chapter 12
Ah Zhang fell silent for a moment, then immediately restored his professional smile. “Impossible. That would violate the ethics expected of a qualified Front Desk attendant.”
Cheng Miao understood. He probably had not intended to let her die. He had merely wanted to frighten her and watch her embarrass herself.
She did not know whether there were deadly triggers outside. Once people panicked, however, they were capable of anything.
Cheng Miao gave Ah Zhang a knowing half smile. “Surely the Survival Inn system has a channel for complaints and oversight?”
Ah Zhang clearly had not expected the question. He froze and remained silent for a long while.
“There really isn’t one?” Cheng Miao arched an eyebrow. “Is the place that unprofessional?”
“…There is,” Ah Zhang forced out through clenched teeth. “If a guest has concerns, they may file a report with the Python Supervisor. Once a complaint is verified, the responsible party will be punished immediately. However, if the evidence is insufficient or the player makes a false accusation and causes trouble, their room grade will be reduced. The penalty depends on the severity of the offense.”
As expected, the cockroach brothers did not lie. They merely withheld information.
Players were terrified and exhausted, and treated every Front Desk attendant with great deference. It never occurred to them that a Game that advertised itself as fair would not allow such an obvious imbalance against players.
Almost no one dared challenge the Front Desk, much less imagine an oversight authority existed within the Inn. Players could discover this loophole-like rule only by feeling their own way through the system.
That also demonstrated that once a player checked into a room, the Front Desk and player were provider and customer. The Front Desk supplied accommodation; the player paid Travel Coins. What service worker had the right to bully a paying customer?
So what the hell was there to fear?
“We didn’t violate any rules just now… Fine, the rescue might have been a little slow, but we absolutely did not mean to get you killed. The Python Supervisor would say the same.” Seeing Cheng Miao watching him sidelong, Ah Zhang hurried to defend himself, though his voice lacked conviction.
Cheng Miao accepted the explanation with a radiant smile. “Of course. You’ve answered so many of my questions. Why would you ever hurt me? I was only asking. It didn’t mean anything.”
After the slap came the sweetener. There was no need for adults, or adult insects, to state everything aloud.
“Still, we did fail in our duties just now. How about this? All your meals during your stay at the Cockroach Dormitory will be free, and we’ll provide the premium menu.”
Only then did Cheng Miao remember food and drink. She had been so focused on the mission that she had not considered the sizable cost of living at the Inn. “Meals come in different grades too?”
Ah Zhang indicated the entrance. A meal-pricing notice was posted on the white metal door. Cheng Miao had missed it when she came in.
“Dormitories provide meals for a fee. Basic meals cost 2 Travel Coins per day, standard meals cost 10, and premium meals cost 20.”
“What’s the difference?” The notice listed nothing but prices. Surely that counted as another service loophole.
“A basic meal is one loaf of bread. A standard meal provides two servings, with a choice of noodles or steamed buns. A premium meal provides three servings, with bread, steamed buns, noodles, and rice available as you like.” Ah Zhang swayed his antennae. “Different grades also restore hunger to different degrees. After all, players don’t earn efficiently when they enter a Game on an empty stomach.”
The reason those details were omitted was obvious. Most people could not afford premium food. Why burden them with knowledge of what they could not have?
Cheng Miao nodded. Money was king in the Survival Inn. Barely clearing a Game did more than prevent advancement. A player might be unable to meet even their basic needs.
She chose a bed, closed the curtain, and lay down. Unable to sleep after tossing and turning, she sat up against the headboard and reviewed her first instance.
As a Solo Instance, Abandoned Courtyard had not made things unnecessarily hard for the player. Its plot required no cooperation, and anyone who followed the correct line of reasoning had more than enough time.
In fact, if Cheng Miao had never explored the hidden room, she would not have faced that final danger that nearly killed her.
But without exploring it, her plot exploration would not have reached 100%, and she could not have unlocked the side plot. Moreover, without finding the pills inside, she would have recovered a smaller portion of Liu Xue’s remains and received fewer uses of the jump rope.
Thinking of the jump rope, Cheng Miao rubbed her fingertips and retrieved the filthy cord from her Space Backpack. The usage instructions that suddenly appeared before her eyes gave her a fright.
After experimenting with the high-tech interface, she put the rope away and slid her hands into her pockets. She considered taking food and water into the next Game in case it was a long instance.
Her hand suddenly touched something hard and thin, with sharp edges.
Cheng Miao found that strange. Her pockets should have been empty after she stored the rope and surrendered her check-in voucher.
She pulled out the object, and her face went pale. Doctor Xu’s photograph had followed her out of the instance.
The man in the image now wore a dark expression. Reflected light concealed his eyes behind his glasses. He held the cleaver in one hand, while an orange spot protruded from his waist: the handle of the paring knife Cheng Miao had stabbed into him.
The grateful townspeople and the child in Doctor Xu’s arms had vanished. The backdrop was no longer an old-fashioned herbal medicine shop, but the cement shower room that had left Cheng Miao deeply traumatized.
Cheng Miao stared at Doctor Xu through the photograph, though her attention was actually fixed on the usage information that appeared.
[Item: Doctor Xu’s Photograph]
[Purpose: Unknown]
[Usage: Unknown]
After using the photograph to frighten Liu Xue away from the stairwell, Cheng Miao had casually slipped it into her pocket. The settlement had not mentioned it, so she naturally assumed it was merely a prop within the scenario.
Unexpectedly, it was an Item, and one she had no idea how to use.
She could only store it for now. Eventually, she would understand what it did.
The bathroom in the Intermediate Dormitory was hardly better than the one in Doctor Xu’s clinic. No matter how long the crooked shower pipe ran, it produced only cold water.
The Dormitory was not cold, but Cheng Miao had no intention of taking an icy shower.
Dusty was dusty, dirty was dirty. If she caught a cold, entering an instance while dizzy and feverish could kill her.
Only one day remained before her next instance. Cheng Miao refused to believe that none of the later room grades offered a hot shower.
She could endure it for that long.
When Cheng Miao woke from a nap, she looked blearily at the clock. It pointed to three in the afternoon, meaning she had slept for eight hours.
Not bad. The Inn had cured her inability to sleep in an unfamiliar bed.
After registering her meal request, Cheng Miao noticed someone had occupied the bed opposite hers.
The curtain was open. A girl of thirteen or fourteen sat there in a white Western-style dress. Her clothes suggested a wealthy family, and she was as pretty as a porcelain doll. Expressionless, she played with her own hair.
Cheng Miao had not expected such a young child to be chosen, much less to clear the newcomer Game.
Before she could dwell on it, the two cockroaches arrived with a meal cart. The sight was rather ridiculous; Cheng Miao could not tell whether the insects pushed the cart or the cart carried the insects along.
She accepted her rice. It was topped with a generous portion of roasted meat, a whole chicken leg, and a hard-boiled egg.
Most people around her quietly accepted their bread and began chewing. A few held bowls of noodles. A single Game had taught these newcomers to swallow all their resentment.
Of course, there were exceptions.