Chapter 32: Return To The Suite
[2:32 PM, Saturday 6th of May, 2023]
As I ascended the hotel stairs, each step echoed with the memory of the demon horde I'd left behind—a grotesque tableau of violence that still haunted my thoughts. The scent of scorched earth and sulfur lingered in the air, a grim reminder of the battle's ferocity.
The atmosphere still hummed with the lingering energy of violence, but for now, the immediate threat had subsided.
'I guess there must still be a lot more, considering I haven't gotten a single System Notification about completing the Special Event,' I mused aloud, my voice echoing softly in the deserted hallway.
The absence of those notifications gnawed at my confidence.
It puzzled me further that I hadn't leveled up, even though the demons I faced were far more formidable than any I had encountered thus far.
The battle had been grueling, pushing my abilities to their limits, and yet, the rewards I expected remained elusive.
'I feel like I'm close to Leveling Up, though. Maybe just a little more.'
As I reached the first floor, I found myself in an empty hallway, bathed in the faint glow of dim sunlight seeping through cracked windows.
It was a stark contrast to the chaos below, the quietude of the corridor amplifying the unease that had settled in my bones. Shadows clung to the walls like whispers, hinting at the horrors that lay concealed within the darkness.
Approaching the suite that had once been my refuge, I felt a mix of fear and familiarity.
Unwanted memories resurfaced of the people who had tormented me within these very walls. The pain and desperation of my escape remained vivid, a reminder of human cruelty.
'Lisa. Jake. All of them...' My gaze slowly moved in the direction of a crooked, slightly open door.
There was no way I could forget it. This was none other than my former suit; a haven turned hell for me.
"I should check, just to be sure," I thought, finally addressing the gnawing suspicion that had haunted me since I saw the Leaderboards.
It was time to settle it once and for all.
Pushing open the door, a pungent smell assaulted my senses, mingling with the stagnant air.
The stench of decay wafted through the suite, a putrid miasma that tainted the atmosphere. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I was about to witness.
The suite stretched out before me, a haunting tableau of horror.
Puddles of blood stained the floor, leading to a single open door.
Each droplet seemed to echo with the suffering, pain and death that had taken place within these walls. I hesitated for a moment, the weight of the past bearing down upon me.
With a resolute heart, I stepped forward, my footsteps muffled by the blood-soaked carpet. Pushing myself through the welcoming gates of despair, I was met with a sight that sent bile rising in my throat.
The room resembled a house of horrors, a gruesome scene of death.
Body parts, decayed and disfigured beyond recognition, littered the room haphazardly. The stench of death hung thick in the air, a grotesque symphony of decay.
Dark, dried blood coated the walls and floor, a gruesome testimony to the horrors that had unfolded within these walls.
The place reeked of decaying flesh and the metallic scent of blood.
"This is..." I stammered, my overwhelming emotions dampened by my <Visionary> Title, but I couldn't decide what to feel.
'They must have suffered so much before dying.'
The thought strangely gave me some satisfaction, but the more I imagined the horror, the more I shuddered.
It was overwhelming.
"More importantly, there's little I can do here."
At this point, it was nearly impossible to distinguish the carnage or determine whose corpse was whose. Everything was too mangled and bloody.
"I can't even tell if Lisa survived this or not."
I sighed and turned away from the gruesome sight, unable to bear it any longer.
'This is worrying, though...'
As I left the room of horror, the image of the mangled corpses stayed with me, and a wave of anxiety washed over me.
The realization weighed heavily on my heart: I couldn't confirm whether she had met a gruesome end at the hands of the monsters or had somehow survived.
'What about her Currency? Didn't I receive 500, 100 per person?'
Unfortunately, it didn't take me very long to find a hole even in my current line of reasoning
The System never specified whose Currencies they were. It only said that the five Users had me as their last contact before death, leaving room for doubt.
'I could have interacted with others before they died.'
<Nightmare> blurred everything, making it feel like a dream. I didn't remember every detail, so maybe I had encountered another human before their demise.
'Shit! Then maybe she really... no, am I stretching things too far?' I questioned myself.
Which was more likely?
"How could she have escaped in the first place? It's highly improbable."
Yes. I was most likely mistaken about the Lisa in the Leaderboard.
'Maybe I should just—' Lost in my thoughts, I momentarily lowered my guard, unaware of the lurking danger in the shadows.
[SYSTEM WARNING]
<You Have Encountered A Demon>
'Huh...?!'
And then, without warning, the silence of the hallway shattered.
~WHOOSSSHHH!~
A demonic figure, concealed in the darkness, lunged at me with unhinged fury.
Its twisted form surged forward, claws outstretched, hungering for blood. The air crackled with malevolence as time seemed to slow, the scene unfolding in agonizing suspense.
"A-ah..." I watched it approach, my body frozen, every hair on my skin standing on end.
'I messed up!' I thought in a terrified frenzy.
Panic gripped me as I realized I'd let my guard down, and my mind raced to find a way out of this deadly encounter.
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