Chapter 24

In this moment of crisis, the long-silent system suddenly let out a sharp, piercing blare:

[Ding—Life-threatening danger detected! Mortality rate: 100%! Forcing activation of Newbie Protection Measures. Forcing teleportation back to the Spawn Room!]

Zhou Fangdong felt his vision go black, as if a heavy black curtain had dropped from above to envelop him.

The texture of this curtain was incredibly soft, like a mass of jelly falling from the sky. Being inside this “jelly” didn’t cause him to suffocate; instead, it gave him a familiar sense of security—as if he had returned to the place where life first began, back into the warmth of a mother’s womb.

Zhou Fangdong suddenly felt an overwhelming drowsiness.

When his consciousness finally returned, he found himself lying on the bed in his room.

He picked up his phone and glanced at it. It was already the next day. Everything that had happened last night felt like a dream.

Zhou Fangdong rubbed his throbbing temples. Just as he was about to call out to the system, a cold electronic voice rang out:

[Dynamic Event: Night Attack of a Hundred Ghosts (Countdown: 17 days)]

Zhou Fangdong froze.

Shouldn’t it be 27 days? How did it become 17 days?

“System? Why did the time for the Night Attack of a Hundred Ghosts suddenly jump forward by ten days?”

After a long silence, just as Zhou Fangdong thought the system wouldn’t answer, a faint electronic voice spoke:

[…The host should have returned to the room immediately after finding the clue about the lamp oil yesterday.]

The familiar electronic voice sounded weak and very quiet.

Zhou Fangdong could actually detect a sense of exhaustion from it.

The system had likely lost a significant amount of energy to save him last night.

Zhou Fangdong suddenly felt a bit guilty. “Cough… Well, I just wanted to go check out the apartment’s stairwell last night…”

[The apartment stairs are currently closed and will not lose control at night. If the host wishes to continue exploring the usage of the spirit tablets, you may do so during the day.]

After a pause, the system warned him again:

[The host’s Newbie Protection Mechanism has been exhausted. Before completing the [Night Attack of a Hundred Ghosts] event, do not wander around the apartment at night, especially near the elevator.]

After saying this, the system fell silent once more.

The system had been unusually blunt this time. It hadn’t used the standard gaming jargon like “Quest” or “Hint,” but had straightforwardly told Zhou Fangdong what he could and couldn’t do. It was almost as if someone were speaking to him through the system.

Although the system hadn’t explained why the countdown had moved forward, Zhou Fangdong felt too embarrassed to ask again.

If it was early, it was early. Even if the system didn’t say it, he knew it was most likely caused by his reckless actions last night.

Sigh, the system had pulled him back from the brink of death once again… The system was truly loyal, a real brother. He wouldn’t secretly curse it for being a black-hearted profiteer anymore.

Zhou Fangdong prepared to accelerate his quest progress. He wanted to rent out all the rooms on the first floor as soon as possible and work hard to increase his strength.

He couldn’t wander around aimlessly during this period. His Character Level was currently low, and the skills he had unlocked were all auxiliary. If he relied too heavily on the Kerosene Lamp, he would eventually flip his car¹ again just like last night.

Zhou Fangdong habitually opened the rental interface to check on his tenants. Seeing that the pixel sprite for Duan Wenyu in Room 102 was already awake, he teleported directly to Room 102.

According to the Tenant Rules for Room 102, the tenant was forbidden from sleeping in the master bedroom. Consequently, Duan Wenyu had turned the living room into his bedroom, transforming Room 102 into a small one-bedroom apartment of about thirty square meters.

When Zhou Fangdong arrived, Duan Wenyu was carrying a plate of food into the small utility room.

It seemed he was adapting well and strictly following the Tenant Rules.

After coming out of the utility room, Duan Wenyu saw Zhou Fangdong waiting in the room. He greeted him with a pleasant surprise, “Mr. Landlord, you’re here! Have you had breakfast yet? Would you like to join me?”

Due to his major, Duan Wenyu often had to help his seniors taste-test new varieties of fruits and vegetables they researched. Sometimes, if they couldn’t finish it all, they would pack it for him to take away. Over the years, Duan Wenyu had developed excellent cooking skills.

This morning, he had used the induction cooker to make a few simple home-cooked stir-fry dishes. They were fresh out of the pan, steaming hot and looking delicious.

Zhou Fangdong looked at the dishes on the table and shook his head expressionlessly. “No thanks, I don’t need to eat these things.” Though he said it, his heart was bleeding.

He really wanted to eat. Even if he wasn’t hungry, he just wanted to eat.

Damn it. Once he could finally step out of the apartment gates, the first thing he would do was rush to a buffet and gorge himself.

Fearing he would lose his composure if he stayed any longer, Zhou Fangdong took out a Ghost Expelling Talisman and a bandage from his inventory and handed them to Duan Wenyu.

“This is a Ghost Expelling Talisman. Keep it on you and use it immediately if you encounter danger. Don’t be stingy with it; I’ll restock you once it’s used.” After speaking, Zhou Fangdong pointed at his foot. “This bandage is for treating your foot injury. Keep it safe.”

Duan Wenyu took the talisman and bandage, deeply moved.

In the span of just these few sentences, his Favorability had been steadily rising, reaching 80.

Zhou Fangdong was used to it by now.

He suspected that even if he did nothing but breathe, his tenants’ Favorability would still increase.

Seeing that he had finished giving his instructions, Zhou Fangdong didn’t linger in Room 102 and teleported directly back to his own room.

Because one couldn’t feel hunger inside Room 102, Duan Wenyu didn’t use the bandage immediately. Instead, he finished his breakfast first.

After the meal, when he wrapped the bandage around his ankle, Duan Wenyu was shocked to find that the injury on his foot vanished instantly, without even a single side effect.

He had thought it was just an ordinary bandage, never expecting it to have such a miraculous effect. As expected of the landlord of Liwan Apartments—not only did he have the terrifying strength to suppress ghosts and solve the curse on his body, but he could even heal the sick and save the injured. He was practically all-powerful!

Remembering the favor he had asked of the landlord yesterday, Duan Wenyu hurriedly threw his dishes into the sink and ran out of Liwan Apartments with his signal-less phone.

He needed to contact his classmates to see if they had all been saved.

Not long after returning to his room, a pop-up suddenly appeared before Zhou Fangdong’s eyes: [Duan Wenyu’s Favorability has reached 100].

Zhou Fangdong was stunned.

He felt like he hadn’t done anything… Not only had he done nothing, but he wasn’t even with Duan Wenyu right now. How did the Favorability max out from a distance?

Although he was confused, because the Favorability of several tenants had reached one hundred so easily, he could now face it calmly.

Zhou Fangdong first checked the reward for 80 Favorability.

Duan Wenyu’s 80 Favorability rewards were: 200 Ghost Coins, a set of high-quality kitchenware, a copy of “Home-Style Gourmet Recipes,” and a copy of “Crop Cultivation, Breeding, and Seed Science.”

Aside from the Ghost Coins, the rest were still useless items… but the Ghost Coins were enough. Including these 200, the number of Ghost Coins in Zhou Fangdong’s hands had reached 1,000 for the first time.

After happily collecting the coins and items, Zhou Fangdong checked the reward for Duan Wenyu’s maxed Favorability.

[Ghost Seedling]

(Growth-type Item)

[Item Description: A tender young seedling. No one knows what it will grow into. Although it is a seedling, it does not require soil. It can be fed with human blood, chunks of flesh, bone ash, or Offering Incense.]

Looking at these bizarre item descriptions, Zhou Fangdong couldn’t shake the feeling that this thing was a bit dangerous… Forget it, he wouldn’t give this item to Duan Wenyu for now; he’d raise it himself first.

Zhou Fangdong withdrew the emerald-green seedling and picked up the copy of Crop Cultivation, Breeding, and Seed Science he had just tossed onto the table. He propped the book upright against the wall and tucked the seedling between its pages.

Then, he took a stick of Offering Incense from his inventory and lit it.

After scanning the room and finding nowhere to plant the incense, Zhou Fangdong simply poked the stick directly between the seedling’s two tender green leaves.

A perfect base. This way, he didn’t have to worry about the incense going out, and the falling ash would land right on the leaves to serve as fertilizer.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt as though the green leaves shuddered slightly the moment he poked the incense between them… It didn’t seem like a reaction to his physical movement, because the tremor was slightly delayed.

Zhou Fangdong rubbed his chin, staring at the seedling for a while.

The Offering Incense burned quietly above the seedling, and the two green leaves remained still.

…That earlier reaction was almost like the pain response of a living creature. As expected of a [Ghost Seedling], it was remarkably sentient.

Zhou Fangdong shook his head, not taking the small incident to heart.

He checked his inventory; he had twenty-two sticks of Offering Incense left, which should be enough for the short term.

After clearing out the useless items from his inventory, Zhou Fangdong decided to head to Room 104 to clean up the convenience store storefront and complete Hidden Quest ②.

The moment Duan Wenyu stepped out of the apartment, his phone was flooded with countless missed calls and text messages.

After a quick restart, the phone finally managed to stabilize, and the call screen lit up again.

The caller ID read [Zhang Shan].

Seeing his classmate reaching out, Duan Wenyu’s heart skipped a beat, and he answered without hesitation.

However, to his surprise, the voice coming through the phone was that of an unfamiliar middle-aged man: “Hello, I am the Director of the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight. Is this Mr. Duan Wenyu?”

Duan Wenyu frowned and asked urgently, “Yes, this is Duan Wenyu. May I ask why you’re looking for me? Why are you using my friend’s phone? Is Zhang Shan okay?”

“Don’t worry, Zhang Shan is safe. All the graduates in the Agricultural University auditorium have been rescued; they are currently at the Bureau. Is it convenient for you to come over?”

“Yes, yes, I’ll be right there,” Duan Wenyu replied repeatedly, sprinting as fast as he could toward the bus parked next to the apartment.

Hearing that his classmates had all been saved, his gratitude toward the landlord deepened even further.

He hadn’t expected the landlord to not only help him escape the Points System but also keep his word by rescuing his classmates. This was a debt of gratitude he could never repay; from now on, no matter what the landlord asked of him, he would obey unconditionally.

As Duan Wenyu sat down on the bus, the onboard broadcast suddenly crackled to life, announcing all the bus stops in Linjiang City one by one.

He stated the name of the stop closest to the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight.

As soon as he finished speaking, the bus started and began driving toward the city center.

Since he had started running errands for the landlord yesterday, Duan Wenyu had noticed something: whether it was because he no longer had the Points System or because he was now a tenant of Liwan Apartments, no anomalies occurred inside the bus while it was in motion.

The windows were no longer opaque like they were at first; Duan Wenyu could clearly see the city scenery outside.

The Ghost Bus carried him steadily to the stop near the Bureau.

Duan Wenyu had originally worried that the appearance of the Ghost Bus might trigger an alarm at the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight.

Then he realized he had overthought it. The people in Bureau uniforms guarding the bus stop reacted to the Ghost Bus as if it were an ordinary vehicle, their expressions not changing in the slightest.

Seeing Duan Wenyu step off the bus, someone approached him: “Duan Wenyu from Linjiang Agricultural University? Hello, I’m an investigator from the Paranormal Investigation Division of the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight. The Director asked me to wait for you here.”

Duan Wenyu glanced at the man’s badge. It read 【Li Zhe, B-Class Investigator】, followed by his employee ID number.

Seeing this, he followed Li Zhe obediently to the main entrance of the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight.

The Bureau was located in the exact center of Linjiang City, at the intersection of all major roads, allowing for the fastest possible response to any incident.

The Bureau wasn’t just a single building, but a complex of several structures. The entire perimeter was enclosed by high walls capable of isolating supernatural forces, and there were many strictly secured laboratories and classified facilities underground.

The first building after the gate was the office area for the Paranormal Investigation Division—the PID essentially served as the gatekeeper for the entire Bureau; if a supernatural intrusion occurred, they would be the first to respond.

Duan Wenyu followed Li Zhe through a special passage. After a series of complex security checks, he finally stepped into the PID building.

The Director of the Bureau was waiting for him in an office on the first floor.

The Director was a burly middle-aged man, tall and imposing, radiating a fierce aura. There were scars of varying severity on his face and hands, looking as though he had been baptized by war.

When Duan Wenyu entered, the man wasn’t sitting; he stood with his hands behind his back, looking out the window.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around and walked toward Duan Wenyu.

The Director gave Duan Wenyu a friendly smile and extended his hand: “Mr. Duan, hello. I’ve asked you here today because there’s something I’d like to learn more about.”

Flattered and overwhelmed, Duan Wenyu quickly bowed and shook the Director’s hand: “Please, ask whatever you like. You work so hard to protect the citizens; there’s no need to be so polite with me. I’ll answer everything truthfully. Cooperating with your investigation is my duty as a citizen.”

Duan Wenyu felt a bit apprehensive because he had already guessed what the Director wanted to ask, but he feared the Director wouldn’t believe him once he told the truth.

“It’s nothing major.” The Director patted his shoulder and gestured for him to sit in a nearby chair. “I’m older than you, so I’ll take the liberty of calling you Little Duan. Little Duan, I heard you’ve moved into Liwan Apartments?”

“Before you arrived, the PID questioned the other graduates who were trapped in the auditorium with you, so we know the gist of your experience. Can you tell me how you thought of going to Liwan Apartments to deal with your curse? Was it that mysterious landlord who handled the problem for you?”

At the mention of the landlord of Liwan Apartments, Duan Wenyu instantly perked up.

Even if the Director didn’t believe him, he had to tell the truth. He would do his best to convince the Director—this was all for the landlord’s reputation!

Duan Wenyu straightened his back, his eyes shining and his dark face filled with determination: “That’s right! That landlord didn’t just save me; he saved all my classmates too! If it weren’t for him, I doubt even half of us would have survived.”

Everyone said Liwan Apartments was a haunted building that devoured people whole; everyone talked about how terrifying it was—but that was in the past. Under the landlord’s suppression, the ghosts in the apartment could now coexist harmoniously with humans. Today, he was going to clear his benefactor’s name.

There was no one better or kinder in this world than that landlord. He wouldn’t allow anyone to insult him—he couldn’t bear to do anything that might make the landlord sad!

Duan Wenyu began to recount his experiences, starting from his accidental discovery of the rental listing for Liwan Apartments, to the moment his Points System vanished instantly upon signing the lease, and finally, how that wise and divine landlord had perceived the agony in his heart and taken the initiative to help him rescue his classmates who were trapped in the same sea of misery…

Ignoring his fanatical, almost missionary-like tone and the exaggerated words of praise, the Director of the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight discovered something very important—Liwan Apartments seemed to be deliberately targeting the Main God who manufactured these supernatural incidents.

By questioning the graduates, the Bureau had now linked the Graduation Hall incident with the Office Building Massacre.

These two events were undoubtedly created by the same mysterious power; whether it was the state of being isolated from the world during the event or the game rules that used ghosts to toy with humans, they were identical.

Furthermore, from the mouths of those graduates, the Paranormal Affairs Department gained vital intelligence. They learned that the mysterious power behind these supernatural events was called the “Main God System,” and that this Main God not only viewed human life as mere grass but also abducted talented individuals capable of resolving paranormal incidents.

Liwan Apartments, on the other hand, was not only unrelated to these two incidents but also possessed the capability to resolve the supernatural events created by the Main God.

Although the power of Liwan Apartments could not yet fully extend to the outside world, it seemed capable of controlling other haunted locations, such as the Guijia Furniture Store.

It was precisely because of the chairs from the Guijia Furniture Store that those students successfully escaped the Main God’s control.

From this incident, it was clear that the landlord of Liwan Apartments was actively cleaning up the supernatural messes created by the “Main God System”…

Regardless of what that landlord intended, at this stage, he was indeed doing the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight a massive favor.

Judging by actions rather than motives, the goals of Liwan Apartments and the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight were aligned for the time being.

The Director felt they could perhaps assist Liwan Apartments in secret. The Bureau’s monitoring network was vast; from these two incidents, they had already identified the characteristics of such supernatural events.

If similar events occurred again, regardless of whether they were caused by the Main God System, they could immediately inform that mysterious landlord through the tenants of Liwan Apartments.

This way, not only would the landlord get what he wanted, but the pressure on the Paranormal Affairs Department would be significantly reduced. Most importantly, supernatural incidents could be resolved promptly, reducing casualties.

It was a win-win situation.

Thinking of this, the Director’s gaze toward Duan Wenyu grew increasingly gentle.

Zhao Dawei was too honest and found it hard to keep secrets; more importantly, he was too old and his physical fitness was lacking.

Miao Zheng was aggressive and loved taking risks, prioritizing her career above all else; once her blood was up, she would ignore commands.

The young man before him, however, despite his strange fanaticism for the landlord, was easy to communicate with and held a firm sense of justice. Moreover, he had successfully survived that brutal selection process.

He possessed sufficient insight, strong initiative, and the courage to experiment, even risking his life to find a way to break the curse. He was excellent material for an investigator.

And the most important point: Duan Wenyu had been a victim of the Main God System. He could empathize more deeply with innocent people forced into supernatural incidents and would never stand idly by.

This young man might one day become the bridge of communication between the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight and Liwan Apartments.

Inside Liwan Apartments.

Before heading to Room 104, Zhou Fangdong made a point to check on his tenants.

Zhao Dawei had already gone to work at the furniture store. On the Linjiang City Map, the red dot representing him was inside the Guijia Furniture Store.

The red dot representing Duan Wenyu overlapped with the Bureau of Paranormal Oversight on the map… Zhou Fangdong had heard Zhao Dawei mention this Bureau before, saying it was the official organization for handling supernatural incidents. Duan Wenyu was likely there giving a statement; it looked like he planned to spend the night at the Bureau. The Bureau should be very safe at night, so there was no need to worry.

Miao Zheng was still sleeping in her room, and the Dismemberment Ghost from Room 109 was cooking for her…

???

Zhou Fangdong froze, staring at the rental interface in disbelief.

In the kitchen area of Room 109 on the interface, a pixelated ghostly hand reaching out of a black plastic bag was indeed cooking on the counter.

Though she no longer had a complete body, relying solely on her severed limbs, this Female Ghost Sister was still highly skilled with a kitchen knife, even performing a perfect toss of the wok.

Miao Zheng really knows how to enjoy life. How on earth did she get a ghost to cook for her…

After confirming that all his tenants were safe, Zhou Fangdong finally entered Room 104 with peace of mind.

Since the reward for Hidden Quest ① was the ghost clues for Room 104, he planned to use Room 104 as the storefront for the convenience store.

He could use these ghost clues to learn the killing conditions of the ghost in Room 104, thereby establishing rules.

Although he was converting Room 104 into a convenience store and didn’t need to rent it out, establishing a set of rules was still mandatory. However, these wouldn’t be Tenant Rules, but Convenience Store Rules, to prevent tenants who came to buy things from being killed by the ghost in the room.

Room 104 was quite large, roughly over a hundred square meters. There wasn’t much trash in the room, but the smell was foul—a mixture of blood, rot, and excrement.

Zhou Fangdong looked at the floor directly beneath the three mummified corpses hanging from the chandelier; there were traces of what appeared to be blood and waste.

After a quick glance at the state of the three corpses, Zhou Fangdong retreated swiftly to the doorway.

The smell was far too pungent.

From their attire, the three mummies hanging from the chandelier in Room 104 were a middle-aged man and woman, and a young man wearing a red Chinese-style wedding robe.

The sight of these three mummies, styled like eerie teru teru bozu dolls, immediately made Zhou Fangdong think of the Long-tongued Ghost.

Could the Long-tongued Ghost be the entity of Room 104? Then why did it keep wandering the hallway?

With that thought, Zhou Fangdong simply used the [Room 104 Ghost Clues x2].

A flood of memory fragments surged into his mind in an instant. Had he not already put three attribute points into Spirit, Zhou Fangdong suspected the impact of these fragments would have knocked him unconscious.

After finally digesting the memory fragments, Zhou Fangdong realized that these two ghost clues actually belonged to two different ghosts.

Moreover, he knew both of them: they were the Long-tongued Ghost and the Wedding Dress Ghost.

The reason the two of them were wandering the hallway was that they were fighting for ownership of Room 104.

What surprised Zhou Fangdong even more was that the life experiences of these two ghosts were so dramatic and melodramatic that even a TV soap opera wouldn’t dare to script them this way…

Translator’s Notes