Chapter 58: Crimson Apartment 18

The atmosphere inside the room was sultry and ambiguous, while the person outside burned with suppressed fury, his expression growing terrifyingly dark and gloomy.

Dark green tentacles attempted to squeeze into the door gap. Lu Cheng stared coldly at the door, his pitch-black gaze seeming to pierce right through it to the two people inside.

Dammit, this guy had long since severed ties with the apartment's people and events; what on earth was he trying to achieve by getting involved now?

The tentacles had tried countless times, but destroying the door was out of the question.

The door was isolated by a powerful magnetic field, rendering it completely unaffected no matter how violently it was attacked.

Perhaps this was his unique ability.

Some kind of domain-based isolation... Lu Cheng thought to himself. This ability touched upon his blind spot, and he had no prior experience in dealing with it.

Besides, this man... was a formidable monster, and Lu Cheng wasn't entirely certain he could defeat him.

Yet... to just stand here and do nothing made him feel utterly resentful.

In the ashen, fog-drenched street, dead silence hung heavy, devoid of any other living soul, leaving only them with a trace of human warmth.

The wind seemed completely still, and the players didn't dare to make a sound; the current situation was far beyond what they could handle.

That boss-like figure seemed to be a major boss, and the players dared not provoke him in the least.

The fact that the instance boss hadn't killed them yet was already a stroke of immense fortune.

Initially, the players had wanted to leave. After all, what if these few individuals started fighting for dominance and ended up harming innocent bystanders? What if they got caught in the crossfire?

Yet... for some reason, they had an inexplicable intuition that the clues to the instance lay right here.

Players who had survived countless instances were very familiar with such phenomena. In escape games, a sudden, inexplicable intuition could sometimes save a person's life.

After a brief deliberation, they chose to stay with these individuals.

No sound could be heard from inside the room.

It was as if they had sunk into the muddy depths of an abyss.

Fearing for the safety of the young girl inside, Fang Yu lowered his gaze, a wisp of pale-grey flame sparking from his fingertips and darting toward the doorway. This time, however, the flame was not swallowed up.

The door burst into flames abruptly.

The fire flickered amidst the man's gloomy expression until, at last, it died out, leaving the door completely undamaged.

Ah... wait, not entirely undamaged. There was a faint grey smudge on the door handle, the distinct trace of being scorched by flames.

It seemed as though a mere touch would cause this ash stain to crumble away.

Clearly, the damage inflicted upon the door was negligible to the extreme.

Fang Yu clenched his hands, his handsome face devoid of warmth, his dark eyes terrifyingly grim. Why... why couldn't he destroy the door?

Just the thought of the man's words, and the possibility that the young girl inside was being subjected to his demands and kisses... drove him to a frenzy of agitation.

In the suffocating silence, only the sound of breathing could be heard—soft, heavy... trembling with anxiety.

Along the ash-grey street, countless dark and filthy storefronts remained tightly shut. The blood-red outlines of indeterminate shapes on the walls were gradually twisting and deforming. The players had initially assumed it was just paint... but now, a heavy, fishy stench rushed out.

The walls were continually expanding, as if some monster was about to crawl out from within.

They could even hear heavy, hoarse breaths laden with greedy covetousness.

The scent of blood wormed its way into everyone's nose, mouth, and pores.

"Plop—"

A drop of cold sweat trickled down. With pale faces, they tried their best to keep their voices from trembling, "Did you hear that... something is breathing..."

Of course the players had heard it. They watched the twisting walls with vigilant expressions.

The blood-red color on the surface was spreading, and the wind suddenly began to stir, violent enough to twitch.

The wind speed was so fierce that it stung the players' faces, but they had no leisure to care about that. The walls were covered in blood-red veins, resembling glowing blood tumors—disgusting and bizarre.

"What on earth is this thing..."

Unable to control their trembling bodies, the players took a few steps back.

"Look," suddenly, a player pointed a trembling finger at the wall and cried out in terror, "It's splitting open!"

—

Sear didn't lie to her.

He really did return her room key, though in a rather humiliating manner.

"Don't you dare take it out."

Remembering the man's words, Zhou Zhou's ears burned uncontrollably.

Aching all over, Zhou Zhou curled her fingers and raised her snow-white face. Her blinking eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings trapped among white roses.

"Can I leave now?"

Seeing him stretch out his hand as if he intended to do something more, she was so frightened she felt like she might faint.

"W-What are you doing?!"

Lowering his head, the man gently rubbed her head, "...Don't be so scared, I don't intend to do anything right now."

"Since you don't intend to do anything... then, then let me leave first, please..." Zhou Zhou retreated a few steps, her voice somewhat dry.

She was truly terrified of this man.

"Ha, don't be in such a hurry." Sear chuckled, pulling her waist back into his embrace, "Don't you want to know about that apartment?"

"...Didn't you say before that you wanted to protect me? Now I'm offering you some clues," a hint of a smile touched his eyes, his thin lips curving slightly: "What, you don't want to know?"

Zhou Zhou froze slightly.

Clues... about the apartment?

How could she possibly not want to know? She was only afraid that this man was tricking her. But... Zhou Zhou reflected for a moment, realizing she didn't have much worth tricking anyway.

Besides, listening to what he had to say wouldn't hurt.

"...Go on," Zhou Zhou pressed her lips together, "I'm listening."

"This is an apartment that only judges sinners."

As Sear spoke, he lowered his head once more to nibble on her earlobe with moderate pressure, sending a tingling numbness through her entire body.

"Ugh..."

Zhou Zhou's ear was soaked and wet.

Hearing the man's words, a thought flashed through her mind: Sinners?

Who among them could possibly be called a sinner?

The man suddenly licked her pink-and-white ear, causing Zhou Zhou to instantly stiffen, her brain turning into a blank fog.

"What are you doing? Weren't you talking about the apartment?"

Drooping her long eyelashes, Zhou Zhou spoke in a tiny, pitiful, and endearing voice: "...You promised you wouldn't do anything to me."

"I lied to you, you know." Sear chuckled lowly.

The handsome man was entirely the sort of malicious entity who delighted in watching others make fools of themselves.

"Get to the point, will you? Stop licking."

With her ears itching persistently, Zhou Zhou gazed at him with wet, reddened eyes, looking utterly pitiful.

Gazing at her with near-affectionate intensity, the man murmured, "Very well, back to business."

"In this apartment," Sear hummed, uttering cruel words, "everyone deserves to go to hell."

Sear's pupils were of a deep, lightless shade, utterly devoid of any gleam, resembling the pitch-black flames of hell. The corners of his lips curled into an ambiguous smile, "Only the sinless will survive until the end."

"You will all face the most terrifying judgment in this apartment. Either live on in humiliation, or die a miserable death."

"Once you enter this apartment, escape is impossible. Even if you go out during the day, you will inevitably be forced to return by nightfall."

"Furthermore..."

Just as Sear was about to continue, the wall of the room gave a crisp "crack," splitting open a small seam.

Blood-red stains spread and warped incessantly, like red ink dripping onto water and rapidly dispersing.

Dammit.

Something was coming.

Sear tightly pressed the bewildered girl into his arms, his expression turning ice-cold.

Zhou Zhou anxiously poked her little head out from the man's embrace, crystal-clear teardrops still hanging on her eyelashes, resembling a newly hatched little penguin—milky and adorable.

Her eyes were wet and red, and her cheeks still flushed with pink.

In the next second, however, her eyes widened in terror, her complexion draining to a stark white. The scream she wanted to utter was choked off in her throat, silencing her with fright.

"..."

Thick, lower-body humanoid monsters tore through the wall and crawled out.

Their eyes lacked pupils and were entirely stark white, while their faces were marked with blood-red patterns. The leading monster possessed delicate yet chillingly cold facial features; its high-bridged nose twitched as it inhaled the overwhelmingly sweet scent of a female in the air.

So sweet... The monsters' jaws opened and closed, their bright red tongues probing between sharp teeth, the smaller appendages standing erect in eager longing.

Was this the target they were supposed to eliminate?

"W-What on earth is this..."

Overcome with fear and nausea, Zhou Zhou hurriedly buried her head back into the man's chest, even her lips trembling.

Looking... so soft and pink.

"Little one," Sear clasped her tighter, his voice hoarse, "there's no need to be afraid. I won't let these things harm you."

Zhou Zhou didn't bother arguing about the man changing her moniker from "little girl" to "little one" at this moment. She was genuinely terrified of these monsters and lacked the energy to bicker over trifles.

Sear spread a pair of massive wings, snow-white yet faintly tinged with a delicate, reddish hue, resembling a fallen angel descended into the mortal realm.

Zhou Zhou's eyes widened. Held so closely in his embrace, she could even clearly discern the texture of the feathers.

Pure white and fluffy, incomparably beautiful.

Just what kind of creature... was the man holding her?

Yet this was no time for such thoughts. As the distorted, grotesque bodies of the monsters closed in, sweat beaded on Zhou Zhou's skin, dampening her palms, and her eyes grew wet with fright.

Amidst an indescribable sense of unease, the handsome man—resembling a fallen angel—spoke in a hoarse, ruthless voice:

"Mongrels—go to hell."

Lifting his pitch-black pupils slightly, a sudden gust of hurricane-force wind tore countless monsters' bodies to shreds with a deafening roar, leaving the remainder heavily wounded and bleeding all over the floor.

"...Hiss—!..."

The maimed monsters instantly emitted shrill, piercing shrieks.

Driven to fury, they lunged forward recklessly, their pitch-black claws coming dangerously close to grabbing Zhou Zhou.

"Ugh..."

"Why aren't you running?"

Trembling uncontrollably, Zhou Zhou sensed the oncoming gale and squeezed her eyes shut. Sear showed no intention of fleeing whatsoever.

"Eh...?" Growing anxious, she hurriedly pushed against the strong, tightly locked arm holding her: "If you're not going to run, put me down! I need to run away right now..."

"Ha, your courage is truly this small." Sear gently pinched Zhou Zhou's chin, "Open your eyes and look; they can't hurt you."

With a plaintive hiss, the monsters disintegrated into a sky full of fluttering rose petals just as they were about to seize the young girl.

The horrifying monsters vanished, replaced by a romantic scene straight out of a comedy.

Rose petals drifted down like silent snowflakes.

"Do you like it?" The angel-like handsome man folded his wings and chuckled.

Zhou Zhou did not reply. She was already dumbfounded, staring at the fluttering pink-and-white petals: "Th-This... the monsters are gone?"

Sear let out a soft hum: "Trash like that is hardly worth your fear."

The petals drifted all over the room, settling on both of them.

Zhou Zhou was also covered in these pink-and-white rose petals. Her face was peppered with flowers, and a single petal happened to fall right beside her delicate, wet, and reddened lips.

Her eyelashes fluttered like a butterfly about to fall. Still shaken, her face and lips tickled by the flowers while her arms were trapped in the man's embrace, Zhou Zhou parted her lips, intending to lick the petal away.

"Don't move."

Finding the sight utterly intoxicating, Sear paused his movements for a moment. With a hoarse voice, he brushed the petal away from her lips.

"Do you have any idea," Zhou Zhou wasn't dwelling on that, her eyelids trembling while her pink-and-white skin flushed red: "What those things were just now?"

Sear's tone grew heavy: "Deformed monsters. Anyone whose door is knocked on by the apartment will face their relentless pursuit."

"One of those mongrels is your executioner. Even though he let you off, as long as you remain alive, more monsters will come to kill you."

A nameless chill laced the man's expression: "...These deformed ones are just the beginning."

"...Why?"

Hearing this, Zhou Zhou felt a chill run through her entire body. No wonder the clearance condition for this instance was simply to survive. With such a high difficulty level, facing endless pursuit as long as one stayed alive, how could anyone possibly escape?

Only... why would someone have their door knocked on... Was it merely a set parameter of the instance, or were there other overlooked clues?

Lowering her head, Zhou Zhou curled her fingertips: "...Is there some kind of selection criteria for this?"

Hearing the young girl's question, Sear tightened his grip on her waist, his tone as cold and heavy as unmelting ice:

"...Because we are all sinners."

His face bore a mocking, icy chill: "Just as I said before, everyone living in this apartment is wicked."

Zhou Zhou's brain couldn't keep up. Recalling her earlier question, she blurted out: "...What kind of sins?"

"Murder, lying, boasting, fraud... many things. These crimes will be judged... Just like in the Western world, where the good go to heaven and the wicked go to hell."

With a cold, mocking smirk in his dark pupils, Sear explained clearly.

Once a sinner has their door knocked on by the executioner... the only way to survive is to counter-kill them.

And even if that mongrel spared the young girl, under these rules, the apartment would dispatch countless monsters to hunt her down.

"I see." Zhou Zhou understood vaguely. She bit her pale pink lips, her tone light and tinged with a soft, fuzzy trace of relief: "...Thank you for telling me all this."

"Aren't you afraid I might not be a good person before you start thanking me?" Sear couldn't fathom why she was so naive—naive to the point of utter foolishness.

She was always so defenseless in front of monsters with filthy minds who coveted her.

Zhou Zhou lifted her eyes: "Then are you?"

Sear chuckled: "Do you think I am?"

Zhou Zhou's eyelashes fluttered as she remained silent.

"Kissing you, touching you, recklessly taking you," Sear's deep eyes held a bizarre and heavy chill, his voice biting like the rocks of hell: "Still don't think I'm a bad person?"

Zhou Zhou inexplicably thought of his words—the good go to heaven, the wicked go to hell.

Her delicate, pink-and-white face was as exquisite as a crescent moon. Her flower-petal-like, moisture-laden eyes blinked dazedly several times before her gaze fell upon the man once more.

Her lips moved, her voice so light and low that it drifted through the room, barely audible: "Then will you go to hell?"

The young girl smelled sweet from head to toe, her dark hair radiating a honey-like sweetness, and the breath exhaled from her lips and teeth was equally sweet and adorable.

Sear paused, his voice hypocritical and chilling: "Going to hell a hundred times wouldn't be enough for me. Aren't you afraid?"

Continuing in a low voice, Zhou Zhou asked: "Will you kill me?"

"No," he answered without a moment's hesitation.

The young girl asked again: "Will you slaughter the innocent and harm ordinary people?"

"...Neither will I."

Sear had never been interested in murder; even when threatened, he would only kill those who deserved to die.

Zhou Zhou relaxed halfway. Although this boss was a lewd pervert, he wasn't entirely evil.

And he had protected her from the monsters.

"I actually think," she lowered her damp eyes, her voice very soft: "...You will go to heaven."

"Huh?"

The man's hypocritical and chilling expression shifted, the half-smiling curve of his lips freezing.

After a long silence, during which Sear stared intently at her, he finally let out a low chuckle.

Heaven?

His voice turned obscure: "You think I'm a good person?"

"I don't know."

Zhou Zhou's gaze was lost and bewildered. "But as far as I'm concerned, you helped me."

At least, that was true for her.

As far as she was concerned, Sear was a good person.

"Helped you?"

Did she have any idea how wretched he was deep down?

"You really are..."

Sear couldn't understand how the young girl could be so naive.

What was she?

Stupid? Foolish?

"It's getting late..."

Lowering her gaze, Zhou Zhou felt her body grow unusually cold yet strangely itchy. A layer of moisture seemed to blur her vision, making everything indistinct.

"The monsters are gone... May, may I go back now?"

"No." The man suddenly pinched her chin, utterly unable to restrain his lust for her any longer as his snow-white, shark-like sharp teeth bit down onto her lips.

"You said I'm a good person?"

"In that case—" he rasped, his beast-like pupils dark, chilling, and burning hot all at once:

"A good person is going to eat your tongue now."

A sudden, stern shout interrupted Sear just as he was about to proceed further.

"Stop right there—!"