Regarding the description of the monsters, Judy Cecil, the girl with a fan covering her face, had only heard about them from the members of the residents' committee. She hadn't witnessed them herself.
As for the true nature of the Dolphin Hotel and the purpose of the staff, there were many different opinions within the residents' committee.
Some people speculated that the Dolphin Hotel was actually an extraterrestrial experimental base located in outer space, where they wanted to study and analyze humans.
The evidence was that the hotel contained residents from different eras, which only aliens could accomplish.
Furthermore, the hotel's doors and windows were kept tightly closed, preventing the residents from seeing the outside world—the view outside the windows might be the starry expanse of outer space.
Others speculated that the Dolphin Hotel was a layer between heaven and hell, and the residents were all deceased individuals whose merits were insufficient to ascend to heaven, and whose sins were insufficient to descend to hell.
Therefore, they were exiled to such a place, where they could enjoy hotel amenities while enduring constant anxiety day and night.
Another theory suggested that the Dolphin Hotel was actually an experimental site secretly funded and established by the Pentagon or some other deep state organization.
Its purpose was to research and analyze terrifying paranormal events.
After all, throughout history, the United States had a long record of conducting illegal experiments on its own citizens, such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Project MKUltra.
Its credibility was not high, and it was considered reasonable to believe it was the mastermind behind everything.
Besides these, there were also theories involving alien reality shows, divine punishment, and plane crashes (the residents were all victims of a plane crash who had fallen into the same dream due to hypoxia at high altitude). No one could say for sure.
Judy Cecil claimed that she had never met Carter Murphy. The residents of the Dolphin Hotel came and went. Newbies often outwardly listened to the advice of the veterans,
but secretly harbored their own thoughts. On the first or second night, they would break the rules and attempt to escape the Dolphin Hotel.
The veteran residents had long grown accustomed to this and were too lazy to get to know the newcomers.
However, her description of how she died again was the same as Carter Murphy's: she died inside her room at night.
At the time, she wasn't asleep. Instead, she was lying in bed reading a book—the Dolphin Hotel staff provided some paperback books,
but information such as the publisher, publication date, and reprint date would be torn off, and time-sensitive materials like newspapers wouldn't be provided.
She first heard a faint explosion coming from upstairs. This was quite strange, as the hotel's soundproofing had always been excellent.
She got up, picked up the shotgun she kept by her bed (hotel residents generally had weapons for self-defense), walked barefoot to the door, and peered through the peephole.
She saw several panic-stricken hotel staff members running past her door in a flurry.
She had a premonition that something bad was about to happen. Just as she was about to open the door and escape with them, she saw the corridor on the left suddenly darken.
From left to right, the lights on both sides of the corridor went out one by one, and the corridor was swallowed by darkness.
After that, she didn't know anything else.
The only thing she could barely remember was being force-fed seawater by Li Ang—there were several residents who had died in the past floating in room 0508, not just Judy Cecil.
After witnessing Li Ang's actions that day, the other ethereal bodies, who were also in a daze, seemed to shrink back.
They didn't follow their instincts and actively attack during the following nights.
As she narrated this, her tone sounded somewhat strange. It was probably regret for her own rashness and fearlessness...
In any case, Judy Cecil only knew this much. After pondering for a moment, Li Ang didn't kill her to earn reward points.
After attempting to study her without success, Judy Cecil naturally dissipated when curfew ended. It didn't seem like she died, but rather that she returned to her dazed, earthbound spirit state.
————
Mule received a note that said, "Don't get killed." She encountered a large number of mindless earthbound spirits in her room,
but with the help of [Holy Light Bomb] and [Cataclysm Remnant Sun Mechanical Golem], she survived, and successfully killed two earthbound spirits, earning rewards.
Originally, she had hoped to capture them and extract information, but those earthbound spirits were unaffected by any sealing formations and had astonishing attack power, so she had no choice but to kill them.
Wanli Fengdao also encountered an attack by earthbound spirits.
However, the earthbound spirits here weren't human-shaped monsters with physical bodies, but rather the entire room—the walls of his room, 0208, were constantly spawning traps,
flames, flying knives, saw blades, poison arrows, quicksand, mercury...
Little Knife Bro dodged and weaved through the many traps, barely managing to survive the night.
As for 13mArk, he said that he noticed the sounds in the corridor at 00:09 and sent out a puppet to scout the corridor. As a result, he discovered the red-clothed old woman had snuck into the eighth floor.
After a period of fighting, 13mArk's puppet was gradually at a disadvantage, and was cut to pieces by the naginata.
Seeing that the other party was about to completely destroy the puppet,
13mArk, whose spiritual power was depleted while staying in the room, decisively used his stealth skill and released a light screen with concealing functions in the corridor.
He then pushed open the door and rushed into the elevator (he had already used a mechanical finger to cross the corridor and poke the button in the elevator lobby).
He pressed the up button.
Among the player group this time, the only person 13mArk could trust was Bai Haozheng, who had the identity of an intelligence analyst from the Special Affairs Bureau.
He didn't trust anyone else.
When encountering abnormal situations, he naturally had to go up to the 14th floor for help.
Whether it was because the light screen was effective,
or the red-clothed old woman had already satisfied her desire for slaughter,
she didn't tear through the light screen and rush over, nor did she follow the elevator all the way up.
In the end, 13mArk successfully went up to the 14th floor, met Bai Haozheng, and asked for help.
After a brief discussion between the two, 13mArk temporarily stayed in the elevator lobby on the 14th floor.
At 01:11, the two of them took the elevator all the way down to see if any other players needed help.
(When they went down to check, the red-clothed old woman on the eighth floor had disappeared.)
Right at 0608, they helped the Plague Doctor, who was being attacked by a rotting elderly creature. The three of them returned to the fourteenth floor for shelter and didn't go downstairs.
Throughout the entire night, the players didn't hear the sound of "one less" in the Dolphin Hotel, nor did they see the bamboo hat figure.
Unexpectedly, Ω, who lived on the first floor, was dead.
Or rather, missing.
At this moment, the players were gathered in room 0108 where Ω used to stay.
The door was open, the furniture inside was scattered, and there were clear signs of a fierce battle.
Ω wasn't among them, and there were no notes in the room.
"These are traces of sulfur fire scorching."
The Plague Doctor, squatting on the ground, gently scraped the charred bloodstains on the carpet with a white-gloved finger.
His expression was grim as he said, "It is indeed Ω's method. He is skilled at melting the souls of ordinary lifeforms into energy liquid, and his attack power far exceeds that of players of the same level."
The Plague Doctor had already told the other players that he and Ω were members of the Demon Scientist Alliance. Both of them had entered the script solo, and they pretended not to know each other after accidentally meeting.
The purpose was to gain an intelligence advantage.
He just didn't expect Ω to encounter misfortune so early.
"There are faint traces of spiritual energy remaining here, frantic, powerful, but orderly,
unlike the chaotic and disorderly earthbound spirits living in the hotel, nor are they filled with hatred like vengeful spirits...
It's a bit like, the shikigami of the Japanese islands?"
A gasp came from within Mule's horsehead mask. She turned her head and looked at the Plague Doctor, "Does Ω summon shikigami to assist in combat?"
"Shikigami?"
The Plague Doctor frowned. After thinking for a moment, he hesitated and shook his head. "I've only heard of Ω as a character in the Demon Scientist Alliance who uses the power system of soul currency.
We only nodded to each other.
I don't know any more information—thoroughly inquiring about other players' power systems is a forbidden option in the Killing Game, let alone in a guild like the Demon Scientist Alliance, where there are more bad guys than good guys.
He might use shikigami, but I'm not very sure."
"Is that so..."
Mule slowly nodded, muttering, "There are no notes in the room, but the person has disappeared...
Either Ω brushed out a note, but the earthbound spirit that appeared in room 0108 was too powerful, not only killing him but also destroying his body.
The aftermath of the battle also obliterated the note—we've tested it before, the notes use ordinary paper and can be easily torn.
Or, Ω didn't brush out a note, but he encountered an attack from something else..."
"Are you talking about the red-clothed old woman?"
Wanli Fengdao, with a bandage on his forehead, frowned and said, "It's indeed very strange to attack players before curfew...
By the way,"
Wanli Fengdao looked at Li Ang, "Was there a red-clothed old woman among the corridor anomalies described by Judy?"
"No,"
Li Ang spread his hands. "However, she hasn't been staying at the hotel for long, and many of the hotel's sighting records have omissions and contradictions.
It's not uncommon for there to be an unrecorded anomaly.
What I find puzzling, on the other hand, is the red-clothed old woman's means of attack.
In Dan Fei's previous sighting record, the red-clothed old woman had nothing in her hands,
but in 13mArk's record, she was carrying a relatively rare naginata..."
"..."
Hei Shengzi took a deep breath, took out a pen and paper, scribbled a few strokes on the paper, and handed it to 13mArk. "Is the naginata she used like this?"
"Hmm?"
13mArk took it and looked at it, his eyes widening instantly. He took out the sketch of the red-clothed old woman from his inventory. After comparing the two, he affirmed, "That's right, that's exactly it."
Last night, after he and Bai Haozheng met, the latter used his psychic ability to extract the corresponding memories from 13mArk's mind,
and depicted the scene on paper.
"....Mokuren no Oni (Eye-Concealing Demon)"
Hei Shengzi was silent for a moment, then slowly exhaled a breath of foul air, "That naginata is the one used by Mokuren no Oni.
Summoning shikigami is also a technique used by Mokuren no Oni."
"What?!"
Wanli Fengdao subconsciously gripped the hilt of the sword tied around his waist, and shouted in a deep voice, "Wasn't Mokuren no Oni already taken away by the bamboo hat anomaly?
Are you saying..."
"The red-clothed old woman, very likely, has the ability to devour players."
Hei Shengzi pursed his lips tightly and said in a low voice, "Dan Fei, Kafei, Mokuren no Oni, Bob, Ω...
All of the players, their bodies have disappeared.
I previously thought they had died in the corridor and their bodies were refreshed,
or were taken away by the bamboo hat anomaly, leaving no bones behind.
Looking at it this way, perhaps that red-clothed old woman ate them and gained all of their power..."
"That's impossible!"
Wanli Fengdao shook his head violently and said, "Dan Fei and Kafei were both Lv15+ experts.
Eating five players and obtaining their equipment, items, and skills, what kind of concept is that?
The red-clothed old woman could completely slaughter us at will, there's no need to kill us one by one."
Hei Shengzi's expression was gloomy as he said in a low voice, "Maybe the power provided by Kafei and Dan Fei before wasn't enough to satisfy her,
and last night 13mArk displayed enough combat ability to make the red-clothed old woman feel difficult to deal with, so she went down to the first floor to attack Ω.
Ω caused enough damage to her, causing her to have to lie dormant again and slowly digest..."