Horror creatures had hot potatoes of their own
Meanwhile.
The moment Zhu Yan heard the landlord grab Guan En, he climbed out the window.
He had to finish everything before Guan En came upstairs and ring the front doorbell again just as Guan En entered the room.
If the landlord took Guan En to the room next door, Guan En would still be able to see him leaving through the window.
He carefully closed the window from outside, hung from the empty air-conditioning unit, and cautiously reached for his next foothold.
He had to move fast. He couldn't stop!
Fortunately, the villa had been deliberately built in a rough European style, with uneven, protruding window frames and sills.
Since the ground below was bare grass, Zhu Yan didn't have to worry about being scratched by bushes when he jumped down.
He quickly jumped onto the lawn, raced outside the front gate, and hid at the base of the wall.
The landlord dragged Guan En up the last dust-covered step.
The hunger in its eyes was almost overflowing. It looked at Guan En like a prepared dish that was too hot to eat.
It was practically starving to death.
Could it eat a player early?
But the instance hadn't started yet.
If it ate a player now...
The landlord swallowed. It couldn't do that.
It would be punished by [Carnival Paradise]!
Guan En didn't miss the landlord's gaze. Those eyes, cloudy as frosted glass, made him shudder.
He instantly grew wary, but the landlord merely tugged him off balance, pulled a key from its pocket while cursing, and unlocked the door.
"Get in!" it roared angrily, shoving Guan En into the room.
Seeing Guan En sprawl awkwardly across a carpet so filthy its original color was unrecognizable, the landlord turned back with a cold smile.
"Behave yourself, kid. If you go looking outside, you're dead."
Guan En paused as he got up.
If you go looking outside, you're dead.
That was an order, one that had nothing to do with the instance or food.
Guan En looked at the clumps of dust clinging to the carpet fibers and suddenly realized something.
What was so important about looking outside?
When he was sitting in the living room, there had been a window to his right overlooking the entire lawn.
But the monster landlord hadn't warned him not to look outside then!
It had only dragged him upstairs and given him that warning after going upstairs and coming back down.
It had clearly received a specific instruction from the mysterious player—
The mysterious player wanted to escape without Guan En seeing him.
Perhaps he was worried that his player level was lower than Guan En's ability level.
In those few seconds, Guan En felt a slight sense of relief and nearly laughed.
He watched the monster landlord's back as it opened the door and called out, "Wait!"
Outside the courtyard wall.
Zhu Yan recalled the mimic manager's behavior in the [Hall of Mourning] as he pulled out Coexisting with Forbidden Things and searched for information on [Plague Ghosts].
There really was an entry, though it was only a short passage.
"[Plague Ghosts] are formed from people who died in major plagues. They like dirty, stuffy environments and are selfish, greedy, and suspicious."
"Low-level [Plague Ghosts] are extremely stupid, while high-level [Plague Ghosts] are extremely cunning."
Zhu Yan remembered that the Rental Contract had identified the landlord, Walter, as low-level.
He chuckled and continued reading.
"[Plague Ghosts] can unknowingly transmit deadly plagues to humans. If a strange illness suddenly breaks out in your area, please be careful!"
Oh?
In that case, he should have already been infected.
But compared with the instance before him, that problem could wait.
He read on, finishing the last sentence.
"The names of [Plague Ghosts] are often little known, and they likewise do not volunteer them."
"This is because most [Plague Ghosts] originated in the Middle Ages, and the theology and philosophy of that time determined this trait."
Something occurred to Zhu Yan, and he remembered something.
He quickly hid the book, entered the [Player Center], and bought two human legs from the online store.
These were a welcome gift for the landlord, as well as perfect props for the next act!
He was almost out of time.
He had to ring the doorbell quickly. He couldn't give Guan En any time to talk to the landlord!
If they compared notes, everything he'd worked so hard to build would be ruined in an instant.
Zhu Yan stood up with the two human legs and activated [Roleplay] again with a thought.
Inside the room.
The landlord stopped, its head turning its neck with a clacking sound to an incredible angle.
Guan En looked straight into those utterly unreflective eyes and got up from the floor.
"Have you run into some trouble?"
Based on his deductions, the mysterious player had used a false identity, disguising himself as a horror creature to manipulate the landlord.
But the mysterious player's act wasn't flawless, nor was it impossible to expose.
The landlord was Lv.4–5.
The mysterious player, on the other hand, had a largely nonoffensive ability of level five at most and a player level of two.
The moment the landlord attacked, he would be exposed!
Guan En was more inclined to believe that the mysterious player had obtained crucial information through observation or some other means and exploited the monster landlord's weakness.
He raised his eyes. The monster's pale, layered facial skin was trembling slightly, its brow was lowered, and its long, sharp claws were clenched into fists. It looked furious.
"None of your fucking business—! If you—"
Sure enough.
"I can help you," Guan En said at once.
It didn't matter how the mysterious player had tricked that information out of it.
What mattered was that he could try to get it out of the landlord.
"I know the next player's background, because my ability is [Detection]."
Guan En stared intently into those unreflective eyes and lied.
He didn't have [Detection], but he could reason.
The landlord's eyes narrowed.
"Let's work together. I know the other player has already arrived. He pretended to be a horror creature and tricked you—"
Guan En couldn't finish. A doorbell interrupted him.
He paused, then picked up the cup in his hand and shook it.
"Horror creatures don't drink this. It was found under the flower bed outside your front gate."
There were no lights on in the room, but by the dim night and the faint light outside, Guan En saw the landlord's face twitch violently.
Its brows lowered and drew slightly together, while the muscles around its eyes contracted stiffly.
That was an expression of suspicion.
Guan En stared intently at the landlord's face.
Monsters and humans actually had the same expressions.
This was the crucial moment that would determine whether his task succeeded or failed. He couldn't miss a single detail.
"The one who came in before me was actually a player. The one who just—"
Guan En gritted his teeth and took a gamble.
"The one who just pretended to be a high-level horror creature and deceived you."