Chapter 38: The Instance Setting—The So-Called Rent

Ji Yan pushed open the door to find the room in utter disarray, with knitted garments scattered everywhere.

Grandmother sat there, her aged frame cloaked in a layer of black mist, her expression terrifyingly grim.

"Warning! The eerie family member [Grandmother] is currently in a semi-corrupted state. To avoid unnecessary danger, please interact with caution."

Once an Eerie entity becomes corrupted, any player’s favorability with them will drop sharply. That was why even Liu Yitong, her most beloved granddaughter, had been met with such hostility and handed an A+-level task.

Ignoring the warning on the panel, Ji Yan picked up a sweater from the floor. "Grandmother, I heard from Sister that our home was robbed."

Grandmother, whose skin was crawling with black corpse spots, twisted a silver needle in her hand, appearing utterly distraught. "The thief stole Grandmother's most precious sweaters."

"Without those three sweaters... Grandmother will be evicted from the apartment, and you will never see me again."

Ji Yan’s expression shifted. "Is it that serious?" He then thought of something and ventured to ask, "Are those three sweaters your rent?"

"Yes, the rent for the next two months." She added, "They are also the fruits of Grandmother’s labor over the past three months."

Grandmother’s hunched body trembled slightly. This was the first time Ji Yan had seen such clear signs of nervousness and unease in her. Compared to how she had effortlessly disposed of two parasitic Eerie entities in the hallway last night, she seemed like an entirely different being.

What exactly was the world of fog outside the apartment like? Even the Eerie Grandmother feared it so much that every Eerie entity was doing everything in their power to stay inside the apartment, terrified of being evicted.

Some sweaters could be used as rewards for players, while others could serve as rent for the landlord. Ji Yan was still confused about the concept of rent. Initially, he hadn't wanted to pry too deeply, fearing it might involve the main plot, but now that he had accepted the [Main Quest], he had no such reservations and asked.

Unexpectedly, he actually managed to interact his way to an answer. Grandmother stood up, pinched a silver needle, and sliced open a section of the wall. The wall tore like fabric, oozing blood. What was different this time was that inside the wall, one could see pieces of flesh, wriggling and covered in blood vessels and veins!

Ji Yan’s eyes widened. That flesh inside the wall displayed immense vitality, pulsing like a violently beating heart.

"Neither your mother nor I are original residents of 404; these ones embedded in the walls are."

"They decay a little bit every day inside these walls. If we, the external tenants, want to avoid being evicted, we must feed them to ensure the walls of the house do not crack and collapse."

"What we feed them is the rent."

Ji Yan listened, still feeling lost in the fog. He reached out to gently touch the flesh. As expected, his talent [Omniscience] was triggered.

Through the hidden information obtained, Ji Yan finally solved the last piece of the puzzle.

"Ding! By interacting and triggering your talent, you have successfully obtained background information on the instance."

[A great fire once occurred in the apartment, and all 176 original residents were buried in the sea of flames. Their flesh and blood merged into the walls and floors. In the Eerie world, this flesh, filled with agony, became an indestructible building material.]

[Although indestructible, the apartment suffers countless instances of damage and destruction every day in the Eerie world.]

[External tenants must take on the duty of "nurturing" the original residents. They need to restore the items remaining from that fire and deliver them to the landlord, who then delivers them into the walls to "feed" the residents.]

[The items remaining from the fire can enhance the resentment of the original residents, thereby causing the flesh to grow and making the walls more solid.]

"So, the so-called rent is just the items left behind by the original residents after the fire!"

With the instance information completed, everything suddenly became clear to Ji Yan. No wonder the rent requirements were so bizarre; some rooms had expensive rent while others were cheap. Thinking about it, Room 801 was indeed the most dangerous, with the highest rent. It had over a dozen original residents! The fact that Ms. Xu could live in 801 and keep over a dozen original residents' flesh fed to the required standard meant she was no ordinary character.

"Those three sweaters were the clothing of the original residents' three children."

"Without those clothes, the walls will begin to crack bit by bit, and your grandmother will also be evicted from the apartment."

Grandmother twisted her silver needle and stitched the wall back up, leaving no trace. She turned to look at Ji Yan. "Grandson, you must help Grandmother catch the thief as soon as possible."

As she spoke, she took a dark-colored knitted sweater from under the table and handed it to Ji Yan. "Your sweater from last night was ruined; Grandmother has knitted you a new one."

"Wear it if you go out at night. Don't catch a cold."

Ji Yan’s eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that interacting with the corrupted Grandmother would yield new equipment. In his view, this sweater, which could save his life at a critical moment, was far more practical than those flashy pieces of equipment.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for obtaining an Eerie item—[Grandmother’s Knitted Sweater], Quality: [Treasured]."

"Effect: Can withstand three fatal strikes from ordinary Eerie entities. The maximum resilience threshold is 110 points of Eerie power. The higher the Eerie power of the attack, the greater the degree of damage. No backlash effect."

Having received the benefit, Ji Yan naturally became proactive. "Does Grandmother have any impression of the thief?"

Grandmother did not answer. She sat back in her chair, her eyelids drooping, and shook her head. She muttered repeatedly to herself, "Find the sweaters, find the sweaters..."

Seeing that no further information could be gleaned, Ji Yan had to leave the room. It seemed that the external tenants had no leads on the thief, so he would just have to wait until tonight.

"Ding! Congratulations on completing today's task. By delivering the gift to 801, your favorability with the Eerie mother has increased by 5%, and the favorability of the 801 tenant has increased by 10%."

"You have gained 30 points of Eerie power, which have been automatically applied."

"You have obtained a piece of hidden information: The mother has also fallen victim to the mysterious thief, losing a necklace belonging to an original resident."

"Fearing eviction, she chose to make a deal with the tenant of 801 through the method of 'gift-giving'."

"As expected, Mother didn't escape unscathed either."

"But unlike Grandmother, Mother had a backup plan—Ms. Xu in 801. It seems that if she couldn't pay the rent, Ms. Xu would give Mother a helping hand."

He wondered what that set of cosmetics was; what kind of treasure could it be to make Ms. Xu willing to help her?

Ji Yan shook his head. He wouldn't dwell on those trivial matters. The mysterious thief now looked like a walking high-merit achievement! Every player wanted to catch them. Catching the thief would be equivalent to helping more than half of the Eerie tenants escape their misery. A single main quest might just clear half the progress of the entire apartment! Not to mention, there was also the matter of the privilege key. Ji Yan would certainly not be slack.

...

Night soon fell. Ji Yan donned his nighttime privilege badge and stepped out of his room. As he opened the door, Liu Yitong next door opened hers as well. She was also wearing a [Nighttime Action] privilege badge on her chest.

"When did you get this privilege?" Ji Yan was slightly surprised; this badge had cost him quite a bit of effort.

"The announcement said that all players who join the team to catch the mysterious thief are assigned this privilege badge. Didn't you know that?" Liu Yitong asked in return.

Ji Yan felt embarrassed. Fine, fine. He had only been enjoying this privilege for two days, and it was already becoming common knowledge.

"Do you also think the thief will appear at night?"

"It's not just me; the entire thief-catching team thinks so."

"First, the apartment rules are ineffective at night, making it easier for the thief to move. Second, the time when Eerie tenants lose their items is basically always at night."

"So, it’s bound to be lively tonight."

Seeing Liu Yitong’s eager expression, Ji Yan reminded her, "Don't forget, the mission mentioned that the mysterious thief is extremely dangerous."

"Just because there are many players, it doesn't mean the thief will be afraid."

Ji Yan had a feeling that many players were blinded by the mission rewards, treating the thief as nothing more than a rat that everyone wanted to beat. But this was a legitimate Main Quest boss! They were certainly not going to be a pushover.