Looking for trouble before finishing the milk tea

"You can have this kind of power."

Zhu Yan was completely captivated by these words.

To have the ability to alter a perfectly compliant ID, or perhaps obtain some sort of item?

A hot wind blew against his face. Swept along by the crowd, Zhu Yan looked up at the towering buildings twinkling with scattered lights around him, his heart pounding wildly.

The opportunity was presented right in front of him; how could he possibly refuse?

The current situation was critical, and he had no way out.

Even if there was only a sliver of hope, he had to fight for it!

Crimson "Yes" and "No" options floated before his eyes. Zhu Yan decisively chose "Yes."

"Attention player, you will enter the instance [Devouring Villa] in three hours."

"Thriller Creature Level: Lv. 4-5 Man-Eating House Landlord."

This was quite novel.

Zhu Yan's thoughts followed the broadcast, his eyebrows raising instinctively.

Did this "4-5" mean the level was somewhere between 4 and 5, or was there a hidden catch?

The broadcast continued.

"Instance Quest: Kill the Man-Eating House Landlord and seize the most precious treasure in the house."

"Instance Time Limit: None."

"Instance Location: Villa No. 12, Outer Suburb Quarantine Zone."

The broadcast ended.

Zhu Yan took a sip of his fruit tea. The icy, sweet taste moistened his throat, helping him maintain his composure.

Zhu Yan took out his phone and searched for "Outer Suburb Quarantine Zone" as he walked.

This was a small cluster of villas on the outskirts of Anwu City. Looking at the map, it was surrounded by mountains on all sides and was about 700 meters away from the nearest subway station.

"To think there's a subway station in such a remote place," Zhu Yan murmured in mild surprise.

However, taking the subway would take three hours. There wasn't enough time, and Zhu Yan would die if he was late.

His current location was relatively close to the center of Anwu City; taking a taxi would only take 50 minutes.

He stepped across the old concrete bricks on the ground, stopped in front of a bank, and called a ride-hailing car.

From this angle, he could see the neatly lined-up police cars about fifty meters away.

Under the night sky, the lights from the shopping mall and various stores illuminated everything brightly. Zhu Yan saw several people running toward his direction with looks of sheer terror on their faces.

A young couple hurried past, both of them deathly pale, looking as if they could throw up at any moment.

"It just chewed up two people like that... So terrifying..."

"Maybe we should go to the supermarket and stock up on supplies. It feels like some kind of zombie virus..."

In just that short amount of time, that mimic had actually eaten two people.

The car arrived. Zhu Yan opened the door, got in, and urged the driver to leave quickly.

More and more people were running outward. If they didn't leave now, the road would be completely blocked!

The driver stepped on the gas pedal and turned onto a narrow road.

"Oh man, what's going on around here?"

Zhu Yan shook his head, feigning complete ignorance.

He sat in the back seat with his back straight, concentrating on his thoughts.

The task from [Carnival Paradise] this time was very interesting.

The vague monster level was one thing, but the instance content actually required him to kill a thriller creature.

The difficulty was not low.

Zhu Yan needed to use the time before the instance started to look for information and review his available skills and items.

It was bustling outside the car window, and the brightly lit night scene was beautiful.

But Zhu Yan had no mind for it. He stared at his palm for three seconds and entered the player center's forum.

By digging carefully through the posts in the forum, one could still find useful information.

During the last instance, he had easily handled a level three mimic by relying on a single comment under a post.

Zhu Yan stared at the search icon at the top of the forum and typed in "Man-Eating House Landlord."

...Empty.

He thought for a moment, then searched for "Landlord" and "Man-Eating House" separately.

Among the posts that popped up under the "Landlord" keyword, more than half were about their landlords turning into mimics, while a few others mentioned their landlords dying suddenly or trying to kick them out of their houses.

This was useless.

Under the "Man-Eating House" keyword, there was only one post, published by an account named "Nightmare Bookstore."

Unlike regular player accounts, the name of this account was displayed in a bright red font, looking a bit creepy.

The account's avatar was a page of parchment covered in strange symbols.

Zhu Yan opened the post and found it was a short advertisement, posted just last night.

"Surprise Special News — [Nightmare Bookstore] has obtained the official residency permit and has settled into the player forum!"

Hmm, it looked like a shop opened by a thriller creature.

Was it some special account of [Carnival Paradise]?

Zhu Yan continued reading.

"Are you still troubled by your lack of understanding of thriller creatures? Are you still completely ignorant of the customs of the new world? Have you survived a few instances, but relied entirely on brute force and luck?"

"[Nightmare Bookstore] highly recommends — 'Coexisting with Forbidden Objects'!"

It seemed very much like an encyclopedia.

Zhu Yan continued to read carefully and finally saw the words "Man-Eating House."

"This book includes over 300 types of thriller creatures, including but not limited to mimics, cursed corpses, various dolls, witches, demons, slender men, embroidered shoes, man-eating houses..."

Oh? This was somewhat interesting.

"A total of 1444 pages, comprehensive in content. Of course, the book will not reveal the weaknesses of the thriller creatures, as that is not permitted."

"Currently, the book is priced at 2 Bone Coins. See the online mall for details!"

The post also attached a few photos.

Zhu Yan flipped through them. It looked richly illustrated, and there was no language barrier issue.

He wanted to check the comment section for feedback from players who had already purchased it. However, the post's view count seemed pitifully low; there were no likes, let alone comments.

The account's homepage had a total of three advertisements. Besides this one, there was a book in collaboration with something called [Demon Department Store].

This could work!

Zhu Yan exited the forum and opened the online mall.

The mall's interface was very clear and simple.

The top displayed product categories. Zhu Yan saw weapons and items, healing supplies, food, and books.

Just as he was about to browse carefully, a line of red text suddenly popped up.

"Welcome, player!"

"The mall operates on a tiered unlocking system. We will unlock items of the corresponding level for you based on your personal player level and ability level."

The higher the player or ability level, the more items one could buy?

"Currently, the total number of items you can purchase is 10, categorized into 4 types. Please choose carefully!"

The text flashed and disappeared.

Zhu Yan's body unconsciously leaned forward as he stared intently at the page.

The weapons and items category only had one cold weapon: a rather inconspicuous short dagger priced at 20 Bone Coins.

Zhu Yan opened the product details page. The product description was concise and clear.

"Short Dagger: Available for purchase by players level 2 and above. Can deal damage to level 4 and below thriller creatures."

There was also only one healing supply. It was a [Universal Potion] in a glass bottle, also priced at 20 Bone Coins.

"Universal Potion: Available for purchase by players level 2 and above. Can heal damage caused by level 4 and below thriller creatures."

Zhu Yan flipped to the food category.

There were slightly more food options, seven in total: human limbs, human heads, human torsos, and a char siu rice with lemon black tea combo.

The first few items were priced at three bone gold coins, while the last one cost 3 bone silver coins and was only available for purchase by players level 2 and above.

Zhu Yan fell into a rare, stunned silence in his mind.

Where exactly did they get the limbs and heads?

Weren't most of the people who participated in the instance consumed on the spot?

Feeling somewhat speechless, he glanced out the car window.

They were still driving through the city, and there were a few people taking evening strolls on the streets.

The silhouettes of these pedestrians overlapped with the product images of severed limbs on the translucent page, causing Zhu Yan to frown as a profound sense of absurdity welled up from the bottom of his heart.

He quickly looked away and refocused his attention.

To be fair, he actually thought these food items would be more useful than the short dagger from earlier.

If he encountered a terrifying creature, throwing food at it might actually save his life.

Zhu Yan sighed softly and clicked on the books tab.

The final item floated quietly in mid-air.

"Coexisting with Taboo Objects: It will not tell you the weaknesses of terrifying creatures, but it will let you know more."

Zhu Yan hesitated no longer.

He stared at the checkout button at the bottom for a few seconds. Following the red text prompt, he gently aligned the player mark on his left palm with the interface and completed the payment.

The next second, a sudden weight pressed down on his legs.

Zhu Yan looked down to see a thick, hardcover book, roughly the size of an A4 piece of paper, abruptly appear and rest silently upon his thighs.

The cover was scarlet, embossed with the familiar black caged bird.