Chapter 13: New Skills Unlocked - Furniture Store Manager Comes to Visit...
After signing the tenant contract for room 109, Zhou Fangdong returned to his own room.
Instead of checking the unlocked skills immediately, he first looked at the lit-up tenant profiles.
Tenant Profile: [Low-Level Tenant - A Paranormal Streamer Yearning for Fame]
Illustrated description: A paranormal livestreamer with an extremely strong ambition for fame. She values her career above all else and is constantly chasing after viewership, even if it means losing her life.
Traits: Optimistic and adventurous; she'll keep doing crazy things as long as she doesn't die. Extremely resilient and not easily startled. She will never move out unless evicted.
(Note: This tenant's personality traits are unstable and may change depending on changes in favorability.)
Complete the collection reward: 30 Ghost Coins
Zhou Fangdong's gaze lingered on that trait of "always courting death as long as he doesn't die," and he remained silent for a long time.
...I was drenched in sweat.
What kind of tenant did he bring in?
"System, if I terminate the lease agreement with her, will side quest 1 be considered a failure?"
Yes. If the 109 tenant contract is terminated, side quest 1 will be reset and the quest reward will be taken back, but the tenant's profile that has already been unlocked will not disappear.
Should the tenant of room 109 be added to the special attention list?
What is the special attention list?
[Used to monitor tenant activity. The system will notify the host immediately of any unusual activity by tenants on the special watchlist.]
Currently, there are five empty slots in the Special Attention List. You can unlock more slots using Ghost Coins.
Does adding a tenant to a special watchlist cost ghost coins?
【unnecessary】
Zhou Fangdong thought for a moment and said, "Put Zhao Dawei from Room 101 and Miao Zheng from Room 109 on the special attention list."
Although Zhao Dawei is very honest, just in case, let's put him in. After all, he only has two tenants now, and these two only children need to be carefully taken care of.
Okay, the tenants of rooms 101 and 109 have been added to the special watch list.
[Beep—Detection indicates that Miao Zheng, the tenant of room 109, has left room 109]
Zhou Fangdong's heart had just jumped when he heard another message from the system:
Miao Zheng, the tenant of room 109, has left Liwan Apartment.
Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, he was just going out; he was so scared that he thought Miao Zheng was going to cause trouble as soon as he moved in.
It's good that she's going out, it's good that she's leaving the Liwan Apartment. Whatever she's going to do outside, as long as she doesn't wander around the apartment.
After closing the tenant directory, Zhou Fangdong washed his hands, meditated calmly for a minute, and finally used the skill points rewarded from the side quest to randomly unlock a skill.
Including the character-specific skills unlocked by leveling up, he now has two skills... He prays that one of them will be related to exorcism, so that he won't have to spend ghost coins to buy exorcism items in the future.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Fangdong carefully opened his character attribute interface.
A system pop-up window appears:
【Skill 1: Warm Mind Reading (Rank B)】
[Skill Description: You can use this skill to touch ghosts. Most ghosts cannot resist such a gentle touch. By touching ghosts, you can sense their current emotions and fragments of their most intense emotional memories from their past lives.]
(Note: This skill can be upgraded with skill points. Currently, this skill can only be used on ghosts of rank A and below.)
[Skill 2: Plucking Feathers from a Passing Goose (Rank C)]
[Skill Description: Passive skill. When you touch a ghost, you can randomly obtain a varying amount of Ghost Coins from it.]
(Note: Although this skill is a low-level skill, it works unconditionally on all ghosts and monsters. As long as the host can touch a ghost or monster, there is a chance to obtain Ghost Coins.)
(Note: This skill is an exclusive skill that is unlocked after the character levels up. It cannot be removed or upgraded.)
After reading the descriptions of these two skills, especially the description of skill 2, Zhou Fangdong was speechless.
Why is his unique skill something like this?
What kind of trash skills are these? If he had the courage to confront ghosts, he wouldn't be running around with a kerosene lamp all this time.
Zhou Fangdong sighed.
Although the unlocked skills seem rather useless, [Warm Mind Reading] seems perfect for completing role-playing tasks.
With this skill, he no longer needs to search for clues in Room 102; he can directly use the skill on the ghost in Room 102.
Just as the ghost in room 109 was a former tenant of room 109, the ghost remaining in room 102 is very likely to have an important connection with the tenant of room 102 as well.
In the role-playing task, he was required to play the role of a child who used to rent a room in room 102.
Zhou Fangdong can use his skills to view fragments of the 102 ghosts' past lives, find memories related to that child, and thus complete the role-playing task.
Moreover, not only can he complete role-playing tasks, he can also use this skill to determine the murder patterns of the ghost in Room 102, thereby drafting the rental contract for Room 102, which is simply killing two birds with one stone.
The only downside is that this skill requires him to touch a ghost...
Zhou Fangdong gritted his teeth and made up his mind to train himself properly.
He cannot rely too much on kerosene lamps; when facing vengeful ghosts, he must also have the ability to resist.
After leveling up, you will unlock skills and three attribute points, which can be allocated to the health bar, spirit bar, and stamina bar.
The health bar represents a person's life points, the spirit bar represents intelligence and the ability to withstand terror, and the stamina bar represents a person's physical functions, such as eyesight, muscle strength, reaction speed, motor coordination, running speed, etc.
"System, add all three attribute points to my stamina."
After weighing the options, Zhou Fangdong felt that physical strength was the most important thing. If he was attacked by a ghost while using mind reading, he could simply increase the force of the contact, turning mind reading into a physical attack on the ghost.
This operation requires a high level of reaction speed and strength.
[Just to confirm, does the host intend to allocate all attribute points to Stamina?]
"Yes."
After adding three points to my stamina, although my physique didn't change much, my perceived strength increased significantly, and my reactions became more agile.
Zhou Fangdong tried lifting the wardrobe in his room and found that he could easily lift it with one hand, something he never dared to imagine before.
After adding the attribute points, Zhou Fangdong opened the system shop.
For the sake of his upcoming mission and for his own safety, he needed to arm himself to the teeth.
After completing side quest 1, he received 300 Ghost Coins. In addition, he received 30 Ghost Coins for unlocking the tenant's profile, so he now has a total of 330 Ghost Coins. It's time to buy some exorcism talismans for protection.
After opening the system shop, Zhou Fangdong discovered that in addition to the [Low-level Exorcism Talisman] and [Low-level Purification Talisman], a new item, [Low-level Protective Talisman], had been unlocked.
[Low-level Amulet] Price: 90 Ghost Coins
Item Description: This item guarantees the user immunity to attacks from Rank B or lower ghosts for 30 minutes.
Although it's three times more expensive than the exorcism talisman, this amulet feels more suitable for the upcoming mission.
While low-level exorcism talismans can repel ghosts, the repelled ghosts won't reappear for 24 hours. This means that to use mind-reading on the same ghost again, you'd have to wait until the next day, which is far too inefficient.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Fangdong bought two low-level protective amulets and one low-level exorcism amulet.
With these three talismans in hand, along with the kerosene lamp, that should be enough. I should keep the remaining 120 ghost coins just in case.
After putting all the talismans into his inventory, Zhou Fangdong left the room and headed to Room 102.
On the way to Room 102, he encountered Miao Zheng, who was carrying large bags and small packages and walking back.
Miao Zheng must have gone out to buy things; those transparent plastic bags were filled with various daily necessities and food.
Compared to Zhao Dawei, Miao Zheng was clearly more comfortable with his identity as a tenant in a haunted house. After learning that the ghosts in the building wouldn't attack him if he carried the 109 key, returning to Liwan Apartment felt as natural as coming home.
Seeing Zhou Fangdong walking towards him, Miao Zheng waved enthusiastically: "Landlord, I'm officially moving in today! Please take good care of me from now on!"
Just then, Zhao Dawei, who had heard a commotion outside, peeked out from room 101.
The middle-aged man looked at Miao Zheng, then at Zhou Fangdong, and finally asked cautiously, "Landlord, is this our apartment's new tenant?"
Miao Zheng's eyes lit up when he saw Zhao Dawei.
Before Zhou Fangdong could say anything, she dropped the bag she was holding, rushed over, grabbed Zhao Dawei's hand, and shook it forcefully.
"Hello, hello, I'm a new tenant. My name is Miao Zheng, Miao from 'grass field,' and Zheng from 'unyielding spirit.' I live in apartment 109. Uncle, how long have you been here? Are you settling into apartment life? Have you encountered any strange things in the apartment? Would it be convenient for you to appear on camera for an interview?"
Zhao Dawei looked somewhat embarrassed, his gaze fixed on Zhou Fangdong.
Miao Zheng tactfully released his hand and said with a smile, "It seems you have something to discuss with the landlord, so I won't bother you any longer. By the way, uncle, let's exchange contact information. We live in the same building, so it'll be easier to get in touch if needed."
In order to get Miao Zheng to leave quickly, Zhao Dawei readily gave her his contact information.
After Miao Zheng returned to room 109, only Zhao Dawei and Zhou Fangdong remained in the corridor.
Zhao Dawei relaxed a little and said awkwardly, "Landlord, although this request is a bit unreasonable, but... uh, could you please help me find a job?"
Zhao Dawei's terrifying experience at the slaughterhouse made him afraid to go out and look for work for a while.
After returning to his apartment yesterday, Zhao Dawei thought about it and realized that since the mysterious landlord could re-rent out the notoriously haunted Liwan Apartment building, he could not only guarantee the safety of the tenants from the ghosts in the building, but even the slaughterhouse manager would let him go because he was a tenant of Liwan Apartment...
Does this mean that the landlord of Liwan Apartments possesses terrifying power capable of slaying all ghosts and monsters?
If this job was introduced by the landlord, it must be very safe, right?
Upon hearing Zhao Dawei's request, Zhou Fangdong's expression went blank for a moment.
Does a landlord have a responsibility to find jobs for their tenants? He can't even leave the apartment building, so where is he supposed to find a job for him?
Just as Zhou Fangdong was wondering how to respond to Zhao Dawei's request, the system's cold, electronic voice suddenly rang out:
The manager of the Home Furnishings store is outside the apartment building; he requests a meeting with the landlord of Liwan Apartment.
Upon hearing the system notification, Zhou Fangdong frowned slightly.
Manager of Guijia Furniture Store?
He did indeed ask Hong Zhong to deliver the newly ordered furniture today, but why did the furniture store manager come along? Doesn't this store not offer delivery service?
Zhou Fangdong took out his phone and checked the furniture purchase order to confirm that he had paid for it.
Let's go to the entrance and see what's going on...
Zhou Fangdong said to Zhao Dawei, "We'll talk about job hunting later. I have something urgent to take care of. Come with me to the apartment entrance first."
*
In front of the Liwan Apartment building.
Hong Zhong was leaning against the car door, his left arm around a mannequin, his right hand holding a bottle of energy drink, and he was solemnly gulping it down.
If smoking weren't prohibited for employees, perhaps having a cigarette in his mouth would better highlight his helpless mood at that moment.
This morning, after receiving a delivery order from Liwan Apartment, Hong Zhong drove directly to Guijia Furniture Store.
When he arrived at the furniture store, the newly ordered furniture had already been packed and placed at the store entrance, just like yesterday.
Hong Zhong cautiously approached the furniture, stood guard at the store entrance for a long time, and only after confirming that no more ghostly hands or pools of blood appeared did he move the packed furniture onto the truck bed.
However, when he opened the driver's side door, he was shocked to find a mannequin sitting in the passenger seat.
The mannequin was dressed in a blue and white store clerk uniform, but the wig on its head was gone, leaving only a blue baseball cap with the words "[Home Furnishings Store]" on its bald head.
Although it had been given a new face with thick eyebrows and big eyes, judging from the mottled bloodstains under its eyes that hadn't been wiped away, this guy must be the mannequin that shed blood and tears in the shop window yesterday.
Hong Zhong immediately raised his gun.
Before he could pull the trigger, the mannequin suddenly turned its head, and along with the sound of its neck joint twisting, Hong Zhong's text message notification sounded.
The unique ringtone that represents Liwan Apartments made Hong Zhong stop what he was doing.
He picked up his phone and found a new order had appeared on the delivery page:
Please deliver the furniture from the Guijia Furniture Store to Liwan Apartment. Regardless of whether the delivery is successful or not, you will receive a set of the most popular furniture from Guijia Furniture Store (color random) as a reward.
Upon seeing this new order, Hong Zhong fell silent.
He ignored the mannequin in the passenger seat, expressionlessly put away his phone, closed the car door, floored the accelerator, and sped towards Liwan Apartments.
It wasn't for the reward, but rather he hoped that the mysterious landlord of Liwan Apartments could help him get rid of the mannequin and the so-called delivery reward.
As a reward, you'll receive a set of furniture from the Home Furnishings store...
This isn't a reward; it's clearly a curse.
This new delivery order, translated from Chinese to Chinese, means: Whether you deliver this mannequin or not, you'll receive a set of furniture that can randomly produce ghosts and monsters. This curse has already afflicted you. Surprised? Unexpected?
Instead of wasting time fighting with this mannequin here, we should get this monstrosity to Liwan Apartments as soon as possible and let the landlord deal with it.
When the car pulled up in front of the apartment building, Hong Zhong received another message on his phone.
The store manager needs your help to carry it out of the car.
Hong Zhong was already numb.
Is this thing deliberately messing with him? He could have gotten into the car and sat in the passenger seat without anyone noticing, but now he wants him to carry him out of the car?
Although he was speechless, in order to get rid of this weird thing as soon as possible, Hong Zhong still dutifully carried the mannequin off the car.
To prevent it from losing its balance, Hong Zhong used one hand to support its body.
When Zhou Fangdong arrived at the apartment entrance, he saw Hong Zhong intimately embracing a man in a blue and white uniform leaning against the car.
Two burly men were huddled together intimately, a sight that was truly an eyesore.
A note from the author:
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