【Congratulations, Player Yun Zhi, on clearing the One-Star instance "Happy Housewife"】
【Instance Rating: S】
【Evaluation: You uncovered the whole truth, saved her, and granted her true freedom】
【Bonus obtained: "Housewife's Gift." Her gentle nature grants you power, increasing all female ghouls' initial goodwill toward you】
【Instance Clear Reward: 1000 Nether Coins, S-Rank Evaluation Reward: 2000 Nether Coins, automatically deposited into your account】
【Universal Department Store reminds you: The Mall is now open】
Yun Zhi opened her eyes again and found herself inside an empty room.
It was truly empty—aside from four walls, there was only a tightly shut black door, not even a bed!
Yun Zhi tried to twist the door open but found it wouldn't budge.
With no other choice, Yun Zhi looked back at the reward announcement panel and followed the prompt to open the Mall.
Even though it was only a Level 1 Mall, the items inside were dazzling and the prices were outrageous.
【Iron Frame Bed】: 2,000 Nether Coins
She had earned only 3,000 Nether Coins from clearing one instance, and that was with an S-Rank evaluation!
Yun Zhi continued scrolling: a chair for 1,000 Nether Coins, a table for 2,000 Nether Coins...
Not only did furniture cost money, but even food and drink required Nether Coins—a bottle of water for 50 Nether Coins, a meal for 200 Nether Coins. What she earned inside an instance wasn't even enough to live here for a week.
Not to mention that staying in the room cost 100 Nether Coins per day as rent, and renting a larger room cost even more.
Furthermore, even if a player had enough Nether Coins, they were required to participate in an instance game at least once every five days.
All of this—
Was clearly forcing players into the instances!
While checking her panel, Yun Zhi noticed that a 【Heaven and Earth Bank Supreme VIP Black Card】 was bound to her items.
With a mere thought, the Black Card appeared directly in her hand.
She used the password she had learned inside the instance to check the deposit balance on the Black Card.
10000003000...
Ten billion Nether Coins!
As for the three thousand Nether Coins she earned herself, Yun Zhi chose to ignore them.
She couldn't help but kiss the Black Card.
Now she was rich!
But thinking that the Black Card was the inheritance Xie Huaijin left her, and that the password had been told to her by the eerie husband inside the instance, who looked exactly like Xie Huaijin, Yun Zhi couldn't help feeling puzzled.
Yun Zhi still remembered that, when she fell from the window, the look in his eyes, and how tightly he held her hand.
It felt like someone had once been watching her like that all along.
Could the eerie husband be related to Xie Huaijin?
Was Xie Huaijin's sudden death connected to the Sinister Game at all?
"Xie Huaijin, did you really die, or are you faking it..."
So annoying.
Can't figure it out. I'll stop thinking.
Yun Zhi chose to give up thinking. As a rich woman with ten billion Nether Coins, she could finally buy everything in the Mall without looking at the prices.
Her originally cramped room became spacious, filled with various expensive furniture from the Mall.
She even bought all the items available in the current Level 1 Mall.
The Mall popped up a notification: 【Congratulations, Player Yun Zhi, for spending over a million at the Mall, becoming a VIP Client of Universal Department Store~】
"Thanks for the gift, husband." Yun Zhi kissed the Black Card again. For now, she was willing to forgive Xie Huaijin for having looked down on her back then.
Whatever, dead or alive.
A husband who gives money is a good husband!
Yun Zhi lay down on the premium big bed she had bought for 200,000 Nether Coins and fell into a sleep as deep as a baby's.
The life of a rich woman is so unpretentiously luxurious.
At this moment, inside the "Happy Housewife" instance, everything seemed frozen.
The eerie husband stood by the window. Those pitch-black eyes, which once had no sparkle, now seemed to regain a hint of light.
He gazed into the darkness outside the window and murmured softly, "Zhi Zhi... wait for me..."
In the next moment, the sparkle in his eyes vanished. Even his originally handsome face began to turn gray and rot, losing its original appearance.
The instance froze at that moment.
✦✦✦
He was a monster summoned by the dead husband.
He was also the instance boss.
As the boss of the lowest-level instance, even a boss only had the simplest of commands.
He understood nothing of emotion; he lived on grudges and flesh and blood, maintaining the basic operation of the instance.
What husband and wife nonsense—such a hassle. After he dealt with it, he'd go back to sleep early.
Yet, following the instance's script, he pushed open that door on the day the instance started and saw the beautiful, soft woman inside.
She looked at him like that and called him "Husband."
Oh, so this was his wife.
The monster's operating program encountered an error. He wanted a wife.
Wife, wife, wife, wife, Zhi Zhi, Zhi Zhi, Zhi Zhi, love you so much...
So the monster tried to speak: "Wife."
Hey, wife.
Wife, I've come to find you.
✦✦✦
Yun Zhi woke up on the bed worth 200,000 Nether Coins, feeling refreshed and full of energy.
The only thing that felt strange was that in her dream, there seemed to be a man who kept clinging to her and calling her wife, wife, wife, wife...
Yun Zhi rubbed her arm. The feeling of being tightly restrained still lingered.
Her ears seemed to echo with the sticky "Wife" sound.
"Ah well, might as well go into an instance."
She had enough Nether Coins to stay in the space for five full days, but there was nothing entertaining to do, and staying put was just too boring.
Might as well jump straight into an instance.
The space twisted like ripples on water. When she opened her eyes again, Yun Zhi found herself standing on an empty lot, with four people in front of her, all wearing terrified expressions.
Before they could speak, a mission pop-up appeared.
【Instance Name: Happy Garden Community】
【Instance Difficulty: Three Stars】
【Instance Mission: Find the secret of Happy Garden Community】
【Player Identity: Newly hired security guard】
【One year ago, in Happy Garden Community, a wife killed her husband and hid the corpse at home. Later, the woman committed suicide. Two days afterward, the wife of the neighbor upstairs went missing, and her husband disappeared soon after...】
【Strange events have been happening in the community one after another. Residents have moved away one by one, leaving only a few still here. As the newly arrived security guard, you also gradually discover the community's oddities...】
Yun Zhi carefully remembered the prompt content. When she saw the instance background, her expression froze.
At the same time, the live stream room opened.
【Ahhh, Zhizhi wife, I'm here! The last scene in the previous instance—it was so beautiful it made me cry】
【He watched her fall so she could be free—boohoo, what BE aesthetics, I ship it so hard】
【Wah wah wah, mental health counselor, I'm not okay】
【Wait, look closely at this instance description. Don't you think it looks just like the story from the last instance's housewife?】
【If I remember correctly, in the last instance, the community where Zhizhi lived was also called Happy Garden Community? Any chance of a reunion with the husband?】
【Mental health counselor, no need to come—I think I'm fine again】
【Pour some cold water: actually, every instance is probably a parallel timeline. The husband from the last instance—who knows if he's still around or not】
【You up there, little mouth, shut up】
✦✦✦