Day 13 of the game: High temperature weather, 56°C.
Inside the Doomsday Hotel early in the morning, players gathered together.
Most of them were assembled in the main hotel lobby eating breakfast—not because they had woken up early, but because they had been out hustling all night and had only just returned to the hotel.
Most people ate and drank from the food and water they had hoarded earlier.
Unless necessary, no one would spend points to eat at the restaurant. Even when they did, they only ordered the cheapest items like plain porridge and steamed buns, occasionally rewarding themselves with set meals and delicious snacks.
“The temperature rose again. Looking at this rate, there really is no end in sight!”
“At this speed, it’ll exceed 60°C by the seventeenth day.”
“By then, the outside won’t be fit for human survival at all.”
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“The 6-hour limit is completely insufficient now.”
“I can noticeably feel that the players who arrived later are growing increasingly anxious. If it weren’t for the Sin Value feature displaying warnings within the Doomsday Hotel’s boundary, I’d really worry that people would kill tenants just to steal their beds.“
“The second-hand price for beds has also spiked.”
“Nobody would sell at a time like this, right? After all, if you sell your bed, you truly won’t survive outside.”
“That’s true.”
“Without a bed, many people bought heat-resistant equipment instead. Although it’s a bit pricey, the performance is top-notch. Once they manage to snag a bed, they can resell the equipment to others!”
“Thinking about it now, it’s all thanks to the Doomsday Hotel!”
“Oh right, I’m sick of eating braised beef flavor instant noodles. Is anyone down to trade?”
“I’ll trade you for seafood flavor.”
“I have pickled cabbage flavor.”
“…”
Some were eating, some were chatting, and some were trading… a scene full of lively activity.
When Li Heng, Lu Difei, and their group returned from outside and witnessed this scene, their hearts were somewhat shaken.
Although they had only been at the Doomsday Hotel for a few days, they had experienced far too much over those days.
Outside right now, the streets were littered with corpses—not just of humans, but of many animals as well.
Even though cleanup crews appeared every now and then, they simply couldn’t keep up with the volume.
Most living people appearing on the streets were searching for water and food.
Home invasions had become a common occurrence.
Many people who had previously hoarded goods in their homes faced the sole outcome of having all their supplies plundered if they were discovered.
Surviving outside as a solitary individual had grown progressively harder.
Only through contrast did they realize how incredibly rare such a peaceful, harmonious scene truly was.
As for Xu Zhao and Ye Yongcheng, the two had specifically taken a trip back to check on their original mountain cave, only to discover that it had long been occupied by a group of people.
While they were secretly observing from afar, another faction arrived, and a violent gunfight broke out with the existing group.
And the sole reason that triggered their violent firefight was merely such a relatively cool mountain cave.
After leaving the area, cold sweat broke out on both of their foreheads involuntarily.
If they hadn’t left a few days ago, they would have long since become corpses under someone else’s blade.
Spurred by this incident, they didn’t dare let the weapons in their hands leave their sides whenever they ventured outdoors.
Their nerves were strung tight to the extreme.
Only at this moment, upon returning to the Doomsday Hotel and feeling its comfortable temperature, could they truly relax a little bit.
They genuinely felt that without the Doomsday Hotel, the vast majority of players would have lost their minds!
Just like some of the NPCs outside—they had long since gone insane!
Therefore, to them, the Doomsday Hotel was like the tether anchoring their sanity.
Even more shaken were quite a few newly arrived players.
Upon entering the Doomsday Hotel’s perimeter, they saw no one holding weapons, only observing people relaxed in line to enter the Ice and Snow World.
There were also several staff members wearing Doomsday Hotel uniforms, carrying hoes and water buckets as they entered another building.
The exterior wall of this building was vibrant with greenery.
Looking closer at the sign: Integrated Crop & Livestock Farm.
They were actually growing crops and raising livestock on their own here?!
Back outside, they had reached the end of their ropes and came to the Doomsday Hotel only to try their luck. They hadn’t expected to be instantly shocked upon arriving.
They only cursed themselves for coming too late.
Just then, a player who had been dehydrated for two days looked at a bottle of mineral water held in a nearby player’s hand, his eyes flashing with greed. Without hesitation, he pulled out his weapon and charged toward the person.
“Water, water! Give me water…”
The blade was almost pressed against the player’s neck.
The newly arrived players held their breath watching this scene, their eyes itching with anticipation.
If robbery were allowed here, they could all make a move as well.
However, the very next second, the player making the move seemed to be locked in place by an invisible force, freezing on the spot without moving a muscle.
In the blink of an eye, he was hurled straight out. When he scrambled up and tried to re-enter, he was blocked as if by an invisible barrier.
A sentence was displayed on the screen:
[You have been blacklisted by the Doomsday Hotel.]
“No! Let me in, let me in! Save me!” Upon realizing what happened, the player frantically pounded on the protective barrier, but he was ultimately kept outside the fence.
This move of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys instantly left the new players trembling with fear.
Did anyone still dare make a move?
No one dared!
The veteran players who had arrived earlier looked on with calm expressions.
Over these past days, it wasn’t as if no players from outside had tried to bring their toxic habits in after arriving. However, when facing the overwhelming power of the Doomsday Hotel, they all had no choice but to cower obediently and follow its rules.
Of course, as long as they followed the rules, the Doomsday Hotel was a sanctuary for the vast majority of players.
After entering, all players quickly adapted to the environment.
Naturally, players bearing blood on their hands with Sin Values above their heads basically had to endure strange glances and vigilance from others.
This made a portion of players—who had lived exceptionally high lives outside through unscrupulous means—extremely displeased. Yet, asking them to leave this place was something they were equally unwilling to do.
“Boss, this is truly a great place!” a henchman expressed with emotion to their leader, Zhang Zhonghang.
Looking at every tree and blade of grass in the Doomsday Hotel, Zhang Zhonghang sneered cold in his heart, but put on a warm front: “Come on, I’ll treat you all to a meal.”
“Thank you, Boss!”
“Boss, you’re so generous!”
“Following Boss is truly our good fortune.”
“…”
The other players showered Zhang Zhonghang with enthusiastic flattery.
Under their wave after wave of compliments, Zhang Zhonghang lost himself a little bit.
Following that, he began spending points lavishly inside the Doomsday Hotel.
Spending pure points, he instantly became a notable spectacle inside the hotel.
Many players noticed that quite a few players with Sin Values possessed a substantial amount of points in hand.
This detail led them to draw certain deductions, though no one voiced those assumptions out loud.
“That leader’s Sin Value isn’t particularly high,” Lu Difei’s group was also resting, naturally paying attention to this scene as well, evaluating him directly.
“I know him. He established a shelter where you could gain protection by paying money. But after the Doomsday Hotel rose to fame, a lot of his people ran off,” Li Heng spoke up. His ability to gather intel was out of the ordinary; he had investigated every shelter that popped up in the game zone.
Zhang Zhonghang was just a bit greedy when earning points, but his management was actually decent.
“How do you establish a shelter?” Xu Zhao asked with curiosity.
“The Apocalypse Game Mall sells a type of protective shield that can maintain security within a certain radius. The smallest coverage shield costs just 100 points, and the shield is upgradable,” Li Heng explained.
“How come I didn’t know about that?” Xu Zhao asked in surprise.
“You probably didn’t scroll through the mall, or even if you did, you wouldn’t necessarily bring yourself to spend that money.”
Spending 100 points to buy a shield—one careless mistake and your life would be gone anyway.
Especially since running a shelter was exceptionally difficult.
“That’s true.”
“Also, the current heads of several shelters aren’t the original founders,” Li Heng offered a calm reminder.
It was precisely because he knew this that even though he knew several shelters existed, he had never considered going to any of them.
Xu Zhao fell silent.
The world outside was too dangerous—an ordinary person like him couldn’t handle it! He had better stick inside the Doomsday Hotel to stay safe.
Meanwhile, in front of the vending machines, a newly arrived squad was purchasing special items. After finishing their purchases, they departed directly.
This scene happened to be noticed by Zuo Jinna, Fang Yangyang, and their team. They were currently pooling funds to buy a sunshade umbrella, and that squad happened to be queued right in front of them, allowing them to see their situation loud and clear.
“They’re so strange! They just bought special items and left, looking completely uninterested in room bookings or anything in the Doomsday Hotel,” Fang Yangyang spoke up instinctively.
Listening to this, Zuo Jinna felt something was slightly off as well.
They were players, so they understood better than anyone how a player would react upon encountering the Doomsday Hotel.
Those people indeed had a hint of excitement in their eyes, yet they forcibly suppressed it, leaving directly after purchasing only a few special items.
Their behavior looked as though they had come specifically just to buy those special items.
Most importantly, the prices of special items were by no means low, yet they spent points without feeling a single trace of heartache—which was also quite strange.
“Maybe they’re scouts sent by someone else,” Zuo Jinna guessed.
“Even if they’re scouts, there’s nothing to be afraid of—the Doomsday Hotel is so powerful!” After being saved by the hotel’s potion, Fang Yangyang had become an absolute loyal fan of the Doomsday Hotel.
“Maybe we should mention it to the boss,” Zuo Jinna suggested.
“Sure!” Fang Yangyang nodded quickly.
She held immense admiration for the boss of the Doomsday Hotel as well, deeply grateful to her for bringing them such a stable and peaceful environment.
She didn’t dare disturb her normally, but now that an opportunity arose, getting up close to interact with her would be great too!
At this moment, Gu Weiwei was enjoying breakfast in the restaurant.
A bowl of plain porridge paired with various side dishes could be considered lavish among the crowd of people.
Many surrounding players glanced toward Gu Weiwei every now and then, a faint trace of envy in their eyes.
When they first arrived at the Doomsday Hotel, they indeed kept a respectful distance from Gu Weiwei—after all, the unknown was the most terrifying thing.
However, after settling in, they discovered that as the boss, Gu Weiwei did nothing every day besides eating and sleeping, occasionally gathering among them to listen to gossip.
They had nothing to fear from her anymore.
Yet after overcoming their fear, watching Gu Weiwei eat all kinds of delicious food in front of them every day was truly a torture to their taste buds.
Who knew when they would ever be able to live a life like that, eating whatever they pleased?
Gu Weiwei remained completely indifferent to the surrounding gazes—after all, she had long grown accustomed to it.
She felt the wisest decision she had made was pretending to be an NPC.
Only by acting as an NPC could she live the life she wanted inside this Doomsday Hotel without drawing any unwanted suspicion.
If she were a player, eating and drinking lavishly like this would have made her a target long ago.
Either way, she was pretty happy with this current state of affairs, loving the feeling of complete freedom.
She figured that if the game zone’s environment hadn’t been so harsh and the world hadn’t grown so dark, her days as a landlady in this game zone would truly be her dream life.
With that thought, Gu Weiwei focused her eyes on the control panel.
Thousands of players had been arriving daily over these past few days.
And because they spent points after coming to the Doomsday Hotel, she gained a massive point reserve, allowing her to continuously add apartment buildings over these days.
Gradually, her tenant count had reached 10,000 people.
With the conditions met, Gu Weiwei began planning her next upgrade.
In fact, she was quite curious to see what the Doomsday Hotel would transform into after passing Level 3.
Just then, two people suddenly stepped up beside Gu Weiwei’s dining table.
“Is there something up?” Gu Weiwei took the initiative to ask.
Looking at Gu Weiwei’s warm demeanor, Zuo Jinna froze for a second before relaying everything she had observed.
Hearing Zuo Jinna’s words, Gu Weiwei paused for a moment, then said: “I understand, thank you two.”
“No, don’t mention it!” Zuo Jinna replied somewhat stiffly.
It was simply because Gu Weiwei was far too polite.
The two quickly ran off right after.
Once they were at a distance, Fang Yangyang said to Zuo Jinna: “The boss seems really nice.”
“Of course, everyone says so,” Zuo Jinna stated directly.
“Then why were you so nervous just now?”
“After all, the boss possesses magical powers and could carve out a place like the Doomsday Hotel in a game zone—she’s clearly a boss-level entity. It’s hard not to be nervous,” Zuo Jinna spoke the truth.
But now things were different—looking into Gu Weiwei’s eyes, she felt that she was a gentle person.
Fang Yangyang nodded in agreement as well.
The two then returned to their team.
On Gu Weiwei’s end, she indeed kept their words in mind.
In fact, she had already picked up on it.
The reason was that over these past days, the Recycling Cabinet had collected a large quantity of precious minerals.
The point trade-in values for these mineral ores were extremely high.
Of course, she wasn’t the one taking them—the system claimed them directly.
And the massive amounts of points issued from these turn-ins were subsequently exchanged for all kinds of goods.
There was food, water, and special items—with special items being the most frequent.
She had naturally taken note of it.
She reasoned that whoever could produce this caliber of mineral ores was definitely no ordinary entity. Her deduction was… official authorities.
If it was the official authorities, it also proved one point: the existence of the Doomsday Hotel was known not just to players, but to NPCs as well.
Furthermore, the authorities could actually hire players to enter the Doomsday Hotel on their behalf.
Her original thought surfaced in her mind once more:
Are NPCs really just NPCs?
Gu Weiwei figured she might find out real soon.
Afterward, pulling her thoughts together, she locked her focus onto the control panel.
Time to upgrade first!
[Hosted 10,092 tenants, condition met]
[Possess Doomsday Apartment *12, Tent Area *1, Ice and Snow World 1, Integrated Crop & Livestock Farm 1, condition met.]
[Deduct 400 Points to upgrade Level 2 Hotel to Level 3 Hotel?]
“Yes.”
[Doomsday Hotel upgraded from Level 2 Hotel to Level 3 Hotel. Can unlock 400 additional rooms. Simultaneously, the control range has expanded from 400 meters to 800 meters.]
This expansion was multiple times larger in area compared to before.
If it was just a single residential block previously, it was now equal to multiple neighborhoods!
Looking at it, Gu Weiwei only felt a headache coming on.
Because most of it was empty bare ground, and there was still an aesthetic rating requirement.
Sure enough, just as Gu Weiwei thought of this, the prompt sound arrived.
However, after a quick estimate, Gu Weiwei calculated that covering everything with lawns and paths would cost several thousand to over ten thousand points from start to finish.
Immediately after, Gu Weiwei turned her focus onto the newly refreshed data panel:
[Building: Doomsday Hotel (Upgradable)]
[Level: Level 3]
[Owner: Gu Weiwei]
[Description: Within the building’s perimeter, the owner holds absolute control and immunity to all damage.]
[Wealth (Points): 84,843]
[Mall: Open, items available for purchase]
[Facilities: 12 (Sign, Front Desk, Lounge Area, Restroom, Vending Machine, Rooms, Washroom, Restaurant, Recycling Cabinet, Flagstone Path, Green Belt, Road Sign)]
[Tenants: 10,092]
[Buildings: Doomsday Apartment *12, Tent Area *1, Ice and Snow World 1, Integrated Crop & Livestock Farm 1]
Gu Weiwei locked her eyes directly onto the upgradable column.
She immediately saw the conditions required for the next upgrade:
[Upgrading to Level 1 Resort requires the following conditions:]
[Condition 1: Host 20,000 tenants]
[Condition 2: 2,000 Points]
*[Condition 3: Buildings 16]
*[Condition 4: Special Buildings 4]
Resort? As expected, it stepped up another tier!
Gu Weiwei focused on the requirement for Special Buildings.
Her current understanding of special buildings was limited to the Ice and Snow World inside the Doomsday Hotel—which was awarded by the Doomsday Landlady System after her aesthetic rating reached 50%.
Now requiring 4 Special Buildings, where was she supposed to find them?
Gu Weiwei ran another search inside the Doomsday Landlady System Mall.
After confirming that there was no “Special Building” category option inside, she pulled her gaze back.
Since the Doomsday Landlady System posed this requirement, it would definitely offer a solution down the line. She would consider it later!
Looking at her point balance and the 400 unlockable rooms, Gu Weiwei bought 4 apartment buildings without hesitation, placing and unlocking the rooms before listing them for rent immediately.
Yet even so, the existing dozen-plus structures still looked a bit lonely across the vast grounds.
Gu Weiwei didn’t feel like doing extra work for now, simply building the Doomsday Hotel’s aesthetic rating up to 50% according to system requirements.
And by this time, the Doomsday Hotel’s new changes had been seen loud and clear by the players inside.
The expanded land area, the additional buildings…
Everyone’s eyes swished over toward Gu Weiwei, who was currently eating her meal.
Boss, fucking epic!
Cool and composed as ever, upgrading the hotel yet again.
“The area expanded fourfold!”
“Does that mean our activity area got way bigger?”
“Yeah, that means the number of players it can host has increased too.”
“It started with just a few dozen at the beginning, up to tens of thousands now—we really watched the Doomsday Hotel grow step by step.”
“It’ll keep getting better and better.”
“That way, incoming players won’t be our competitors either.”
“You feel relieved now?”
“Relieved! Before coming to the Doomsday Hotel, I felt like I was losing myself. Thank goodness I didn’t reach that point and didn’t completely twist my nature.”
“Even though working hard on our own is a bit tough now, at least… we have a clear conscience.”
“Me too. Don’t know how long I can hold out, but holding on one day at a time is at least one more day.”
“…”
Listening in, many players present understood in their hearts.
Melancholy lasted only a moment before the players’ attention quickly shifted.
Some returned to their rooms to rest, some went to the Ice and Snow World to gain cooling effects, some strolled casually within the Doomsday Hotel’s grounds, while others prepared to head out again to scavenge supplies.
All in all, everyone had grown completely accustomed to the Doomsday Hotel upgrading!
Now that the game duration was nearly halfway through and little time remained, they needed to secure enough supplies before the outside world became utterly unlivable. Of course, saving up more points would be even better.
And right at this moment, without anyone noticing, several players slipped out alongside the stream of people heading outside.
They were eventually met by people outside, entering a hidden underground structure.
Inside the meeting room of the underground structure:
“Commander, those players brought the intel out. It’s confirmed that the Doomsday Hotel upgraded again—the current size is roughly 640,000 square meters,” one staff member reported. “However, no matter how the interior of the Doomsday Hotel changes, from the outside, its size appears completely unchanged.”
This meant that the Doomsday Hotel was fundamentally not in the same spatial dimension as them.
Therefore, their previous deduction was correct: the Doomsday Hotel served the players specifically.
Entities like them—the “NPCs”—didn’t even have the qualification to see it.
Before Commander Li Yuanzheng could speak, the others could no longer hold back:
“This Doomsday Hotel definitely can’t be unrelated to this Apocalypse Game.”
“And those players—it’s all because of their arrival that our world became like this.”
“Those players are far too brazen and reckless.”
“A lot of players targeted our people the moment they arrived in this world, stealing and robbing, not treating us as human at all.”
“If you ask me, every single one of these players should be arrested.”
“Maybe if we eliminate all these players, our world will return to normal.”
“But not all players are bad! Didn’t this portion of players help us out?”
“I actually lean toward cooperation.”
“Even though we can’t buy things inside directly, we can use them. As long as players buy them at the Doomsday Hotel, they can just hand them over to us.”
“What about when the players reach the one-month mark? They’ll pat their butts and leave, while we still have to suffer through the agony!”
“…”
The atmosphere inside the meeting room turned gloomy in an instant.
In truth, many among them had not recovered from the shock even now.
Their core leadership team had been temporarily pieced together only after enduring a series of tribulations.
Back when chaos first broke out, it wasn’t as if they hadn’t tried to maintain order and wait for outside rescue.
However, for a day or two they could suppress it; by day six or seven, citizens no longer wanted to listen, and many staff members were unwilling to take risks anymore.
Add to that a portion of players viewing this place as a game arena—forming gangs, looting, and setting fires—which tore open the prelude to chaos.
Once the floodgate opened, order could never be restored to what it was before.
If Li Yuanzheng hadn’t assembled armed forces, their makeshift leadership wouldn’t even have been able to gather.
Thinking about it, in just a short dozen-plus days, a once peaceful and prosperous city had become utterly battered and scarred.
Even if they understood that human nature collapsed due to the “natural disaster,” it was hard not to vent their anger on the players who arrived alongside the disaster.
In fact, discovering the players had been a coincidence as well.
On the very first day of losing contact with the outside world, multiple home burglaries broke out across F City.
They hadn’t thought much of it initially, but after compiling information later, they discovered these thieves stole nothing else except food and water from supermarkets—how could that not raise suspicion?
However, they originally only suspected whether those people had somehow gotten wind of news early; they hadn’t imagined anything as wild as a game and players.
Later, they simply assigned personnel to monitor suspected players, eventually following the thread to locate the Doomsday Hotel.
Sensing their resentment, Li Yuanzheng waited until everyone finished speaking and calmed their emotions down before continuing: “These players are victims just like us. They were dropped into an unfamiliar place without any preparation. Their situation is even harder than ours—we can’t blame them no matter who we blame.”
“…”
“As for this Doomsday Hotel, its appearance actually prevented many players from straying onto dark paths. Coupled with the rules it set and its magical capabilities, I lean toward cooperation,” Li Yuanzheng continued, scanning the room. “What do you all think?”
Li Yuanzheng’s eyes carried immense authority, forcibly pressing down the indignant feelings of many present.
“Commander, aren’t you afraid the Doomsday Hotel and the Apocalypse Game are in cahoots?”
“I don’t believe they are in cahoots,” Li Yuanzheng stated without hesitation.
“According to the players’ accounts, they suddenly received a notification and were brought here without any time to react. This Apocalypse Game has never cared about them. Add to that the increasingly severe natural disasters, which is proof enough that the Apocalypse Game has never valued the players’ lives—why would it bother creating a Doomsday Hotel to play nice? Given its power, there’s no need!” someone nearby analyzed directly.
It had to be said that such an explanation hit home for many people present.
They understood this logic as well!
Except, deep inside their hearts, they were truly unwilling to accept it!
How did the city they relied on for survival suddenly become a so-called game zone!
Not valuing the players’ lives, and valuing theirs even less.
At least the players received a notification—what about them?
Did they deserve to become a game zone and turn into “NPCs” that players could bully and ignore?
“In reality, the Doomsday Hotel might not necessarily cooperate with us anyway! It has been serving players all along, and we can’t even see it—how do we negotiate cooperation with it?” someone couldn’t help bringing up.
“The Doomsday Hotel has a so-called NPC boss. When we brought that massive batch of mineral ores to trade over the past two days, the other party might have known long ago!” Li Yuanzheng spoke, his eyes darkening slightly.
“If it’s truly unrelated, we can cooperate.”
“Those equipment items from the Doomsday Hotel are indeed special.”
“Maybe only those magical things can help us get through this crisis.”
“At least endure for a month—then we’ll know whether the world we live in is… real or virtual.”
“…”
When that final sentence was spoken, another heavy silence fell over the meeting room.
Because of this tragic reality, even they themselves couldn’t help but begin to doubt!