Chapter 16: The Main Character, the Apartment Landlord

Ji Yan noticed Liu Yitong’s troubled expression. “You look like there’s something wrong with the sachet?”

Liu Yitong hesitated, then finally said, “This sachet involves the apartment’s main storyline.”

“Main storyline mission?”

Ji Yan’s face shifted slightly as the mission panel finally popped up.

“Ding! Player has accepted Grandma’s sachet, triggering an A-rank mission. Deliver the sachet to Room 605 to complete the mission.”

(Note: This mission involves main storyline characters. There is a certain chance of uncontrollable danger during the mission. Exercise extreme caution.)

Ji Yan furrowed his brow.

That old lady promised a simple and easy task, but it turned out to be an A-rank mission tied to the main plot!

Main storyline missions aren’t just the most dangerous—they involve every tenant in the apartment.

Complete it, and you can clear the entire game instance outright.

Fail, and you offend all the eerie residents, facing endless waves of sinister corruption.

There are countless examples.

For instance, in a previous restaurant instance, a player attempted the main storyline mission but botched it, causing all the restaurant’s ingredients to spoil, resulting in incalculable losses—and a disastrous outcome.

Death was a luxury.

That’s why most players avoid main storyline missions unless they have enough gear and confidence.

Even if they accidentally get items related to the main story, they hurriedly discard them, fearing any connection.

“Did you upset the strange grandma?” Liu Yitong asked involuntarily.

Ji Yan replied, “From start to finish, her mouth never drooped in disapproval.”

“She even said that after handing over this sachet, she’d personally knit me a sweater.”

Liu Yitong was stunned, momentarily bewildered.

Having dealt with that grandma before, she couldn’t understand why the first interaction would single out Ji Yan.

Could he really be some kind of natural magnet for hatred?

“It’s just involvement, not entering the main storyline.”

“Let’s go. See you tonight.”

Ji Yan waved off the concern. He had already dealt with one eerie creature; a mission involving the main story shouldn’t scare him into hiding.

Leaving Room 404, Ji Yan headed straight to the seventh floor.

After all, his heart was still being held as collateral elsewhere.

He knocked on Room 702’s door—it wasn’t locked.

Pushing it open, he saw the tenant of 702 lying on a rattan chair, eyes closed in rest.

Two cats, one black and one white, were curled up in his lap, sound asleep.

“My father…”

“Dead, I know.”

Before Ji Yan could finish, the tenant interrupted, “That drunkard’s death got rid of that stench of booze in this apartment.”

“I don’t know how you managed it, but you’ve got guts.”

“The heart’s in the box. Take it back.”

“As for that machete, it’s yours now.”

Ji Yan opened the box. His heart still throbbed with life.

Then an information panel about the 702 tenant appeared before his eyes:

“Ding! Congratulations, player, for completing the wish task of tenant 702. You have gained 70% favorability with the ‘Resentful Spirit’ eerie resident. You may now request assistance within certain limits.”

“70% favorability?”

Ji Yan was taken aback.

Just one task, and he’d reached 70% favorability?

On second thought, it made sense. This resident was a resentful spirit, his grudge stemming from the murder of his wife. With the grudge settled, a spike to 70% favorability seemed reasonable.

“I owe you a favor.”

“If you encounter any trouble in the apartment, come find me.”

“In this place, I still hold considerable sway.”

Liu Nianqing spoke slowly.

A simple sentence, but to a player, it was the greatest reward!

Having a strange tenant as an ally greatly increases survival odds in the instance.

Hearing this, Ji Yan thought it was quite a coincidence.

“There is actually one favor I’d like to ask.”

Liu Nianqing asked directly, “Who do you want me to deal with?”

Ji Yan was speechless.

“For now, no one. I just want to ask if you recognize this sachet, uncle.”

Ji Yan took out the red sachet.

Seeing it, Liu Nianqing’s face twisted as if he’d swallowed a fly.

“What’s wrong?”

Liu Nianqing said, “I want to take back what I just said.”

“You see, that sachet belongs to the landlord. If you want me to take on the landlord... then you might as well kill me.”

Ji Yan’s expression grew serious.

According to the apartment’s background, the landlord was likely the biggest boss of the instance. How could that eerie grandma have his belongings?

Looking at the sachet in his palm, Ji Yan felt it was a hot potato he wished he could toss away immediately.

“Don’t worry, I have no grudge against the landlord.”

“Mainly, I want to ask about the sachet’s origin.”

“All I know is that this was a personal item of the landlord’s.”

“But it got damaged recently, so it was handed to your grandma for repair.”

“So your grandma gave it to you to return to the landlord?” Liu Nianqing guessed.

“Yeah.” Ji Yan nodded.

That being the case, just returning the repaired sachet shouldn’t be dangerous.

Liu Yitong and he were just too sensitive—hearing ‘main storyline’ made them feel the sky was falling.

“When you deliver it, don’t say a word. Best to stay silent the entire time.”

“The landlord’s temper is strange and bad. If he’s upset, he’ll raise the rent.”

“If the tenants find out you caused the rent hike, they’ll tear you apart, and I won’t be able to protect you,” Liu Nianqing warned.

Ji Yan twitched his eye.

“A rent increase causes that much trouble?”

“That so-called rent—if it goes up even a little, the tenants will go crazy, myself included.”

Liu Nianqing leaned back in the rattan chair, sighing.

“This apartment isn’t for just anyone. We paid a heavy price to live here, and that price is the rent.”

What exactly the rent was remained unspoken. Ji Yan left Room 702 and headed toward 605.

He wasn’t interested in the landlord or the rent.

The more you know, the deeper you get into the main storyline.

Eventually, you fall into a bottomless abyss you can’t climb out of.

Soon, he knocked on Room 605.

The door opened to reveal a hunched old man.

Ji Yan blinked. Was this the landlord? He looked kindly enough, but Liu Nianqing’s words were full of fear toward him.

“Young man, what do you want?”

“I live in 404. Grandma asked me to deliver this.”

The old man picked up the sachet.

Ji Yan handed it over.

The eerie old man glanced at it and shook his head. “Take it back.”

“That old lady didn’t sew it well. Her needlework is getting worse.”

Ji Yan remembered the eerie grandma’s instructions. Whether accepted or not, his job was to deliver it.

“Fine.” Ji Yan replied with a single word and turned to leave.

He was just a messenger—no need to get involved.

“Wait!”

But just as he turned, the old man called after him, staring.

“You’re really taking it back because I said so?”

Then he snatched the sachet with one hand, examined it carefully, and praised, “Not bad. That old lady’s handiwork is improving.”

Ji Yan’s mouth twitched.

Liu Nianqing was right—the landlord really was odd, changing moods like that. Could he have a split personality?

“I’ll keep the sachet. Tell your grandma the rent for this month is settled.”