As Wang Zhifan observed the apartment building number in front of him, feeling it was somewhat eerie, his three teammates finally recovered from their daze. At the same time, the hint for this quest flashed before their eyes.
[Quest Objective: Move into Apartment 444 and complete at least three blood-letter tasks. Each blood-letter task must have at least two original residents of the apartment as teammates, and at least one original resident must survive by the end of the task for it to count.
Note: The number of completed blood-letter tasks is calculated separately for each player. Once the required number is fulfilled, players may settle immediately and exit the quest. If players team up for blood-letter tasks, the required number of tasks increases accordingly.]
"Wow, why is the quest hint so long this time?"
"Yeah, it looks so damn weird!"
In front of Apartment Building 444, on a dilapidated and desolate street, four players dressed in various outfits couldn’t help but start complaining after reading the quest hint in front of them, because previous quest hints they encountered were never this verbose.
"I suggest we enter the apartment first before discussing."
Amidst the complaints, a young man wearing a blue and white high school uniform and black-rimmed glasses spoke up, then turned and walked towards the apartment door in front of him.
But he wasn’t the first to head towards the apartment; ahead of him, a tall young man dressed in black and wearing a black gauze conical hat had already approached the apartment entrance with his weapon in hand.
"Yes, let’s talk after we go inside the apartment."
Following the young man in glasses, a middle-aged man of average build and ordinary appearance continued to move forward.
"But this apartment looks abnormal at a glance..."
Behind the middle-aged man, a petite girl with a somewhat sweet appearance then stepped forward, hesitantly.
By this time, Wang Zhifan, wearing the Wind Concealing Conical Hat and dressed in black, had reached the apartment door with his unsheathed Thunder Dragon Fury. He noticed that the apartment entrance consisted of two large transparent glass doors, currently closed, and he could see several people inside the lobby.
With his view unobstructed by the black gauze of his hat, he confirmed that the two closed glass doors seemed unlocked. He then raised his right hand holding the Thunder Dragon Fury, using the weapon’s sheath to push against the hard surface of the glass door, exerting force to try to open it.
This process differed slightly from his expectations, as it turned out to be extremely easy and smooth. In the next second, he passed through the opened glass doors, entering the lobby on the first floor of the apartment.
Amidst the incandescent lamps forming a complete circle on the ceiling and the central crystal chandelier in the apartment lobby, Wang Zhifan realized that the space seemed much more spacious than it appeared from the outside. In front of him, against the wall opposite the lobby entrance, four elevator doors stood—two on each side. Excluding the areas occupied by the elevator doors, wide sections were filled with self-serve dining tables, a zone with plastic tables and chairs for eating, and a sofa area for reading or watching television, resembling some sort of buffet recreation venue at first glance.
At this moment, whether around the dining tables, the eating area, or the sofa resting zone, several NPCs performing their activities cast curious glances at Wang Zhifan as he walked through the doors into the lobby. However, some other NPCs looked indifferent and cold, unconcerned with matters unrelated to themselves.
"I need to find someone to ask about moving into this apartment."
Feeling a bit confused, Wang Zhifan then took off his Wind Concealing Conical Hat, revealing his face disguised by the Mad Tree-man Mask, and walked a few steps towards a tall girl in a dress standing near the elevators, who was looking curiously at him. He then spoke to her:
"Hello! Could you tell me who I should talk to about moving into this apartment?"
The girl, seeing the tall young man with such an ordinary face approach her, seemed slightly disappointed, although she nodded and replied to Wang Zhifan:
"To move into the apartment, you need to find the landlord. But since you’re already in, the landlord must be aware and will come down to find you shortly."
"Thank you."
After the tall girl finished speaking, Wang Zhifan thanked her, then continued to ask:
"Could I trouble you to give me an introduction to this place? It feels rather unusual here."
However, the girl seemed uninterested in Wang Zhifan’s further inquiry. She immediately shook her head and replied:
"I’m sorry, sir, the landlord will explain these matters to you shortly. I have some things to attend to, so I’ll take my leave now."
After she spoke, the girl turned and walked towards an open elevator door without looking back.
Seeing this, Wang Zhifan didn’t persist, but just as he was about to find another NPC to inquire with, his three fellow player teammates also entered the lobby through the glass door.
"Brother, could you share any information you’ve gained?"
Leading the three players was a young man in a blue and white high school uniform with glasses. Noticing Wang Zhifan’s brief exchange with the female NPC as he entered, he smiled and probed Wang Zhifan for information.
"The person I asked mentioned that to move into the apartment, you need to find the landlord, but the landlord should be coming to us shortly."
Wang Zhifan didn’t hide anything and turned to face his three player teammates as he answered.
"Oh... then we can wait on this floor for a bit."
The young man in the school uniform with black-rimmed glasses nodded and added:
"However, while we wait, let’s split up and gather information here, and later we can compile what each of us has collected."
After finishing his words, he headed towards the right to the resting area, planning to ask the NPCs there for information.
"I think we should be cautious. This apartment seems extremely strange, and there might be hidden dangers."
The second player, a middle-aged man of average build, glanced at the departing young man in a school uniform, shook his head slightly, but didn’t move.
"I... I’m not good at gathering information from others."
The last player, a petite female, also remained stationary, not making any move.
At that moment, Wang Zhifan suddenly turned towards the elevator behind him.
Over there, he soon saw an old man with a hunched back slowly emerging from the elevator, his gaze directly locking onto the four players in the lobby as he approached them at a slow pace.
"This old man should be the landlord... he gives off an extraordinary aura..."
The reason Wang Zhifan anticipated that someone would exit the elevator wasn’t due to clairvoyance but because his sensory perception far exceeded that of ordinary people. Even before the elevator opened, he sensed someone with a peculiar presence arriving on the first floor.