Chapter 10: Rewards and Re-entry

Half a day later, in a city hospital.

The doctor sitting before him was pulling out clumps of his own hair.

Pulling very hard.

To prevent the doctor’s already endangered hairline from retreating even further, Zhou You kindly reminded him, “Um, Doctor, how is my condition...?”

“My condition? Ah, right, your condition!”

The doctor hurriedly set aside the CT scan and said, “Mr. Zhou, your condition is... practically a miracle! Even under our most optimistic estimate, you only had about two months left to live. But now the lesions have actually stabilized! Although the effects on your brain haven’t disappeared, you can at least hold on for quite a while longer...”

Zhou You did not listen to the rest.

He simply leaned back in his chair, and his entire body suddenly relaxed.

So it wasn’t a dream.

After saying goodbye to the extremely enthusiastic doctor who wanted him to stay in the hospital once more, Zhou You returned home.

Calling it a home was somewhat generous.

It was merely a small, dilapidated rented room.

Aside from being cleaner, the overall environment was hardly any better than the haunted building.

In some respects, its infrastructure was actually worse.

That was perfectly normal.

After all, he had no money.

His grandfather, Old Zhou, who had passed away not long ago, had never been wealthy.

Putting Zhou You through university had already been difficult enough.

Originally, Zhou You had planned to start working after graduation and help support the household.

Instead, the old man died in an accident.

The funeral consumed much of their remaining savings.

Then came the diagnosis of a terminal illness, which became the final straw that crushed him.

To put it more simply, before entering this game, Zhou You had already reached the end of his rope.

“But fortunately, things have finally begun to turn around.”

Zhou You carefully wiped clean the black-and-white memorial portrait on the altar.

Looking at the aged face within the photograph, a face that still carried an imposing dignity despite its years, he suddenly smiled.

“Old man, I don’t know whether you deliberately left this book for me, but thanks to it, your pitiful grandson can finally keep stumbling forward and stay alive.”

“So I won’t be coming to see you anytime soon.”

“Though knowing your personality, you probably wouldn’t want to see me that quickly anyway.”

Shaking his head, Zhou You carefully straightened the portrait once more.

Only then did he return to the wooden table nearby.

After searching for a while, he retrieved a book from the corner of a drawer.

The black-covered old book that had brought him into the Bizarre Game.

Now there was nothing unusual about it.

Its pages were completely blank.

It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary old book.

Yet the moment Zhou You placed his hand upon it, several lines of text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

“You have completed the beginner instance: Escape from Building Four.”

“You killed the ‘cause’ of this instance: the Landlady, and utilized a chain reaction to destroy the primary structure that formed the Urban Legend: the Corpse Door. You will receive additional rewards.”

“You have obtained 100 + 100 (bonus reward) Soulstones.”

“You currently possess 240 Soulstones.”

“You have obtained a special blue-quality item (reward upgraded due to killing the Landlady): Copper Bell.”

“Effect: Must be worn on the wrist when used. When ‘certain things’ harbor malicious intent toward you, the bell has a chance to shake violently and warn you.”

“This item carries a curse: when the bell rings, it may occasionally alert enemies and reveal your location.”

“This is a common decoration found in automobiles, usually symbolizing blessings and good fortune. But after a horrific traffic accident that wiped out an entire family, the bell became stained with blood that can never be washed away.”

“You have obtained a special mission item of unknown quality (additional reward for killing the Corpse Door): Bones from Within the Door.”

“Effect: This is an extremely special set of remains. It was once contaminated by a trace of yin energy from a malevolent deity. Later, the Landlady used it as the foundation of the entire building. Upon obtaining this item, your next game scenario may be replaced with a special scenario, and your resurrection count will increase by five.”

Zhou You froze for a moment.

A special scenario?

What was that?

After thinking about it for a while, he ultimately decided not to worry about it for now.

He would probably only get an answer after entering that space.

So he continued reading.

“You currently possess two temporary talents: Keen Observation and Fragmented Existence. Would you like to spend Soulstones to permanently retain them? Please note that temporary talents not retained will disappear upon your next entry into the game.”

He only hesitated briefly before choosing to permanently keep Keen Observation.

Although it was merely a white-quality talent, it had been capable of identifying the effects of the Corpse-Oil Candle.

That alone made it quite valuable.

At least for now, it was worth occupying one of his permanent talent slots.

As for Fragmented Existence...

Its restrictions were simply too severe.

Increased movement speed only when missing body parts?

What kind of person could regularly make use of such a talent?

Yang Guo?

“You have spent 50 Soulstones to permanently retain this talent.”

“The instance has now been completely settled. Please note that you must enter your next scenario within thirty-five days. Otherwise, you will be punished with death. Furthermore, you may not inform anyone of this game’s existence through any means. Otherwise...”

Zhou You did not even listen to the rest.

Instead, he immediately chose to enter ahead of schedule.

After all, his lifespan had only been extended by a single month.

Now that he had finally found hope of survival, he had no intention of wasting any time.

Besides...

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

If even a beginner instance could achieve this much, then who knew?

Perhaps completing higher-difficulty games in the future...

Might truly offer a way to cure him completely.

A few seconds later, Zhou You’s figure gradually disappeared from the room.

Yet at the exact moment he vanished completely, an old-fashioned television in the corner suddenly switched on.

Normally, this would be the kind of scene that frequently appeared in horror films.

But no demons or ghosts emerged from the screen.

There was no cursed well.

No long-haired ghost girl.

Instead, it was broadcasting a live news report.

“The fire at Building Four of Garden Community has been extinguished. The preliminary cause has been determined to be a natural gas explosion. Due to the remote location and the fact that the incident occurred during working hours, there was only one fatality. According to police identification, the deceased was the landlord of the residential building. Let us interview some nearby residents.”

“That old woman? I know her. She was a terrible person. Always looking for ways to make trouble for others. The neighbours could never get a moment’s peace because of her.”

“Her? The tenant who jumped to their death years ago because she withheld their security deposit, wasn’t that because of her? That woman was greedy beyond reason. She rented out apartments but wouldn’t even maintain the basic facilities. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“I was just backing my car into the community back then. I didn’t even touch her. But she insisted I’d run over her foot and extorted 8,000 yuan from me! That was two months’ wages!”

“Let’s not talk about anything else. I just feel sorry for that young girl. Coming alone to the city to work was already difficult enough, and then she had to endure someone like that. In the end, she couldn’t take it anymore and jumped. Yet that woman never faced any real punishment. Honestly...”

“...”

“...”

“What? You’re asking me?”

“Then I only have one thing to say about it.”

“Pah! Evil deeds bring evil rewards. She deserved to die!”