Chapter 124 Liwan Apartment Comic Strip: Cleaner Candidates, Props Distribution...

The four pixelated ghostly figures on the cleaner job posting page—the first one is a ghost lying on the ground, only the upper half of its body covered by a tattered burlap sack, with a long trail of blood beneath it.

Contestant number two was a matchstick sitting in a wheelchair. The pixelated figure was as black as charcoal, thin and wiry, and curled up from the fire, but its black head was still very large, making it look like a giant matchstick.

Contestant number three is a ghost shaped like an infant. Its pixelated image is two heads shorter than the other ghosts, even shorter than the half-body ghost... This head-sized ghost probably can't even lift a broom.

Zhou Fangdong frowned as he looked at these ghosts, wondering where Quan Wuming and his group had found these old, weak, sick, and disabled people.

Let alone cleaning, Number One will dirty the floor if he walks a few more steps in the corridor, and Numbers Two and Three probably can't even lift the cleaning tools.

The only reliable one is number four. This ghost is a familiar ghost that Zhou Fangdong knows, the one who once helped him find information in the activity room of Liwan Apartment.

Although the Gap Ghost that appeared on the job posting page after leaving the gap looked like a pale, wrinkled patch of skin soaked in water, Zhou Fangdong thought that with its abilities, the Gap Ghost should be quite reliable at cleaning up crevices and nooks and crannies.

So Zhou Fangdong hired the Gap Ghost first, and didn't refuse the other three ghosts for the time being. He planned to interview them in person tomorrow... Maybe he was just misled by the pixelated appearance, and these ghosts didn't actually look as outrageous as they appeared on the system screen.

The Crevice Ghost also needs 20 sticks of incense as its salary each month. After depositing its salary into the system, Zhou Fangdong found that he only had 24 sticks of incense left in his inventory.

So he spent another 200 ghost coins to make 88 offering incense sticks and put them in his inventory.

After closing the cleaner recruitment page, before distributing the supernatural props to ordinary tenants, Zhou Fangdong opened the favorability interface and checked Hong Zhong's 100 favorability reward, as well as Yin Xi and Su Wan's 80 favorability rewards.

To Zhou Fangdong's surprise, the favorability reward system didn't use the trendy little trash to make up the numbers this time, but instead gave him three seemingly useful sealing items.

Yin Xi's reward for reaching 80 favorability points is [Rank B Sealed Artifact: Mysterious Telescope].

Item effect: Using the telescope will randomly show fragments of dangerous events that occur in the future. The telescope will automatically adjust its viewing direction to indicate to the user which direction is dangerous and which direction is a way out.

Side effect: When you see danger through the binoculars, danger is also watching you.

After using the telescope for 12 hours, a terrible curse will attract unknown ghosts to visit. The longer it is used, the more terrifying the ghosts that visit will be.

Zhou Fangdong took out the sealed item and put it into his inventory.

This sealing artifact is very useful; the side effects are practically nonexistent for the apartment tenants. After all, no matter how scary a ghost comes knocking, it's not as scary as the ghost in the tenant's room. Daring to come knocking is like delivering takeout to the ghost in the room.

Twelve hours is enough for the tenants to escape danger and return to the apartment. Zhou Fangdong only needs to provide the tenants with shelter for a short period of time to prevent him from being unable to attend to all the ordinary tenants when they are attacked by the evil god at the same time.

The ghosts in the tenant's room will also help their roommates through the key. With the addition of sealing items and amulets, the tenant's safety can be completely guaranteed.

Su Wan's reward for gaining 80 favorability points is [Rank B Sealed Artifact: Strange Scroll].

Item Effect: A strange scroll depicting a staircase. Laying it flat on any surface will create a downward staircase. After use, the scroll will bind to the user, and only the user can enter the staircase within the scroll. The staircase in the painting is a small safe house, inaccessible to any ghost or human other than the user.

Side effect: Depending on the length of time spent in the painting, when the user wants to go up and leave the painting to return to reality, a varying number of steps will appear on the stairs. Each use adds many more steps, until it becomes infinite, making it impossible for the user to return to reality.

Looking at this side effect, Zhou Fangdong frowned slightly.

Hmm... this prop is a bit dangerous, it doesn't seem suitable for ordinary tenants.

After the supernatural items that He Yansheng planted grow, let's plant this sealed object in the soil as well, hoping to reduce its side effects.

Hong Zhong's reward for reaching 100 favorability points is [A-grade Sealed Artifact - Love Knot].

Item effect: Longing will bring you to my side.

This item can only be used by two people wearing it together. When one person misses the other, the Love Knot will ignore distance and space and directly teleport the other person to their side.

Side effect: With repeated use, the two people wearing the love knot will find it increasingly difficult to be separated and will eventually become completely one.

Looking at the effect of this sealed item, Zhou Fangdong took out the [Strange Scroll].

With this Love Knot, you can freely use that strange scroll. When the number of steps on the strange scroll's stairs reaches infinity, you can directly use the Love Knot to bring the person out of the scroll.

The side effects of the Love Knot are nothing to worry about; it only needs to be used once, serving as insurance for the [Strange Scroll].

After dealing with the evil god, Zhou Fangdong will retrieve all these sealed artifacts.

However, this love knot reminded Zhou Fangdong of the cursed item, the Red Thread of Fate, that Mu Yuechan gave him when his favorability rating reached 100%.

That is a prop that requires two people to use together. There is no gender restriction. After use, if one person is injured, the two people will share the damage, reducing the damage effect.

If both are injured at the same time, they become immune to all damage, whether physical or cursed.

The side effect is that you need to get married... Zhou Fangdong couldn't quite remember whether a marriage certificate was required.

He opened Mu Yuechan's favorability page and checked the side effects of the cursed item.

All you need is to hold a wedding ceremony and have a marriage certificate.

Judging from this description, a marriage certificate shouldn't be needed... Zhou Fangdong also took out the marriage red thread.

Anyway, like the love charm, it's a last resort and shouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary. Just remind the tenants to use this after they've used up their amulets.

After collecting these items, Zhou Fangdong purchased some intermediate-level amulets from the system shop and then teleported directly to room 206.

His biggest concern was with Zhu Di and Su Wan, the two girls in room 206. They were ordinary people who hadn't experienced many paranormal events, so their safety precautions had to be at their maximum.

Zhou Fangdong gave them the [Red Thread of Fate], explained its effects, and then gave each of them five intermediate-level amulets.

After that, he teleported to room 205 where Yin Xi was, gave her the [Strange Scroll] and the amulet, and also gave her a [Love Knot], telling her the effects of these items.

Zhou Fangdong gave another [Love Knot] to Tang Huili.

Tang Huili rarely goes out or leaves the apartment. If Yin Xi is in danger, she can use the [Love Knot] to bring Yin Xi back.

In room 204, Tang Huili was working at her desk, with a [supernatural prop comic book] on it.

She was wearing a shark-head pajama with a large hood that provided excellent coverage. When she noticed Zhou Fangdong approaching, she tugged at the shark-head hood, making the large hood completely cover her face.

After Zhou Fangdong handed the [unfinished homework book] and the amulet to Tang Huili, he noticed the comic panels she was drawing.

Tang Huili drew the horror comic related to the Liwan Apartment that he had asked for during the day.

In just half a day, the cartoonist completed five full pages of black and white comic strips with outlines and color, as well as ten pages of draft storyboards.

Even with the help of that supernatural prop comic book, it's still amazing.

"May I take a look?" Zhou Fangdong asked, pointing to the comics on the table.

Tang Huili nodded, tidied up the completed comic pages and draft storyboards, and handed them to Zhou Fangdong.

After mailing the original manuscript during the day, Tang Huili originally intended to go and chat with the zombie Taoist priest named Zhang Zhiwu, as Zhou Fangdong had suggested.

As soon as she reached the corridor of the tenant's room on the first floor, she was frightened by Zhang Qingyang's wailing. Her courage vanished instantly, and she silently retreated back into the corridor.

She had intended to go back to the second floor, but as she was about to go upstairs, a little ghost called out to her—the headless little ghost wanted her to play with them.

Although Tang Huili is socially anxious about people, she is not socially anxious about ghosts. In addition, she needs some inspiration to draw horror comics for Liwan Apartment, so she followed the headless little ghost into the activity room of Liwan Apartment.

After playing with them for a while, Tang Huili heard a story from a little ghost carrying a red chair, which led to the horror short comic that Zhou Fangdong is currently reading.

Zhou Fangdong carefully looked through it and found that it was a very inspiring horror comic.

The protagonist of the comic is a white puppy whose life is that of a 'loser' at the very bottom of the traditional law of the jungle.

The little white dog has no doghouse, no car, and no mate.

During his childhood, he couldn't compete with his siblings for food, was physically weak, had an unattractive appearance, and was not liked by his parents.

After graduating from vocational school, Xiaobaigou left his family and found a job in a furniture processing factory, where he shared an apartment in Liwan with his coworkers.

Working in a furniture factory is tough. You work from 9 am to 9 pm, only two days off a month, and there's no overtime pay. The monotonous days seem endless.

Later, due to a factory machine malfunction, the little white dog lost half an arm and a leg, completely losing its ability to work.

Because the dog was a minor when he started working there and no labor contract was signed, the factory refused to pay compensation.

The little white dog, who had lost everything and the ability to take care of himself, wanted to jump off the top floor of the apartment building, but a little rabbit suddenly appeared and stopped him.

The little rabbit's name was Stone, and he was the leader of a group of homeless children who lingered near the Liwan Apartments.

In the past, when the little white dog encountered the rabbit squad, he would buy some food to share with these poor little rabbits.

After that, it was the rabbit team's turn to raise the little white dog.

These little rabbits would rummage through all sorts of trash cans, picking up leftovers that were still reasonably intact and bringing them back to him. With the occasional help from his roommates, the little white dog got through the most difficult period of recovery.

Although his roommates didn't dare to rebel against the factory owner for his sake, they silently paid his share of the rent.

Compared to his relatives who ignored him, the Rabbit Squad and his coworkers were more like his family.

The comic uses three pages to tell the story of the little white dog before his death, and then focuses on what happened after his death.

Yes, the little white dog eventually died. Just as he had finally recovered from his injuries and was preparing to find odd jobs such as folding cardboard boxes or labeling, he was killed by a shadow monster outside his apartment.

After the little white dog died, it turned into a small dot of light. Because the gates of the underworld were closed, it had nowhere to go. In addition, it missed Little Stone and its coworkers, so it floated back to Liwan Apartment.

At this time, a strange change occurred at Liwan Apartments, with a large number of ferocious shadow monsters appearing and beginning to harm the apartment's tenants.

The weak little white dog was unable to stop the shadow monster, and he witnessed the rabbit squad and his fellow workers being killed by the shadow monster.

Fortunately, the little white dog used its own faint light to envelop the rabbit squad and the light spots that the workers had turned into, and led them to escape to the relatively peaceful back building of the apartment.

Along the way, he saw many other tenants who had turned into small specks of light being swallowed up by the Shadow Monster.

Is weakness a cardinal sin? Should the weak be devoured?

Witnessing those cruel scenes, the little white dog decided to protect all beings as weak as himself.

When strange red mushrooms began to spread throughout the apartment and were completely sealed off, the shadow monsters, now much stronger, rushed out of the apartment, and the building behind the apartment also began to become dangerous.

Under the influence of numerous shadow monsters, the little white dog's rationality was also dissipating, and he began to become bloodthirsty and irritable. But at this moment, his strong desire to protect was responded to by the apartment.

To protect the tiny specks of light as weak as himself, the little white dog made a contract with the apartment, acquiring a mannequin body and transforming into a wooden puppy.

The consciousness of the Liwan Apartments came to life, trapping the shadow monster that was trying to escape, while the little white dog, who possessed the power granted by the apartments, returned to the furniture factory.

He diligently carried the tiny specks of light out of the apartment and then quietly hid them inside the newly made furniture in the factory.

Day after day, the little white dog traveled back and forth between the furniture factory and the apartment, continuously delivering the tiny specks of light.

Finally, the furniture factory went bankrupt due to poor management, and the little white dog acquired the ownership of the furniture factory and all the furniture stores under the factory.

He vowed to hide more of the tiny specks of light inside the furniture and then, when the time was right, send them back to the Liwan Apartments.

In the process of helping others, with the support of Liwan Apartments, the little white dog, who was originally a 'loser' at the bottom of the jungle, started his own business and successfully built his own furniture empire.

At first glance, this comic seems like a very ordinary inspirational story about helping others and receiving good fortune.

However, thanks to the supernatural prop comic book, any comic drawn with it will turn into a horror comic. Therefore, although the main characters are cute and adorable furry little animals, there is a creepy and dark fairy tale feeling that is terrifying upon closer inspection.

The more Zhou Fangdong read the story, the more familiar it seemed, especially the little white dog's actions, which were very similar to those of a furniture store manager.

Noticing that Zhou Fangdong had been looking at the comic drafts for a long time without speaking, Tang Huili said in a low voice, "In order to draw faster, I changed all the human characters to small animals. If you don't like it, Mr. Landlord, I can change it back."

Zhou Fangdong snapped out of his daze and put down the comic draft: "It's okay, no need to change it, it's fine as it is."

Tang Huili nodded: "Okay."

After leaving room 204 where Tang Huili was, it was already dark. Zhou Fangdong did not go back to his room, but took the elevator directly to the fifth floor of the apartment building.

He plans to continue using his blood to repair the collapsed area on the fifth floor.

Just as the repair of the crack was halfway complete, Zhou Fangdong suddenly heard a system notification:

[The evil god's core has been fully digested; reward: 10,000 Ghost Coins]

[The target number of cores consumed has been met, and the erosion of authority has reached 80%. The slime's body in the hidden room on the second floor has begun to upgrade...]

[Successfully upgraded to Slime Farm. Please check it promptly.]

Zhou Fangdong was somewhat surprised to hear the notification sound indicating successful digestion.

The system is digesting the evil god's core faster and faster; it has already digested the core he brought back from Liwan Hospital in just half a day.

Zhou Fangdong glanced at the collapsed cracks not far from the corridor.

He knew he wouldn't be able to finish repairing it tonight. In that case, he decided to go to the hidden room on the second floor first and see what the upgraded slime farm looked like.