​​Chapter 84: South Street Apartments​

​Li Zhi waited nearly the entire night but saw no sign of the monster from last evening. Outside the corridor, the usual comings and goings continued—doors opening and closing, the sound of handwashing—reminding her of the "uncles and aunts" the ball-playing kid had mentioned. There was nothing to be done about the dead.

When dawn broke, the sounds of movement overhead signaled that someone was awake. Only then did Li Zhi allow herself a brief nap. By the time sunlight streamed through the window, she had slept soundly.

Meng Yuhan leapt out of bed and shook her awake. "Zhi-zhi, get up!"

Li Zhi: "...Fine."

Resigned, she sat up.

Meng Yuhan pulled back the curtains, flooding the room with light. Young people truly had boundless energy—she even performed a few light calisthenics by the bed before suddenly freezing, a hint of lingering fear in her voice. "Zhi-zhi, that monster from last night didn’t come, right?"

She had fallen asleep while waiting and never heard Li Zhi wake her.

Li Zhi rubbed her groggy head as she dressed. "No, it didn’t."

A bad premonition gnawed at her. She grabbed her toiletries and opened the door. "Let’s wash up first, then head downstairs to check things out."

With daylight, the lanterns had extinguished. Li Zhi guessed their glow served as a signal—when lit, the ghosts could roam freely, but once darkened, they had to retreat. As for the players, knocking on doors was a death sentence; once done, the room’s occupant would come "play" with them by nightfall.

While washing up in the bathroom, footsteps echoed from the corridor. Li Zhi turned to see Qu Rong descending the stairs with a basin.

They exchanged smiles. As Qu Rong filled a cup with water and squeezed toothpaste onto her brush, she asked, "Didn’t sleep well last night?"

Li Zhi touched her face. "So obvious?"

Qu Rong chuckled. "Your dark circles are even worse than yesterday."

Sighing, Li Zhi seized the opportunity. "Any vacancies on the third floor? This second floor is too noisy—I might move up there."

Qu Rong, still brushing, mumbled, "Don’t know. Ask the landlord."

Li Zhi dried her face, feigning curiosity. "Which room does that writer kid, Xiao Ke, stay in? First time meeting an author in real life."

Qu Rong shook her head blankly. "Xiao Ke? Never heard of her." She swallowed a mouthful of water and spat out the foam. "I don’t really know the neighbors here."

Li Zhi nodded amiably.

After freshening up, they returned to their room and headed downstairs for breakfast with Granny Qiu. The other players gradually gathered, instinctively treating the food stall as their daily meeting point.

The moment they saw each other’s haggard faces, an unspoken understanding passed between them—none had slept well, all having waited up for the monster.

Only Meng Yuhan and Qiao Junyuan looked somewhat rested.

Li Zhi counted heads, then waited a moment longer, realizing two teammates were missing.

The others noticed too. "Where are Cao Xun and Shen Zhijian?"

The bad feeling was confirmed. Li Zhi turned toward the apartment. "Let’s check."

They lived in Room 105. Even in daylight, the first-floor corridor remained dim and chillingly eerie. Li Zhi knocked with no response. Just as she prepared to kick the door down, Xiang Ling stopped her. "Let me."

From her pocket, she produced a thin length of wire, deftly manipulating it into the lock. A crisp click later, the door swung open.

The group stared in amazement. "Since when do you have that skill?"

Xiang Ling smiled sheepishly. "Practiced before entering the instance."

Li Zhi: "...?"

Were official training sessions now including lock-picking?

Flipping on the wall light, they found the single room empty. The others panicked. "Gone without a trace? But they didn’t even knock on any doors last night!"

Li Zhi examined the bed—neatly made, no signs of sleep. Her gaze traveled from the undisturbed bedding to the door, then from the doorway to the stairwell at the end. If she had to guess their movements, that would be the likely path.

She pointed outside. "Check the stairwell."

As they moved toward it, a black umbrella—clearly out of place—caught their eyes in the cluttered corner. Folded and silent, it would’ve gone unnoticed if not for their deliberate search.

Li Zhi crouched, pressing the umbrella’s automatic open button. With a snap, the canopy burst outward— and a body tumbled out.

The group screamed.

A human vanishing act?!

The figure crashed to the ground, but Li Feng was quick to catch him. As they stared, it was Shen Zhijian.

Blood soaked his clothes, his face deathly pale, eyes unfocused. Without Li Feng’s support, he would’ve collapsed. They hurried him back to the room, fetched water, and finally, as he lay on the bed, his breathing steadied. When his gaze landed on his teammates crowding around, he froze for two seconds before bursting into tears.

"Cao... Cao Xun is dead... so much blood, everywhere..."

His words were disjointed, but pieced together through frantic questioning, the story emerged.

The two had hidden in the stairwell, only for the monster to find them. Holding their breath did nothing—Cao Xun was dragged away. In desperation, Shen Zhijian activated his Hidden Umbrella, vanishing from sight just in time.

Still sobbing, Shen Zhijian trembled as he recounted, "I heard tearing sounds... then the umbrella closed..."

The Hidden Umbrella completely masked a person’s presence, sparing him from the monster’s notice.

After comforting Shen Zhijian, they left him to rest and returned to the breakfast stall. The death of a teammate weighed heavily on everyone, barely touching their food. If no clues emerged by day, they’d have to venture out at night—directly confronting the monster.

The atmosphere darkened. Finishing her soy milk, Li Zhi unfolded the newspaper she’d been saving and shared its contents.

New leads energized the group. After reading the article, murmurs erupted.

"So who is this Xiao Ke? Human or ghost?"

"Probably human. She comes down to sell boxed meals—doesn’t seem like a ghost. Besides, ghosts in instances usually only appear at night."

"What if we just ask her outright today?"

While the players debated, Li Zhi approached Granny Qiu.

"Xiao Ke?" The old woman’s memory was hazy. "That quiet girl? Barely ever see her around, just occasionally buys a meal from me."

That matched the news report’s description of her as introverted and socially anxious.

After a pause, Li Zhi sat back down. "The fresh market’s newspapers might have more clues. I’ll buy every copy we can find and sift through them."

A few teammates joined her; others stayed behind, hoping to catch Xiao Ke. As Li Zhi stepped outside, she ran into Chu Guangyan—impeccably dressed in a suit, carrying a briefcase, as polished as ever. He tossed a bag of trash into the bin by the entrance.

Li Zhi greeted him. "Mr. Chu, good morning. Didn’t see you at Granny Qiu’s today?"

He smiled. "Morning. Had some leftover soup last night—reheated it at home."

Heading to the fresh market, Li Zhi left Chu Guangyan walking toward another fog-shrouded intersection. While players couldn’t approach certain areas, NPCs moved freely through them—those spaces were just part of their world.

The fresh market buzzed with activity. The vendor enthusiastically introduced his wares until Li Zhi mentioned she wanted to buy the old newspapers used for packaging.

The newspapers were worthless, carelessly bundled and stuffed under the counter. Delighted by the unexpected business, the vendor sold them all to Li Zhi. She hefted the stack—it weighed at least five pounds, plenty to comb through.

True to form, upon returning to the apartment, the sight of hundreds of papers left everyone dizzy. But for the sake of clues, they dove in, each taking a portion to scrutinize. It was tedious work, every word examined meticulously. After a hasty lunch of boxed meals, they resumed.

Hours passed before the last paper was reviewed.

The results were dismal.

No useful leads whatsoever.

Room 104 was nearly buried under a mountain of newspapers. The team rubbed their eyes, doubting reality itself. "Was that news about Xiao Ke just a coincidence? We’ve gone through everything—no new clues."

Exhausted from last night’s lack of sleep and the day’s eye-straining labor, their heads throbbed.

Li Zhi stood by the window, breathing in fresh air and massaging her temples. Room 104’s window faced the guardhouse, beside which stood a blue trash bin.

A thought struck her. "We missed one newspaper."

Yesterday evening, Chu Guangyan had bought his wife a bouquet of perfumed lilies—wrapped in newspaper.

Two minutes later, the group stood before the bin, its stench and grime a sight to behold.

Recalling Chu Guangyan’s trash bag from that morning, Li Zhi began digging. Hours of accumulated garbage reeked horribly, and several players gagged.

Who would’ve thought they’d be dumpster diving in an instance?

Yue—!!!

Just as they were about to vomit, Li Zhi exclaimed, "Found it."

Thankfully, Chu Guangyan’s trash contained no liquids—just crumpled paper. After washing it clean in the bathroom, they finally unfolded the newspaper.

On the clipped page, a bold headline screamed:

​​Female Reporter Attempts Suicide After Failed Sexual Harassment Complaint​​