Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

A strong smell of old paper and dust wafted over.

The archive room was dimly lit, and rows of tall filing cabinets stretched like silent giants to the horizon.

The compass needle shone even brighter, pointing deeper into the archives.

Lin Yu stepped inside.

The moment he stepped into the archives, the door behind him slammed shut with a loud bang.

At the same time, the lights in the archives room flickered on one after another, illuminating the interior in a stark white light.

In the center of the archives, a man in an old-fashioned uniform, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and with his hair neatly combed, stood quietly behind a desk.

Its body shape was very strange, with extremely uneven shoulders, making it look very odd. At this moment, it was holding a quill pen that was constantly writing something automatically, and it looked up at Lin Yu.

Its face has no eyes, only two constantly rotating, vortex-like black holes.

Its aura is also quite formidable; it's a platinum-level monster.

The administrator put down his quill and locked his pupil-less "eyes" onto Lin Yu. A cold, emotionless voice rang directly in Lin Yu's mind:

"Unauthorized access detected... identified as 'temporary visitor'... Behavior determination: Damage to public property..."

"In accordance with Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Provisional Regulations on Building Management...it shall be...removed!"

The moment the cold voice echoed in his mind, the administrator's figure blurred and appeared in front of Lin Yu in the next instant, so fast that only a blur remained.

Its white-gloved hand, with its fingers spread wide and twisted black energy swirling around its fingertips, pierced straight into Lin Yu's heart.

"So fast!"

Lin Yu's expression changed, and his Mangekyou Sharingan spun wildly, capturing the other person's movements.

He pushed off with his feet, his figure retreating rapidly, while the [Heavenly Cloak] unfurled in front of him without wind.

when!

The administrator's hand pierced the Hun Tian Cloak, producing a metallic clang.

At that moment, Lin Yu's pupils suddenly dilated, and the kaleidoscope patterns in his eyes seemed to be spinning.

On the other side, the administrator felt a terrifying suction force appear beside him. When he turned his head, he found a black sphere with a diameter of several tens of centimeters next to him, spinning like a vortex.

The terrifying suction force pulled the administrator directly into the air, rapidly approaching the black sphere.

The Great Sun Ring (大日孁) is a Mangekyou Sharingan technique from Sarada Uchiha. Its effect is to control gravity through floating black spheres (black hole vortexes), freely choose the target of the effect, interfere with natural objects, and absorb physical ninjutsu. Once the target is attracted by the vortex, it will be unable to move or even be directly crushed to pieces by gravity.

Of course, this ability also has drawbacks. If this eye technique is used on a living being, the caster will also be subject to the same gravity as the target. In addition, the consumption of this eye technique is also quite large.

The first drawback can be solved by manipulating multiple black spheres to balance its own gravity.

However, excessive consumption would be troublesome. Although Lin Yu has high mental attributes and a lot of mana, he still has too many mana-consuming abilities, so he cannot squander this eye technique at will.

Swish!

However, the administrator was clearly not so easy to deal with. Just as it was about to touch the black ball, its body suddenly disappeared.

Lin Yu scoffed, quickly canceled the black sphere, and simultaneously activated Divine Might Illusion.

The administrator appeared behind it in that instant, thrusting out his hand.

But Lin Yu had already become ethereal, so its attack naturally missed.

"Hey!"

In the air, Jin Ling, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately took action, swooping down from the sky with a terrifying storm aura around her, and attacking the administrator.

The administrator remained calm, and with a flick of his quill pen, a twisted black shield appeared, blocking the golden feather's dive.

This guy is pretty strong, much stronger than a regular platinum player.

On the other side, after dodging the attack, Lin Yu pondered, but instead of retreating, he advanced.

Taking advantage of Jin Ling drawing attention, he quickly moved sideways to create distance, simultaneously deactivating his ethereal form. He raised his left hand, [Azure Rose], and since the distance was close enough, he didn't need to aim. He fired three shots at the administrator's swirling eyes.

boom! boom! boom!

The demon bullets whistled out, not aimed directly at the eyes, but rather formed a triangular pattern to block the space in the head where the target could dodge.

At the same time, he clenched his right fist, and the Samadhi True Fire within his body was once again drawn out but not released. His fist was covered with an invisible layer of high temperature, and he punched the administrator's wrist.

The administrator slightly shifted his body, avoiding the direct impact of the bullet.

Its palm, however, neither dodged nor evaded, and collided fiercely with Lin Yu's fist, which was enveloped in Samadhi True Fire.

laugh--! ! !

This time the noise was much louder than when the door lock melted.

The moment the black energy on the administrator's palm came into contact with the Samadhi Fire, it quickly melted and evaporated, emitting a sizzling sound.

Its seemingly solid hand edges also began to become blurred and distorted.

"Well……!"

For the first time, the administrator emitted a mental fluctuation resembling pain. It abruptly withdrew its palm, revealing that a small section of the front of its palm had disappeared. There was no blood at the break point, only black mist that kept wriggling, trying to repair itself but being hindered by the remaining fire energy.

It really works.

Although the Samadhi Fire cannot completely destroy it, it can significantly slow down its regeneration rate.

Lin Yu pressed his advantage relentlessly, his footwork shifting rapidly as he moved closer like a ghost.

Amaterasu! Kagutsuchi!

Lin Yu's Sharingan locked onto the administrator's core—a faint, pulsating dark rune on its chest, the place where its energy was most concentrated from the perspective of his Sharingan.

Black flames appeared out of thin air, transforming into three spears that pierced the administrator's chest.

At the same time, the Demon-Slaying Sword was drawn.

The sword hummed, emanating a righteous and awe-inspiring aura.

"cut!"

Lin Yu gave a low shout, and his sword flashed like a bolt of lightning, piercing straight at the dark rune.

The administrator, scorched by the black flames, let out a sharp mental shriek, and suddenly raised the quill pen in its other hand, scribbling rapidly in the air.

As it moved, twisted characters made of dark energy appeared out of thin air, wrapping around Lin Yu's Demon-Slaying Sword like chains.

The words it wrote carried a powerful binding force, causing the sword light of the Demon-Slaying Sword to pause, as if it had sunk into a quagmire, greatly reducing its speed.

"Word ability? Word magic?" Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat; this monster was quite interesting.

With a thought, his inner power surged, no longer holding back, guiding the Samadhi True Fire and lightning, the two forces spreading upwards along the blade of the Demon-Slaying Sword.

boom!

Transparent flames and raging lightning instantly enveloped the sword. The dark characters that had been coiling around it touched the flames and lightning, and like burning paper, they quickly charred, shattered, and dissipated!

The Demon-Slaying Sword continued its momentum, carrying blazing flames, and precisely pierced the administrator's chest.

"Hiss—!!!"

The administrator let out an unprecedentedly shrill scream, his entire body twisting and swelling violently, like a punctured balloon.

Dense dark energy burst forth from the broken parts of the rune, its form becoming unstable, sometimes taking shape and sometimes dissipating.

But it still hasn't "died".

The surrounding filing cabinets began to shake violently, and countless papers flew up and down without any wind, like a swarm of white bats rushing towards Lin Yu.

The entire archive room was distorted, and the lights were flashing wildly and unpredictably.

Lin Yu took a deep breath and pushed the Samadhi True Fire to its current controllable limit!

"burn!"

He gripped the sword hilt tightly, and flames surged from the blade into the administrator's body.

The administrator's grotesque body convulsed and shrank violently amidst the raging flames and lightning, and finally exploded in a wave of resentment and venom, turning into black ash that scattered across the sky.

However, these black ash particles did not immediately begin to condense and regenerate like the previous monsters.

They drifted in the air, as if they had lost the pull of their core. Although they did not completely disappear, they did not re-form in a few seconds like the two monsters before them.

Lin Yu could sense that this time, its resurrection speed had been greatly slowed down, perhaps taking tens of minutes or even longer.

Without taking a break, he immediately looked at the sensory compass in his hand.

The pointer was trembling violently, pointing to the place where the administrator had disappeared.

There, a fragment emitting a faint purplish-black light and constantly twisting and changing was quietly suspended.

【Fragments of a Lost Nightmare】(1/3)

Category: Quest Items

Description: Fragments containing the power of the Nightmare Mansion's rules, extremely unstable.

"It's still a bit difficult after all."

Lin Yu quickly collected the fragments and muttered a complaint: "An enemy of this level, with its immortality, is really difficult for ordinary players to deal with."

Lin Yu didn't linger and immediately turned and left through the door of the archives room.

Outside the corridor, the lights seemed to be dimmed considerably due to the temporary "outage" of the archives administrator, and the pervasive mental pollution seemed to have lessened slightly.

He left the room to continue searching for the remaining two pieces.

……

Ten minutes later, in a room that resembled a restaurant.

"Golden Feather".

Golden Feather was nimbly maneuvering in the air inside the cafeteria, while below, a pig-headed, human-bodied "chef" dressed in a chef's uniform and wielding a butcher's knife was frantically swinging the blade in his hand, trying to attack Golden Feather.

Unfortunately, it was too weak in both speed and attack range, and couldn't hit Jinling at all.

On the other side, Lin Yu was watching the show with his arms crossed.

It wasn't that he was being lazy; it was mainly because Jinling was young and had no parents to teach her, so she lacked practical experience. That's why Lin Yu arranged this opponent for her so that she could hone her skills.

As it turned out, it did not disappoint Lin Yu.

Jin Ling's battle was easy, even though the enemy was also a Platinum-level opponent.

"It seems that not all the monsters in this building are very strong."

Watching Jin Ling toy with the enemy, Lin Yu stroked his chin and thought to himself.

"You've practiced enough, let's not waste any more time."

Lin Yu then looked at the bracelet on his wrist, which showed that there were still two hours and a few minutes left.

Time was precious, so Lin Yu stepped forward without waiting any longer.

His figure shot out like an arrow released from a bow.

He didn't use his pupil technique or Samadhi Fire; there was no need to waste too much mana on such a weak enemy.

"Hey!"

On the other side, seeing Lin Yu make his move, Jin Ling let out a clear whistle, her wings flapped suddenly, and several condensed wind blades slashed towards the chef's face like crescent moons.

The pig-headed chef roared, wielding his butcher knife with incredible speed and deflection of the wind blades, his attention completely drawn to the golden feather.

Lin Yu did not miss the opportunity created by Jin Ling. He exerted force with his feet, and his speed suddenly increased again, getting close to the chef like a ghost.

The Demon-Slaying Sword was drawn, and a single thrust was made.

scoff!

With a piercing thunderous sound, the Demon-Slaying Sword pierced precisely into the gap between the pig-headed chef's right knee joints.

A surge of violent lightning energy poured in instantly!

"Awooo—!!!"

The pig-headed chef let out a piercing scream as his massive body instantly lost its balance, and a clear cracking sound and a burnt smell came from his right knee.

Its heavy body crashed to the ground, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

Before it could struggle to its feet, Lin Yu had already circled behind it, raised the Azure Rose in his left hand, and pressed the muzzle of the gun almost against its fat back of the head.

Charged Shot 1

"Bang!"

The demon bullet struck at close range, producing no spectacular explosion, only a dull thud.

The pig-headed chef's head exploded like a watermelon, splattering red and white matter everywhere. His headless body twitched a few times and then stopped moving.

Its body turned into black ash and dissipated, then it began to revive rapidly, much faster than the previous administrator, probably because it wasn't killed by the Samadhi True Fire.

A fragment of a nightmare emerges from its dissipating body.

Lin Yu quickly collected the fragments (2/3).

"Just one more piece is needed."

Lin Yu left the cafeteria before the chef was resurrected.

Just as he was about to follow the compass to the next room, a fierce fighting sound and energy fluctuations came from the other end.

Interspersed among them were players' angry shouts and a monster's roar that sounded like metal scraping against metal.

Lin Yu's heart stirred, and he concealed his aura, approaching silently.

At the intersection of the corridor, three players were battling a massive robot that looked like it was made up of countless discarded computer mainframes and cables.

The robot was quite powerful, reaching the platinum level. Its body flickered with unstable electric light, and its two arms were a huge rotating cutting saw and an energy emitter, respectively.

The three players, two men and one woman, weren't particularly strong. One was a Platinum-level player, and the other two were Gold-level players. They worked well together and were able to barely suppress the robot.

But it's only a suppression. The robot's defense is extremely strong, and any damaged parts will be quickly covered and repaired by new cables and parts. Therefore, Lin Yu estimates that they will have to run away soon, otherwise they will definitely be dragged down.

"Captain! Its weakness should be that glowing reactor in its chest!" the female mage shouted urgently as she raised a shield to block the energy blasts.

"Got it! I'll hold its left arm! Knife, find a chance to flank it from behind!" The leading warrior captain roared, wielding a flaming greatsword and clashing head-on with the robot's cutting saw, sparks flying everywhere.

If the player's name is Knife, they will act immediately, weaving through the gaps in the robot's attacks, with the dagger constantly trying to stab at the wires and energy channels inside its joints.

The battle was extremely fierce, and the corridor walls were covered with cut marks and charred remains.

Lin Yu observed from the shadows.

He noticed that the protective bracelets on the wrists of these three players had become quite dim, especially those of the female mage and the assassin, which were almost gone.

Clearly, their time is running out.

"No! Captain! My bracelet can't hold on much longer!" the female mage cried out anxiously, her face pale.

"Mine too!" the assassin's voice was filled with anxiety.

The captain gritted his teeth: "Find a way to drive it back, and we'll take the opportunity to escape."

Just then, a blinding red light suddenly shone from the core of the robot's chest, and a dangerous energy began to gather at the muzzle of its right-hand energy cannon!

"Oh no! It's about to unleash a powerful attack!" The female mage's expression changed drastically.

"We can't dodge it! The area is too big!" the captain said in despair, looking at the huge laser beam.

At this critical moment—

call out!

A demonic bullet wreathed in hellfire whistled in from the side like a precise scalpel, aiming at the joint of its raised arm, ready to fire its energy cannon.

boom!

The bullet exploded, and the demonic fire and explosive force instantly disrupted the stability of the joints, interrupting the robot's poised shot. Energy erupted erratically within its arm, triggering a violent explosion.

Boom!

The robot's left arm was blown off, and its massive body staggered.

All three players were stunned and looked in the direction from which the bullets had come.

Lin Yu emerged from the shadows, the muzzle of his azure rose gun still emitting wisps of smoke.

"Let's finish this quickly, you don't have much time left," he said calmly, while his Sharingan locked onto the core of the robot's chest.

The soldier captain reacted instantly, shouting, "Thanks, brother! Let's go!"

He swung his greatsword again and charged at the robot.

Lin Yu didn't say much. He moved swiftly, arriving first despite being behind, and the Samadhi True Fire rekindled on the Demon-Slaying Sword.

laugh!

As the sword flashed, the robot's thick chest armor was sliced ​​open like butter in the face of the real fire, revealing its fiercely shimmering core.

"Die!" The warrior captain seized the opportunity, his greatsword brimming with fighting spirit as he slashed down fiercely!

The assassin's dagger, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, thrusts straight into the core crevice!

The female mage gathered her last bit of magic power, and a blazing white arcane shock followed immediately!

boom--!!!

With the combined attack of the three players and Lin Yu, the robot's core finally succumbed to the pressure and exploded!

The massive mechanical body stiffened for a moment, then crumbled into a pile of smoldering scrap metal emitting black smoke.

However, its core still did not go out and was still faintly flashing red light.

"Can robots come back to life?"

Looking at the pile of "scrap metal" in front of him, Lin Yu stroked his chin.

He could feel the robot's core energy rapidly recovering and constantly feeding back into its body and limbs, and its body, which had been reduced to scrap metal, was also rapidly repairing itself.

"It's solved!" The captain breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.

The assassin and the female mage were also exhausted and looked at Lin Yu with gratitude.

"Thank you for your help, brother! If it weren't for you, we would probably be in grave danger this time." The warrior captain clasped his hands in thanks. "My name is 'Iron Heart,' and these are my teammates 'Shadow Knife' and 'Arcane Light.'"

"The Witcher," Lin Yu announced his name.

There wasn't really any particular reason why he stepped in to save the person; he was just in a good mood.

"I won't thank you enough, brother. We're short on time, so we won't chat with you any longer. Let's add each other as friends, and we can talk anytime if you need anything."

Iron Will glanced at his bracelet and quickly spoke up.

Lin Yu waved casually. He wasn't particularly interested in making friends in this game, since no one knew if the name on the game's friend list would turn black next time.

After waving, Lin Yu left.

Seeing Lin Yu's actions, the three of them were completely dumbfounded, not understanding his meaning or thoughts at all.

They rescued someone without asking for anything in return, and didn't even add them as a friend. Could it be that they've encountered one of the extremely rare "Great Sages" in the legendary apartment game?

However, they didn't pay much attention to it, since they were running out of time and had to get back as soon as possible, or they would be in trouble.

Lin Yu left with Jin Ling. According to the guidance of the sensing compass, the last fragment seemed to be in... the upper level?

He came to the end of the corridor and found an old elevator with faded buttons.

The compass needle is pointing directly at the elevator.

"An elevator? Taking an elevator in a place like this is not a wise choice."

Lin Yu frowned. In many horror movies, elevators often malfunction.

However, he had no other choice at the moment. The compass did not give him any other directional guidance, not even a stairwell, so he could only try pressing the elevator button.

Ding dong.

Unexpectedly, the elevator doors opened smoothly. The elevator was empty, dimly lit, and the interior walls were covered with scratches and unidentified stains.

After entering the elevator, the pointer of the sensor compass pointed to the button for the next floor.

"The fifth floor?"

Lin Yu glanced at the area below the button, where a small picture was pasted with the words "Jin Hui Foot Bath" written on it.

Foot massage parlor?

That's a bit outrageous.

Lin Yu pondered for a moment, then pressed the button.

The elevator doors slowly closed, followed by a slight feeling of weightlessness as it began to ascend.

The lights inside the elevator flickered, and the mental pollution in the cramped space seemed even stronger. Even with the bracelet for protection, it still felt somewhat oppressive.

Jinling flapped its wings uneasily, warily scanning its surroundings.

The elevator ran for about a minute before finally stopping with a "ding".

The door opened.

A strong, nauseating stench, a mixture of cheap fragrances, medicinal oils, and some indescribable, rotten, sweet smell, hit him, almost solidifying, causing Lin Yu to frown.

The scene outside the door was even more bizarre.

It was no longer the kind of office area or functional decoration found on the lower floors, but a corridor decorated in an... extremely gaudy way.

The walls were covered with dark red wallpaper with intricate gold patterns, much of which had peeled off and turned black.

The floor was covered with a thick, dark red carpet that felt wet and sticky underfoot, as if it had just been soaked in some unknown liquid.

On both sides of the corridor are small cubicles with beaded curtains or heavy cloth curtains hanging from them, and pink, ambiguous lights are lit at the door of each cubicle.

A faint, off-key piece of light music echoed in the air, interspersed with suppressed groans, sobs, and low, ambiguous laughs.

The lights here are dim and hazy, and the pinkish glow gives everything an unreal quality.

The mental pollution has become stronger, but it seems to have become more insidious. It is no longer a direct impact from below, but rather like a frog being slowly boiled in water, silently eroding people's rationality and taking advantage of the special nature of this place to induce desires deep within people's hearts.

The compass needle pointed deep into the corridor.