NOVPUBBoom! Boom! Boom!
Under the formidable power of the Desert Eagle, the bullets pierced straight through the door.
The substantial door panel shattered into pieces, scattering across the floor.
Daniel flipped on the flashlight he had prepared earlier, directing its beam towards the corridor, endeavoring to get a clear view of the creature’s form.
Yet, to his astonishment, the hallway lay bare, devoid of any shadow.
Apart from the fragmented door panel and a few deformed bullets on the ground, there was no sign of a life having been shot at.
Evidently, he hadn’t hit the creature.
Soon, Alex, Mike, and Julia burst out from their rooms, having heard the gunshots.
Surveying their surroundings and finding no issues, they turned to ask Daniel, "What happened?"
Daniel retorted, "Didn’t any of you hear a cough exactly like the one we heard during the day?" The trio shook their heads, indicating that they hadn’t heard the footsteps either.
It was perplexing.
Daniel sank into deep thought, contemplating the possibility that the creature’s attacks were targeted exclusively at him.
Just then, chaotic footsteps echoed from the staircase.
Wes and two other members of Rebirth Corporation ascended to investigate the source of the loud gunshot, an event too loud to go unnoticed.
After a brief scan of the third floor that revealed no irregularities, an impatient Wes couldn’t help but ask, "What happened?"
Mike rolled his eyes, replying with a disdainful tone, "What else could it be but a monster appearance? You think someone was shooting for fun in the middle of the night?"
Wes’s face momentarily stiffened but soon resumed its normal color as he asked, "Where is the monster?"
Mike responded, "It ran away."
Alex inspected Daniel’s room but found no suspicious signs. He asked Daniel, "Where did the monster appear from?"
Daniel cast his eyes towards the staircase corner, his gaze then drifting somewhat deliberately towards Wes and his companions.
The creature’s target was crystal clear, focusing solely on him.
Could it have been lured here intentionally by Wes and his crew?
This wouldn’t be the first time Rebirth had engaged in such machinations.
Feeling Daniel’s probing gaze, Wes appeared somewhat perplexed, "What, you don’t seriously suspect that I’m the creature, do you?"
Daniel shook his head calmly, "The creature’s footsteps first appeared around the staircase corner, then gradually approached the front of my room. The moment I sensed the creature, I fired, but I didn’t hit it."
At Daniel’s account, everyone’s brows furrowed slightly.
Wes responded, "My room is right beside the staircase on the second floor, and I didn’t hear any footsteps."
He continued assertively, "The moment the gunshot rang out, I threw on my clothes and dashed out. The whole process didn’t exceed thirty seconds, but I saw nothing pass by on the staircase."
Wes’s implication was clear: even if the creature had emerged from downstairs, it hadn’t fled back that way.
Julia chimed in promptly, "Mike, Alex, and I all came out after hearing the gunshot. By then, Daniel was already standing at his door, and there was no one in the corridor. It couldn’t have run into our rooms."
They exchanged a series of meaningful looks before turning their attention to their surroundings.
The layout of the inn’s third floor was simple: a corridor flanked by three rooms, with the staircase situated at the west end.
At either end of the corridor, relatively modest-sized windows adorned the walls, large enough for a person to climb through.
Could it be that the creature had escaped through one of these windows?
Everyone thought of this possibility almost simultaneously.
Daniel was standing next to a window. He opened it and stretched his head out to take a look.
The darkness outside limited his visibility, but he could see no signs of someone having jumped down from here.
Wes and his companions glanced at the window on the west side and shook their heads.
There were no signs of the creature at either window.
How had it vanished then?
Even though the creature was a manifestation of supernatural phenomena, they were still of flesh and bone, weren’t they?
It couldn’t possibly be like the ghosts in horror movies that can phase through walls and disappear into thin air, could it?
The group stood in the corridor, lost in thought for a good while, but found no answers.
Finally, Wes waved his hand dismissively, "Forget it. Since the creature didn’t manage to attack successfully, it likely won’t appear again tonight. Let’s go back to sleep; we have to rise early tomorrow. You guys take your time." With that, Wes led his people back to the second floor.
Once they were gone, Mike asked in a low voice, "Do you think they might have had a hand in this?"
The initial meeting between the two groups had been less than pleasant, so it was only natural for Mike to harbor suspicions.
Julia seemed somewhat dubious of them as well.
Before Daniel could respond, Alex shook his head, "I don’t think so. I was awake when Daniel fired the shot, and I didn’t hear any footsteps passing by our door."
Alex and Mike’s room was right around the corner of the third-floor staircase.
If someone had passed by, Alex would have definitely heard the footsteps, unless that person was far more skilled than Alex, able to effortlessly conceal the sound of their steps.
But such an individual did not exist, at least not among Wes and his companions.
Julia glanced at Daniel’s door, which was now shattered in half, and suggested, "Maybe we should get some sleep for now. It’s not safe to investigate at this point, and we’ll be better off tackling this with a fresh mind tomorrow."
Mike chimed in, "Dan, why don’t you bunk with us? Your room doesn’t even have a door anymore; you won’t be able to sleep peacefully."
Julia retorted, "That bed is already cramped with the two of you on it. Adding Daniel to the mix — will you even be able to sleep?" She then volunteered with a decisive tone, "Daniel should sleep in my room, we need to be well-rested."
At these words, Mike froze instantly. Even Alex, who usually maintained a cold demeanor, displayed a trace of surprise in his eyes.
Julia was renowned for her beauty at the Investigation Bureau, turning down numerous admirers from a distance.
Anyone daring enough to ask her out would be met with a rejection akin to a jolt of a hundred thousand volts.
It was unexpected for her to voluntarily offer to share her room with Daniel.
Mike felt his heart shattering into pieces.
Although he was aware that Julia harbored special feelings for Daniel, he didn’t expect their relationship to progress this fast.
How could he have not noticed it before?
Daniel shook his head, "You all should go back to sleep. I’ll be fine in my own room."
Without another word, he turned and entered his room, the door of which had been nearly blown off its hinges by the Desert Eagle, hardly offering any security or privacy.
Despite the room’s vulnerability, Daniel symbolically closed what remained of the door, giving a wave to the trio in the hallway.
Seeing this, the others ceased their attempts to persuade Daniel.
After all, they were all in the same building and could respond instantly if anything happened.
They returned to their rooms and closed the doors, restoring tranquility to the floor.
Surveying his room, Daniel shut off the light.
The illumination from the corridor seeped through the broken door, casting shadows in the room as Daniel prepared to lie down on the bed.
Suddenly, he sensed something amiss.
The blanket on the bed was bulged into a human shape, as if someone was lying underneath it.
Daniel did not act rashly; instead, he silently drew his gun and chambered a round.
The crisp sound seemed to stir the ’person’ hiding under the blanket, initiating a gradual movement.
In the silence, Daniel caught a bizarre sound, akin to the noise produced when one kneads a lump of slime.
This sound emanated disturbingly from within the confines of his beddings.
A heartbeat later, a slender, brown-black tentacle stretched out from under the blanket.
Illuminated by the glow from the corridor, he could even discern the thick mucus coating the emerging appendage.
A creature!
Just as Daniel was about to pull the trigger – whoosh – the tentacle suddenly accelerated, lurching towards Daniel’s neck with a terrifying speed.
The attack was too swift for any evasive maneuvers; all he could do was watch as it pierced through his throat.
Gurgle... Gurgle...
Blood spurted out like a fountain.
The tentacle revealed myriad tiny suckers that functioned like mouths, bearing chillingly sharp teeth as they frenziedly absorbed the flowing blood.
Daniel tried to fight back, but his central nervous system had been compromised, severing any control over his body.
He could only witness, with abhorring clarity, as his life force was siphoned away while more tentacles emerged, climbing and writhing wildly like a horde of frenetic serpents engulfing and consuming him slowly...
...
[Echo activation!]
[Remaining rewinds within 24 hours: 8!]
Once again, Daniel heard Mike’s voice beside him, "There isn’t even a hint of a creepy vibe here. Are you sure there’s a creature lurking?"
Death, once again.
This time, the remaining count for rewinds was down to eight.
Daniel glanced at the time — eight o’clock sharp.
It was the same time he had resurrected during the last round.
He hadn’t had a chance to check the time at the moment of his death, but it had probably been around one in the morning.
This meant that seventeen hours had passed in real-time since the last use of the Echo Stone’s power.
In another four hours, the Echo Stone’s rewind count would reset to ten.
"Enough time," Daniel muttered to himself.
Mike, Julia, and Alex, who were beside him, turned their attention to Daniel.
Snapping back to reality, Daniel shook his head, "It’s nothing."
They were back to the moment they had first arrived at the small town of Isaac.
Heading to that same inn would mean facing the same problem when night fell.
Yet, that was the only inn in the entire town, leaving Daniel deep in thought.
How had the creature entered his room?
Neither Alex nor the others had heard any footsteps.
Had the creature deceived them, or had it not used the stairs at all?
It all seemed very strange to Daniel.
