Chapter 76 — IAVD (QT) Chapter 76

Normally speaking, once people have died in a location, yin energy will begin to gather there, requiring a long period of time to naturally dissipate.

But when more than a hundred lives have been lost inside an apartment building within a short time, natural dissipation is obviously impossible.

Yin energy that cannot disperse will continue to accumulate. Once it reaches the scale of a hundred people, it is enough to forcibly catalyze an ordinary malicious ghost into a vicious ghost.

If, unfortunately, that vicious ghost died inside the apartment itself, it would also receive a location-based power boost, giving rise to numerous undefended killing mechanisms.

With this in mind, the fat man’s earlier words were perfectly reasonable.

The skinny old man narrowed his eyes. Perhaps because of his age, he remained fairly calm and analyzed, “B-rank worlds are subdivided—B, B+, and B-. The world we’re in this time is definitely a B+ world.”

The suited man, eager to contribute some clues, followed up with a string of largely redundant words. “So this ghost is at least at the vicious ghost level or above…”

“There is no vicious ghost here.”

Ji Xiu cut him off. Too lazy to watch everyone guess blindly, he said directly, “The yin energy is scattered rather than condensed, distributed across different floors. That suggests the number of ghosts exceeds three. That’s what led to over a hundred deaths.”

The suited man froze and looked at Ji Xiu skeptically. “How do you know?”

Ji Xiu had no intention of explaining. He shot him a glance and said flatly, “I naturally have my own channels. Otherwise, why do they all trust me?”

The they referred to Du Sheng and the other three.

The suited man glanced at them and indeed saw nothing but trust on their faces. Muttering something under his breath, still puzzled, he said nothing further.

But following Ji Xiu’s logic—if it wasn’t one vicious ghost, but several ghosts…

Du Sheng interjected, “Then it’s hard to say whether that’s good or bad. But to be safe, everyone should try not to split up.”

“Correct. Don’t split up,” Ji Xiu nodded in affirmation. “If circumstances allow, it’s best to act in groups of two, or even three or more.”

He glanced at everyone. “Let’s go. Back to the apartment first, then we’ll continue looking for clues.”

The group had finished eating and had no desire to linger outside. Since they couldn’t leave the residential complex anyway, trouble would come sooner or later. It was better to go back and look for a way to survive. Everyone nodded in agreement and followed Ji Xiu.

On the way, Lu Zhizhen and Huang Wenli chatted with Ji Xiu, calling him Boss every other sentence.

Seeing this, the four unfamiliar players couldn’t help pointing at Ji Xiu and asking the question that had been bothering them. “Why do you all call him ‘Boss’?”

“Hehe.” Huang Wenli smiled smugly. “Because the boss is the boss.”

The four pressed for more answers, but Huang Wenli stuck to the same mysterious explanation. Realizing they wouldn’t get anything out of her, the four looked a little disgruntled. Once they reached the apartment, they changed the subject and split up to search for clues on their own.

Apartment 1309 quieted down, leaving only the five familiar faces.

Only then did Du Sheng and Qi Qing get the chance to ask Ji Xiu why he had entered the game.

Ji Xiu explained it to them in just a few sentences.

Du Sheng suddenly understood, marveling, “This contract is kind of amazing. If used properly, wouldn’t it let you gain a lot of powerful teammates from the game world?”

Ji Xiu looked at him, his tone carrying a warning. “Du Sheng, not every NPC has a strong heart like mine. Don’t go playing with fire.”

“Huh?” Du Sheng looked utterly confused.

Had he said something wrong? This was the first time the boss had ever been so cold to him.

Qi Qing sensed that something was off. She tugged on his sleeve. “The boss himself is an NPC. Naturally, he has his reasons. Just listen to him.”

Du Sheng was still puzzled and whispered to her, “But the boss entered the game willingly. That means he agreed to it. How does he know other NPCs wouldn’t agree?”

“Well…” Qi Qing couldn’t come up with an answer either.

Ji Xiu felt helpless and had no choice but to spell it out. “If you were born male, inherently ugly, mocked by everyone; or born female, betrayed by your husband, your son dying tragically; if you fell into the path of ghosts, became a vicious ghost, took revenge on those who harmed you—only to discover that you were never a living person at all, merely a sacrifice under a game’s program; if you struggled desperately to break free of that cage but were powerless; if you were forced to lose your memories, again and again experiencing the pain of death…”

Du Sheng’s face changed instantly.

Ji Xiu’s voice was calm, as if he were an uninvolved bystander, yet the words he spoke were cold and cruel beyond measure.

Searching his conscience—if he were truly subjected to such a fate, could he calmly bind himself to a game?

No. Absolutely not.

Yet in the game world, nearly every high–combat-value NPC had endured a life even crueler than this.

Just imagining it made Du Sheng unable to let go of hatred. How could he demand that NPCs who had actually lived through such suffering simply let go?

The boss’s warning about playing with fire truly was the truth.

Du Sheng nodded repeatedly, shaken. “Boss, I understand now. Thank you for reminding me. I’ll never do something so stupid again.”

Ji Xiu glanced at him and stood up. “I’m going back to my room to rest.”

Du Sheng was troubled—had the boss gotten angry at him?

As for Ji Xiu returning to his room alone…

The four knew his strength well and weren’t worried about his safety. They sat in the living room discussing what the boss and the boss’s wife might have gone through, all expressing sympathy. Then the other three shamelessly used Ji Xiu’s authority to lecture Du Sheng about using his brain in the future.

There was even a trace of a smile in Qi Qing’s eyes.

Du Sheng, the male lead who supported the worldline and had always gotten everything he wanted since childhood, was being scolded so badly for the first time that he couldn’t even lift his head.

And because he was in the wrong, he had no ground to argue back.

…

According to prior experience, as long as players didn’t court death, the first day’s daytime usually passed without attacks. So the players paired up and went around searching for clues.

Unfortunately, it was a weekday, and most residents were at work.

They knocked on more than a dozen doors and didn’t find a single person they could question. Instead, they attracted property management.

Disheartened, the players returned to the apartment to rest, deciding to wait until the weekend, when residents would be home.

At five in the afternoon, the sun began to sink below the horizon.

The group headed out again, planning to buy supplies at the supermarket before darkness fully fell—daily necessities like towels and toothbrushes, as well as kitchenware and dishes, since the apartment had none.

After finishing their shopping, they returned to the apartment building—only to find that the elevator was broken.

“Let’s take the stairs. It’s only thirteen floors,” the fat man said casually, carrying his bags as he turned toward the fire stairwell.

For veteran players who had upgraded their physical stats with points, thirteen floors really was nothing.

Ji Xiu, however, found this strange. He looked at the fat man, disbelief filling his voice. “Did you forget what the cleaner said?”

“What did she say?” The fat man froze, confused—then suddenly snapped back to reality, his face changing drastically. “Right! She said no matter what, we mustn’t use the stairs.”

He swallowed hard, fear lingering on his face. “But why was my first instinct just now to take the stairs?”

“Maybe… the ghosts in this world have the ability to confuse people’s minds?” Lu Zhizhen offered her guess, though she didn’t sound very confident.

But that guess was likely the truth.

Everyone present was a veteran player. They should have been vigilant at all times. Even if they weren’t sure whether the cleaner’s words were correct, they would normally avoid touching taboos.

Yet just now, it wasn’t only the fat man—after he spoke, several people had followed him instinctively.

Clearly, they had completely forgotten the cleaner’s warning.

If Ji Xiu hadn’t stopped them, they would probably already have been on the stairwell, triggering the first killing mechanism.

Ji Xiu frowned slightly and said calmly, “It looks like the cleaner didn’t lie. Everything she said points directly to a killing mechanism.”

The ghosts had no need to fabricate lies. With their ability to confuse minds, as long as players lived in the apartment, they would inevitably fall into their hands. Don’t take the stairs. Don’t go out at midnight. These two were almost certainly killing triggers.

Ji Xiu swept his gaze over everyone and said decisively, “Call property management to send a repairman. Before nightfall, we must return to our rooms. We can’t wander outside.”

If they triggered the don’t go out at midnight condition, that would be another serious problem.

Someone obediently made the call. Nearly an hour later, the repairman arrived in a hurry.

He seemed extremely afraid of this apartment building. After fixing the elevator, he fled as if escaping death, not saying a single word. Ji Xiu and the others couldn’t even stop him.

Except for Ji Xiu, who remained calm, everyone else felt their hearts sink further.

The more fearful the NPCs were, the stronger the ghosts were. Any initial carelessness or ease had long vanished. Everyone became fully alert.

Back in the apartment, the players cooked a simple meal. After eating, they gathered on the living room sofa, maintaining full vigilance.

Though night-watch duties had been assigned, everyone was a night owl. No one felt like sleeping yet, and it felt safer to stay together than to be alone in their rooms.

They chatted idly, spirits low, time passing slowly. Near midnight, footsteps echoed in the hallway.

“……”

The players all fell silent at once, exchanging glances and pricking up their ears.

The footsteps were deliberately drawn out and strange—like an exhausted office worker returning late at night, half-dead with fatigue, stepping out of the elevator and dragging themselves down the corridor toward home. Every step carried an overwhelming sense of weariness.

“Is it another resident?” the fat man whispered uncertainly. “It should be fine, right?”

Huang Wenli shot him a glare. “Did you hear even a single set of footsteps in the past few hours?”

The fat man thought seriously, then shook his head.

“Exactly. Then why was there no sound when others passed by, but suddenly there is now? Something’s definitely wrong out there.” Huang Wenli silently gripped Lu Zhizhen’s hand—whether for encouragement or strength, it was hard to say. “Ninety percent chance it’s not human.”

If it wasn’t human, then it was a ghost.

Hearing this, the fat man grew tense and turned to Ji Xiu for guidance.

In just a few hours, everyone in the team had come to fully trust Ji Xiu’s judgment.

Ji Xiu spoke calmly, reassuring him. “It’s only the first day. The game won’t force us to die on day one. As long as we follow the cleaner’s advice and don’t go out at midnight, we should be fine.”

“Then we’ll just stay inside,” someone said.

Patience was something they had in abundance. Food and supplies were stocked—at worst, they could just hole up inside for three days.

Ji Xiu remained composed, leaving the rest of his words unsaid.

The first day was safe, yes—but later on, as the game loosened its restrictions, this originally irrelevant passing ghost could very well break into the apartment and begin a massacre.

But it wasn’t a big deal. He didn’t bother saying it aloud, so as not to frighten everyone.

Sure enough, the footsteps wandered back and forth in the corridor two or three times, as if unable to find a target. Slowly, they faded away until they could no longer be heard.

Everyone in the living room let out a breath of relief.

The fat man jumped up first. “Alright, alright, meeting adjourned. I’m going back to rest.”

They had identified two killing mechanisms today. The path ahead looked visibly bright—it was hard not to relax.

The others followed suit, some returning to their rooms, others staying in the living room to keep watch.

After some thought, Ji Xiu avoided the others and returned to his room. He summoned Wang Qiuyue and her son and asked, “Everyone’s asleep. Do you want me to take you out for a walk?”

If the unfamiliar players heard this, their jaws would drop.

Who in their right mind would go out when staying inside guaranteed safety?

But only the Ji family of three were in the room now. Ji Chunsheng was intensely curious about the outside world and had wanted to go out for a long time. Wang Qiuyue cared only about the father and son; everything else was irrelevant to her. If they wanted to go out, she would accompany them.

“Let’s go, then.”

Ji Xiu smiled gently at the mother and son. “Alright. I’ll go out first, then summon you once I’m outside.”