The Overworked Beta and the Paranoid Alpha 19

Chapter 19: Beka Hotel

Lower District, Beka Hotel, 87 Green Avenue.
The hotel’s first-floor lobby was small. Posters of last century’s rock stars were plastered on the walls. In the center of the lobby was a reception desk for check-ins and two stools.
On the reception desk was an electronic screen for check-ins, connected to the hotel’s financial system. There was also a very retro push-button phone on the desk. Next to the phone was a paper calendar. Everyone used electronic calendars now; no one used paper ones anymore. Heaven knows what era this thing was from.
A gray-haired old man sat behind the reception desk, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, puffing out white smoke. A small tabby cat was curled up on his lap, its eyes narrowed. The old man stroked the cat’s head and continued to smoke.
“Ding-ding-ding—”
The hotel’s main door was pushed open. The door was sturdy and heavy, one of the few new items in this place.
He had no choice. The old door wasn’t bulletproof. In a dangerous place like the lower district, a door that wasn’t thick enough was like leaving your shop wide open, welcoming the homeless, drunks, and junkies to come in for a five-finger discount.
The old man finally shifted his gaze from the small cat to the guests who had just entered.
Two young guests had come in this time.
One guest was wearing a black flight jacket, a dark gray inner shirt, and black trousers. He also wore a pair of black sunglasses that covered half his face.
The other guest followed behind the first. His style of dress was roughly similar to the first guest’s, except the first guest had black hair, while his was platinum blond. This guest was not wearing a flight jacket, but a short black trench coat. He had a black backpack on his back, which was probably his luggage.
The old man couldn’t detect any pheromone scent from the black-haired guest. The black-haired guest was a Beta. As for the blond guest, from the moment he entered, the old man smelled his coconut-lemon candy Alpha pheromone scent.
The old man was also a Beta, so the Alpha’s pheromone scent had no effect on him. He just found it a little surprising. He had lived in the lower district for decades and had seen many strange Alpha pheromone scents, such as the smell of soil, rust, and even rotting flesh. He had rarely encountered this kind of fruity Alpha pheromone scent.
He could tell at a glance that this Alpha guest did not belong to the lower district.
He glanced at the Beta guest again. The Beta’s mouth was a straight, emotionless line. His black sunglasses hid the eyes that could show emotion.
Having survived to old age in a dangerous and chaotic place like the lower district, the old man’s intuition for danger was much sharper than most people’s. He could, of course, tell that this Beta was no ordinary person.
Who was he?
A mercenary? Or a hitman for some gang?
The old man didn’t know, but he could tell that this black-haired guest had no ill intentions towards him. At least, he wasn’t here to rob him.
The most important secret to the old man’s long life was to mind his own business. As long as these two guests weren’t here to rob him, he didn’t care what they were up to.
Even if they were here to rob him, the old man wasn’t afraid. He had a laser pistol in his drawer. This was the second new thing in his hotel, besides the bulletproof door.
“Hello,” the old man stubbed out his cigarette, placed the small cat on the counter, and stood up from his seat. “Welcome to the Beka Hotel. How may I help you?”
“Hello, I’d like a twin room for three nights, please,” the Beta guest said.
“Of course. Let me see. Is room 206 on the second floor okay?” the old man said, looking at the guest list on the electronic screen.
“Of course,” the Beta guest said.
“Alright, please enter your ID…” the old man thought for a moment and said, “If you’ve forgotten your ID, it won’t affect the check-in process.”
How tactful, the old man thought. I wonder if this Beta will understand what I mean.
According to Capital Star’s regulations, guests had to register their information when checking into a hotel. But in reality, there were all kinds of people in the lower district, including but not limited to legal, illegal, fugitive, and wanted individuals. The old man was just a hotel receptionist; he didn’t dare to start a conflict with these guests who could be either human or ghost.
Therefore, most of the time, if a guest didn’t want to provide their ID, the old man wouldn’t say anything.
But the Beta guest said, “No problem.”
Ah, so this guest is not from the lower district, the old man thought. This person is a rare legal citizen. Based on the old man’s experience, fugitives would generally not reveal their ID to avoid being caught.
“Enter it here,” the old man moved the electronic screen so the guest could enter his ID.
His hotel still used a rather old-fashioned check-in system, unlike the main city where everything could be solved by scanning the guest’s iris.
The Beta guest nodded and tapped the screen with his fingertip, entering his ID. The guest’s information appeared on the screen: Ethan Li, male Beta, citizen of Planet P09…
Oh, so he’s not from Capital Star, the old man thought. I was right. This guest is not from the lower district. Maybe these two are tourists? The old man remembered a movie that had come out not long ago about a protagonist who had escaped into the lower district. The movie was said to be a box office champion on many planets, so the lower district had also attracted tourists from other planets.
Tsk, I really don’t get it. What’s so great about a district with terrible security, garbage, and rats everywhere? the old man thought.
“The other gentleman,” after the guest named Ethan Li had registered, the old man moved the screen in front of the Alpha guest.
The Alpha guest tapped the screen and quickly said, “Done.”
The old man glanced at the information on the screen: Roy Miller, male Alpha, resident of Capital Star’s main city…
Oh, I was right again. This guest is not from the lower district either, the old man thought. I’ve guessed everything right. Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket and see if I’ll win the grand prize. If I do, I can use the money to move out of the lower district and find a safe place to retire…
As he was thinking, the old man did not forget his work. “Alright, the rooms in the hotel have fingerprint locks. Your fingerprint information has been successfully entered. You can go straight to your room and open the door.”
The two guests nodded and, following his instructions, walked into the elevator.
As the elevator doors opened, the old man at the front desk said, “Have a pleasant journey.”
The moment he finished his blessing, the elevator doors closed, and the guests’ figures disappeared.

“Ethan Li? Seriously?”
“Is there a problem?”
“That’s the name of the protagonist in the movie ‘Shadow Killer’.”
“So what?” Wen En said strangely. “Did the film company apply for a patent for that name?”
“Won’t the old man suspect you’re some kind of weirdo?” Romeo said.
“So what if he does? He knows not to meddle in things that don’t concern him.”
With that, Wen En touched the frame of his glasses. The glasses, resting on the bridge of his nose, seemed to sense something. The black lenses turned transparent, and the sunglasses became an ordinary pair of black-framed glasses.
Of course, these were no ordinary glasses. The lenses were a micro-display screen with a built-in smart chip that could control information query and input based on the wearer’s eye movements and facial nerve sensors.
Wen En looked at the black trench coat Romeo was wearing and blinked. The brand and price of the jacket immediately appeared on the lenses.
Not bad, very useful.
The elevator doors opened. They had arrived at the second floor of the Beka Hotel.
“Let’s go,” Wen En said.
Following the signs, the two arrived at the door of room 206. After entering the room, Romeo placed the backpack on the table, then, like a diver, jumped onto the bed and lay down.
“Ah, it’s been a long time since I’ve slept on such a soft bed,” Romeo said, stretching.
This was no lie. For the past few days, Romeo had been sleeping on either a folding bed or a wooden board, without even a pillow. But his happiness was short-lived. Not long after he lay down, he saw a super long hair under the pillow.
Romeo: …
He knew he couldn’t have high expectations for the hygiene standards in the lower district, but this was too… blatant, wasn’t it?

Wen En, on the other hand, stood at the table, opened the backpack Romeo had placed there, and took out the portable computer, micro-surveillance cameras, and listening devices.
Their mission today was to install these listening devices and surveillance cameras in the trader’s room—that is, room 207 next door.
“Come here,” Wen En said, glancing at Romeo, who had jumped up from the bed at lightning speed.
Romeo walked up to him and gave him a military salute. “Sir, what are your orders?”
Wen En looked at the time and said, “In about ten minutes, a hotel staff member will come in for cleaning service.” He took a syringe of anesthetic from the backpack. “You know what to do.”
“Understood,” Romeo said, looking at the syringe. “But sir, won’t this violate the resident’s right to personal health?”
“The ingredients in this anesthetic are very safe. It takes effect for ten minutes, which is no different from taking a nap,” Wen En said.
Romeo shrugged. “Alright, sir. I’ll do as you say.”

Ten minutes later, at the door of room 207.
Wen En, now disguised as a staff member, pushed a cart full of cleaning supplies, knocked on the door, and said, “Hello, housekeeping.”
The moment he finished speaking, the door to room 207 opened, and a thin, gaunt man with a pale, ashen face came into view.
The man looked quite old, with spider-like wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. The man was an Alpha, and his pheromones, like his appearance, had a stale smell.
The man stared at the Beka Hotel’s service staff for a while, then a hoarse voice came from his throat, “Come in.”
“Thank you,” Wen En said.
Wen En pushed the cart and walked into room 207. He blinked, and the layout of room 207 was transmitted through his glasses to Della’s and Romeo’s computers.