Chapter 2

The system did not respond to Zhou Fangdong’s skepticism. After delivering the information regarding Favorability, it fell into a dead silence.

Zhou Fangdong let out a heavy sigh.

Back when he was working, he had to wear a suit to the office every single day. Now that he was the landlord of a haunted house, he still had to wear a uniform according to the system’s requirements. Was he destined to never escape the life of a corporate slave?

He really wanted to live a stylish life according to his own aesthetic for once.

Feeling dejected, Zhou Fangdong folded the blood-stained suit and stuffed it into the wardrobe.

The moment the wardrobe door closed, the system’s voice rang out again:

【Detected that the host has equipped the full set of [Landlord’s Clothing]. The 12-slot inventory has been unlocked, and 4 exclusive item socket slots have been unlocked.】

[Landlord’s Clothing]

Equipment Effect: Movement speed +10%, grants [Silent Walk] and [Hidden in Darkness] talents.

(Note: This clothing has a self-cleaning function. Whether it is dust, bloodstains, or even grime from ghosts, it can be easily cleaned.)

Zhou Fangdong clicked to check the effect of the [Hidden in Darkness] talent.

[Hidden in Darkness]: If you remain stationary for more than 3 minutes, you will merge with the darkness. Neither ghosts nor living humans will be able to detect your presence.

Upon seeing these equipment effects, the resentment Zhou Fangdong felt over his aesthetic being rejected vanished instantly.

Two built-in talents, a 12-slot inventory plus 4 exclusive item sockets, and a self-cleaning function…

From this moment on, the system’s aesthetic was his aesthetic. Freedom? Who cared about freedom? The truth was, he personally loved wearing a uniform to work. This outfit would be his second skin from now on; no one could ever make him take it off.

Zhou Fangdong picked up the kerosene lamp and opened his Character Level interface on the system panel.

The Character Level interface featured a scaled-down miniature of himself, allowing him to preview his attire and physical condition.

The four exclusive item socket slots were located right on the miniature’s clothing in the preview interface.

Zhou Fangdong looked at the sockets existing within the system interface in his mind, then looked at the kerosene lamp in his hand, wondering how he was supposed to stuff the lamp into his head.

The moment the thought occurred, the kerosene lamp in his hand rapidly shrunk into a thumb-sized pendant, pinning itself to the front of his jacket like a brooch.

At the same time, a lantern icon appeared in one of the exclusive item sockets on the miniature’s jacket in the preview interface.

【Detected that the player has socketed [Landlord’s Kerosene Lamp (Damaged)].】

【Exclusive Item Bonus: Increases movement speed by 10%, [Dark Vision] talent unlocked.】

Looking at the newly popped-up item description page, Zhou Fangdong nodded in satisfaction.

He hadn’t expected there to be special bonus effects. Not bad at all.

Although the socketing was successful, Zhou Fangdong didn’t stop there. He tried to take the kerosene lamp out and return it to its original size.

The light of the kerosene lamp could repel ghosts, making it his most important life-saving tool at this stage. He needed to confirm if there was a cooldown for using it.

As soon as the thought of retrieving the lamp surfaced, it immediately appeared in his hand. He stored and retrieved it three times in a row, and no cooldown appeared. Lighting or extinguishing the lamp was also a matter of a single thought, without the slightest delay.

Only then did Zhou Fangdong feel at ease, letting the kerosene lamp turn back into a brooch.

The system began to urge him in his mind to complete the novice guide mission as soon as possible, but Zhou Fangdong ignored it.

He carefully inspected every corner of the room. After confirming that he hadn’t missed any items, he finally walked toward the entrance hall.

As he reached the shoe cabinet near the entrance, Zhou Fangdong habitually pulled open the top drawer.

This drawer was where he used to keep his keys. He would always check it before leaving to make sure he hadn’t forgotten them.

Now, lying inside the drawer was a large, unfamiliar ring of keys.

There were many keys, likely several hundred, each labeled with a numerical code. They were all hung on a large iron ring, looking like a strangely shaped necklace at first glance.

Zhou Fangdong picked up the ring of keys.

【Obtained Landlord Exclusive Item: [Landlord’s Keys (Incomplete)].】

Equipment Effect: Grants free access to any room below the 15th floor. Grants the buff [Landlord’s Deterrence].

[Landlord’s Deterrence] Buff Effect: High-level ghosts and special ghosts will be unable to see the Landlord’s level and will not attack the Landlord at will.

As the item effect page appeared, the ring of keys in Zhou Fangdong’s hand began to change.

【Detected that the player has equipped the full set of [Landlord’s Clothing]. Automatically socketing [Landlord’s Keys] into the exclusive item slot.】

The key ring that was originally in Zhou Fangdong’s palm shrank rapidly, soon becoming the size of a ring and hanging itself from his waistband.

【Detected that the player has socketed [Landlord’s Keys (Incomplete)].】

【Socketed Exclusive Item Bonus: Unlocks the [Return] skill.】

[Return]: A Landlord-exclusive teleportation skill. Can be used from any location within the Haunted Building to teleport back to the Landlord Domain.

Looking at the equipment he now possessed, Zhou Fangdong’s confidence swelled to unprecedented heights.

With the support of these items, what did he have to fear? Even if he couldn’t win a fight, he could just teleport back home. He could practically walk through this building sideways.

Zhou Fangdong took out the kerosene lamp, lit it, and pushed open the door with full confidence.

A gust of air smelling of long-unventilated dust mixed with the stench of bloody rust hit him in the face.

Zhou Fangdong’s confident stride faltered.

A vengeful ghost, covered in blood, was hanging upside down from the door. Its twisted limbs were wedged perfectly into the doorframe, and its drooping head swayed slightly like a pendulum.

It must have died from jumping off the building. Its face was caved in, its features distorted, and its eyeballs had fallen out of their sockets, dangling against the cheekbones that had pierced through the skin. Its neck was snapped at a bizarre angle, and its head looked like a cracked watermelon. Viscous, black-red blood and grayish-white brain matter slowly dripped from its hair, pooling into a dark red puddle at the doorstep.

Seeing Zhou Fangdong emerge from the room, the eyeball still connected by the optic nerve twitched. It slowly rolled upward, staring straight into his eyes.

At that moment, the door swung fully open with its own momentum, and the light from the kerosene lamp spilled over the area at the entrance.

The moment the dim, yellowish light appeared, the Jumping Ghost let out a shrill, mournful wail. Dragging its twisted body, it scrambled into the darkness on all fours like a giant, panicked spider.

The vengeful spirit had fled, but Zhou Fangdong didn’t move. He remained standing there, staring blankly with a wooden expression.

He felt his legs going a bit weak.

Watching a horror movie on TV was a completely different experience from facing a vengeful spirit head-on in reality.

It wasn’t just the visual impact; the cold, bone-chilling malice radiating from the ghost toward the living felt tangible, like countless fine needles pricking every inch of his body and brain.

Zhou Fangdong had been frozen in terror just now. His muscles had completely ignored his brain’s commands, leaving him unable to even run away.

If he hadn’t lit the Kerosene Lamp before opening the door, he really might have been killed by that ghost. The system’s claim of a ninety percent mortality rate for opening the door was no exaggeration.

It took a long time for him to compose himself, but his heart was still pounding against his ribs.

Looking at the dark hallway ahead that seemed to stretch on forever, he felt a surge of hesitation about continuing.

“System, are all the ghosts in this building this terrifying?”

【No…】

Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief.

【…Most of the ghosts look even more terrifying than that one. Please be mentally prepared, Host.】

His heart immediately leaped back into his throat.

This was going to be the death of him. In the past, he hadn’t even dared to visit a haunted house attraction. At the very least, the NPCs in those places wouldn’t actually attack the guests, but the ghosts in these two buildings were out for blood.

【Ding—Host, please continue with Newbie Tutorial Task ①: Inspect the first floor and find a rentable room.】

“Alright, alright, stop beeping. I’m going, okay?” Zhou Fangdong gritted his teeth and forced himself forward.

He was currently at the end of a corridor. To his left was a row of windows, and to his right were the entrance doors to the apartment units.

The air, stagnant from a lack of ventilation, felt thick and viscous. Dust seemed to have merged with the atmosphere, making it difficult to breathe.

There was no ceiling installed over the corridor, leaving rusted metal water pipes completely exposed. Occasionally, water would drip from above, making a “tap… tap…” sound.

Every window was boarded up with planks. A few stubborn beams of pale, sickly light squeezed through the gaps, cutting through the darkness and casting shadows that looked like iron bars.

Taking in the dilapidated scene before him, Zhou Fangdong felt a profound sense of despair.

Would anyone really come to a godforsaken place like this to rent a room? If he couldn’t complete the rental tasks, would he be trapped in this ghost building forever?

The only silver lining was that the corridor floor was mostly just covered in dust without much other trash. It shouldn’t be too much effort to clean later.

Zhou Fangdong pushed open the door to Room 109, the one closest to him.

The hinges groaned with a piercing screech of metal on metal, and a thick stench of rot wafted out from the room.

Covering his nose, Zhou Fangdong stepped inside.

Room 109 was also a one-bedroom unit. The interior was even darker than the hallway. Its only window was tightly boarded up, and the floor was covered in a layer of dust as thick as fallen snow.

Once he saw the overall state of the room, Zhou Fangdong finally understood why the corridor floor was clear of trash.

It was because all the trash from the hallway had been swept into the rooms.

The floor of Room 109 was completely occupied by cardboard boxes and black plastic bags stuffed to the brim. All sorts of refuse filled the gaps between the boxes and bags, leaving almost no place to step.

Leaning against the wall, Zhou Fangdong carefully took a few steps inside.

The fragile wallpaper peeled away in a large strip at his touch, revealing dark red stains hidden beneath.

The stains were arranged in a radial spray pattern. Zhou Fangdong followed the trail of the marks in silence, eventually finding a saw stained with dark red blood beneath a nearby cardboard box.

This was a murder scene, wasn’t it? This was definitely a murder scene.

Those bulging black plastic bags… they couldn’t possibly be full of “pieces” of people, could they?

Zhou Fangdong didn’t dare go any further.

Aside from the excessive trash and the suspected murder scene, none of the furniture in the room was usable.

The bed frame had collapsed, the mattress was nowhere to be found, and a two-legged chair lay beside a three-legged folding table. As for the wardrobe, only the door remained.

There was no need to even think about it; this room definitely couldn’t be rented out.

The Kerosene Lamp had a limited burn time, and Zhou Fangdong had no way of obtaining more oil yet. He didn’t linger, leaving 109 immediately to check the next room.

From 109 to 102, every single room was in a state of total ruin. In Room 104, there were even three mummified corpses hanging from the ceiling light fixture.

Fortunately, Room 101 did not disappoint. Aside from the heavy dust and the boarded-up windows, it looked like a normal rental unit. There wasn’t much trash on the floor, and the furniture was all functional.

After a quick inspection to confirm everything was in order, the system’s voice finally rang out:

【Detected that the Host has completed Newbie Tutorial Task ①. Reward: 30 Ghost Coins.】

Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief. He put away the Kerosene Lamp and used the [Return] skill to teleport directly back to his own room.

He didn’t want to spend another second outside. After that walk, he felt like he had been marinated in dust.

However, just as he returned to his room, that familiar “ding-ding” sound began to echo in his mind again.

【Ding—Host, please begin Newbie Tutorial Task ②: Distribute flyers to increase the property’s popularity and attract your first tenant.】

Translator’s Notes

• walk through this building sideways: The phrase ‘héngzhe zǒu’ (横着走), literally ‘to walk sideways’ like a crab, is a Chinese idiom meaning to move about with swagger or to act without restraint because one is powerful or has nothing to fear. It implies the protagonist now feels he has the ‘muscle’ to dominate his environment.

• corporate slave: The Chinese term ‘shèchù’ (社畜) is a loanword from the Japanese ‘shachiku,’ combining the words for ‘company’ and ‘livestock.’ It is a common self-deprecating slang term in East Asian work culture used by employees to describe their lack of agency and the feeling of being owned by their employers.