Chapter 3: Renting a Room

It was still the same space.

That female voice continued to speak as before.

“You have died.”

“You died at the hands of the Landlady.”

“Your death held no value.”

“You discovered no Erosion Points and contributed nothing to the progression of the scenario. Therefore, this death grants no rewards.”

However, Zhou You paid no attention to the voice.

He stared blankly ahead, seemingly still trapped in the terror of death.

But in the next second.

The corners of his mouth suddenly split into a grin.

Then he abruptly started laughing.

A worthless death?

What kind of joke was that!

This death had yielded far more than the previous one!

At the very least, he finally had a clue about how to clear the scenario!

After a while, the laughter subsided.

Without hesitation, Zhou You selected Enter once more.

It was the same stairwell again.

This time, Zhou You immediately headed for the second floor.

However, he did not knock on any doors.

Instead, he simply stood there, looking straight up at the corridor on the third floor and silently waiting.

The tenant’s earlier wails had revealed one piece of information.

“Follow the rules. Don’t disturb the other tenants.”

About three or four minutes later, a series of footsteps suddenly echoed out.

The footsteps were strange.

There was none of the normal tapping sound made by shoes striking the floor.

Instead, there were only brief, rapid knocks, like a rhythmic beat.

It felt as though what was walking was not a pair of human feet, but two dry wooden sticks.

Very soon, a wrinkled face emerged from the dark corridor above.

But before the other party could do anything, Zhou You stepped forward first.

There was no panic or fear on his face.

Only a smile as warm as sunlight.

“Hello. I’m a new tenant. Are you the Landlady?”

The old figure, like a piece of dead wood, gave no response.

It stared at Zhou You with its pale eyeballs for a long time but seemed unable to see him clearly.

So it raised a hand and pressed it against its face.

Then, before Zhou You’s eyes, it actually dug out one of its eyeballs and wiped it carefully against its filthy clothing.

A plump maggot poked its head out of the empty eye socket.

It wriggled its body, seemingly searching for food.

But it was immediately pushed back inside by the Landlady.

Faced with such a bizarre and horrifying sight, Zhou You’s smile remained as bright as ever.

The tenant’s earlier cries had revealed a second piece of information.

“Be polite.”

After quite some time, the Landlady finally seemed to finish cleaning the eyeball and stuffed it back into its socket.

Then it opened its pitch-black mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice like a saw cutting wood.

“New tenant, are you? Did you bring money?”

Zhou You remembered the introduction at the beginning of the scenario.

He quickly searched himself.

Sure enough, he found a thick stack of cash in his jacket pocket.

But before taking it out, he hesitated briefly.

Without drawing attention to it, he separated half the money and put it aside before handing over the remainder.

A trace of a smile finally appeared on the old woman’s face.

Its withered mouth slowly opened.

This time it did not expand.

Nor were there any terrifying fangs inside.

Yet Zhou You still felt his stomach churn.

Because there was no flesh inside the mouth at all.

Only countless fat white maggots packed together in layer upon layer, densely filling every inch of space.

As they writhed, drops of dark yellow pus dripped downward.

A foul stench instantly struck him.

But Zhou You clenched his teeth shut and forcibly suppressed everything that instinctively rose into his throat.

Then he swallowed it back down.

Several seconds later, another smile appeared on his face.

Bright and sunny.

No different from before.

The old woman stared at him for a while before nodding with satisfaction.

“At least you’re a polite one. Unfortunately, you didn’t bring much money. It’s only enough for half a month. When the time comes, remember to renew your lease. Don’t make this old woman come and remind you, otherwise...”

The old woman was still smiling when she spoke the word “otherwise.”

Yet for some reason, Zhou You felt a chill crawl up his spine.

It was as though some pure form of malice had seeped into his body.

In an instant, it spread through every nerve.

Then it slowly soaked into his bones.

All it left behind was a deeply unsettling sensation that made his skin crawl.

Zhou You remained frozen for a long while before finally breaking free from the inexplicable feeling.

Then he immediately noticed something strange and could not help asking:

“But that’s enough rent for an entire quarter. How is it only enough for half a month...”

His voice stopped abruptly.

In an instant, Zhou You realized something.

He immediately shut his mouth and ended the question.

As expected.

Right before his eyes, the old woman’s mouth had already expanded to nearly the size of a basketball.

The writhing maggots rapidly stiffened and hardened.

In the end, they transformed into pale white fangs.

Zhou You finally understood what had bitten him to death earlier.

Although he truly wished he did not.

Fortunately, after he stopped speaking, the old woman’s mouth also ceased expanding.

Her eyes had tilted upward to nearly a ninety-degree angle, almost protruding from their sockets.

They stared directly at him.

Within them was only cold indifference.

After a long while, the old woman’s mouth slowly closed again.

Looking at Zhou You, she casually tossed out a single sentence.

“No matter where you saw that amount of money, if I say it’s half a month, then it’s half a month.”

Zhou You did not answer.

He merely lowered his head in silent acceptance.

Yet only a few seconds later, he suddenly asked another question.

“Then may I ask, Landlady, if I fail to renew my lease when it expires, or if I wish to move out, what price will I have to pay?”

The old woman, who had already started walking away, suddenly turned her head.

Only her head turned.

Her body did not move at all.

With a cold gaze, she looked Zhou You up and down.

Yet all she saw was a smiling and courteous face.

“If you don’t renew the lease, then I’ll have no choice but to collect rent from your body. After all, anything on you ‘people’ can be sold for money. Limbs. Heart. Liver. Spleen. Stomach.”

“Don’t worry. This old woman is very experienced at this kind of work. I guarantee you’ll only die after every last usable piece has been removed.”

The old woman spoke as calmly as though discussing an utterly ordinary matter.

No wonder the resident of Room 204 had nearly gone insane.

Anyone would break under the prospect of a prolonged live dissection.

Yet even after hearing something so horrifying, Zhou You showed no reaction.

He merely nodded.

The old woman continued speaking leisurely.

“As for moving out... we do not permit tenants to terminate their leases. Nor do we permit tenants to leave. You’ll have to find your own way to earn money.”

“Oh, right. You can ask others for money if you like. But don’t even think about having someone rescue you. Nobody except prospective tenants can enter this place. No one can get you out.”

“And if I learn that you’ve tried to reveal information about this place...”

“This old woman will have no choice but to collect rent from you ahead of schedule.”

As she spoke, the old woman led Zhou You up to the third floor.

Her head, which had been twisted around one hundred and eighty degrees, finally rotated back into place.

Then she fumbled around on her body for quite a while before pulling out a rusty key ring from the lower right side of her coat.

Seemingly by accident, Zhou You glanced over.

The keys were organized by floor.

Including spare keys, there were ten keys for the second and third floors combined, exactly matching the number of apartment doors.

The fourth floor section was completely empty.

The fifth floor had only a single key.

The old woman examined them for several minutes.

Then she dug out her eyeball once again and gave it another wipe.

Only then did she manage to identify the correct key.

The key slid into the lock.

With a heavy Clack!

The dilapidated door to Room 304 swung open.

A wave of rotten stench instantly flooded into Zhou You’s nose and mouth.

At the same time, the mechanical female voice sounded beside his ear.

“Congratulations. You have reached a save point. If you die after this, you will restart from here.”

“Once a save point is recorded, it cannot be changed. Please take care not to place yourself in a dead end.”

“Would you like to save your progress?”