Chapter 6: Corpse-Oil Candle

“You have died.”

“Your death had a little value.”

“A hidden story has partially revealed itself to you. Although you did not uncover any Erosion Points, you advanced the plot somewhat, so you will receive a temporary white talent: Keen Observation.”

“When you lose part of your body, your movement speed will increase slightly. This effect cannot stack.”

When Zhou You awoke once more in that unknown space, his expression was rather unpleasant.

Although only seconds earlier he had experienced what it felt like to be put through a hydraulic press, he had died too quickly to feel much pain.

As a result, compared to the terror of death, he felt more annoyed at having been tricked.

“Seriously? This is beginner difficulty? It’s only a four-floor area and you’ve already thrown three unavoidable instant-kill traps at me? Even Dark Souls isn’t this ridiculous. Even Nioh has more conscience than this. Brother, was there really a need to make something like...”

Zhou You raised his head, intending to complain.

But the instant he saw the floating page, he suddenly frowned for some reason, as though he had remembered something, and abruptly stopped speaking.

“Wait. No, that’s not right. Maybe I should think about it differently. Maybe it’s precisely because this is beginner difficulty that it uses these instant-death methods.”

“After all, I currently have unlimited revives. Maybe it’s trying to use this method to make me learn something...”

Before he could think further, however, the cold female voice suddenly sounded beside his ear again.

“Because the player is still in the beginner phase, you may spend 10 Soulstones to replay the ten seconds before and after your death. Would you like to replay?”

“You really picked the perfect moment to interrupt, didn’t you? Forget it. There’s no point thinking too much right now. I’d better focus on this creepy building and figure out how to escape.”

Zhou You said nothing more and chose the replay once again.

“10 Soulstones deducted. Current Soulstone count: 10.”

Just like before, a recording-like scene unfolded before his eyes.

This time, however, it was not a bird’s-eye view.

It was a direct frontal perspective.

In the recording, he had just raised his leg and was preparing to head toward the fifth floor.

Nothing unusual appeared in the surroundings.

Yet the instant he stepped onto the first stair.

Behind him, from the previously empty wall, a pair of hands silently emerged.

The hands were pale and slender.

At first glance, aside from being impossibly long, they seemed normal.

But upon closer inspection, every joint and bone was bent in unnatural ways.

It was as though countless arms had been smashed apart and crudely reassembled.

The sight inspired nothing but a horrifying sense of wrongness.

Then, in the next instant, the hands seemed to detect something.

They suddenly shot forward.

Several metres vanished in the blink of an eye.

Before Zhou You could react, the hands had already seized him tightly.

At the same time, the wall between the couplets began to writhe.

Chunks of grey plaster cracked away.

Between the concrete, a pale human face split neatly in half emerged.

Wearing a grotesque smile, the thing forcibly opened its own body.

Like an actual door being opened, it joyfully welcomed Zhou You inside.

Then it slammed shut.

Blood splattered instantly.

The scene plunged into darkness.

“...You have discovered a key Erosion Point.”

“You have received 30 Soulstones. Current Soulstone count: 40.”

Watching the recording of himself being eaten alive, Zhou You’s expression remained unchanged.

After replaying the death scene several times and thinking carefully for a while, he suddenly performed a baffling action.

He slowly walked to the other side of the room.

After stretching and warming up slightly, he bent down, placed his hands on the ground, and then suddenly sprinted forward.

The opposite side of the room arrived in an instant.

To be fair, although he suffered from a terminal illness, his physical fitness had once been fairly decent.

His running speed was at least acceptable.

Yet Zhou You shook his head slightly, clearly dissatisfied.

“No. Judging from the speed of those hands in the recording, there’s no way I can outrun that thing.”

“Never mind reaching the fifth floor before it catches me.”

“Which brings us to the real question.”

“If even I can’t run past it, then how did that tenant, who had gone insane and was practically dying from weakness, make it upstairs?”

Zhou You lightly tapped the wall while reviewing every clue.

“First, one thing is certain. He definitely reached the fifth floor and saw something there. Only afterward did he completely lose his mind.”

“Second, his physical condition was terrible. The diary explicitly stated that he could barely walk.”

“So he definitely didn’t outrun those hands through sheer speed.”

“Therefore, he must have used some method, probably the item he mentioned making, to avoid the monster’s pursuit.”

“And based on the circumstances, that method is most likely somewhere inside that room.”

After reaching this simple conclusion, Zhou You looked at the floating page once more.

He closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

When he opened them again, he immediately chose to enter once more.

The same process repeated.

Meeting the Landlady.

Greeting her.

Renting the room.

When he entered the room again, the scenery remained just as chaotic.

The first time he had only given it a cursory inspection.

This time, however, he searched seriously.

Every corner was examined carefully.

Yet half an hour later, he still had not found a single clue.

The garbage and paper balls on the floor yielded nothing new.

The tattered bedding contained no hidden notes or hints.

The desk likewise held nothing unusual.

Only the candle flame continued burning quietly, illuminating the small area around it.

Wait.

The candle?

As though suddenly remembering something, Zhou You walked over to the desk and examined the candleholder once more.

The white candle continued burning.

At first glance, nothing seemed wrong.

But after studying it carefully for a while, Zhou You noticed an anomaly.

Although he had no way of measuring time, at least half an hour had passed since entering the room.

The problem was that the candle had not shortened at all.

It was exactly the same length as when he had entered.

In other words...

Zhou You extended a hand and gently touched the candle.

“Player talent Keen Observation activated. Item appraisal successful.”

In the next second, several lines of text appeared before his eyes.

“Corpse-Oil Candle.”

“Consumable.”

“Quality: White.”

“Effect: Produces an illusory flame. Although it lacks the properties of a normal fire, whenever certain things approach you, the candle will do its best to conceal your ‘human scent.’ Each candle lasts for seven minutes.”

“Hair for the wick, corpse oil for the base. Two jin of flesh, one candle. Cheap and affordable, fair to young and old alike.”

“You have obtained the temporary crafting recipe for this item.”

“As a beginner scenario bonus, you may obtain the crafting apparatus for free. You need only provide the materials to manufacture this item.”

Whether by coincidence or not, the words “only provide the materials” happened to fall within the candlelight.

In an instant, the translucent text turned crimson.

The crimson of fresh blood.