Checking out

They had only just left hell, yet they seemed to have entered another one.

When the three returned to the stairwell, their expressions were noticeably grimmer than before.

"Let's keep looking upstairs. Maybe there's a way out?" Jiang Mingran refused to give up hope.

However, the second floor was almost exactly like the first.

The third floor was somewhat different. There was one room on the entire floor, marked "303."

They searched the whole floor and confirmed there were no other rooms.

Only 303 remained. Who knew where 301 and 302 had gone?

No one was inside 303. The door stood half open, revealing a bed, a table, and a chair. There was no bedding on the bed.

"Does anyone live here...?" Jiang Mingran murmured.

It didn't seem so. After all, if someone lived here, surely there would at least be sheets and bedding?

Shao Lan shook his head.

Whether anyone lived there no longer mattered.

"Let's go back to the eighth floor first," Shao Lan said. "We shouldn't stay on other floors for too long."

They knew nothing about this place. Lingering like this was dangerous.

Jiang Mingran took Shao Lan's advice. With Pancake Uncle on his back, the three returned to the eighth floor together.

The property manager was still standing there waiting. When she saw them, she immediately flashed her trademark professional smile. "Hello, residents. Would you like to complete your check-in now?"

Shao Lan looked at the property manager, who was still smiling before him.

Perhaps it was all in his head, but her smile looked particularly eerie.

Shao Lan considered it. "Can I ask a few questions before deciding whether to move in?"

The property manager smiled. "[Property management] is here specifically to serve our residents. You may ask me any question."

"What exactly is this place?" Jiang Mingran couldn't help asking.

The property manager answered smoothly, "Building 7 of the Happiness Residential Community."

That answer told them nothing.

Shao Lan thought for a moment. "You said this is Building 7. Does that mean there are other buildings, like Building 1 and Building 2?"

The property manager paused briefly, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry. As a property manager for Building 7, I can only answer questions related to Building 7."

Shao Lan asked, "If we don't want to live in Building 7, how can we leave?"

This time, the property manager didn't answer. She wore a smile, as though she hadn't heard the question.

Jiang Mingran tried phrasing it differently. "Can we check out?"

The words [check out] seemed to awaken the property manager. She slowly turned toward Jiang Mingran.

"Would you like to check out?"

This was the first time Shao Lan had seen the property manager's smile disappear, replaced by an extremely stern expression.

He instinctively sensed danger.

"Would you like to check out?"

When the property manager asked a second time, Shao Lan immediately stepped in front of Jiang Mingran.

"He was just asking," Shao Lan said. "We don't want to check out."

Jiang Mingran was completely baffled, but when Shao Lan glanced back and gave him a meaningful look, he could only follow along. "Oh, right... I don't want to check out."

The property manager didn't respond immediately. She seemed to be considering something.

Shao Lan decided to change the subject with another question.

"You said earlier that we can't use the elevator to go to other floors. Why is that?"

His question interrupted the property manager's consideration of the previous one. She abandoned Jiang Mingran, turned toward Shao Lan, and flashed her trademark smile again.

"Resident Shao Lan, I'm delighted that you've raised such an important question. Here is my explanation."

"The [elevator] is the most important piece of equipment in the building. Its function is to transport residents to [game instances]. It cannot be used for everyday purposes."

"Game instances..." Shao Lan frowned. "I remember you calling what we just went through an [assessment instance]."

The property manager explained patiently, "Would you like to know the difference between [game instances] and [assessment instances]? There isn't much difference between the two. You could say that the [assessment instance] was the first [game instance] you experienced."

"If there is a distinction, it is that [assessment instances] serve to select residents eligible to move into the Happiness Residential Community. As everyone's first game, they are generally less difficult."

Less difficult?

Jiang Mingran could barely breathe.

They had been killed over and over in that house and had barely escaped with their last life remaining. And that counted as low difficulty??

The property manager smiled and asked Shao Lan, "Do you have any other questions?"

Shao Lan considered this for a moment.

He had many questions, but he also knew he couldn't possibly find all the answers from the property manager.

The property manager smiled. "If you have no further questions for now, allow me to help you check in. Please follow me."

She turned and walked ahead. Jiang Mingran looked at Shao Lan, who said helplessly, "Let's follow her."

This bizarre building didn't even have an exit. They couldn't get out, and resisting would serve little purpose.

The property manager led Shao Lan to a room with the number 802 on its door.

"Mr. Shao Lan." She pushed the door open. "This is your room. Welcome as the resident of 802."

Shao Lan neither moved nor spoke. He stared blankly at something a short distance away.

The eighth-floor corridor resembled a hotel hallway, with doors facing each other on either side. Directly across from 802 was 801.

At that moment, the door to 801 stood ajar, leaving a narrow gap.

Through that gap, a pair of wide, unblinking eyes stared at Shao Lan.

The person was as thin as a skeleton, their sex impossible to make out. On their sunken face, those bulging eyes stared at Shao Lan. Their entire body was motionless.

"Oh," the property manager said.

She walked over to 801, pushed the door open, and went inside.

"Reporting in." After a brief inspection, the property manager took out a walkie-talkie. "The resident of 801 needs to check out. Please send the relevant staff to handle it."

In less than a minute, a tall man wearing the same dark blue uniform as the property manager appeared in the corridor.

He strode into 801 and dragged the person out.

The emaciated body was laid bare before them all. The overpowering stench made Pancake Uncle and Jiang Mingran bend over and dry-heave.

Suppressing his nausea, Shao Lan looked at the skeletal figure. Judging by the worn clothes on the body, it was a woman.

Her pupils had dilated in her wide-open eyes, and the joints of the body being dragged along the floor were stiff.

The woman had been dead for a long time.

Was this what checking out meant? Could you only check out by dying?

Jiang Mingran broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't dare imagine what would have happened if Shao Lan hadn't stopped him in time. He would have kept discussing how to check out with the property manager...

The property manager had already returned. "I'm sorry. A minor work matter delayed us for a few minutes. Mr. Jiang Mingran, allow me to show you to your room next."

Jiang Mingran was so repulsed he nearly threw up, but Shao Lan signaled for him to follow. He had no choice but to accompany the property manager to 803.

The property manager pushed the door open. "Mr. Jiang Mingran, welcome to your room."

Every room looked the same. One word described them: empty.

There was only a bed, a table, and a chair in the room. Nothing else.

Even the bed was just a wooden board. Sheets, blankets, pillows-it had none of them.

It was just like what they had seen in 303.

"How are we supposed to live here?" Shao Lan asked. "There's nothing inside!"

Smiling, the property manager pointed to the wall at the back of the room, where a screen was embedded. "Would you like information about purchasing daily necessities? You can buy everything you need from the [vending machine]."

With that, the property manager took Pancake Uncle to his room. Jiang Mingran walked over to the screen.

Facial recognition successful: Hello, resident Jiang Mingran. What would you like?

The screen was about the size of an iPad. A search box popped up on it.

Jiang Mingran hesitated, then entered "drinks" in the search box.

He had spent the whole night running around and wearing himself out, then climbed several flights of stairs just now. His throat had long since become parched.

Just like a shopping app, the screen immediately displayed a list of entries:

Mineral water: 5 yuan/bottle. Orange juice: 8 yuan/bottle. Cola: 8 yuan/bottle. Jasmine tea: 8 yuan/bottle. Milk: 8 yuan/carton. Yogurt: 12 yuan/bottle.

Jiang Mingran muttered, "Tourist attraction prices?"

Although these things cost a little more than they normally did in a supermarket, Jiang Mingran was simply too hungry and thirsty. He added some food and drinks to his cart and tapped "Pay."

Current total: 102 yuan. Your balance: 500 yuan. Confirm payment?

Jiang Mingran's hand froze in midair.