Translator: Cinder Translations
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"That…" The middle-aged man in the tank top looked at the woman's profile, his lips quivering slightly. It wasn't until he opened his mouth that he realized he didn't even know her name. Embarrassment flashed across his face. "May I ask your name?"
The woman glanced at him briefly and responded coolly, "Yu Wen."
Her voice had a distinctive quality, carrying a rare, raspy tone with a weathered texture.
The fact that the woman answered his question seemed to give the man in the tank top a glimmer of hope. He quickly straightened up, adopting a serious negotiation posture, leaning forward slightly with a hint of flattery. "Miss Yu, nice to meet you. I am Zhou Taifu, and my family is in the jewelry business."
The woman, who had introduced herself as Yu Wen, turned her head with interest and stared at him. "Go on."
Zhou Taifu licked his lips. "I can tell Miss Yu isn't an ordinary person, and you seem to have experience dealing with situations like this, so…"
"So you want me to protect you and then pay me a hefty protection fee once we get out of here?" Yu Wen suddenly smiled. "Is that it, Mr. Zhou?"
Zhou Taifu nodded hurriedly. "Exactly, Miss Yu. As long as you can ensure my safety, the reward won't be an issue. I'll make sure you're satisfied."
"Satisfied…" Yu Wen touched her chin, as if seriously considering it.
Seeing Yu Wen's attitude, the man sitting next to the tank-top guy couldn't hold back any longer and quickly spoke up. "Miss Yu, I hope you can help me as well. Although I'm not as wealthy as Mr. Zhou, if I can leave here alive, I'm willing to give up everything I have."
"Oh?" Yu Wen tilted her head, seemingly interested in his proposal as well.
Zhou Taifu, who thought he had found a protector, was not having it. He pointed at the other man and scolded loudly, "Miss Yu agreed to help me first! How does it make sense to include you as well?"
Turning back to Yu Wen, he added decisively, "Miss Yu, just focus on protecting me. No matter how much this poor guy offers, I'll pay double—no, I'll pay ten times more!"
"You're quite generous," Yu Wen sighed.
Zhou Taifu's lips tightened as he suddenly became agitated. He stood up, trembling slightly, and asked, "So, Miss Yu, does that mean you've agreed?"
Yu Wen didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked out the window. After a while, she asked with a meaningful expression, "Mr. Zhou Taifu, the jeweler, what do you think the purpose of this nightmare is?"
"The purpose?" Zhou Taifu was stunned. Does the purpose even matter?
Shouldn't the priority now be figuring out how to survive? Or maybe negotiating the price?
To his surprise, Yu Wen didn't even look at him, giving him the impression that his answer didn't matter at all. This made him very uncomfortable.
But as he was the one seeking help, he had no choice but to endure.
"I have a rather unique profession," Yu Wen began slowly, leaning back into her chair, exuding a deeply relaxed demeanor. "People hire us to do certain things. Of course," she added, "not in places like our country, but in war-torn regions, so we are often called mercenaries."
Her eyes gradually lost focus, as if she were sinking into distant memories. "Those places are extremely impoverished. The only thing that attracts us is money, and we're willing to do anything for it," she paused, lowering her head to repeat, "I mean anything."
Zhou Taifu felt the conversation was taking a disturbing turn. "Miss… Miss Yu, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"Nothing," Yu Wen replied, brushing her hair away from her temple.
Oddly enough, the gesture carried no feminine grace. Instead, it evoked a chilling sense of lethality, like autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves.
Both the man in the tank top and the one beside him felt a sudden chill in their hearts.
"I just find it unfair," Yu Wen raised her head, and once again that icy gaze appeared in her eyes, her dark pupils seemingly able to swallow all light.
"In the real world, wealth and power may allow you to do as you please, but understand this: this is the world of nightmares. Everything you're so proud of and boast about in the real world is worth nothing here."
"If you want to survive here, you can only rely on this," she tapped her temple with her fingertip, then suddenly smiled, "That's also why I like it here."
"So please, respect this place and its rules."
Room 407.
A woman in dinosaur pajamas was curled up on the bed, trembling. She was wrapped tightly in her blanket, with only her two eyes peeking out.
"Cheongsam sister," she stammered, "the sound is still there. It feels like it's just one wall away."
The woman in the cheongsam was no longer calm. Just a few minutes ago, the girl in the dinosaur pajamas had suddenly told her that she had heard a strange scratching sound.
This immediately reminded her of the sound heard by the two people in Room 405.
Could it be that thing has shifted its target?
She couldn't help but feel tense.
But after calming down and thinking it through, she reasoned it shouldn't be. If that thing had truly targeted the people in Room 405, it usually wouldn't change its focus.
The only thing that gave her relief was that she herself hadn't heard the so-called scratching sound.
In any case, Room 407 was no longer safe. That thing had already marked this place, and there was a high chance that the girl in the dinosaur pajamas, who knew nothing, would be its first victim tonight.
"Little girl," the cheongsam woman asked, "Can you still hear the scratching sound?"
She was making one last confirmation.
"Yes," the girl in dinosaur pajamas nodded quickly, clearly terrified. "But it's not as loud as before. The sound seems to be moving."
She used her finger to trace the sound's position along the wall, inching closer and closer to the woman in the cheongsam.
"Sister," the girl in dinosaur pajamas was almost in tears, "the sound seems to be above your head."
"What?!"
The cheongsam woman snapped her head up, but there was nothing above her.
What was even more terrifying was that she hadn't heard any sound up to that point.
The night was deathly quiet in her ears.
She started thinking frantically. Could her initial assumption have been wrong? Could it be that hearing the scratching sound wasn't a sign that the ghost had marked its next victim, but that those who didn't hear it were the true targets?
The more she thought about it, the more it seemed plausible.
The logic was simple: if those who heard the scratching sound were the ghost's targets, then the first to die should have been the two people in Room 405.
Conversely, if the people in Room 405 were already dead, then no one else should die tonight. So why would the scratching sound come for them now?
(End of the Chapter)
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