Renting a Room

It was that same space again.

That female voice continued to ring out.

"You are dead."

"You died at the hands of the Landlady."

"Your death was completely worthless."

"You failed to uncover any Erosion Points, nor did you push the plot forward in any way, so this death will yield no rewards."

However, Zhou You did not pay any attention to the voice; he stared blankly ahead, seemingly still unable to free himself from the terror of his death.

But the next second.

He suddenly curled his lips.

Then, he began to laugh abruptly.

--A worthless death?

Don't make me laugh!

The gains from this death were far greater than before, weren't they!

--At the very least, I now have a lead on how to clear this!

After a long while, the laughter died down, and Zhou You chose to enter again without the slightest hesitation.

It was the same stairwell. This time, Zhou You headed toward the second floor without hesitation, but he did not knock on any doors. Instead, he simply stood there, looking up at the third-floor corridor, waiting in silence.

--The previous tenant had wailed one of the clues.

"Follow the rules, do not disturb the other residents."

About three or four minutes later, a series of footsteps suddenly rang out.

The footsteps were extremely strange; there was no pattering sound of human soles hitting the ground, only short, sharp taps that sounded like a metronome.

...It felt as if it wasn't human feet walking, but two dry wooden sticks.

Soon, a wrinkled face poked out from the pitch-black stairwell.

But this time, before the other party could make a move, Zhou You stepped forward to meet it first.

There was no panic or fear on his face, only a smile as warm as the sun.

"Hello, I'm the new tenant. May I ask if you are the Landlady?"

The old woman, stiff as dead wood, did not respond.

It sized Zhou You up for a long time with its pale, dead eyes, but it couldn't seem to see him clearly, so it raised a hand and pressed it against its own face.

Then, it actually gouged out one of its own eyeballs, placed it into its stained clothing, and wiped it carefully.

A fat maggot poked out from the eye socket, wriggling its body as if looking for food, but it was immediately pressed back in by the "Landlady."

Watching this bizarre and horrifying scene, Zhou You's smile remained as bright as ever.

--The previous tenant had wailed a second clue.

"Be polite."

After a long while, the "Landlady" seemed to have finally cleaned its eyeball and stuffed it back in. Then, it opened its pitch-black mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice that sounded like a saw cutting through wood.

"New tenant, eh? Did you bring the money?"

Zhou You recalled the introduction at the start of the script and hurriedly rummaged through his clothes. Sure enough, he found a thick stack of cash in his jacket pocket.

But before taking it out, he hesitated for a moment, then subtly split off half of it before handing the rest over.

A smile finally appeared on the old woman's face, and her withered mouth slowly opened—

It didn't widen this time, and there were no sharp, ghastly teeth inside.

Yet, a wave of nausea still surged in someone's stomach.

Because there was no flesh or blood in that oral cavity, only countless fat, white maggots crawling everywhere—dense and layered—and as they wriggled, drops of thick, yellowish pus dripped down.

A foul stench hit him instantly, but Zhou You gritted his teeth hard, suppressing everything that was instinctively rising up his throat, and swallowed it back down.

A few seconds later, he put on a smiling face again.

It was bright and sunny, no different from before.

The old woman stared at him for a while, then nodded in satisfaction.

"You're a polite one, though it's a pity you didn't bring much money; it's only enough for half a month. Remember to renew the lease when it expires. Don't make me come and remind you, otherwise..."

The old woman was still smiling when she said the word "otherwise," but for some reason, Zhou You felt an inexplicable chill crawl up his spine.

--It was as if some pure malice had seeped into his body, instantly filling his nerves and eventually soaking into his bone marrow, leaving one with a feeling of hair-raising, bizarre dread.

Zhou You stood frozen for a good while before he could shake off that inexplicable sensation, but he immediately noticed a point of dissonance and couldn't help but ask.

"This is the rent for an entire quarter, how is it only enough for half a month..."

The voice stopped abruptly.

Zhou You realized something in an instant and immediately shut his mouth, ceasing his questions.

Sure enough, right before his eyes, the old woman's mouth stretched to the size of a basketball, and those wriggling maggots rapidly stiffened, hardened, and finally transformed into pale, sharp teeth.

--Zhou You finally understood what exactly had bitten him to death earlier.

--Although he really didn't want to know.

However, the moment he stopped speaking, the old woman's mouth finally ceased its expansion. Her eyes, which were tilted back at nearly a 90-degree angle and nearly bulging out of their sockets, stared straight at him with nothing but cold indifference.

After a long while, the old woman's mouth finally closed bit by bit. She looked at Zhou You and tossed out a sentence lightly.

"No matter where you saw that price, I said half a month, so it's half a month."

Zhou You didn't answer, merely bowing his head to signify his compliance.

But just a few seconds later, he suddenly spoke up again.

"Then, may I ask, Landlady, if I don't renew the lease when it expires, or if I intend to move out, what price will I have to pay?"

The old woman, who had already started walking, turned her head abruptly—though her body didn't move at all, only her head rotated—and scanned Zhou You up and down with a cold gaze.

Yet, all she saw was a polite, smiling face.

"If you don't renew, I'll just have to collect the rent from your body. After all, everything on you 'people' can be sold for money: limbs, heart, liver, spleen, stomach... Rest assured, this old woman is very familiar with this work; I can guarantee you won't die until the very last piece is removed."

The old woman said this with extreme indifference, as if she were speaking of something perfectly ordinary.

...No wonder the tenant in 204 was on the verge of a breakdown; anyone would be unable to bear the prospect of such a slow, live dissection.

But even after hearing such a terrifying thing, Zhou You still didn't react, simply nodding.

So, the old woman continued slowly.

"As for moving out... we don't accept any lease terminations here, nor do we allow tenants to go out. You'll have to find a way to get the money yourself—oh, right, asking others for money is fine, but don't think about having anyone save you. No one can enter here except for those seeking to rent, and no one can pull you out. And once I find out you're trying to expose information about this place... well, this old woman will just have to 'collect rent' from you ahead of schedule."

While speaking, the old woman had already led Zhou You to the third floor. Her "head," which had been twisted 180 degrees, finally rotated back. She fumbled around her body for a long time before pulling a set of rusty keys from the bottom right corner of her coat.

Zhou You cast a glance as if by accident and noticed that the key ring was marked by floor. Including spares, there were ten keys each for the second and third floors, matching the number of units, but the fourth floor was empty, and there was only one key for the fifth floor.

The old woman carefully identified them for several minutes, even gouging out her own eyeball to wipe it off before she could finally pick one out.

The key slid into the lock, and with a heavy "click," the dilapidated unit door of 304 swung open.

--A stench of rot instantly flooded his nose and mouth.

At the same time, a mechanical female voice rang in Zhou You's ears.

"Congratulations, you have reached a save point. From now on, if you die, you will restart from here."

"Once a save point is set, it cannot be changed. Please be careful not to lead yourself into a dead end."

"Would you like to save?"