Chapter 24 The countdown to the Night Raid of One Hundred Demons is ahead of schedule, which is unusual. (This is followed by a seemingly unrelated sentence: "The Surveillance Bureau's decision...")
At this critical moment, the long-dormant system suddenly emitted a sharp, explosive sound:
[Beep—Host detected to be in mortal danger, 100% mortality rate! Newbie protection measures forcibly activated, forcibly rescuing you from your starting room!]
Zhou Fangdong felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, as if a black curtain had fallen from above and enveloped him.
The curtain felt incredibly soft, like a lump of jelly falling from the sky. Being inside this 'jelly' didn't feel suffocating at all; instead, it gave me a familiar sense of security—like returning to the place where life first began, to the warm womb that nurtured me.
Zhou Fangdong suddenly felt unusually drowsy.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself lying on his bed in the room.
I picked up my phone and glanced at it; it was already the next day. Everything that happened last night seemed like a dream.
Zhou Fangdong rubbed his throbbing temples, and just as he was about to call upon the system, a cold, electronic voice rang out:
[Dynamic Event: Night Attack of a Hundred Demons (Countdown: 17 days)]
Zhou Fangdong was stunned.
Shouldn't it be 27 days? How did it become 17 days?
"System? Why has the Night Raid of a Hundred Demons suddenly started 10 days earlier?"
After a long silence, just when Zhou Fangdong thought the system wouldn't respond, a faint electronic voice sounded:
[...After finding the clue about the lamp oil yesterday, the host should have returned to the room immediately.]
The familiar electronic voice sounded a little weak, and the sound was very soft.
Zhou Fangdong could sense a deep weariness in his voice.
The system probably lost a lot of energy last night while trying to save him.
Zhou Fangdong suddenly felt a little guilty: "Uh... well, last night I just wanted to check the apartment's staircase..."
The apartment staircase is currently closed and will not malfunction at night. If the host wishes to continue exploring the use of the memorial tablets, they can check them during the day.
After a pause, the system repeated its instructions:
[The host's newbie protection mechanism has been exhausted. Before completing the [Night Raid of One Hundred Demons] event, do not wander around the apartment at night, especially avoid the elevator area.]
After saying this, the system fell silent again.
This time, the system was unusually straightforward. It didn't use the usual game jargon like 'task' or 'hint,' but directly told Zhou Fangdong what he could and couldn't do. It was as if someone was talking to him through the system.
Although the system did not answer why the night raid of the hundred ghosts was brought forward, Zhou Fangdong was too embarrassed to ask again.
So be it. Even if the system doesn't say it, he knows it's probably because of his rash actions last night.
Sigh, the system has pulled him back from the brink of death once again... The system is really loyal, good brother, I will never secretly curse it as a heartless and unscrupulous merchant again.
Zhou Fangdong is preparing to accelerate the progress of the mission, striving to rent out all the rooms on the first floor as soon as possible, and working hard to improve his own capabilities.
During this period, I can no longer wander around. My character level is not high right now, and the skills I have unlocked are all auxiliary skills. If I rely too much on the kerosene lamp, I will inevitably crash and burn like last night.
Zhou Fangdong habitually opened the rental interface to check his tenants. After discovering that Duan Wenyu's pixelated figure in room 102 had already woken up, he teleported directly to room 102.
According to the tenant rules for Room 102, tenants are prohibited from sleeping in the master bedroom, so Duan Wenyu directly used the living room as a bedroom and transformed Room 102 into a small one-bedroom apartment of about 30 square meters.
When Zhou Fangdong arrived, Duan Wenyu was carrying a meal into the small storage room.
He seems to be adapting well and has been strictly adhering to the tenant rules.
After Duan Wenyu came out of the storage room, he saw Zhou Fangdong waiting in the room and greeted him with some surprise, "Landlord, you're here! Have you had breakfast? Would you like to have some with me?"
Because of his major, Duan Wenyu often had to help his senior classmates taste the new varieties of fruits and vegetables they had researched. Sometimes, they would even pack up the leftovers for him to take home. Over the years, Duan Wenyu developed excellent culinary skills.
This morning he used an induction cooker to make several simple home-style stir-fries. They were fresh out of the pan and still steaming hot, and they looked delicious.
Zhou Fangdong looked at the dishes on the table and shook his head expressionlessly. "No need, I don't need to eat these things." Although he said that, his heart was bleeding.
I really want to eat it, even though I'm not hungry.
Damn it, the first thing he'll do when he can finally leave the apartment building is rush to the buffet restaurant for a feast.
Fearing he wouldn't be able to hold on any longer, Zhou Fangdong took out an exorcism talisman and bandages from his inventory and handed them to Duan Wenyu.
“This talisman is for exorcising ghosts. Carry it with you at all times. Use it if you encounter danger. Don’t be stingy. I will give you a replacement after you’ve used it up.” After saying that, Zhou Fangdong pointed to his foot. “This bandage is for treating your foot injury. Keep it safe.”
Duan Wenyu accepted the exorcism talisman and bandages with gratitude.
In just a few short sentences, his favorability rating steadily increased, reaching 80.
Zhou Fangdong was already used to it.
He suspected that even if all he did was breathe, his tenants would still increase his popularity.
Having given all the necessary instructions, Zhou Fangdong didn't linger in room 102 and teleported back to his own room.
Because he couldn't feel hungry in room 102, Duan Wenyu didn't use the bandages immediately, but ate breakfast first.
After the meal, when he bandaged his ankle, Duan Wenyu was shocked to find that the injury on his foot had disappeared instantly, without any side effects.
I thought it was just an ordinary bandage, but it had such a magical effect. No wonder it's the landlord of Liwan Apartments. Not only does it have the terrifying power to suppress ghosts and monsters and help him get rid of the curse, it can even cure diseases and save lives. It's simply too omnipotent!
Remembering the favor he had asked the landlord yesterday, Duan Wenyu quickly threw the dishes into the sink, grabbed his phone (which had no signal), and ran out of the Liwan Apartment building.
He wanted to contact his classmates to see if they had all been rescued.
*
Not long after returning to his room, a pop-up window suddenly appeared in Zhou Fangdong's eyes: "[Duan Wenyu's favorability has reached 100]".
Zhou Fangdong is numb.
He seems to have done nothing... Not only has he done nothing, he's not even with Duan Wenyu right now, so how come his favorability rating is still over 100?
Although he was confused, he was now able to face it calmly because several tenants had easily reached a hundred points of favorability with him.
Zhou Fangdong first glanced at the reward of 80 points of favorability.
The rewards for reaching 80 favorability with Duan Wenyu are: 200 Ghost Coins, a set of fine kitchen utensils, a copy of "Home-Style Food Recipes", and a copy of "Crop Cultivation, Breeding and Seed Science".
Aside from the Ghost Coins, the other items were still pretty useless... But having Ghost Coins was enough. With these 200 Ghost Coins, Zhou Fangdong now had 1000 Ghost Coins for the first time.
After happily collecting the ghost coins and items, Zhou Fangdong checked the reward for Duan Wenyu's full 100 favorability points.
【Ghost Seedling】
(Upgradable item)
[Item Description: A tender seedling; no one knows what it will grow into. Although it is a seedling, it does not need soil and can be nourished with human blood, chunks of meat, bone ashes, and incense.]
Looking at the strange description of the prop, Zhou Fangdong had a feeling that this thing was a bit dangerous... Forget it, he decided not to give this prop to Duan Wenyu; he would keep it for himself.
Zhou Fangdong took out the bright green seedling, picked up the book "Crop Cultivation, Breeding and Seed Science" that he had just thrown on the table, placed it upright against the wall, and inserted the seedling between the pages.
Then he took an incense stick from his inventory and lit it.
After looking around the room and finding no place to insert incense sticks, Zhou Fangdong simply stuck the incense sticks between the two tender green leaves of the seedling.
A perfect base ensures that the incense doesn't go out, and the ash from the burnt incense falls onto the leaves as fertilizer.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that after he stuck the incense stick into the middle of the seedling's leaves, the green leaves seemed to tremble... It didn't seem to be caused by his action of inserting the incense, because the trembling was delayed.
Zhou Fangdong stroked his chin and stared at the seedling for a while.
The incense burned quietly on the seedling, while the two green leaves remained still.
...Just now it was just like the pain reaction of a living thing after being injured. No wonder it is called [Ghost Seed], it is so spiritual.
Zhou Fangdong shook his head, not taking the matter to heart.
He checked his inventory and found that he still had 2x2 sticks of incense left, which should be enough for a while.
After throwing out all the useless items from his inventory, Zhou Fangdong decided to go to room 104 and clean up the convenience store to complete hidden mission ②.
*
As soon as Duan Wenyu stepped out of the apartment, his phone was flooded with countless missed calls and text messages.
After shutting down and restarting, the phone finally recovered, and the call screen lit up again.
The caller ID shows [Zhang Shan].
When Duan Wenyu saw his classmate calling him, his heart suddenly raced, and he answered the call without hesitation.
To his surprise, the voice coming from the phone was that of an unfamiliar middle-aged man: "Hello, I am the director of the Abnormal Inspection Bureau. Are you Mr. Duan Wenyu?"
Duan Wenyu frowned and asked urgently, "Yes, this is Duan Wenyu. What can I do for you? Why are you using my friend's phone to contact me? How is Zhang Shan doing?"
"Don't worry, Zhang Shan is safe now. All the graduates in the Agricultural University auditorium have been rescued and are now in the Supervision Bureau. Would it be convenient for you to come over?"
"Okay, okay, I'm coming right now," Duan Wenyu replied quickly, and ran towards the bus parked next to the apartment as fast as he could.
Hearing that all his classmates had been rescued, his gratitude towards the landlord deepened even further.
Unexpectedly, the landlord not only helped him get rid of the points system, but also kept his word and rescued his classmates. He was deeply grateful and would obey the landlord's every request unconditionally from now on.
As Duan Wenyu sat down on the bus, the announcement board suddenly came on, broadcasting the names of all the bus stops in Linjiang City one by one.
He named the site closest to the Bureau of Abnormalities.
As soon as he finished speaking, the bus started moving and headed towards the city center.
Since yesterday, when Duan Wenyu started running errands for his landlord, he noticed that, whether it was because he no longer had the points system or because he was already a tenant of Liwan Apartment, there were no further abnormalities in the bus during the journey.
The car windows were no longer completely blocked out; Duan Wenyu could now clearly see the city scenery outside.
The ghost bus carried him safely to the bus stop near the supervisory bureau.
Duan Wenyu was initially worried that the appearance of this strange bus might alert the Bureau of Surveillance.
Then he realized he was overthinking it. The people in the supervisory bureau uniforms who were waiting at the bus stop didn't react at all when they saw the ghost bus, just like they were seeing an ordinary bus.
As Duan Wenyu got out of the car, someone approached him and said, "Duan Wenyu from Linjiang Agricultural University? Hello, I'm an investigator from the Abnormal Investigation Bureau. The director asked me to wait for you here."
Duan Wenyu glanced at his name tag. It read "Li Zhe, Level B Investigator," followed by his employee number.
Seeing this, he obediently followed Li Zhe to the main entrance of the Bureau of Abnormal Supervision.
The Abnormal Inspection Bureau is located in the very center of Linjiang City, at the intersection of all roads, so it can arrive at the scene as quickly as possible no matter where the incident occurs.
The Bureau of Supervision is not a single building, but a complex of several buildings. The entire Bureau is surrounded by high walls that can isolate supernatural forces, and there are many well-secured laboratories and confidential facilities underground.
The first building after entering is the office area of the Paranormal Investigation Department—the Paranormal Investigation Department is like a gatekeeper for the entire Bureau of Surveillance; if there is a paranormal intrusion, they will be the first to step in.
Duan Wenyu followed Li Zhe into a special passage. After undergoing a series of complex tests, he finally entered the building where the Anomaly Investigation Department was located.
The director of the Supervision Bureau was waiting for him in his office on the first floor of the Investigation Department.
The bureau chief was a very burly middle-aged man, tall and imposing, with a menacing aura about him. His face and hands were covered with scars of varying severity, as if he had experienced the baptism of war.
When Duan Wenyu came in, he didn't sit down in the chair, but instead stood with his hands behind his back, looking out the window.
Hearing footsteps outside the door, he turned around and walked towards Duan Wenyu.
The bureau chief smiled at Duan Wenyu in a friendly manner and extended his hand to him: "Mr. Duan, hello. I invited you here today because there is something I would like to ask you about."
Duan Wenyu was flattered and quickly bent down to shake the director's hand: "Please ask whatever you want. You've worked hard to protect the citizens. There's no need to be so polite to me. I will answer whatever you ask truthfully. Cooperating with your investigation is my duty as a citizen."
Duan Wenyu felt uneasy because he had a rough idea of what the bureau chief wanted to ask, but he was afraid that if he told the truth, the bureau chief would not believe him.
"It's nothing serious." The bureau chief patted Duan Wenyu on the shoulder and gestured for him to sit down in a chair nearby. "I'm older than you, so I'll take the liberty of calling you Xiao Duan. Xiao Duan, I heard you moved into the Liwan Apartments?"
"Before you arrived, the Investigation Department had already questioned the graduates who were trapped in the auditorium with you and learned about your general experiences. Can you tell me how you came up with the idea of going to Liwan Apartments to break the curse on you? Did that mysterious landlord help you deal with your problems?"
Duan Wenyu perked up immediately at the mention of the landlord of Liwan Apartments.
Even if the bureau chief doesn't believe him, he will tell the truth and try his best to convince the bureau chief that it's all for the landlord's reputation!
Duan Wenyu straightened his back, his eyes shining, his dark face filled with determination: "That's right! That landlord not only saved me, but also all my classmates! If it weren't for him, probably not even half of us would have survived."
Everyone used to say that Liwan Apartments was a haunted building that devoured people without spitting out the bones, and everyone talked about how terrifying Liwan Apartments was—but that was all in the past. Under the landlord's control, the ghosts in the apartment can now live in harmony with humans, and today he will vindicate his benefactor.
There is no one better or gentler in the world than that landlord. He will not allow anyone to insult the landlord—he cannot do anything to hurt the landlord!
Duan Wenyu began to recount his experience, from accidentally discovering the rental post for Liwan Apartment, to the instant disappearance of his points system after signing the rental contract, and then to how the wise and capable landlord discovered his inner pain and took the initiative to help him and his classmates who were also suffering in the same sea of misery...
Ignoring his fanatical, almost missionary tone and the exaggerated praise in his words, the director of the inspection bureau discovered something very important—Liwan Apartments seemed to be deliberately targeting the main deity who caused the paranormal events.
By questioning the graduates, the Inspectorate has now linked the graduation hall incident to the office building massacre.
Both events were definitely created by the same mysterious force. Whether it was the state of being isolated from the world when they occurred, or the rules of the game where ghosts played tricks on humans, they were exactly the same.
Moreover, from those graduates, the Paranormal Investigation Department learned very important information: the mysterious force that created the paranormal events was called the 'Main God System', and that the Main God not only treated human life as worthless, but also abducted all the outstanding talents capable of solving paranormal events.
Not only is Liwan Apartment unrelated to these two incidents, but it also has the ability to resolve paranormal events created by the main deity.
Although the influence of Liwan Apartments cannot yet fully extend to the outside world, it seems to be able to control other haunted places, such as the Guijia Furniture Store.
It was because of the chairs from the Home Furnishings store that those students were able to escape the control of the Lord God.
This incident reveals that the landlord of Liwan Apartments is actively cleaning up the paranormal events caused by the 'Main God System'...
Regardless of what the landlord was planning, he has indeed done the Bureau of Abnormal Supervision a great favor at this stage.
Judging by actions, not intentions, the goals of Liwan Apartments and the Bureau of Abnormal Activities are aligned at this stage.
The director felt that they could secretly assist the Liwan Apartments—the surveillance network of the Bureau of Supervision was extensive, and they had already discovered the characteristics of such paranormal events from these two incidents.
If similar paranormal events occur again, regardless of whether they are caused by the main god system, they can immediately inform the mysterious landlord through the tenants of Liwan Apartment.
This way, not only will the landlord get what he wants, but the pressure on the Paranormal Investigation Department will also be greatly reduced. Most importantly, paranormal events can be resolved in a timely manner, reducing casualties.
It's a win-win situation.
Thinking of this, the director's gaze towards Duan Wenyu softened even more.
Zhao Dawei is too honest and finds it hard to keep things to himself. Most importantly, he is too old and his physical condition is not very good.
Miao Zheng is impulsive and adventurous, prioritizing his career above all else. When he gets carried away, he becomes unruly and disobedient.
Although the young man in front of me had a strange fanaticism for the landlord, he was easy to talk to, held fast to his own sense of justice, and even managed to survive that brutal selection process.
Not only is he insightful and proactive, but he is also willing to try new things. He is willing to risk his life to find a way to break the curse, making him a good candidate to be an investigator.
And most importantly, Duan Wenyu was once a victim of the God System, so he can empathize more with the innocent people who are forced into supernatural events and will never sit idly by.
This young man might become a bridge between the Bureau of Abnormal Supervision and Liwan Apartment in the future.
*
Inside the Liwan Apartments.
Before going to room 104, Zhou Fangdong made a point of checking on his tenants.
Zhao Dawei has already started working at the furniture store. On the Linjiang City map, the red dot representing him is at the Guijia Furniture Store.
The red dot representing Duan Wenyu overlaps with the Anomaly Monitoring Bureau on the map… Zhou Fangdong had heard Zhao Dawei mention this Anomaly Monitoring Bureau before; it was supposedly an official organization that handled paranormal events. Duan Wenyu's presence there was likely to be taking a statement, and it seemed he planned to spend the night there. The Bureau should be safe at night; there was no need to worry.
Miao Zheng was still sleeping in her room, while the dismembered ghost from room 109 was cooking for her...
? ? ?
Zhou Fangdong was stunned, staring at the rental interface in disbelief.
In room 109 on the rental page, the pixelated ghost hand emerging from a black plastic bag was indeed cooking on the kitchen counter.
Although she no longer has a complete body, this female ghost can still skillfully use a kitchen knife with just her limbs, and even performed a perfect wok flip.
Miao Zheng really knows how to enjoy life! How did she manage to get a ghost to cook for her...?
After confirming that all his tenants were safe, Zhou Fangdong entered room 104 with peace of mind.
Since the reward for hidden mission ① is a clue about the ghost in room 104, he plans to use room 104 as the storefront for his convenience store.
He can use these ghostly clues to learn the conditions under which the ghost in Room 104 kills, and thus formulate rules.
Although the plan is to convert Room 104 into a convenience store and not rent it out, it's still necessary to establish rules. However, these rules aren't for tenants, but for the convenience store itself, to prevent tenants from being killed by the ghosts in the room when they come to buy things.
Room 104 is a large room, about 100 square meters. There wasn’t much trash in the room, but the smell was terrible, a mixture of blood, rot, and excrement.
Zhou Fangdong looked at the floor directly below the three mummified corpses hanging from the chandelier, where there were traces of what appeared to be blood and excrement.
After quickly glancing at the condition of the three mummified corpses, Zhou Fangdong swiftly retreated to the doorway.
This smell is too pungent.
The three mummified corpses hanging from the chandelier in Room 104, judging from their clothing, were a middle-aged couple and a young man in a red Chinese-style suit.
The three mummies' familiar teru teru bozu (Japanese teru bozu doll) shape immediately reminded Zhou Fangdong of the Long-Tongued Ghost.
Could that long-tongued ghost be the ghost of room 104? Then why is it lingering in the corridor?
With that in mind, Zhou Fangdong simply used the [Clues to the Ghost in Room 104 x2] directly.
A flood of memory fragments rushed into his mind in an instant. If he hadn't already added three attribute points to his mental strength, Zhou Fangdong probably would have been knocked unconscious by these fragments.
After finally processing these fragments of memory, Zhou Fangdong realized that these two ghostly clues actually belonged to two different ghosts.
Moreover, he recognized both ghosts; they were the long-tongued ghost and the wedding dress ghost.
The two of them were lingering in the hallway because they were fighting over ownership of room 104.
What Zhou Fangdong didn't expect was that the two ghosts' past lives were so dramatic and melodramatic—even TV dramas probably wouldn't dare to portray them like this…
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Author's Note: There will be two chapters updated tomorrow at 12 noon.
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