Chapter 88: The tenant in room 207 is in a worryingly immature state...
Just as Zhou, the landlord, was about to teleport to the second floor, he suddenly heard the system's voice:
[Host, stop cleaning room 207. Go back to your room and rest. You're not feeling well.]
Zhou Fangdong rebelliously refused: "No, I feel uncomfortable if I go to sleep halfway through playing games. At least clean room 207 until it can be cleaned with automatic cleaning tools."
[Then go back to your room and wash your face first. You just fell, and your face is a bit dirty.]
Zhou Fangdong, who was very conscious of his image in front of his tenants, paused, then obediently teleported back to his room.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Zhou Fangdong was stunned when he saw his own face.
There was blood on his face, and the two streaks of blood were flowing down from where his eyes were.
Something's wrong. The system is hiding something from him; he has definitely just lost a piece of his memory.
Zhou Fangdong opened the system panel and began searching through each interface. Finally, he found a system log entry on the rewards page that he didn't recognize:
[The Longevity Stone has been successfully digested; the body's repair progress is 70% complete.]
The Longevity Stone... This is the source of the supernatural phenomena in Fengrao Village. He did indeed give this thing to the system not long ago.
What happened next?
Just as Zhou Fangdong was about to recall the events carefully, the system's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts:
[The host has not lost their memory. The fainting and body pain experienced just now were side effects of using the Longevity Stone to upgrade their skills.]
After the Longevity Stone was digested, not only was the body repaired, but the host's skills were also enhanced.
Before Zhou Fangdong could think further, the system popped up a window to distract him:
The skill [Ghost Eye] has been upgraded to [Heavenly Eye]
[Tianmu] (Skill upgraded to the highest level)
Skill effect: Enhanced deterrence ability, capable of deterring high-level ghosts.
It can perceive all changes, see the flow of yin energy more clearly, and trace the source of yin energy. It can see the karmic entanglements on ghosts (the cause-and-effect lines from their previous and subsequent lives).
Mind control will not be limited to those with weak wills; it can directly control ghosts and living people, or implant subconscious thoughts into their minds, making them act according to one's own ideas (the effect will be greatly reduced for those with strong wills).
It turned out that the system was helping him upgrade his skills when he fainted... Zhou Fangdong quickly read the description of the [Heavenly Eye] skill and was very satisfied with the effect of the upgraded skill.
From now on, there's no need to play hide-and-seek with the ghosts in the room, and it will be much easier to find that ghostly derivative in room 207.
The skill points required to upgrade [Ghost Eye] to its highest level should be similar to those required for [Half-Body Shrine]. Exchanging an unusable supernatural item for 15 skill points is incredibly worthwhile.
We should pay more attention to these kinds of supernatural items in the future. Even if there are side effects after using supernatural items to upgrade, it doesn't matter. It will only hurt for a while. The pain of dying repeatedly while doing role-playing tasks is much more painful than this.
Zhou Fangdong quickly washed his face and then went back upstairs.
With five cleaners working together, the efficiency was quite high, and the black plastic bags were no longer visible in the corridor.
After re-entering room 207, Zhou Fangdong realized just how useful the upgraded [Ghost Eye] was.
There's no longer a need to trace the source of the yin energy flow as before; everything emanating supernatural power is now highlighted.
He finally understood what the 'ghostly derivative' in room 207 referred to.
After the murderers who once lived in Room 207 were killed by the next tenant, although their souls were eaten by the debt collectors, their resentment still lingered on the things they left behind.
These relics are the things most closely associated with them, such as the only intact violin on the living room display stand, which still bears the resentment of the luthier.
If these ghostly derivatives are left for too long, they may turn into cursed items.
The fully automatic cleaning tools cannot clean up these ghostly offspring, so Zhou Fangdong needs to pick them all out first.
With the aid of [Heavenly Eye], Zhou Fangdong didn't need to conduct a thorough search like he was looking for a corpse. He picked out all fifty-plus ghost derivatives with little effort.
Then he called out the peddler and asked him to take all these things to the ghost market to sell.
Even if I don't sell many ghost coins, it's fine as long as I can make money. Even a small amount is still money.
After doing all this, Zhou Fangdong used an intermediate-level fully automatic cleaning tool and then ordered a batch of furniture from a furniture store.
Before leaving room 207, he glanced at the rental preview screen.
After the instance corruption ended, all players in the instance were teleported back to their apartments.
But some people ran away again after being teleported back, like Hong Zhong, Li Zhe, and Duan Wenyu. These three were going to finish up the matter in Fengrao Village.
Miao Zheng and Xiao Xiaoyu also went out; they were going to the hospital to visit Zhu Di and the others.
Zhao Dawei stayed in the room. The chubby pixelated figure in room 101 sat dejectedly on the bed, sighing constantly, with a dark cloud hanging over his head, looking very downcast.
After experiencing two thrilling dungeons, the uncle had no desire to leave. He asked Miao Zheng and the others to bring back two sets of clothes, and then he became withdrawn and isolated in his room.
Hou San was also in the room; he had converted room 203 into... a warehouse.
This furniture vendor is completely indiscriminate about his living environment, and has managed to pile up his room into the kind of hoarding mess that resembles room 103.
All sorts of strange things were piled up to the ceiling, and he kept pulling things out of his chest... those must have been the spoils he had collected from the Abundant Village.
Zhou Fangdong checked the rental preview page to see if Hou San was in the room, as he wanted to discuss the matter of becoming the acting manager of the Ghost Market Paper Shop with him.
The sooner the store manager issue is resolved, the sooner the paper craft shop can open for business.
When Zhou Fangdong teleported to Room 203, Hou San just pulled a coffin out of his chest.
When Hou San heard that Zhou Fangdong had asked him to be the acting manager of the paper-making shop, he was so surprised that he lost all composure.
He subconsciously attributed the incident to his offering of the Longevity Stone to his landlord.
Hou San decided to work harder to source goods and find some good items to give to his landlord. Once he raised his landlord's favorability, he might not only become an acting store manager, but also a full-fledged store manager, or even own his own store and reach the pinnacle of his life.
After successfully resolving the issue of the acting store manager, Zhou Fangdong inquired with Hou San about the side effects of the human skin mask.
Surprisingly, the side effects of the human skin mask were much milder than Zhou Fangdong had imagined.
The most common random curse on human skin masks is face blindness. Face blindness is a terrifying curse for business people, since not recognizing regular customers is very impolite. But fortunately, Hou San has more than one pair of eyes; his younger brother, who is parasitizing his body, can also help him recognize people.
Other side effects include getting lost, losing one's sense of direction, difficulty concentrating, poor appetite, drowsiness, etc. These are all serious side effects for humans, but they are nothing to Hou San and Zhou Fangdong.
Hou San even took advantage of the disorienting side effect of the human skin mask. Losing his sense of direction, he would often accidentally wander into unfamiliar Sigu Society strongholds and then happily buy goods there.
After leaving room 203, Zhou Fangdong originally intended to go back to his room to rest, but he received a reply from Hong Zhong.
Since Zhao Dawei is still on vacation today, Hong Zhong was asked to help deliver the furniture for room 207 that he ordered.
Hong Zhong replied that he wasn't too busy to move the furniture, but rather that he needed Zhou Fangdong's help and was waiting for him in the entrance hall on the first floor of the apartment.
Since the supernatural forces in Fengrao Village and the shopping mall had all disappeared, Hong Zhong no longer needed to accompany him, so he returned to his apartment.
Hong Zhong sought out Zhou Fangdong this time to inquire about the unusual condition he was experiencing.
Not long ago, when the team members who arrived in Fengrao Village were cleaning up the incident, they had strange expressions when they saw him. They would often look at him while cleaning up the scene.
It was only after Li Zhe told him that Hong Zhong realized he had a pair of cat ears on his head.
...He said that his hearing had suddenly become so sensitive.
Seeing his current appearance in the car's rearview mirror, Hong Zhong felt utterly hopeless.
He initially thought his skin had just darkened and his fingers had turned into cat paw shapes, but he never expected to grow a pair of cat ears...
Fortunately, the cat ears are black, so at first glance they look like two tufts of hair sticking up, which isn't too obvious.
Hong Zhong originally thought that once the cat ghost disappeared, the cat features on his body would also disappear, but he didn't expect that even though the end of the Fengrao Village project was almost over, the cat ears on his head still showed no signs of disappearing.
He panicked and quickly drove back to his apartment to ask his landlord for help.
Zhou Fangdong teleported to the first floor and, seeing Hong Zhong's current appearance and hearing his request, coughed lightly, feeling somewhat guilty: "Don't worry, just keep feeding the cat ghost in the room with blood, and these cat-like features will disappear... in as little as three to five days, or as long as a week."
Hong Zhong sighed silently.
If he could just disappear, he decided to wear a hat on all his missions for the next few days.
Seeing Hong Zhong about to leave, Zhou Fangdong quickly called out to him, "By the way, in your supervisory bureau, are there any investigators with particularly strong wills who are not affected by supernatural forces?"
Hong Zhong paused for a moment, not replying immediately, but asking hesitantly, "Landlord, what do you want from this kind of investigator...?"
“We’re just looking for tenants for room 207,” Zhou Fangdong replied.
Although the debt collectors now owe him a large sum of money and have promised not to collect the debts from the tenants anymore, Zhou Fangdong is still uneasy.
The premise of safely renting room 207 is to avoid being influenced by the abacus. Once you get entangled with the debt collector, there's no way to stop it.
Zhou Fangdong felt that the investigators from the Supervisory Bureau were specially trained and should be able to control their greed and coexist harmoniously with the debt collectors, which is why he asked Hong Zhong.
Hearing that Zhou Fangdong was just looking for tenants, Hong Zhong breathed a sigh of relief: "Mr. Landlord, is it because the ghost in room 207 amplifies the tenants' desires that you need a determined investigator to move in?" With years of experience dealing with paranormal events, Hong Zhong immediately realized why Zhou Fangdong needed this kind of tenant.
"Does a ghost only harm a tenant after fulfilling their needs? If it cannot fulfill their needs, will it not harm them?"
Zhou Fangdong thought for a moment and nodded.
“In that case, I have someone here who might be just right…” Hong Zhong hesitated, seemingly unsure whether to let this person move into the Liwan Apartments. “After a mission, he suffered some brain damage, and his way of thinking is somewhat unusual. Of course, it's just a problem with his thinking and cognition; he can still live independently, but…”
"It's alright, let's bring it over and give it a try." They might as well try anything, even if it's just a desperate measure. Zhou Fangdong didn't know what kind of roommate to find for that debt-collecting ghost; if all else failed, he'd just have to replace the ghost in room 207.
Before dark, Hong Zhong returned to Liwan Apartment with the tenant and furniture.
The man was thin, with a thick beard, and looked older than Hong Zhong. He appeared quite mature. However, his clothes didn't quite match his appearance... He wore a SpongeBob SquarePants printed vest, Patrick Star-style shorts, and flip-flops.
The furniture in the truck bed jumped off the truck on its own and lined up to go upstairs, while Hong Zhong tried to persuade the bearded man to enter the apartment.
Hearing the conversation between the two, Zhou Fangdong almost lost his composure.
The bearded man clung tightly to the car door, refusing to budge no matter how much Hong Zhong pulled him, shouting, "I know this is the legendary Liwan Apartment! Wolverine, the two of us can't handle this level of dark power. I can feel my Black Wings being completely suppressed! You don't want to die here with me, do you—"
Hong Zhong looked helpless: "No, I'm just changing your accommodation. You'll live here with me from now on."
The bearded man shook his head firmly: "Batman, listen to me, the two of us can't handle the Liwan Apartments on our own. Let's get the rest of the Justice League here!"
Hong Zhong patiently repeated, "We don't need to fight, we can just stay here."
"What?! Are we going to join the ranks of vengeful ghosts? No way—"
Hong Zhong sighed deeply and pinched his temples hard: "The operation has already begun. You just need to follow my orders. What you need to do now is stay at the Liwan Apartments."
The bearded man immediately released the car door, snapped to attention, and saluted: "Yes, sir! No problem, sir! I will obey your orders!"
Hong Zhong's expression became even more complicated, and his eyes showed some sadness.
Hu Feng was once Hong Zhong's captain. The reason he became like this is because when dealing with an emergency supernatural incident, a supernatural curse was about to erupt. The incident happened suddenly, and there was no time to disperse the crowd. In order to prevent the surrounding people from being harmed, he used a prop to transfer all the curses onto himself.
Because he bore the supernatural curse of hundreds of people, although he was rescued, his mental state deteriorated, and his cognition and thinking became somewhat confused.
After that, Hu Feng retired and has been recuperating at home ever since.
Linjiang City is getting more and more chaotic. Because of some selfish reasons, Hong Zhong felt that becoming an apartment tenant might give Hu Feng more security. In addition, the situation of room 207 was just right for Hu Feng, so he pulled him over.
Hong Zhong led the bearded man to Zhou Fangdong: "Landlord, this is Hu Feng. Although he is a bit mentally confused, he can still follow the rules... The ghost in room 207 should not be able to understand his thoughts or satisfy his desires. He can live safely in room 207."
Although Zhou Fangdong wasn't very optimistic about this person, he still said, "I'll take him to room 207 to try it out first. If it's not suitable, I'll bring him down."
“Okay.” Hong Zhong stuffed thirty yuan into Hu Feng’s hand. “Landlord, if you want him to follow the rules, you can speak to him in a commanding tone, and he will obey.”
Zhou Fangdong nodded.
He led the bearded man to the stairwell. Before going up to the second floor, Zhou Fangdong, imitating Hong Zhong, explained the rules for going upstairs in a commanding tone.
Just as Hong Zhong had said, although the bearded man was mentally confused, he obeyed orders and obediently stepped up the steps following the patterns of the dried corpse without any mistakes.
This relieved Zhou Fangdong.
...It seems this person is capable of taking care of themselves and will obey orders; they are not particularly crazy.
This sense of relief lasted until they entered room 207.
The ghost inside the furniture had already placed the furniture in room 207 before them. Room 207 is now very clean, like a typical well-furnished apartment. The abacus is placed on the coffee table in the living room, visible as soon as the door is opened.
The door had barely opened when Zhou Fangdong, before he could even speak, saw the bearded man's eyes light up. He rushed in with incredible speed, grabbed the abacus from the coffee table, and began frantically strumming it like a guitarist.
"Ah! This abacus! I hear the echo of destiny! Invisible chains bind us together—it is fate!"
Zhou Fangdong quickly focused his attention. If the debt collector was triggered, he would use the [Heavenly Eye] skill to suppress it.
But to his surprise, after Hu Feng got the abacus, his demands were: "Let all the ghosts and monsters in the world disappear! Let those vengeful spirits also feel the pain of humans! How many floors does it take to carry a bag of rice!"
"This world cannot exist without Gundam, just as the West cannot exist without Jerusalem! Give me Gundam! I want to blast those vengeful ghosts to pieces with my laser cannon!"
The room suddenly fell into an eerie silence, even the sound of Hu Feng fiddling with the abacus disappeared.
The debt collector in the abacus didn't react, and Zhou Fangdong didn't know how to react either.
"Damn it, why isn't it reacting?" The bearded man shook the abacus violently twice. "Abacus hiding dark power, hurry up and show me your true power! I'm your master now! Release the seal! Grant me a substitute! Grant me superpowers! I want to be a magical girl! Give me a Gundam! I want to pilot a mecha! I want to destroy all the evil spirits in the world! As long as I can get to that place... Damn it! Why isn't it responding to me?!"
Zhou Fangdong finally understood why Hong Zhong had recommended this person to him as the tenant of room 207.
Indeed, all humans have desires, and greed is uncontrollable. Under the temptation of the abacus, even ascetics will unconsciously use it and incur debts of life.
However, the prerequisite for incurring debt is that the debt collector must first fulfill the person's desires.
This bearded man wants to eliminate all the evil spirits in the world. If the debt collector can really achieve this, then the debt collector will also cease to exist.
In fact, Zhou Fangdong suspected that the debt collector in the abacus couldn't understand what the bearded man was saying at all... He had a hard time understanding Hu Feng's speech, let alone the debt collector, an old relic from the Republic of China era.
A novice can defeat a master with a flurry of punches; perhaps this guy is really suited for this room.
Zhou Fangdong took out the rental contract and said to the bearded man, "This is..."
The bearded man snatched the rental agreement, laughing loudly, "Hahaha, I'm the chosen one! I'm here to save the world! Ta-ta-kai! Ta-ta-kai!"
He muttered incomprehensible nonsense and signed his name on the paper with a flourish, without even glancing at what was on it.
Zhou Fangdong fell silent again.
While there aren't many rules to follow when renting a place—as long as the abacus isn't used in the room, the tenant is safe—but…
To prevent him from doing anything unexpected, Zhou Fangdong took the contract and cash from Hu Feng, handed him the key, and said before he could speak, "Don't lose the key, that's an order."
Hu Feng immediately replied, "Okay! I guarantee I'll complete the mission! I won't let the key out of my sight, even if it costs me my life!"
After saying that, he started chuckling again, muttering, "Hehe, I will protect world peace, hehe, white hole, a white tomorrow awaits me..."
[Congratulations, host, on completing side quest 13. Quest rewards: 500 Ghost Coins, 2000 Experience Points, and 1 Random Skill Point]
[The new tenant profile [Strange Tenant - A Mentally Disturbed Chuunibyou Investigator] has been unlocked. Please claim your profile reward promptly.]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com