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Chapter 6 Corpse Oil Wax

"you are dead."

"His death had some value."

"The hidden story has been partially revealed to you. Although you haven't uncovered any points of erosion, you've made some progress in the plot, so you'll receive a temporary white talent: Shattered Existence."

"When you lose a part of your limbs, you will gain an additional movement speed, but this effect cannot be stacked."

When Zhou You awoke from that unknown space again, his expression was rather grim.

Although he had just experienced what it felt like to be a test subject under a hydraulic press a few seconds earlier, he died so quickly that he hadn't had time to feel much pain. So, compared to the terror of death, he felt more annoyed at being "tricked".

"No way, is this supposed to be beginner difficulty? This is only a four-story area, and three people just drop dead without warning??? Even Dark Souls isn't this outrageous, Nioh is more conscientious than you, bro, is this really necessary—" Zhou You looked up, about to complain, but the moment he saw the floating paper, he frowned for some reason, as if he remembered something, and suddenly stopped talking.

"—Wait, no, that's not right. Maybe I should think of it this way: perhaps it's precisely because of the beginner difficulty that these instant-death methods are implemented? After all, I have unlimited resurrection coins now, so maybe it's trying to familiarize me with something through this method."

Before he could think any further, the cold female voice suddenly rang in his ears again.

"Since the player is still in the beginner stage, they can use 10 Soul Stones to replay the ten seconds before and after their death. Would you like to replay?"

"Did you deliberately choose this moment to interrupt me? Forget it, there's no use thinking about it now. Let's focus our energy on this haunted building and figure out how to escape."

However, Zhou You didn't say anything more and chose to replay the video.

"After deducting 10 Soul Stones, the player now has 10 Soul Stones."

Just like before, the video-like scene unfolded before his eyes once again.

This time, however, it's not a bird's-eye view, but a purely frontal perspective.

In the footage, he had just taken a step and was about to walk towards the fifth floor, and there was nothing unusual around him.

However, the moment he stepped onto the first step...

Right behind him, from the previously empty wall, a pair of hands suddenly and silently reached out.

Those hands were pale and slender. At first glance, apart from being unbelievably long, there seemed to be nothing wrong with them. But upon closer inspection, one could see that all the joints and bones of those hands were unnaturally bent, as if many arms had been smashed and then reassembled. This only gave one a sense of grotesque horror.

Then, in the next instant, as if sensing something, the hands suddenly stretched forward rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, the distance of a few meters was covered.

Before Zhou You could react, those hands gripped him tightly, and the wall between the couplets rippled. The gray plaster cracked open, revealing a pale face severed in two—a grotesque smile on its face as it parted its body, like a door that had truly opened, joyfully welcoming Zhou You inside.

Finally, they snapped shut.

Blood splattered instantly, and the screen went dark.

"You have discovered a key erosion point."

"You have received a reward of 30 Soul Stones. The player now has a total of 40 Soul Stones."

Watching himself being eaten alive, Zhou You's face remained unchanged. After replaying the death scene several times, he thought carefully for a while and then suddenly made a strange move.

He slowly walked to the other side of the room, stretched his limbs a little to warm up, then bent down, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, and then...
He suddenly ran forward.

The other side of the room was reached in an instant—to be fair, although he was terminally ill, his physical condition used to be quite good, and he could run at a barely acceptable speed.

However, Zhou You seemed extremely dissatisfied and shook his head slightly.

"No way, judging by the speed of those hands in the picture, I have no chance of outrunning that thing, let alone reaching the fifth floor before it catches me."

"—So, now the question arises."

"I couldn't even run that far. How did that crazy, nearly dead resident manage to get up there?"

Zhou You gently tapped on the wall, going through all the clues.

"First of all, we can confirm that he did go to the fifth floor and saw something there, which is why he went completely insane."

"Then this person's physical condition is also not good. It is clearly stated in the diary that he can hardly walk anymore, so it is impossible for him to outrun those hands with extremely high speed."

"Therefore, he must have bypassed the monster's pursuit by some method—probably the item he made—and judging from the situation, this method is most likely in that room."

After making a simple deduction, Zhou You looked at the pages of the book that were still floating in mid-air, closed his eyes and thought for a moment. When he opened them again, he chose to enter the book again without hesitation.
-
It was still the same process: meeting the landlady, exchanging greetings, and then renting the apartment.

When he returned to the room, the scene was still chaotic. The first time he came, Zhou You only glanced at it briefly, but this time he searched much more carefully, looking through every corner meticulously.

But even after half an hour, he still hadn't found any clues.

The trash and crumpled paper on the ground offered no further clues, and there were no notes or other hints among the tattered bedding. The desk was also empty, with only the unchanging candlelight still burning quietly, illuminating the small space around it.
Wait, a candle?
Zhou You seemed to suddenly remember something, walked to the desk, and examined the candlestick once again.

The white candle was still burning and seemed to be working perfectly, but after looking at it carefully for a while, Zhou You noticed something unusual.

—Although I don’t have anything to keep track of time, at least half an hour has passed since I entered the room. However, the problem is that the candle hasn’t shrunk at all. It’s still the same length as when I came in.

so
Zhou You reached out and gently touched the candle.

"Player's talent: Keen Observation activated, the assessment of this item is successful."

The next second, several lines of text appeared in his pupils.

"Corpse oil wax".

"Consumables."

Quality: White.

"Effect: Ignites an illusory flame. Although it does not have the characteristics of a normal flame, when something gets close to you, this candle will mask your 'human' scent as much as possible. Each candle lasts for 7 minutes."

Hair as the core, yin oil as the base, two pounds of flesh and blood, one candle—cheap and affordable, honest and trustworthy.

"You have obtained a temporary crafting recipe for this item. Thanks to the beginner dungeon discount, you can get a free crafting device. You only need to use the materials to craft this item."

Whether by coincidence or not, the words "only materials needed" were positioned so that they reflected the candlelight, instantly turning from a semi-transparent color to a bright red.

—Yes, as red as blood.

(End of this chapter)