From doomsday survival to fast-forward daily life

The van was parked on the side of the road. There was no parking lot in the old community except for a few parking spaces reserved for residents inside the iron gate. At night, there were always all kinds of cars parked on the side of the road. Tian Yu was sitting in the driver's seat and was about to get out of the car, but suddenly became alert.

"What if a thief breaks in during the two days I'm away from home?"

She took out her cell phone and carefully checked the surveillance footage at home over the past two days. After confirming that everything was correct, she took out the binoculars she carried with her and observed the building where she lived.

Monitoring, security.

Because the glass in her house is one-way, she can only see darkness at this time, but she has installed anti-theft windows and has set up mechanisms for a long time. She only needs to observe the position of the potted plants near the window to know whether anyone has opened the window.

Windows, safety.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Tian Yu turned his gaze and was about to put away the telescope, but he caught a glimpse of a shadow swaying in Aunt Zhang's bedroom on the third floor. Almost in an instant, Tian Yu realized something was wrong.

There are five people living in Aunt Zhang's house. The layout of the house is not much different from her own home. The bedroom that can be seen now should be the master bedroom in the house. She often praises her son and daughter-in-law for being filial, and even the master bedroom is reserved for the elderly.

When chatting with the uncles and aunts around her, Aunt Zhang mentioned many times that her son had bought a new house near the Experimental Primary School and that he and his family would move there in the spring of next year.

"My old man and I both have poor eyesight. When we get up at night, we have to go to the door to turn on the light. It's so troublesome. My son simply installed a night light for me in the bedroom of our new home. Even the bathroom is in the bedroom!"

Aunt Zhang once declared this proudly, and her words naturally brought praise for her good fortune among her old friends.

The two elderly people have poor eyesight, but they don’t turn on the lights when they get up at night?

A chill ran up Tian Yu's back and she pointed the telescope at the master bedroom of Aunt Zhang's house.

The figure seemed to stand at the head of the bed for a while, and then moved. Because the curtains were half-drawn, Tian Yu only saw the man leave his sight, but the lights never came on.

Tian Yu's breathing became lighter. He continued to watch for a while, but the figure did not come back.

Could it be Aunt Zhang’s son or daughter-in-law?

I pointed the telescope at the corridor. Since this is an old house, the corridor is not closed. Through the diamond-shaped holes made of cement, I could vaguely see whether there was anyone walking in the corridor.

The dark corridor seemed calm and quiet, and no sensor lights were on.

Tian Yu always felt a little uneasy. Will something unexpected happen in Aunt Zhang's family?

For safety reasons, Tian Yu took out his spare phone and decided to call the police first to find out the truth.

Just as she was about to put down the telescope, perhaps it would be sunny again tomorrow and the clouds covering the moon tonight would be blown away. Tian Yu, who was about to lower her head to make a call, took a last glance at the corridor. When her hand touched the screen of the phone, she suddenly raised the telescope and aimed!

No! Although the sensor light was not on and the corridor was dark, she could clearly sense a shadow darker than the night leaning against the stair railing!

Tian Yu swallowed and felt his heartbeat quicken, pounding his chest.

The black shadow moved carefully, but it did not trigger the sensor light in the corridor. Tian Yu followed the shadow closely.

He slowly moved to the fourth floor with no intention of stopping.

The shadow continued to move upwards, approaching the fifth floor.

On the fifth floor, the shadow left the staircase...

The cell phone vibrated and Tian Yu was startled by the sudden noise. The frequency of the vibration made her forehead instantly covered with cold sweat. Tian Yu knew it was the alarm at her door!

Not daring to look away, she stared at the grid in the corridor outside her home. Due to obstruction, she could not see clearly, but she could vaguely make out a shadow standing in one or two diamond-shaped grids.

Tian Yu held the telescope tightly, but the shadow did not make any unnecessary movements until her hand holding the telescope became a little stiff due to tension and effort. Then the shadow moved. He left Tian Yu's door, turned and walked to the fourth floor, opened the door of the room downstairs from his house, and walked straight in.

"Downstairs from my house?" Tian Yu recalled silently in his heart. The house downstairs from his house should be rented out. He hasn't seen anyone living in it recently. Could it be a new neighbor?

But what kind of neighbor would sneak into someone else's house in the early morning and stay at the door for so long?

After observing again, Tian Yu found that the windows on the fourth floor might be one-way like his own home, or the lights might not be turned on. In short, it was pitch black and nothing could be seen.

Putting down the telescope, even though the temperature was approaching 30 degrees, Tian Yu felt cold all over, and even a chill in his heart.

I turned on my phone and found that although the surveillance camera at the door had just sounded the alarm, I couldn't see any human figure in the video. It was clear that the alarm would only sound when someone touched the door handle.

Tian Yu felt his fingers starting to go numb. What on earth was that shadow?

Staying quietly where she was, Tian Yu waited for a truck to pass by before starting the van. Instead of going home, she drove to the parking lot of the new community next door.

At 9:00 am, countdown to the opening of the novice copy: 00::

Tian Yu stayed in the van for a night. She didn't dare go home easily before any danger was eliminated. The copy would be opened at three o'clock this afternoon, and she had to use the remaining time to figure out some things.

After thoroughly checking the surveillance cameras and confirming that the shadow was not captured at the door last night, Tian Yu drove to a labor protection supplies store and bought a series of supplies including cold-proof helmets, masks, protective shoes, earmuffs, explosion-proof shields, riot-proof steel forks, etc. She then bought a few kitchen knives, and finally she bought a large amount of alcohol.

After last night's system unlocking prompt and the black shadow, she was sure that the days ahead would not be just about keeping warm, and she might face more unknown risks.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Tian Yu took out his spare phone and dialed Aunt Zhang's number in a hoarse voice.

After a few rings, Aunt Zhang's energetic voice came from the other end: "Hello? Who is it?"

"Hello, I am an employee of Haozai Lai Fresh Supermarket. Today we are holding an event to scan the QR code to receive free eggs. First come, first served!"

After hanging up the phone, Tian Yu waited in the car. After a while, he saw Aunt Zhang walking out of the iron gate in a hurry.

It seems that the black shadow last night did not cause any harm to Aunt Zhang's family. So what was his purpose in sneaking into Aunt Zhang's house?

Recalling the information of the family who originally lived downstairs from his house, Tian Yu used his backup phone to call the nearby housing rental company again.

"Oh, that house was just rented out the day before yesterday. Why don't you look at other ones? The prices are similar and they're newer than the one you asked about."

In order to save trouble, many houses in his building are listed with nearby housing rental companies. They are all old neighbors for many years and have some trust in each other. After hanging up the phone, Tian Yu had some guesses in his mind about the mysterious man on the fourth floor.

Was it just a coincidence that she rented it out on the day when the countdown for the novice dungeon was triggered? She couldn't help but have some associations in her mind. There couldn't be so many coincidences in this world. Even if there were, it couldn't be as weird as last night.

Opening the notebook, Tian Yu carefully recorded the current information——

【9.21 Information Summary

1. The dungeon environment is a natural disaster (snowstorm);

2. The host has a task to complete;

3. I was being targeted (for unknown reasons, or related to the copy);

4. Information collection and inference before the copy is opened will trigger progress unlocking, which can confirm some speculations (other effects are unknown);

5. Perhaps there is an unknown force that violates science or common sense, which must come from the system (doubtful). 】

Considering that the surveillance camera did not capture any special images last night, Tian Yu wrote down the fifth speculation with some doubt.

At this moment, an electronic sound rang out——