According to the records obtained by Ji Shilu, statistics from predecessors indicate that the mortality rate for participants who cannot climb to the seventh floor within two minutes of leaving is one hundred percent.
After reaching the seventh floor in one go, Ji Shilu didn't continue going up but chose to head to Room 701.
Each floor of this apartment building has the same scene, and behind every door that can be opened, there is an almost identical layout.
After entering Room 701, Ji Shilu cautiously closed the door, then headed straight to the second bedroom, crouched down, and looked under the bed.
Under the bed was shrouded in dense darkness. Ji Shilu reached in and fumbled for a moment, finally dragging out a lump of plastic sheeting that was unidentifiable.
He, somewhat skeptically, took the plastic sheet to the kitchen and filled it with water.
The water-filled plastic sheet expanded into a brightly colored cartoon axe.
Judging by its appearance alone, no one could guess that this plastic axe possessed a formidable attack power completely disproportionate to its material, making it one of the most powerful weapons in the building.
Ji Shilu thought, indeed, one's background is the most reliable guarantee for clearing levels. If someone without access to that information came in, they would probably go completely mad before climbing many floors, let alone clearing the game.
He carried the axe back to the living room, then stopped behind the front door, not in a hurry to leave.
Ji Shilu quietly waited behind the door. At this moment, he could even hear his own intense heartbeat.
Until now, he hadn't seen anything in the copy that could be considered truly terrifying, yet the omnipresent time limit itself was enough to make one tremble with fear.
Just as Ji Shilu was waiting, the door of Room 701 began to shake without any warning.
Ji Shilu knew in his heart that everything in the building, whether it was the walls, stairs, or doors and windows, couldn't truly keep the monsters out. However, previous participants had tested it, and the room door could delay the monsters' entry into the room.
That was also the reason why Ji Shilu had to close the main door just now.
The shaking of the door grew increasingly violent, and the wooden frame quickly splintered into pieces under the external force. Four pitch-black claws, their surfaces resembling dried bark, forcefully extended through the gaps between the door and the wall.
Perhaps because of the wall between them, the movements of those black claws were not so fast that they were completely untraceable. Ji Shilu swung his axe with all his might, striking heavily at those black claws.
The axe struck the black claw, and the twisted black limb immediately fell, disintegrating into dust before it could touch the ground.
Ji Shilu let out a sigh of relief, straightened his body, and a confident smile appeared on his rather handsome face.
He already knew that after participants entered the room to search for items, they would face a deadly ambush upon exiting. The eerie monsters lurking in the building were waiting outside, ready to deliver a fatal blow to those inside the door.
The monsters in the building are completely irresistible to humans. As long as they are hit, even flesh-and-blood players will instantly perish.
Therefore, Ji Shilu had to go to the seventh floor to get the axe. Only after obtaining the axe would he have a certain degree of self-protection.
However, there was also a hidden trap here.
"After getting the axe, you must not go downstairs." Ji Shilu's emotions were already somewhat chaotic, and he began to stabilize himself by talking to himself. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat off his face and stated a crucial piece of experience, "Because the tool can only be used on the current floor and above."
There was once a seasoned [No Light] level player who, after obtaining the axe, turned back to the sixth floor intending to find the helmet. However, he was mercilessly torn apart by the well-prepared Claw. Throughout the entire process, the axe did not demonstrate any noteworthy effectiveness.
After breaking through the ambush with a mortality rate of over seventy percent, Ji Shilu continued to ascend the stairs.
He could feel that his physical strength was depleting much faster than usual.
As a young man who had long intended to become a player, Ji Shilu had always paid attention to exercising and had an excellent physical condition. Yet now, he felt as if his entire being was enveloped by an irresistible fatigue.
His arms and legs felt as if they were bound with heavy lead weights; with each step, he experienced a tearing fatigue and pain.
Ji Shilu felt that his lung capacity had been reduced to the level of an out-of-shape couch potato by the game, forcing him to gasp for air.
He couldn't slow down his pace of climbing the stairs, yet in this building, even if the participants did nothing, their life points would still continuously decrease.
...
Twelve minutes later, Ji Shilu finally slowed his pace.
Sweat mixed with blood was dripping from his chin.
Ascending the tower unscathed was unrealistic. Even though Ji Shilu had obtained the plastic axe according to the strategy guide, it only reduced the attacks of the black-clawed monsters, turning a fatal blow into a mere injury.
In addition to the plastic axe, he also took some time to visit Room 901 and got an iron shield.
The tools provided by the building for tackling challenges are quite peculiar. For instance, this shield, after being tested by predecessors, was found to have no noteworthy defensive effects. On the contrary, it accelerates the decline of the user's health and stamina. However, it has a special effect that Ji Shilu finds hard to give up—attack alerts.
Ji Shilu murmured, "If we could see the signs of an impending attack, it would be much easier to defend."
The shield had barely been in his hands for a moment when its surface began to emit a faint, ominous red glow. Ji Shilu knew this meant he had already been targeted by the enemy. Once the red glow reached its peak brightness, the attack would follow.
Ji Shilu watched the changing colors of the shield and felt a deep sense of regret. He thought he should have asked his elders at home for information about what lay beyond the thirteenth level before setting out.
After all, the game's requirement was to reach the hundredth floor. Being only on the thirteenth floor, the goal still seemed far too distant.
At that moment, the faint red glow on the iron shield suddenly became extremely bright.
A strong sense of fear surged through Ji Shilu's heart.
He decisively abandoned his plan to continue climbing and then almost stumbled into Room 1301.
Theoretically, there should be props on this level as well. Ji Shilu felt he was nearing his limit and could only come over to try his luck.
Room 1301 was just like Room 401, with beige floor tiles, old wooden cabinets painted white, and straw-yellow sofas.
The table in the living room was empty, with nothing on it, and the kitchen, which should have been full of life, appeared exceptionally clean.
Although some pots and pans could be found in those drawers, these items, which were present on every floor, could basically be excluded from the list of props.
Ji Shilu began rummaging through the boxes and cabinets with rough movements.
Given his current condition, it was difficult to continue climbing. The candy and lemon juice he had brought from Room 401 were already consumed. Now, he could only hope to find suitable restorative items on the thirteenth floor.
Many of the props are not hidden too deeply; crouch down and look under the sofa.
"Drip."
A drop of bright red liquid fell onto the beige floor tiles.
Ji Shilu stood frozen in place, then slowly lowered his head, looking at the black claw protruding from his throat. The black nails had cut through his skin, and red liquid flowed from the wound.
The sharp pain felt like a butcher's saw, deeply piercing into Ji Shilu's skull.
The prelude to death was drawn out extremely long. Ji Shilu, who had never experienced the baptism of the spiritual world, could feel the faintest pain on his body.
——He clearly hadn't been caught yet, so how could there be a monster in the room?!
The pain in his throat seemed to have a life of its own, continuously eroding Ji Shilu's sanity, with his rationality plummeting rapidly.
A sound as fine as a thousand needle points echoed in his ear: "...not there...yet..."
Ji Shilu's eyes bulged out, bloodshot, and after struggling twice, he collapsed to the ground. His right eye still showed some white, while his left eye had turned a deep, blood-like red.
A thought echoed in my mind—"If I were also a player... if I could have power..."
Lu Jishi's rationality burned swiftly, while he also felt the urgent desire hidden in his heart—if only he could find the props inside Room 1301.
If only my powers of observation were a bit sharper.
If only the clues in the apartment were a bit more obvious.
Countless chaotic thoughts surged and vanished in his mind. Ji Shilu felt as if his brain had been split in two: one half was going mad with pain, while the other half grew silent, calmly observing everything around him.
The details of the room's layout suddenly magnified, Ji Shilu's left eyeball began to twitch, and he could even see a tiny speck of dust on the floor.
At that very moment, the thick blood finally completely covered Ji Shilu's eyes.
Before his vision completely darkened, it felt as if a bleeding gash had opened at the top of his head, and a heavy, mercury-like liquid poured in. Moments later, two writhing, twisted lines of text appeared in Ji Shilu's mind—
[Dreams are fragments of reality.]
[Dreams are but silhouettes of the future.]
3:33 AM.
Apartment 604, Building No. 6.
Ji Shilu suddenly sat up, breathing heavily.
The room was filled with a rustling sound. He was dazed for a moment before realizing it was the noise of his own uncontrollable trembling.
The room was unlit, surrounded by an eerie darkness.
Having grown accustomed to high-end apartments, Ji Shilu originally thought he could tolerate the subpar living conditions of Apartment No. 6. At this moment, he finally felt the environment was so cramped that it was suffocating.
"Knock, knock, knock."
A strange sound came from outside the door.
On the bed, Ji Shilu stiffened his body, not daring to move an inch.
At this moment, he realized that the surrounding silence had reached a terrifying level; apart from the sound of collisions in the corridor, nothing could be heard on the entire sixth floor.
He couldn't even hear the chirping of insects outside the window—despite the apartment only having ordinary single-pane glass and being surrounded by dense woods.
This is not normal.
Moreover, what made Ji Shilu feel even more uneasy was that, despite the fact that no lights were on in the room, he could still see the general layout of the space.
The bed, the cabinet, the wooden table, the refrigerator... all the furniture looked as clear as they did during the day.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The sounds in the hallway continued.
Ji Shilu couldn't help but lift his head and look towards the door.
The more I told myself not to look, the harder it was to resist.
His gaze gradually moved downward.
Behind the crack as thin as a hair, the faint outline of a pair of feet seemed to emerge.
Cold sweat soaked the quilt, and Ji Shilu wondered, was his eyesight really that good before?
8:30 in the morning.
Cheng Tingyu, who had a dreamless night, opened his eyes, stretched lazily on the bed, then reached under his pillow for his phone. After confirming that it was already breakfast time at the cafeteria, he unhurriedly went to the washroom to freshen up.
——The decline of the entertainment industry in the post-transmigration world and the boredom of forum posts greatly improved her efficiency in getting out of bed.