The Eerie Mask, Lights Out Rule

As soon as Ji Yan came out, the game notification sounded in his mind.

"Beep! Congratulations player on successfully obtaining the Blood Lyre and completing the C-rank mission."

"Mission reward received: Scissorhand Mask."

"Grade: Rare."

"Description: Once upon a time, a man named Edward, to avenge the girl he loved, put on this mask. Every time he killed someone, he cut off the killer's face and stitched it onto the mask. Such an undying love, isn't it?"

"Ability: When using eerie items, enhances perception by 5%."

"Beep! Talent triggered, hidden information of the eerie item obtained."

"Hidden operation: Let the mask suck the user's blood to unlock a hidden effect—the player can replace the identity of the Eerie Scissorhand Murderer."

"Mission summary: The player still has not gained favor with the father. Keep trying!"

"Triggered hidden info again."

Ji Yan's eyes flickered. This talent was way too useful.

It was like a gun falling into different hands—others could only use it as a blunt club.

But he could fire off all the bullets, turn it into a killing tool, and squeeze out every bit of its value!

At this rate, even if Ji Yan got a low-grade eerie item, he could still use his talent to upgrade it in another form, right?

As for that rating comment, Ji Yan didn't care.

That Gourmand Eerie was a cold-blooded snake. Even if you groveled ten thousand times, he'd still take it for granted. Ji Yan never expected any goodwill.

He took the reward eerie item out of his Tool Bar. It was a clown mask, and the horrifying part was that it was stitched with layers of bloodstained faces, giving the feeling of staring back at the dead—utterly creepy.

"How do I make the mask absorb my blood?"

Ji Yan hesitated for a moment.

Then he poked his finger into the mask's mouth.

The next instant, he felt a sharp sting.

It was like being pricked by something pointy, but when he pulled his finger out, blood oozed from the tip.

Looking at the mask again, it seemed to come alive. The skin on it writhed like terrifying ghost faces, wailing in agony!

And along the edges of the mask, pale bone spikes had grown out.

The whole mask looked as if it had been given life.

Horrifying and bizarre!

"This should count as activated, right?"

Ji Yan wasn't sure.

Just as he was about to put it on and test it, a startled voice came from behind.

"Did you not set off, or did you run back again?"

Ji Yan turned around and saw Dong Chu's face, wearing that mocking expression.

Dong Chu was about to throw in another jab, but then he spotted the human-skin mask in Ji Yan's hand and froze for a moment.

Ji Yan expressionlessly put away the eerie item, ignored Dong Chu, and turned to walk toward the living room.

Being brushed off several times made Dong Chu frown, his irritation growing.

In the living room, Liu Yitong had also returned.

"Why are you back?" she asked when she saw Ji Yan, assuming he'd failed his mission and come back.

"The mission's done. Why wouldn't I be back?" Ji Yan sat down and pulled out the coarse grain he'd gotten from the Bewitching Eerie.

The moment they saw the coarse grain, Liu Yitong and Dong Chu believed him. But Apartment 101 was notorious as a death-level room—how had he finished it in just three hours?

Tearing open the packaging of the Compressed Biscuit, Ji Yan said simply, "Got lucky. That eerie thought I was cute and gave me half a bottle of Blood Lyre."

The two exchanged a glance, unsure whether to believe it or not.

But regardless, Ji Yan was still alive and eating, so he'd cleared it.

Hearing "got lucky," Dong Chu's face twisted like he'd swallowed a fly.

"Fuck! Why didn't I get that kind of luck?"

His mission was to get a set of dentures for the Grandmother eerie.

Following the mission guide, he went to the sixth floor to look. Not only did he not find them, he almost got turned into a human specimen by the creepy residents up there.

In the end, the mission failed, the Grandmother eerie turned hostile, and she plucked out one of Dong Chu's eyeballs as punishment.

Ji Yan hadn't noticed before, but the guy was now a one-eyed pirate.

Looked pretty ridiculous, actually.

Ji Yan had no good feelings for this guy and couldn't be bothered to listen to his complaints. He just kept eating his food.

Liu Yitong had completed her mission too and gotten her share of food for the day, but compared to what Ji Yan had in his hands, it was naturally much shabbier.

Only Dong Chu was having the worst time—not only did he have no food for the day, but he'd also worsened his relationship with the Eerie Grandmother.

The only reason he'd survived this long in Room 404 was that he'd earned plenty of goodwill from the Grandmother, which kept the Gourmand Eerie, who played the role of the father, from targeting him.

Although the Gourmand Eerie's task stages had the highest player death rate, among the three eerie beings in the room, it was the weakest.

So, under the protection of the Mother and the Grandmother, the Gourmand Eerie hadn't made a move on Dong Chu or Liu Yitong, though it kept watching them hungrily...

With one eye gone, Dong Chu already felt a strong sense of crisis.

Without food, Dong Chu could only pull out what he'd left over from yesterday. Maybe it was the eerie environment's influence, but the already sticky food was now covered in a layer of black fuzz.

After just two bites, Dong Chu spat it out.

Then he turned his head to look at the biscuit in Ji Yan's hand, his stomach growling fiercely in protest.

He cleared his throat twice and was about to speak when Ji Yan cut him off directly: "Don't bother looking. You're such a veteran player, so impressive—why would you care about the coarse food in my hands?"

Ji Yan shot back at him with the same look Dong Chu had given him that morning.

Dong Chu's face darkened.

Liu Yitong on the side almost couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Give me one biscuit, and I can tell you information about those two eerie beings, your Mother and Grandmother."

"One Compressed Biscuit for a life-saving clue—that's a pretty good deal, isn't it?"

"You'd better decide fast, or I might change my mind."

Dong Chu kept lowering his stance.

He had to eat—not just because he was hungry, but for his condition tomorrow.

The Eerie World was a gamified world. Every day, players had to consume nutritious food; otherwise, all their physical stats would drop significantly the next day.

With one eye gone, his vision was already worse—he couldn't afford his physical functions to decline further.

"Then change your mind. I'm not stopping you."

Ji Yan popped the last bit of biscuit into his mouth.

The corner of Dong Chu's mouth twitched, and he let out a cold laugh: "You really are a newbie. First day here, and you don't even know how important information gaps are."

"You got lucky today, but you won't step in dog crap every day."

Ji Yan took a sip of water and shrugged: "Tomorrow's problems are for tomorrow."

"Do you kill yourself today just because you know you'll die tomorrow?"

"Fine, if you want to play the hero, I won't stop you. Just don't come begging me tomorrow. In this room, no one knows those three eerie beings better than me."

"It's getting dark. Miss Liu, you'd better head back to your room. Don't let this Unlucky Ghost rub off his bad luck on you!"

Glancing at Liu Yitong, Dong Chu turned and went back to his own room.

Liu Yitong frowned slightly but said nothing, apparently not fond of Dong Chu's attitude either.

Ji Yan found it a bit amusing.

With the Omniscient Understanding talent, he was the last person who'd worry about eerie information. Who knew—maybe one day Dong Chu would be the one begging him.

He screwed the cap back on and turned to Liu Yitong: "This is the first time I've seen someone beg for food and then act like the other person should be begging him instead."

"Is he always this ridiculous?"

Liu Yitong shook her head, a little helpless: "He's just like that."

"He entered this Dungeon two days before me, and in Room 404, he has to lord it over everyone."

"You'd better not offend him. Since it's your first day, you'll be at a disadvantage in terms of equipment and experience."

Ji Yan didn't say anything. He didn't like stirring up trouble, but if someone insisted on biting him, he wouldn't go easy either.

"This Apartment turns off the lights after nine. Once the lights go out, no matter what you're doing, don't leave your room."

"After midnight, you have to be lying in bed and asleep."

Seeing the foggy sky outside the Apartment gradually darken, Liu Yitong explained the nighttime rules of the Apartment to Ji Yan.

Ji Yan raised an eyebrow: "What's the danger at night?"

"At night, the Apartment spawns a lot of terrifying unknown NPCs. They can walk into the rooms. If a Player touches one, they're forced into a hell-difficulty task."

"Some out-of-control NPCs can even attack Players directly."

"There was a Player before who woke up in the middle of the night, instinctively opened the door to use the bathroom. The next morning when we woke up, the toilet was clogged with his skin fragments..."

"Some say the NPCs that spawn late at night can drop Treasured-grade equipment, but what idiot would gamble their life on that?"

After hearing Liu Yitong's warning, Ji Yan nodded.

He wasn't interested in the late-night Apartment either. The daytime tasks alone had already worn him out.

As Liu Yitong was heading back to her room, Ji Yan handed her a piece of bread.

Liu Yitong looked confused.

Ji Yan simply said: "Thanks."

Regardless, Liu Yitong had given him so much Dungeon information. He wanted to show some gratitude, and he didn't like owing favors. With Liu Yitong's food situation being tight, a piece of bread wasn't much, but it was still life-saving rations.

Liu Yitong understood what he meant. She smiled and couldn't help taking a jab at Dong Chu.

"See? I always say, rather than making an enemy of someone, it's better to lend a hand. No harm, only gain."