Inverted Clock, Reciprocity

"Tip! The player has successfully killed a Family Eerie. The mission will now be recalculated."

"You have unlocked a new achievement—Rookie Eerie Hunter!"

"You have received a title reward—Inverted Clock."

"Congratulations, player, on completing the hidden mission. Your status has increased by 1 level, and all your stats have risen by 90 points."

"You have unlocked an Apartment Privilege—Night Patrol Pass." (From 0:00 to 3:00 AM, wearing this pass grants immunity to nighttime eerie aggro.)

"The apartment at night hides more missions and equipment, including ways to complete the Dungeon main quest. Please explore actively!"

"Tip! Because you killed the Father, your favorability with Grandmother and Mother has increased by 90 points!"

"They see you as a grown-up who understands things. A failed father who spends all day drinking and beating his children—what use is he? His removal will make this family happier and more harmonious!"

Ji Yan's eyes widened slightly.

Killing a Family Eerie came with this many rewards?

But thinking it over, the risks involved seemed to match the payout.

He pulled the newly acquired item from his Tool Bar.

It was a clock with the hour, minute, and second hands completely out of sync, looking ordinary and worn, as if it had been broken for ages.

Ji Yan opened the item info.

"Item background: Every night before lights out, Mother would tell the little girl a story to help her sleep. Later, to see her mother sooner, the girl set the bedside clock ahead. But after that night, Mother never showed up again..."

The backstory was vague and a bit creepy.

Ji Yan wasn't particularly interested, but after checking the item's effect, his eyes lit up...

He glanced at the time in the room—3:30 AM.

The Gourmand Eerie, that source of trouble, was dealt with.

"Next up, it's Dong Chu's turn."

He didn't like holding grudges overnight. Settle scores on the same day.

Living under the same roof as fellow players, Ji Yan hadn't wanted to burn bridges with him. A few traded insults shouldn't have led to this.

But he'd underestimated how twisted people could be.

Now it was time to return the favor...

That night, Dong Chu slept soundly.

In his dreams, he vaguely heard Ji Yan's screams, which only made him sleep more peacefully.

The next morning, a hazy mist hung in the air.

The alarm rang, and Dong Chu woke up with a heavy drowsiness, shutting off the jarring noise.

He didn't dare slack off. He dressed quickly and left his room.

When he reached the living room, Liu Yitong was nowhere to be seen. Instead, at the dining table, a fat, big-eared figure was hunched over, wolfing down food.

"F-Father?!"

Dong Chu froze.

The eerie Father had actually left his room—a rarer occurrence than the other two eeries combined!

A bad feeling crept over him.

Had something gone wrong last night?

Nervous and uneasy, the Gourmand Eerie squeezed out a single word at him.

"Sit."

Dong Chu sat down, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles.

The Gourmand Eerie's face, covered in grotesque bumps, turned toward him, forcing out a smile uglier than a cry.

"As a father, I feel like I haven't had breakfast with my child in a long time. I made a point to get up early today."

"Out of my three children, you're the one I value most."

"Deep-thinking, decisive—that's what makes you worthy of being my child!"

The Gourmand Eerie curled the Corner of its Mouth, revealing a row of yellow teeth.

It didn't hold back on the praise.

To Dong Chu, this was as unbelievable as seeing the sun rise in the west.

Did I hear that right?

Wait—was I gaining favorability with this eerie and triggering a blessing?

He suddenly realized that the breakfast invitation was a welfare event.

His heart raced with disbelief and excitement.

So this eerie could be won over too!

For the sake of favorability, suppressing his disgust, he also started eating the food on the table.

"Father, that younger brother of mine from last night... how is he?"

The Gourmand Eerie shoved a piece of meat dripping with sauce into its mouth.

"What, you still haven't figured it out?"

"These on the table—aren't they your dear little brother?"

Dong Chu froze, staring at the steaming bowls of meat on the table. His stomach churned, and he instinctively wanted to vomit.

The Gourmand Eerie's thick brows furrowed. "What, your father worked hard to make you breakfast, and you're going to throw it up?"

Dong Chu's face twisted like pig liver, both hands clamped over his mouth.

In the end, after an inner struggle, he forced himself to swallow.

"It's fine, it's fine. At the end of the day, this is just the Eerie Game, not the real world."

"I ate it, so what? No big deal. It's not like I've lost all morality or humanity."

He comforted himself like this.

But as he ate, he sensed something was off.

He opened his info panel—nothing moved.

No way. If Ji Yan had really died, why hadn't his talent triggered to loot the other's equipment?

Staring at the unmoving Tool Bar, Dong Chu was puzzled. He felt his head grow heavy and shook it vigorously.

When he looked up again, the daylight outside the balcony was dimming bit by bit.

In the blink of an eye, it turned into night!

He froze, then whipped his head around to look at the wall.

That old Grandfather Clock still showed three-thirty in the deep night!

"What's going on?"

"...Wasn't it already light? I clearly heard the alarm clock!"

He was dumbfounded. The next second, he realized something, and his scalp went numb.

He dashed into the hallway, sprinting toward his own room!

An Eerie Child in a diaper, with grayish skin, was crouching by his door, clutching a headless Cloth Doll.

It stared at Dong Chu with pitch-black eyes, no whites in sight: "Brother, my doll's gone missing again. Can you help me find it?"

Dong Chu's heart skipped a beat.

He didn't dare respond. He knew full well that once he answered, he'd have to accept the task.

Tasks from eerie beings in the dead of night had a mortality rate of nearly ninety-nine percent!

He pounded frantically on the door to the left, calling out to Liu Yitong for help: "Liu Yitong!! Open the door, save me, don't go to sleep!"

Liu Yitong inside heard him.

He pulled the covers over his head, hands over his ears, muttering, "So annoying. These eerie things pull the same tricks every night!"

Dong Chu was sleeping soundly in the next room—how could he be outside?

"Brother, brother, why won't you answer me?"

"Please, help me find my doll's head. It was a birthday gift from Dad. If he finds out it's gone, he'll beat me."

The Eerie Child crept closer.

Its voice was pleading, but the signs of corruption grew more obvious.

Dong Chu backed up step by step, finally pressing against Ji Yan's door. He paused, then tried knocking twice.

"Ji Yan?"

"What?"

Dong Chu's pupils shrank. There was a response from inside the room.

He wasn't dead!

Why wasn't he dead?

"You... you..."

He stammered.

"Why am I not dead?"

"Why don't you take a guess?"

Ji Yan's calm voice came from the room.

Dong Chu reacted quickly. This was no time to wonder why Ji Yan was alive or dead. He hurriedly spoke: "Ji Yan, don't take what I said during the day to heart. I was actually looking out for you, reminding you to stay sharp."

"I was teaching you how to survive this Dungeon. I never meant you any harm from start to finish. Just open the door, okay?"

The will to survive drove him to lower his stance to the bare minimum.

All he could think about now was getting into the room first, staying alive above all else.

From inside the room came Ji Yan's cold, eerie laugh: "True, I really should thank you."

"If you hadn't gone to all that trouble setting a trap, I wouldn't have had the chance to kill that Eerie Father, let alone know there'd be so many rewards."

"So, consider this repayment."

"That Eerie Wine Bottle you gave me—I'm returning it to you in one piece."

Dong Chu opened his mouth.

His face gradually turned pale.

"You knew?? So you knew all along!!"

"Then was it you who lured me out of the room late at night?"

Dong Chu's eyes were bloodshot.

"You offered me a toast, so I return one."

"Reciprocity—what's wrong with that?"

"Next time you enter a Dungeon, learn to be smarter. Don't mess with those you can't afford to."

"Good night."

Ji Yan yawned and went back to his bed.

Outside the door, Dong Chu screamed and cursed hysterically.

Until the Eerie Child behind him, having received no response, fully turned dark.

Those small hands cupped his neck: "Brother, why won't you answer me?"

"Your head... it's really nice, you know. Can I take it and put it on my doll's neck?"

Under Dong Chu's terrified gaze, before he could even reply, those small hands lifted gently, and his head was easily plucked from his neck.

Blood sprayed, and the headless corpse crumpled to the ground.

The Eerie Child swung the head and the doll, hopping away until it vanished into the darkness.

"What a hassle tonight."

"Still, plenty of gains, and I got rid of an annoying fly."

With his hands behind his head, Ji Yan murmured as he closed his eyes and fell peacefully asleep.