Chapter 653: Chapter 635: Temporary Tenants
Frank was still his old self, wearing his pumpkin cartoon print T-shirt, knee-length shorts, and straw sandals.
He stood in front of the Green Gate, lightly hooking the doorbell with his little finger.
It didn’t ring,
it was more like he was having so kind of communication.
At that mont, Luo Di suddenly realized sothing—the doorbell, resembling a withered finger, might actually be the so-called “landlord’s” finger.
He had touched it just now, but hadn’t recognized it at all.
Thinking back carefully,
it did seem like he was “pinky swearing” with soone.
This wasn’t ringing the doorbell at all, but a ritual that every guest had to go through, or a thod of identification.
Soon after,
Frank released his finger and turned his plump pumpkin head.
“The landlord allows you to tour and also asks if you wish to stay for the night. Since you’re mbers of Vortex Town, you can enjoy a night’s free stay.”
Luo Di asked back, “Frank, do you think it’s appropriate for us to stay a night?”
“Although this is the first ti I’ve seen the landlord let non-Green Gate beings stay, it should be fine. After all, our entire inn moved to Vortex Town, so so change is normal.
Plus, Luo Di, you just touched the doorbell, so I guess the landlord already knows your character.”
Luo Di exchanged a glance with Wu Wen, nodded, and said, “Then we’ll stay for a day, since we need to attend an early eting tomorrow morning, let’s head there together.”
“Alright.”
After getting a positive response, Frank placed his palm on the Green Gate.
The door opened,
but instead of the hotel interior Luo Di imagined, there was an escalator commonly seen in shopping centers.
The escalator’s width was narrower than the current passage, only wide enough for one person to stand side-by-side.
The whole thing looked quite old, making creaking sounds as it operated,
and it was descending, indicating that the Screaming Inn was set in the underground area.
Pumpkin Fran, accustod to going ho, directly patted his butt and sat on the escalator. Luo Di and Wu Wen followed closely behind and got on.
This marked the official entry into the Screaming Inn.
Standing on the steep escalator and looking down, they couldn’t see the end at one glance.
The narrow, old escalator descended at least a hundred ters deep, taking several minutes for the entire descent, no wonder Frank sat down on it.
Frank lightly explained, “Under non-ergency circumstances, just wait normally; don’t rush on the escalator. This escalator is the mandatory path to the inn; being too hasty will reduce the landlord’s ‘favorability.’
“Understood.”
Luo Di began to observe the surroundings; this area didn’t look like an inn at all, more like a factory or an old subway station.
On both sides crawled large tallic pipes of various sizes, with rust being the most common paint here.
Inside every pipe there were strange noises, as if gas were being transported or sothing was crawling inside.
So pipes, due to years of disrepair, leaked air and emitted sharp sounds, akin to screaming.
Below the escalator lay a relatively spacious passage, with cold gray floor tiles that, when stepped on, produced a crisp, hollow sound, transmitting into the depths, signifying a guest’s arrival.
After following Frank for just a couple of steps, a slithering sound ca from the passage ahead.
A huge worm, almost taking up half the passage, crawled out from around the corner.
Though called a worm,
its front had a fat human face, chewing so kind of soupy substance.
Luo Di could sense that this was a mature monster, with considerable strength.
Frank had already greeted it: “Mr. Cowen! These two are guests specially permitted by the landlord; please take us to the temporary rental area to complete the check-in process.”
“Guests… co in.”
The worm’s mouth opened completely, wide enough to swallow a person whole.
Luo Di didn’t resist, blending in with local customs, and walked directly into the worm’s body, finding the experience quite delightful.
To his surprise, the interior had its own space, akin to a regular bus.
Frank was already sitting on a seat covered with worm skin, simply explaining:
“Like , Mr. Cowen is a lifelong resident of the inn. However, he faces more restrictions, while he can live here for a lifeti, he must provide ‘guest services.’
Whenever a guest returns to the inn, Mr. Cowen goes to the entrance to receive them.
Additionally,
since the Screaming Inn relocated to Vortex Town, it remains half-closed, no longer accommodating temporary guests, only lifelong residents remain active here.
So it might feel very deserted to you, but actually, during normal operations, Mr. Cowen’s interior would often be crowded.
Any Green Gate Monster that cos to the Corner usually stays here for a while; capable monsters can stay even longer.”
Luo Di suddenly posed a key question:
“This huge hotel can relocate quickly and completely from a distant place to Vortex Town… Is this hotel itself the ‘landlord’?”
Frank was slightly taken aback, “Luo Di, you’re indeed sharp. It took almost a month of staying here to realize this.
The landlord is currently the known ‘largest monster’ in the Middle Layer, the existence closest to the term monster, most fitting with the true nature of the concept.
The hotel isn’t his complete form, just a part of him.”
“The largest monster?”
Luo Di suddenly rembered seeing various large pipes when taking the elevator earlier, perhaps corresponding to the landlord’s capillaries.
About ten minutes later, the worm ca to a stop.
The surroundings had not changed much, sowhere between a subway station and a factory.
But they had arrived at the “end” of a passage, with a ticket counter embedded in the wall here.
It was pitch black inside, nothing could be seen.
“Luo Di, Wu Wen, make your temporary accommodation registration here.
There’s no need to provide any identity information, just bite your finger and write down your na on the ticket counter. Any language is fine, as long as it represents you.”
Luo Di initially wanted to ask about side effects, but quickly swallowed his words, bit his index finger, and wrote the Chinese characters for ‘Luo Di’.
Imdiately after,
several fleshy straws appeared from the depths of the counter, quickly sucking up all the blood.
Cough, cough~ Perhaps the blood was too hot, or it had an irritating effect, as a violent coughing sound ca from inside the counter.
Wu Wen did the sa and completed the registration.
Then,
a marked rusty key labeled [101] was thrown onto the counter.
Frank grabbed the key, “Done! This way, you are temporary tenants.
As I ntioned before, due to relocation issues, only lifeti residents ca along. Therefore, the temporary accommodation area of the inn has no other guests, so you don’t have to worry about anyone causing trouble.
And your room is number one, the closest one, making it convenient to enter and exit the hotel.
Follow , the rental is this way.”
Frank led the two to change direction and arrived at an intersection not far away. A sign saying [Bathroom] hung on the wall, and Frank indeed entered.
It actually was a public restroom, and an old one at that, with uncleaned cigarette butts piled between the urinals.
Luo Di quickly glanced towards the squat toilet stalls, really afraid that [101] would appear on any of them. Luckily, there was nothing.
Cre~ The door hinge turned.
Frank opened the door to the deepest stall, where a broken hole was left in the wall to the left of the pit. Frank actually crouched down and slowly crawled through.
Since they were already there, Luo Di could only follow suit and crawled in as well.
The hole surprisingly extended deep, with nurous forks inside, different room numbers pasted by these forks.
This area corresponded to the passage for temporary tenants’ rooms.
They turned left into the fork labeled [101], a tal louver screen blocked the hole’s entrance, with a “keyhole” on the side.
Unlocking the louver simply led directly into the guest room’s bathroom.
“This is your room! The temporary apartnt is synthesized according to your ‘character’ and matches your essence of fear.
Like my room is full of various pumpkin decorations, fragrant.
Your room feels rather eerie, as if you could be killed any mont, Luo Di, you’re truly the Black Door Killer.”
Luo Di was relieved, as long as it wasn’t in a bathroom, anything would do.
He walked to the bathroom exit, pushed the door open, looked at the bedroom outside, his eyes lit up, and asked quickly:
“How can one achieve long-term or lifeti residency?”
“This requires you to make a ‘contribution’ to the hotel, similar to working at the hotel, for example, I used to be responsible for food preparation while Mr. Cowen handled guests.
During regular operations of the hotel, wanted posters would often be issued. If tenants completed these, they could extend the rental period and increase the landlord’s favor.
When the favor reaches a certain level, the landlord will send a long-term or lifeti contract.
Currently, the hotel is not open, and there are no wanted posters~ Moreover, Luo Di, you are not a Green Door Monster, it would be hard for you to stay.”
Luo Di furrowed his brow, and softly said, “If this ti I can make a significant contribution in the purge operation, kill the traitors who abandoned the Corner, and restore the Middle Layer to its forr state, that should also increase favor, right?”
“This…”
Just as Frank was in a bit of a bind,
the shower in the bathroom suddenly turned on inexplicably,
but what flowed out was not clean water, but a puddle of pitch-black goo, forming a mouth on the ground.
“Yes, if you can make a contribution that allows the inn to quickly resu its previous operational state, I can make an exception and allow you to beco a lifeti resident.”
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