Room 1709 before.]

S419M: [Really? Where did you see him?]

Bai Lixin: [Downstairs in the banquet hall. He was one of the guests at tonight’s banquet. He was still inside socializing and drinking when I came up earlier.]

S419M: [Then he shouldn’t be here. Is there another passage from the sixteenth floor to the seventeenth floor?]

Bai Lixin: [There’s one more thing—he changed his clothes. Although both are suits, the one he’s in just now and the one from the banquet hall downstairs have different styles. Do you know about mirages?]

S419M: [I know, Lord Host.]

Bai Lixin: [I speculate that what we just saw wasn’t the current reality but an illusion or a scene replay. If that’s the case, even if we go in, the room next door won’t react to our presence. Let’s go and take a look inside.]

After saying this, he prepared to walk towards Room 1719.

However, just as he turned around, the door to Room 1717, which was previously tightly closed, suddenly swung open. A pair of dark hands wrapped in fog reached out from inside, and like an eagle grabbing a chick, grabbed Bai Lixin’s wrist and effortlessly pulled him into Room 1719.

“Bang!” There was a dull heavy impact as the door closed.

The previously dark corridor was now empty. It plunged once again into darkness and silence, as if no one had ever appeared.

The little black furry monster was also momentarily stunned by this sudden turn of events. When it recovered, it immediately tried to pass through the wall. However, its body, which should be able to pass through all obstacles in this game world, was forcibly blocked outside. No matter how hard it tried to hit, it couldn’t enter this seemingly ordinary room.

The little black furry monster stared at the room door for a long while and eventually disappeared angrily.

…

It was dark inside Room 1717.

On the cold wall covered with high-quality wallpaper, there was a pitch-black, inky silhouette.

Bai Lixin was pressed between the wall and the black shadow by a powerful force, facing the wall with his cheeks pressed against it. The rough wallpaper rubbed against his smooth cheeks, and Bai Lixin caught a faint whiff of a bloody scent.

His arms were also controlled by an unknown force, clasping them together against the wall. From the body, waist, and thighs—almost every conceivable place could feel the presence of that force.

Bai Lixin’s restrained arms showed tense veins. He concentrated all his strength at one point and forcefully broke free from the shadow’s control.

The shadow seemed not to expect that Bai Lixin could break free, and its constantly swaying body paused for a moment. Then, it swayed again, and ink-like black fog surged toward Bai Lixin from all directions.

Bai Lixin had quick eyes and quick hands and quickly took out the dagger from his backpack. The sharp dagger danced in his hand like an agile butterfly. Just as the butterfly was about to land in the dense sea of ink flowers, two thin black threads suddenly emerged from the fog, tightly winding around Bai Lixin’s wrist.

A pair of cold hands reached out from the fog and held Bai Lixin’s waist. With a forceful push forward, Bai Lixin’s back was pressed heavily against the wall.

And the shadow swiftly followed.

Just as Bai Lixin was about to use the dagger to cut the black threads, a faint black gas entered his nostrils. A familiar scent lingered in his nasal cavity for a few seconds and then disappeared.

Bai Lixin, who was ready to raise his hand, was stunned for a moment. And in that moment, the black fog seized the opportunity and surged towards him again. More thin threads emerged from the fog, entwining around Bai Lixin’s ankles.

The threads tightened and forcefully pulled apart, making Bai Lixin’s body move like a puppet on a string.

His feet uncontrollably moved farther and farther apart.

The black fog pressed close, almost seamlessly embedded with Bai Lixin. He could even feel the squeezing sensation in his chest and waist.

“Who are you?!” The young man stared at the black shadow before him with shame and anger, his eyes sparkling in the darkness. “Let go of me, you monster!”

Those eyes, like stars in the sky, made people unable to resist the urge to pluck them out and hold them in their hands.

The black fog stared at the young man in front of it, and crazy thoughts kept emerging in its mind.

—Destroy him!

—Tear him apart!

—Destroy the stars in his eyes!

—Let the wet tears of fear take their place!

—Make him scream again and again!

—It would be so beautiful!