As his body moved without further thought, Han Fei's brain responded in a matter of milliseconds.
As both sides raced against the clock, Han Fei arrived on the fourth floor first. He grabbed the large set of keys and started searching for the main door key.
He could hear footsteps behind him getting closer and closer, and what made him even more anxious was the fact that he could also smell blood strongly!
Indeed, he was on the verge of passing out from the stench of rotten blood.
"Faster! Faster!"
Han Fei benefited greatly from the rigorous muscular and body control training at the acting school. Although he was currently in a state of intense panic, his hands were not shaking.
He put the key into the lock in one motion the instant he found it.
With the sound of the lock popping, Han Fei yanked open the main entrance and hurried inside.
Han Fei covered his mouth with his palm as he closed the door.
He could hear the sound of a beast breathing loudly outside a door across from him.
"What the heck is this again?"
Han Fei struggled to maintain a straight posture as he peeked out the door's peephole. The empty hallway contained nothing.
The sound of panting has stopped, but the stench of blood is still present.
For the time being, Han Fei could not check by opening the door. He kept changing the angle until he could see the creature through the peephole.
A little human face appeared to be hidden just below the front door. The person on the sixth floor did not leave! He was watching Han Fei's door while hiding in the exact center of the peephole's field of vision.
Han Fei felt warmth and generosity of spirit with a trace of creepiness from the old couple on the third floor, but heartlessness, violence, and cunning from this man on the sixth floor.
"There's a tremendous problem in my neighborhood!"
Han Fei stepped back and wiped the frosty sweat from his brow.
"I can't leave this house since this man is monitoring the door; instead, I must finish a mission to escape the game. Do I have any task to complete in the room?"
To tell it like it is, the seemingly easy newbie task of sleeping has left a dark shadow in Han Fei's heart.
"Let's spend three hours first." Han Fei also does not know how to evaluate his current situation.
There is a blood-reeking homicidal maniac blocking the door in front of his house. The homicidal house he lives in is haunted at night. There are wolves in front and tigers at the back. Any phrase cannot describe his miserable situation.
"I've been playing for so long and I'm still level one; perhaps when I upgrade, things will improve."
The only consolation Han Fei could find at this point was the fact that he needs to complete the beginner level's mission to understand this world better.
Han Fei refrained from stepping into the house while staring at the wall-mounted clock and standing close to the main door. He switched on every light before standing by the front door.
The stench of blood in the hallway was becoming intolerable, and weird noises could be heard from it from time to time. The sixth-floor neighbor was quite patient, but Han Fei didn't feel entirely welcomed by the manner he "greeted" him.
"When I completed the fuse replacement task, the system prompted me - A healthy lifestyle begins with a good bond with your neighbors, which means that this game expects me to have a good relationship with the neighbors."
"I want to survive successfully so that I might gain the friendship and support of my neighbors."
Han Fei had a sour expression as he inhaled the pungent stench of blood and said, "This is indeed a therapeutic game, I'm autistic and socially anxious, and it provides me a treatment plan that I'll die if I don't make friends."
The minutes ticked by till it was three o'clock in the morning.
The three-hour time restriction has expired, and Han Fei can now exit the game if he completes one more mission.
Since the "hospitable" neighbor outside the door hasn't yet gone, Han Fei can't go for the moment. After giving it some thought, he decided to try the novice mission.
"I'll unlock the main door if that ghost comes after me once again this time. If in the process, the ghost kills the neighbor on the sixth floor then I will find a method to steal his keys. I will move into his house in the future so that he will live for him and not let him pass away pointlessly."
This is the perfect situation, but in fact, Han Fei is more likely to be killed by his neighbor right away when he opens the door.
He had already discovered a ghost in the bathroom when he was doing the sleeping task, so wouldn't he be searching for another close encounter with a ghost if he picked that task again this time?
"Player No. 0000 has accepted the G - Grade newbie task - watch TV!"
"Mission introduction: you have lost count of the nights you haven't slept since coming here. Unable to sleep, you choose to watch TV for a while."
"Task Requirement: Please turn out all of the lights in the home, turn on the TV, and watch any channel for thirty minutes as part of the task. Please don't let your eyes leave the TV screen at will for the next thirty minutes."
Just by reading the introduction, it is clear that this newbie task does not look tough, but Han Fei is aware that not everything can be judged by its cover.
Han Fei was unable to leave the room and was forced to continue living his life. At 3:05 am, he turned on the TV after turning off all of the lights in the house.
The old TV like a square box was making rustling noises, which may have been caused by a weak signal as several stations were showing nothing but a black and white flurry.
Unknowingly, the newbie task had started. Han Fei had a kitchen knife in his right hand and a remote control in his left hand. He was sitting up straight on the sofa, gaze fixed on the television.
"It's all right, just hang on for thirty minutes."
Han Fei kept changing stations until he found channel 44, where the TV began to display an image.
However, Han Fei had never seen an animation like that before because of the unusual way it was drawn. The light was dim, and the scene playing on the screen was not very clear, as if it were a cartoon.
"A little underground theatre?"
As Han Fei leaned forward to try to increase the TV's volume, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
The progressively clear sound did not originate from the television, but from the bedroom.
Someone was strolling around the house!
The footsteps were moving closer to Han Fei, and the other person went out of the bedroom and right towards him.
"Is that the ghost?"
Is it going to be carrying a knife?
As the footsteps eventually vanished behind the sofa, Han Fei did not dare to move.
At three o'clock in the morning, he's at home watching TV with no lights on when he hears footsteps, and then the footsteps' voice fades behind him. Han Fei was terrified.
"Is it gone? Or did he remain behind me the entire time?"
His adam's apple twitched slightly.
Han Fei willed himself to keep looking at the TV rather than turning around.
There is no sound accompanying the animation on the screen, which features a little girl with a dismembered body running away from something for a brief while before being grabbed and dragged backward by an invisible hand.
Han Fei had no idea what the animation was trying to convey. When the little girl was grabbed for the third time, Han Fei felt his left shoulder sink violently, as if something had sat on his shoulder.
He glanced towards his left shoulder with the corner of his eye without moving his head and caught a fleeting glimpse of a horrifying white arm.
His heart started beating violently and uncontrollably. Han Fei gritted his teeth and forced himself to watch television, but when he adjusted his gaze, he witnessed an even more terrifying scene.
A pair of legs appeared behind the TV stand where the square box TV was placed.
The deadly home has more than one ghost. Han Fei's body began to tremble.
He wanted to dash over to the front entrance and ask the neighbors on the sixth floor waiting outside to watch TV with him!