A Visit from the Stairs

At dusk, the setting sun spilled over the city's suburbs, and waves of chill quietly began to emerge.

Night was falling.

People at home began preparing fuel.

Those outside consciously quickened their pace, wanting to return to their safehouses as quickly as possible.

Especially as they watched the sun about to sink beyond the horizon, nearly everyone still surviving in this world had begun to feel anxious.

Apartment Building.

Seventh floor.

A group of Swadian Militia who had spent the entire afternoon harvesting all one mu of wheat were feeling quite content.

Inside Shen Mu's apartment, the brazier had been lit. The large amount of wood gathered from the other rooms had finally come in handy, making the entire brazier burn brightly.

It was also related to preparing dinner over the fire.

A Swadian Militiaman was already using a cleaver to chop at the system-rewarded bread on a cutting board.

Each chop looked as though he were hacking at a wooden stump.

It often took several blows just to chop off a piece.

Even Shen Mu's eye twitched slightly as he watched from the side.

Still, it was understandable.

The bread in Mount & Blade was like a coarser, harder, denser baguette.

The dough had not even been fermented before it was shoved straight into the bakery oven to bake.

That was how this hard, long-lasting food suitable for carrying during extended marches or travels was made.

At that moment, Shen Mu even began missing the one-handed axes held by the Swadian Recruits.

Those one-handed axes, normally used for chopping firewood, could definitely make short work of these hard, solid bread stumps.

Besides, Shen Mu did not want to eat the bread anyway.

After searching through more than forty rooms on the entire floor, they had still found plenty of fresh vegetables and canned food, along with rice, flour, steamed buns, soft bread, and other foods.

As for these Mount & Blade delicacies from the medieval era, when dietary standards were still rather low—

"I really don't have the stomach for it." Shen Mu felt that he still could not bring himself to take a bite.

The only thing that seemed decent was the large pot of fresh wheat porridge simmering over the brazier.

It carried a rich, fresh wheat fragrance and could barely be considered satisfactory to Shen Mu.

"Two men, come with me to patrol the hallway outside." Shen Mu did not want to keep sitting around doing nothing, so he decided to take a walk.

Two Swadian Militia immediately got to their feet and followed him.

They opened the apartment door.

The corridor outside was already quite dim.

But they could still barely see.

After making a round trip through the apartment's "sun"-shaped layout, they found nothing unusual.

Of course, before night had fully fallen, it was impossible to discover any real abnormalities.

"But we need to be careful of the Spiritual Realm Scene behind this door."

Shen Mu frowned slightly.

Right before him stood an ordinary-looking Security Door, tightly shut.

The room number on it was Room 7040.

Inside that room was the Spiritual Realm Scene Shen Mu had discovered after opening it earlier, where both time and space had changed!

When he had entered it for the first time, there had only been corpses all over the floor.

But—

Thinking of the memories left behind by his predecessor, of those Spiritual Realm Scenes that contained all kinds of monsters or opportunities, Shen Mu still felt uneasy.

"If I get the chance, I need to deal with this Spiritual Realm Scene as soon as possible." Shen Mu pursed his lips.

After all, the entrance to that Spiritual Realm Scene was far too close to his own room.

Shen Mu fell silent for a moment, then prepared to return with the two Swadian Militia.

However, as they passed the stairs, one of the Swadian Militia frowned slightly.

"Hm?" The corner of the militiaman's eye seemed to have caught something. He immediately aimed his spear toward the stairs beside the Elevator Room, behind the Fire Door.

"Come out!" the Swadian Militiaman shouted. "I saw you!"

Shen Mu followed the militiaman's gaze.

At the stairs, a small figure seemed startled and turned into a dark shadow as it rushed downstairs.

It looked like a child around ten years old.

"Hm?" Shen Mu frowned slightly and stopped the two Swadian Militia beside him from giving chase. "No need to pursue."

Night was about to fall.

No one knew what might happen if they entered the pitch-black stairwell. It was better to play it safe.

"Lord Shen Mu, what happened?"

Seven or eight Swadian Militia heard their companion's shout and immediately came out at a quick pace with their weapons in hand.

"There was a figure that looked like a child, but it was very fast."

The Swadian Militiaman who had first noticed the situation briefly explained what had happened. His expression was somewhat annoyed. "But I didn't see clearly what it was."

"We need to arrange sentries to stand guard from now on." The faces of the Swadian Militia became more solemn.

"It's fine. Go back inside." Shen Mu remained calm and motioned for everyone to return.

Especially as the sun outside the window sank lower and lower.

As the sky grew increasingly dark—

Shen Mu glanced at the Fire Door at the stairwell, looking thoughtful. "That shadow just now seemed to be..."

Just then, he had caught a glimpse of the shadow's appearance.

Its entire body was covered in soft fur, and it wore something like an ancient cloth robe, with the typical style of Spiritual Realm clothing.

"Halflings?!" Shen Mu muttered to himself.

The memories left by his predecessor also reminded him that his predecessor had seen Halflings before.

Their clothing and height had indeed been similar to that.

Combined with what that fellow named Geng Jun had said earlier—that there was an odd person on the fifth floor of this Apartment Building who had Spiritual Realm races such as Halflings following him—

Perhaps it was merely that person's Halfling, coming upstairs to investigate the situation.

"Let's go back. It's nothing serious." Shen Mu relaxed slightly.

Halflings were a Spiritual Realm race famous for being kind.

At least, in the three years since the Spiritual Realm Crystal Wall System had shattered and collided with Blue Star, people had already learned enough common information about the Spiritual Realm and its related races.

That was why Shen Mu felt relatively at ease.

At the very least, compared to Halflings, the Gnolls under Geng Jun's command that Shen Mu had encountered earlier made him far more wary.

Gnolls were a standard Lawful Evil faction.

They returned to the room.

At this point, the Swadian Militia, who had originally been rather relaxed, had spontaneously begun arranging sentries to stand guard.

Two Swadian Militia stood guard at the apartment's Security Door.

They were responsible for observing the situation outside the door.

As well as monitoring the candle burning in the bathroom.

Then, on the left side of the room, the wall had been opened through to the neighboring apartment. There was only an entrance the size of another Security Door, now blocked off by wood and other debris, with two Swadian Militia standing guard there as well.

Because beyond the entrance opened through the left wall was Shen Mu's one mu wheat field, which had already been harvested.

Much of the harvested wheat was still piled in the field, waiting to be threshed.

After all, the wheat field had been formed by opening through twenty apartment rooms, making it extremely spacious. Once night fell, it might also be affected by the darkness.

If Undead Monsters appeared then, the militia standing guard would be able to spot them early and sound the alarm.

Shen Mu was also satisfied with the Swadian Militia's spontaneous assignments.

It showed their professionalism.

However, just as Shen Mu sat down and drank a bowl of thick wheat porridge, a dialogue box suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Ding! A Temporary Mission has detected an event!

Mission Issued: Resist Invasion.

Mission Description: Darkness is about to descend, and the Undead Monsters hidden within are already stirring. Please protect your wheat field. It is your asset.

Mission Requirements: Resist the attack of the Undead Monsters and ensure survival until daylight.

Mission Reward: Denar ×500; Immigration (Small Scale) ×1 wave; Random Draw Scroll (Low-Tier Troops) ×1; Swadian Light Infantry Template (Protagonist) ×1.

"A mission?" Shen Mu froze slightly.

Then, outside the window, the setting sun that had still been struggling not to sink beyond the mountains finally dropped out of sight.

"Buzz!" In an instant, the sky that had still held a faint yellow glow was swallowed by deep, eerie darkness.

A chill from the depths of the soul spread through the air.

Shen Mu raised his head and looked out at the pitch-black window, where he could no longer see his hand before his face. His expression turned solemn.

The most dangerous night had arrived.