Prying Open the Black Coffin, Main Quest Easter Egg

Creak!

Ji Yan's arm twitched as he pried out the first nail, then the second.

His movements were incredibly swift!

The eerie residents behind him screamed upon seeing this, "Are you crazy?"

"We told you to seal the coffin, not open it!"

Even Long Yuan, lying on the ground, was stunned, his numb lips moving, "You… you want to destroy this dungeon?!"

Ji Yan remained silent, continuing to pry out the nails. The black coffin had a total of 12 coffin sealing nails, and in the blink of an eye, he had removed 7 of them.

As the coffin lid opened wider, more and more parasitic worms crawled out, covering the native flesh and blood tree.

The imprisoned eerie residents couldn't hold back at this moment, revealing a terrifying killing intent.

They lunged at Ji Yan in a frenzy. Ji Yan had been waiting for this moment. He tightened his grip on the last Paper Cutout in his fingers, pricked his fingertip to draw blood, and let it seep into the paper.

"Congratulations, player, you have used the [Three-Character Paper Cutout] – Prayer: For a duration of 5 minutes, gain the 'Lucky Protection' status, immune to all malicious damage from the dungeon's eerie residents."

The paper figure was placed on the back of his neck.

The eerie hands, covered in bulging veins, reached out. The moment they touched Ji Yan, they let out piercing screams, burning as if they were coffin sealing nails.

Ji Yan then continued to pry off two more coffin sealing nails.

"You're going to let whatever's in the coffin out! This apartment is truly finished!"

The eerie residents' eyes were about to burst.

"The fundamental cause of the apartment's destruction isn't those parasitic worms."

"On the contrary, those black parasitic worms are doing their best to heal the necrotic foundation."

"The real culprit isn't this black coffin, nor is it any single eerie entity. You simply created this environment to deceive us into coming to the basement, portraying yourselves as the victims."

"The black coffin is merely a scapegoat you're using to conceal the true culprit."

When he touched those ravaged natives, Ji Yan had already sensed something was wrong. In the hidden information, they were wailing and in fear.

But the source of their fear wasn't the black coffin, but these eerie residents who were disguised as pathetic and innocent.

The game had given a warning from the start: the eerie residents in the basement were filled with malice. Yet, after coming down, their reactions were the complete opposite.

That could only mean one thing: these eerie residents were hiding something!

Now, looking at their terrified, murderous, and ferocious faces after being exposed, Ji Yan knew his guess was correct.

"Therefore, sealing the coffin is a dead end; it will only accelerate the apartment's collapse and ruin."

"You fear this black coffin so much, so I'll open it and see what happens?"

He didn't know what was inside the black coffin, but since it appeared in the main quest, it must have a purpose.

If the eerie residents were trying their best to lure players into sealing the coffin, it meant the black coffin was on the players' side!

When faced with uncertainty and a tight schedule, Ji Yan trusted his guess and his sixth sense. He swung the nail hammer, and the last coffin sealing nail flew off.

The pitch-black parasitic worms surged out like a flood. Ji Yan retreated several steps, and then, within his sight, he saw a pair of hands, etched with the marks of time, extend from the edge of the black coffin.

A dark, blurry figure slowly emerged from the coffin.

Behind him, the eerie residents saw this and fell into complete despair, fleeing in a panic.

Ji Yan and the immobilized Long Yuan watched the blurry, eerie silhouette.

Their hearts sank, enveloped by a shadow of immense fear.

The black haze gradually receded.

After seeing the figure's face clearly, Ji Yan's eyes widened.

"…Old… Old man?"

"Why are you in the coffin?"

The Landlord, with his head full of silver-white hair, yawned and stretched his back, looking groggy with sleep.

From within the coffin, the Landlord, still carrying a bit of morning grumpiness, spoke with a hint of coldness in his voice, "This old man doesn't get much rest as it is… and you woke me up, you little brat."

Ji Yan's mind went blank.

Didn't they say the Landlord wasn't involved in the main quest?

How did he suddenly appear in a coffin in the basement?

"Ding! Congratulations, player, for completing a hidden operation and successfully awakening the dungeon boss, the Landlord, pulling him into the main quest. You will now receive assistance from NPC Landlord."

The game's prompt made Ji Yan's eyes gleam.

So this was how the main quest worked!

No wonder the apartment dungeon was on the verge of collapse, and the Landlord, as the owner, hadn't made a move. It turned out he was set as a hidden NPC, placed here as an Easter egg.

No wonder those eerie residents were so wary.

Sealing the black coffin would truly turn this into a path of self-digging graves.

"Old man, this probably isn't the time to be sleeping."

"There's an emergency at the apartment that requires your help," Ji Yan said quickly.

The Landlord flicked the ash from his old pipe and snorted, "As long as the apartment doesn't collapse, no matter how big the problem, it's not as important as my sleep."

Ji Yan forced a stiff smile, "Guess what? The apartment did collapse!"

The Landlord and Ji Yan met each other's gaze.

The emptiness of the other's eye sockets sent a chill down his spine.

After a few seconds of silence, the Landlord finally noticed someone still slumped on the ground.

"Why are you here too?"

Long Yuan: "..."

Immediately after, the Landlord looked up and finally realized something was wrong with the apartment.

The next moment, he twisted his head and saw the flesh-and-blood face-tree over there, then looked at the constantly splitting walls, the collapsing flesh-and-blood cement...

Ji Yan and Long Yuan suddenly felt an inexplicable premonition.

Looking up, they discovered the Landlord's aura had become terrifyingly abnormal, with black veins crawling all over his body.

He was a dungeon boss, after all; this corrupted aura was suffocating!

"I only slept for a short while, and you've turned the apartment into this mess?"

Ji Yan shifted the blame, "Old man, your eyes are sharp; you should know who's behind this."

"Hmph, no wonder those guys were so well-behaved when I came down this time."

"After being locked up for so long, this is the pathetic little thing they've been brewing."

The old Landlord handed his old pipe to Ji Yan, "Hold this for a moment, I'll be right back."

With that, the old man clasped his hands behind his back and disappeared into the darkness. Soon, the entire basement began to shake violently, and all sorts of horrifying sounds echoed in their ears.

About two minutes later.

The old Landlord returned, carrying a string of dark, messy things. Upon closer inspection, they were heads with hair sticking up.

Even worse, they were not dead yet, and were constantly begging for mercy.

The corrupted old Landlord ignored them, tossing all the heads into the black coffin and closing the lid.

"The ones causing trouble are all here."

The Landlord looked at the ruined basement and the deeply damaged foundations of the native inhabitants, saying helplessly, "However, the apartment is severely damaged this time."

"I don't know if it can be repaired."

Ji Yan asked in confusion, "Why would these residents locked in the basement do this?"

"Just to destroy the apartment along with themselves?"

The Landlord took back the old pipe from Ji Yan, "These guys severely violated the apartment's rules, which is why they were locked in the basement."

"The longer they are confined here, the stronger their resentment grows."

"I intended to use them as fertilizer to nourish the apartment, but I never expected these guys to pull off something like this."

The Landlord spoke with a sigh, his tone laced with regret.

Ji Yan nodded simply.

He wasn't interested in the background story of these main quests; he just needed to get through it to advance the plot.

With the culprits dealt with, this main quest should be considered complete, right?