‖—[10%]—————‖
"Welco to Hotel Claire!"
The receptionist greeted him with a bright smile.
I wish for you to have a happy stay with us! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."
"Thank you."
He returned the gesture, taking the keys from her as his eyes wandered around. The lobby was grand, bustling with people moving in every direction.
Sothing on the far wall caught his attention. A large, ornate painting.
From across the room, it seed to depict a gathering of people, though their faces were blurred, and no real face was shown. What struck him most, however, was that despite having no faces, they all had eyes, and...
It almost felt as if each eye was staring directly at him.
"Once again, welco to Hotel Claire. I’m happy to have served you."
Snapping the man out of his thoughts was the receptionist’s smile. It stretched just a little too perfectly, and her eyes seed to linger on him longer than necessary. For so reason, she seed to smile even more than before.
He paused for a mont, feeling a faint prickle at the back of his neck, before forcing a smile back.
"Thank you."
"Please follow . I’ll bring you to your room."
An attendant greeted the man not long after, bringing him up all the way to his room.
"This will be your room. Shortly, there will be an activity with everyone present, and you are welco to join if you wish."
"This place is great!"
The attendant departed shortly after, leaving the man alone in the spacious room. Excitent bubbled within him as he looked around, taking in everything, from the paintings and furniture to the sleek television.
Yet that painting from before lingered in his mind. Sothing about it felt... alive. It wasn’t just art. The more he thought of it, the more he felt as if sothing was watching him.
However, he quickly dismissed such thoughts.
’I’m probably tired.’
‖———[60%]———‖
"Welco, everyone!"
An elderly woman, dressed in pristine white, greeted everyone present with a warm smile.
"I’ll be the attendant for all of you present, and I’ll be running the activities for today."
She seed remarkably friendly, and laughter echoed through the halls. Everyone began to mingle, including the man. He danced with several charming ladies, savoring the joy of the festivities, slowly losing himself in the pleasure of the mont.
As he laughed and danced, he couldn’t help but notice sothing peculiar in the air.
In particular, the nice citrus sll that lingered.
The scent was intoxicating, and the longer the man breathed it in, the more he seed to surrender to its effect, losing himself in the sensation.
But as he did, his gaze couldn’t help but fall toward a certain painting. It stood at the far end of the room, its fra ornate and dark, almost swallowing the corners in shadow.
Within it, the picture of a man appeared, sitting on a chair with his hands positioned on his lap. It looked like a normal painting, and yet, for so reason, it gave him the sa uneasy feeling the other paintings had.
It was almost as if..
It was staring directly at him, watching his every movent.
But—
"Have fun, everyone!"
"...Dance! Don’t stop!"
"Enjoy yourself!"
He quickly forgot about it all.
It was fun. So much fun.
This place...
It was truly paradise.
‖—————[90%]—‖
Huh...?
It was dark.
What was happening? Where was he...?
He couldn’t quite rember.
What was he doing? Right, he was at the hotel. He was dancing. He was having fun with a lot of pretty ladies.
He was, right?
...Or was he not?
Hm.
In fact, who was he?
Who—
Light returned to his vision, revealing a woman and a man standing before him. Between them, holding their hands, was a little girl with dark eyes and a porcelain-like face. Never in his life had he seen a child so strikingly beautiful.
But why were they looking at him?
Why—
Twitch. Twitch.
He felt his lips twitch all of a sudden.
His eyes shook a mont later as the corner of his lips pulled into a smile.
And then—
"Welco to Hotel Claire!"
Words ca out on their own.
He froze for a mont, unable to understand the situation, but despite his mind wanting sothing else, his body refused to listen as he handed over a set of keys.
"I wish for you to have a happy stay with us! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."
The words flowed freely out of his mouth. Strangely, they didn’t seem to be out of place. It was almost as if this was sothing that he was ant to do.
A painting ca to view not long after.
It was a sight he rembered from the past. This ti, however, the figures inside were no longer watching him. If anything, their gaze was fixed entirely on the figures to whom he had handed the keys.
The thought made his smile widen.
"Once again, welco to Hotel Claire. I’m happy to have—"
Swooosh!
My skin seared.
"Squad Leader! Squad Leader!"
Panicked voices.
"Squad Leader!"
Louder.
I raised my head to look around . A fire had broken out.
Everyone was staring at with panic on their faces.
"The elevator isn’t opening! What should we do?"
Smoke started to linger in the air. It started to beco harder to breathe.
I checked the ti.
[13:02]
One minute left.
My heart pressed heavily against my chest. There was so much that I needed to process, in particular, regarding a certain figure that appeared within the vision. One that I was all too familiar with.
But—
"Squad Leader! What should we do? At this rate, we’re all going to burn alive!"
"Stop asking the Squad Leader! He can’t give an answer to everything! For now, Mia, use your sonorous powers to move the flas away!"
"Min, shield Mia!"
"Sarah, try to see if you can—"
Joanna had already taken over control of the situation.
I stood up and looked around, my gaze eventually settling on a particular painting. It was completely charred, the details nearly impossible to discern. Yet, despite the damage, I knew exactly what had once been depicted.
There was no ti for to doubt myself.
While Joanna was busy giving out commands, I rushed in the direction of the painting.
"Squad Leader!"
Voices continued to whisper in my mind as I moved, eyes around widening and narrowing as they fixed their gaze on . I ignored them, focusing instead on the fire that roared around , its heat searing my skin.
Despite the pain, my surroundings were cold.
So cold.
Arriving before the painting, I watched as the flas took over it.
Swoosh!
The heat blasted onto my face, nearly sending recoiling back. I wanted to run away, but I knew that there was no ti. I was running out of ti. There were probably fewer than twenty seconds left.
Clenching my teeth, I grabbed onto the tal fra of the painting.
The pain was unbearable, nearly forcing out a scream from , but I resisted, pulling away and tossing it to the side.
BANG!
What remained of the painting caught fire as I looked at what was behind it.
The mont I acted, it felt as if the temperature around had suddenly plumted, and the heat that had been consuming began to fade. But it was only an illusion; I knew the fire still raged.
Still, this was enough.
Turning back to my team, I shouted.
"Here!"
Under the surprised looks of everyone present, I punched the eye directly.
BANG!
As if made of cardboard, the wall shattered.
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