Checking In

The maglev car came to a steady halt in front of the main building, and the doors glided upward automatically.

As soon as Lin Yuan stepped out, the salty, humid sea breeze hit him full force, its scent many times stronger than inside the car.

He took a deep breath, feeling the cool air fill his lungs. His entire body felt refreshed.

Walking into the lobby of the main building, Lin Yuan found the space exceptionally open.

The lobby featured a six-meter-high ceiling, and the floor was paved with light gray non-slip tiles. They felt slightly rough underfoot, clearly designed with ability users in mind.

The lobby was quite crowded.

In the lounge area to the left, three young people in deep blue uniforms were huddled around a circular table with a map of the Azure Tide Forest spread out across it.

One of them was circling an area with a pen, muttering, “Three Tier 2 Ironclad Crabs appeared in this zone yesterday. They shouldn’t have respawned yet today.”

Judging by the school emblems on their uniforms, they were students from a local Magic City ability academy.

On the sofas to the right, two independent ability users were leaning against the armrests, chatting.

A middle-aged man with a stubbly beard was fiddling with a short blade. The blade was still stained with dark purple blood, a clear sign he had just returned from the wilderness.

Beside him, a tall, thin young man was wrapping a long wound on his forearm with gauze, cursing under his breath. “Why are there twice as many Green-maned Wolves as last week? It’s so annoying.”

...

The hotel’s front desk was a long, dark wooden counter directly facing the entrance.

Two staff members, a man and a woman, stood behind it.

The man, who was round-faced and slightly pudgy, was helping a couple check out.

The woman, who had her hair tied in a high ponytail, immediately offered a professional smile when she saw Lin Yuan approaching.

“Hello! Welcome to the Azure Tide Resort Hotel. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes,” Lin Yuan said, pulling up the reservation info on his phone and handing it over.

The receptionist glanced at it, her fingers flying across the keyboard. “Mr. Lin Yuan, a standard single room for one night. It’s fully paid for. Please show me your Ability User ID.”

Lin Yuan pulled out the palm-sized metal card and handed it over.

The girl swiped it through a reader, and his information popped up on the computer screen.

Her gaze lingered on a certain line for a moment—likely checking his ability rank and cultivation level—but she quickly regained her composure and handed back the ID along with a key card.

“Your room is 306 on the third floor. The elevators are to your left. The room includes a free breakfast, served in the first-floor restaurant from seven to nine in the morning. There’s also a free training room for ability users on the first basement level; you can access it with your room card.”

“If you’re planning to head into the Azure Tide Forest for training, you can pick up a free simplified monster distribution map at the front desk. For more detailed maps, you’ll need to download them from the Ability User Association app.”

She spoke quickly, clearly used to this daily routine, but her tone wasn’t dismissive in the slightest.

“The Ability User Association patrol team regularly monitors the waters surrounding the hotel, so the beach area is very safe. However, please remember not to go to the reef area outside the beach alone at night. Occasionally, small sea monsters get washed up there. While there are no large monsters, you could still be injured by a sneak attack from something below Tier 2.”

Lin Yuan nodded and took the key card.

“Oh, right.” The receptionist pulled a laminated card from under the counter.

“This is a layout of the facilities around the hotel. The locations of the restaurant, training room, medical station, and supply shop are all marked. The prices in the hotel’s supply shop are the same as in the Magic City urban area; we never mark them up.”

The service was impeccable. As a hotel under the Ability User Association, the attention to detail was far superior to that of an ordinary hotel.

Lin Yuan took the layout map, thanked her, and turned toward the elevators.

The elevator was a semi-transparent sightseeing lift, offering a clear view of the entire lobby as it ascended.

People were coming and going—some heading out with weapons on their backs, others returning with exhausted faces, some gathered to discuss tactics, and others sitting alone in corners bandaging wounds.

Everyone here bore the marks of combat. Even those laughing and joking never let their hands stray too far from their weapons.

This was the daily life of an ability user.

Lin Yuan knew well that beneath this seemingly peaceful environment, everyone was risking their lives against monsters.

The third-floor hallway was covered in a deep blue carpet that felt soft underfoot.

Landscape photos of Azure Tide Bay hung on the walls, featuring sunrises, reefs, lighthouses, and more.

Room 306 was in the middle of the hallway. Lin Yuan swiped his card and pushed the door open.

The room wasn’t large, but it was clean and tidy.

A 1.5-meter bed was pushed against the wall, the linens folded neatly. By the window sat a small desk and a wicker chair. Outside, the ocean stretched out; pulling back the curtains revealed the emerald sea and white sand.

The bathroom featured a dry-wet separation design, and the water heater was already preheated.

While it was slightly smaller than the hotel he’d stayed at in Hangzhou, it was very comfortable. Since he was only staying for one night, it was more than enough.

He stowed away his supplies, keeping only a bottle of Source Recovery Pills in his jacket pocket for easy access.

Then, he pulled out his phone and tapped on the contact card Shen Man had sent him.

Xu Qing, rising sophomore, B-rank lightning ability.

Her profile picture had been taken in a training room. She had ear-length short hair and a bright smile, holding a standard-issue lightning longsword.

The bio read: Rising sophomore at Magic City Academy’s Thunder Academy. Specializes in lightning sword techniques and lightning physical techniques.

Lin Yuan stared at the contact card for a few seconds before turning off his phone screen.

Forget it.

A young couple was out training together, the boy accompanying the girl as she pushed for Tier 3. They were fighting side by side to deepen their bond; what business did an outsider have butting in?

Be a third wheel?

His actual lightning rank was only Tier 2, Level 2.

But in terms of actual combat and the ability to kill enemies above his rank, he had already slain a Tier 2, Level 6 Imperial Prince in Hangzhou. Monsters below Tier 3 posed no threat to him at all; he was perfectly capable of protecting himself.

If he really ran into trouble he couldn’t handle, it wouldn’t be too late to contact them then. There was no need to intrude on them proactively.

He placed his phone on the nightstand and stretched.

Outside the window, the sea breeze rustled the palm leaves with a soft hush, mingling with the sound of distant waves crashing against the shore.

Lin Yuan walked to the window and pushed it open. The salty sea air instantly flooded the room, bringing an indescribable sense of freshness and ease.

After dinner, Azure Tide Bay was completely enveloped in the night.

As Lin Yuan stepped out of the hotel restaurant, there were even more ability users in the lobby than there had been in the evening.

Several independent ability users who had just withdrawn from the Azure Tide Forest were checking in at the front desk. They reeked of blood and the fishy stench of monster fluids.

The receptionist handed over their room cards without batting an eye, clearly long since accustomed to the sight.

In the lounge area, the students who had been studying the map earlier were gone, replaced by a middle-aged couple whispering about trying their luck in the outer forest tomorrow.

Lin Yuan didn’t linger. He pushed through the glass back door of the main building and followed a path through the palm grove toward the beach.

The night breeze was cooler now, its salty dampness pressing against his face.

Out on the water, the white lights of patrol boats flashed incessantly, tracing slow arcs across the pitch-black surface.

He passed through the palm grove and stepped onto the sand.

The sand had lost the afternoon’s warmth, sending a cool sensation up from the soles of his feet.

Lin Yuan was walking south.

According to the map Shen Man had sent, one of the entrances to the Azure Tide Forest was to the southeast of the beach.

He planned to scout the area tonight so he could enter directly tomorrow morning and avoid getting lost.

The beach grew narrower the further south he went, with more and more reefs appearing on both sides.

The black rocks looked wet under the moonlight. As the tide receded, shells and seaweed were exposed, and the briny smell of the sea grew particularly strong.

As he walked, Lin Yuan mapped out his route for the following day.