Eve stood inside the elevator, not stepping out right away.
Beyond the doors, the darkness stretched on with no visible end. Thousands upon thousands of dark gold threads extended outward in every direction, like veins running through a body, flickering slowly in the empty space.
Thump.
Thump.
A heavy pulse arrived, again and again.
All the threads converged at the center of the darkness, connecting to that massive shape suspended in midair.
It resembled a heart—or perhaps a giant cocoon wrapped in some kind of black substance. Cracks covered its surface, and a faint dark-gold glow seeped through them, so weak it seemed as though it might go out at any moment.
Eve looked at Udon beside her.
"This is the Hotel Core?"
"Yeah."
"It doesn't look... great."
Udon was quiet for a moment.
"Worse than I expected."
It seemed even Udon hadn't known just how far the core had deteriorated.
Eve took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator.
The instant her shoe touched the ground, a faint ring of golden ripples spread through the darkness, and where there had been no path before, a narrow walkway slowly took shape.
Udon followed behind her.
With every step, the dark gold threads around them brightened slightly, as though the hotel were confirming her identity.
The closer they got to the core, the clearer that heartbeat-like sound became.
Thump.
Thump.
Eve stopped before the enormous, heart-shaped mass.
Up close, the cracks across its surface were far worse than they had appeared from a distance. Some had gone completely dark, and the threads connecting to them had gone equally lifeless, like veins that had long since run dry.
"What do I do?"
"Put your hand on it."
Eve looked at the black surface slowly rising and falling in front of her.
"It's not going to swallow my hand, is it?"
"No."
Eve looked back at the Hotel Core and reached out.
The instant her fingertips touched the black surface, a bone-deep cold shot up her arm and into her body.
She instinctively tried to pull away.
But her palm was stuck fast, as though something had locked it in place.
The dark-gold light suddenly flared.
Countless threads trembled at once, and the entire space filled with the hiss of static.
Bzzzt—
That cold, flat voice came from every direction at once.
[Manager identity confirmed.]
[First connection to hotel core.]
[Reading hotel status...]
A status screen, like something out of a video game, materialized in midair, reading:
[Hotel Name: Long Night Hotel]
[Hotel Level: Level 1]
[Manager: Eve Lam]
[Authorized Individual: Udon]
[Registered Guests: 7]
[Hotel Energy: Critically Low]
[Core Integrity: 12%]
[Available Functions: Accommodation, Guest Registration, Basic Room Barriers]
[Deactivated Facilities: Restaurant, Bathhouse, Lounge, Commission Area...]
[Remaining Functions: Insufficient Permissions]
Eve's gaze stopped on one line.
[Core Integrity: 12%]
"Only twelve percent?"
"Looks like it," Udon said.
"What happens if the core fails completely?"
"The hotel stops running."
"And the guests?"
Udon didn't answer right away.
Eve already knew the answer.
If the hotel stopped running, the wards on the rooms would vanish along with it. The people living here would lose the last protection they had.
She kept reading the text in front of her.
"The restaurant, the bathhouse, the lounge still exist? They've just stopped operating?"
"That's the general idea."
"So if we repair the Core, they'll reopen?"
"It's not that simple."
Udon looked up at the dim threads surrounding them.
"Every facility needs the hotel's energy to keep running. Without a manager, the hotel couldn't issue commissions anymore, and no one was replenishing its energy. To keep the most basic lodging functions alive, everything else had to shut down, one by one."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"How do we get hotel energy?"
"Complete hotel commissions. Cleanse contamination. Accept qualified guests. Or bring back items from Survival Instances that the Core can absorb."
Eve finally understood why Udon had kept telling her that she needed to obtain proper management permissions.
Without a manager, the hotel couldn't function properly.
And it couldn't continue protecting more people.
The text in front of her suddenly vanished, replaced by an open guest ledger.
The pages flipped rapidly through the air, finally stopping on Room 101.
[Room: 101]
[Guest: Vera]
[Check-in status: Confirmed]
[Initial voucher: Three-Night Voucher]
[Deducted: One night]
[Remaining shelter period: Two nights]
Eve's gaze stopped on the last line.
"What does 'two nights left' mean?"
"Exactly what it says," Udon replied.
"She only checked in last night."
"And she already used one night of the room's protection."
Eve frowned.
"She only stayed for a few hours. That still counts as one night?"
"The hotel settles all stays at eight every morning. As long as a guest completes registration before the nighttime rules are lifted and receives the protection of a room, one night is deducted."
In other words, the three nights of voucher Vera had been given now stood at two.
"What exactly is a voucher?"
The moment the words left her mouth, more lines of text surfaced in front of her.
[Voucher: Proof of lodging at the Long Night Hotel.]
[The holder of a voucher receives a hotel room and ward protection for the duration of its validity.]
[The voucher's tier only determines the length of shelter.]
[Which floor a guest is housed on is assigned according to their strength, danger level, and classification of existence.]
[A qualified guest completing registration for the first time receives an initial three-night voucher.]
Below that, the names of various voucher tiers began to appear, one after another.
[One-Night Voucher]
[Seven-Night Voucher]
[Thirty-Night Voucher]
[Ninety-Night Voucher]
[Three-Hundred-Sixty-Five-Night Voucher]
[Special Voucher: Data not available]
"So the guests on the seventh floor don't necessarily hold the highest-tier vouchers?" Eve asked.
"A Long Night voucher only determines how long someone can stay. The floor reflects the hotel's assessment of a guest's strength and danger level." Udon said. "Even holding a three-hundred-sixty-five-night voucher wouldn't get someone placed on the seventh floor if they weren't strong enough."
Eve's attention quickly returned to Vera.
"How does Vera get more vouchers?"
[Vouchers can be obtained by completing Survival Instances, hotel commissions, special missions, or through transfer from another individual.]
[Vouchers are issued only to individuals who meet the hotel's eligibility requirements. Once registration is completed, the Stay Pass will be bound to the guest register, assigned room, and room key. One night of shelter will be deducted automatically at each nighttime settlement.]
Eve looked at the lines of text.
"What if a guest temporarily leaves the hotel?"
"As long as they still hold the room, the voucher keeps counting down." Udon said. "Because the hotel is still reserving that guest's right to stay, and keeping the room's wards active."
"And what happens once the voucher runs out?"
The open register suddenly glowed dark red.
[Stage One: Warning issued through guest register.]
[Stage Two: Room lighting and barrier strength gradually weaken.]
[Stage Three: Final grace period begins.]
[Upon expiration of the grace period, guest status will be revoked.]
[The room door will open automatically.]
[The guest will be expelled.]
A simulated image appeared before Eve.
Inside a dim room, the lights flickered repeatedly.
The brass key in the door slowly lost its glow.
Then, in complete silence, the tightly shut door began to open.
Beyond it stretched a pitch-black corridor with no visible end.
Eve felt her chest tighten.
Vera had only two nights left.
Once her voucher ran out, there was no way she could survive alone in Long Night, not with her current abilities.
"What about the manager?" Eve asked. "Do I need a voucher too?"
"Managers and official hotel staff don't need one." Udon answered.
"Then can I give my own shelter time to Vera?"
"You don't have a voucher or a shelter period to give in the first place."
Eve looked again at Vera's information.
[Remaining Shelter Period: Two Nights]
After the next settlement at eight in the morning, it would drop to one.
One more night after that, and the voucher would run out completely.
"Is there any way to get her a new voucher right now?"
The hotel's core didn't answer immediately.
The dark gold threads around them began to flicker, and one thread that had been dim slowly brightened, stretching off into the darkness.
[First connection with hotel core by manager, detected.]
[Hotel commission function restoring...]
[Available entry-level management commissions: 1]
A sheet of dark gold paper materialized in front of Eve.
Its edges were torn and incomplete, its surface marked with patches of black stain.
[Entry-Level Management Commission]
[Task: Restore basic operations to the restaurant]
[Location: Everslumber Town]
[Objective One: Locate a sustainable food source.]
[Objective Two: Recover the restaurant's missing energy core.]
[Time limit: Two nights.]
[Reward:]
[Restaurant area unlocked. ]
[Bonus reward: 1x Three-Night Voucher.]
Eve's eyes fixed on that last reward.
A three-night voucher.
If she completed this commission, Vera could keep staying at the hotel.
And once the restaurant reopened, they wouldn't have to survive on the last few biscuits anymore, either.
"What is Everslumber Town?"
"One of Longnight's zones," Udon said.
"Is it safe?"
"If it were safe, they wouldn't need to put a voucher up as a reward."
Eve fell silent.
She'd already known the hotel wouldn't hand her anything for free.
If she wanted food, vouchers, and shelter, she'd have to walk straight into danger to get them.
"What happens if it's not done within two nights?"
[Commission expires.]
[Restaurant remains closed.]
[Guest Vera's initial voucher will expire on schedule.]
The words were cold and utterly without emotion.
To the hotel, this was just a commission.
But to Vera, it was her chance to keep living.
Eve thought back to Room 101, to Vera holding out the last energy bar, saying:
If the manager starves to death first, what good would keeping all this for myself do?
She'd promised, just then, that they'd figure it out together.
Now, the way to do that was right in front of her.
It just meant leaving the hotel, and heading somewhere entirely unknown.
Eve reached out and touched the dark gold commission sheet.
The paper dissolved into a faint light and sank into her palm.
[Manager has accepted the commission.]
[Countdown initiated.]
[Time remaining: Two nights.]
The light on the core's surface dimmed slowly, and the dark gold threads around it settled back into their previous faint glow.
[Management access update complete.]
[Manager, please complete your first hotel commission.]
The elevator doors slid open slowly behind her.
Once Eve and Udon were back on the first floor, they headed straight for Room 101.
Vera had been waiting inside, anxious and on edge. Seeing Eve return safely, the tension in her expression eased, just slightly.
"What's down there?"
"The hotel's core."
Eve paused for a moment, then didn't hold anything back.
"I also found out something else. After completing registration, as a first-time guest, you were given an initial voucher of three nights. One night was deducted last night. You have two left now."
Something in Vera's expression froze.
"And after those two nights?"
"If you don't get a new voucher, the room's wards will start weakening. Eventually, the hotel will revoke your eligibility to stay."
The room went quiet.
Vera looked down at the brass key in her hand. It still glowed faintly — but that glow could only protect her for two more nights.
"But the hotel's put out a commission." Eve went on. "If I go to Everslumber Town and recover the restaurant's missing power core, not only can we reopen the restaurant — we'll also get a three-night voucher."
"Everslumber Town... I've heard there are dangerous monsters living there."
Vera's expression grew even more troubled.
"This commission is dangerous."
Eve understood the difficulty of the task more clearly than ever now. She looked at Vera and said, calmly:
"I've already accepted it."
Vera looked up.
"Because of me?"
"Not just because of you." Eve said. "The hotel needs the restaurant restored. And we need food too."
She paused.
"And I promised you we'd figure this out together."
Vera tightened her grip on the key
After a moment, she said quietly, "I'm coming too."
"You only just went through—"
"I can't stay in this room every time and wait for someone else to risk their life for me."
Vera met her gaze.
Her face was still pale, and fear hadn't entirely left her eyes.
But there was far more resolve in them than there had been the night before.
"This is my voucher. My chance to keep living."
Eve looked at her, neither agreeing right away nor refusing again.
Udon watched the two of them. There wasn't much he could say in a moment like this, so he simply stood to one side, silent, watching them face off.
Outside the window, pale grey light filtered through the gap in the heavy curtains, falling between the two of them.
The Long Night Hotel's first Grey Day had begun.
And the time left to them was short—
only two nights.