Hide and Seek

Jian Sheng felt his shirt sticking onto his back from all the cold sweat while he looked at Wilbert.

Jian Sheng shivered and thought, 'How should I answer this? If I say no, will he straight up kill me? If I say yes, will he change into a monster and chase after me?'

He also did not know what Wilbert wanted. Why ask him that? For a survey? He would gladly fill up the whole survey within seconds than stay another second with this creepy old man.

"System! Help me! Why are there ghosts or something here?! I'm a firm believer of science and maths, everything in this universe can be explained by science and maths but what the heck is going on now?"

"The things we learned in school never prepared me for this. Ghost sightings should be optical illusions created by the water vapour in the air refracted light in an unusual way."

"But this smoke doesn't feel like gas, and this old man gives me the chills even though the heater is in the room is on."

"Don't tell me you're a system that has a horror and supernatural element. Can I ask for a refund?"

Jian Sheng stood there silent for a while trying to get an answer from the system as well as think of an answer for Wilbert.

He thought of how and what to reply and said to Wilbert while putting on a smile, "I'm not sure. I'm actually a writer, but my genre is romance and love. I don't touch the supernatural things so that hopefully the supernatural things wouldn't touch me."

Wilbert chuckled and Jian Sheng's hair raised when he heard it. It sounded like someone was scraping Styrofoam with a plastic spoon. The sound makes people shiver involuntarily.

"Hahaha. You should have become either a lawyer or a news anchor since you sprout so much nonsense from that mouth of yours." Wilbert laughed while saying and he put his hands on Jian Sheng's shoulder.

Jian Sheng felt like a boulder was placed on his shoulder. He wanted to move away but couldn't. He tried to calm himself and looked at Wilbert with a smile. As they say, you don't punch a smiling face unless the smile was too ugly. Wait, or was it you don't punch a smiling face even if it's ugly. I can't remember.

Wilbert looked at Jian Sheng's smile and smiled as well. His eyes changed to a crescent shape and Jian Sheng could barely see his eyes. Although Wilbert was smiling, Jian Sheng still felt cold sweat pouring out while looking at him.

"You see, I've been bored for quite some time. How about we play a little game of hide and seek. I used to play with my granddaughters a lot back in the days." Wilbert said while letting go of Jian Sheng.

"Sir, your granddaughter must be quite energetic since they are kids. I'm already passed the age where I can handle energetic games like this. I'm afraid I do not have the energy and stamina for this since I haven't exercised for a long time." Jian Sheng tried to refuse by saying all that but Wilbert still had the same smile on his face.

"The game is simple. I'll give you a box that can collect these fragments. All you need to do is find me while collecting these fragments. The more you collect, the more I will reward you when you find me." Wilbert took out a black wooden box from god knows where and hands it over to Jian Sheng.

Jian Sheng reluctantly received the box with both hands and he felt the box was cold. It was not to the point of getting frostbite but it was still cold enough that Jian Sheng felt like his palm and fingers were being poked by needles or a durian.

[Ding! The host has gotten a quest item. Quest items are only usable during the quest and will disappear after the quest is completed or failed.]

[Because the system feels that the host will have 75% more chance of failing if running around with the quest item, the system has submitted an application for the host to temporarily unlock the quest item system storage.]

[Application has been sent and was approved by the administrators.]

[The host can place in and take out quest items using the system inventory. This means only quest items may be stored. Non-quest related items will need to be held by host's own self.]

[The inventory can be accessed by thought. So the host can just think of wanting to put the item in or what items to take out.]

[Good luck host.]

Jian Sheng resisted the urge to put the box away in front of Wilbert. He raised the box and look around it curiously while asking, "How do I use this box?"

Wilbert held up his right hand and pointed at the top of the box. A blood-red ruby appeared on top of the box and slowly merge into the top of the box. Vein-like lines appeared and the box began to thump.

"This crystal is the heart of a spectre. I've modified it so that it will suck in fragments and hold it in the box. All you need to do is aim the crystal at the fragments and the fragments will be sucked in." Wilbert instructed Jian Sheng to suck in the fragment at the corner of the room.

Jian Sheng aimed the ruby at the smoke and the smoke was sucked into the ruby quickly. The box still felt cold but the thump started to follow a more regular rhythm and timing.

The usage of the box looked quite easy so Jian Sheng didn't say anymore. He felt like the faster he finished this game the better since he would not need to stay here in this cursed hotel any longer.

However, he felt like putting the box in and taking it out repeatedly from the system storage was quite a bothersome task. However, it might not be ideal to run around while holding the box.

Wilbert looked at Jian Sheng for a while then asked if he was ready. Jian Sheng nodded and Wilbert stood with his back straight like an arrow and spread his arms out like he was preaching.

"The rules of the game are simple. I will be hiding somewhere within the hotel building. Doors that you can open will have the keys inserted into the keyhole. While seeking, you also need to hide from your seeker. Your seeker will not catch me even if it sees me. Collect as many fragments as you can along the way. This game will end after 3 hours. Good luck. Now let the game begin." After saying all that loudly, Wilbert suddenly fades away and a notification panel appeared.

_________________

Mission: Hide and Seek

Condition:

Condition 1: Find Wilbert

Condition 2: Hide from Seeker

Condition 3: Collect soul fragments ( 1 / 50 )

Condition 4: Finish all conditions above before time limit.

Time Limit: 3 hours ( 3 / 10800)

Reward:

Reward 1: Instant clear for S. Hotel main mission

Reward 2: Unlock status window

Reward 3: +3 Status point

Failure:

Punishment 1: Locked in a time-space where the host needs to hide from the seekers for 24 hours.

Punishment 2: A random skill will be deleted.

Remark: The host needs to find Wilbert while hiding from a seeker at the same time. The host also needs to collect at least 50 soul fragments. The system decided to give the host some help since the host has been a fun toy—a fun partner until now. Thus, the system has added a function where the host will feel a headache whenever the seeker is near. The place where it hurts will tell the host which direction the seeker is. Good luck.

________________________