Long Yuan narrowed his eyes, unwilling to get involved, then turned and headed upstairs.
Standing before Room 102, Ji Yan reached out and knocked.
No one answered the door.
Seeing the dust on the doorknob, Ji Yan realized the room was unoccupied.
The Plague Eerie behind him stepped forward, gripped the doorknob, and directly opened the room.
Creak.
The interior took Ji Yan by surprise.
Every inch had been cleaned spotless, even the vase and the key tray.
The floor gleamed from cleaning. Someone clearly lived here, yet the outside of the door was covered in dust.
As the Plague Eerie that had barged in took each step, filthy water splashed and streamed everywhere. Yet the Mutant Rats did not follow inside, instead clustering at the doorway.
Having returned to his former home, the Plague Eerie was unusually agitated, carefully examining and touching everything inside.
"Nothing has changed. This is my old home... but where is it?"
Ji Yan stood behind him and glanced at the clock on the wall.
Less than an hour remained before the mission ended!
If the Plague Eerie did not leave the Apartment with the Rat Plague within that hour, he would not even need to worry about mission penalties. Those bristling Eerie Residents would probably tear him apart first.
"Ah—!"
"I just finished cleaning, and now it looks like this! How did you get in?"
A girl entered from the balcony.
She had cleaned the house until it was spotless, only for it to become reeking and splattered with filthy water in the blink of an eye. It felt as if the sky had collapsed.
The drink in her hand fell to the floor.
Ji Yan could tell she was a Player.
She was dressed smartly, her hair glossy, her face round and rosy. In one hand, she carried a basin of fresh, delicious steaks, and even the drink that had fallen to the floor was freshly squeezed juice.
Even Ji Yan was stunned by such abundant living conditions.
He had thought his own living conditions were already superior compared to other Players.
But this Dyed-Hair Girl was truly living the good life!
Seeing the Plague Eerie, covered in filthy water and hanging with trash as he walked through the house, the girl clutched her pale cheeks.
"What the hell is this eerie thing?!"
"How did it get in? Don't move! Don't touch anything!"
"It's over, it's over! Everything's dirty! I'm dead!"
She had finally been matched with such a comfortable Dungeon environment. At the thought of being eliminated and sent to an even more terrifying Dungeon, she was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Ji Yan looked at her. "Are you the fixed Player of Room 102?"
The Female Player said nothing, glaring at Ji Yan with hatred in her eyes. "How did I offend you?"
Ji Yan knew what she meant. Pointing at the Plague Eerie, he said, "I have to complete my mission. It's not up to me."
"Besides, that Eerie seems to be the original Master of Room 102."
"Bullshit! I live here. How could I not know who owns Room 102?"
"You XX$%#..."
Ji Yan had no interest in listening to the Dyed-Hair Girl's chatter. He reached out and touched every conspicuous object in the room.
It was like entering a database. Hidden information continuously popped up, and Ji Yan absorbed it all.
After rapidly browsing through the hidden information, his expression kept changing.
In just two minutes, he finally unraveled the backstory between the Plague Eerie and Room 102.
So that was it!
He raised a hand to interrupt the Dyed-Hair Girl's stream of profanity and asked, "How many days have you survived here?"
The Dyed-Hair Girl glared viciously at Ji Yan without saying a word.
"If you want to keep surviving in this Dungeon, answer my question."
Ji Yan's expression was serious.
The Dyed-Hair Girl opened her mouth, but in the end, could only take a gamble. "I've survived for a month."
"Was there an invisible Eerie that gave you daily missions? Where is she?"
"How did you know?"
The Dyed-Hair Girl's eyes widened.
A month ago, she had been transported from Blue Star into this Dungeon, and it had felt as though the sky were falling.
But gradually, she discovered that her living environment was safe and comfortable.
Unlike other Players, she did not have to leave every day to face all kinds of dangerous missions. She only needed to stay in the room, and her daily task was to clean it.
Thoroughly.
Every speck of dust in every corner had to be cleaned away.
Then she would receive three high-quality meals a day, along with daily necessities.
And so, the Dyed-Hair Girl had survived for a month.
While other Players struggled to survive in desperate circumstances, she only needed to stay in Room 102 and be a good housekeeper. The rest of her time was her own.
But today, her wonderful life had been shattered by the intruding man and Eerie.
"Where is she? Take me there."
The Dyed-Hair Girl turned and entered a bedroom, then pointed at a Blood Wall deep inside.
"My daily missions are collected from this wall!"
"The mission says that as long as I clean the room to a passing standard every day, I won't be expelled."
Ji Yan looked at the Blood Wall.
At that moment, the Plague Eerie wandering around Room 102 also entered the bedroom. Seeing the wall, he became emotional, his voice trembling. "I remember... I remember everything!"
Ji Yan said to the Dyed-Hair Girl, "Go outside. Don't interfere with the father-daughter reunion."
The Dyed-Hair Girl froze. "Father and daughter?"
"Once they're done reconnecting, you'll be fine, and my mission will be complete."
Ji Yan glanced at the wall that continuously seeped blood, then left the room and shut the door.
Outside the room, the Dyed-Hair Girl was still dazed.
Her head was full of questions. Before she could speak, Ji Yan coughed with his dry throat and asked first, "Got anything to drink?"
"I'm only responsible for cleaning the things in this house. I don't have the right to use them." The Dyed-Hair Girl curled her lips.
Ji Yan looked at her, then at the drink in her hand.
After hesitating, the Dyed-Hair Girl reluctantly handed it over. "Don't finish it in one gulp. I saved this bottle of juice for three days!"
Yet Ji Yan unceremoniously took a huge gulp.
The Dyed-Hair Girl gritted her teeth in anger. "Can you finally speak now?"
Ji Yan wiped the corner of his mouth. "Let me tell you a story. Once, a father and daughter lived in an Apartment. Later, because the father could no longer afford the rent, he faced eviction by the Landlord. But the environment outside the Apartment was extremely dangerous. Being evicted meant certain death."
"The father came up with a way to let his daughter remain in the Apartment forever. Can you guess what it was?"
The Dyed-Hair Girl froze. Thinking of the Blood Wall, she immediately got goosebumps.
"The father... sealed the girl inside the wall?"
"That's right. The father exploited a loophole in the Apartment's rules. None of the Apartment's walls could be moved. By making the corpse Become One with the Apartment, the Landlord could do nothing about it. Room 102 even became a 'haunted house,' making it impossible to rent out."
"Inside the wall, the daughter could not move, but at least she was still 'alive.' After the father was driven out of the Apartment, the dangerous environment outside corrupted him, turning him into something neither human nor ghost, and he lost most of his memories."
"But one memory remained: he remembered that his home was Apartment 102, and that someone extremely important to him was there."
"He forgot who that important person was. Driven by that obsession, he survived like a walking corpse, becoming a Grudge Eerie and wandering the dangerous world."
"One day, he returned to this Apartment. Some familiar memories were awakened, and he went mad trying every possible way to enter the Apartment..."
Ji Yan let out a quiet breath.
Looking at the utterly stunned Dyed-Hair Girl, he said, "That's the backstory of your Room 102."
Before you continue