Che Quan stood where he was beside the girl with long, straight hair, who clutched her books tightly as though trying to ease her fear.
They stayed there until the two police officers approached them.
Che Quan heard the taller officer speak. "Hello. Do you two live in Building 4 of Gubei Apartment?"
The girl with long, straight hair nodded hastily, seemingly dazed with fright.
The taller officer continued with a grave warning. "A woman from Building 4 of your apartment complex has recently gone missing. We're still investigating. Please be sure to stay safe, and contact the police if you notice anything or have any leads."
The shorter officer gave them a phone number and had both Che Quan and the girl save it. Then he said, "We just received a call from a woman reporting that someone had jumped from this building. Were you the one who called, miss?"
He was asking the girl with long, straight hair.
She immediately shook her head and stammered, "N-no, it wasn't me. I just got back from class and saw this huge pool of blood, and th-then you arrived."
The shorter officer nodded, then turned to Che Quan. "Did someone in your family call the police, then?"
Che Quan shook his head slightly as well, his indifferent gaze perfectly calm. "Where's the person who jumped?"
The instant Che Quan finished speaking, a piercing scream suddenly rang out overhead.
A slender figure plummeted from above and, in the blink of an eye, slammed into the open ground beside them.
She landed faceup, her eyes wide and fixed on the sky.
She had died on impact.
For a moment, all four of them fell silent.
Both officers' expressions visibly darkened.
Then the girl and Che Quan were asked to leave.
Before long, another police car arrived with four officers, two of whom appeared to be forensic examiners. Carrying either tools for securing the scene or equipment for examining the body, they entered the scene as quickly as possible.
Che Quan and the girl stood in the first-floor corridor, where they could look down and see the huge pool of blood and the unidentified body of the woman who had jumped to her death.
They could also see a group of officers bustling about with grave, solemn expressions.
Suddenly, Che Quan heard the girl beside him ask quietly, "What floor do you live on? Which apartment? How come I've never seen you before?"
Che Quan simply ignored her. He still knew nothing about this instance, and he couldn't be bothered to talk to anyone, so he had no intention of answering.
The girl didn't seem to mind his cold attitude. Still clutching her books, she lowered her voice. "Actually, I know the woman who 'jumped.'"
Only then did Che Quan shoot her a sharp glance, but it was just a glance.
Instead of asking curious questions as she had expected, he immediately looked away, as though he wasn't interested at all.
At the same time.
The belated voice of the Instance System rang out in Che Quan's mind.
[Player 002, Che Quan, is now online] [You will officially enter the game in 30 seconds. Explore on your own to find a way to clear it] [Instance activated] [You are a frail young man with congenital heart disease, living alone in Apartment 201, Building 4 of Gubei Apartment] [A murderer devoid of humanity is hiding in your apartment building, as is an unknown pervert] [The murderer, who has an antisocial personality, will kill every one of you, one by one. You will never know when it will be your turn] [The pervert will only target his beloved darling] [In the end, you died, not knowing who killed you] [Instance: Murder Apartment] [Instance puzzle difficulty: five stars (maximum: ten stars); instance survival rate: 0.33% (maximum: 100%)] [Loading other players] [Loading complete] [Enjoy your escape] [Friendly reminder: in this apartment, you may know someone's face, but not their heart. There are players and native residents alike. No one will tell the absolute truth, and some may tell nothing but lies. So here, the only person you can ever! Ever! Trust is yourself!!!]
Finding it rather noisy, Che Quan rubbed his forehead, his brows tightly furrowed.
I really want to block this Instance System too.
Meanwhile, in the bullet comments-
[Oh my god, the puzzle difficulty went up, so why did the survival rate get even lower? Isn't this just forcing people to their deaths?] [I'll always believe in our little beauty, hehehehehe] [Huh, does that friendly reminder mean our little beauty won't have any teammates?] [The person above really knows how to read between the lines] [Honestly, if I were in this instance, I'd move out immediately and never look back]
Inside the instance.
Che Quan now knew where he lived.
He felt around in his pockets and found a small key in the left one.
The key looked worn as well, practically exuding rust.
By the time Che Quan slowly made it back to the second floor, taking three shallow breaths with every step, his heart was brimming with murderous intent.
Last time it had been skin hunger syndrome; now he had been given a frail constitution outright.
Targeting me?
Che Quan's expression was icy as he tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The girl headed up toward the third floor with her books in her arms. Seeing Che Quan stop on the second floor, she thought for a moment before volunteering an introduction. "My name is Xuan Shuhui. If you need help, you can come to Apartment 302 anytime."
Che Quan glanced at her without a word, unlocked the door to Apartment 201, went inside, and casually shut it behind him.
The moment the door closed, everything before Che Quan's eyes went dark.
For some reason, every window was shut and every curtain drawn, blocking out even the slightest trace of light.
The utterly dark, airless space felt oppressive and heavy.
But Che Quan was quite comfortable in this sort of pitch-black environment.
Had he been in his Vampire form, he could have moved freely through the darkness without even turning on a light.
Unfortunately, he had a human body now.
Che Quan switched on the light, drew back the curtains, and opened the windows, letting fresh air and sunlight pour in together. The furnishings and layout immediately became clear.
The apartment wasn't small. It had two rooms and a combined living and dining area, with one room serving as a study and the other as a bedroom, plus a small balcony. The bathroom was outside the bedroom. It was a little small, but more than spacious enough for Che Quan alone.
Che Quan spotted a small bottle of pills on the table. He skimmed the instructions; it appeared to be medication for congenital heart disease.
Useless. I'm not taking it.
Che Quan set the bottle down, his gaze cold.
Then, feeling a little hungry, Che Quan checked the refrigerator in the kitchen. It was completely empty and wasn't even plugged in.
Che Quan knitted his brows.
He decided to go out and buy a few things, checking the situation while he was at it.
Che Quan slowly went downstairs again, but he felt tired after only a few steps.
He stopped outside the entrance to Building 4 for a short rest. The body of the woman who had jumped had already been taken away, and most of the officers outside had left. Only a handful remained to deal with the scene.
Quite a few people were lingering nearby, furtively watching with curiosity. There were young and old, men and women, and judging by where they stood, none of them lived in Building 4.
The scene looked so ordinary, so much like everyday life, as though this weren't an instance at all, but a real old apartment complex.
Che Quan didn't linger over it. After resting for a few seconds, he went to a small convenience store not far from the apartment complex.
After buying some emergency provisions and fresh meat with his spare change, Che Quan noticed thick black fog ten meters beyond the small convenience store, just as eerie and terrifying as the fog in the [Haunting] instance.
It seemed that the old residential buildings surrounded by that black fog were the boundaries of this instance.
After paying, Che Quan was about to turn and leave when he suddenly heard the shopkeeper call out urgently to him-
Before you continue