Who Are You?

While heading to the bathroom, Soren took the time to look at his surroundings. The hallway was empty with only one or two paintings hanging on the grey walls. Although it was bland, the hotel was fairly neat. Not a spiderweb insight.

" You're pretty calm for a rookie." The man turned around abruptly and Soren walked right into him. Rubbing his nose he looked at him with suspicion. Noticing his narrowed eyes the man chuckled and stuck out his hand.

" I'm Knox." Seeing as Soren didn't take his hand he put both of them in his pocket.

" You know, I've seen a bunch of rookies and none of them act as you do. It makes me wonder," Before he realized, Knox's face was inches away from his. He could feel his warm breath and smell a familiar scent on him.

Peering into his eyes, Soren unknowingly held his breath. Knox's eyes fell dead, nothing like the smile he gave him before. It was cold and chilling but also captivating. Like a snowy forest; Charming enough to sink in but before you know it you're trapped under the blanket of white, only to freeze to death.

Knox saw Soren stiffen up under his gaze.

'Just like an animal ', He lowered his head, his breath tickling Soren's ear. " I'll find out just what your hiding," he whispered and took a step back. Soren felt his whole face heat up and watched as he left.

After calming down and running a few scenarios in his head, Soren left the bathroom and looked around as he headed to the group. Other than the group he saw when he woke up he didn't see anyone around the hotel. Not even any of the staff like there would be.

" You're finally here." When he turned the corner and a voice crept into his ears. The man with the scar took a good glance at him and grinned.

" Been a while since I've seen someone this calm," he said, elbowing the one with the glasses. That statement made Soren frown,

'Did I do something wrong?' but he didn't dwell on it much and silently nodded.

" The name's Axel, the one one with the glasses is Silas." Walking over he pointed to two girls hanging around the back.

" Taller one's Ava and clinging off of her is Claire; a newcomer like you. Beside them is Zander, and I'm sure you met Knox. "

Ava was tall, maybe around the same height as Soren. She had short brown hair just at shoulder length. Wasn't as noticeable as Claire but could still turn some heads. Claire's eyes were still red from crying earlier. When she saw Soren's gaze fall on her she gave a shy smile. Zander kept glancing at the ground, not taking part in the conversation.

Soren looked around and whispered under his breath. " Ten,"

Confused Axel: " huh?"

Soren: " Didn't the voice say there were ten players? Including me, that's only seven." He looked around before continuing. " I've read some web novels before. Let me guess, I've been pulled into some game any only by winning these scenarios can I get out." He gloated for a bit as if it could make up for his shame earlier.

Knox made his way over to them and slung his arm over Soren's shoulder. The atmosphere stiffed up again. With curled eyes and a smile, " Smart, just how I like them." Soren could feel the arm around him tighten.

Axel let out an empty chuckle and continued. " Ahh, those three huh. One of them left on the premises of exploring. The two others are rookies like you but they wouldn't believe anything. I asked them about the invitation before they died but they just froze up and then got angry."

Axel looked up lost in thought. His face scrunched up as if he was remembering something unpleasant.

Ava chimed in: "Just forget about them, they might as well be coveting death. Anyways, I don't think we caught your name yet." She had a better opinion of Soren since he was one of the newcomers who could adapt. Glancing at Claire she sighed, but seeing as they were the only girls it would be better for them to stick together.

Sorens ears pricked up hearing a keyword.

' Invitation?' What was that?

" I'm Soren. Now, this invitation..." His voice trailed off as someone came behind him.

" My, my what lovely guests we have this occasion. " An old lady crept up behind Soren, talking to the whole group. Everyone's eyes sharpened. Why didn't they notice her before?

"It's a snowstorm out there. Won't be able to go to town for a while, what a pity. Anyways the chef will fix some warm dinner in about an hour so be sure to get ready. Follow me to the front desk for your rooms." The old lady, presumably the hostess, brushed the snow off her and walked behind the desk.

Soren's muddled eyes peered at Knox. He pulled Soren closer and whispered into his ear. " ~ npc~" Then he let go and walked to the front desk.

Silas caught up with Soren. " In the beginning, if you felt uncomfortable then I apologize." Silas shifted his glasses once again. It seems like he wasn't used to apologizing.

Soren: " About the snow..."

Silas's eyes twinkled. " Ah yes, when the plot starts then a few things change according to the storyline. For now, we can guess that the blizzard is here to stop us from going down to town." Silas was confident in talking about something he understood.

He guessed as such but felt a bit better with some more assurance. Soren saw three more people when he arrived at the front desk. One of them angrily rushed to the old lady, provoking the people around them.

Without taking his eyes off of them, Silas whispered into Soren's ear. " Rule one for newcomers, don't lash out at the Npc's it's only going to hurt you in the long run." Soren turned his head towards him but didn't say anything in the end.

" Where the hell am I you old hag! Fuck!" he let go and kicked the desk making a mess. The old lady calmly walked forward and grabbed his wrist. It didn't seem like much but the man fell to his knees howling out in pain. Soren swore he heard a crunch.

The old lady with the serene expression didn't act like someone who just nearly crushed someone's wrist. She let him go and calmly cleaned her hand. The man whose pride had been crushed like his wrist backed away with fear.

" Now that the trash is cleaned up let's continue. Here are nih̴̶̷͉̻͙̺̳̩͑̀͂̍̊̈́ ̶̡͖̳̣̖̰͖̑̓ͅṋ̴͔͎̟̤̪̲̈́́i̴̶̸̖̫̣͓͇̓̀̒͐́͑͜-" She paused for a minute as if she said something wrong. Then she looked up again.

" Oh my, that's right! On such short notice, we were only able to prepare nine rooms. I hope that one of you is able to share." The old lady said dejectedly.

Everyone could catch what was going on. There were nine rooms for ten players. Even they believed that they had nine players. That is until Soren showed up. Their eyes slowly focused on him.

" Then we can share a room," Knox looked at Soren. " Right?" The old lady looked at Soren with pleading eyes.

Soren: " hah... Okay." Weirdly enough, Soren didn't feel that grossed out sharing a room with Knox. Living as an orphan, Soren didn't get close to others thinking that it was a bother. He didn't want their pity. But Knox made him rethink that view.

The old lady clapped her hands together. " Then it's settled." and handed the keys over and disappeared to another room.

Claire that wanted to share a room with Ava. " ..."