Free Web NovelChapter 15: Chapter 15: Devil and Hotel Starry Night
Soon Night entered the city. He saw rows of buildings all of them looked brand new. Every single structure was painted yellow in colour and stood four stories tall.
It seemed as if the entire city had been designed and built by the exact same person.
People were walking to and fro, and all of them seemed perfectly normal that is, if you ignored the different monsters casually accompanying some of them.
He saw one lady carrying a small pig with a horn, an old man being effortlessly carried by an oversized silver gorilla, and a little girl cheerfully riding on the back of a three-tailed fox.
"Why do so many of them have monsters with them?" Night asked quietly as he walked down the street.
It’s their summons, Lucy’s teenage girl like voice echoed in his mind as she hid within his shadow. Everyone in this world has the Nightmare Aspect, and the Nightmare Summon is an incredibly common skill.
If I come out and walk beside you, it will look perfectly normal to most people. But if someone strong notices me and actually recognizes my true identity, we will be in massive trouble.
"Are you popular?" Night whispered.
Not really. I always kept a low profile, but at my previous peak, it was inevitable that some powerful people would notice me, Lucy reasoned. My level is drastically lower now, but I still look exactly the same. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Since Lucy said she went on a world tour he tried his luck
"Do you know where this Starry Night hotel is?" Night asked, looking up at endless rows of identical yellow buildings.
I only know the general layout of the major cities. I am not aware of where this hotel might be. Let’s ask around. It is afternoon right now, and we absolutely must find a safe place before nightfall.
"Why before night?" Night wondered.
There it comes.. some sort of cliche story Night guessed; as if on que she continued
Because Devils roam at night, Lucy warned seriously. It is not safe out in the open, especially in a densely populated city like this where there are massive concentrations of people.
Night frowned, the devil troupe... troublesome
Lucy explained further. Devils are literally born from the nightmares of living beings. A Devil is born when a massive amount of negative emotions gathers in one place like a crowded and stressed city like this one.
Night asked "Is it common?"
Realizing just how utterly clueless Night was about the state of the world, Lucy decided to give him a quick history lesson.
In my tribe, it is said that a long time ago, the original [Nightmare] descended upon our world and chose to reside in the deepest, coldest part of the planet. Our world had become entirely war-torn by then. It became a corrupt place where the so-called ’powerful’ elites completely suppressed the masses and abused the rules and regulations.
The [Nightmare], acting out of profound compassion, blessed this entire world with its own power. Since that ancient day, every single person here is born with the Nightmare Aspect. The laws of the Nightmare heavily influence our world, which naturally also gave birth to things like Devils, Nightmare Creatures, Ghosts, and such
[Nightmare] came first. The System only integrated with our world seven years ago.
Our world was already incredibly powerful before the system appeared. The System merely brought universal order, but the Nightmare is what originally brought us power.
[Nightmare] is a very sacred, terrifying name in this world, Lucy warned gravely. If you want to avoid pointless trouble, it is best that you never talk about anything related to ’Project Nightmare’ with anyone. At least not until you have the enough strength.
Night nodded seriously as he walked.
While actively hiding things about himself felt a little wrong, being too open about his horrific past as a lab experiment would undoubtedly bring a mountain of trouble right to his doorstep.
Worse, that trouble would spill over and endanger his friends.
He firmly decided that some things were simply better kept a secret.
Lucy felt a wave of relief and was genuinely happy that night agreed so easily.
After an hour of politely asking around the busy streets, Night finally found the Hotel Starry Night.
It looked strikingly similar to all the other yellow buildings that seemed to go on endlessly throughout the city.
It had four floors as well, but it featured a massive wooden sign over the entrance with "Starry Night" carved into it.
He pushed open the heavy glass doors and entered the building, only to find that the interior lobby was also painted entirely yellow.
That builder must really, really love the color yellow, Night thought with an internal cringe.
In the center of the lobby, a bald old man sat behind the front desk, he was smoking a cigar with his eyes closed in relaxation.
Sitting right next to him on the desk was a small brown monkey wearing tiny wire-rimmed reading glasses.
The monkey was holding a pen in one hand and firmly gripping a register in the other hand, looking incredibly serious as it scribbled something down.
Wow, that looks like a very smart monkey, Night thought with wonder. He must be doing some very important calculations for the hotel’s expenses.
The old man suddenly opened his eyes, blowing out a ring of smoke as he looked at night.
"Are you looking for your parents, kid?"
With the stability brought by the System over the last seven years, kids these days usually had parents and guardians to care for them; especially ones close to the age of Night.
"I don’t have parents," Night replied plainly.
The old man was completely stumped. Jeez, what a heavy way to start a conversation, he thought, awkwardly tapping his cigar into an ashtray.
Hmm... I’ll give the poor kid a discount. That should make him feel a bit better.
But before the old man could offer his condolences, Night spoke up again. "Jeffy sent me."
The old man looked genuinely surprised. He scanned the boy from top to bottom and asked, "Jeffy the guard?"
"Yes," Night nodded. "He was with another guard. He asked me to come here. He muttered something about ’human trafficking’ and said you would let me stay here for a few days before I go join the Academy."
The old man’s eyes instantly went icy cold at the mention of human traffickers. Even the busy monkey stopped its calculations and looked up at Night, completely forgetting about the open register.
Realizing his dark expression might terrify the boy, the old man quickly forced a warm, welcoming smile.
Even the monkey offered a cheeky little grin, which looked absolutely comical on its highly serious, bespectacled furry face.
"People call me Rogan," the old man introduced himself smoothly. "And this little accountant right here is Rik, my lifelong companion."
"Don’t worry about your stay or your food, kid."
Rogan reached under the desk, pulled open a drawer, and tossed a heavy brass key over the counter. Night caught it clumsily with both hands.
"You can stay up in Room 404." freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"It’s unlikely, but if Jeffy drops by to check on you, I’ll let you know," Rogan added kindly. "If you need anything, you just come right back down here."
Rogan pointed a thumb at a sturdy wooden door right behind his desk. "I’ll be resting in the back room."
Night thanked the old man, took his key, and quickly made his way up to the fourth floor.
He found Room 404, slipped inside, and firmly locked the door behind him.
He looked around his temporary sanctuary. Unsurprisingly, the interior wallpaper was also a blinding shade of yellow.
It was a small, modest room with nothing more than a simple bed beside a window and an attached bathroom. freewebnσvel.cøm
Before Night could even think about freshening up, the room’s doorbell suddenly chimed.
He cautiously cracked the door open. Standing out in the hallway was a highly unassuming man with flat black hair, wearing a crisp waiter’s uniform and a dark face mask.
He was pushing a silver room-service trolley.
"Here is a clean set of clothes, fresh toiletries, and some light snacks," the masked waiter said in a dull, completely monotone voice. "A proper dinner will be served at 7 PM sharp."
The masked man abruptly shoved the trolley into the room, spun on his heel, and walked briskly down the hallway before Night could even open his mouth to say thank you.
Night blinked at the empty hallway.
Must be a hardcore introvert, he joked internally as he pulled the trolley inside.
