Chapter 13: The Supernatural Artifact Mask, Completing Patricide

Chapter 13: The Supernatural Artifact Mask, Completing Patricide

Boom!

A door was violently smashed open, the handle shattered, and its parts scattered across the floor.

The Nightmare Devourer Supernatural Entity, wreathed in towering fury, had grown unnaturally large, its grotesque muscles writhing and swelling.

"Tell me, where is my wine?"

Its crimson gaze swept across the room before locking onto the wooden bed.

But when the blanket was flung aside, the bed was empty.

The Nightmare Devourer's lips twisted into a sinister sneer. "Think you can run?"

In truth, Ji Yan's actions played right into its hands. From the very beginning, it had never intended to let him complete the mission smoothly.

Though it could occasionally obtain Blood Pipa from the Charming Specter in Room 101 through Ji Yan to satisfy its addiction, it still couldn’t indulge freely every day. However, if it could seize Ji Yan for failing the mission and keep him firmly under control, it could negotiate with the Charming Specter in Room 101. Over time, it might even secure an endless supply of Blood Pipa through exploitation…

This plan wasn’t foolproof.

Even the Nightmare Devourer feared the Charming Specter when she lost her temper.

But the Nightmare Devourer, now utterly obsessed with Blood Pipa and devoid of resistance, couldn’t be bothered to overthink it.

Forcing Ji Yan to fail wasn’t easy, either.

So, it struck a deal with Dong Chu.

Players could interfere with missions, but only through Dong Chu setting traps for Ji Yan.

What Dong Chu wanted was simple:

Food, and all of Ji Yan’s equipment.

Blinded in one eye and starving, he had to find his own way to survive.

Dong Chu’s Talent Trait, Survival in Desperation, only activated when his favorability hit rock bottom and his living conditions became dire.

The trait granted him certain privileges to seize survival on his own.

The triggered privilege was the ability to leave his room at night, immune to supernatural harassment—but only once. This allowed Dong Chu to enter the Nightmare Devourer’s room and secretly finalize their deal.

The trait was practically useless.

It merely offered a sliver of hope when death was near, leaving it up to the user to grasp it.

So Dong Chu had never relied on it or even revealed its existence.

"Even with such a trash-tier trait, I’ve maximized its benefits. I’m a genius!"

With his hands behind his head, Dong Chu anticipated a peaceful night’s sleep.

All he had to do was wake up the next morning and reap his rewards.

Inside Room 404, the Nightmare Devourer couldn’t catch even a whiff of Ji Yan’s scent.

Frowning, it turned toward the doorway. "Did he hide in that woman’s room?"

Its first thought was the Charming Specter in Room 101. After all, that woman always opposed it—it wasn’t impossible she’d poached Ji Yan.

The apartment at night spawned many extremely vicious supernatural entities. These weren’t current residents but former ones who had been driven out.

These entities were riddled with danger zones and prone to corruption.

If Ji Yan got wiped out by another supernatural entity, all the Nightmare Devourer’s efforts would be for nothing.

In the living room, shadowy figures lurked.

They were Room 404’s original occupants, later conquered by players and repurposed as night-mode NPCs.

Though no longer the room’s masters, they made themselves at home—watching TV, sipping tea, or sneaking food in the kitchen.

"A bunch of worthless rejects, still treating this place like their own home!"

The Nightmare Devourer wanted to go out and catch Ji Yan, but suddenly remembered its deadly rival on the 7th floor. If that thing caught its scent, it would surely go berserk and chase it down...

Its eyes darkened with malice.

The alcohol craving hit hard, making its body feel like it was being gnawed by ten thousand ants. It twitched in discomfort.

It turned to head back inside, intending to take a few swigs to calm down.

But as it turned, it saw a disheveled-looking supernatural entity sitting in the hallway, clutching a bottle of deep red liquor, utterly wasted.

The moment the cork was twisted open, the Nightmare Devourer already knew what kind of liquor it was.

Blood Pipa!

"Where did you get that?" the Nightmare Devourer demanded. It recognized the bottle—it was the same Supernatural Artifact that Dong Chu had.

"Got it off a little rat," the Drunken Supernatural Entity slurred.

"And where's that little rat now?"

"Ran off the moment I snatched the bottle," the Drunken Supernatural Entity replied, swaying as it held up the half-empty bottle of Blood Pipa.

"Hey, what do you think this stuff’s brewed from? Hits like a damn hammer, heh heh..."

"..."

The Nightmare Devourer’s face twisted into a snarl as it glared at the Drunken Supernatural Entity. "You didn’t know that was my prey?"

The Drunken Supernatural Entity didn’t respond, just mumbled incoherently in its drunken stupor.

The Nightmare Devourer snatched the bottle and gulped down the liquor in huge swigs. Its addiction was too overwhelming to care about anything else...

It drained the bottle completely, letting out a satisfied howl of delight.

But its head also grew heavy from the numbing effects, dizziness crashing over it.

Tossing the empty bottle aside, the Drunken Supernatural Entity picked it up and shook it twice, resentment boiling. "Damn you! You drank it all! You owe me!"

"You scared off my prey, and I haven’t even settled that with you yet!"

The Nightmare Devourer snorted coldly, its mood foul, stumbling back toward its room.

But after just two steps, its dizziness worsened.

Its room blurred into multiple overlapping images.

Lowering its head, in a daze, it saw a rusted, mottled blade protruding from its chest...

Why did that blade look so familiar?

The next second, its pupils shrank, veins bulging in fury.

The haze of drunkenness and numbness vanished in an instant!

It whipped its head around, locking onto the Drunken Supernatural Entity behind it, its voice a distorted snarl through broken teeth: "Where... did you get this blade?!"

The Drunken Supernatural Entity’s horrifying face no longer held any trace of drunkenness, only a mocking smirk. "An old friend of yours gave it to me."

"He told me to pass on a message."

"His wife misses you dearly!"

As the Rusted Hatchet drove deeper, blood gushed from the grotesque tumor-like flesh, cracks spreading outward.

At those words, the Nightmare Devourer’s brutish face trembled violently, fear flooding its expression.

It clawed at the hatchet embedded in its chest.

But the blade seemed welded in place, sinking deeper into its flesh!

"No... no! I worked so hard to become a resident of Room 404... I don’t want to be erased! I still have so much fine liquor hidden away..."

"You! Who the hell are you?! Why are you helping that bastard from Room 702?!"

The Drunken Supernatural Entity didn’t dare relax for even a second, pushing the blade in until it was fully buried in the Nightmare Devourer’s body—confirming its heart had been pierced!

He raised his head, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips under the Nightmare Devourer's gaze. "Fatherly kindness and filial piety—guess who I am?"

As the words fell, the Rusted Hatchet was yanked out violently.

The Nightmare Devourer staggered in the hallway, the gash in its chest widening relentlessly.

From the living room and kitchen, the Supernatural Entities that spawned at midnight all gathered, crowding the hallway entrance, watching the scene unfold with a clamorous excitement.

Finally, the Nightmare Devourer collapsed to the ground, its bloated flesh visibly withering and drying up. Its bulging eyes stared fixedly at Ji Yan.

The Drunken Supernatural Entity stood expressionless, gripping the Rusted Hatchet tightly, though its hand trembled slightly.

Only when the corpse on the ground had completely turned into a pile of desiccated flesh and blood did it react.

"You killed him… hehe… killed him…"

"You… why do you smell so delicious?"

The other Supernatural Entities gradually closed in, surrounding the corpse on the ground. But a few of them seemed to catch a whiff of something, their noses twitching as they sniffed around the Drunken Supernatural Entity.

A sharp pain lanced through its cheek.

Touching its face, the Drunken Supernatural Entity realized its entire skin was slowly splitting apart!

Ji Yan cursed inwardly.

"The Murderous Mask’s effect is about to wear off!"

He weaved through the throng of Supernatural Entities, hastily retreating to his room.

Slamming the door shut, he locked it securely.

Outside, the sounds of tearing and chewing filled the air—the midnight Supernatural Entities were feasting on the Nightmare Devourer.

"With this, even a dungeon boss would be doomed, right?"

Muttering to himself, Ji Yan sat before the mirror.

As the Supernatural Artifact’s effect neared its end, his entire face now looked horrifying.

His features were splitting apart, exposing the pale bones beneath. At a glance, it seemed as though his skull was about to shatter into pieces!

The excruciating pain in his cheeks came from the bone spikes at the mask’s edges retracting from his flesh, blood staining his neck…

The murderous aura of the Supernatural Entity clinging to Ji Yan was dissipating, revealing his true scent as a human Player.

That was why those Supernatural Entities had been drawn to him earlier. Had he been even a few minutes slower returning to his room, he would’ve joined the Nightmare Devourer as a shared meal for the creatures outside…

Carefully, he reached up and removed the mask.

Thick, black blood dripped onto the table in sticky splotches. With a clatter, the human-skin mask was tossed into the corner.

Ji Yan touched his own flawless, handsome face and finally let out a sigh of relief.

"I actually managed to kill the Nightmare Devourer."

This desperate, last-ditch method of breaking the deadlock felt surreal even to him, the perpetrator.

It wasn’t until the game panel popped up, further confirming that he had indeed overturned this hopeless situation, that he truly believed it.

"Ding! Player has successfully killed the 404 Cabin Family Supernatural Entities, unlocking a new achievement!"