Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 635 Apartment Building

Zhou You was perfectly aware of what those guys were thinking.

But.

He's neither their friend nor their father, so why should he care about them?

They're just a bunch of robbers; they can fend for themselves.

After pulling Wang Xiaoer out of the shadows, Zhou You also fell into deep thought.

The apartment building wasn't big, but getting in was still quite troublesome—unlike a shopping mall, where entering through the main entrance would make you a sitting duck. As for the sewers, unless that tall, thin figure was a complete idiot, after he had run away, and given how crucial that place was, they must have been blocked or set up with traps long ago.

So, which way should we go in now?

Seemingly noticing his hesitation, Wang Xiaoer promptly handed him a roll of paper.

Zhou You glanced at him, then opened the app—and his eyebrows instantly shot up.

That was a floor plan.

Although it's only one floor plan, it's clearly a floor plan of this apartment building.

Why does this kid need to collect so much information?

Seeing Zhou You's gaze, Wang Xiaoer knew he had to offer an explanation, so he sighed.

"Brother Zhou, my dad used to be a scavenger."

"Most parents of orphans like you are scavengers. What's wrong with that?"

He said with a bitter expression.

“My dad used to be with an investigation team. Then one day, they suddenly said he was dead—which is common among scavengers. I was sad, but I eventually accepted it. But an uncle I knew told me that my dad wasn't dead, but had mysteriously disappeared. At the time, they didn't have the ability to rescue him, so I…”

"So you collect information from various regions, hoping to find your father one day."

To everyone's surprise, Wang Xiaoer simply sighed.

"To be honest, after all these years, I've long forgotten what he looks like. Besides, he's been missing for so long. Even if he's not dead, he's probably become a monster's plaything. I'm just collecting these things out of habit, and also thinking about whether I should give him a release if I ever really meet him."

Zhou You was speechless.

Looking at that calm face devoid of any sadness, he said nothing more, but instead began to examine the floor plan.

This thing is hand-drawn, and it looks like a topographical map made by the people who broke into the apartment building earlier—but it also says that the place isn't very valuable, and this thing would be hard to sell, which is why Wang Xiaoer got a bargain.

However, it really came in handy at this time.

After sketching on the crumpled paper for a long time, Zhou You finally marked a spot, then called out to Wang Xiaoer and walked over there in the shadows.

The apartment building remained silent; despite the commotion earlier, no one inside came out to check—compared to other places, this area was indeed a good sanctuary.

The premise is: don't go in.

A few minutes later, Zhou You found the place.

It was a corner that looked like a dog hole, but it didn't look man-made; rather, it was formed by years of neglect and wind erosion. Zhou You didn't hesitate and crouched down, crawling inside first.

Logically speaking, given the thickness of the wall, the dog hole should be easily visible from end to end. However, after climbing for four or five minutes, the two were still faced with crumbling clods of earth.

Wang Xiaoer asked somewhat uneasily.

"Brother Zhou, when will we finally see the end of this?"

But Zhou You didn't answer; instead, he suddenly looked up.

—A faint, piercing scream rang in my ears.

But it was so slight that if you weren't careful, you might mistake it for an illusion.

"Did those bandits make contact with the slender figure? They were even able to call out. Well, that thing is quite imposing, but it moves extremely slowly. They should be able to buy me some time."

"Zhou, Brother Zhou, what did you say?"

Zhou You shook his head and replied.

"It's nothing, let's hurry up."

Before long, the two finally climbed out.

What he saw was similar to what Zhou You remembered and what the leader had described: a scene of garbage everywhere and sewage flowing freely—the accelerated distortion had not affected this place yet. But just then, a voice suddenly reached Zhou You's ears.

—It was that long-unheard male voice from the system.

"Dear player, you have entered the initial area, the occupied apartment building."

"The bodies you have collected have resonated with you, and these things will begin to merge with you, and you will gradually regain some of the power you lost."

"But please note that as the fusion deepens, the Blood Moon's gaze upon you will intensify, and this area will gradually begin to undergo mutations. Please complete the fusion before these mutations occur."

"Some side quests can increase a player's integration level, but they can also cause changes in difficulty, so please proceed with caution."

Side Mission 1: Destroy the power distribution room.

"The entire apartment building operates entirely through the power distribution room. If the apartment building is the body, then the power distribution room is undoubtedly its heart. You need to cut off the power to the power distribution room, and then the apartment building will enter a power outage state. Some facilities that are beneficial to you will not be able to operate. At the same time, the 'Slender Man' at the core of this place will enter an enraged state and begin to hunt you down relentlessly."

Side Quest 2: Steal the Treasure.

"There are several special items stored in the apartment building, which are very likely related to the next dry tide—but because of their value, these items are all locked in a safe in the top-floor manager's office, which is extremely difficult to find—and most importantly, as long as you break in, no matter where you are, 'Slender Man' will slowly sense you, and when he actually discovers your intrusion, he will rush towards you without hesitation."

"."

Honestly, I don't know if it's because we've entered the modern era, but the system notifications have become much more active. Compared to the ancient scripts, which were basically invisible except for the beginning and end, this thing has actually started issuing side quests.

But how should I put it...
Compared to the familiar female voice, for some reason, Zhou You always felt that there was a hidden malice in this male voice.

I hope it's an illusion.

Seeing Zhou You suddenly stand there motionless, Wang Xiaoer carefully nudged his waist.

"Brother Zhou, Brother Zhou? What's wrong?" Zhou You shook his head, clearing his mind of the slight unease, and then asked Wang Xiaoer.

"No, it's nothing. By the way, that thing you bought..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly saw an incredibly incredible sight—

Wang Xiaoer's body was torn apart like cloth, turning into a broad plane. His small face still had a puzzled look in his eyes, but his features were becoming more and more dispersed, eventually turning into an extremely strange shape.
—What the heck!

Zhou You took a deep breath and looked in that direction again.

The person was still the same person, and even more inexplicable because of his actions, as if he had just blinked.

But Zhou You would never consider it a slip of the eye.

Based on his previous experiences and Black Book's consistent behavior, there is only one conclusion he can draw now.

—The mutation has begun!

"--Damn it, the mission was just issued! In a normal game, you should at least give us a buffer period. What kind of nonsense is it to just suddenly rush in like that!"

Suppressing the urge to unleash a torrent of curses, Zhou You grabbed Wang Xiaoer.

"Brother Zhou, what's going on?"

Zhou You tucked the small body under his arm, then jogged forward while speaking crisply and clearly.

"Kid, time's a bit tight right now, I'm afraid I won't have time to look after you anymore, so this is the only way I can do it—by the way, do you know how to get upstairs in this apartment building?"

Wang Xiaoer's body was a little stiff, but he still spoke quickly.

"No scavengers have ever come here. Only the city government has investigated three times—except for the third time when they were all wiped out, the others only managed to reach the third floor at most, and even then, they couldn't find the way at all on the second floor."

"What do you mean?"

"It means they never even went to the second floor. They went up from the first floor and were on the third floor in the blink of an eye."

"I remember there was an elevator here."

"—That elevator doesn't work at all."

"Climb up the elevator shaft?"

"None of those who had this idea and acted on it came back."

No wonder.

Since it's been said that the electrical distribution room is the core of the entire apartment building, it certainly can't be entered in the usual way, unless, like when I escaped, I managed to get the answer out of the fat man.
Wait, Fatty?
Zhou You seemed to have thought of something, but without stopping, he continued to ask.

When the investigation team reached the third floor, did they find any residents living there?

"We did discover them; the residents are even communicable, but they're very uncooperative. If you try to open the door, they immediately cry for help, and then the building manager comes over."

"That's enough. Which way should we go to get to the third floor?"

Wang Xiaoer pointed in a direction, and Zhou You rushed straight in that direction without any hesitation.

Within a few minutes, several more screams rang out.

The apartment building is a self-contained space, and the slender figure is a relentless killer. Once it sets its sights on you, unless you can escape this area, you're doomed.

Wang Xiaoer felt uneasy—he knew, of course, that those people were cannon fodder, but he didn't feel any pity for them.

Anyway, that's the rule in the wasteland: it's either you eat me or I eat you. Those people were blinded by lard, they deserved to die.

He was just worried that Zhou You, who had always been so steady and composed, must have suddenly become so agitated, which meant that something must have happened.

Moreover, it was an extremely bad turn of events.

It must be said that the child was indeed quite clever, and he figured out what had happened from a few subtle details. He didn't waste any more words and kept changing his route, while trying to curl up as much as possible so that Zhou You would have to use less effort.

Soon, the two stepped behind a red brick wall.

"Based on the handwriting, there should be marks left by the investigation team on the wall. That's right, this is it. We just need to turn right a few times, and then..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou You suddenly covered his mouth.

Wang Xiaoer followed the person's cold gaze, and then his eyes widened instantly—

Amidst the ruins, a figure was staggering along.

He appeared to be part of a bandit gang; Wang Xiaoer had glimpsed him from afar and vaguely remembered him. There were no enemies or companions around; he was limping forward, seemingly trying to escape something—

Looks normal.

What's abnormal is his body.

This person was severely injured; a gaping, bloody gash stretched across their abdomen, starting from the middle, with their intestines spilling out—a truly horrifying sight.

But Wang Xiaoer had come all from the slums and had seen all kinds of corpses. He had seen countless rotting, bloated giants, so this bloody scene was far from enough to frighten him.

To his horror, the man's body was alive.

Or rather, living separately.

The protruding intestines seemed to possess a life of their own, flailing wildly in mid-air, occasionally attempting to wrap around their owner's neck and strangle them to death—while two extra eyes and a mouth sprouted from their palms, fiercely battling the intestines.
Two buds sprouted from its eyes, covered with countless incredibly sharp teeth. Its mouth was wide open, and its tongue, resembling a worm, kept reaching out, trying to bite the plant on its eyes. Its two legs, still wearing trousers, showed no visible change, but they were running in opposite directions, occasionally kicking each other, seemingly vying for direction.
Only in those intermittent groans could one tell that this guy still retained his own thoughts.

Although in this situation, having something is worse than having nothing.

Wang Xiaoer was afraid, while Zhou You frowned.

When he fled, the imposing presence of that lanky figure was indeed unmatched, but its special abilities seemed limited to short-distance teleportation and immobilization. However, judging from this person...
Did that guy hold back back then, or did he evolve again?

Unfortunately, there's no time to think about it now.

In those few short minutes, the poor creature's body finally disintegrated completely—its intestines, along with its stomach and a string of internal organs, slithered like a snake into the overflowing sewer. It hopped and skipped into another room, its mouth and tongue using the flesh on its cheeks as wings, wobbling as it flew towards the sky above the blood moon. Its eyeballs, which had been transformed into spores, blossomed into two small flowers, swaying back and forth in the air, recklessly scattering dark green spores.
These things actually have nothing to do with traveling, but the problem is...
Unfortunately, those two hands and arms walked right towards where he was hiding.

(End of this chapter)