[That scared me to death! I got lost in the world behind a door, and by the time I got out, the lights were already off. I had to feel my way back to my room in the dark!]
[Huh? You're actually okay?]
[Weren't monsters supposed to come out after lights-out?]
[What about the Warden? Did you see them?]
[It was pitch-black, and I didn't have a flashlight. How was I supposed to see anything?]
[Did you hear anything, then?]
[I was scared out of my mind running back. How was I supposed to pay attention to the sounds?]
[Why are you asking so many questions? Why don't you open your door and have a look?]
[Screw off. You think I'm stupid?]
Back in his room, Lin Qian chewed on a compressed biscuit and drank some bottled water. His trip to Room 666 had taken a lot out of him. Leaving everything else aside, it would take at least two bottles of water to replace all the sweat he had lost.
But that trip had also shown him just how terrifying an unknown room could be. He had made up his mind: unless he had no other choice, he would never again enter a room with a special number without knowing what was inside.
Lin Qian also realized that, aside from survival supplies, information about the rooms was even more valuable. With the right information, he could at least avoid high-risk haunted rooms like Room 666.
Even now, his heart still raced at the memory. He knew that luck had played a major part in his victory. If he went in again, there was no telling how things would turn out.
"What did the man in black mean by that hint? Slow motion, slowness, patience?"
After thinking it over, Lin Qian decided patience was the most likely answer. Like courage, it was a positive trait.
"Forget it. I don't want to see that..."
Lin Qian trailed off and glanced warily around the room. After a long pause, he finally managed, "That Fiend fellow, anytime soon."
The encounter had been downright unnerving, leaving him with a lasting psychological shadow. It had also forced him to reassess the rooms in the building.
He ate half a compressed biscuit slowly, saving the rest even though he still didn't feel full. Fortunately, he wasn't short on water, so he could drink as much as he wanted.
"Ah... That hits the spot!"
Two bottles later, his thirst was gone.
After lying on the bed for a while, Lin Qian took the Warden Identity Card out of his Storage Space.
As for the Anomalous Digestion Serum, he had no intention of using it yet. Judging by the name, the injection might turn him into a ravenous glutton, and he didn't have enough food stored up for that.
The Warden Identity Card, on the other hand...
Lin Qian didn't hesitate for long. After rereading the item description, he promptly chose to use it.
[Ding! Item used successfully!]
The card dissolved into a mist of light in his hand.
[Identity acquired: Warden]
[Warden (Level 1): Area of responsibility: 600–699. Salary: 1 Free Attribute Point per day. Currently available: 1]
"!!!"
When Lin Qian saw the description of his Warden identity on his attribute panel, he sprang off the bed in shock.
"One Free Attribute Point every day? Is that for real?!"
He had expected the identity to come with some privileges, but he hadn't imagined the reward would be so immediate and tangible.
"The average value is one. That means this single point will add an ordinary person's full average attribute value to whichever stat I choose!"
"I hit the jackpot!"
Lin Qian excitedly paced in circles for quite a while before calming down enough to allocate the point.
[Ding! Free Attribute Point allocated. Strength +1]
Name: Lin Qian (Level 1 Warden)
Initial Attributes (The average value for each attribute of a healthy adult is 1)
Strength: 1.8
Agility: 1.1
Constitution: 0.7
Intelligence: 1.9
Trait: Calm
Evaluation: A Warden? Who the hell knows how he managed to sneak in.
"Hm?"
Seeing that the evaluation on the last line had changed, Lin Qian frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean? Why do I feel like I'm being looked down on...?"
He closed the panel, ignoring the snobbish system, and clenched his fists, feeling an unfamiliar strength fill every inch of his muscles.
"I feel like I could punch a cow to death now!"
Lin Qian burst out laughing and excitedly threw a flurry of wild punches at the air. Only when beads of sweat appeared on his forehead did he finally stop.
"No good. My stamina's still too low. I'll try putting tomorrow's point into Constitution..."
Having made up his mind, Lin Qian looked again at the level and area of responsibility listed under his Warden identity.
"Level one means there must be a way to level up. I wonder if the salary increases too..."
"As for the area I'm responsible for..."
Lin Qian looked toward the door.
According to the system's description, he ought to be on duty now...
"Should I go out and take a look?"
He had plenty of theories he wanted to test. For instance, his assigned area was the six hundreds. Did that mean every hundred rooms formed an assigned area, each with its own Warden?
Going out was definitely risky. He didn't know how Wardens leveled up, for one thing. For all he knew, they might have to kill each other.
But hiding in his room wasn't a long-term solution. Lin Qian was cautious, but he was no coward.
Once he made up his mind, he got to work.
Lin Qian dug out the suit he had found in the zombie hotel and pulled it on over his white tracksuit.
The slightly oversized suit made him look bulky, but it also concealed his build.
He then took the gas mask from his emergency bag and put it on to hide his face.
He didn't want some curious survivor peeking out, seeing what he looked like, and spreading rumors on the chat channel.
The situation was still unclear, but the rules in the system notifications seemed to imply that killing one another was permitted.
When a survivor died, their Room Keycard would drop, and the contents of their room would naturally belong to the killer.
It never hurt to be careful.
He secured the holster around his waist, retrieved the revolver from his Storage Space, and slipped it inside.
After practicing his draw several times until he was comfortable with it, Lin Qian took the hand-cranked searchlight from the emergency bag and quietly opened the door.
The corridor was so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. As soon as he opened the door, light from his room spilled out and illuminated a large area. Startled, he hurried outside and closed the door behind him.
Once it shut, his surroundings were plunged into darkness. As far as he could see, the only light came from the indicator lamps on the survivors' doors.
"Hm? Red?"
Lin Qian noticed that the indicator on Room 608, directly opposite his, was red. That meant the girl with the fluffy curls wasn't in her room.
"Could she be trapped in one of the worlds behind a door?"
Lin Qian thought back to his experience in Room 666. After entering, he hadn't seen the door again until he completed the wager. Perhaps she had encountered a similar room.
He looked down the corridor and was surprised to find that red lights were not uncommon. There was one every so often.
He also noticed that the survivors' rooms were scattered without any discernible pattern. Some, like his, faced another survivor's room; others were right next to each other. In some cases, a survivor's room stood alone, surrounded by a dozen or so other rooms. That dashed his hopes of using this opportunity to figure out a pattern in the room numbers.
"Creak... creak..."
Taking a deep breath, Lin Qian began cranking the searchlight. A flickering beam of white light immediately illuminated his surroundings.
But just as he was about to follow the room numbers and investigate, an eerie hiss suddenly came from behind him, making his scalp prickle.
"Hissss..."