They had just left one hell, only to seem to have arrived in a new one.
When the three of them returned to the stairwell, their expressions were noticeably much grimmer than before.
“Should we still go up and search around some more? Maybe there’s a way out?” Jiang Mingran refused to give up hope.
However, the second floor was in almost the exact same condition as the first floor.
The third floor was somewhat different: there was only a single room on the entire floor, with “303” written on it.
They searched the entire floor and confirmed there were no other rooms.
There was only 303; where 301 and 302 had gone to was anyone’s guess.
There was no one inside 303. The door was half-open, revealing a bed and a set of a desk and chair, but no mattress or bedding on the bed.
“Does anyone live in here…” Jiang Mingran muttered.
It didn’t look like it. After all, if someone did, they wouldn’t even lack bed sheets and blankets, right?
Shao Lan shook his head.
Whether anyone lived there or not didn’t matter anymore.
“Let’s head back to the 8th floor first,” Shao Lan said. “Don’t stay on other floors for too long.”
They knew nothing about this place right now, and lingering like this was dangerous.
Following Shao Lan’s advice, Jiang Mingran carried Uncle Bing on his back, and the three of them returned to the eighth floor together.
The property manager was still standing there waiting. Upon seeing the three of them, she immediately put on her trademark professional smile: “Hello, three homeowners. Would you like to process your check-in procedures now?”
Shao Lan looked at the property manager, who was still smiling before him.
Perhaps it was psychological, but her smile looked exceptionally eerie.
Shao Lan thought for a moment: “Can I ask a few questions before deciding whether to check in?”
The property manager smiled: “[Property Management] is here specifically to serve the homeowners. You may ask me any question.”
“What on earth is this place?” Jiang Mingran couldn’t help asking.
The property manager replied fluently: “Xingfu Building No. 7.”
That answered it just as well as not answering at all.
Shao Lan pondered for a moment: “You said this is Building No. 7, so are there other buildings, like Building No. 1 or Building No. 2?”
The property manager paused briefly, then apologized: “I’m sorry. As the property management personnel for Building No. 7, I can only answer questions related to Building No. 7.”
Shao Lan asked: “If we don’t want to live in Building No. 7, is there any way we can leave?”
This time, the property manager did not answer. She maintained her smile, acting as if she hadn’t heard the question at all.
Jiang Mingran phrased it differently: “Can we check out?”
The words “check out” seemed to awaken the property manager, as she slowly turned toward Jiang Mingran.
“May I ask if you wish to check out?”
This was the first time Shao Lan saw the smile vanish from the property manager’s face, replaced by an expression of extreme solemnity.
Instinctively, he sensed danger.
“May I ask if you wish to check out?”
As 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 confused, but seeing Shao Lan turn back and wink at him, he quickly chimed in, “Ah, right… I don’t want to check out.”
The property manager did not respond immediately, seeming to ponder something.
Shao Lan decided to use another question to change the subject.
“You just said that we shouldn’t use the elevator to go to other floors. Why is that?”
His question interrupted the property manager’s focus on the previous issue. She abandoned Jiang Mingran, turned toward Shao Lan, and once again revealed her signature smile:
“Homeowner Shao Lan, I am very glad you raised such an important question. Here is my answer.”
“The [Elevator] is the most important facility in the entire building. Its function is to transport homeowners to participate in [Game Instances], and it cannot be used for daily travel.”
“Game instances…” Shao Lan frowned. “I remember you called our previous experience a [Review Instance].”
The property manager patiently explained: “Are you, homeowner, looking to consult about the difference between a [Game Instance] and a [Review Instance]? There isn’t much difference between the two. You could say that a [Review Instance] is simply the first [Game Instance] you have experienced.”
“If we’re talking about the difference between them, it’s that the function of a [Review Instance] is to screen out homeowners capable of moving into Xingfu, and as everyone’s first game, its difficulty is typically low.”
Low difficulty?
Jiang Mingran found it hard to breathe.
They had been killed over and over again inside that house, barely escaping with only their last remaining life—and this was actually considered low difficulty?!
The property manager smiled and asked Shao Lan: “Do you have any other questions?”
Shao Lan pondered for a moment.
He had many questions, but he also knew it was impossible to find all the answers here with the property manager.
The property manager smiled: “If you have no further questions for now, allow me to guide everyone through the check-in process. Please follow me.”
She turned and began walking forward. Jiang Mingran looked at Shao Lan, who helplessly said, “Let’s follow her.”
This eerie building didn’t even have a front door, making it impossible to leave, and resisting was meaningless.
The property manager led Shao Lan to a doorway with the room number 802 written on the plate.
“Mr. Shao Lan,” she pushed the door open, “this is your room. Welcome to becoming the homeowner of 802.”
Shao Lan didn’t move or speak; he stared blankly not far away.
The hallway on the 8th floor was like a hotel, with doors on both sides facing each other. Directly opposite 802 was 801.
At that moment, the door to 801 was ajar, revealing a narrow gap.
Through the crack in the door, a pair of wide-open, staring eyes was fixing its gaze directly on Shao Lan.
It was a person as skinny as a skeleton, so emaciated it was hard to tell whether they were male or female. On their sunken face, that pair of bulging eyes stared straight at Shao Lan, completely motionless.
“Oh,” the property manager said.
She walked over to 801, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
“Report,” after a brief inspection, the property manager pulled out a walkie-talkie. “The homeowner of 801 requires a check-out. Will relevant personnel please come up and handle it.”
In less than a minute, a tall man dressed in the same dark blue uniform as the property manager appeared in the hallway.
He strode quickly into 801 and dragged the person out.
The bone-dry, withered body was laid out completely bare in front of everyone. The intense stench caused Uncle Bing and Jiang Mingran to double over and retch.
Suppressing his nausea, Shao Lan looked at the skeleton. Judging from the tattered clothes on the body, this was a woman.
Her wide-open eyes had dilated pupils, and her limbs were stiff as her body was dragged across the ground.
The woman had been dead for a long time.
So this is what checking out meant? You only checked out by dying?
Cold sweat drenched Jiang Mingran’s body. He didn’t dare to imagine what would have happened if Shao Lan hadn’t stopped him in time back then, while he was still chatting away with the property manager about how to check out…
The property manager had already returned: “Pardon the delay, just a small work-related interruption that took a few minutes. Mr. Jiang Mingran, allow me to take you to check into your room now.”
Jiang Mingran was so resistant he felt like vomiting, but Shao Lan motioned for him to follow, so he had no choice but to trail after the property manager to 803.
The property manager pushed the door open: “Mr. Jiang Mingran, welcome to your new home.”
Every house looks identical. To describe it in one word—empty.
Inside the room, there was only a bed, a desk, and a chair. Aside from those, there was nothing else.
Even the bed was merely a wooden board; bedsheets, quilts, and pillows were completely nonexistent.
It was exactly the same scene they had seen in room 303.
“How are we supposed to live in here?” Shao Lan asked. “There’s nothing inside at all!”
The property manager smiled and pointed toward the wall on the inner side of the room, where a display screen was embedded: “Is the homeowner looking to inquire about purchasing daily necessities? You can buy everything you need at the [Vending Machine].”
As soon as the property manager finished speaking, she took Uncle Bing to check in. Jiang Mingran walked over to the screen.
“Facial recognition successful: Hello, homeowner Jiang Mingran. What do you need?”
The screen was about the size of an iPad, and a search box popped up on it.
Jiang Mingran hesitated for a moment before typing “beverage” into the search box.
Having spent the entire night running around and just climbing several flights of stairs, he had been dying of thirst for a long time.
Just like a shopping app, a bunch of entries instantly appeared on the screen:
“Mineral water – 5 yuan/bottle, Orange juice – 8 yuan/bottle, Cola – 8 yuan/bottle, Jasmine green tea – 8 yuan/bottle, Milk – 8 yuan/carton, Yogurt – 12 yuan/bottle.”
Jiang Mingran muttered, “Tourist spot pricing?”
Even though these items were a bit more expensive than in a regular supermarket, Jiang Mingran was truly parched and starving, so he selected some food and drinks into his cart and clicked “Pay.”
“Current total amount for items: 102 yuan. Your balance: 500 yuan. Confirm payment?”
Jiang Mingran’s hand froze in mid-air.