"The sleep task requires me to begin within five minutes, whereas the bathing task must be completed before 4 a.m. I have ample time to finish both tasks," he considered.
Han Fei had already planned in his heart, "First I'll complete the sleep task. According to the requirements, while accomplishing the sleep task, I can also fulfill the condition of staying for three hours. Then I'll be able to log off at any time."
"The bathing task requires going to the bathroom, where it's hard to escape in the event of a supernatural incident in such a confined space. However, I can log off at any time, and if I encounter something beyond my limit, I can simply quit."
He wasn't mindlessly taking on tasks; he had considered everything thoroughly.
The newbie protection period had ended, and who knows what the outside would become. Rather than recklessly taking on newly emerging tasks and risking danger, it was better to honestly complete the newbie tasks within this haunted house.
After all, to survive in this room, he had already memorized nearly a hundred pages of case files.
As time slowly passed, Han Fei busied himself in the room. He turned off all the lights, placed a kitchen knife under his pillow, and then disassembled the mop handle.
To be honest, the kitchen knife was more of a psychological comfort for Han Fei than a tool for self-defense. Even if a neighbor came to visit, he wouldn't use the knife. Only if a neighbor passed by without wishing to enter would he provoke them with a stick, or more politely, invite them in.
To prevent the anti-theft door from locking him in, Han Fei deliberately didn't shut it completely, leaving a narrow gap instead.
"If a ghost in the haunted house goes mad, I'll run outside. If a particularly 'special' neighbor comes in, and I can't defeat them, I'll run into the deepest bedroom of the haunted house."
With a plan for both offense and defense, Han Fei finished preparing everything and then went to the bedroom near the living room where he had done the sleep task last time.
"I failed last time because I panicked too much. I was so close to success, but my own cowardice got in the way. This time, no matter what, I must last three hours. Only by completing the sleep task will there be enough room to maneuver for the bathing task that follows," he told himself.
Han Fei stared at the electronic clock on the wall, continuously mentally preparing himself.
When it was five minutes past midnight, he lay on the bed in the bedroom, covering himself completely with the quilt, leaving only a small gap to stealthily watch the outside.
"During the last sleep task, the ghost in the bathroom appeared at 2:44 a.m."
"Today I started the task at five minutes past midnight. If the ghost appears at the same time as last time, I just need to hold out for twenty-one minutes, and the task will be complete."
"It's challenging, but not impossible. Compared to last time, I now have an additional passive skill—'Hide-and-Seek', which will lower my presence as long as I hide well."
The sleep task had already begun, and Han Fei was quite confident, "I don't need to be too nervous in the early stages. The key to this task is the last half-hour. Nevertheless, I can't be complacent. The task description mentioned that every time the newbie task fails, the difficulty level will slightly increase. I must be ready for any sudden changes."
Hidden under the quilt, Han Fei held the handle of the kitchen knife in one hand, gripping the mop handle tightly with the other. His muscles were tensed as if he were a leopard ready to hunt, his expression serious and his eyes sharp.
Who would have thought that just a few days ago, he was hunched over with messy hair, locked in his rental, hopelessly playing video games day and night?
The night grew deep, and the house became very quiet, the only sound being the ticking of the electronic clock.
Han Fei silently counted the time, his eyes fixated on the lock of the bathroom door, concentrating all his attention on the bathroom.
But at fourteen minutes past midnight, the silence of the room was suddenly broken by a creaking noise.
"The lock on the bathroom door hasn't moved; it's coming from somewhere else!"
In the dead silence of the room, every sound was amplified. Han Fei carefully determined the source of the noise, shifting his gaze from the bathroom door, inch by inch.
"That sounds like a door opening? The most severely rusted door hinges in this haunted house are... in the bedroom furthest inside!"
Han Fei's slowly shifting gaze came to rest on the bedroom doorway, where he saw half a child's face outside his own door.
The child's features were indistinct, and he slowly extended his head into the bedroom.
Han Fei held his breath, daring not to move an inch.
The child gazed into the room for a long time before dragging his incomplete body past Han Fei's bedroom door.
"It's only fourteen minutes past midnight now, isn't this too early?"
From the bedroom where Han Fei was, he could only see the living room and the bathroom, not the bedroom situated at the deepest part of the Haunted House. It was only after he heard the sound of the door hinge that he realized something had come out from that room.
"The bedroom at the deepest part of the Haunted House is the most dangerous. The sleep mission has changed, the ghost has appeared earlier than expected, but there's also good news, it seems to have little interest in me."
The child ambled in the living room and finally sat down on the sofa. From inside the bedroom, Han Fei could see the back of the child's head. He was now anxious that the child's head might suddenly twist one hundred and eighty degrees to face him.
Anxieties pervaded the air within the room, and Han Fei hid under the covers, now not even daring to extend a finger.
"It's okay, just have to hold on for a little more than two hours."
The child sat on the sofa without moving until forty-four minutes past midnight when suddenly, a woman with long hair passed by Han Fei's bedroom door and came into the living room.
"Another one?"
The woman's figure was similarly blurry as she picked up the TV remote and silently sat down beside the child.
Watching the two ghosts on the sofa, with their backs to him, caused all of Han Fei's hairs to stand on end. If they did not turn their heads, he would be scared, but he figured he would be even more frightened if they did.
Time seemed to slow down, each moment agonizing. Ever since those two ghosts had sat on the living room sofa, Han Fei hadn't changed his position, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...
The ticking of the electronic clock began to intermingle with other sounds, as if droplets of water were falling.
At four minutes past one, the kitchen door was pushed open, and a woman with short hair, her head lowered, stood at the doorway with a fruit knife in hand as if searching for something.
At fourteen minutes past one, the sound of high heels walking could be heard from the bedroom at the very end.
At forty-four minutes past two, the bathroom door lock began to tremble slightly, and after a while, the door was opened a crack.
And right in that gap, there was an eyeball staring at the bedroom where Han Fei was.
A pale arm extended from the bathroom with clumps of black hair stuck to the cheek, as the person crawled out of the bathroom, then disappeared from Han Fei's view the next moment.
The temperature in the bedroom was dropping slowly, Han Fei clenched his teeth. He heard the sound of the bedsheet being brushed by something, and faint strands of black hair were dangling through the gap in the covers, as if someone was right then crouching beside the bed, hanging their head, ready to crawl under the covers.
Han Fei covered his mouth and nose, his eyes fixed on the gap in the covers. It was now two-forty-five in the morning, almost three hours had almost passed.
A cold sensation pierced his heart and lungs, turning Han Fei's face purple. Just as he was about to succumb, the living room television turned on by itself.
A faint cold light entered the room, and the chill in the bedroom gradually dissipated.
Han Fei released his hands, and when he looked towards the living room again, there was an additional silhouette on the sofa.