“Sacrifices?”
Xu Wenxing froze in place after hearing that unfamiliar word, which had previously only existed in his textbooks.
He never expected that one day, he would actually become such a pitiful existence.
The middle-aged man nodded and replied in a firm tone, “That’s right, sacrifices.”
“The lackeys of a monster are active in this hotel. They take people as sacrifices and offer them to that goddamn divinity called the ‘Night Lord,’ causing the poor bastards to lose their consciousness completely. My daughter was once offered as a sacrifice by them.”
Speaking of his daughter’s ordeal, the man’s voice was filled with grief and indignation.
Even Xu Wenxing could tell that what had happened to the man’s daughter had affected him deeply.
“Then… did you try to seek help from the Official Personnel?”
As soon as he asked the question, Xu Wenxing wanted to give himself two slaps to wake himself up.
‘What am I even asking? How could the man in front of me not have looked for Official Personnel?’
As Xu Wenxing expected, the middle-aged man fell into a brief silence upon hearing his question.
“… I looked for them, but it was useless.”
“What do you mean by ‘useless’?” Xu Wenxing followed up.
“Their methods are very eerie; they can disguise the victims as people who have lost their minds due to being scammed.”
The middle-aged man shook his head helplessly and sighed.
“With today’s medical technology, it’s impossible to discover the victims’ true condition.”
“This… could there really be ghosts in this world?”
Hearing the man’s explanation, Xu Wenxing couldn’t help but frown.
He began to doubt the worldview he had always held. ‘If there really are ghosts in this world, then why has no one ever observed them?’
“No, I don’t think it’s necessarily ghosts. It could also be monsters,” the middle-aged man said, offering his opinion.
“Monsters?”
“Yes, that’s right. The kind of monsters you often see on TV.”
The middle-aged man nodded heavily and began to tell Xu Wenxing about his past experiences.
“Back then, an Official Personnel believed my words and investigated the situation of this hotel with me. After a long period of hard work, he did indeed achieve some results.”
“He told me that there were some strange things active in this hotel. They could understand human speech, but they possessed Power far beyond what an ordinary person could have.”
“After a great deal of investigation and reasonable inference, he told me that this hotel is the nest of a certain intelligent Monster, and the humans who help it select sacrifices are its lackeys.”
“I was surprised when I first heard his words, but on second thought, only monsters could truly do such bizarre things in this world.”
“After discovering the truth here, he told me he wanted to find a way to deal with these monsters, so he came to this hotel. But later, he was also discovered by the monsters here and fell into a complete coma.”
The middle-aged man sighed, seemingly feeling regret for his inability to save that Official Personnel.
Xu Wenxing remained silent for several seconds after hearing his words before asking, “Hey, Mister, can you do me a favor?”
“I’m not an ‘Uncle’ — I’m only 37 years old this year, still young,” the middle-aged man waved his hand. “Go ahead, what do you want me to do?”
“Can I borrow your mobile phone?” Xu Wenxing asked with a serious face.
If what was active in the Caesar Grand Hotel were monsters, then things would be easier to handle.
He knew a Magic Girl with incredible combat power. As long as she took action, all problems could be solved.
Over-the-limit monsters should be handled with over-the-limit combat power. This was common sense.
“I do have a mobile phone on me, and there’s no harm in letting you use it. But I must remind you, don’t think about making calls or sending messages to others from here.”
“Why?” Xu Wenxing asked, puzzled.
“The reason is simple. The magnetic field here seems to be interfered with by monsters.”
The middle-aged man shrugged.
“When I came here to save people before, I also thought about using my phone to contact the poor bastards. But there was no signal, and I couldn’t even make a call.”
“…”
Xu Wenxing was stunned. He had originally wanted to call his good roommate, Lu Ren.
But looking at it now, making a phone call in the hotel seemed impossible. It seemed he would have to wait until he got out to make the call.
“I know what you’re thinking. You just want to call someone for help, right?” The middle-aged man smiled. “Forget it. Even if you found a Magic Girl, it would be useless.”
“… You mean, even a Magic Girl can’t deal with the monsters here?!” Xu Wenxing was shocked.
How was that possible? Was there a monster in this world that even a Magic Girl couldn’t defeat?
The middle-aged man nodded slightly. After squeezing out a rather ugly smile, he explained, “Yes, because my daughter was a Magic Girl.”
“Back then, in order to save someone, she recklessly broke into this hotel and then completely lost consciousness.”
“Then one day, while she was lying on her hospital bed, she mysteriously disappeared.”
“By the time I saw her again, she was already a cold corpse lying dead on the side of the road.”
Xu Wenxing’s body felt as if it had been struck by lightning. He never expected that this man’s daughter was actually a Magic Girl.
It was true; there used to be several Magic Girls active in City A. There were also quite a few who were active for a while and then suddenly vanished.
If a Magic Girl had died at the hands of a monster, it wasn’t exactly unexplainable.
Although he kept searching for reasons in his mind to convince himself, Xu Wenxing still felt a sense of desolation.
‘If even the previous Magic Girls couldn’t solve the monsters here, could Blazing Flame really handle them?’
‘If Blazing Flame were to die here accidentally because of my notification, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.’
Xu Wenxing pursed his lips, constantly considering the possible scenarios in his mind.
He was thinking that if he could leave this place alive, should he keep it a secret from Lu Ren and not tell him about the situation here?
But if he didn’t tell Lu Ren, how would the monsters here be eliminated?
It was foreseeable that as long as people like his dad’s friend existed, there would be a steady stream of “sacrifices” suffering at the Caesar Grand Hotel.
‘When that time comes, what face would I have to face those restless spirits if I had done nothing?’
He couldn’t just sit idly by; he had to think of something.
Xu Wenxing lowered his head, constantly thinking about the power he possessed and what he could achieve.
“Alright, young man. We’ve wasted enough time. It’s time to go.”
“Yeah, I understand.”
Hearing the middle-aged man’s words, Xu Wenxing nodded and followed his pace, walking toward the exit of the Caesar Grand Hotel.