Chapter 17: The Office Building Escape Incident - Tenants All Know How to Survive...

After finishing his role, Zhou Fangdong clutched his stomach and lay in bed for a long time to recover.

Even after the performance ended, the terrifying hunger that felt like my insides were devouring each other seemed to linger. My limbs were weak and powerless, and I couldn't even get up.

Zhou Fangdong sighed and closed his eyes in despair.

After playing this role for the first time, he was no longer in the mood to argue with the system about lamp oil. He just wanted to lie around like a couch potato and didn't want to move a single finger.

If you want to get information about the ghosts in the room in the future, you should try to get the case files from Hong Zhong. You can't do role-playing tasks anymore unless it's absolutely necessary. It's a double torture for both your mind and body.

"System, what time is it now?"

[6:00 AM the next morning]

[Hint: Dynamic Event: Night Raid of One Hundred Demons (28 days remaining)]

Zhou Fangdong rolled over in bed in pain.

I get so anxious whenever I see this news update.

Zhou Fangdong's anxiety wasn't about the ghosts attacking him during the "Hundred Ghosts Night Attack" incident.

If the ghost's target is him, it's actually simpler; he can hide in the room and wait until the mission is over, since the ghost can't get into the landlord's room anyway.

But if the ghost's main targets are his tenants, then that would be a disaster.

After a tenant dies, all completed side quests are reset, quest rewards are taken back, and then you have to figure out how to rent out the room again... It's like going back to square one.

We still need to keep working hard to complete tasks and accumulate ghost coins, and try to prepare enough life-saving items for each tenant.

Zhou Fangdong opened his character attribute interface to check the rewards for successfully completing the role-playing.

This role-playing task awarded 1000 experience points and 1 skill point.

He needs 1500 experience points to level up, and he's 500 short of leveling up again. As for that skill point... let's gamble again.

Zhou Fangdong got out of bed, went to the bathroom to wash his face and hands, and then used his skill points to unlock a new skill.

Skill 3: Eyes that see through to the essence

[Skill Description]: After using this skill, you can see what the ghost looked like in life and the affinity rating of all people and ghosts. (Note: This is not limited to the Liwan Apartment area; under this skill, the affinity rating of all humans and ghosts will be displayed.)

...Another useless skill.

Gambling leads to misfortune, and gamblers end up with nothing.

Zhou Fangdong now understands that the real estate management game system he has must have been trained by some pay-to-win game companies.

In order to make players spend more money to buy items, those pay-to-win games will never let players unlock useful skills in the early stages.

Sigh... I guess I'll have to save up the skill points I get from now on.

Skill points can be used to unlock skills and upgrade existing skills. Once you've leveled up your character and unlocked useful exorcism skills, then invest all your skill points into them.

After closing the system interface, Zhou Fangdong sat down at his desk and began studying the rental contract for room 102.

The ghost in Room 102 is a child who starved to death in the room and merged with his four ghost baby sisters.

It's extremely dangerous, and it looks even more terrifying than the dismemberment ghost in room 109... The tenant rules for room 102 need to be carefully devised to prevent tenants from encountering danger.

*

When Hong Zhong received the cleaning order for Room 102, he was preparing to take Zhao Dawei back to Liwan Apartment.

After giving his statement at the Investigation Department yesterday, Zhao Dawei did not return to Liwan Apartment that night, but instead stayed overnight at the Investigation Department.

Hong Zhong later read the statements of Zhao Dawei and his surviving former colleagues.

The employees at the company where Zhao Dawei used to work did not encounter ordinary ghostly or monster-related incidents.

This incident had a wide impact and caused heavy casualties.

It wasn't just the employees of the company associated with Zhao Dawei who had the accident; everyone who had worked in the entire 32-story office building where the company was located had an accident.

This incident is really strange.

Since the paranormal incidents broke out, the authorities have been continuously educating the public on how to save themselves after being attacked by ghosts, how to identify people who are possessed by ghosts, and how to stay away from ghosts and protect themselves before the inspection bureau staff arrive at the scene.

Furthermore, densely populated office spaces like those in commercial districts are under close monitoring by the Surveillance Department. If any supernatural fluctuations are detected, even the slightest, the Surveillance Department personnel will arrive at the scene immediately, making it impossible for the situation to escalate to this extent.

According to survivors, a mysterious force enveloped the office building on the day of the incident.

The people inside the building were unable to escape, unable to contact the outside world using communication devices, and passersby just a door away could not hear their cries for help.

The entire office building seemed to be isolated from this world by this mysterious force. Then, a group of ghosts suddenly appeared inside the building, and the people trapped inside were forced to engage in a bloody escape game with these ghosts.

The ghosts that suddenly appeared in the building were different from the usual ghosts that harmed people based on their obsessions from their previous lives—the ghosts in the building had a deeper malice towards humans. They not only killed indiscriminately, but also seemed to possess intelligence and rationality that did not belong to ghosts, and were very interested in tormenting humans.

These ghosts divided all the humans into eight groups based on the floor number, and used their illogical supernatural powers to create one deadly trap after another in the building, waiting for the humans to trigger them—they toyed with the humans in the building like cats playing with mice.

Humans who are captured are tortured and killed on the spot, and even the winners of the survival game are not spared... After the 'game' ends, all the winners disappear without a trace, neither alive nor dead.

Those who survived did so because there were enough winners, the game ended early, and they were able to live out of the building.

The Bureau of Anomalies only received the news after the incident was over. By the time the investigators from the Anomalies Investigation Division arrived at the scene, the ghosts and the mysterious power in the building had all disappeared, leaving no trace of their existence.

If the accounts of all the survivors hadn't been largely consistent, it would be unbelievable that such a bizarre event actually happened.

After compiling all the survivors' statements, the Investigation Department discovered something strange – some survivors were not in the office building when the escape incident occurred.

They were either laid off or on vacation, but no matter where they were, at the moment the incident occurred, they were all swept into the building by that mysterious force.

The only exception is Zhao Dawei.

Zhao Dawei perfectly fits the criteria for being involved in this incident. He was fired from his job the day before the incident, and logically, he should have been brought to the office building by that unknown force, just like those who were not originally present.

There was only one variable in his life: after being laid off from his company, he became a tenant at Liwan Apartments.

After discussion, some members of the Anomaly Investigation Department believed that Zhao Dawei was spared because the eerie power of the Liwan Apartment was stronger, suppressing the unknown mysterious force and protecting him.

Some people suspect that the Liwan Apartments were the culprit behind this office building escape incident.

After all, the timing of this incident was too coincidental, occurring right after the strange events at Liwan Apartments. Before the changes at Liwan Apartments, no similar events had occurred anywhere in the world.

In order to confirm the connection between this incident and Liwan Apartments, the Investigation Department specially hired Zhao Dawei, hoping to obtain more information about Liwan Apartments through him.

Although Miao Zheng also lived in Liwan Apartment, the two had different experiences and could provide different information.

Thus, Zhao Dawei, this middle-aged man who had experienced setbacks, ushered in the second spring of his career. He not only received an offer from Guijia Furniture Store, but also started receiving a government job and double pay.

But he just couldn't feel happy.

Hong Zhong glanced at Zhao Dawei, who was sitting dejectedly in the passenger seat, and comforted him, "Don't worry, we won't let you do anything too dangerous. After all, you're just an ordinary person who hasn't been trained. For now, we'll just have you fill out a few forms periodically. Just fill them out truthfully."

"Remember, put your life first and don't hide anything from that mysterious landlord. If the landlord suspects you, answer whatever he asks, but don't reveal what you're doing unless he asks. Miao Zheng, the tenant of room 109, is also one of us; you can go to her if you encounter any problems."

Zhao Dawei nodded sullenly.

He hadn't actually heard a word Hong Zhong was saying. After witnessing those bloody and cruel photos of the crime scene in the Investigation Department, a lingering sense of fear had been lingering in his mind.

Zhao Dawei knew that with his intelligence and physical strength, he would have definitely died in this incident if he hadn't become a tenant of Liwan Apartments.

His identity as a tenant of Liwan Apartments saved him twice.

One time was at that delicious slaughterhouse, and the other was this office building incident.

Zhao Dawei knew that the Special Investigations Department had asked him to pass on information in order to save more people, and he also knew that the information he had sent out about Liwan Apartments was probably just a trivial matter to that mysterious landlord...

But he still felt guilty for betraying his savior.

Zhao Dawei was an honest man who had lived an ordinary life for half his life and had never done anything out of the ordinary. Therefore, when faced with this important mission of 'being a spy,' he couldn't hide his feelings at all, and all his emotions were written on his face.

After returning to Liwan Apartment with Hong Zhong, Zhao Dawei saw the familiar figure standing in front of the apartment door.

The young landlord seemed to have known they were coming back, and stood there waiting for them.

This time, however, he didn't carry the kerosene lamp he always carried with him. He just stood quietly at the door, looking at them expressionlessly... He seemed to have completely merged with the darkness inside the building.

Without the warm glow of the lamplight, those once compassionate and gentle eyes seemed shrouded in lingering dust, empty and lifeless. Like a statue abandoned in the darkness, its former divinity extinguished, it silently gazed at its abandoned followers, its eyes filled only with cold indifference.

Zhao Dawei lowered his head guiltily, avoiding the landlord's gaze.

*

After Zhou Fangdong finished writing the tenant contract for room 102, he placed a cleaning order with Hong Zhong. Then he left the room and stood at the apartment door waiting for Hong Zhong to come over.

As it turned out, even without carrying a kerosene lamp, no ghosts or monsters dared to bother him.

In addition, the newly unlocked skill 3 [Eyes That See Through Truth] will create a filter in front of his eyes, making it impossible for ghosts to scare him anymore.

In Zhou Fangdong's eyes now, the corridor of Liwan Apartment is just a bit too crowded with people; it's just that people are growing all over the ceiling, walls, and floor.

When Zhou Fangdong saw Hong Zhong and Zhao Dawei appear together at the apartment entrance, [the ability to see through things] was automatically triggered again.

Zhao Dawei's favorability rating remained unchanged at 60. However, Hong Zhong's favorability rating was acting strangely, fluctuating between 0 and 40 as if it were malfunctioning, which was quite confusing.

What's even stranger is that Hong Zhong's favorability rating is still bright red... If the system didn't lack a PVP function, Zhou Fangdong would have suspected that Hong Zhong was a red-named player in the opposing camp.

Although he was confused, he didn't dwell on it too much. After all, Hong Zhong wasn't his tenant; he was just a cleaner he paid. As long as Hong Zhong did his job well, it didn't matter to him if his favorability rating was negative.

When Hong Zhong and Zhao Dawei entered the apartment, Zhou Fangdong stopped Hong Zhong and asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

Hong Zhong paused for a moment, then shook his head blankly. He hadn't eaten breakfast and hadn't eaten much yesterday either; he'd been surviving on energy drinks and compressed biscuits for the past two days.

Zhou Fangdong advised, "Go out and have a meal before coming back to do the cleaning. If you feel hungry in Room 102, you'll be attacked by ghosts."

Hearing this, Hong Zhong didn't insist any further and turned to leave.

Before leaving, Hong Zhong glanced at Zhao Dawei and noticed that he was still very nervous, so he encouraged him with his eyes.

Unfortunately, not everyone can read another person's emotions through their eyes. In Zhao Dawei's eyes, this look was more like a threat.

The middle-aged man panicked even more, cold sweat pouring down his back. Like a student cheating for the first time, he kept glancing at Zhou Fangdong with movements he thought would be imperceptible.

Zhou Fangdong noticed Zhao Dawei's unusual behavior and saw that he looked very unwell, so he gently comforted him, "Did you not sleep well last night? Why don't you skip work at the furniture store today and go back to your room to rest? I'll talk to the store manager about it."

Protecting tenants and paying attention to their health is the landlord's responsibility, as this is an important resource that can generate ghost coins in the long term.

Hearing him say that, Zhao Dawei seemed even more anxious.

Zhao Dawei could grit his teeth and endure harsh criticism or cold questioning, but it was precisely this kind of gentle concern...

An overwhelming sense of guilt weighed heavily on my heart, and the taut thread in my heart suddenly snapped.

Zhao Dawei knelt down with a thud, choking back tears as he told the members of the Investigation Department that he had joined the Department and that he had also told them the tenant rules for Room 101.

After consulting the system, Zhou Fangdong leaned down slightly and patted Zhao Dawei on the shoulder: "It's okay, don't worry about such a small thing. You didn't violate the tenant rules. If you want to work in the Investigation Department in the future, or don't want to work in the furniture store, that's fine too. I won't restrict your freedom. You don't need to feel guilty about it."

Zhao Dawei slowly raised his head, and through his teary eyes, he seemed to see the statue standing in the darkness once again radiating the light of redemption—even though it had been abandoned by its believers, it could still unconditionally embrace and forgive him.

How gentle this is...

Zhao Dawei suddenly burst into tears.

How could a landlord who possesses the immense power to suppress all ghosts yet is so considerate and caring towards humans possibly be the culprit behind that brutal escape?

[Beep—Detected that the favorability rating of Zhao Dawei, the tenant of Room 101, has exceeded 60…80…reached 100!]

[The tenant's favorability rating has reached its maximum; you can claim your reward on the favorability rating screen!]

Zhou Fangdong was a little confused when he saw Zhao Dawei suddenly burst into tears and when the system popped up a window.

What's wrong with him? What did I do? How did my affection level suddenly jump to 100?

A note from the author:

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