Chapter 37 Main Quest, The Apartment Thief

After the box was opened, Ji Yan’s expression faltered for a moment, then he turned the box toward Xu Xin. Inside lay a set of exquisite cosmetics, their color as vivid as blood.

"Look at how nervous you are; one would think there was a bomb in the box." Xu Xin smiled, picking up a lipstick and applying it to her chapped lips.

Ji Yan remained silent, staring at the cosmetics. A faint, familiar scent of blood drifted into his nostrils. Whether it was what he suspected or not, he didn't care; he only wanted to finish his task as quickly as possible.

"Since the item has been delivered, I won't disturb you any further, Miss Xu." Ji Yan made to excuse himself.

"Why the rush? Afraid I might eat you?" Xu Xin closed the box and gestured toward the coffee table. "I’ve brewed a pot of tea. Won't you stay to wet your throat before you go?"

"No, thank you. My mother has other errands for me. Perhaps next time." Now that his task was done, Ji Yan didn't want to be entangled with this woman; staying too long would only invite trouble.

However, as he reached the door, he found it would not budge. Ji Yan sighed helplessly and turned back to look at Xu Xin, who sat by the coffee table with a faint smile.

"I’ve already decided on how you can repay that favor you owe me." She continued, "Lately, my room has been frequented by a thief who has stolen something very important to me. I want you to help me catch this thief."

Ji Yan gave a wry smile. "I’m no detective, Miss Xu. If you can't handle it, what chance do I have?" A ghost capable of stealing things from Room 801—a room of lethal danger—could hardly be a simple character.

"I happen to think you can do it. Among everyone else in the apartment, no one else seems reliable." She tilted her head. "No one else has your nerve. Even in the danger of the rooftop last night, you remained so composed."

Ji Yan stopped pretending. "To be honest, Miss Xu, that was just on the surface. I changed my trousers the moment I got back last night."

Xu Xin did not respond, simply sipping her tea while watching him. Finally, Ji Yan had no choice but to concede. "Fine, I’ll do my best."

***

The bedroom door opened. Ji Yan scanned the room, which looked normal enough. "What was stolen?"

"Haven't you noticed the two holes dug into the corner?" Xu Xin leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

Only then did Ji Yan notice two holes in the wall above the nightstand. Moreover, blood was constantly seeping out from within them!

"The thief dug out two chunks of concrete?" Ji Yan feigned shock, though inwardly he knew better. The walls of the Scarlet Apartment were built from the piled-up flesh and blood of countless victims. Breaking through the walls was the first and most sacred taboo of the apartment’s rules. How could a thief bypass the rules and carve them out unscathed?

"Go take a look. See if you can find any clues," Xu Xin urged, nodding toward the wall.

Ji Yan stepped forward and reached out to touch the bloody holes. As he did, his expression shifted. His "Omniscient Interpretation" talent triggered like a radar hitting an obstacle, flashing strings of hidden information in blood-red text before his eyes:

[A great fire once consumed this room, claiming the lives of twelve children. Their charred flesh was built into the walls, making Room 801—the home of these twelve "original inhabitants"—the most lethal room in the Scarlet Apartment.]

[Because no tenant dared to live here, the room remained sealed until one day, a woman in a black dress carrying a black umbrella moved into 801, and the twelve children found their "teacher."]

[A week ago, a thief snuck into 801 and "stole" two of the children, causing cracks to appear in the room.]

[This is no ordinary thief; it possesses the ability to ignore the landlord's surveillance and evade the punishment of the apartment's rules.]

[Warning! This side quest is deeply tied to the main storyline. Proceeding with this task carries an 80% probability of binding you to the main plot. Please choose carefully.]

Seeing the final warning, Ji Yan felt a sinking sensation. *If it's meant to be, it cannot be avoided.* The main quest was inevitable after all. He was astonished: what kind of thief was so powerful that they could defy both the landlord and the apartment’s rules, brazenly hacking through the bloody walls right under their noses?

He reached out to touch the wall again. Another hidden message popped up:

[One of the children in the wall saw the attacker's general features: a tall figure covered in human faces, with a red-stringed bell tied to their waist that chimed harshly with every step.]

[The attacker pulled the brother and sister from the wall and devoured them before fleeing through the window when the teacher returned.]

"Covered in human faces?" Ji Yan raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a lead?" Xu Xin noticed his reaction and asked.

Ji Yan recounted the thief's features. Xu Xin replied, "There is no tenant in this apartment so grotesque." She paused, then added, "However, that doesn't rule out nighttime visitors."

***

At night, the apartment would teem with all manner of bizarre tenants. But a ghost so domineering that it could enter Room 801, ignore the rules, bypass the landlord, and eat the "original inhabitants" was unheard of.

"Come back at twelve tonight."

"What for?" Ji Yan asked.

"To help me catch the thief," Xu Xin said, her eyes glinting with cold light.

"Sister, I’ve been pulling all-nighters for days. I’m exhausted. Have mercy." Xu Xin stared at him, and Ji Yan could only twitch his lips and nod in agreement.

"Ding! Congratulations, player, you have successfully triggered an A+ level quest: Help the resident of 801 recover lost items."

Ji Yan rubbed his temples. His final favor had been converted into an A+ level quest. Thinking about how he’d been grinding through missions like a tireless beast of burden for days, he couldn't help but sigh. This was the complete opposite of the "passive survival" approach he had initially planned. And it was drifting further and further away...

As Ji Yan left Room 801 and headed downstairs, he ran into the elderly landlord again, who was busy posting a stack of notices on the wall of every floor. Another notice quest? Learning from his previous lesson, Ji Yan didn't even bother to join the crowd. He walked past the other players drawn by the notices and headed downstairs.

Unexpectedly, this notice quest integrated directly into his game panel. As he descended, an alert popped up in his vision:

"Emergency Notice! Due to numerous reports of property theft among tenants, the landlord calls upon all residents to participate in catching the thief. Rewards for participants will be substantial."

[Ding! An S-level quest has been activated in the player's instance. All players may choose to participate.]

[Quest Type: Main Storyline.]
[Standard Completion: Catch the thief.]
[Perfect Completion: Catch the thief and help residents recover their lost belongings.]
[Quest Reward: Ability to mark the current instance as a base and obtain the key to the apartment's main gate.]
(Warning: There is no penalty for failing the main quest, but the thief is extremely dangerous.)

"Main storyline?" Ji Yan’s expression changed. The thief was the boss of the latest main quest? Now he understood why Room 801’s side quest was so deeply intertwined with the main plot. Both tasks were fundamentally aiming for the same thing.

"This thief is quite capable," Ji Yan took a deep breath. A monster that eats the flesh of the walls and is classified as an S-level boss—what exactly was it?

"Ding! Player 'Long Yuan' has accepted the main quest. Current participants: 1/1."
"Ding! Player 'Yuan Qiu' has accepted the main quest. Current participants: 2/2."
"Ding! Player..."

Once the main quest was announced, a steady stream of players joined. As the only S-level quest, the danger was immense; logically, many players were struggling just to survive and wouldn't even glance at a main quest. Seeing them scrambling to claim it now was unexpected.

Among the participants, Ji Yan even saw the name of his "sister," Liu Yitong.

"This is getting more and more interesting." Ji Yan closed the panel and returned to Room 404. In the living room, Liu Yitong was sitting there, having not gone out for the first time since receiving tasks from her "creepy family."

"What's wrong? Was the task Grandma gave you today too difficult?" Ji Yan saw her looking distressed.

Liu Yitong pulled at her messy hair, her face showing a rare look of frustration. "Grandma is in a terrible mood. The three sweaters she knitted were stolen—that was two months of the old lady's hard work. She told me to retrieve them. The task is rated A+!"

"It's so strange. I've built up nearly 70% favorability with Grandma, yet I still got an A+ level quest," she lamented, feeling like she was about to collapse.

Ji Yan touched his forehead. First, the thief targeted Miss Xu, then stole Grandma's sweaters, and judging by the notices, many other tenants had suffered as well. The thief seemed intent on robbing the entire apartment!

"I saw you joined the main quest," Ji Yan noted.

"Grandma's quest is heavily tied to the main storyline," she explained. "Joining the main quest means being on the same team as the other players. If we catch the thief collectively, I'll surely get Grandma's sweaters back and get a share of the main quest rewards."

Liu Yitong's reasoning was shared by many. It was no wonder players were so eager to participate. Of course, another reason was that the lead participant was Long Yuan. After all, this guy had already cleared the previous instance's main quest. Having him in the party was like taking a sedative for one's nerves.

But Ji Yan knew this guy well—he wouldn't let others share in his success. "Others might be forced to join, but I suspect Long Yuan is just after the reward."

Liu Yitong, who had been in the instance for a while, knew of Long Yuan. "He cleared the last main quest just to get the apartment gate key. Unfortunately, the task was only judged as 'Standard' completion, the reward was heavily slashed, and the key was lost."

"This time, he definitely wants to try again." She rested her chin on her hands.

Ji Yan was puzzled. "Getting the key leads to the next instance. But the next instance is an unknown danger. He's living comfortably in the Scarlet Apartment; isn't going to a new, strange place just asking for trouble?"

Liu Yitong shook her head. "Marking an instance is completely different. It's like saving a game. If we die in a new level, we can jump back to the save point, retaining our progress so we don't have to start from scratch. If Long Yuan gets the mark, he can trigger a 'death save' once, returning here and keeping all his progress and favorability benefits."

"I just don't know how many times the mark can be used."

One mark allowed for one "death save." Long Yuan surely wanted to challenge new instances to expand his territory. If successful, he could eventually jump between multiple instances. Players wouldn't want to stay in the "newbie village" forever. In this vast, eerie world, no one wanted to be a frog in a well for their whole life; some wanted to lift the fog to see the world's true face, while others never forgot their original intention—to find a way back to the Blue Planet.

Ji Yan’s eyes lit up. In that light, the main quest wasn't entirely bad. As for the rewards, it provided the ultimate privilege! He immediately clicked his panel to join the main quest.

"Isn't your task to help your mother deliver things upstairs? There's no need to..."

Ji Yan interrupted, "Long story short, regardless, we're now teammates on the same quest."

Liu Yitong sighed. "But we have no clue about the main quest. There are so many tenants; catching the thief is like finding a needle in a haystack. I hope the other players can push the quest forward."

Seeing her tendency to "fish in troubled waters," Ji Yan pulled out a piece of compressed biscuit and ate as he spoke: "Why pin your hopes on others? We can push the quest forward ourselves."

Liu Yitong looked at him. "I get the feeling you're eyeing that reward."

"The reward is secondary. I just don't like my fate being in someone else's hands."

"Then what clues do you have?"

"None for now, but I have a direction. I'll go out again tonight to take a look." He felt that continuing to interact with Miss Xu in 801 tonight would surely yield something.

"Speaking of action, the players in the chat are already gathering to share clues and discuss strategies."

Ji Yan said, "The more people there are, the easier it is for things to go wrong."

"I think I'll go meet up with them and see if I can help," Liu Yitong said, interrupting him. "You can act on your own for now. I'll let you know if I make any progress. Good luck."

She clearly had no intention of working with Ji Yan, preferring the safety of Long Yuan's large group. It was a normal choice, and Ji Yan understood. He nodded.

After she left, Ji Yan looked at his grandmother's room, hesitated, finished his biscuit, and knocked on the door. Hearing her response, he pushed it open. Since Grandma had also fallen victim to the thief, perhaps he could glean some useful information through further interaction?

With his "Omniscient Interpretation" talent, Ji Yan's greatest advantage was the hidden information others lacked. This was his confidence in choosing to go it alone on the main quest.