Creak!
Ji Yan's arm twitched as he pried out the first nail, then the second.
His movements were remarkably deft!
The eerie tenants behind him screamed at the sight. "Are you insane?"
"We told you to seal the coffin, not open it!"
Even Long Yuan, lying on the ground, was dumbfounded. His numb lips trembled. "You... want to destroy this Dungeon?!"
Ji Yan said nothing and simply kept prying out the nails. There were twelve coffin-sealing nails in total, and in the blink of an eye, he had removed seven.
As the opening of the coffin widened,
more and more parasites crawled out, covering that Native flesh tree.
The imprisoned eerie tenants finally snapped, revealing terrifying killing intent.
They lunged at Ji Yan like madmen. He had been waiting for this moment. He pinched the last Paper Cutout between two fingers, pierced his fingertip, and let his blood seep into the paper figure.
Congratulations, player. You have used the Three-Character Paper Cutout—Prayer: For 5 minutes, you will gain the "Lucky Protection" status and become immune to all malicious damage from eerie tenants within the Dungeon.
The paper figure stuck to the back of his neck.
The eerie hands covered in bulging veins reached for him. The instant they touched Ji Yan, they were scorched as if by coffin-sealing nails, and their owners let out shrill screams.
Ji Yan continued and pried out two more coffin-sealing nails.
"If you release what's inside the coffin, this Apartment really will be finished!"
The eerie tenants' eyes nearly split with rage.
"The parasites aren't the ones destroying the Apartment's foundation."
"On the contrary, those black parasites are doing everything they can to treat the necrotic foundation."
"The real culprit isn't this black coffin, nor is it some eerie creature. You merely shaped this place to make yourselves seem like victims, all to mislead those of us who came down into the Basement."
"The black coffin is only a scapegoat you used to conceal the real culprit."
The moment Ji Yan touched those devoured Natives, he had sensed that something was wrong. In the hidden information, they had been wailing in terror.
But the source of their fear was not the black coffin. It was these eerie tenants pretending to be helpless and pitiful.
The game had issued a reminder from the very start: the eerie tenants in the Basement were filled with malice. Yet after coming down here, their reactions had been completely different.
That could only mean one thing: these eerie tenants were hiding something!
Now, looking at their hideous faces—terrified and brimming with murderous intent after being exposed—Ji Yan knew he had guessed correctly.
"So sealing the coffin is a dead end. It will only accelerate the Apartment's collapse and destruction."
"You're so wary of this black coffin, so why don't I open it and see what happens?"
He did not know what was inside the black coffin, but since it had appeared in the Main Quest, it definitely had a purpose.
Those eerie tenants had tried every means possible to lure players into sealing the coffin shut. That meant the black coffin was on the players' side!
When faced with uncertainty and pressed for time, Ji Yan trusted his own judgment and sixth sense. He yanked the Spike Hammer, and the final coffin-sealing nail flew free.
Black parasites surged out like a flood. Ji Yan retreated several steps, then saw a pair of hands marked by the passage of time stretch out from the edge of the black coffin.
A pitch-black figure slowly crawled out of the coffin.
Behind him, the eerie tenants fell into utter despair and fled in panic.
Ji Yan and the immobile Long Yuan stared at the shadowy eerie figure.
Their hearts skipped a beat as an enormous shadow of terror enveloped them.
The black haze gradually receded.
When Ji Yan saw the other party's face clearly, his eyes widened.
"...O-Old Landlord?"
"Why are you inside the coffin?"
The silver-haired Landlord yawned and rubbed his back, his eyes still hazy with sleep.
Emerging from the coffin, Old Landlord carried a trace of waking irritation. His voice was icy. "This old man already has little enough time to rest... and yet you little brat had to wake me up."
Ji Yan's mind went blank.
Hadn't they said the Landlord did not involve himself in the Main Quest?
Why had he suddenly appeared inside a coffin in the Basement?
Ding! Congratulations, player. You have completed a hidden action and successfully awakened the Dungeon boss, the Landlord, drawing him into the Main Quest. You will now receive assistance from the NPC Landlord.
The game prompt made Ji Yan's eyes shift.
So this was how the Main Quest was supposed to be played!
No wonder the Apartment was practically falling apart, yet the Old Landlord had shown no reaction. He had apparently been set up as a hidden NPC and tossed in here as an Easter egg.
No wonder those eerie tenants had been so wary.
If the black coffin had been sealed shut, it truly would have become a path to digging their own graves.
"Old Landlord, I'm afraid this isn't the time for sleeping."
"There's an emergency on the Apartment's side, and we need your help." Ji Yan hurriedly said.
The Landlord shook the ash from his Old Smoking Pipe and snorted. "As long as the Apartment hasn't collapsed, nothing in the world is more important than this old man's sleep."
Ji Yan forced a stiff smile. "Guess what? The Apartment really has collapsed!"
The Landlord locked eyes with Ji Yan.
His hollow eye sockets made Ji Yan's spine turn cold.
After several seconds of silence, the Landlord finally noticed someone else lying on the ground.
"Why are you here too?"
Long Yuan: "..."
Then, the Landlord raised his head and finally realized something was wrong with the Apartment.
The next moment, he turned his head and saw the flesh tree with human faces, then the constantly splitting walls and the collapsing flesh Cement...
Ji Yan and Long Yuan both suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
When they looked up, they found that the Landlord's aura had become exceptionally terrifying, black veins crawling across his entire body.
After all, he was the Dungeon's boss. This darkened aura was suffocating!
"I only slept for such a short while, and you turned the Apartment into this?"
Ji Yan shifted the blame. "Old Landlord, your eyes are sharp. You should know who caused this."
"Hmph. No wonder those guys were so well-behaved when I came down this time."
"They've been locked up for so long, only to hold in a stunt like this."
Old Landlord handed his Old Smoking 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 vanished into the darkness. Soon, violent tremors shook the entire Basement, while all manner of hair-raising sounds echoed around them.
About two minutes later.
Old Landlord returned with a string of pitch-black objects in his hand. Looking closely, they were heads strung together by their hair.
They were not even dead yet and kept begging for mercy.
The darkened Old Landlord ignored them, tossing every head into the black coffin before closing the lid.
"The troublemakers are all here."
Looking at the shattered Basement and the Native foundation riddled with holes, the Landlord said helplessly, "But the Apartment has been badly damaged this time."
"I don't know if it can still be repaired."
Ji Yan was puzzled. "Why did the tenants imprisoned in the Basement do this?"
"Just to perish together with the Apartment?"
The Landlord took back his Old Smoking Pipe from Ji Yan. "These guys seriously violated the Apartment's rules, which is why they were imprisoned in the Basement."
"The longer they remain locked up here, the heavier their resentment becomes."
"I originally intended to use them as fertilizer to feed the Apartment, but I never expected them to pull something like this."
The Landlord spoke helplessly, his tone carrying a hint of regret.
Ji Yan nodded simply.
He was not interested in the background story of this Main Quest. A quick skim was enough; it was merely there as a transition to advance the later plot.
The real culprit had been dealt with, so did that mean this Main Quest was complete?
Before you continue