Chapter 393: Viral Sensation [2]

Flick!

As the lights in the reception dimmed, a strange stillness settled over the room. The air grew heavier, and an uneasy tension crept in, twisting the once-familiar atmosphere into something quietly unsettling.

"What’s going on? What’s happening?"

Darwin stared at the surroundings in confusion.

He raised his head to look at the lights.

They had dimmed down somewhat. That wasn’t all. The temperature of the room appeared to have lowered as well.

Every little sensation felt vivid in his mind.

"...I see what’s going on. This must be the game’s way of trying to build a scary atmosphere. Since I’ve basically hit all my rejection quotas, it’s triggering this scene. Honestly, it’s a pretty cheap trick to create tension when you think about it."

Darwin’s tongue never stopped moving, criticising the game as he pleased.

"Let me guess. When I check the cameras, one of the guests I accepted will be standing there, right? They’re probably smiling or acting creepily or some shit like that."

Reaching for the monitor, he began to check the cameras.

However—

"Hmm. This is surprising. I don’t see any people in the camera. Chat. What does this mean? Does this mean that we’ve chosen correctly? That’s pretty eas—"

Trrrrr!

All of a sudden, a sharp ringing echoed through the reception, startling Darwin, and judging by the sudden flood of messages, the viewers as well.

A brief silence followed as Darwin stared at the phone resting beside the monitor.

It was an old, vintage model. The kind with a rotary dial and faded numbers etched around the circle.

Trrrrr!

Trrrrr!

The ring reverberated throughout the place, drowning out the jazz music in the background.

"Chat... Should I pick this up?"

Darwin smirked while staring at the phone.

"You think it’s going to be a guest? I’m thinking it’s a guest."

He reached for the phone a moment later, answering in a polite tone.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"....."

Silence.

The moment Darwin picked up the phone, he was met with silence.

"Hello?"

Darwin tried to speak again, but once again he received no response.

"Is this a bug? Hello? Anybody there...? Yeah, this is a bug. As expected. He rushed to release the game. This thing doesn’t even wo—"

Darwin stopped, his words caught in his throat.

A voice followed right after.

"Room 307."

Click!

The line fell, leaving Darwin standing stupefied.

"Wha... What just happened?"

He looked at the chat, at a loss.

"Room 307? You guys hear that?"

The chat spammed like crazy.

—...I heard that. It said 307. That should be a floor on the third floor, right? Why don’t you check it?

—Third floor! Check the camera for the third floor!

—Quick! Quick!

"Huh, alright..."

Listening to the advice of the listeners, Darwin pressed onto the [3] on the monitor, and the screen flickered to the same empty corridor as before. The corridor light was rather dim, with labels on each door indicating the room number.

"There’s nothing."

Darwin frowned, staring at the corridor in search of anything. He even tried to click on the room, but nothing happened.

The camera quality was also poor, and the screen flickered at times.

Eventually, after trying for a couple more seconds, he shook his head.

"It looks like nothing is happening chat. I guess this is another way to add cheap tension to this crappy game. Honestly, the amount of clichés that this game uses is a little bit too much. I’ve already wasted a lot of time getting the guests in. This feels more like a receptionist sim than a proper game."

—You’re right. This game is pretty shit so far. How about you switch?

—Play the Nightmare Forge Update.

—Switch game!

—This is boring! Switch!

Darwin wasn’t the only one fed up with the game. The comments were similarly fed up, and the previously rising viewers started to drop, going from the peak of 152,302 to 149,083. While the drop wasn’t sharp, it was still evident, and the trend was downward.

Seeing the downward trend, Darwin smiled.

"Alright, it looks like everyone is fed up. I’m also fed up. I officially declare this game to be tra—"

Creeeaaak!

A sudden creaking sound cut Darwin off, giving a certain chill as his head slowly turned towards the monitor. It was there that he caught sight of a middle-aged man walking out of room 307, his gaze and eyes empty.

"Oh? It looks like something is finally happening. Still, I think it’s a little too late. I think I’m going to quit the game...!!!" Right as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man stopped, his gaze rising towards the lamp at the top. Taking out a rope from his pocket, he tossed it on top.

"Huh?"

—What?

—What is he doing?

—Is he trying to destroy the lamp? What’s this?

The camera quality wasn’t very good, so it wasn’t very clear. Darwin and some viewers squinted their eyes to get a better look at the situation, and as they did, the camera started to lag. The middle-aged man’s movement slowed, and just as the chat was starting to grow frustrated, the view returned.

".....!"

The moment it did, everyone was greeted by the sight of the middle-aged man dangling from the lamp above, his neck hanging over the rope.

—Holy shit!

—What the fuck!?

—What the hell is this?!

"Don’t worry, everyone. Calm down. There’s nothing really scary about this. It’s just a man who has hung himself. Although it looks a little realistic, it’s nothing crazy."

Although he said this, Darwin felt a sudden chill while staring at the scene. He couldn’t explain what it was, but staring at the dangling man in front of him, he felt a subtle tremor coming from his hand.

He pinched the fear away.

"It’s just a game. This isn’t a real person. There’s no need to panic, heh—"

Trrrrr!

Trrrrr!

A certain ring echoed across the surroundings once more, prompting the smile that had appeared on Darwin’s face to fade rather quickly. Turning his attention towards the phone once more, Darwin swallowed for a moment before reaching for it.

His mouth didn’t stop.

"Is it the same guy from before? Is he going to stay silent like last time before saying a room number? Haha... I don’t know if I want to wait for so long. I think—"

"Room 502."

Click!

The phone hung up shortly after, leaving Darwin at a complete loss.

One glance at the chat was all it took for Darwin to know what they expected. He reached for the monitor and switched the feed to the fifth floor. The same empty corridor flickered onto the screen a moment later, and his eyes instinctively locked onto room 502.

The surroundings turned silent.

For a moment, even the chat started to slow down as all attention appeared to be focused on the room door.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Forty seconds.

Fifty seconds.

Time ticked, and right as one minute passed, a creaking sound echoed.

Creaaaaaak!

It was just like before, the door opened, and a guest came out.

"It’s that guy..."

Darwin recognized the man who walked out immediately. In fact, he had also recognized the middle-aged man from before. Both of these guests were guests whom he had allowed to enter the hotel.

"Is he going to hang himself again?"

Darwin pursed his lips before finally collecting himself again and gathering some momentum, "How much do you all bet he’s going to kill himself like the other guy? He might not hang himself, but he’ll do it in some different way. I’m almost certain that this is how it’ll play out."

Smirking to himself, Darwin watched as the cameras started to lag again.

"See? The situation is repeating itself. Watch now. Once the cameras stop lagging, the guy will hav—"

Darwin’s words caught in his throat as the cameras flickered back to life. The scene that appeared wasn’t what he expected.

"H-ha."

Standing in the middle of the corridor, facing the camera, was the same middle-aged man. His grin was stretched unnaturally wide, and his eyes were open far too wide, unblinking as they locked onto the lens.

No, straight at Darwin as he felt cold chills running down his body.

Before he knew it, his breathing had grown a little heavier as he turned his attention towards the chat.

"....."

It was quiet over there.

The number of new comments wasn’t many.

There were still some making fun of the situation, but many were quiet.

And soon, the camera flickered.

The man disappeared from the corridor.

"Huh? He’s gone? Where is he...?"

Darwin immediately used the cameras to search the lower floors in search for the man, but as he did, he couldn’t find anything at all. Each hall was empty.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

For some reason, his heart started to beat rapidly, and as he frantically searched the cameras for the man, the phone rang again.

Trrrrr!

Trrrrr!

Darwin held his breath, feeling the situation starting to spiral out of control.

However, he still reached for the phone.

He had a feeling that he had to.

And soon—

The voice echoed again.

It’s next words, however, made Darwin’s entire body shudder.

"Reception."

Click!