“Lawyer, I think we need to consider the possibility that those two don’t come back,” Nox said, breaking the silence after Amy and Jose had departed. Harrison, who had been quietly staring at the fireplace, finally turned to face him.
If Amy and Jose didn’t return, following Cherry and Ethan’s extended absence, the situation would escalate.
Adjusting his glasses, Harrison replied, “Naturally, we’ll have to go out and search for them. You and I together.”
“With me?” Nox asked, surprised.
“In an emergency, your medical expertise would be indispensable,” Harrison explained.
“That’s true,” Nox conceded quickly, nodding. Harrison, watching him for a moment, smoothly shifted the topic.
“On another note, I heard you’re working on planting Elpinos herbs in the underground passage.”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Nox affirmed. Though he hadn’t told Harrison directly, it was something he needed to know.
“I mentioned it to Cherry as well—Elpinos doesn’t require sunlight to grow. I thought the underground jail at the police station might be a suitable place to plant it.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Harrison agreed, nodding. “It’s underground and offers ample space. That would be the safest option.”
Harrison pulled out a small box of Elpinos seeds that Cherry had entrusted to him from his jacket pocket. He held it up toward Nox and gestured at the fireplace.
“While Amy and Jose are out, we should prepare a spot for the seeds.”
The suggestion was a welcome distraction from idling. Nox immediately set his book down, stood, and stretched before moving to stand with Harrison near the fireplace.
Behind them, a frail voice called out.
“Miss Cherry will be all right... won’t she?”
They turned to see Emma standing in front of Cherry’s door. Beside her were Susanna and Victor, their faces etched with worry.
It was only natural for everyone to feel like lost puppies, anxiously awaiting the return of the person who had brought them all together at Happy House.
“She’ll be fine,” Nox assured them with a calm smile, attempting to ease their concerns before stepping into the fireplace with Harrison.
“Let’s hope nothing’s gone wrong,” Nox thought. If Amy and Jose didn’t return within an hour, they would head out to search as well. But for now, they focused on what they could do.
In a situation like this, doing something—anything—was the best they could offer Cherry.
*****
Sinclair Hotel, Kintner Branch
The underground passage Cherry and Ethan had traversed connected to the first-floor laundry room of the hotel. From the laundry room, a short hallway led to the expansive hotel lobby.
Navigating through the lobby without drawing attention from the armed guards wasn’t too difficult. However, the second floor posed a problem—it was crowded with people.
The second floor housed 20 guest rooms, all fully occupied, with a fair number of people moving through the hallways.
“I need to find the room directly above the laundry room.”
Ethan cautiously moved through the corridor, avoiding attention until he located the utility room directly above the laundry room on the first floor. Unfortunately, the entrance was guarded by an armed guard, making access difficult.
“Why are they guarding that room? Is Cherry inside?”
Standing at the corner of the hallway, Ethan assessed the situation. Fortunately, the utility room was at the far end of the second floor, making the surrounding area relatively quiet.
He drew his baton from his belt and extended it with a sharp click.
The baton lengthened with a metallic snap, and Ethan swiftly approached the guard at the door.
“Huh?”
The guard noticed Ethan belatedly, fumbling to raise his rifle. But Ethan was faster, striking the guard on the back of the neck and knocking him unconscious.
The guard collapsed with a thud, his rifle falling with him, its shoulder strap keeping it tethered. Ethan slung the rifle over his shoulder and opened the utility room door.
Click.
The room was dark. Ethan dragged the unconscious guard inside and laid him on the floor before closing the door behind him.
“What’s that smell?”
The room reeked of an overwhelming stench. Grimacing, Ethan rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a lighter he had used to light a lantern earlier.
Click. Click.
The flint wheel sparked, and a small flame illuminated the immediate surroundings. Ethan cautiously moved the lighter to cast light around the room.
As expected, he spotted the entrance to a linen chute on the left. However, there was no sign of Cherry.
He slowly shifted the flame, scanning the room. Then he saw them.
People lying on the floor.
Click.
Startled, his grip faltered, and the lighter fell, plunging the room into darkness again. Ethan swallowed hard, his throat dry.
He hadn’t imagined it. There were bodies—no, multiple bodies.
Click. Click. Flick.
He lit the lighter again, his hands trembling slightly. The faint flame illuminated what he had seen earlier.
Legs piled on top of one another. Moving the flame upward, he saw torsos, and beyond them, pale, lifeless faces.
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Cough.
The overwhelming stench made him gag as he squinted, his face twisted in disgust. The smell was unmistakable—rotting corpses.
“Why the hell are there bodies here...?”
Of course, burning the bodies inside to avoid attracting monsters outside made sense, but there were far too many corpses here to explain it so simply.
How could a single building produce so many dead?
“Unless... Cherry...”
Ethan’s heart sank at the thought. He rushed toward the pile of corpses, his hands trembling as he checked for any sign of Cherry among them.
No, it couldn’t be. It mustn’t be.
He tried to shake off the ominous feeling, but his fingers trembled slightly as they searched the cold bodies. Sweat beaded on his forehead, dripping down his temple and onto his chin as he worked. Finally, he confirmed that Cherry was not among the dead.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips.
She wasn’t here. She had either moved to another location or been moved by someone else.
Leaving the utility room, Ethan began to carefully explore the second floor, hoping to find some clue about Cherry’s whereabouts.
Listening to the conversations of people in the hallways, it became clear that none of them seemed aware of Cherry’s presence or the recent commotion.
“She’s not on the second floor either.”
The plan to tear apart this cursed Sinclair Hotel would have to wait until Cherry was safe. If anyone had harmed even a hair on her head, Ethan swore he would leave no one alive. Then he paused.
This almost made it seem as if Cherry was someone precious to him.
“Well, she is important to me,” he admitted to himself.
Someone important enough to protect at all costs. That was why he cared so deeply for her.
“I need to find her and bring her back.”
Room 205. As Ethan passed by, someone exited, leaving the door unlocked. Once the occupant was gone, Ethan quietly slipped inside and stepped onto the balcony.
From his vantage point, he judged that with his height, he could jump and grab the railing of the floor above—the third floor.
As he assessed the height and glanced toward the third floor, someone appeared on the balcony of the top floor.
Ethan quickly ducked back into the room, peeking out cautiously to observe. Judging by the height, it was the fifth floor, two or three rooms away from his position.
Counting the windows, Ethan noted there weren’t many rooms on the fifth floor, indicating that the rooms were significantly larger than those on the lower floors.
“Is that where the camp’s leader is staying? Then that guy must be Elliot. What? He’s ugly.”
The man on the fifth-floor balcony appeared to be inspecting the railing. Then, to Ethan’s surprise, the man began dismantling it. The railing transformed into a ladder, which he kicked, causing it to extend downward.
“...?”
It was a fascinating mechanism, but Ethan couldn’t fathom why he would lower it now.
Ethan’s gaze followed the ladder as it descended. At the ground level, the hotel courtyard swarmed with monsters. The creatures, hearing the sound of the descending ladder, surged toward it, clawing at the air. One even managed to grab onto the ladder.
The man on the fifth floor panicked and tried to pull the ladder back up, but it wasn’t easy.
Bang! Bang!
Another man joined him, firing a gun to knock the monsters off the ladder. Together, they frantically hoisted the ladder back up, causing quite the commotion.
“Idiots. What are they even trying to do?”
Ethan shook his head in disbelief but waited patiently for the men to finish retrieving the ladder and return inside.
Once the two heads disappeared from the balcony, Ethan sprang into action, leaping up to grab the railing of the third floor and pulling himself up.
It was then that he heard a loud crash.
Bang!
The sound came from the fifth-floor room where the men had been moments earlier. Someone was thrown out, slamming into the balcony railing before crumpling to the ground. It was the man who had been struggling with the ladder earlier.
It was as if someone inside the room had hurled him with incredible force.
“Wait, hurled him?”
There was only one person who could toss a grown man like that.
Cherry Sinclair.
Ethan wasn’t sure whether to worry about Cherry’s safety or whoever was unfortunate enough to be in her way. The thought of what chaos she might be causing brought a wry smile to his face.
“Well, here we go again.”
After a brief chuckle, Ethan composed himself. He now knew Cherry’s location—the last room on the fifth floor. With her position identified, it was time for him to act.
He recalled the strategy they had discussed beforehand for situations like this. To execute it, he first needed to—
“Assess their forces.”
Kraaaah! Kreeeeh!
Suddenly, the sound of monsters roaring filled the air. Ethan’s gaze shifted to the source of the noise.
The Sinclair Hotel’s entrance came into view. Near it, two heavily armed men were moving hastily. Each carried an enormous bag, stuffed to the brim with something heavy.
Food? Supplies? Weapons? Whatever it was, the size and weight were significant.
The problem was their lack of subtlety. Their noisy movements had attracted a swarm of monsters, which now surrounded them.
As Ethan watched, one of the men managed to escape back into the hotel, barely making it. The other wasn’t so lucky—he was gruesomely torn apart by the creatures.
Amid the horrific scene, Ethan noticed something unusual.
The monsters were frantically tearing into one of the discarded bags as if possessed.
Through the chaos, Ethan could see only one bag on the ground. The other had likely been retrieved by the man who had escaped into the hotel.
“What the hell is in that bag?”