Chapter 26: Zhong Ting and Zhong Yi, Mind Reading

Chapter 26: Zhong Ting and Zhong Yi, Mind Reading

"Old man, you’d better stop smiling. The more you smile, the more nervous I get."

Watching the Landlord’s eerie grin, Ji Yan couldn’t help but speak up.

"Finish early, rest early."

"When you pass the 8th floor, don’t linger or wander. There are many places in this apartment that newcomers like you, who’ve only been here a few days, shouldn’t go."

"Even if you’re wearing that badge on your chest, to some residents, it’s just decoration—utterly useless."

The Landlord said no more. After delivering his final warnings, he turned and left.

Clutching the key, Ji Yan also exited the room and hurried upstairs.

The apartment at night wasn’t just terrifying in atmosphere—countless indistinct Supernatural Entities roamed the corridors and stairwells.

Some of these Nighttime Supernatural Entities, the reasonable ones, could even trigger Missions. Complete them, and they wouldn’t give you trouble.

The ill-tempered ones wouldn’t even offer Missions. After a couple of interactions, they’d just open their mouths and start eating!

Because of this, Players without nighttime privileges wouldn’t dare to wander out at night even if you gave them a hundred guts.

Even those with privileges didn’t dare act recklessly.

The Privilege Badge only worked on most Supernatural Entities. A small number of the truly terrifying ones didn’t care about privilege rules…

They were like rogue viruses—no protective mechanism in the apartment could restrain them!

After leaving Room 404, Ji Yan sprinted up the stairs without pausing on any floor.

The stairwell was also teeming with Nighttime Supernatural Entities.

Some even ignored the Privilege Badge and could interact with Ji Yan!

Ji Yan paid them no mind, his thoughts focused solely on reaching the rooftop.

By the time he reached the 7th Floor, the number of shadowy figures in the stairwell had dwindled, but eerie sounds echoed all around.

On the 8th Floor, the corridor was pitch-black, impossible to see from end to end, and deathly silent.

Thinking about it, he realized he had connections on both the 7th and 8th floors.

The one on the 8th Floor was a different story, but Liu Nianqing on the 7th Floor owed him a huge favor. The question was, how much influence did Liu Nianqing have in the apartment?

Ji Yan had already made up his mind.

If he encountered any unsolvable danger on the rooftop, he’d just bolt straight for Liu Nianqing’s room and dump the problem on them!

But when he reached the rooftop, he found the door already open!

"Who unlocked this?" Ji Yan stared at the open lock, unable to guess whether it was a Player or a Supernatural Entity.

Drawing his Hammer, he stepped cautiously onto the rooftop.

The apartment’s rooftop was buffeted by a howling, bone-chilling wind.

A crimson crescent moon hung high in the night sky.

Ji Yan glanced around, then suddenly sensed movement behind him. He whirled around and caught a flying brick with pinpoint accuracy.

Looking up, he saw a Twin-Tailed Girl in the distance, her face pale with shock. "Damn it, the ambush failed!"

"Little sister, let’s run!"

"Run where? That’s a Player, not a Supernatural Entity!"

The older sister, with a single ponytail, grabbed her fleeing sibling and scolded her irritably.

Ji Yan crushed the brick in his hand and dusted off his palms.

Studying the two girls, he realized they were twins—identical in clothing, distinguishable only by their hairstyles.

"You should be glad I’m a Player. If I were a Supernatural Entity, you wouldn’t have had a chance to run."

The older sister sighed. "Don’t mind her. My sister’s a bit simple-minded—she overreacts to everything."

Ji Yan wasn’t in the mood to dwell on it. "So, you’re the ones who opened the rooftop door, and you also received the 'Clean the Water Tank' mission from the Landlord?"

"The mission is correct, but it wasn’t triggered by the Landlord. It was triggered by our supernatural family member in room 705," the older twin sister shook her head and explained.

They were Players residing in room 705, and their supernatural family member was a ghost who had died in the bathroom, playing the role of their brother.

Having drowned in the bathroom, he was perpetually submerged in a bathtub overflowing with water, like a fish—unable to leave the tub or the water.

But in recent days, the water from the faucet had turned into thick black blood, causing the supernatural brother to grow increasingly violent and corrupted.

For the twin sisters to continue living safely in room 705, they had to resolve the water issue.

Through the mission, they obtained the rooftop key from the Landlord. However, when they checked during the day, they found no issues with the water tank. So they returned at midnight to inspect it again, where they then encountered Ji Yan.

Ji Yan suddenly understood.

They also wore Privilege Badges on their chests, which provided nighttime protection. This surprised Ji Yan slightly—these sisters didn’t seem particularly sharp, yet they had privileges and even lived on the 7th floor.

Checking their profile information, he discovered they had survived for 45 days.

It seemed they truly had skills; appearances could be deceiving.

"So, how’s your mission progress? Found any problems?" Ji Yan glanced at the square concrete water tank in the distance and asked.

"We haven’t gone over there, and we don’t dare to!"

"It’s too terrifying!" The younger twin, Zhong Ting, hugged her head, her flushed face full of fear.

"Terrifying?" Ji Yan narrowed his eyes. "What did you see?"

The older twin, Zhong Yi, covered her sister’s mouth—clearly, she was much more cautious, eyeing Ji Yan warily.

She asked first, "You said the Landlord sent you up here. Do you have the rooftop key?"

Ji Yan didn’t hesitate, tossing the key over.

Only after seeing the key did Zhong Yi relax slightly.

She explained, "We don’t know what’s in the water tank. We heard it."

"Heard it?"

Before the older sister could speak, the younger one blurted out, "Mhm! Our Talent is [Mind Reading]! In the Instance, my sister and I can not only communicate telepathically but also hear the thoughts of supernatural entities during missions!"

"It’s an A-level Talent! Impressive, right?!"

The younger sister beamed with pride.

The older one facepalmed and flicked her sister’s forehead. "You idiot, I’m begging you—shut your mouth!"

She was exasperated.

Who in their right mind would reveal their Talent so recklessly?

If not for her older sister’s presence, this foolish girl wouldn’t last a single day in such a brutal Instance!

Hearing this, Ji Yan was slightly surprised.

They could hear the thoughts of supernatural entities?

That was an incredibly useful Talent!

After surviving in the Instance for so many days, he’d finally encountered a decent Talent.

Ji Yan pondered. If that was the case, the contamination of the water tank was likely caused by that supernatural entity.

"What did you hear from it?"

"Calling it 'thoughts' is a stretch—we couldn’t make out anything clearly."

"It sounds terrifying, so we didn’t dare to open the water tank. We thought we’d discuss a plan first, and then you showed up," the older sister said, shaking her head.

The younger sister crouched in the corner, clutching her head, still shaken as she muttered, "That supernatural entity is in agony."

"It even begged us for help..."

No sooner had she spoken than her delicate face twisted in distress.

She pressed her hands tightly over her ears and screamed, "Ah! That supernatural entity is screaming again—it’s so horrifying!"

"It hurts... I wish I could block out its voice. Someone, please save me..."