Kevin Wang dangled upside?down from Room?601's window by a rope tied around his waist when a bullet slammed cleanly into his chest.

  Lynn reacted instantly—she controlled her dagger, sliced the rope, caught Wang in mid?air, and hauled him inside. She glanced back and shouted at Skyler, "Don't freeze up—help me!"

  …

  One minute earlier.

  After losing three ranked matches in a row in Room?601, Kevin Wang felt something was definitely off!

  Skyler was famously terrible at picking up girls! He'd known childhood sweetheart Vivian Li for years without success, yet now he'd suddenly bagged campus queen Lynn—and headed straight to a hotel! That was impossible!

  Those two were definitely up to something!

  Could they be secretly here to cram for exams?!

  No—Lynn was an athletics prodigy; grades hardly mattered since she had a guaranteed uni spot. Skyler's marks were fine, but he was too chill to study in secret.

  Wang lay flat on the floor, eavesdropping through the boards—way too quiet, nothing like they were "at it." And even if they were, Skyler could still call him back once they were done.

  Therefore, there was only one truth!

  —That punk Skyler must've found a new ranked duo! He thought my skills sucked and planned to ditch me! He's definitely grinding intense ranked games with Lynn right now!

  Unacceptable!

  Unforgivable!

  Confronting him face?to?face would get a denial, so Wang hatched a plan: he found a rope among the room's toys, tied himself up, and decided to rappel from the sixth?floor window to catch them in the act!

  He slid down slowly, almost level with the fifth?floor window, when Room?501's curtain parted and something like a gun barrel poked out.

  What the heck?

  Wang had no time to think—his toe slipped off the AC unit and he plunged. A searing pain tore through his lung, and everything went dark.

  …

  Wang now lay on the carpet, blood spurting from his chest, completely unconscious.

  "He's losing a lot of blood! Find something to press on it!" Lynn ordered.

  Skyler dashed into the bathroom, grabbed a thick towel, and plugged the wound—crimson spread instantly.

  A normal person shot by a sniper at this range would have a gaping hole; yet Wang seemed merely normally wounded.

  That confirmed it—he was a Beast.

  "What now?" Skyler asked.

  "No idea." Lynn hadn't expected this idiot to appear—the plan was in shambles.

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  "We have to save him," Skyler decided.

  "If you want to die, don't drag me with you," Lynn objected.

  "Then what—leave a corpse here? Our booking record ties us to this; we'll be exposed sooner or later." Skyler steadied his breath. "He's… most likely a Lost Beast."

  Lost Beasts—creatures who believed themselves human, perhaps never realizing otherwise until death.

  Doubt flickered in Lynn's eyes, then they hardened. A dagger appeared in her hand. "No. Too risky. If he isn't lost, we're dead."

  Her cousin had died years ago for showing mercy to a supposed Lost Beast.

  Skyler knew he couldn't sway her—or himself. Mercy to an enemy was cruelty to oneself.

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

  Thunk, thunk, thunk— Someone knocked on the door.

  Startled, Skyler snatched the waterbed duvet and covered Wang's inert body.

  Lynn strode to the door, cracked it open. "Who's there?"

  Standing outside was the chubby clerk.

  He looked excited, whispering, "Miss, let me in, quick!"

  "What for?" Lynn asked warily.

  He glanced around and whispered, "I know what's happening inside. I'm Awakened too… Can we talk?"

  Lynn weighed the options for three seconds. Between killing him outright and letting him in, she chose the latter.

  …

  The clerk's hands pressed against Wang's chest.

  Lynn had already extracted the bullet. Green energy shrouded the clerk's hands, particles flowing into Wang's chest; blood staunched, and the torn wound visibly knit together.

  Five minutes later, the rescue was complete.

  The clerk groaned and flopped onto the carpet, drenched in sweat as if he'd bathed. Panting, he said, "Good thing he is a Beast—if he were human, I couldn't have saved him."

  During the rescue, he'd introduced himself.

  His name was Jason Han—though everyone called him Fat Jun. He'd Awakened four years ago with the talent Healing, Serial No.?45.

  Orphaned young, raised by an aunt, he inherited her inn after high school and boldly converted it into this love hotel.

  Lynn knelt, checked Wang's heartbeat, then told Skyler, "Clean up the scene. I've questions for this fatso."

  "Heh, no need to be so formal—just call me Jun?Fat."

  Lynn stared at him. "How did you know what happened in this room?"

  Jun?Fat froze, then forced a grin. "Heh… actually, I installed cameras and bugs in the room…"

  Before he finished, a tang?blade flashed to his triple?chin.

  He yelped, "Spare me, miss! Let me explain!"

  "Ten seconds," Lynn said coldly.

  "First, I absolutely did not put cams in the bathroom—I have boundaries!" He wiped sweat from his plump face. "Also, the cameras aren't for peeping pleasure; I'm above such vulgarity…"

  "Get to the point."

  "Aren't you curious?" He gingerly nudged the blade away. "What these Beasts are like in private?"

  Swish—the tang?blade vanished. "You observe Beasts?" Lynn asked.

  "Yes. After Awakening, my worldview exploded—mind?blowing!" Jun?Fat glanced at Wang. "After accepting reality, I kept wondering: do Beasts role?play humans twenty?four seven?"

  "Lost ones I can accept—they're dumb enough to fool themselves. But the others? Playing house with us every day? Why? Aren't you curious, Skyler?"

  "I only Awoke three days ago—haven't thought that far," Skyler replied while mopping.

  "One reason for the cameras was to see what Beasts do in private…" Jun?Fat's face fell. "Turns out they dutifully keep acting even then—doing all the rotten stuff humans do."

  Skyler and Lynn sank into thought.

  "Secondly, I wanted to find humans." He sighed. "The brother who Awakened me died; I've been alone for years. Finally I found you two—I'm so excited, so happy…"

  Jun?Fat spread his arms to hug Lynn.

  Confronted with Lynn's death stare, he pivoted and hugged Skyler instead. "I'm so happy, boo?hoo—I thought I'd die alone…"

  Emotion overwhelmed him; he wept. "Bro, my heart aches… Every day I wake up and have to act—three years after three years—when will it end?"

  Skyler, bad at comforting, awkwardly patted his fleshy shoulder. "There, there—it's okay."

  Knock, knock, knock— The door sounded again.

  Everyone fell silent.

  Skyler and Lynn looked at Jun?Fat; he shook his head, confused.

  Lynn exchanged a glance with Skyler and silently produced her tang?blade.

  Skyler nodded, strode to the door, and called out, "Who is it?"

  "Housekeeping," an older woman's voice replied.

  "Housekeeping?"

  "Didn't 501 show as checked?out?"

  "No, you must be mistaken."

  "Maybe—I'll check."

  Jun?Fat approached, patted Skyler's shoulder, and whispered, "It's fine—that's Aunt He, my cleaner. She's scatterbrained."

  "Oh, sorry—401, my mistake, heh?heh," Aunt He apologized outside.

  "No problem," Skyler replied.

  As soon as he spoke, a chill ran down Skyler's spine.

  He whirled and lunged at Jun?Fat: "Get down!"