Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 301 New Resident Li Yin
June 2009, City K.

A slightly worn rental car is driving on the Kuroto River Road leading to the city.

The atmosphere inside the car was tense. A young man in the passenger seat was as pale as a sheet, and his dark circles under his eyes told the story of his sleepless night.

The young man in the driver's seat appeared relatively calm, while in the back seat sat a girl with short, neat hair that made her face appear smaller. She looked at the back of the young man's head in the passenger seat with a hint of barely perceptible sympathy and understanding in her eyes.

"Xiao Li, don't worry too much." The man in the driver's seat broke the silence, his voice as steady as possible. "Building Manager Xia specifically told me that you just became a resident of the apartment yesterday, and you need time to adjust. If you want to keep carrying out the Blood Letter orders and survive time and time again, staying healthy is the most basic thing. I'll take you to a gym that we residents are all familiar with. I'll train you there first. They're currently having a promotion where you can try it out for free, and the environment is quite nice."

The young man called Xiao Li turned his head slightly, his voice dry: "Mr. Ke, please call me Li Yin."

"Then you can call me Yinye too." Ke Yinye, who was holding the steering wheel, readily agreed.

Li Yin couldn't help but think to himself: "Your parents are truly... lewd geniuses. Yin Ye, Yin Yu... why does this name combination sound so inappropriate for children? How can I ever say it out loud again?"

This absurd thought flashed through my mind, but it actually lessened the fear that was gripping my heart.

He took a deep breath and asked the question that had been lingering in his mind: "The Blood Letter quest... what exactly will happen? I heard that ghosts won't attack directly unless a clue to survival appears? Is that true? Also, if I complete ten Blood Letter quests, will I really be able to leave that apartment alive?"

"Once the ten Blood Letters are completed, you can leave the apartment. There's no mistake about that." Ke Yinye answered firmly, "It's unfortunate that you were chosen to be a resident of this apartment, but for now, let's take a proactive approach and wait for your first Blood Letter instruction to be issued."

The one who answered him was Silver Feather in the back seat: "That's right, basically. Ghosts' attacks follow certain 'rules.' They usually won't kill you directly until a clue to survival appears, but the terror and oppression during that process..."

She paused, recalling her recent experience.

"I just carried out my first blood-letter mission a couple of days ago. It happened late at night on a soccer field. A hanged ghost, supposedly a goalkeeper in life, kept chasing us. Its neck was stretched out long, its eyes bulging out, rolling across the green field... We ran, ran desperately, feeling like our lungs were about to explode. In the end, I realized that as long as I rushed into the soccer goal net, it couldn't touch me. That seemed to be the 'area' it guarded in life, becoming an insurmountable boundary for it. In the end, only I and a resident named Tang Wenshan survived."

Her narration was concise, but words like "hanging ghost," "rolling," "chasing," and "only two people left" were enough to paint a horrifying picture in Li Yin's mind.

Li Yin remained silent. So after all this time, it turns out that this brother and sister are not really veterans. Yin Yu has only completed one mission, and Yin Ye may not have even experienced one yet.
He felt a little better, but then a deeper worry followed.

The car eventually stopped in front of a rather upscale-looking gym in Baiyan District in the city center.

Stepping into this very spacious gym, the air is filled with the smell of sweat.

Li Yin immediately spotted a familiar figure—Tang Lanxuan, a doctor and resident of the apartment building. He was diligently doing bench presses, his complexion rosy. Yin Ye greeted him warmly.

On the other side, on the treadmill, Li Yin immediately recognized that the Japanese female resident named Sachiko Odagiri, who lived on the same floor as him, was running at a steady pace. Her ponytail, combed back, swayed with her steps, and her expression was highly focused.

Yin Yu said gently to Li Yin, "Don't think too much about it. Just enjoy the feeling of exercising and sweating. Put the pressure aside for now. For the residents, their energy and spirit are the most important things."

Li Yin nodded, and then he followed Yin Ye to the two treadmills side by side.

He started the machine, and the tracks beneath his feet began to roll. Li Yin mechanically took steps, feeling his heavy body become slightly lighter.

While running, he couldn't help but turn his head and ask Yinye, "Ke... Yinye, I heard that your sister entered the apartment first, and you came in later on your own initiative for her sake?"

Yin Ye's gaze was fixed on the realistic simulation on the treadmill screen in front of him. He nodded and said in a low but clear voice, "Yes."

Li Yin sighed inwardly again: To actually step into such a perilous place for his sister, how much courage and determination must that have taken? Or rather, how deep must that obsession be?
What an ultimate siscon!
……

"What an ultimate siscon!"

Inside a restaurant in Changming District, within the inner ring of Muxu City.

Today, Jiang Jin had promised to treat Blood Lord to dinner, since he had received a Level 4 Reincarnator Key and couldn't just take it for free.

Jiang Jin pointed to the phone screen of Blood Lord, which displayed a TXT document of the novel "Hell Apartment." He never expected that Blood Lord would actually have this forbidden book and even send it to him.

He had already finished reading the two-million-word horror novel at an astonishing speed in three days. Afterwards, he clicked his tongue and complained, "Tsk tsk, this author is quite anime-loving. This strong Japanese horror style, an apartment where you have to complete ten supernatural missions once you move in—it's even more miserable than us reincarnators. And the second male lead's obvious sister complex... The most incomprehensible thing is that the female lead was actually killed off? The second female lead takes over, the loser becomes the main heroine? I heard people gossiping on the reincarnator forum that it's because the author had just broken up with his ex-girlfriend at that time and had a mental breakdown?"

The Blood Lord sitting next to him scoffed and said, "It's fake. The author later debunked it, but the rumor spread too widely, and the debunking didn't even reach the same level of reach. According to him back then, he wanted to embody a kind of tragic aesthetic; in short, he was indulging in a bit of pretentious writing. As a result, he was criticized by readers for over a decade."

Jiang Jin rolled his eyes: "Being a literary youth is indeed a disease, and it needs to be cured! This is definitely a case of not wanting to make money! Whenever this is mentioned on the forum, so many readers are clamoring for the author to give back their female lead. They are very resentful."

Blood Lord waved his hand, his tone becoming serious: "Alright, I didn't ask you to evaluate this. I showed it to you so you would know how strange and dangerous this dungeon is, and give up if you find it difficult." Jiang Jin put away his phone, a glint of eager anticipation in his eyes: "But look at this novel, it jumps directly from the first Blood Letter quest, 'Netherwater Village,' to the protagonist Li Yin's fourth Blood Letter quest. I was quite curious about the specific plot of the earlier ones, especially the initial beginner phase."

Blood Lord frowned: "You're not really planning to enter this instance, are you?"

Jiang Jin's gaze hardened: "I said I wanted to try. Although fully rule-based instances are entered randomly, if a reincarnator actively chooses to enter, the reincarnation system can explicitly instruct them to enter..."

"Absolutely not!" Blood Lord categorically rejected the idea, his tone almost a warning. "You're courting death! This terrifying dungeon is completely different from the regular supernatural dungeons we've experienced before!"

"But I'm only a near-LV3 right now. Even if I advance to true LV3, how am I supposed to get through the terrifying dungeon where evil spirits from the Annihilation Layer exist?"

"..."

……

In the days that followed, Li Yin worked hard to adjust his mindset, and his relationship with the Ke siblings gradually deepened.

Perhaps it was because they shared a similar plight, or perhaps it was because Yin Ye's composure and Yin Yu's gentleness truly had a calming effect, but their relationship improved, and they were no longer just strangers bound by the rules of the apartment.

While waiting for the first Blood Letter quest to arrive, Li Yin decided to find something to do to distract himself.

During his university years, he made a pact with his friend Mi Tian to write a military novel about World War II. Now they have an idea, and he has decided to choose the Pacific War and the Yunnan-Burma campaign as the background for the expeditionary force. The tentative title is "Bullets Fly Over".

Coincidentally, Yin Ye is very familiar with Chinese history from ancient times to modern times, while Yin Yu has a good understanding of European and American history. Both of them are happy to see Li Yin recover and have become his excellent advisors and sources of information.

On this day, Li Yin was in Yin Ye's living room, engrossed in writing the opening plot about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and trying to connect it with the Far East battlefield at the same time, especially the situation after the Battle of Shanghai, when the "isolated island" period was broken.

He would sometimes furrow his brow in deep thought, and at other times rapidly type on the keyboard.

"Silver Feather, regarding the specific batches of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the types of aircraft used, and the attack waves, as well as the US military's early warning response at the time, what reliable details can you add?" Li Yin asked, looking up.

Back in 09, searching for information online was far less convenient than it is now, where even an AI could handle everything.

Yin Yu, who was sitting on the sofa next to Li Yin and reading an English history book, looked up when she heard this and began to explain in a clear and organized manner: "I remember the first wave of attacks was mainly... Type 97 carrier-based attack aircraft were responsible for launching torpedoes and bombs, while Zero fighters were responsible for escorting and suppressing anti-aircraft fire. The US military had actually detected the abnormal signals at the time, but misjudged the situation, thinking that the Japanese would not dare to launch a surprise attack on Hawaii. Fortunately, those aircraft carriers were diverted at the time..."

She was very familiar with the details of history, and Li Yin listened intently, nodding and taking notes from time to time.

Yin Ye then said, "Unfortunately, I'm most familiar with the history of the Three Kingdoms and Wei-Jin periods. If you were to write a military novel about the Three Kingdoms period, I could give you a history lesson from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the Yongjia Rebellion..."

Yin Yu gave a wry smile: "Believe it or not, back then, when I was reviewing whether Liu Shan's surrender was reasonable, we debated and reviewed it for five hours with a map of Sichuan in hand..."

Yinye hurriedly said, "This is something we need to discuss first..."

His voice suddenly stopped!

An indescribable burning sensation emanating from his chest suddenly gripped Yin Ye's heart, instantly turning his face pale and causing him to catch his breath.

"Brother?" Yin Yu was the first to notice his unusual behavior.

Li Yin also raised his head, and then his pupils suddenly contracted.

On the pristine white wall behind Yinye, without warning, lines of scarlet writing slowly emerged as if they were alive!
The color was a jarring red, exuding a nauseating, bloody stench.

The words written in blood were clearly displayed before the three of them:

“2009年6月23日，下午17:00前，抵达K市南郊都穆镇垃圾焚烧厂。参与该厂垃圾焚烧处理工作，至次日凌晨5:00。”

This is the Hell Apartment! The blood-written instructions must be followed without question! Otherwise, their shadows will manipulate their bodies... leading to suicide!

Soon everyone gathered on the first floor of the apartment building. The building manager, Xia Yuan, counted the people; including Yin Ye himself, there were exactly ten. This included Odagiri Sachiko, Tang Lanxuan, and Su Lang, known as "the pervert," among others…

(End of this chapter)