Huff... huff...
I leaned back against the cold wooden door, gasping for air, the sound of my heart slamming against my ribs as loud as a war drum.
Outside the door, the scratching sound—like fingernails on a chalkboard—continued. Scrape, scrape. It made my teeth ache. Accompanying it were low thuds of impact; with every hit, dust fell from the doorframe, and my heart trembled along with it.
Fortunately, although the door looked broken, it seemed to be reinforced by some invisible power I couldn't see. The things outside couldn't get in for the time being.
Only after confirming I was temporarily safe did my legs give out. I slid down to sit on the floor, using the weak light of my phone's flashlight to examine this "refuge" I had just risked my life to enter.
I wish I hadn't looked. One look, and my heart turned even colder.
This is the priceless inheritance? This is the hotel with independent property rights?
The shabbiest guesthouse I've ever seen in my life was a hundred times better than this!
The air was filled with a strange smell—a mix of stale dust and burnt circuit boards—that made me want to cough. The lobby was empty, save for a few broken sofas overturned on the ground, exposing their springs and sponge padding.
The weirdest part was the walls.
They weren't normal walls. Under the beam of my flashlight, I saw the wall on the left was... flickering.
Like a computer screen with a loose connection, patches of the wall's texture would disappear from time to time, revealing a deep black void behind it, swirling with green data streams.
"Is it... clipping?"
I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was hallucinating from fear.
I picked up a piece of gravel from the floor and tentatively threw it at the "missing" patch of wall.
There was no sound of impact. The moment the stone touched the void, it was instantly swallowed, without even an echo.
My scalp went numb. If a person leaned against that, wouldn't they fall straight into another dimension?
"Great-Uncle, were you developing real estate in the underworld and ran out of funds?"
Supporting myself on my knees, I stood up. carefully avoiding the holes in the floor that didn't look very stable either, and walked toward the only thing in the center of the lobby that looked somewhat intact—
The front desk counter.
It was a solid piece of blackened wood, covered in a thick layer of dust. Behind the counter sat an old, boxy CRT monitor. The screen was pitch black, and the power cord was cut.
I wanted to see if there was anything useful, like a phone or a weapon.
However, the moment my fingers touched the surface of the counter—
Zzzt!!!
A strong electric current drilled instantly from my fingertips into my body.
It wasn't the numbing sensation of electric shock, but a stinging pain of... data invading the brain.
"Ah!"
I cried out in pain, trying to pull my hand back, but found my palm stuck as if glued by superglue. I couldn't move it at all.
At the same time, the second-hand Android phone in my pocket—bought to save money—suddenly vibrated like crazy, becoming so hot it felt like it was about to explode.
In the dark lobby, countless red lights suddenly lit up.
That old monitor with the cut power cord actually turned on by itself!
Waterfalls of green code scrolled frantically across the screen, so fast it made me dizzy. Immediately after, a cold, mechanical, genderless synthesized voice exploded deep inside my mind:
[Carbon-based biological contact detected.] [DNA sequence comparison in progress... Match successful.] [Heir Identity Confirmed: Lynn.]
[Initiating Mandatory Binding Sequence...]
"What? What binding? I don't agree! Let me go!"
I struggled desperately, feeling like a red-hot iron rod was being stuffed into my brain and stirred around. The pain made me break out in a cold sweat.
[Protest invalid.] [System installing... 10%... 50%... 100%.] [Shadow Hotel Management Terminal V0.1 (Alpha Test Version), installation complete.]
Ding!
With a crisp notification sound, the suction force suddenly vanished.
I slumped onto the floor, gasping for breath, feeling completely drained.
With trembling hands, I pulled out my scorching hot phone.
The familiar interface was gone. All the apps—WeChat, Alipay, the browser—were all missing.
Only one solitary black icon remained on the screen. The icon was a simple drawing of a crooked house, with two blood-red words written below it: [Admin].
"What kind of bloatware is this? Uninstall! Uninstall it now!"
I frantically tapped and long-pressed, but the icon was like it was welded to the screen; it didn't budge. It even popped up a mocking speech bubble: [System Core Component. Deletion Prohibited.]
Refusing to believe in evil, I clicked on it.
The screen flashed and turned into a backend interface resembling a management simulation game. Although crude, the data was displayed clearly.
After seeing the numbers on it, my breathing stopped.
[Shadow Hotel Operation Status]
Administrator: Lynn (Noob)
Hotel Level: Lv.0 (Ruins)
Current Assets:
Lobby (Damage: 85%)
Guest Rooms (Data lost, inaccessible)
Kitchen (Corrupted, Dangerous)
Computation Points Balance (Currency): 0 Points.
Historical Debt: 100,000,000 Points. (Note: This includes data overflow fees owed by the previous administrator to the Main God System, fines for illegal operations, and interest. The full amount has now been transferred to the heir.)
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands..."
I counted that string of zeros three times.
One hundred million. One hundred million points!
Although I didn't know the exchange rate of these "points" to RMB, just looking at that blood-red minus sign, I knew I was screwed.
This wasn't inheriting a legacy; this was inheriting a massive trap! Great-Uncle didn't want to make me rich; he wanted me dead!
"I quit! I want to return the goods! I want to go home!"
I shouted at the phone.
Just then, the screen changed, and a giant red countdown popped up.
The bright red numbers pulsed in the darkness like a beating heart counting down.
[WARNING: Energy Depletion!] [Hotel Absolute Defense Shield (Invisible Wall) Remaining Energy: 3 Hours 00 Minutes 00 Seconds.]
[TIP:] [Once the countdown reaches zero, the Defense Shield will fail.] [At that time, external "Data Waste" (Monsters) will flood into the hotel to recycle all unauthorized data—including the Administrator's body and soul.]
"Recycle...?"
I froze, turning my head to look at the main door.
The banging outside seemed to have gotten louder. The hungry growls drilled through the cracks of the door, making my hair stand on end.
I understood. If I didn't earn those damn "Computation Points" to recharge the shield within three hours...
I would be eaten by those things outside until not even crumbs remained.
"What kind of scam is this?!!"
I let out a wail of despair in this empty, gloomy, ghost building that could collapse at any moment.
No retreat. No rescue. Starting with a debt of one hundred million, armed only with a broken key and a hacked phone.
And the Grim Reaper had already taken a number at the door.