Welcome to the Ghost Story Hotel (8)
A new hotel notice slipped smoothly under the door of our room the next day after Asha delivered that scorching slap.
Asha spotted it first among our group and came running to me with a dododo.
“Ain, a notice got pushed under the room door.”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
I naturally stroked Asha's head before taking the notice and unfolding it.
Veritas Hotel Emergency Notice
To our esteemed guests who have chosen to visit our hotel, we first extend our heartfelt thanks.
We hope you all enjoy two weeks of happy and comfortable days here at our hotel.
However, an unfortunate incident occurred yesterday involving one of our guests, leading to bizarre phenomena that deviate from our standard hotel rules.
As such, the hotel is currently undergoing internal inspections.
Stabilization will take considerable time, so we kindly ask all guests to strictly follow the new usage rules.
The first page said as much, and flipping to the next revealed additions beyond the original rules we'd received.
Veritas Hotel Additional Usage Rules
1. The hotel usage rules have regrettably been added to or amended. Guests are asked to take note.
2. Usage hours for the hotel lobby and restaurant have changed. Until new notices are distributed due to emergency inspections, they are available only from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. We appreciate your understanding.
3. If luggage or items disappear from your room during your stay, retrieve them from the hotel front desk's lost and found—not the room to your right. The room to the right of each assigned guest room has been sealed off as of today. Do not open the room to your right by mistake.
4. An unidentified monster disguised as a guest has begun wandering the hallways. Guests, please stay vigilant to avoid being deceived by the monster.
5. These additions or changes take effect from breakfast this morning and remain valid until further notice from hotel staff. We would be grateful if you avoid any confusion or mistakes.
The newly distributed notice ended at item 5. Items 1 and 5 were much like the original rules—welcoming words and pleas for caution—so effectively, three rules had been added or changed.
After we all read it together, Eileen was the first to speak up.
“Eee… If mealtime's only an hour, I don't think I can eat three bowls…”
““Yeah! And now we can't even have both breakfast and lunch!””
The two kids, clinging to Eileen's shoulders and peeking out, nodded in agreement.
I sighed at their words and expressions, which struck me as utterly ridiculous.
“Is that what matters to you three?”
“““Of course eating's the most important thing!”””
“Yeah, fair enough.”
It was already past 8:30 a.m., and the three of them were fully dressed, standing by the door, just waiting for 9 o'clock.
“But for now, drop the pose like you're about to head out and sit or lie down instead.”
“Eh… But the time got shorter, so don't you wanna line up early?”
Their earnestness about food was kinda cute, but while it might be fine for dinner, not now.
“Veritas Hotel rule 4: After midnight until breakfast, do not leave your room.”
“Ah.”
““Ah.””
“And the new notice wasn't so kind as to spell it out, but since breakfast is now at 10, you probably can't go out before then either.”
Up till now, we'd rested without issue, but this hotel was the man-eating place Horn had described.
It gave lots of info through rules and notices, but it didn't kindly explain or help every step.
It said not to pass the 4th floor going up or down, but if you didn't hit the button fast, the elevator would zip right past to a higher floor.
It never clearly specified which was the right-side room, so we'd gambled a bit dangerously—and surely someone had picked the wrong one and died.
So this changed breakfast time might tie into the original rule 4, trapping people too.
I explained as much, and Eileen and the kids flopped despairingly onto the bed.
“Uwaaah… Then forget three bowls; even two might be pushing it with the time left…”
““Why are we on the 32nd floor…””
Not a word they muttered was wrong, and they had every reason to be bummed by the changes.
“No, that's not the point.”
“““We said food's the top priority!”””
More than the disappointment of shorter mealtimes, we needed to scrutinize these additions and changes closely.
You immature bunch.
Anyway.
Looking at the emergency notice delivered to our room, one thing clicked for me.
“Actually, while Horn, Aberly, and Eileen were out playing yesterday, our luggage went missing.”
The line in the notice: 'An unfortunate incident occurred yesterday involving one of our guests…'
And the changed rule 3: 'If luggage or items disappear from your room, retrieve them from the hotel front desk's lost and found—not the room to your right.'
Putting those together, I figured the rules had flipped because of that bizarre woman who got slapped to death by Asha in the right-side room.
“Oh yeah! The ingredients went missing yesterday!”
“And Mr. Aberly's potions too!”
The kids bounced around, pointing at the ingredients and potion bottles like it had just hit them.
“What? But you didn't say shit, kid.”
“We found all the luggage, and no one got hurt, so I figured we'd just let it slide. But since something occurred to me, I'll tell you all.”
Horn's eyes went wide as he asked, so I naturally started explaining yesterday's events to the group.
“Right after the stuff vanished, I left the kids in the room, hoisted up sleeping Asha on my back, and went looking for the missing items…”
Luckily, the story of opening the right door and finding everything one by one.
“But trying to find all the ingredients plus five potion bottles in ten minutes solo was tight on time, so I ended up going just over the limit.”
“…What? You crazy bastard, are you saying…”
“No, no cussing—hear me out first. Then this corpse-like creepy woman appeared, holding the last potion bottle and grinning at me.”
The tale of the ghost woman who popped up right after ten minutes and the final potion.
“I’ve got no mana, so I couldn’t kill it.”
“So?”
“But… well. Uh… yeah. Asha was sleep-talking and straight-up killed the creepy lady. And the very next day, this emergency notice came, along with the rule sealing the right-side room…”
I glossed over Asha slapping the ghost to death as sleep-talking.
“?”
“Eh?”
““?””
“Haha…”
The five who’d been totally clueless tilted their heads, mulling over my words.
“Seems like since a guest survived past ten minutes but the ghost that appeared got killed instead, that’s what triggered this.”
“Ah… so that’s why a bit of my mana vanished…”
“Yeah. Didn’t see the point in explaining, so I let it slide. Didn’t expect this, though.”
Asha flushed red, finally getting it, and bowed her head.
In conclusion, here was my take.
“I think whether good or bad, if you break a rule and survive, the hotel adds or changes phenomena via notices.”
If someone just broke a rule and died, the hotel would stay the same as before—just one more corpse.
But if you broke it and survived…
That’s when emergency notices get distributed. My hypothesis.
“In other words, the more you defy the rules, the harder it gets to survive at the hotel. But thinking that way, it doesn’t seem like it’s just ramping up difficulty.”
So my bold guess: Survival gets tougher, but so do the rewards.
Of course, it was just my unproven fancy for now.
“So, what do you all think about deliberately breaking another rule for once?”
In other words.
Stepping on a landmine on purpose didn’t sound half bad.