The floor below 666 was 665, which also had only one player’s safe house.
Zhao Jie, the man with the ID of a digger, knelt in front of the elevator doors, staring at the shit, piss, excrement, shattered porcelain shards, and broken glass inside as he broke into hysterical laughter.
“Hahahahaha!”
He had been teleported into the instance for ten days already. The first two floors had been the 75th and 85th. Though food was scarce, if his eyes were sharp enough, he could still scrounge breadcrumbs, chicken bones, apple cores, and the like from the corners.
These were basically all tossed in by malicious players to disgust others.
But Zhao Jie had survived until now on this garbage.
He had spent all his gold coins on flashlight batteries (the system mall had stopped trading electric cards), leaving him with only 2 gold in his balance. He was completely out of supplies.
The man clutched his head with both hands, his eyes bloodshot. “I’ll die, I’ll die. There’s no food on the 665th floor at all…”
He was not the only one with such thoughts. From the 100th floor of the skyscraper upward, it was practically hell.
“No, I don’t want to die. I can’t die!!” Zhao Jie roared.
His reddened eyes fixed on the open elevator in front of him.
According to the instance rules, the supply elevator would only stay open for 3 seconds on each floor. Once time was up, even if you jammed a sledgehammer in the middle, it would close and continue upward.
But now, it had stayed open for at least 30 seconds.
Zhao Jie’s breathing grew heavy. As if possessed, he stood up and walked inside like he was bewitched.
The inside of the elevator was even more horrific. All six walls were smeared with bloodstains, garbage, and filth. In the dim reflection of the metal panels, Zhao Jie saw his own distorted, emaciated face.
He had always heard that people ate each other on the higher floors.
And now, he himself was about to become one of those cannibals.
Dong dong—
With the sound of a bell tolling, the elevator rapidly stopped at the top floor.
Zhao Jie psyched himself up inwardly. His hands trembled as he gripped a knife and slowly stepped out of the elevator.
The 666th floor also had only one player’s safe house. That person was even worse off than him, without even a sunroom—poor and feeble.
When a weakling encountered someone even weaker, the weakling became the aggressor.
Zhao Jie stood before what looked like a standard newbie basement. The lingering unease in his heart vanished, and a cruel, mad grin spread across his face.
“This opportunity was sent to me. I have no choice anyway. You wouldn’t survive either, so why not help me out.”
He raised both arms high and smashed the knife down viciously onto the basement door. With a loud clang, the iron door shook.
He froze. This rundown iron door wasn’t even locked. He pulled it open with ease.
Zhao Jie poked his head inside. The basement was pitch black, with no lights on.
A strange fishy smell wafted out, like the odor of a seaside fishing village after long habitation.
His hunger-crammed stomach spasmed, urging him on. Things had come to this; he couldn’t back down now.
Zhao Jie gripped his flashlight and mustered his courage to descend the stairs, his right hand never leaving the knife hilt.
Quiet. Stifling.
No one?
The safe house felt eerily empty, but he still spotted a pile of stacked food in one corner—mostly packaged goods that could last a long time.
Zhao Jie’s eyes lit up. He rushed over like a madman, shoving the food into his backpack indiscriminately.
Halfway through, he belatedly realized…the surroundings felt a bit cold, and the basement door overhead had somehow closed.
“Aaah! Who’s there! Come out!”
He shot to his feet, swinging the knife wildly around in a frenzy. The flashlight beam swept chaotically across the room until his eyes suddenly caught a vivid splash of color reflecting back.
[KeepOut KeepOut KeepOut]
It was the yellow caution tape common at crime scenes, haphazardly wrapped many times around the bathroom area. It was as if sealing away some monster or isolating a dangerous spot.
Had that been there before???
Zhao Jie had zero desire to get anywhere near that bathroom.
He trembled as he backed away, his heel kicking scattered food packaging on the floor. He hadn’t finished packing, but he no longer had the courage to stay.
The man panted raggedly, clutching his backpack as he scrambled up the stairs. He pushed hard against the door overhead with both hands.
The system’s icy text appeared before him.
【You lack permission to enter or exit this safe house】
Zhao Jie froze.
Something slimy, cold, and soft wrapped around his ankle. Then, an irresistible force suddenly yanked him, dragging his entire body down the stairs.
The man’s fingers clawed at the steps, veins bulging from the effort, but he was still dragged down section by section. His gut-wrenching screams faded away on the 666th floor.
It was nearing 11 a.m.
Mu Shan spent two hours nailing together a simple wooden double shelf. It was the most basic T-shaped structure, without even a back panel. The nails came from scavenging in the NPC village, and the wood was chopped from the forest herself, complete with splinters.
The shelf was ugly, but it was practical enough in the sunroom.
The top acted like a workbench—a broad flat surface where Mu Shan could process crops or do some handiwork. The lower shelf held woven baskets with her small tools: hammer, pliers, scissors, spray bottle, and so on.
Between 9 and 11, the elevator had gone up once more but hadn’t stopped at the 24th floor. Mu Shan didn’t pay it much mind.
There was no sound at all from Lin Kuan next door, as if he had truly holed up and wasn’t coming out. She had no intention of asking him for more clues anyway.
About half an hour later, as she prepared to head inside for lunch, the familiar sound of the elevator running grew louder and louder. Mu Shan turned back on instinct.
This time, the elevator dinged to a stop at the 24th floor.
She tensed up instantly, yanking out her laser sword with her right hand.
The elevator doors slid open slowly. In the dark surroundings, the bright light spilling from inside felt blinding.
The remnants of food and broken dishes in the car had been cleaned by the system, leaving the stainless steel interior walls gleaming.
A young man in a clean white shirt stood ramrod straight in the center of the car.
He was probably in his twenties, refined and bookish. Like her, he must have used some concealment item, as there was no ID or profession displayed above his head.
But he was too clean for a player, with no tools or weapons visible on him.
He looked just like an office drone heading home after work.
Mu Shan locked eyes with him, not daring to relax. Soon, she realized the worst thing—the flower gardener hadn’t mentioned it!
The upward supply elevator stayed open for a fixed 3 seconds, but outside supply times, the doors could stay open longer!
At least 10 seconds passed, and the man was still on the 24th floor.
Perhaps her expression was too hostile. He gave a shy smile, nodded, and silently pressed the close door button.
The silver doors slid shut, and the light dimmed abruptly.
Mu Shan’s gaze stayed fixed on the man’s smile, which seemed straight out of an ad, until she confirmed the elevator had gone upward. Only then did she relax.
A thin layer of sweat had formed on her back.
She sat irritably by the sunroom door.
The floor seemed sealed, yet there was an elevator that could open at any time.
What appeared to be an indoor instance was really a gladiatorial arena of player free-for-alls.
Because of the excessive variables, Mu Shan ultimately summoned a zombie worker and stationed it inside the sunroom walls. When crouched, it was invisible from outside.
Its combat power was limited, but better than nothing.
Seeing the ashen-skinned zombie obediently hugging its knees on the ground, Mu Shan tugged at her lips, inexplicably feeling a bit safer.
With water, electricity, and gas completely cut off, she lived thriftily. Water from washing vegetables became face-washing water, then for scrubbing rags or laundry, and finally for flushing the toilet.
The plug-in water dispenser was off; she had plenty of stored boiled water anyway.
Cooking was the same—small gas flames to heat food through.
But lighting and the high voltage grid were unavoidable drains.
The grid had energy storage and wouldn’t consume without use, but the building was pitch black day and night alike, so she had to keep lights on.
Mu Shan had gotten plenty of long candles from the church basement maze in her first instance. She dug them out and lit one to see if it could replace electric lights.
The candlelight was dim, flickering, with a tiny range. In the rundown basement, it held no romantic dinner vibe—instead, it was like a refugee camp.
Mu Shan carried the candlestick past the bed, thinking candles posed a fire hazard and should go somewhere away from flammables, like the bathroom.
At that moment, a red dot appeared in her vision—a system notification that a friend had messaged her.
[Zong Rui (Cleaner)]: Mu Shan, you’re in the skyscraper too??? I just checked the list and saw your avatar online. What a coincidence! I’m on the 120th floor. My team leader’s here too. Which floor are you on?
Mu Shan immediately set down the candlestick and typed a reply.
[Zong Rui (Cleaner)]: Floors below 30 are advantageous. Stock up on food these next few days; you won’t get the chance later. My team leader’s on 200. Find us if you need anything.
Mu Shan wanted to ask for more info, but as her fingers touched the system’s virtual keyboard, she noticed the shadow at her feet suddenly wavering like ripples on water.
She whipped around.
The basement was cast in sickly yellow by the dim candlelight. Countless twisted, deformed shadows lurked in every corner. When she wasn’t looking, they seemed to move, but staring revealed nothing.
[Zong Rui (Cleaner)]: Oh right, forgot to warn you. Can’t skimp on electricity here. Candles or firewood will attract bad things.
[Zong Rui (Cleaner)]: This building is haunted.
In the absolute silence, Mu Shan saw the shadow in the corner stretch and twist, gradually forming a human silhouette. She hadn’t turned on the faucet, yet dripping water sounds came from the bathroom—drip drip drop.
Before those shadows could grow, she bent down and blew out the candle flame in one breath.
The basement plunged into darkness.
Once even that flickering light vanished, the eerie sounds didn’t stop—they amplified. The faucet drip turned into a steady stream.
Mu Shan dashed to the wall by memory and snapped on the ceiling lamp switch with a smack.
Bright, clean light flooded the basement.
She seemed to hear tiny shrieks. Looking again, all the anomalies were gone.
Mu Shan wiped sweat from her forehead and replied to Zong Rui.
“Won’t skimp on electricity anymore.”