Wang Zikai was hanging upside down from the window of room 601 with a rope tied around his waist when he got shot squarely in the chest.

Qing Ling reacted swiftly. She immediately used a knife to cut the rope, catching Wang Zikai and pulling him through the window. She turned and shouted at Gao Yang, "Don't just stand there! Help me!"

...

One minute earlier.

After three consecutive defeats in ranked games, Wang Zikai in room 601 felt increasingly uneasy.

Gao Yang was famously terrible with girls! He had known his childhood sweetheart, Li Weiwei, for years without success. Now he was suddenly hitting it off with school beauty Qing Ling and heading straight to a hotel? It didn't make sense!

There was definitely something fishy going on with those two!

Were they secretly studying in the hotel?

No, Qing Ling was a sports student with average academic performance, but she could get into college with her athletic skills. Gao Yang did alright academically, but he was very laid-back and didn’t seem like someone who would study secretly.

Wang Zikai lay on the floor, listening through the floor for a long time. It was too quiet down there, nothing like a passionate moment! Besides, even if they were, they couldn't go at it all night. Gao Yang could easily call him back.

So, there was only one truth!

——Gao Yang had definitely found a new gaming partner. He thought Wang Zikai’s skills were trash and planned to ditch him! Right now, he was probably playing intense ranked matches with Qing Ling!

Unforgivable!

He couldn’t let this slide!

Confronting Gao Yang directly wouldn’t work; he’d never admit it. Wang Zikai had an idea. He found some ropes from the room’s adult toys, tied himself up, and decided to climb down from the sixth-floor window to catch them in the act.

He slowly descended, nearly reaching the fifth-floor window when the curtains of room 501 opened slightly. Then, something that looked like a gun barrel poked out.

What the heck?

Wang Zikai didn’t have time to think. His foot slipped off the air conditioner box, and he fell. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and blacked out.

...

Wang Zikai lay on the room's carpet, blood gushing from his chest. He had fainted.

"He's losing a lot of blood! Find something to stop it!" Qing Ling said.

Gao Yang rushed into the bathroom, grabbed a thick towel, and pressed it against Wang Zikai’s chest. The towel quickly turned red.

Under normal circumstances, taking a sniper shot at such close range would have left a gaping hole in his chest, but for Wang Zikai, it seemed like a regular gunshot wound.

He was definitely a "beast."

"What do we do?" Gao Yang asked.

"I don't know." Qing Ling hadn’t expected this idiot to show up, and now their plan was a mess.

"We have to save him." Gao Yang quickly concluded.

"If you want to die, don't drag me along," Qing Ling retorted.

"What else can we do? Leave the body here? We have a record of checking in; we can’t avoid suspicion. We’ll be exposed sooner or later." Gao Yang took a deep breath to calm himself. "He's most likely a Fool Beast."

A Fool Beast, or a “Lost One,” believes it is human and might never realize it’s a beast.

Qing Ling’s eyes flickered with hesitation. But soon, her gaze turned cold, and a knife appeared in her hand. "No, we can't take that risk. If he's not a lost one, we’re all dead!"

Her cousin had died because he showed mercy to a lost one.

Gao Yang knew he couldn't convince her, not even himself. Mercy towards the enemy is cruelty towards oneself.

After three seconds of silence, he gritted his teeth and turned his face away. "Do it."

"Thump, thump, thump—" Someone knocked on the door.

Gao Yang was startled and quickly grabbed the bed cover to hide the unconscious Wang Zikai.

Qing Ling stood up and quickly walked to the door, opening it slightly. "Who is it?"

The person standing outside was the chubby man from the front desk.

The chubby man looked excited and lowered his voice. "Miss, let me in quickly!"

"What do you want?" Qing Ling asked warily.

The chubby man looked around, then whispered mysteriously, "I know everything going on in the room. I'm an awakener too... Let’s talk somewhere private."

Qing Ling weighed her options for three seconds.

Between killing the chubby man immediately and letting him into the room, she chose the latter.

...

Chubby man’s hands were pressing on Wang Zikai’s lungs.

Before this, Qing Ling had already “extracted” the bullet from his lung. Chubby man’s hands were enveloped in a green energy, with green particles continuously flowing into Wang Zikai’s chest. The bleeding gradually stopped, and the wound torn by the bullet was visibly healing.

Five minutes later, the rescue was complete.

Chubby man let out a wail and collapsed onto the carpet, drenched in sweat as if he had taken a bath. He panted heavily, feeling as though half his life had been drained away. “Luckily, this kid is a beast. If he were human, I wouldn’t have been able to save him.”

During the rescue, chubby man had already introduced himself.

His name was Han Yingjun, but everyone called him Fatty Jun. Four years ago, he became an awakener with the talent of [Healing], serial number: 45.

Fatty Jun’s parents died early, and he grew up with his aunt. After his aunt’s death, the high school graduate didn’t have much going for him, so he inherited his aunt’s hotel and boldly transformed it into a love hotel.

Qing Ling squatted down to check Wang Zikai’s heartbeat, then instructed Gao Yang, “Clean up the scene. I need to ask this fat guy some questions.”

“Haha, no need to be so formal. Just call me Fatty Jun.”

Qing Ling looked at Fatty Jun. “How did you know what was happening in the room?”

Fatty Jun was taken aback and quickly forced a smile. “Hehe, actually... I installed cameras and listening devices in the room...”

Before he could finish speaking, a Tang sword was suddenly at his triple chin.

Fatty Jun shouted, “Miss, spare my life! Let me explain first!”

“You have ten seconds.”

“First of all, I absolutely did not install cameras in the bathroom! I have my principles!” Fatty Jun wiped the sweat off his chubby face. “And besides, I didn’t install cameras for personal pleasure. I’m above such petty interests...”

“Get to the point.”

“Aren’t you curious?” Fatty Jun trembled as he pushed the knife away from his neck. “What these beasts are like in private?”

“Shhh.” The Tang sword disappeared from Qing Ling’s hand. “You’re observing the beasts?”

“Yes, ever since I awakened, my worldview has been shattered. It was a shock to my very core!” Fatty Jun glanced at Wang Zikai on the floor. “After accepting reality, I kept wondering, are these beasts really acting like humans 24/7?”

“I can understand the lost ones; they’re dumb enough to deceive even themselves. But what about the other beasts? Are they really playing house with us every day? Why are they doing this?” Fatty Jun looked at Gao Yang. “Aren’t you curious?”

“I’ve only been awakened for three days, so I haven’t thought that far ahead,” Gao Yang replied while mopping the floor.

“I installed cameras partly to see what these beasts are up to in private...” Fatty Jun said this with a look of disappointment. “I didn’t expect that these guys would also act diligently even in private. They do all the same things humans do.”

Gao Yang and Qing Ling fell into contemplation.

“On the other hand, I was also looking for humans.” Fatty Jun sighed. “The brother who awakened me died. I’ve been alone for these years, and now I’ve finally found you! I’m so excited, so happy...”

Fatty Jun opened his arms, wanting to hug Qing Ling.

Facing Qing Ling’s death glare, he turned and hugged Gao Yang instead. “I’m really too happy. Boohoohoo, I thought I’d die alone...”

Fatty Jun was so emotional that he actually cried. “Brother, my heart is so bitter... Every day, opening my eyes and having to act, year after year. When will it end...”

Gao Yang, not knowing how to comfort people, awkwardly patted Fatty Jun on his meaty shoulder. “Alright, alright, it’s okay now, it’s okay.”

“Thump, thump, thump—” There was another knock on the door.

Everyone fell silent.

Gao Yang and Qing Ling both looked at Fatty Jun, who shook his head in confusion.

Qing Ling exchanged a glance with Gao Yang, silently drawing her Tang sword.

Gao Yang nodded, quickly got up, and walked to the door, shouting, “Who is it?”

“Housekeeping,” came a woman’s voice from outside.

“Housekeeping?”

“Isn’t room 501 checked out?”The woman said.

“No, you must be mistaken.”

“Really? Let me check.”

Fatty Jun also came to the door and patted Gao Yang’s shoulder, whispering, “Don’t worry, it’s Aunt He. I hired her as a cleaner. She’s not very sharp.”

“Oh, sorry, it’s room 401. My mistake, haha.” Aunt He’s voice came from outside, apologizing.

“No problem.”

After speaking, Gao Yang suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

He quickly turned and lunged at Fatty Jun, shouting, “Move!”