Chapter 2813: Phantom Murder Room (Three)

Now, both of them were in Room 1905, yet they couldn't see each other, and there were several possibilities for this.

First, there might be two Room 1905s in the hotel, one at the end of the corridor on the right and one at the end of the corridor on the left. This was the most logical explanation from a practical standpoint; perhaps the hotel favored this number and deliberately built two rooms with it.

But now, they couldn't verify it.

Because to check whether there was a Room 1905 on each end of the corridor, one of them would necessarily have to leave their room and walk into the corridor, but this was extremely dangerous.

Because if that wasn't the case, it meant that one of them was staying in an abnormal hotel.

Leaving the room without clear knowledge of which hotel was abnormal could potentially lead to danger.

At the moment, there were several clues. The first was that many things they encountered in the two hotels were opposites. Shiller had met very enthusiastic and professional staff in his hotel, whereas Peter found the receptionist extremely impatient and weary.

Though their appearances were indeed quite different, Shiller didn't believe that the receptionist serving him would display such impatience if they saw someone like Peter. At best, they might not be so enthusiastic, but they certainly wouldn't outright ignore him.

Moreover, the manager had not appeared in Peter's hotel, but it was also very likely because Peter's appearance didn't seem like someone important, so the manager stayed in the room.

Then there was the man who burst out of the elevator; in Shiller's hotel, he was ranting about checking out, but in Peter's, he was ranting about extending his stay.

After coming out of the elevator, Peter's Room 1905 was to the left, Shiller's Room 1905 was to the right.

Shiller then directed Peter to explore the room, and he discovered that the layout of the room was also reversed. Shiller's Room 1905 entered the living room, and then a door on the right led to the bedroom, whereas for Peter, a door on the left led to the bedroom after entering the living room.

In other words, if this involved two different hotels, the layout of the two hotels was likely mirroring each other.

So far, the most crucial clue was the anomaly Shiller saw when he took his phone to the window—the other hotel was rapidly approaching, and the window of another room faced the window of Shiller's Room 1905.

Could this be the Room 1905 where Peter was?

Shiller thought it was possible because Room 1905 was at the far end of the right corridor. If the structure of the opposite hotel was identical to this one, then the windows of the two Room 1905s wouldn't align just like when two people stand facing each other, the positions of their hearts don't align unless one of them is a mirror image.

To confirm if this idea was correct, it was necessary to go back to the window once more. However, Shiller was unsure if meeting someone from another hotel this way might induce any reactions, but they had to try it.

Shiller asked Peter from the intercom to come to the window and search for a signal with his phone, while keeping an eye on the window. Soon, an exclamation came through the intercom—Peter had evidently seen the approaching hotel too.

Shiller also walked over with his phone, glancing out partially, but no one was in the opposite window, just like before they disappeared.

Shiller furrowed his brows deeply, myriad possibilities swirling in his mind. Eventually, he pinpointed the most likely ones.

Shiller from the Magic Side was quite knowledgeable about this field, even though his original world actually had no magic or anything supernatural. However, after coming to the DC and Marvel World, these personas from the Magic Side had always been studying mysticism within the High Tower.

The most likely explanation for seeing but not recognizing each other was two-fold: a spatial issue and a temporal issue.

The spatial issue was straightforward: they might both indeed be in Room 1905, but one of them was in a parallel space Room 1905, where the spaces overlapped yet, due to being in different dimensions, they couldn't see each other.

But this didn't explain the hotel seen through the window. If that hotel manifested from another space, Shiller should have been able to see Peter at the window.

Thus, the most likely explanation was time—they were both in Room 1905 but at different times, which would prevent them from seeing each other.

This could explain why Shiller didn't see Peter at the window, for during this time frame, Peter hadn't arrived yet. The figure Shiller had previously seen was the previous occupant of the room.

But now, to determine who had wandered into the wrong time, Shiller checked the date and everything appeared normal; he believed it was the same on Peter's end—this couldn't help to figure it out.

Making an assumption, Shiller recalled checking in at 10 p.m. on the 15th, but if something was wrong with the hotel, then 10 p.m. on the 15th might not actually be 10 p.m. on the 15th. It could have changed to 10 p.m. on the 14th, or even the 13th, 12th, or possibly not even this year, in the instant he took the elevator or entered the room.

Then, if Peter came according to the scheduled time of 10 p.m. on the 15th, by that time Shiller should have already checked out, allowing the room to be vacant, and Peter could have easily made a reservation to stay.