Chapter 4 Rental Agreement: Five Tenant Rules

Seeing the young man holding a lantern and guarding the door like a guide, Zhao Dawei mustered his courage and walked into Liwan Apartment.

As soon as I entered the building, a gust of cold wind carrying a rotten smell hit me, and the temperature dropped several degrees instantly.

It was noon, but the building was unusually dark, with the only light coming from the kerosene lamp in the young man's hand.

Zhao Dawei followed closely behind Zhou Fangdong, cautiously observing the legendary haunted building in the dim light.

To the left of the entrance to Liwan Apartment is what used to be the residents' mailboxes. The apartment building has eighteen floors, with nine households on each floor, as indicated by the door numbers on the mailboxes.

Further inside is the apartment's entrance hall, which has a very high ceiling with a giant crystal chandelier hanging from it. Because it hasn't been maintained for many years, the chandelier's rhinestones are completely covered with cobwebs and dust, and the light chains are also full of rust.

Just then, the two of them walked right under the chandelier, and the chandelier suddenly started moving on its own without any wind, the rusty chain making a sickening metallic scraping sound.

Zhao Dawei instinctively shrank his neck and quickened his pace, as if afraid that the chandelier would suddenly fall.

There are two elevators directly opposite the apartment entrance, but all the elevator indicator lights are off, so they are probably no longer in use.

There were two dark corridors on either side of the elevator. Zhou Fangdong led Zhao Dawei toward the corridor on the right.

Whether it was Zhao Dawei's imagination or not, he felt that the further he went in, the dimmer the light from the kerosene lamp in the young man's hand became.

The surrounding darkness seemed to come alive, relentlessly devouring the faint light.

As the light dimmed and vision weakened, hearing began to amplify infinitely.

Zhao Dawei vaguely heard rustling sounds in the darkness, like the sound of some kind of monster feeding... He had willingly walked into the shadows, just like a lamb walking into the monster's mouth.

He became increasingly uneasy.

Looking at the young man walking ahead of him, Zhao Dawei belatedly realized something.

From the moment he entered the apartment until now, the young man seems not to have uttered a single word.

...What if this young man wasn't the landlord who posted the ad?

If he were merely a ghost lingering in the Liwan Apartments, standing at the door with a kerosene lamp simply to lure people into the building to devour him...

Thinking of this, Zhao Dawei suddenly stopped in his tracks, his face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his face.

Zhou Fangdong had no idea what the middle-aged man walking behind him was imagining.

On the way to room 101 with Zhao Dawei, Zhou Fangdong originally intended to use some tactful language to soften the apartment's shortcomings in order to persuade the uncle to rent it.

But after thinking about it, he decided to remain silent.

The more you say, the more mistakes you make.

And this guy was the kind of man who still chose to come and look at the apartment after seeing the [Honest Advertisement]! Does someone with that kind of courage need any further explanation?

However, just as Zhou Fangdong was about to reach the door of room 101, he suddenly noticed that the footsteps behind him had stopped.

He turned around in confusion and found the middle-aged man looking at him with eyes full of despair. His face was bloodless, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying.

"What's wrong?"

Zhao Dawei took two shaky steps back, slowly moving out of the kerosene lamp's light: "I... I suddenly remembered I have something to do, um, I'll be going now..."

Zhou Fangdong was stunned.

What's going on? Why are you leaving all of a sudden?

If the tenant leaves before finishing the tour, will the system count it as completing the task? Besides, they haven't even signed the rental agreement yet.

Before Zhou Fangdong could even try to persuade him to stay, Zhao Dawei, who had already moved out of the kerosene lamp's reach, suddenly looked even more grim.

His face, which had turned deathly pale from fright, quickly turned a deep liver color, as if something was tightly strangling his neck, preventing the blood from flowing down his face.

As Zhao Dawei's expression changed, his eyes began to bulge outwards, and blood vessels quickly filled the whites of his eyes. He struggled to stand on his tiptoes, as if drowning, waving his hands frantically, his plump body supported entirely by his toes.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Fangdong quickly walked over to Zhao Dawei's side.

As the light approached, a thin, dark red tongue could be seen quickly retracting from Zhao Dawei's neck. Before the light shone on him, a deformed figure on the ceiling, its twisted joints moving swiftly, scurried away like a gecko along the cracks in the wall.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Zhao Dawei sat on the ground, clutching his neck and coughing hysterically. A purplish-red mark, like a tattoo, was firmly imprinted on the skin of his neck.

Zhou Fangdong had no medical options at the moment, so he could only stand next to the middle-aged man, holding up a lamp to keep him within the lamplight's range.

I originally thought this uncle was a hidden master, but I didn't expect that he would almost be hanged by a ghost as soon as he left the kerosene lamp's range.

Zhou Fangdong sighed softly, looking in the direction the deformed figure had fled, his expression full of worry.

There were far more ghosts in this building than he had imagined, like cockroaches... When you see a ghost in the open, it means there are so many in the shadows that they can't fit anymore.

Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong unconsciously tightened his grip on the kerosene lamp handle.

To move freely within this building, he must find a way to replenish the kerosene lamp oil as soon as possible; this is currently his only means of survival.

It took Zhao Dawei a long time to catch his breath. He stood up shakily, looked around at the darkness with a face full of fear, and dared not mention leaving again.

He didn't know if this young man would harm him, but he knew that if he left this young man's side, he would surely die.

Liwan Apartments truly lives up to its reputation.

Seeing Zhao Dawei looking around in fear, Zhou Fangdong comforted him, "Room 101 is just ahead. You can rest properly after you get into the room."

Zhao Dawei nodded emphatically and obediently followed Zhou Fangdong to room 101.

Zhao Dawei was quite surprised when he first saw room 101.

The room was much better than he had imagined.

Although the furniture was old and the windows were nailed shut, the room was spotless and tidy, without a speck of dust or dirt. Most importantly, the lights were actually on.

Zhao Dawei went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet—the water flowing out of the faucet was normal.

Before he arrived, he was prepared to face a dilapidated house with no water or electricity and full of garbage, but he was pleasantly surprised.

This room, which costs thirty yuan a month, is even cleaner than a house in the suburbs that costs three hundred yuan a month.

Seeing Zhao Dawei's expression, Zhou Fangdong breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It should be a sure thing; that fully automatic cleaning tool was definitely worth it.

“If you’re satisfied, we can sign the rental agreement now,” Zhou Fangdong said softly.

Zhao Dawei snapped out of his daze, his expression hesitant: "Um, if I stay here, can you guarantee my safety?"

Following the system's response, Zhou Fangdong said, word by word, "Tenants who follow the rules are safe."

Hearing the cold, emotionless reply, Zhao Dawei couldn't help but shiver.

Tenants who follow the rules are safe... [Tenants] are safe.

Isn't this a threat? Is this saying that if he doesn't sign a rental agreement and become a tenant, he won't be able to leave this haunted building alive?

Zhao Dawei felt that suffocating feeling from when he was on the verge of death resurface, and his neck seemed to start hurting again.

Anyway, I came here to rent a place, and since I'm already here...

He gritted his teeth, decided to take the plunge, and shouted, "Give me the rental agreement, I'll sign it!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a piece of paper appeared out of thin air in his hand.

The paper said:

【Room 101 Resident Rules】

① Tenants are prohibited from opening windows, looking in mirrors, or bringing mirrors into the room.

② From midnight to 6 a.m. the following day, the tenant in room 101 must not open their eyes.

③ Tenants must carry the key to room 101 with them at all times. Losing the key will be considered an automatic termination of the tenancy agreement.

④ If you discover that an outsider or ghost has invaded your private space, please do not panic. If you follow the above three points, the landlord will come to solve the problem for you as soon as possible.

⑤ A monthly payment of 30 yuan in cash is required. Failure to pay on time will be considered an automatic termination of the rental agreement.

This rental contract was automatically generated by the system. According to the system, this is a benefit of the novice guide mission. If Zhou Fangdong wants to rent out other rooms in the future, he will need to find the killing patterns of the ghosts in the rooms and then formulate his own living rules to protect the safety of the tenants.

The most convenient way is to clean up the ghosts in the room while cleaning, but for Zhou Fangdong now, this method is somewhat impractical.

The only life-saving item he possessed, the kerosene lamp, was only for warding off evil spirits. Moreover, kerosene lamp oil was a consumable item, and there was currently no way to replenish it. He couldn't possibly keep the precious kerosene lamp burning 24 hours a day while guarding the tenant's room.

Zhao Dawei quickly glanced through the rental contract, and his panic subsided considerably.

The five rules of the contract were not harsh. Zhao Dawei signed his name without hesitation, then took out thirty yuan in cash and handed the money and the contract to Zhou Fangdong.

When Zhou Fangdong received the rental contract and cash, both disappeared simultaneously, and the system notification sounded.

[Ding—Congratulations, host, for completing the beginner's guide quest ③]

[Tenant profile unlocked]

[Tenant Profile: [Low-Level Tenant - Disillusioned Middle-Aged Man] is now unlocked]

Please open the encyclopedia in the system interface and claim your rewards promptly.

[New Player Guide Mission 3 Completion Rewards: Elevator unlocked, Tenant Room Preview Interface unlocked, Lamp Oil unlocked (available for purchase in the shop)]

Seeing the lamp oil unlocked, Zhou Fangdong's heart skipped a beat.

But he didn't show it on his face. He calmly picked out the key to room 101 from the [landlord's keys] and handed it to Zhao Dawei: "This is your room key. Keep it safe. There's a copy of the rental agreement on the bedroom table. If you don't remember any of the rules, you can go and check it."

"You must follow the rules. Tenants who abide by the rules are safe."

Zhao Dawei nodded emphatically, gripping the keys tightly in his hand: "I understand!"

It wasn't appropriate to stare blankly at the system panel in front of outsiders. After confirming that nothing had been missed, Zhou Fangdong used the [Return] skill to teleport back to his room.

He couldn't wait to check out the lamp oil he had unlocked in the shop.

A note from the author:

----------------------