[Steam World: Plague Doctor]
Ledell moved into Tom's inn in the Temporary Residence No. 66: Lost Town.
This inn had been operating for many years. It was evident that the innkeeper and his family took great care of the old building, but time had still painted every brick and tile with an aged hue.
As Ledell walked down the inn’s hallway, the wooden floor creaked underfoot. Innkeeper Tom gave a slightly apologetic look as he led Ledell to the third floor, to the best single room in the inn.
Ledell felt the innkeeper’s kindness and smiled, signaling that he didn’t mind these minor inconveniences.
"Mr. Bruce, welcome to Lost Town. We haven’t had many visitors this past year. You’re a rare outsider to me, and I’m really glad you chose to stay at my inn," Tom grinned, his face full of wrinkles, exuding warmth.
"May the Almighty Lord bless you with a pleasant journey!"
As Tom spoke, he tightly gripped the pendant around his neck, his face full of reverence.
Ledell curiously glanced at it, noticing that it was an inverted cross pendant, identical to the one the worker had given him earlier.
So, Ledell casually took out the pendant from his pocket and, with curiosity in his voice, said, "Mr. Tom, what a coincidence. I also have a pendant like this, given to me by a kind townsperson. Might I be bold enough to ask what god this pendant represents? Forgive my ignorance, but I’ve been wandering for so long that I’m quite out of touch."
Upon hearing this, Tom immediately looked at the pendant in Ledell’s hand, his face turning subtly complex, as though he were suppressing anger.
Ledell noticed the change in Tom’s mood and found it odd, as he thought he had been polite enough. Even if the innkeeper was a fanatic of some unknown god, it wouldn’t make sense for him to be angry at Ledell’s ignorance.
So, Ledell voiced his thoughts, asking if he had said something wrong.
Tom shook his head, his expression returning to normal as he explained, "Oh, my almighty Lord, you misunderstand. I wasn’t angry. I was just delighted that Mr. Bruce can also bask in the glory of my Lord! Yet, I’m also saddened that it wasn’t me who spread the light of my Lord to you."
Although Ledell heard the explanation, he still couldn’t shake off a strange feeling. It seemed as though the kind-looking old innkeeper wasn’t being entirely truthful. But as a mere traveler, he felt it wouldn’t be wise to press further. Thus, Ledell let the matter rest and listened as Tom started enthusiastically promoting the town’s new god—an omnipotent deity.
It was hard to imagine a middle-aged, bearded man could speak such a long string of exaggerated praises for this unknown god, piling up grand adjectives without repeating himself. The more he talked, the more excited he became, his face reddening as if intoxicated.
"...It’s such a pity that it’s already late today, or I’d love to tell you more about our almighty Lord, the all-powerful Ancient God!" Tom said while helping Ledell unpack his luggage before cheerfully bidding farewell, only revealing the god’s name at the very end.
Ledell smiled and thanked Tom.
Click—
Watching Tom head downstairs, Ledell quickly locked the door. After placing his suitcase beside the bed, he frowned and started pondering about this town’s newfound belief in an unknown god.
"An Ancient God?"
A name he had never heard before.
Though it seemed incredible, born in the rapidly advancing Steam Age, Ledell wasn’t a devout believer. Having traveled to many places and seen many things, he had begun to doubt whether gods truly existed. After all, he had never seen a god appear before him, nor had any divine miracles manifested in the world.
His faith in gods had plummeted especially after the Black Plague a year ago.
Ledell had once questioned the Sun God in a church—if the deity truly existed, why hadn’t it saved humanity? Why did it allow people to die one after another, leaving countless cities as dead zones, littered with corpses?
Of course, the Sun God did not respond, and so Ledell remained skeptical of the existence of this town’s so-called Ancient God. He even suspected that it might be a newly fabricated deity. After all, in the aftermath of the Black Plague, with people's minds unsettled and restless, there had been instances elsewhere where a new god was created from such circumstances.
With these thoughts, Ledell sat cross-legged on the bed, lit the kerosene lamp on the bedside table, and began writing in his travel journal by the dim light.
**[Year XXX, Month X, Day X]
Stayed in Lost Town for the first night. The innkeeper Tom introduced me to his god. It’s clearly not a mainstream deity but rather a little-known new god. Yet, the townspeople seem to believe in it deeply. I plan to investigate this god’s origins tomorrow. Perhaps it could serve as inspiration for my next poem.**
Ledell paused his writing as he heard the voice of the town’s lamplighter outside the inn. Looking out the window, he saw the dim sky, with misty white steam drifting from the chimneys and pipes, floating down the street. The lamplighter walked through the fog, lighting the street lamps while singing a song. Ledell listened closely and caught fragments of the melody, which was pleasing to the ear.
"...The stars light up, all things live with you. When the stars shimmer, the god will return~"
A strange melody, but it was beautiful.
Ledell quickly jotted down the tune in his journal using musical notes. After the lamplighter left, he put away the notebook and prepared to sleep. After a long day of travel, he was tired and needed to rest for tomorrow’s material collection.
Click— The kerosene lamp went out, and Ledell slept soundly under the blanket, which carried a faint scent of sunshine.
Downstairs, Tom stood motionless in the dark lobby, just like when he had greeted Ledell earlier, with a smile on his face, muttering unintelligible words to himself.
Only after seeing the third-floor lights go out did Tom shift his gaze. He continued clutching his inverted cross pendant and murmuring prayers with reverence.
Late into the night, strange rustling sounds began outside the inn. Tom snapped out of his prayers as if awakening from a dream and, moving skillfully in the darkness, left the inn, following the rustling sounds as they faded away.
The direction he headed toward was Kate's house.
And just like Tom, there were hundreds of others, all wearing the same devout expressions, their stiff, practiced steps taking them toward the darkness.
Rustle, rustle—
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The sound in the dark night was like something whispering in one’s ear, lingering in the dead silence of the small town for a long time.
In the No. 3 Science Building, ten people were still chaotically discussing the disappearance of Ke Su and Lu Ren.
Looking at the empty office, the more they looked, the more frightened the group became. Nervously, they urged Qian Huan to leave quickly, almost certain that there was something supernatural in the building, believing it was best to leave as soon as possible.
“Damn it! Alright, alright! If we can’t find them, we can’t find them! When they want to come out, they’ll come out! Let’s go first!”
Qian Huan’s voice echoed throughout the hallway. He waved his hand irritably, no longer wanting to calm the frightened subordinates. He decided to leave first; after all, having just done something bad, staying too long might lead to trouble. Whether there was a ghost or not, they’d deal with it after leaving.
Lu Ren’s safety was not within Qian Huan's concerns. He was ready to walk away when Wen Wen, standing to the side, looked displeased and shouted, “What about Lu Ren? Are you just going to leave him? That’s too heartless!”
Wen Wen still had a soft spot for Lu Ren, her loyal follower. She wasn’t heartless enough to leave just like that.
Hearing this, Qian Huan glared at Wen Wen impatiently and snapped, “You can stay and look for him. I’m not stopping you!” His head throbbed from the noise his subordinates were making, and he had no time to search for Lu Ren.
Their relationship wasn’t great to begin with. Qian Huan only bothered with Lu Ren because he found him useful, giving him a chance to follow and cling to him. There was no way he’d go out of his way to search for someone.
After saying that, Qian Huan turned around and led his subordinates toward the exit. Wen Wen stood there, hands on her hips, fuming. Seeing everyone else leave, she stomped her foot before following them. As they reached the elevator, they noticed something strange: the elevator was rising very slowly, as if it stopped on every floor.
1, 2, 3...
Watching the indicator slowly change, the group felt a creeping sense of unease. They all knew that the building had been sealed off, and aside from them, no one else should be there. It was impossible for anyone to be on every floor.
So… who was controlling the elevator? It seemed as though someone or something was eagerly waiting for people to step inside at each stop.
This thought led them to imagine that the ghost of the girl who died in the building might be pressing the buttons, waiting for a living person to enter.
Gulp—someone couldn’t help but swallow loudly, the sound unnervingly clear in the quiet hallway.
“B-boss, maybe… maybe we should take the stairs!” one of Qian Huan’s subordinates tugged on his sleeve, whispering in fear. He was so nervous that his teeth were chattering.
Qian Huan frowned, pulling his sleeve back in disgust. “There are no ghosts in this world! Don’t spread fear here! Those who trust me will follow me into the elevator. Those who don’t can take the fourteen flights of stairs down. I won’t wait for you!”
Looking at Qian Huan’s resolute attitude, the group hesitated. They wanted to stay on his good side, but none of them were willing to risk their lives. Seeing how stubborn Qian Huan was, they weren’t willing to follow him into the elevator.
Some of them even resented Qian Huan for bringing them to this haunted place.
Sensing the hesitation, Li Lanlan seized the opportunity. She stepped forward, clinging to Qian Huan’s arm, her voice soft and sweet, “Brother Qian, I trust you. I’ll go up with you.”
Surprised, Qian Huan glanced at Li Lanlan, then wrapped an arm around her waist, feeling a bit moved by her gesture.
Feeling Qian Huan’s arm around her, Li Lanlan smiled triumphantly, pressing herself against him, thinking that tonight might be her chance to win over this rich and generous second-generation heir.
------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, outside the gates of City of Li University, Senior Officer Zhou Shi was frowning at the information displayed on the detection screen.
“There’s still an unresolved paranormal incident at this school? Why wasn’t I informed earlier?”
Officer Xiao Wu looked embarrassed and apologized repeatedly, “I’m sorry, Team Leader Zhou. I forgot to mention it because the school administration said it wasn’t a big deal. Someone had already come before, but they didn’t have enough staff to handle it at the time. They temporarily sealed off the site, saying it was low-risk and easy to deal with.”
Zhou Shi gave Xiao Wu a dissatisfied glance, speaking sternly, “Easy to deal with? Sure, once you figure out how the ghost kills, it becomes easy to handle. But for the students in this school, this is still a terrifying ghost!”
As he spoke, Zhou Shi looked at the file on City of Li University displayed on the detection screen.
[Elevator Girl: Appears in the elevator as a long-haired girl, standing in the corner on the left side, back facing out. Never turn your back to her. If you do, she will follow you out when you leave the elevator. If you encounter any reflective surface, such as a mirror, and see her reflection, you will die instantly. She will then return to the elevator to seek another victim.]
Ding—
The elevator doors opened. Ke Su stepped inside, pressed the button for the first floor, and pulled out his phone to check the latest news.
“City of Li Metro Line 2 Closed! Suspected Ghost Encounter!”
Ke Su looked at the media outlet that published the news and saw that it was just a self-run account.
“If there were ghosts, wouldn’t I have seen one, having just come from the metro?”
It was all nonsense.
Ke Su closed the news app and continued browsing. Meanwhile, outside the elevator, a long-haired girl curled up in the upper corner of the elevator shaft, hiding silently in the shadows.
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