The room was dimly lit, with the light flickering intermittently, casting an eerie and sinister atmosphere.
Past the staircase lay a dining area with a table, and beyond it stretched a narrow corridor lined with rooms on both sides. There were thirteen rooms in total, separated by wooden partitions, evidently arranged to maximize the rental income by creating as many units as possible.
The entire building looked like it could collapse at any moment.
The environment was suffocatingly oppressive. If a place like this existed in real life, it would definitely be reported immediately.
Gu Jiu’s distaste was written all over her face. Although the other players didn’t dare to show it as openly as she did, they shared similar feelings of revulsion.
Especially Brother Qiang, a newbie with tattoos on his arms, who couldn’t help but complain, “Do we really have to stay in a dump like this? How could anyone live here? Even the filthiest parts of the urban slums have better conditions than this…”
The other players remained silent, their gazes darting subtly towards the landlord.
The landlord stood there, watching the players with a smug expression, his face showing obvious satisfaction.
He urged impatiently, “Aren’t you all going to pick a room? There are plenty here, one for each of you.”
If this weren’t a game world, the players would have probably already given him a piece of their minds.
Who’d want to stay in your haunted house?
Ying Tong shot a glance at the landlord, then took the lead and casually chose a room, pushing the door open and entering.
Seeing this, the other players followed suit, picking their rooms.
Gu Jiu, however, stayed put.
Seeing her still, Lu Ji naturally didn’t move either. The two brothers also stood there stiffly.
The bewildered newcomers, noticing this, found themselves also standing in place, watching Gu Jiu with a hint of admiration. Her fierce demeanor from earlier had left a deep impression on them, sparking a faint sense of hope.
Although Ying Tong seemed reliable, she remained too calm when the landlord was being hostile. Gu Jiu, on the other hand, took the initiative to confront him, shutting him down with her retorts—she looked impressive, winning over everyone present.
The newbies were curious to see how far Gu Jiu would go.
The landlord sneered and taunted, “There are only thirteen rooms in this building. If you don’t pick one, it might be dangerous at night.”
“What kind of danger?” Gu Jiu scoffed dismissively.
The landlord’s face twisted into a strange, punchable grin.
Gu Jiu stared at him intently, fixing him with an unblinking gaze—just as she had done in the Cursed Village quest when her back was injured by the ghost doll and she glared at Lu Ji to get the young girl to massage her.
Suddenly, a series of loud bangs echoed from downstairs, as if something heavy had fallen.
The landlord’s expression darkened instantly as he urged, “Why haven’t you picked a room yet?”
Gu Jiu said, “You still haven’t told us what kind of danger there is at night.”
The landlord was clearly frustrated and snapped, “How would I know what kind of danger? Can’t you figure it out yourself?”
He then urged them again to hurry up and choose a room.
This sudden impatience, tinged with anxiety, was a stark contrast to his earlier smug attitude. Not only Gu Jiu but also the others could sense a slight change.
The two brothers suddenly realized why Gu Jiu was purposely stalling with the landlord. As the only NPC in the area, the landlord was likely connected to this game quest, “Seven Little Sheeps.” Since the situation was unclear, Gu Jiu wanted to get some clues from the landlord to figure out more about the mission.
After watching him for a bit longer, Gu Jiu shifted her gaze nonchalantly just as the landlord’s face began to contort with anger. She casually looped her arm through Lu Ji’s and said, “Alright then, let’s go choose a room! Ah Ji, which one should we pick?”
Lu Ji responded, “Any will do.”
With that, Gu Jiu selected a room at random and pushed the door open.
Although there were thirteen rooms, it hadn’t been specified that each person needed a separate one, so Gu Jiu naturally planned to share with Lu Ji.
The chubby brothers, noticing this, also chose to share a room and picked the one next to Gu Jiu and Lu Ji’s.
The remaining newcomers hesitated but eventually decided to pair up as well. Although they were strangers and not particularly trustworthy, this eerie environment made having a companion seem like a safer choice.
The room itself was small, around three or four square meters, with a stifling atmosphere and a faint, musty odor.
Gu Jiu’s distaste deepened. She had never lived in such a cramped, stale-smelling space, and it felt almost suffocating.
In the limited space was a single bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a chair.
The bed was a narrow, wooden frame about a meter wide, with an unknown padding for a mattress. The desk sat near the window, its wood blackened, not from paint but from accumulated grime over years of use.
The wardrobe, small and shabby, stood next to the desk, while the chair looked so tilted it seemed ready to collapse under any weight.
The floor was littered with random trash, with occasional cockroaches scurrying from the debris toward the corners, a disturbing reminder of the room’s neglect.
Gu Jiu stared at the room expressionlessly before walking out.
Lu Ji hurried after her, grabbing her arm.
“Gu… Ah Jiu, where are you going? I’m pretty sure all the rooms are the same; hitting the landlord won’t help.”
He was genuinely worried that this young mistress wouldn’t be able to tolerate these conditions and might decide to beat up the landlord.
Gu Jiu smiled at him and said, “What are you thinking? I just want to find a broom to clean up the trash; we can’t stay in this kind of filth, can we?”
Blushing, Lu Ji let go, realizing he had misunderstood.
This innocent reaction delighted Gu Jiu, who gently tapped Lu Ji’s face, slightly flushed with a rare hint of color, and laughed, “Even if I did want to hit him, I doubt he’d still be around. I don’t want to waste my energy on that lowlife.”
Sure enough, when they returned to the living room, the landlord was nowhere to be seen.
As Gu Jiu and Lu Ji went looking for cleaning supplies, they encountered the two brothers, already holding brooms.
The brothers had managed to find the cleaning tools before them and, hearing that the girls wanted to clean up too, decided to help them out.
As Fatty busied himself, he said, “This kind of heavy work is for us men. You two girls should stand back; there are still quite a few cockroaches here…”
The two brothers, thinking the girls would naturally be afraid of bugs, took on the task of cleaning and pest control. Fatty even had a can of bug spray he’d brought from the real world. He wasn’t sure if it would work on insects in the game world, but it was better than nothing.
Gu Jiu raised an eyebrow. “You two came well-prepared.”
It seemed that next time, she should consider bringing some practical items from real life rather than relying solely on purchases from the in-game shop.
Fatty chuckled. “After entering the game world enough times, you learn to come prepared. It’s normal to pack extra supplies; the only issue is running out of space in my inventory. I’m planning to save up enough points to buy a bag with a 100-slot capacity…”
Although Fatty was hefty, he worked quickly and efficiently.
Skinny was the same; his slight frame made everything he did seem light and effortless, giving off an almost airy impression.
Seeing the brothers busy cleaning, Gu Jiu and Lu Ji didn’t just stand by idly. They fetched water and started wiping down the desk and bed. With the four of them working together, they managed to get two rooms cleaned up.
The other players were also cleaning, not wanting to live in a pile of garbage.
After a simple clean-up, the rooms were at least livable.
Once done, the players decided to scout out the game world to gather relevant information.
Gu Jiu and her group returned to the living room and saw Ying Tong coming up from the first-floor staircase.
“Sister Ying, where did you go?” a few male players eagerly asked her.
Ying Tong responded coolly, “I just went to check out the building. There are three floors in total; the first and third floors are unoccupied and extremely dark, so I didn’t explore further. Only the second floor is inhabited.”
The group instinctively looked at the stairs leading up to the third floor. The staircase was incredibly dark, with no lights, making it impossible to see anything.
This kind of darkness naturally led to unsettling thoughts.
Fatty suddenly asked, “By the way, does anyone know what time it is?”
The players exchanged glances, realizing they hadn’t paid attention to the time since entering the game world, and the landlord hadn’t mentioned it either.
Judging by the dim lighting in the rooms and the dark sky outside, it was easy to assume it was already night.
“It’s probably not nighttime yet,” Gu Jiu said lazily. “Remember, the landlord said earlier he hoped I’d still be so bold tonight, meaning it’s not nighttime yet.”
Her reasoning was sound.
Ying Tong glanced at her. She didn’t see Gu Jiu as the ignorant, spoiled young lady others might think she was. If Gu Jiu were truly clueless, she wouldn’t have survived this long in the game world. Ying Tong suspected that Gu Jiu’s dainty demeanor was more of an act.
When Gu Jiu had confronted the landlord earlier, Ying Tong quickly noticed her intentions and understood that she wasn’t as simple as she appeared.
Ying Tong had learned never to underestimate any player in the game, which was precisely why she was able to level up so quickly.
A player asked in confusion, “But if it’s not nighttime, then why is the sky outside dark?”
Fatty chuckled, giving a response that left them speechless. “Bro, this is the game world—don’t try to make sense of it with normal logic.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense,” most players couldn’t help but grimace.
“So, does this mean we’ll be stuck in darkness for the entire three days here?”
Darkness in the game world was always unsettling because there were often unseen dangers lurking within it, waiting to ensnare unsuspecting players.
After discussing the unusual perpetual night, the players turned their attention to analyzing the hint given for this game quest: Seven Little Sheeps.
Seven Little Sheeps was the name of the quest, and the clue seemed to lie there.
“Why is this quest called Seven Little Sheeps?” Fatty asked, puzzled. “What does ‘seven sheeps’ represent?”
The other players looked equally confused. Since they had entered the game world, nothing they encountered seemed remotely connected to sheeps.
Ying Tong cautiously suggested, “Could Seven Little Sheeps be some kind of metaphor?”
“A metaphor for what? Does it mean we’re the seven sheeps? But there are thirteen of us here.”
“Plus, there are thirteen rooms, so nothing aligns with the number seven.”
…
At that moment, a timid voice spoke up, “Um, could Seven Little Sheeps refer to the story of The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats?”
Everyone turned to look at the speaker, a shy and reserved woman with a weak presence. She clearly wasn’t used to being in the spotlight and had even introduced herself earlier in a barely audible voice.
Fatty scratched his head, looking puzzled. “What’s The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats?”
Forgive him for not being well-versed in fairy tales; he had completely forgotten about that one.
Most of the others seemed similarly clueless, their faces blank with confusion. Only a few who remembered the story showed a spark of understanding.
Under the many inquisitive stares, the timid woman—Wen Xiuxiu—wished she could sink into the floor.
She lowered her head and muttered, “It’s… a fairy tale.”
She briefly recounted the story of The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats: A mother goat left her seven little kids at home to search for food. A big bad wolf, using clever words, tricked the young sheeps into opening the door and devoured six of them, leaving only the youngest who had hidden away.
When the mother goat returned and discovered what the wolf had done, she found the wolf by the river. Using scissors, she cut open his belly, rescued her six little sheeps, filled his stomach with stones, and sewed him back up.
The big bad wolf woke up and went to the river to drink water. Because his belly was full of stones, he ended up falling into the river and drowning.
After hearing the fairy tale, everyone fell silent.
Fatty groaned, “So it’s a dark fairy tale, huh? I feel seriously traumatized.”
Ying Tong pondered, “Could it be that we players are the seven little sheeps, and the landlord is the wolf? That would explain why he looks at us like we’re food…”
The players remembered how the landlord had looked at them with drooling anticipation when they first met, and a chill ran through them.
Just then, the landlord’s raspy voice sounded, “Have you all chosen your rooms?”
They turned to find the landlord standing at the staircase, staring at them with that same hungry look, and a suspicious glint of saliva at the corner of his mouth.
The players felt a shiver down their spines under his gaze.
Breaking the silence, Gu Jiu’s voice rose, “When’s dinner? I’m starving.”
The landlord’s eyes fixed on her, his gaze not just hungry but with a menacing gleam. He replied cryptically, “Dinner is in two hours! Don’t worry; I’ll make sure to prepare a bountiful feast for you all so you can eat to your heart’s content… and grow nice and plump…”
Players: “.…”
What was with this tone, like he was fattening them up for slaughter? Did he think they wouldn’t catch on?
With a mischievous grin, the landlord turned and left.