The Seeker is here

Jian Sheng was only stunned for a while. After that, he started searching the room. There might be another fragment in there, he would have missed it if that were true. Time was of the essence right now, especially when you never know when it might speed up or slow down like when he was walking in the corridor just now.

Jian Sheng searched the entire room and found another 2 fragments in the room. 1 from under the bed and another at the top shelf in the wardrobe behind some mouldy pieces of clothes.

'Judging by the number of fragments in this room, if every room has 3 fragments, then I'll need to go through at least 16 rooms before I collect 50 of them. I also need to find Wilbert and hide from the seeker at the same time. I better get started on the other rooms.'

Jian Sheng exited the room and went into room 102 that was across the room. The interior of the room looks the same. The clothes in the wardrobe and some minor differences in the position of furniture were the only differences separating the two rooms.

Jian Sheng searched through the room and found another 3 fragments. 1 inside a pillow on the bed, 1 under the dressing table with a shattered mirror. The last fragment in the room was in the bathroom. When Jian Sheng was searching in the bathroom, he almost screamed when he saw his reflection in the yellow and clouded mirror.

His reflection in the mirror was a lump of white smoke. Maybe it was a trick of the moonlight since when he looked down, he could still see his slender fingers, healthy white arms, his comfortable-to-move-around clothes, and a pair of hotel recyclable slippers. He felt around his head and his hair was still there although slightly wet with his sweat, 2 eyes, a nose, a mouth, and 2 ears.

'That scared the living soul out of me. I thought it was a ghost for a second there.' Jian Sheng looked at the mirror and no panel appeared. "Hey, system, why isn't my character panel showing?"

[The host may not view character panels during missions as it may lead to carelessness or distract the host from the mission. Only announcements, notices, and any panels regarding the ongoing mission will appear when the host is doing missions. Everything else will need to wait until the host completes the current mission before they will be displayed. Good Luck.]

Jian Sheng looked at his mission panel. He had already collected 7 out of the necessary 50, and he used about 15 minutes to search both rooms.

'If I used an average of 7 minutes and in each room, and each room has 3 fragments, then I can find all 50 fragments in less than about 2 hours. I'll still have an hour to search for Wilbert and he might also be hiding in one of the rooms here as well. All I need to worry about now is the seeker.'

'The system said that I will have a headache whenever the seeker is near. So that means the seeker is still a distance away from me right now. I better hurry and find as many fragments as I can before the seeker comes near me.'

Jian Sheng quickly made up his mind and went into room 103. Time slowly went by while he searched through the rooms and collect the fragments. Some rooms had 2 fragments, some had only 1.

Jian Sheng let his guard down and continued searching repeatedly and did not notice the number on the doors anymore.

He also did not notice himself coming closer to a lift at the end of the corridor. When he was at the last 2 doors at the end of the corridor, only then did he notice the lift. The colour of the lift was the exact same colour as the walls so that might be why he missed it.

After seeing the lift, Jian Sheng quickly put his guard back up and looked at the lift and around him. He stared at the door number in shock. The number showed 309 on his right. He turned around and the number 310 was on the door on his left.

'Does this mean I searched 30 rooms already?!' He quickly pulled out the mission panel.

_________________

Mission: Hide and Seek

Condition:

Condition 1: Find Wilbert

Condition 2: Hide from Seeker

Condition 3: Collect soul fragments ( 29 / 50 )

Condition 4: Finish all conditions above before time limit.

Time Limit: 3 hours ( 6120 / 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 has done a great job, keep it up. There's still 1 hour left in the game. Good luck.

________________________

'6120 seconds… Does that mean it has been almost 2 hours already? But if I searched 30 rooms, it should have taken more than 2 hours. Did time slow down again?' Jian Sheng walked back and look at the number. Only then did he see the door number besides 109 and 110 was 301 and 302.

'Does that mean the rooms that start with the even number is at the left side of the corridor when I exited my room? I came all the way to the end of the right corridor without finding Wilbert, nor did I feel a headache here. That means both Wilbert and the seeker should at the left corridor.'

Jian Sheng continued searching rooms 309 and 310 while thinking of a plan. There were 2 fragments in each room which brings his number of fragments collected up to 36. He still needed 14 more fragments that should be on the left side of the corridor.

Jian Sheng looked at the time limit and it was approaching the 2-hour mark in about 5 minutes. He walked up to the lift and investigate it when a panel appeared.

_________________

Corridor lift.

Usage: Player may use this lift to go to the end of each corridor.

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Requirement: Usage is only activated when the seeker has spawned in the map.

________________

Jian Sheng looked at the panel in surprise. 'The seeker has not appeared? Then I don't know when this lift can be used. I only have 1 hour left, should I run back? Maybe time will slow when I'm in the corridor. Let's just hurry up and do it."

Jian Sheng turned around and started running down the corridor with doors flashing by him. Since the seeker was not here, he didn't have to worry about making too much noise. 'Maybe the noise might even scare Wilbert out of hiding.'

He ran for a while and he passed by the room he originally came out from. The door was different. It was still the door of the S. Hotel but there was no number on it and has a small red crystal ball tied to the doorknob.

Jian Sheng did not slow and kept running forward down the left corridor. Soon, he saw doors on both sides. The doors with 201 on his right and 202 on his left. He checked the time and it had only been 3 minutes since he ran from the right corridor.

Maybe it wasn't the time that slowed but it was because of his mind playing tricks when he was under stress and fear. He quickly opened the door to 201 and entered.

The placement of the furniture in the room was the complete opposite of the ones from the right corridor. Everything was revered. It felt like the left and right corridors were what one saw from looking at a mirror placed in the middle.

He started searching and found a fragment under the bed like the one in room 101. He then quickly walked to the drawer and opened it. In it was also a fragment exactly like room 101 on the right corridor. Just as he was about to open the wardrobe, a panel appeared.

_________

The seeker has entered the map. Please do not let it catch you. Good luck.

_________

Jian Sheng stopped breathing and did not move. The seeker is here.