Deep in the Living

Chapter 638 Temporary Tenant
Fran was still the same as always, wearing a pumpkin cartoon print T-shirt, over knee-length shorts, and straw sandals.

He stood in front of the green door with his pumpkin head on his head, gently hooking the doorbell with his little finger.

It did not ring.

It's more like they're having some kind of exchange.

Just then, Roddy suddenly realized something: this withered, finger-like doorbell might really be the so-called "landlord's" finger.

Although he had just touched it, he didn't recognize it at all.

Thinking back carefully,

It seems like they really are "pinky" with someone.

This is not about ringing the doorbell at all, but rather a ritual or a form of identity verification that any guest who comes to the door must go through.

After a while

Fran loosened his grip and turned his plump pumpkin head around.

"The landlord allowed you to visit and asked if you needed to stay overnight. Since you are members of Whirlpool Town, you can enjoy one night's free accommodation."

Roddy countered, "Fran, do you think it's appropriate for us to stay one night?"

"Although this is the first time I've seen a landlord let a non-Green Gate creature stay here, it shouldn't be a big problem. After all, our entire inn has moved to Whirlpool Town, so making some changes is normal."

Besides, Roddy, you just rang the doorbell, so the landlord probably knows what kind of person you are.

Luo Di exchanged a glance with Wu Wen beside him and nodded. "Then we'll stay for a day. We need to have an early meeting tomorrow morning, so we'll go together then."

"Row."

After receiving an affirmative answer, Fran placed his palm on the green door.

The door opened,
Inside, however, was not the hotel interior that Roddy had imagined, but rather a typical escalator found in shopping malls.

The escalator is narrower than the alleyway we are in, and can only accommodate one person standing side by side at most.

It looks quite old overall, and makes a clicking or rattling sound when it's running.

Furthermore, the escalator goes downwards, meaning the Scream Hotel is located in the underground area.

Pumpkin Fran was already used to going home, so he simply patted his bottom and sat down on the escalator. Roddy and Wu Wen followed closely behind.

This marks the official start of entering the Scream Hotel.

Standing on the steep escalator, looking down, one couldn't see the end for a moment.

This narrow, old escalator is at least a hundred meters deep, and the entire descent takes several minutes, which explains why Fran sat directly on the escalator.

Fran explained softly, "Unless it's an emergency, just wait normally. Don't run on the escalator. This escalator is the only way to the hotel, and being too hasty will lower the landlord's 'favorability'."

"understood."

Roddy also began to observe his surroundings. This place didn't look like a hotel at all; it was more like a factory or an old subway station.

Both sides are covered with large metal pipes of various sizes, and rust is the most common paint stain here.

Strange noises could be heard inside each pipe, as if gas was being transported inside, or as if something was crawling inside.

Some pipes leaked air due to years of neglect, emitting sharp, piercing sounds, as if they were screaming.

Below the escalator lies a relatively open passageway, with cool gray floor tiles that produce a crisp, hollow sound when stepped on, echoing into the depths and signifying the arrival of guests.

Before Fran had taken two steps, the sound of crawling could be heard coming from the passage ahead.

A huge worm that took up almost half of the passage crawled out from around the corner.

They say it's a worm,

Its front features a fat human face, with something oozing in its mouth.

Roddy could sense that this was a mature monster, and his strength was not weak.

Fran then greeted them, "Mr. Cowen! These two are guests granted a trial stay by the landlord. Please take us to the temporary rental area to complete the check-in procedures."

"Guest...please come in."

The worm's mouth opens wide enough to swallow a human body.

Roddy didn't resist; when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and went straight into the worm's body. The experience was quite pleasant.

What surprised him even more was that the other person's body contained its own space, similar to an ordinary bus.

Fran was already seated in a chair wrapped in a worm-like skin. To put it simply:
"Mr. Cowen, like me, is a lifetime resident of the hotel. However, he is subject to more restrictions; although he can live there for life, he must provide 'hospitality services'."

Whenever a guest returns to the hotel, Mr. Cowen goes to the entrance to greet them.

also,
Since the Scream Hotel relocated to Whirlpool Town, it is now in a semi-closed state, no longer accepting temporary guests, and only permanent residents are allowed to stay here.

So it may seem deserted to you, but in reality, during normal operation, Mr. Cowen's body is often overcrowded.

Monsters that come to the green door in the corner will generally stay here for a while, and those with more power can stay even longer.

Roddy then suddenly posed a crucial question:
"Such a large hotel could be moved quickly and completely from a faraway place to Whirlpool Town... This hotel itself must be the 'landlord', right?" Fran was slightly taken aback. "Roddy is indeed amazing. I lived here for almost a month before I realized this."

The landlord is currently the largest known monster in the middle-level area, and the one that is closest to the word "monster," best fitting the monster essence of the corner setting.

The hotel is not his entire being, but only a part of him.

"The biggest monster?"

Roddy suddenly remembered seeing various large pipes when he rode the elevator before, which might correspond to the landlord's capillaries.

About ten minutes later, the worm stopped.

The outside environment remains largely unchanged, situated somewhere between a subway station and a factory.

They arrived at the "end" of a passageway, where a ticket window was embedded in the wall.

It was pitch black inside; you couldn't see anything.

"Luo Di, Wu Wen, please register for temporary accommodation here."

No identification information is required. Just bite your finger and write your names on the counter; any language is fine, as long as it represents you.

Luo Di wanted to ask about the side effects, but he quickly swallowed his words, bit his index finger and wrote the Chinese characters for 'Luo Di'.

follow closely,

Several fleshy straws appeared deep inside the counter and quickly sucked away all the blood.

Cough cough~ Perhaps it was because the blood was too hot, or even a bit burning the throat, but a violent coughing sound came from inside the counter.

Wu Wen did the same thing and completed the registration.

Subsequently,

A rusty key engraved with "101" was tossed on the counter.

Fran held the keys in his hand. "All done! Now you're temporary tenants."

As I mentioned before, only the permanent residents moved with us due to the relocation issue. Therefore, there are no other guests in the hotel's temporary accommodation area, so you don't need to worry about being bothered.

In addition, your room is the closest one, making it convenient to enter and exit the hotel.

"Come with me, the rental apartment is over here."

Fran led the two around to a fork in the road not far away. A sign that read "Toilet" was hanging on the wall, and Fran actually went inside.

It was indeed a public toilet, and a very old one at that, with piles of uncleaned cigarette butts in the urinals.

Luo Di quickly looked at the squat toilet stall. He was really afraid that the stall would have the number "101" on it, but luckily there was nothing there.

Click~ The door hinge turns.

Fran pushed open the door to the deepest compartment, and there was a hole in the wall to the left of the pit. Fran actually lay down and slowly crawled through.

Since he was already there, Roddy had no choice but to follow suit and climb inside.

The hole was actually quite deep, with numerous forks inside, and different house numbers were attached to these forks.

This corresponds to the passageway between the rooms of temporary tenants.

They turned left and climbed into the fork in the road marked with a sign that read "101". A metal louver blocked the entrance, and there was a "keyhole" on the side.

Using the key to remove the blinds, you can directly enter the bathroom of the guest room.

"This is your room! The temporary rental was created based on your 'personalities' and reflects your inherent fears."

My room is decorated with all sorts of pumpkins, and they smell delicious.

"This place is rather eerie, like I could be killed at any moment. Roddy truly lives up to his reputation as the Black Gate's serial killer."

Roddy breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he didn't have to live in a toilet, anything was fine.

He walked to the bathroom exit, pushed open the door, looked out into the bedroom, his eyes lit up, and he quickly asked:

How can long-term or lifetime residency be achieved?

"This requires you to make contributions to the hotel, including something like working at the hotel. For example, I used to be in charge of food preparation at the hotel, and Mr. Cowen was in charge of receiving guests."

When hotels are operating normally, they often issue arrest warrants. If a guest completes the warrant, it can extend their stay and increase the landlord's goodwill.

Once the level of goodwill reaches a certain threshold, the landlord will send a long-term or lifetime lease.

The inn is not open yet, and there's no wanted poster. Besides, Roddy, you're not one of the Green Gate monsters, so it'll be difficult for you to stay.

Roddy frowned and said softly, "If I can make a sufficient contribution to this purge operation, kill the traitors who betrayed the corner, and restore the middle district to its former state, that should also improve my favorability, right?"

"This one……"

Just as Fran was in a bit of a dilemma,
The shower in the bathroom suddenly turned on at some point.
What flowed out was not clear water, but a pool of dark, viscous liquid that formed a mouth on the ground.

"Sure, as long as you can make a contribution to get the hotel back to its previous operating state quickly, I can make an exception and let you become a lifetime resident."

(End of this chapter)