Chapter 11: The Machete in Hand, a Gifted Event

The owner of Room 702 wore a look of ferocious resentment mixed with bitter frustration.

Ji Yan tapped the wood-chopping axe embedded in the man’s forehead with his fingertip and said with a smile, "I’d like to borrow your axe."

Upon realizing the intent, the man gritted his teeth and spat, "Don't even think about it! This axe only...!"

"Only kills my father, right? I know. He’s exactly who I’m planning to slaughter."

The owner of Room 702 was stunned. "You’re not his child?"

Ji Yan didn't hold back and recounted the entire sequence of events. The man listened, still half-skeptical. After all, the axe in his head was a [Rare] grade cursed item, and he had been targeted by countless players trying to use various schemes to get their hands on it.

Ji Yan had seen through it from the start. The axe wasn't just a [Rare] item; it was in a damaged state, which implied it could be repaired, meaning its potential quality far exceeded its current form. The owner of Room 702 was, quite simply, a [Free NPC]. Any player could interact with him, and the axe in his head was a potential quest reward.

Generally, there were two ways to deal with a Free NPC. The first was forceful seizure: using raw power to kill the NPC and take the item. But a forced hand never yields sweet fruit. Items seized this way would be severely damaged, their quality drastically reduced. To obtain the equipment in its perfect state, one had to use the second method: interaction, triggering the backstory, accepting the mission, and completing it so the NPC would willingly hand it over.

That was why Ji Yan had been so patient. Otherwise, given his dislike for wasting words, he would have smashed the man’s skull in and walked away with the axe long ago. But reducing the item's quality wasn't the main concern; the real fear was that a weakened axe might fail to kill the Nightmare-Eating Ghost.

"Can you tell me what kind of grudge you have against my father?" Ji Yan continued to probe. Without triggering the backstory, the game mission would not activate.

"Heh, what a touching display of filial piety. But why should I believe you?" The owner of Room 702 wiped the blood from his forehead, still refusing to reveal the backstory.

Ji Yan suppressed his growing impatience. He knew time was short and didn't want to waste it here. "My heart as collateral. Your axe as the wager. When I bring that guy’s head to you, I get my heart back."

Ji Yan offered a proposal that was simple, blunt, and utterly insane.

The owner of Room 702 squinted. "You’re gambling your life with me?"

"At least with you, I still have a fighting chance." Ji Yan shrugged, his tone calm and natural.

He knew that only by letting the other party hold his life in their hands could there be any trust. The man stared at Ji Yan for a long moment, then suddenly thrust a hand into Ji Yan’s chest and yanked it back out.

He pulled out a heart that beat violently, yet no blood spilled from the wound. The owner of Room 702 gripped the heart, and seeing that Ji Yan showed no resistance, he nodded. "Good. This kind of trade is fair."

"Just bring that bastard’s head to me, and you get your heart back—and the axe is yours."

He placed the heart inside a black box, turned, and sat in a chair, stroking the rusted axe in his head. "That bastard used this very axe to hack off my wife’s head, all because of a sip of wine. A resident had promised him a bottle of rare grain liquor if he could find a female body. That night in the hallway, he set his sights on my wife."

"He knew I was looking for him, so he’s been hiding in Room 404, protected by the apartment’s rules..."

Ji Yan picked at his ear, feeling little emotion. He had already gathered this backstory when the man had throttled him earlier. But if he didn't make the man say it aloud, the quest wouldn't trigger.

Ji Yan said, "So, the only one who isn't restricted by the rules and can get close to him is me. He won't expect his own slave-like child to be plotting patricide!"

As he spoke, the information panel popped up immediately.

*Ding! Congratulations to the player for successfully triggering an open-ended quest. Grade: A.*

*You have accepted the request from the resident of Room 702: Kill the 404 resident, the Nightmare-Eating Ghost. No time limit.*

A-Grade! Killing a ghost was A-grade—Ji Yan wondered what an S-grade mission would be like.

Across from him, reliving his most painful memory, the resident of Room 702 became increasingly agitated, eventually breaking down into loud, sobbing wails. He wanted to continue pouring out his misery, but Ji Yan, having triggered the mission, had no interest in the backstory. It was like playing a game; which player would honestly sit through a long, tedious cutscene? Anyone who didn't click 'skip' deserved a thumbs-up.

The resident of Room 702 grabbed the handle and pulled out the rusted, rag-wrapped axe. A torrent of blood gushed from the wound in his forehead; the agonizing pain was enough to make him shatter his own teeth. To ensure he never forgot his vengeance, he had kept the axe embedded in his skull, using the intermittent pain to ensure his hatred wasn't forgotten as time passed.

The man handed over the axe, still trying to ramble about his late wife. "My name is Liu Nianqing. The reason I’m called Nianqing is because..."

Ji Yan grabbed the axe and walked away, leaving Liu Nianqing sitting in the chair, mouth agape, eventually falling into silence.

...

Although he had the axe, it remained inactive because it was tied to the mission. In short, in Ji Yan's hands, it was just a piece of junk—so rusted it couldn't even cut skin—unless it was used against the mission target, the Nightmare-Eating Ghost.

The weapon was in hand, but killing the ghost would be difficult. Ghosts didn't just sit there waiting to be stabbed.

"You must stab him in the chest. The head won't work. Only there will it be a one-hit kill!"

"If you give him a chance to react, you will die a miserable death."

"So, you only have one chance!"

These were Liu Nianqing’s exact words, and they piled the pressure onto Ji Yan. He gripped the axe tightly; he needed to devise a plan. Tonight, Room 404 was bound to be lively.

...

Soon, Ji Yan returned to Room 404. As soon as he entered, he sensed something wrong. A thick stench of corpses. The smell of a ghost!

Then, he saw Liu Yitong busy at the dining table. Ji Yan started to speak, but she made a shushing gesture and pointed toward the kitchen. Ji Yan looked over and saw a blurry silhouette moving about inside the kitchen through the glass door.

"The ghost mother has left her room?" Ji Yan was stunned.

The ghost residents of the apartment rarely left their rooms. If they did, it meant one of two things.

First, a [Blessing]. Simply put, it was a pure bonus event. The ghost would act on its own, and if a player participated actively, they could randomly receive various rewards. The quality of the reward depended purely on luck. Even if you messed up, the ghost wouldn't turn hostile; the worst outcome was simply getting nothing. This usually only triggered once favorability reached a certain level and was limited to a single player.

Second, [Punishment]. As the name implied, it was the opposite. If a player seriously violated the rules of the apartment or lowered the ghost's favorability to freezing point, the ghost would leave its room to punish the offender.

Seeing the irrepressible smile on Liu Yitong’s face, it was clear this was a [Blessing]. Who knew what she had done to continuously boost the ghost mother’s favorability?

The method of interaction was to have dinner with the ghost mother. As for what rewards Liu Yitong could get during the 20-minute meal, that was up to her own skill and luck. Such events had nothing to do with other players; they could only watch with envy.

Ji Yan had no interest in bothering them. He moved away from the table, took out some coarse grain left over from the morning, and ate at the coffee table in the living room. His mind was entirely occupied with killing the ghost father. Even the biscuit in his mouth tasted like nothing.