Chapter 49: Prying Open the Black Coffin, Main Plot Easter Egg

Chapter 49: Prying Open the Black Coffin, Main Plot Easter Egg

Creak!

Ji Yan's arm flexed as he pried out the first nail, followed swiftly by the second. His movements were sharp and efficient!

The Eccentric Residents behind him screamed at the sight, "Are you insane?"

"We told you to seal the coffin, not open it!"

Even Long Yuan, still sprawled on the ground, gaped in disbelief, his numb lips twitching, "You... you're going to destroy this Instance?!"

Ji Yan remained silent, focused solely on prying the nails. The Black Coffin had twelve Coffin Nails in total, and in the blink of an eye, he had already removed seven.

As the coffin lid loosened further, more and more Parasitic Worms slithered out, swarming over the grotesque tree of flesh formed by the original residents.

The imprisoned Eccentric Residents finally snapped, their murderous intent erupting uncontrollably. They lunged at Ji Yan in a frenzy, but he had been waiting for this moment. Pinching the last Paper-Cut Figure between his fingers, he pricked his fingertip, letting blood seep into the paper.

"Congratulations, Player. You have used the [Three-Word Paper-Cut Figure] — Blessing: For the next 5 minutes, gain the 'Lucky Sanctuary' status, immune to all malicious damage from Eccentric Residents within the Instance."

The paper figure adhered to the back of his neck.

When the ghastly, vein-covered hands of the Eccentric Residents reached for him, their touch burned like the Coffin Nails, eliciting shrill screams of agony.

Unfazed, Ji Yan pried out two more nails.

"If you let what's inside that coffin out, this apartment is truly finished!" The Eccentric Residents' eyes bulged with rage.

"It wasn’t those Parasitic Worms that damaged the apartment’s Foundation," Ji Yan countered coldly. "On the contrary, those black parasites were doing their best to heal the rotting Foundation. The real culprits aren’t this Black Coffin, nor any single 'Eccentric.' You just fabricated this entire scenario to deceive us in the Basement, painting yourselves as the victims."

"The Black Coffin was nothing more than a scapegoat to cover your crimes."

When he touched the gnawed remains of the original residents, Ji Yan had sensed something amiss. The Hidden Information revealed their wails and terror—but their fear wasn’t directed at the Black Coffin. It was aimed at these Eccentric Residents, who had disguised themselves as pitiful and helpless.

From the start, the game had warned that the Basement’s Eccentric Residents were filled with malice. Yet upon descending, their behavior had been the opposite. That could only mean one thing: they were hiding something.

Now, faced with their panicked, murderous expressions as their deception unraveled, Ji Yan knew he was right.

"So, sealing the coffin is a dead end—it would only hasten the apartment’s collapse. Since you’re so terrified of this Black Coffin, I’ll just open it and see what happens."

He didn’t know what lay inside the coffin, but since it appeared in the Main Plot, it had to serve a purpose. The Eccentric Residents had gone to great lengths to lure Players into sealing it shut—meaning the Black Coffin was likely on the Players' side.

With no time to deliberate, Ji Yan trusted his instincts. With a final wrench of the Hammer, the last Coffin Nail flew out.

A flood of inky Parasitic Worms surged forth, forcing Ji Yan to retreat several steps. Then, in his line of sight, a pair of time-worn hands emerged from the edge of the coffin.

A shadowy figure slowly, laboriously, crawled out from within.

Behind them, the Eccentric Residents, witnessing this scene, were utterly despairing and fled in panic.

Ji Yan and Long Yuan, who was still immobilized on the ground, stared at the shadowy, inky figure. Their hearts skipped a beat, engulfed by a tremendous shadow of fear.

The black haze gradually receded.

When Ji Yan finally saw the figure clearly, his eyes widened in shock.

"...Old... Old Man?"

"Why are you inside the coffin?"

The silver-haired Landlord yawned, rubbed his back, and blinked drowsily. Emerging from the coffin, he carried a hint of grumpiness from being woken up, his tone icy. "This old man barely gets any rest as it is... and now you brats have gone and disturbed me."

Ji Yan’s mind went blank.

Wasn’t the Landlord supposed to stay out of the Main Storyline?

Why had he suddenly appeared inside the coffin in the Basement?

Ding! Congratulations, Player, for completing the Hidden Operation—successfully rousing the Instance Boss, the Landlord, and pulling him into the Main Storyline Task. From now on, you will receive assistance from the NPC Landlord.

The game’s prompt made Ji Yan’s eyes gleam with realization.

So this was how the Main Storyline was meant to be played!

No wonder the apartment Instance was on the verge of collapse, yet the Landlord hadn’t lifted a finger—he’d been designed as a hidden NPC, stashed away here like an Easter Egg.

No wonder the Eccentric Residents had been so terrified.

If the Black Coffin had been sealed shut, they truly would have dug their own graves.

"Old Man, I’m afraid now isn’t the time to sleep."

"There’s an urgent situation in the apartment—we need your help," Ji Yan hurriedly said.

The Landlord flicked the ash from his old tobacco pipe and snorted. "Unless the apartment’s collapsing, nothing is more important than this old man’s sleep."

Ji Yan forced a stiff smile. "Guess what? The apartment is collapsing!"

The Landlord locked eyes with Ji Yan.

His hollow, empty sockets sent a chill down the spine.

After a few seconds of silence, the Landlord finally noticed the figure still sprawled on the ground.

"Why are you here too?"

Long Yuan: "..."

Then, the Landlord lifted his head and finally registered the apartment’s dire state.

The next moment, his head twisted unnaturally, taking in the grotesque Face Tree, the splitting walls, the crumbling flesh-infested concrete...

Ji Yan and Long Yuan both felt an inexplicable dread.

Looking up, they realized the Landlord’s aura had turned terrifying—black veins crawling across his entire body.

So this is the Instance Boss... The sheer oppression of his Blackening is suffocating!

"I only took a short nap, and you’ve already turned the apartment into this?"

Ji Yan shifted the blame. "Old Man, you’ve got sharp eyes. You must know who’s responsible."

"Hmph. No wonder those bastards were so quiet this time."

"Locked up for so long, and this is the stunt they pull?"

The Landlord handed his old tobacco pipe to Ji Yan. "Hold this for a bit. I’ll be right back."

With that, the old man clasped his hands behind his back and vanished into the darkness. Soon, violent tremors shook the entire Basement, accompanied by a chorus of bone-chilling sounds.

Roughly two minutes later, the Landlord returned, clutching a string of blackened objects—upon closer inspection, they were severed heads strung together by hair.

And they weren’t even dead yet, still begging for mercy.

The Blackened Landlord ignored him, tossing all the heads into the Black Coffin and sealing the lid.

"The troublemakers are all here now."

The Landlord gazed at the utterly shattered Basement and the riddled Foundation of the original residents, sighing helplessly. "But the apartment is severely damaged this time. I wonder if it can even be repaired."

Ji Yan frowned. "Why would the tenants locked in the Basement do this? Just to destroy the apartment along with themselves?"

The Landlord snatched back the old tobacco pipe from Ji Yan’s hand. "These guys violated the Apartment Rules severely, which is why they were imprisoned in the Basement. The longer they’re locked up there, the heavier their Resentment grows. I originally planned to use them as nourishment to feed the apartment, but who knew they’d pull such a stunt?"

His tone carried a hint of regret as he spoke.

Ji Yan gave a simple nod.

He wasn’t interested in these background stories tied to the Main Storyline Task. Skipping over them was fine—they were just a transition to push the plot forward.

Now that the culprits were dealt with, this Main Storyline Task should be considered complete, right?