The next day.
As he had the day before, Li Ran made breakfast for his wife and son, left a note, and then went out.
This time, he didn’t take the elevator or the stairwell.
Using his Shadowstep skill, he moved down the building within the shadows cast by the tall structure.
He was avoiding Room 1304's killer maniac. Wang Qian.
Yesterday, his golden finger warned him that he had been targeted by the killer. He also received a mission to eliminate him.
Without overwhelming strength, Li Ran had no intention of facing the killer head-on.
Over the past two days, Li Ran still hadn't fully understood the strange community of "Happy Homeland."
But Su Bingyao's words from the previous night had been a key clue.
He finally understood why the meatball fatty was obsessed with eating, and why Deng Zhiwei turned into a monster.
You must sleep before midnight!
If you don’t fall asleep before midnight, an invisible "Desire Virus" will invade your body. Once stimulated or emotionally unstable, you will instantly transform into a monster. The stronger your obsession or desire, the more terrifying the transformation. In some cases, it could even result in immediate death.
In other words, the killer isn’t the scariest monster here.
There are beings with even stronger obsessive desires.
Last night after showering, Li Ran noticed the crack in Su Bingyao’s door had widened a bit.
He had wanted to ask her more about the community, but when he saw his icy-cool wife already asleep, he didn’t dare speak up.
So, they slept in the same room again, but not in the same bed.
Perhaps because the day had been so stressful, he fell asleep quickly on the tatami mat.
As for what happened after midnight—he had no clue.
---
“Li Ran! Over here!”
Song Linjia ran toward him from a distance.
Compared to yesterday, she seemed in much better condition.
Before nightfall, Li Ran had sent the midnight warning to Song Linjia, Chen Jiabin, and Xiao Yi.
Deng Zhiwei had already transformed into a monster. If his obsession was strong, he might have become a particularly powerful one.
“I went straight to bed after your message yesterday,” Song Linjia said.
Li Ran nodded. “Let’s find the others first, gather some intel, then take on a mission.”
“Okay.”
At the community entrance—
“Where are Xiao Yi and Chen Jiabin? Didn’t we all agree to meet here?” Song Linjia complained.
“Forget it. Let’s just do the mission ourselves. Where’s that strange old lady you mentioned yesterday?”
“I’ll take you.”
“Alright.”
In truth, Li Ran could already guess why Xiao Yi and Chen Jiabin didn’t show up.
His performance yesterday had drawn jealousy.
Even if nothing was said out loud, subtle expressions and details gave everything away, and his golden finger confirmed it.
Li Ran had no desire to team up with Xiao Yi. The guy just gave off a bad vibe.
Song Linjia, on the other hand, was kind, straightforward, and open-hearted.
She’d sincerely celebrate her teammates' successes.
And she had her principles.
Teaming up with someone like her felt easy and honest.
By the pond, a frail figure appeared in the distance.
Shuffling steps, a slightly hunched back, strands of white in her black hair, sunken eyes, a face covered in wrinkles and age spots, and hands bulging with thick veins—she looked like she was struggling just to walk.
“She looks so pitiful,” Song Linjia said. “I wanted to help her, but…”
Her kind nature made her hesitate. In the real world, she probably would have already offered assistance.
They stayed about 50 meters away, not daring to approach despite the lady’s pitiable appearance.
She shuffled aimlessly along the edge of the pond, like a lost child.
“I want to take this quest, but I’m scared,” Song Linjia admitted. “Can we even do it as a team? You’re so much stronger…”
Li Ran saw right through her worries. She didn’t want to miss out on this quest—it was hard to find quest leads in this place. But giving it up to someone else would leave her with regret, especially since she found the old lady first.
“Alright. You brought me the lead, so if I complete the quest, I’ll split the reward points with you,” Li Ran said honestly.
Attribute points couldn’t be shared, but reward points could be traded between players.
Song Linjia agreed readily. “No problem. You’ll do the heavy lifting, I’ll just take a finder's fee.”
Li Ran liked this kind of teamwork. It saved him from running around the complex like a headless chicken.
It was much more efficient to let others bring him quest leads while he used his hidden tips to complete them fast and power up.
He much preferred chatting with straightforward teammates like her.
Xiao Yi, on the other hand, was a totally different story—every word seemed loaded, with hidden motives. You could never tell if he was being honest or fake.
Li Ran had no interest in teaming up with people like that.
“Wait here—I’ll go check it out first,” he said.
“Okay.”
He carefully approached the old woman along the stone path, eyes scanning her carefully.
Suddenly, a few lines of floating text appeared above her head:
[Grandma Mi]
[S-Class Mental Infectant]
[Eerie Force: ???]
[Tip: Ever since Grandma Mi’s grandson disappeared, her mind has deteriorated. She constantly imagines he’s still alive.]
[Tip: Wearing that old piece of clothing will bring you luck—she’ll mistake you for her grandson.]
[Tip: You can pre-purchase an underwater breathing potion.]
Seeing these tips, Li Ran’s scalp tingled.
He stepped backward instinctively.
“S-Class? Eerie Force unknown?”
He couldn't believe these stats were attached to such a frail-looking old woman.
“She’s even scarier than Wang Qian the killer?”
His back was covered in cold sweat.
Without the golden finger's warning, he might have died on the spot.
“So that tattered shirt I pulled from the pond yesterday was her grandson’s? If I wear it, can I pretend to be him to complete the quest?”
“But… what’s with the underwater breathing potion?”
Seeing him return in reverse, Song Linjia looked confused. “Even you can’t handle it?”
“Wait here,” Li Ran said, heading back toward the community.
He returned to the Happy Supermarket.
There, he searched through the shelves and finally found the underwater breathing potion tucked away in a corner.
[Underwater Breathing Potion – 100 points. Buy? Yes/No]
“Yes.”
100 points were deducted.
He still had 1,360 points left.
“Special items like this cost way more than regular supplies.”
But he didn’t leave immediately.
He opened the Points Mall—a personal floating menu that only players could see after entering this strange world.
Inside, players could purchase gear, weapons, items, skill books, and attribute cards.
Li Ran skimmed through the equipment section.
He ignored common and good-quality gear, focusing on excellent-quality.
Currently, he was equipped with three items—two excellent, one good-quality—all of them premium with either skills or passives.
In the mall, an excellent item cost around 1,000 points—those with higher attributes or skills generally exceeded 2,000.
“I need to spend my points wisely.”
In this eerie world, no one knew whether tomorrow or death would come first.
Boosting his strength quickly was the only way to increase his survival odds.
“Let’s check the skills section instead.”
He gave up on buying equipment for now.
With 1,360 points left, it wasn’t enough to get something truly powerful.
He turned to the excellent-quality skill section.
If he had more points, he’d go straight to rare skills, but that wasn’t realistic for now.
He believed in quality over quantity when it came to skills.
A good skill could make all the difference.
After browsing for a while, one particular skill book caught his attention:
[Skill Book: Shadow Ambush]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Requirement: Eerie Force 160]
[Active Skill: Grants temporary invisibility. Boosts speed and strength. Hitting a target ends invisibility and deals damage. Backstabs and throat slits deal double damage. Duration: variable.]
“This is perfect for a stealth-based assassin. Combined with my Shadowstep, it’s ideal—I can sneak, ambush, and even escape if I’m outmatched. Perfect for a cautious survivalist like me.”
Without hesitation, Li Ran purchased Shadow Ambush.
Cost: 1,300 points.
Remaining points: 60.
After the purchase, a dark glow gathered in front of him, and a black-covered skill book appeared.
"Learn."
Li Ran pointed his finger at the black skill book. Instantly, it dissolved into countless strands of black energy that surged into his fingertip, then spread rapidly along his arm, flooding through every limb and bone in his body.
All at once, a wave of brand-new memory surged into Li Ran's mind.
It was knowledge of how to execute the skill [Shadow Assault], complete with detailed combat techniques and application methods.
As this memory settled, it felt as if the skill had been innate all along. There was no sense of unfamiliarity or discomfort whatsoever.
“Very good. With this skill, I feel much more secure.”
Li Ran was very satisfied. He closed the points mall interface and headed back to the residential complex.
“You were gone for quite a while,” Song Linjia remarked.
“I was gathering some information and preparing a few things,” Li Ran replied.
Song Linjia's large, dark eyes scrutinized him suspiciously. “You hadn’t even left before you claimed to have gotten information. How does that work?”
“Once you complete a few more tasks and rack up enough points, you’ll be able to exchange them for skills in the mall. It won’t seem so strange then.”
He could never reveal the truth about his cheat-like ability. The best cover was to pin it on the points mall—after all, learning skills and gaining abilities through it wasn’t unusual.
And besides, it made sense.
Song Linjia sighed. “Ugh, when will I finally have enough points to buy anything?”
“You will soon,” Li Ran reassured her. Then, he pulled out a tattered, barely recognizable blue denim jacket and put it on.
Song Linjia looked at him in disbelief, completely baffled by what she saw.
“What are you doing—trying to dress like a beggar?”
“It’s a quest item.”
The denim jacket had been stored in his inventory for a day and, strangely, had dried out on its own. Li Ran tidied it up a bit to make himself look less like a beggar. The only issue was that the jacket was a bit small on him.
Luckily, he was tall and well-proportioned, so he could pull off any outfit without looking too out of place.
“A ragged jacket is a quest item? Yeah, right,” Song Linjia muttered, rolling her eyes in disbelief.
Li Ran approached an old lady and greeted her politely. “Do you need help, Grandma?”
The elderly woman, shuffling along with tiny, swaying steps, slowly lifted her head and fixed her gaze on Li Ran.
“Who are you…? You’re not my grandson… You people think you can fool me… I… I won’t be tricked again…”
“Grandma, I’m not lying…”
Just as Li Ran began to explain, the old lady’s hand suddenly elongated and transformed into a tentacle that whipped forward and wrapped tightly around his neck.
“What the hell—what is going on!?”
(End of Chapter)