Landlady

Zhou You jolted awake.

He was no longer in that stairwell, but in a strange space where pages floated in the air.

He paid no mind to his surroundings; the first thing he did upon regaining his senses was to reach up and firmly touch his neck.

It was steady and intact, with no wounds; his head was still firmly attached to his body.

--He was still alive.

The moment this realization hit him, Zhou You's body finally went limp.

In a daze, he realized cold sweat had already soaked his back. Even though he knew he hadn't died, his heart was still pounding like a drum, creating a suffocating sensation.

Was everything just now... a hallucination?

The question of doubt had barely surfaced in his mind before Zhou You immediately dismissed it.

No, this wasn't a hallucination; he had truly died just moments ago.

He had been decapitated by something unknown, dying thoroughly and completely.

So, the reason he was standing here safe and sound now was because of this so-called "resurrection"?

Only then did Zhou You look up at the yellow paper floating in mid-air.

At the same time, that mechanical female voice rang in his ears.

"You have died."

"Your death was worthless."

"You did not uncover any Erosion Point, nor did you advance the plot, so you will receive no rewards for this death."

"As the player is still in the novice phase, you may use ten Soul Stones (the first use is free) to directly replay the ten seconds before and after your death. Would you like to replay?"

Erosion Point, plot advancement? Soul Stones... what did all of this mean?

His mind, having just experienced death, was still somewhat chaotic. Zhou You frowned and thought for a long while, yet he still couldn't extract any practical information from those few dozen words.

In the end, he chose the death replay.

The only clue he had now was the fragment of his death—at the very least, he needed to know who the killer was and how he had died.

Soon, a video-like sequence unfolded before his eyes.

It was a top-down perspective.

The time was roughly when he had just stepped toward the unit door. The sun was bright outside, Zhou You's expression was normal, and everything seemed perfectly fine.

However, in the very next second, just as he was about to step outside.

A line of blood abruptly appeared on his neck.

Then, his head and neck were suddenly separated.

Accompanied by a fountain of blood, Zhou You's head rolled away, finally coming to a stop in a pile of trash in the corner of the stairwell, resting against a heap of black plastic bags.

There was no killer, no monster, not even a single trace; it was as if his head hadn't been attached to his body in the first place, and the moment he took that step, he simply collapsed like a pile of blocks.

...Nothing gained?

No, that wasn't right.

Zhou You didn't look at the scene before his death; instead, he replayed the ten seconds after his death.

His head fell, blood sprayed, it rolled backward, then into the trash pile...

...It was indeed wrong.

Zhou You thought, his brow furrowed.

--According to the inertia of a normal person walking forward, when stepping out, the body's center of gravity should be tilted forward. Therefore, when the head fell, it should have rolled directly out the door, and it should never have fallen back inside.

So, Zhou You rewound, slowed down, and paused.

After repeating the process many times, he finally saw a frame of less than ten frames through the gap in the unit door, just a second before his head fell off.

--It was a ripple of light, and hidden beneath that ripple was a pale, twisted, yet extremely bizarre face that flashed by.

Furthermore, the entity was smiling.

"...You have discovered an Erosion Point."

"You have received a reward of 10 Soul Stones."

"You have obtained a temporary white-tier talent: Keen Observation."

"Through careful observation, you can occasionally glimpse traces that are easily overlooked."

"Temporary talents do not occupy a talent slot, but they only last for one instance. However, you may convert a temporary talent into a permanent one at any time."

"The cost to convert a white-tier temporary talent into a permanent one is 50 Soul Stones. Would you like to convert?"

Zhou You didn't even think about it and directly chose no.

After all, he was penniless right now and had no money to make it permanent.

However, he had gained quite a bit of new information from these words—at the very least, he knew he could acquire talents or similar enhancements within this game, and he also knew how these Soul Stones were meant to be spent.

In particular, that Erosion Point seemed to be one of the core mechanics of this scenario.

--But the question returned: what exactly was this thing?

Was it some kind of hidden trap?

Was it a malicious ghost?

Or was it an anomaly distinct from the normal world?

After a long while, Zhou You shook his head.

The amount of information was still far too little; if he wanted to uncover the truth of this game, he would have to return to that eerie hallway.

It was just that...

Zhou You touched his own neck.

If something went wrong, would he have to experience this kind of true death all over again?

--But soon, he suddenly started to laugh.

Compared to the death sentence previously handed down by the doctor, compared to the terminal illness that had exhausted his family's wealth with no hope of a cure, what was the mere pain of decapitation?

Looking at the floating yellow paper, Zhou You chose to confirm without the slightest hesitation.

And so, the scenery shifted once again.

In the blink of an eye, he had returned to that hallway.

--It was still that same dilapidated scene.

But this time, Zhou You didn't rush to step out; instead, he cleared his throat first.

Then, as if changing his face, his expression suddenly turned incredibly terrified, and he shouted toward the door with an ear-piercing, shrill scream.

"Help!! There's a ghost!!!! Is there anyone who can save me!!!!"

The voice was shrill and high-pitched, as if a person truly on the brink of death were begging for help. However, the people in the distance acted as if they hadn't heard a thing; they went on playing and making noise as usual, and it seemed no one noticed the poor soul trapped in the hallway.

...I figured it wouldn't work.

The screaming stopped abruptly. Zhou You pursed his lips, though there was no look of regret on his face. Instead, he looked around, picked up a trash bag of a suitable size from the corner, weighed it in his hand, and then flung it outside—

The next moment, the black plastic bag was instantly sliced into two halves.

But just like before, he still couldn't see what had dealt the blow, and none of the trash or debris inside fell outside; not even a drop of rotten liquid leaked out.

It was as if an invisible barrier blocked the unit door, dividing the inside and outside into two worlds that could never be crossed.

--It seemed this path was indeed impassable.

Zhou You tilted his head back and glanced at the other passageway.

Old, worn-out stairs connected the floors above and below. The lighting in this old-fashioned residential building seemed very poor; even though it was a bright, sunny day outside, the hallway was pitch black. At first glance, it looked like the gaping maw of an invisible monster, waiting for a victim to walk right into its trap.

Zhou You hesitated for a moment, but still lifted his legs and headed upward.

The second floor was a bit cleaner than the first, but only marginally. There were only four unit doors on this floor, and the narrow hallway was piled high with all sorts of miscellaneous items. Dust covered everything, and a strange, faint stench wafted from somewhere unknown.

Zhou You frowned and knocked on each door one by one.

There was no response from doors one through three; it was as dead silent as if there were no residents at all. But when he knocked on the fourth door, an incredibly panicked male voice rang out.

"Landlady? I, I really don't have any money left. Please, I beg you to give me a few more days for the rent. Look, I, I, I have always been polite, and I haven't violated any of your rules. I haven't disturbed other tenants, I haven't gone to the fourth floor without permission, and I haven't touched the storage room on the fifth floor. Please, give me a little more time, I'll get the money soon, really, I'll get the money right away, really, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

In the end, all that followed was a series of desperate, agonizing screams. The person seemed to have suffered a complete mental breakdown, and after that, there was nothing left but irregular shrieking and wailing.

When the voice finally quieted down a little, Zhou You wanted to knock on the door again to ask about some specifics, but suddenly, a hand patted his shoulder.

Zhou You turned his head and saw an old woman with a thin, withered frame, a face full of wrinkles, and a nose that had rotted away halfway, looking just like a dead locust tree.

Before Zhou You could say anything, the old woman suddenly opened her mouth.

--The next second, he suddenly lost all control over his body.

He could only stand there, watching the old woman's mouth grow wider and wider, soon exceeding the limits of what a normal person could achieve. Yet it didn't stop; it continued to expand, her pale, sharp teeth and oral cavity protruding until they finally formed a pitch-black hole.

This hole swallowed him whole.

Then, it snapped shut instantly.

After that, only the sound of chewing remained.

"You have died."

"Killed by the Landlady."