Autophagy

"So, It went like this..."

Song Lei explained all of the things that happened back in room 1408.

"So you made one ghost fight the other... Truly an ingenious idea," Old Wolf said while sighing. He got up and started pacing back and forth while holding his chin with one of his hands.

"So? What about my punishment? Aren't you going to explain?" Song Lei asked while crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh yeah... About that," Old Wolf started talking. He sat back down and put his elbows on the table. "You're going to be going on expeditions from now on."

"And?" Song Lei asked while leaning back in his chair. "That means..?"

"You have to go upstairs once every 2 days for 3 hours. We'll send an overseer to make sure that you're doing your duties. You have to gather knowledge about the floors. Note down any danger that might be lurking up there and somehow return back alive," Old Wolf explained.

"Is it really that dangerous?"

"It's actually much more dangerous than that. Especially after the 14th floor," Old Wolf said while tapping his finger on the table. "Do you remember the stuff I told you about the 15th floor? Becoming a tenant of this apartment is not the most dangerous thing as you can easily avoid that by not lingering around there."

"Oh? Then what is it?" Song Lei asked while leaning forward.

"Every unconquered floor has a guardian spirit to it. Normally, at least 1 combat-oriented and 1 specialist members are needed to beat it. But you'll be facing it on your own," Old Wolf spoke in one breath. "And that's still not all. The floor you'll be exploring is not 15 but 16. We have no idea about The Hell floors."

"I remember you mentioning it," Song Lei said while bouncing his leg.

"Good," Old Wolf praised. He took a little handbook out of his pocket. "Here. Take this. This contains the information we have that could help you out. Some of the members may want you to die but some want to see you alive and well."

Song Lei took the handbook and looked at the cover. The words "How To Survive In The Shittiest Place Ever" were written on it as a title. Song Lei smirked. 'I wonder who thought of this...'

He smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Old Wolf got up from his chair. "You can leave this stuff for after your punishment is over. We are on the 7th floor. You can go now," he said.

Song Lei nodded without saying anything and left the room. The hallway was already empty. 'They must've returned to their floors.' Song Lei thought of Xu Chang and Damien. He had been in grave need of human company. Although they were a bit weird, they had definitely satisfied Song Lei's needs.

*Smack!

Song Lei slapped himself in the cheeks. He went to the staircase and looked at the number written on the wall. 'This is the 7th floor. I have to climb 7 more floors...'

Song Lei sighed. The staircase itself was incredibly dangerous because of the ghosts around it. If he overstepped the boundaries drawn by the branch members, he would die instantly. He started climbing the stairs...

...

"Huff... Huf..." Song Lei wiped his sweat with his hand and entered room 1407. He wasn't sure how long he had been away. 'I hope my the quake demon is fine...'

Song Lei closed the door behind him and looked around the room. There wasn't anything out of place. He focused around the room and found that the quake demon was still sitting in its corner without making a noise.

*CLASH!

'Oh god...'

*CLASH

"Ugh..."

After feeding the toilet demon, Song Lei gulped down some noodles. According to Old Wolf, the tap water of the apartment was actually clean and drinkable.

He took a long-needed shower in room 1401. Albeit the goo that was left on the walls, the bathroom was relatively clean. He found some clothes of Xiang Yimu and wore them. The ones he was wearing were very uncomfortable and battered.

After changing his clothes, Song Lei started reading the handbook that was given to him by Old Wolf. The handbook was written in a casual manner. Song Lei kept reading the handbook and memorized the stuff in it.

It was already late at night when he finished reading half the handbook. Although it didn't have a lot, it contained some very important information. For example, according to what was written in the handbook, some rations would spawn in cleared rooms from time to time. No one knew why this happened. This was their only way of gathering food. Since there was no sunlight in the apartment, they couldn't grow their own food.

Song Lei had asked about the outside back in the meeting. The fact was, even the oldest person, Old Wolf hadn't gone out before. According to what he said, their alliance leader had suddenly shown up and formed a branch there. Back then, Old Wolf was the only person who was in the apartment. The alliance leader told him to never leave the apartment and remove the barricades on the windows. He taught him how to make talismans on his own and told him to slowly clear the apartment from ghosts. He ordered him to grow the branch by recruiting newbie lost ones.

Song Lei closed the book and laid down on his bed after turning the lights off...

...

He was woken up by a quiet knocking on the door. He jumped out of his bed and shuffled to the door. When he looked through the peephole, he saw Damien standing in front of the door. He slowly pulled the door open.

"Hey, dude! How's it going?" Damien said loudly.

"Fuck! Come in," Song Lei whispered while pulling Damien inside. After closing the door, he continued. "Why the hell are you shouting in the middle of the hallway?"

Damien looked at Song Lei for some time and tilted his head.

"Oh right! This floor is not cleaned yet! Sorry sorry," Damien apologized while scratching his head. "In the lower floors, the horde doesn't activate as easily as it does here. And I was a bit too excited to see you!"

Song Lei raised one of his brows.

"Sorry. I don't have anything to serve you here. As I'm a bit short on food," he said. The room started shaking as the quake demon got agitated because of Damien. Song Lei calmed the demon down by giving it some meat and sat on his bed before asking, "So? Why are you here?"

Damien pulled a chair and sat down. "No problem. I'm here to oversee you. Old Wolf must've mentioned it. Right?"

Song Lei nodded and kept looking at him.

"Great." Damien nodded. "Dude! I'm really jealous you know? I wish I could be in your place!" He said while smiling. Song Lei frowned in response.

"What do you mean..?" He asked.

"What do I mean..?" Damien started talking. "I'm saying that I want to be the one to go on the expedition! Think about it. The thrill of exploring unknown grounds, the adrenaline that fills your veins when you face a fatal dang-!"

"Okay, I understand!" Song Lei said while facepalming. "You are going to be overseeing me for the expedition right? What am I supposed to do?"

"It's very basic! I will wait on the 14th-floor staircase. You will go up and draw a map with important information about the floor. You will also find some red balls scattered in the hallway. Try to collect as much as you can," Damien said. He gave a notebook and pen to Song Lei and continued, "but to do this, you'll have to defeat the floor's guardian spirit," Damien explained.

"So? How do I beat a guardian spirit? Do I just hit it till it dies?" Song Lei asked.

"Not really. Guardians usually have very peculiar special abilities with little to no killing power. That doesn't mean that they're not dangerous though."

"Really? What can they do?"

"These guardian spirits have their own dream spaces that they will pull you into. What matters there is how strong your mind and soul are," Damien said. He licked his dry lips and continued. "You can think of it as a game that you'll become a tenant of the apartment if you don't win. What happens inside, how long does it take, it all depends on the guardian spirit," said Damien.

He was becoming more and more serious while he continued. "One thing to note is the fact that it takes no more than 5 minutes in real life. I've heard that Old Wolf has lived for two years in a dream space. He had almost forgotten he was in the dream space. The problem is, it had only been three minutes since the dream had started when he finished it."

"I see. So I'm walking into some ghost's mind to fight him off. That sounds great..." Song Lei complained sarcastically. He grabbed his cursed knife, wore his backpack, and spoke. "Then there's no need to wait anymore. Lead the way...."

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