Dungeon Background, The So-Called Rent

Ji Yan pushed the door open. The room was a mess, with knitted clothes scattered everywhere.

Grandmother sat there, her aged body shrouded in a layer of black energy, her face looking unusually terrifying.

"Warning! Eerie family member [Grandmother] is currently in a semi-blackened state. To avoid unnecessary danger, please interact with caution."

Once an eerie being blackened, any player's favorability towards it would plummet.

That's why even her most beloved granddaughter, Liu Yitong, received no pleasantries, only an A+ ranked mission thrown back at her.

Ignoring the panel's warning, Ji Yan picked up a sweater from the floor.

"Grandmother, I heard from big sister that our home was robbed."

Grandmother, whose skin was covered in black corpse spots, fiddled with the silver needle in her hand, appearing absent-minded. "That thief stole Grandmother's most precious sweaters."

"Without those three sweaters... Grandmother will be driven out of the apartment, and you won't see Grandmother again."

Ji Yan's expression shifted. "That serious?"

Then, he seemed to recall something and tried asking, "Are those three sweaters Grandmother's rent?"

"That's right, the rent for the next two months."

"And it's also Grandmother's hard work for the past three months."

Grandmother's hunched body trembled slightly.

This was the first time Ji Yan had seen such obvious nervousness and unease in Eerie Grandmother.

Compared to the Grandmother who had casually eliminated two resident eerie beings in the corridor last night, she was like a completely different person!

What was the misty world outside the apartment like?

Even Eerie Grandmother feared it so much that all eerie beings tried their best to stay within the apartment, afraid of being driven out.

Some sweaters could be given as rewards to players.

Some sweaters, however, could be used as rent to be paid to the Landlord.

Ji Yan was still completely clueless about the rent.

At first, he didn't want to delve too deeply, fearing it might involve the main quest, but now that he had accepted the [Main Quest], Ji Yan had no reservations and asked.

Unexpectedly, he actually got an answer through interaction.

Eerie Grandmother stood up, holding a silver needle, and cut open a section of the wall.

The wall tore like fabric, oozing blood.

What was different this time was that inside the wall, he saw chunks of flesh, wriggling and covered in blood vessels and veins!

Ji Yan's eyes widened.

The flesh inside the wall showed full vitality.

It was like a violently beating heart!

"Neither your Mother nor I are original residents of 404. These things embedded in the walls are."

"They are in the walls, decaying little by little every day. We, the outside residents, have to feed them to prevent the walls from cracking and collapsing if we don't want to be driven out."

"What we feed them is the rent."

Ji Yan listened, still feeling lost. He tentatively reached out and gently touched the flesh.

His talent, [Omniscient Understanding], was triggered as expected.

Through the hidden information he obtained, Ji Yan finally resolved the last piece of his doubts.

"Ding! Player triggered talent through interaction, successfully obtaining overall background information for the dungeon."

[Long ago, a great fire occurred in the apartment, and all 176 original residents perished in the flames. Their flesh and blood merged into the walls and floors. In the Eerie World, this flesh filled with pain became an indestructible building material.]

[Although indestructible, the apartment suffered countless damages and destruction every day to maintain its foothold in the Eerie World.]

[Outside residents are responsible for "nurturing" the original inhabitants. They need to repair and complete the items left behind from the great fire and deliver them to the Landlord, who is responsible for sending them into the walls to "feed" the original inhabitants.]

[The residual items from that fire can increase the resentment of the original inhabitants, thereby causing their flesh and blood to grow, making the walls more solid.]

"So, the so-called rent is actually the items left behind by the original inhabitants from the fire!"

With the dungeon information complete, Ji Yan's mind was instantly enlightened.

No wonder the rent varied so much.

Some rooms had expensive rent, while others had cheaper rent.

Come to think of it, Room 801 was indeed the most ferocious and had the most expensive rent.

There were more than a dozen original inhabitants!

For Miss Xu to be able to live in 801 and meet the feeding standards for over a dozen original inhabitants meant she was no ordinary person.

"Those three sweaters were the clothes of the original inhabitants' three children."

"Without those clothes, the walls will start to crack little by little, and your Grandmother will be expelled from the apartment."

Grandmother fiddled with the silver needle, then slowly sewed the wall back up, leaving no visible trace.

She turned to Ji Yan and said, "Grandson, you need to catch the thief for Grandma as soon as possible."

As she spoke, she took out a dark-colored knit sweater from under the table and handed it to Ji Yan. "Your sweater from last night was ruined. Grandma knitted you a new one."

"If you go out at night, wear it and don't catch a cold."

Ji Yan's eyes lit up when he heard this.

He hadn't expected that interacting with his "blackened" Grandmother could lead to new equipment.

This sweater could save his life at a critical moment. In his opinion, it was much more practical than those flashy pieces of equipment.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for obtaining the Eerie Item - [Grandmother's Knit Sweater, Quality: Treasured]."

"Effect: Can resist three fatal attacks from Common Eerie beings. Withstands up to 110 points of Eerie Power. The higher the Eerie Power damage, the greater the degree of damage. No backlash effect."

Having received a benefit, Ji Yan naturally wanted to get to work. "What impression do you have of the thief, Grandma?"

Grandmother didn't answer. She sat back in her chair, her eyelids drooping, and shook her head.

She repeatedly muttered, "Get the sweater back, get the sweater back..."

Seeing that he couldn't get any more information from the interaction, Ji Yan had no choice but to leave the room.

It seemed that the other residents had no clues about the thief, so he could only wait for tonight.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for completing today's task. Delivering the gift to Room 801 has increased the Eerie Mother's favorability by 5%, and the favorability of the resident in Room 801 has increased by 10%."

"You have gained 30 points of Eerie Power, which have been automatically added."

"You have received a hidden message - the Mother also fell victim to the mysterious thief and lost a necklace belonging to a native resident."

"Fearing expulsion, she chose to reach a deal with the resident of Room 801 by 'gifting'."

"As expected, Mother didn't escape either."

"But unlike Grandmother, Mother had a backup plan, which is Miss Xu in Room 801. It seems that if she can't pay the rent, Miss Xu will help Mother."

He wondered what kind of treasure that cosmetic set was that it could make Miss Xu help Mother?

Ji Yan shook his head.

He wouldn't dwell on trivial matters.

Right now, the mysterious thief was like a walking special merit award!

All players wanted to catch them.

Catching the thief would be equivalent to helping more than half of the eerie residents escape their dire straits.

One main quest could potentially unlock half the progress of the entire apartment!

Not to mention the privilege key.

Ji Yan certainly wouldn't slack off.

Night soon fell.

Ji Yan, wearing the privilege badge for night action, walked out of his room.

As soon as he opened the door, Liu Yitong next door also opened hers.

She was also wearing the privilege badge for "Night Action" on her chest.

"When did you get this privilege?" Ji Yan was slightly taken aback. This badge had cost him a lot of effort.

"Anyone who participated in the announcement and joined the players to catch the mysterious thief was issued this privilege badge. Didn't you know that?"

Liu Yitong retorted.

Ji Yan felt ashamed.

Alright, alright.

He had only enjoyed this privilege for two days, and it had already become commonplace.

"You also think the thief will appear at night?"

"It's not just me; the entire thief-catching team thinks so."

"Firstly, the apartment rules become ineffective at night, making it easier for the thief to act. Secondly, the times when the eerie residents lost their belongings were mostly at night."

"So, tonight is definitely going to be lively."

Seeing Liu Yitong's eager expression, Ji Yan reminded him, "Don't forget, the mission mentioned that the mysterious thief is very dangerous."

"Even with many players, the thief might not be afraid."

Ji Yan had a feeling that...

Many players seemed to be blinded by the mission rewards and treated the target like a rat that everyone wanted to beat.

However, this was a legitimate main quest boss!

It wouldn't be a pushover