Dimensional Hotel

He could hardly describe it. It seemed to have countless tentacles and bloated masses of flesh. Every part of it was constantly changing shape as if new structures or gaps were forming in real time under his gaze. Its surface was pitch-black, yet deep within the intertwined tentacles, ever-changing colors seemed to hide—a chaotic swirl that could gradually consume one’s mind.

At the moment Yu Sheng perceived it, the thing became aware of his existence too.

Before he could react, countless new tentacles and branching structures spread from within it in the blink of an eye. The malicious tendrils reached him instantly, suddenly entwining around his mind.

Yu Sheng felt as if ten thousand voices exploded in his head. He couldn’t resist or evade; his mind had already established an irreversible connection with something even greater. The entity roared deep within his consciousness, conveying chaotic and terrifying thoughts. But in the next moment, he realized it didn’t truly possess reason or thought.

It was merely a vast, wild “instinct,” and the chaotic thoughts and temptations he felt were just tools this immense instinct used to “hunt.”

They came from the beings it had devoured—their madness and despair at the brink of starvation, the lingering echoes of their dying wails. All these had gathered into the monster’s malice, causing this entity, originally just an aggregate of instincts, to grow into what it was today—even becoming a powerful “being” that actively sought prey, actively tempting and coercing its victims.

And it was still growing rapidly. The cognitive abilities it had mimicked were now gradually becoming its real “thoughts”!

Now, it began to dismantle Yu Sheng’s mind, attempting to turn this uninvited guest into its new “nourishment.”

A feeling of his mind gradually “dissolving” came over him. Yu Sheng felt himself being rapidly “digested,” becoming a part of the monster. He struggled with all his might to break free from the tentacles entwining him but discovered that the more he fought, the stronger they became!

Just then, Yu Sheng suddenly sensed something.

He looked sharply at the vast entity writhing in the darkness. In the next second, he saw countless eyes of various shapes suddenly appear within the motley colors deep inside it, and among them… one of the eyes was his own.

He felt his vision shake, and in the darkness, he saw countless tentacles stretching forward, at the ends of which was a humanoid phantom struggling endlessly.

He felt the monster was digesting and absorbing him.

He felt he was devouring something.

He was feeding.

He was feeding.

Just as Yu Sheng could no longer tell where his perspective was—unable to distinguish the boundary between himself and the monster—Irene’s startled shout suddenly echoed faintly from the depths of the darkness.

“What the heck?!”

In the next moment, Yu Sheng felt himself falling violently.

He experienced that extremely uncomfortable sudden awakening once again.

Yu Sheng jerked his eyes open. The intense stabbing pain and roaring in his head, along with the aches all over his body, instantly overwhelmed his senses. He turned over, clutched the bedside table, and retched violently, even feeling as if he wanted to vomit out his own heart, but nothing came out. Only after a long ten seconds did the terrible aftereffects gradually subside.

Supporting himself on the bedside table, Yu Sheng struggled to sit up. The faint morning light spilled into the room through the curtains. The puppet with a picture frame on her back was sitting on his bed, her small face filled with unease and nervousness.

“Are you okay?! Is it still you?” Irene crawled over using both hands and feet, grabbing his arm and shaking it vigorously. “Do you remember who I am?”

“Don’t shake me, don’t shake me—I’m still dizzy… Ugh, why does my whole body hurt?” Yu Sheng quickly interrupted her. “I’m awake, Irene. I’m fine.”

Irene stared at him for several seconds before finally letting go. “You scared me to death! You—you—you suddenly went all lifeless, no mental response at all! Then you suddenly came back, and your whole mind was a mess. I didn’t even know what I’d woken up! You scared me to death! Scared me to death!”

She said “scared me to death” several times, clearly shaken. Yu Sheng, however, didn’t have the energy to comfort her. Like a vast shadow, the huge shock from linking deeply with “Hunger” still lingered in his heart. He tried hard to shake off its influence, leaning against the headboard and panting for a long time before his mind finally cleared.

“Irene, that thing is very dangerous,” he said.

The puppet stood on his stomach. “Of course I know it’s dangerous! I told you from the start it was dangerous!”

“No, I mean it’s even more dangerous than you know—it’s about to truly learn to think.”

Irene’s eyes widened. “What?”

“It originally only had instinct. After devouring countless minds, it learned how to coerce and tempt,” Yu Sheng explained, gazing into her eyes. “Simple, brutal hunting only gets limited ‘nourishment.’ Forcing and tempting a mind into madness yields astonishing ‘nutrition.’ It didn’t know this at first; it gradually learned. And now… it’s almost developed real thoughts.”

Irene’s face finally showed a trace of fear, but then she suddenly realized something else.

“How do you know?!” She leaned in, her face almost touching his nose. “You didn’t…”

“…I established a deeper link with it than we planned,” Yu Sheng admitted. “For a moment, I even felt like I became part of the monster. In the depths of darkness, I saw its most primitive form and the secret of its growth.”

“What were you thinking?!” Irene nearly jumped up, launching into a rapid-fire rant. “I told you it wouldn’t work! It’s too dangerous! No one knows what might happen, and you still insisted! What do we do now? We’re doomed! It’s definitely taken root! It’s not just after you; it’s already gobbled you up! ‘Hunger’ has rooted in your mind! We’re finished! Completely finished!”

Her voice grew louder as she scrambled around the bed and over Yu Sheng’s stomach. He tried several times to interrupt but failed. Finally, he had to lift her into the air to get her attention. “Calm down, Irene, calm down.”

“Calm down?! ‘Hunger’ has already taken root in your mind! Aren’t you even a little nervous?!” Irene dangled mid-air. “It’ll grow inside you, bigger and bigger, and then—boom! You’re done for! Even if you hide in the real world, it won’t help! Do you even understand your situation? And don’t say you can resurrect! This thing is rooted in your mind! Your body can renew, but can your mind? Are you sure dying and coming back will get rid of it?”

Yu Sheng knew all this, but for some reason, he didn’t feel any impending doom. Even his increasingly sharp intuition hadn’t warned him.

He was rationally aware of the danger, but his heart was oddly calm.

But he knew he couldn’t show this calmness too much; otherwise, Irene would panic even more.

“As long as we eliminate ‘Hunger’ before then—I mean, kill the ‘entity’ affecting me—there won’t be a problem, right?” Yu Sheng tried to shift her focus. “‘Rooting’ takes time before it erupts; we still have time.”

“Time… Yes, there’s still time. We have to hurry!” Irene was indeed distracted, and only then did she realize she was still being held in mid-air. “Put me down! Put me down now! Let’s go immediately to eliminate that ‘entity’—yes, yes, right away, before you feel anything…”

Yu Sheng exhaled softly, placing her back on the bed, and prepared to get up.

But as soon as he moved, waves of soreness and pain shot through his limbs, and he gasped.

“Ouch! Why does it hurt so much?” He looked at himself in surprise. “I remember last time after that sudden awakening, the aftereffects disappeared quickly… And I didn’t feel any pain then. Why does it feel like I’ve been beaten up?”

As he spoke, Irene, who had been anxious a moment ago, suddenly went quiet. She began quietly crawling toward the end of the bed, muttering softly, “Sometimes sudden awakenings can cause physical aftereffects…”

“No!” Yu Sheng suddenly realized, pulling up his sleeve. “I was beaten up—I even have teeth marks on my arm!”

By now, Irene had reached the foot of the bed. “You grind your teeth in your sleep; you bit yourself.”

“With such small teeth marks, you say I bit myself?”

“Well, I had to use some unconventional methods to wake you when regular ones didn’t work!” Irene stood at the bed’s edge, hands on hips, looking defensive. Then she turned and leaped to the floor, sprinting away!