NOVPUBDaniel was puzzled. Given that they could hear gunshots, why hadn’t they heard the creature’s footsteps?
Oh, the gunshot.
He remembered the irritable old man, the owner of the inn.
The Desert Eagle’s gunshot was incredibly loud; loud enough to draw Wes and his companions from the second floor.
But why hadn’t the inn’s owner shown up?
Could it be that he hadn’t heard it due to the considerable distance?
Yet, he lived on the ground floor; it wasn’t that far away.
Daniel felt a growing sense of unease, that something was off.
After pondering the situation, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
As time progressed, the scene transitioned to their first arrival at the inn.
Just like before, Daniel and his team encountered Wes, Liam, and Stanley emerging from a room.
Following a less-than-friendly exchange, the trio left the inn.
The innkeeper, who was in the midst of cleaning, glared impatiently at Daniel and his group. "If you’re not here to stay, then get the hell out of my inn," he spat.
Daniel calmly surveyed the elderly man in front of him, who held a broom in his hand.
The man appeared completely ordinary, with white hair and a face marked by age; nothing seemed amiss at a glance.
But Daniel operated on a principle — where understanding faltered, action should take its place.
He swiftly drew his pistol and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
A bullet pierced straight through the target.
The innkeeper looked at Daniel in utter shock, unable to comprehend why this stranger was being so outrageously brutal, shooting him without even a greeting first.
The innkeeper wasn’t the only one taken aback.
Alex, Julia, and Mike all stared at Daniel, their faces painted with confusion and shock.
They watched as the innkeeper’s chest tore open, blood spilling out freely.
The man swayed for a few moments before collapsing onto the ground, dead.
No one had expected Daniel to suddenly take a life; his actions were abrupt, without a hint of warning, bordering on the absurd.
It was unthinkable that a mere harsh word warranted death.
Ignoring the strange looks from his companions, Daniel approached the body and crouched down to inspect it closely, searching for any clue or irregularity.
But the innkeeper lying on the ground bore no strange marks; blood pooled continuously from his mouth, and his eyes were wide open, the expression one of someone who hadn’t met death willingly.
Standing up, Daniel looked around before picking up a fruit knife from a tray on a table.
He returned to the corpse, and with a firm grip,
Squish.
He thrust the knife into the middle of the man’s back, dragging it down with force, splitting flesh and opening a gory rift that allowed blood to pour out like water from a breached dam.
Daniel furrowed his brows; this was his first time stabbing a person, and the sight was visually shocking.
He calmly looked at the flesh visible through the knife wound, everything was crimson, stained with fresh blood, amid which yellow clumps of fat intermingled with the flesh, creating a nauseating view yet seemingly no different from a regular human body.
Daniel frowned slightly.
Could it be that he had acted too quickly, not giving this fellow enough time to morph into a monster?
Or had he erred in his deduction, and the man was just an ordinary elderly individual?
Behind him, Julia’s voice echoed with alarm and anger, "Daniel, what are you doing?!"
Her perception of Daniel had significantly shifted after their encounter at the supermarket, even harboring a certain indescribable sentiment whenever she thought of him.
But witnessing Daniel ruthlessly kill an ordinary person, she found herself unable to accept it.
Outside the door, an elderly woman had appeared at some point, screaming in horror as she saw the innkeeper laying in a pool of his own blood, "Murder! Murder!"
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out, the elderly woman’s chest was pierced by a bullet, and she died on the spot.
Daniel hastily approached, dragging the elderly woman’s body inside before performing the same brutal autopsy he had executed on the innkeeper.
Yet, he found nothing unusual.
By now, Julia and Mike had cautiously distanced themselves from Daniel, their expressions wrought with fear and apprehension. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
"Daniel, I’m seriously suspecting that you’ve completely lost your mind. You better give me an explanation!" Julia exclaimed, her voice shaking.
Alex remained silent, coldly watching Daniel, yet his tightly clenched fists revealed his readiness to eliminate Daniel should his actions confirm a malevolent transformation.
Standing up with his brows still tightly knit, Daniel couldn’t figure out why the two individuals he had killed exhibited such normal behaviors, no different from any other person.
He explained his actions nonchalantly, "I believed they were problematic."
Mike quickly caught on, "Dan, did you have another vision of the future?"
Daniel nodded in affirmation.
The anger on Julia’s face gradually dissipated.
Yet she couldn’t help but reproach, "Could you at least communicate with us before you take action in the future? So that we’re not caught off guard and end up doing something erroneous."
Daniel responded in a bland tone, "There’s no need for communication. All you need to do is unconditionally trust me." His voice was indifferent, yet carried an undeniable note of arrogance.
Alex loosened his hands, yet his voice remained as cold as ice, "What did you foresee?"
After pondering for a moment, Daniel finally spoke, "We will stay here, spending the whole day investigating without finding anything substantial. But after midnight, the monsters will appear, heading straight for my room on the third floor."
Mike interjected promptly, "In that case, can’t we just avoid staying here?"
Alex’s expression was unreadable, neither happy nor sad. "We came here to investigate the monster incidents. Since it will appear here tonight, we will stay."
Finishing his words, he walked over to the table and picked up three keys after a swift glance, "It seems that there are only three rooms left."
Noticing that all the keys corresponded to rooms on the third floor, a deeper sense of certainty about Daniel’s earlier words enveloped him.
The prophetic Daniel was indeed formidable.
Despite having Daniel’s forewarning, Julia knew that venturing out for investigations during the day might not yield any progress.
Yet unwilling to waste time idly in her room, she invited Mike to stroll down the streets with her.
Alex believed it wise to conserve their energy for the potential confrontation with the monster at night.
Being not one to interfere in others’ business, he let Julia and Mike go while choosing to stay in his room.
As before, Daniel took the room at the far end of the corridor on the east side.
Upon entering, he conducted a thorough search to ensure no monsters were hiding within.
Only then did he lie down, closing his eyes to ponder.
Soon, it was deep into the night.
Daniel suddenly opened his eyes, abruptly awakened from his slumber.
Just as before, he felt a presence spying on him from the dark, the sensation of looming death shadowing him persistently.
Glancing at his phone, it read 12:59 AM, almost time for the monster to appear.
Suddenly!
"Cough... cough cough!"
The eerie sound of coughing rang out again, accompanied by distinct footsteps.
Identically to the previous occurrence, the noise emanated from around the corridor corner, gradually approaching from afar.
The footsteps bypassed the other three rooms, stopping directly in front of his own.
Daniel lay in bed, his eyes squinted to a thin slit, his breathing steady and even, trying his best to maintain a semblance of deep sleep.
If striking preemptively wasn’t an option, then he’d sit still and take a good look at the face of the monster.
"Creak—"
In the darkness, the door was pushed open.
Daniel’s heart tightened violently, not out of fear, but a primal response triggered by his body’s sensory alert to impending danger.
He squinted further, directing his gaze towards the doorway.
For reasons unknown, the corridor’s light did not filter in as the door opened.
In the darkness, Daniel couldn’t see clearly, but he discerned a towering shadow standing unmoving at his doorway.
From the vague outline, it was evident that this was neither the innkeeper nor one of the three individuals from Rebirth Corporation.
Could it be someone else from the town?
He hadn’t encountered many people during the day, and thus, couldn’t identify the shadow’s identity.
"Thud... thud... thud..."
The footsteps resumed, the shadow stepping forward, advancing heavily one step at a time.
These hefty steps were eerily surreal; with each thud, Daniel felt his heartbeat resonate in tandem, as if capable of inducing his heart to pulsate.
Daniel stared intently at the shadow, an internal debate raging over whether or not to rise and fire his gun.
Given their proximity, Daniel had full confidence in landing a successful shot.
Yet, recalling the bizarre occurrences earlier, he abandoned the thought.
A hit didn’t necessarily guarantee a kill.
His heartbeat escalated, each thump seemingly trying to burst out of his chest. Daniel repeatedly urged himself, "Calm down, calm down!"
"I have died countless times before, experienced all manner of death; what’s one more death?"
To his relief, his heartbeat gradually stabilized.
Suddenly, Daniel realized the footsteps had ceased.
Frozen in place, he strained his eyes to peer into the surrounding darkness, yet the shadow’s whereabouts remained elusive.
Suddenly!
His heart began to hammer wildly again, to the point where the skin on his chest visibly quivered.
