Foreigner

Chapter 3: Gluttony

Allowing myself in, I had to adjust to the new settings of the environment. It was a far cry from the neon lights and poor streets that Lust have. The place looked like those old fashioned castle themed hotels that catered to those of the riches of rich. I mean, is it necessary to have pillars that does nothing?!

The chandeliers, flowers, furnitures...it was all too much of a good thing. It looked like an ideal spot to let down my guard. With it's tasteful decorations that reminds me of luxurious life that does who money will splurge on.

A sudden cough makes me snap out of my examination, I turn and see a maid dressed in modest long skirt and apron. This is quite far from the skimpy suits that the other girls worn in the layer of Lust. The maid was covered in purely the fabrics of her uniform. Only her face is exposed, even then, a veil blankets over her expression, making it hard to see what's past behind the veil. She politely bows at me and talks in a gentle manner.

"Welcome to the Hotel. Are you a guest here?" She waits for my reply.

"Uh...I suppose so?" I wasn't sure if I needed an appointment or something. But then, she gestures me to follow her. I silently follow her, her heels click in sync. As if following a protocol, she leads me to the reception desk. It seems like these layers always have an reception or sorts, to get an idea before entering into the layer itself. The receptionist was a butler, again all covered, even the face is covered behind a veil. Perhaps this place's staff really doesn't want to be seen by guests.

"Here's your key..." The butler hands me the key. As soon as I took it, I had a strange pain in my head. Making me hold onto the nearby counter, only to end up falling fast with extreme pain, my brain struggles to handle all the sudden pain strike that happened.

In my pain, I see flashes of weird things. I see...an infirmary with other people, scientists poking at a screaming person, and finally, I see a black clawed hand that reaches towards me before the pain abruptly stops. I stand up, taking labour breathes for a while. And suddenly, I find myself in a room with luxurious items. Nothing of use, it's more like inviting me to stay in. But I can't, something is telling me to push onwards. I check my black bracelet and there it was, '0/150' soul shards. I look in front of me to see, the soul shards floating, waiting to be collected.

I venture out of the room, following after the soul shards. In the meanwhile, the luxury of the hotel was starting to be less welcoming and more eerie silent. I hear...chewing? Loud chewing, whoever is snacking on right now is making the noise so loud that it bounces off the hallways walls. Soon, multiple sounds of chewing, biting, slurping can be heard. Suggesting that a group of people are eating together at the moment, I make it a point to be as quiet as possible, I take the hint from the staff earlier. They were silent, quiet and covered themselves.

Moving along the walls, I take a peek around the corner. It was a dining hall, with many different kinds of people feasting on different foods, ranging from the winter ham families would eat to the fine roast of the entire pig. Why pigs...? I noticed the lack of other kinds of meat, beef, chicken or even fish. I thought maybe there would be more obscure food like insects would appear but it's only pig meat. The choice is something odd, I am not a big fan of pork myself since for me, it was considered a luxury food item that my poor family would deem it as an unnecessary expense.

The drinks of choices were alcoholic drinks or something that makes me vomit. The obnoxious slurps of the beverages makes me sick. I had to be quiet and slide across the dining hall, as I hide behind the furnitures. I notice the leftover foods that are lick off by those hungry people...Should I even call them people? They are stuffing their face with all the food they can reach. Smears of food bits lays on their faces, not bothered with how it messes with their appearance.The people were all kinds, not like your typical overweighted person when you first thought of, but even small children who hungrily chew on the bread.