Wang Zikai dangled upside down from the window of Room 601, a rope tied around his waist, when a bullet struck him squarely in the chest.
Qing Ling reacted instantly. She controlled her dagger to cut the rope and caught Wang Zikai as he fell, dragging him back into the room. She turned and shouted at Gao Yang, "Don't just stand there! Help me!"
…
One minute earlier.
In Room 601, after losing three ranked matches in a row, Wang Zikai started feeling something was off.
When it came to girls, Gao Yang was notoriously bad. He had known their childhood friend Li Weiwei for years and still couldn't win her over. Now suddenly he'd hooked up with campus queen Qing Ling—and gone straight to a hotel with her? That didn't add up.
Something fishy was going on.
Were they secretly studying together?
No way. Qing Ling was a sports student; her grades didn't matter since she'd be recommended for college anyway. Gao Yang had decent grades, but he was always laid-back—not the type to secretly study hard.
Wang Zikai lay on the floor, listening through the floorboards. It was too quiet downstairs. No sounds of any ahem activity. Besides, even if they had done that, Gao Yang could've called him back afterward.
There was only one explanation:
Gao Yang had found a new teammate for ranked games and was ditching him for being a noob! He must be playing duo with Qing Ling right now!
Unforgivable.
He knew confronting Gao Yang would only lead to denial. So he came up with a plan: He found a sex rope in the room, tied himself up, and decided to rappel down from the sixth floor window—to catch them in the act!
He slowly descended, just about to reach the window of Room 501, when the curtain there suddenly pulled open slightly. A barrel—looked like a gun—stuck out.
What the hell?
Before he could react, his foot slipped off the air conditioner unit, and he dropped. A sharp pain exploded in his chest, and then everything went black.
…
Back in the room, Wang Zikai lay unconscious on the carpet, blood gushing from his chest.
"He's losing a lot of blood! Find something to stop it!" Qing Ling said.
Gao Yang ran into the bathroom, grabbed a thick towel, and pressed it to Wang Zikai's wound. The towel quickly turned red.
At such close range, a shot from a sniper rifle should've blown a hole clean through him. But Wang Zikai's injury seemed more like a standard gunshot wound.
He was definitely a Beast.
"What now?" Gao Yang asked.
"I don't know," Qing Ling replied, clearly unprepared for this idiot's sudden appearance.
"We have to save him," Gao Yang concluded quickly.
"If you want to die, don't drag me with you," Qing Ling objected.
"What, just leave the body here? We checked in together. It'll come back to us eventually. We'll be exposed," Gao Yang said, forcing himself to calm down. "He… is most likely a Lost Beast."
A Lost Beast—a creature unaware of its own identity, believing itself to be human, possibly dying without ever knowing the truth.
Qing Ling's eyes flickered with hesitation. But it passed quickly. Her gaze hardened, and a dagger appeared in her hand.
"No. Too risky. If he's not a Lost Beast, we're both dead."
Her cousin had died for that very reason—showing mercy to a Lost Beast.
Gao Yang knew he couldn't convince her. He wasn't even sure he could convince himself. Mercy to the enemy meant cruelty to oneself.
After three seconds of silence, he gritted his teeth and turned away. "Do it."
Knock knock knock— Someone knocked on the door.
Startled, Gao Yang quickly grabbed the bedcover and threw it over Wang Zikai.
Qing Ling got up and walked swiftly to the door, opening it just a crack. "Who is it?"
Standing outside was the chubby receptionist.
The guy looked excited, lowering his voice. "Miss, let me in. Quick!"
"What for?" Qing Ling's eyes turned sharp.
Looking around sneakily, the man whispered, "I know what's going on in this room. I'm an Awakened too… Let's talk in private."
Qing Ling hesitated for three seconds.
Between killing the fat guy on the spot and letting him in, she chose the latter.
…
The chubby man, hands glowing green, pressed down on Wang Zikai's chest.
Qing Ling had already removed the bullet. Now green energy particles flowed from his palms into Wang Zikai's body. The bleeding slowed, and the wound visibly began to heal.
Five minutes later, the treatment was complete.
The fat man collapsed onto the carpet, drenched in sweat like he'd taken a shower. Panting heavily, he groaned, "Good thing this kid's a Beast. If he were human, I couldn't have saved him."
During the treatment, the man introduced himself.
His name was Han Yingjun, but people called him Fat Jun. He'd awakened four years ago with a healing talent—Sequence Number 45.
He had no parents and was raised by an aunt. After she died, he inherited her motel and turned it into a love hotel.
Qing Ling squatted and confirmed Wang Zikai's heartbeat. Then she said to Gao Yang, "Clean up the place. I've got questions for this fatso."
"Hehe, no need to be so polite. Call me Jun Fat," the man chuckled.
Qing Ling stared at him. "How did you know what happened in here?"
Fat Jun paused, then grinned sheepishly. "Heh… Actually, I had cameras and mics installed…"
Before he finished, a Tang sword shinged and pressed against his triple chin.
"Mercy, Miss! Let me explain!"
"You have ten seconds."
"First of all—I swear I didn't put cameras in the bathroom! I have boundaries!" Fat Jun wiped the sweat from his chubby face. "And I didn't install them for any pervy reason. I'm beyond that sort of thing…"
"Get to the point."
"Don't you wonder," he said, voice trembling, "what these Beasts are like in private?"
Shing. The Tang sword disappeared from Qing Ling's hand.
"You're observing Beasts?"
"Yes! Ever since I awakened, my worldview was shattered. Totally shocked, I swear!" Fat Jun glanced at Wang Zikai. "After accepting the truth, I kept thinking—do these Beasts really pretend to be human 24/7?"
"I can understand Lost Beasts. They're deluded, fooling even themselves. But what about the others? Why keep up the act all the time? What's the point?" He turned to Gao Yang. "Aren't you curious?"
"I only awakened three days ago. Haven't had time to think about it," Gao Yang said, still mopping up blood.
"I installed the cameras partly to see what they're really like…" Fat Jun looked disappointed. "But turns out, they really do play the part all the way. They mimic humans in everything."
Gao Yang and Qing Ling fell silent.
"The other reason—I wanted to find real humans," Fat Jun said with a sigh. "The friend who helped me awaken is dead. I've been alone ever since. But now I've finally found you guys! I'm so happy…"
He stretched out his arms to hug Qing Ling.
Faced with her death glare, he turned and hugged Gao Yang instead. "I'm just so happy, bro, I thought I'd die alone…"
Tears streamed down Fat Jun's face. "It's so damn hard… waking up every day and putting on a show. Three years… and another three… When will it end…"
Gao Yang, unsure how to comfort him, awkwardly patted his sweaty shoulder. "There, there… It's okay now…"
Knock knock knock— Another knock came from the door.
Everyone fell silent.
Gao Yang and Qing Ling turned to Fat Jun, who also looked confused and shook his head.
Qing Ling gave Gao Yang a look, silently drawing her Tang sword.
Gao Yang nodded and quickly moved to the door, calling out, "Who is it?"
"Housekeeping," came an older woman's voice.
"Housekeeping?"
"Didn't Room 501 check out?"
"No… must be a mistake."
"I'll check again."
Fat Jun joined them at the door, patting Gao Yang's shoulder and whispering, "It's fine. That's Aunt He, the cleaner I hired. She's a little scatterbrained."
"Oh, sorry. It was Room 401, not 501. My bad, hehe." Aunt He's voice called out again.
"No problem."
Gao Yang replied—then suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
He turned abruptly and lunged at Fat Jun. "Get down!"