Main Quest, Apartment Thief

After the box was opened, Ji Yan's expression froze for a moment. He then turned the box to face Xu Xin.

Inside the box was a set of exquisite cosmetics, as vibrant as blood.

"Look how nervous you are. You'd think the box contained a bomb."

Xu Xin smiled, picked up a lipstick, and applied it to her chapped lips.

Ji Yan remained silent, staring at the cosmetics. A faint, familiar scent of blood wafted to his nose.

Of course, Ji Yan didn't care whether his suspicions were correct or not. He just wanted to complete the task as quickly as possible.

"Since the item has been delivered, I won't disturb Ms. Xu any further."

Ji Yan made to leave.

"Why the hurry? Afraid I'll eat you?"

"I've brewed a pot of tea. You should have some before you go."

Xu Xin closed the box and invited Ji Yan.

"No, thank you. My mother has other instructions for me. Perhaps next time."

The task was completed, and Ji Yan didn't want to be entangled with this woman. Lingering would only lead to trouble.

However, as Ji Yan tried to leave, he found that the door wouldn't open no matter how he tried. Ji Yan sighed helplessly and looked back at Xu Xin, who was sitting at the coffee table with a smile.

"I've decided what I want you to do for the favor you owe me."

"Lately, my apartment has been frequently burgled. Something very important was stolen. I want you to help me catch the thief."

Ji Yan gave a wry smile. "I'm hardly a great detective. If Ms. Xu can't handle it, how can I?"

What kind of eerie being could steal from Room 801, a notorious haunted room, and not be a simple character?

"I actually think you can catch them. Anyone else in the apartment, I'd find unreliable."

"But no one else has your courage. Last night, in such a dangerous situation on the rooftop, you remained so calm."

Ji Yan stopped pretending. "To be honest, Ms. Xu, that was just an act. I changed my pants as soon as I got back last night."

Ms. Xu said nothing further, merely sipping her tea while watching Ji Yan.

Ji Yan finally had to compromise. "Alright, I'll do my best."

The bedroom door was opened.

Ji Yan looked around the room. The decor was normal. "What was stolen?"

"Didn't you notice the two holes dug in the corner?"

Xu Xin leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed.

Only then did Ji Yan notice that two holes had been dug in the wall above the bedside table.

Moreover, blood was still seeping out from those two wall cavities!

"The thief dug through two sections of cement?"

Ji Yan feigned astonishment on the surface.

In his heart, he knew very well that the walls of the Crimson Apartment were built from countless piles of bloody flesh and bone.

Chiseling through the walls was the first major taboo of the apartment's rules.

How did the thief manage to do it without suffering the punishment of the rules and escape unharmed?

"Go take a look. See if you can find any clues?" Xu Xin didn't answer, tilting her head to gesture.

Ji Yan stepped forward and reached out to touch the two bloody wall cavities.

The moment he touched them, his expression changed.

His [Omniscient Understanding] talent was like a car's radar hitting a wall, triggering repeatedly.

Lines of hidden information, written in blood, appeared before his eyes.

[A great fire engulfed this room, causing the deaths of 12 children within its walls. Their charred flesh and blood were incorporated into the very structure, making Room 801, with its 12 "native" inhabitants, the most "haunted" room in the Crimson Apartment.]

[Due to no guests daring to reside there, the room remained sealed until one day, a woman in a black dress, carrying a black umbrella, moved into Room 801. The 12 children gained their "teacher."]

[A week ago, a thief infiltrated Room 801 and "stole" two children, causing visible damage to the room's structure.]

[This is no ordinary thief. It can ignore the Landlord's surveillance and evade the apartment's rules and punishments.]

[Hint! This side quest is severely related to the main quest. Accepting it will bind you to the main quest with an 80% probability. Please choose carefully whether to accept.]

Seeing the final warning in the hidden information, Ji Yan's vision went black.

If it's fate, you can't escape it. If it's misfortune, you can't avoid it.

He couldn't escape this main quest after all.

Ji Yan was also astonished. What kind of thief was so powerful that even the Landlord and the apartment's rules couldn't stop them, brazenly digging through the blood walls right under their noses?

He continued to reach out and touch.

Soon, another hidden message popped up.

"A child inside the wall saw the killer's general features: tall, covered in human faces, with a red string bell at their waist that made a piercing jingle when they moved."

"It pulled its brother and sister out of the wall, ate them, and then the teacher returned. The killer escaped through the window."

"Covered in faces?"

Ji Yan raised an eyebrow.

"Any leads?" Xu Xin noticed and asked.

Ji Yan repeated the thief's description.

Xu Xin: "There are no residents in this apartment that disgusting."

She then added, "However, it's not impossible at night."

At night, the apartment would be filled with all sorts of strange residents.

But to be able to directly enter Room 801, ignore the apartment rules, evade the landlord's surveillance, and eat the flesh of a native resident – Ji Yan had never heard of such an overbearing eerie entity.

"Come over at midnight tonight."

"Come over for what?" Ji Yan asked.

"To catch the thief with me." Xu Xin's eyes glinted with cold light.

"...Sis, I've been working overtime for several days straight, and I'm exhausted. Please spare me."

Xu Xin stared at Ji Yan. Ji Yan's mouth twitched, and he could only nod in agreement.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for successfully triggering an A+ grade mission: Help the resident of Room 801 retrieve lost items."

Ji Yan rubbed his temples.

His final favor had been exchanged for an A+ grade mission.

Thinking about the past few days of frantically taking on missions, like an unstoppable ox, he couldn't help but sigh. This was completely contrary to the laid-back survival he had initially aimed for.

And he was drifting further and further away...

After leaving Room 801, Ji Yan ran into the Landlord again as he went downstairs.

The old man was carrying another stack of announcement flyers and began posting them at the entrance of each floor's corridor.

Another announcement task?

Learning from his previous experience, Ji Yan didn't even have the urge to join the fun this time.

Passing by the players attracted by the announcements, Ji Yan turned and headed downstairs.

But to his surprise, this announcement task actually managed to infiltrate his game panel.

While still going downstairs, an announcement prompt popped up in his vision.

"Emergency Announcement! Complaints have been received. Many residents in the apartment have recently experienced property loss. The Landlord urges all residents to participate collectively in capturing the thief. Participants will receive generous rewards."

[Ding! The player's current dungeon has activated an S-grade mission. All players can choose to participate.]

[Mission Type: Main Quest.]

[Standard Completion: Catch the thief.]

[Perfect Completion: Catch the thief and help residents recover their lost property.]

[Mission Reward: You can mark your current dungeon as a stronghold and obtain the key to leave the apartment.]

(Warning: Failure to participate in the main quest will result in no penalty, but the thief poses a significant danger.)

"Main quest?"

Ji Yan's expression changed. That thief was the boss of the latest main quest?

He now understood why the side quest triggered in Room 801 was so closely tied to the main quest.

These two missions had the exact same objective.

"This thief is quite capable."

Ji Yan took a deep breath.

Eating the flesh from the walls, being designated as the latest main quest boss by the dungeon – what kind of monster was it?

"Ding! Player 'Long Yuan' has accepted the main quest. Current participating players: 1/1."

"Ding! Player 'Yuan Qiu' has accepted the main quest. Current participating players: 2/2."

"Ding! Player..."

After the main quest was announced, an endless stream of players began to participate.

As the only S-grade mission, the main quest had the highest danger index. Logically, many players, struggling just to survive, wouldn't even glance at the main quest.

Seeing players scrambling to accept the main quest now was completely unexpected for Ji Yan.

If he didn't know better, he'd think this main quest was a windfall.

Among the players participating in the main quest, Ji Yan even saw the name of his "sister," Liu Yitong.

"This is getting more and more interesting." Ji Yan closed the pop-up panel and returned to Room 404.

In the living room, Liu Yitong didn't leave immediately after receiving the task from the eerie family member.

"What's wrong? Did Grandmother assign a very difficult task today?" Ji Yan asked, noticing her troubled expression.

Liu Yitong clutched her messy hair, a rare look of distress on her face. "Grandmother is in a very bad mood."

"The three sweaters she knitted were stolen. It took her two months of hard work."

"She wants me to find the stolen sweaters."

"The task is rated A+!"

"This is so strange. I've gained nearly 70% favorability with Grandmother, how could I still receive an A+ rated task?"

Liu Yitong felt like she was about to break down.

Ji Yan listened and couldn't help but touch his forehead.

First, they targeted Miss Xu, then they stole Grandmother's sweaters. Judging by the announcement, many other residents had also suffered.

Judging by the situation, this thief intended to steal everything in the entire apartment building!

Ji Yan said, "I saw you participating in the main quest."

"Grandmother's task is heavily involved with the main quest."

"Participating in the main quest means being tied to the same rope as those players. If we catch the thief collectively, we'll definitely recover Grandmother's lost sweaters and also get a share of the rewards from the main quest."

Liu Yitong's understanding was shared by many players.

No wonder players were actively participating once the main quest popped up.

Of course, another reason was that the player leading the charge was Long Yuan.

After all, that guy had completed the main quest of the previous apartment dungeon.

Having him in the team was like having a calming pill.

However, Ji Yan knew very well that this guy wouldn't let others piggyback on his achievements.

"Others are forced into it, but I suspect Long Yuan is going after the quest rewards."

Having survived in the dungeon for some time, Liu Yitong naturally knew of Long Yuan: "He tackled the previous main quest just to get the apartment's main door key."

"But unfortunately, the task was only rated 'standard' completion, and the rewards were greatly reduced, including the loss of the main door key reward."

"This time, he's definitely trying for it again."

Liu Yitong rested her chin on her hands and said to Ji Yan.

Ji Yan asked doubtfully, "Getting the key allows access to the next dungeon."

"But the next dungeon is an unknown danger. He's living comfortably in the Crimson Apartment dungeon right now. Wouldn't going to a new, unfamiliar dungeon be torture?"

Liu Yitong shook her head, "Marking this dungeon changes the nature of things entirely."

"It's like saving your game. If you die in a new level, you can jump back to your save point, retaining your progress, and you don't have to start from the first level again."

"Marking works in a similar way."

"If Long Yuan obtains the mark, after he leaves this dungeon and dies in another, he can trigger a 'death save' and return to the Crimson Apartment dungeon."

"And, he'll retain all his progress in the apartment, still benefiting from the favorability of the residents!"

"It's just unknown how many times this mark can be used?"

One mark executes one death save.

Long Yuan must be wanting to challenge new dungeons.

To continue expanding his dungeon territory.

If successful, he could even jump between several dungeons in the future.

New dungeons meant new challenges and broadened horizons.

No matter how patient a player is, they wouldn't want to stay in the beginner village forever.

In this vast Eerie World map, no one truly wanted to be a frog in a well their entire lives. Some wanted to lift the veil and see the true extent of this world, while others, not forgetting their original intentions, attempted to find a way back to Earth...

Upon hearing this, Ji Yan's eyes lit up.

In that case, this main quest wasn't entirely bad.

The rewards, in particular, offered the ultimate privilege!

Immediately, Ji Yan also clicked on the information panel and chose to participate in the main quest.

"Your task was to help Mother deliver something upstairs, there's no need..."

Ji Yan interrupted, "It's a long story. Regardless, we are now teammates for this quest."

Liu Yitong said helplessly, "But we have no clue about the main quest."

"With so many residents in the apartment, catching the thief is like finding a needle in a haystack."

"I hope other players can advance the main quest."

Seeing Liu Yitong's laid-back attitude, Ji Yan took out a compressed biscuit, ate it, and said, "I hope you don't place your hopes on others."

"We can also advance the main quest."

Liu Yitong looked at Ji Yan, who didn't seem to be joking: "Why do I feel like you're after the rewards for the main quest?"

Ji Yan: "The rewards are secondary. I don't like having my fate in other people's hands."

"Then do you have any clues?"

"For now, I can say no, but I have a direction for action."

"Let's go out and look again tonight."

He felt that interacting with Miss Xu from 801 tonight would definitely yield some results.

"Speaking of action, the players in the chat who are participating in the main quest are already gathering. They're probably going to exchange clues and discuss strategies on how to catch that thief."

Ji Yan: "The more people there are, the more likely it is for things to go wrong."

"We..."

Before Ji Yan could finish speaking, Liu Yitong interrupted: "I think I'll go join them. See if I can help with anything."

"As for you, you go ahead and act on your own first."

"If there's any progress, I'll let you know immediately. Good luck."

Liu Yitong clearly had no intention of acting alone with Ji Yan.

She always leaned towards the larger group with Long Yuan.

This was a normal person's choice, and Ji Yan understood, nodding.

After Liu Yitong left, Ji Yan looked at his Grandmother's room. After a moment of hesitation, he popped the last of his coarse grain into his mouth and knocked on his Grandmother's door.

Hearing his Grandmother's response, Ji Yan gently pushed the door open.

His Grandmother had also fallen victim to the thief's cruel hand.

Perhaps, through interaction, he could get some useful clues?

With the Omniscient Understanding talent, Ji Yan's biggest advantage was the hidden information that others didn't have.

This was also the confidence that allowed him to choose to go solo on the main quest