The Walk-in Closet Safehouse CH4
Chapter 4: Infection Warning
The heart-pounding sound of the door being bashed in vanished, replaced by a mess of shouting and footsteps. Inside the apartment, Liu Yue and Wang Zhiqiu breathed a sigh of relief. They had just explained in the neighborhood group chat that they didn't know the person banging on their door. They had originally planned to wait forty minutes like the owner of Unit 703, but now that someone from upstairs was coming down to chase the intruder off, it was even better. Neither of them intended to stop it; they just found it strange that Cui Ye had sent messages trying to keep the male owner of 1601 from coming out.
Wang Zhiqiu assumed Cui Ye was just worried about a fight. She patted Cui Ye’s shoulder to comfort her. "I’ve run into the guy from 1601 a few times. He’s over six feet tall and built like a bear. Just standing there, he’s like a brick wall. That coward harassing us at midnight will probably go weak in the knees the second he sees him."
Liu Yue didn't say anything. Though she felt Sister Wang was right, something felt off, even if she couldn't put her finger on it. She kept her eyes glued to the door, neither of them noticing when Cui Ye slipped back into her bedroom.
In her room, Cui Ye was rummaging through her things. She hadn't explained herself to her roommates because their reactions had confirmed a suspicion: she was the only one who had triggered the mission.
[Random Mission: Kill the Intruder (Pending Acceptance)]
The mission had appeared the moment she spotted the figure through the peephole. That was likely the trigger condition. Cui Ye hadn't accepted it immediately because she wasn't sure if there was a penalty for failing. She still knew too little about the game's rules and had to act with caution.
Stepping back out, Cui Ye looked through the peephole again. The red danger prompt had vanished; it seemed the "danger" had been lured away by a new target.
She hoped the intruder was just some drunk idiot, but clearly, now that the apocalypse was here, anomalies couldn't be treated with common sense.
The fifteenth-floor hallway was exceptionally damp, with slanted rain drifting in from outside. It was only August, but the nighttime temperature had already plummeted below ten degrees Celsius.
The damp, cold air rapidly sapped body heat. The man who had been cursing and clutching a kitchen knife a second ago was now lying on the ground, his limbs twitching. He didn't even have time to scream for help before the figure from the corner snatched his life away, leaving him slumped on the floor with a broken neck.
In his final moments, the man saw a deformed human face. The features had vanished, and the entire face had split open like a tearing starfish. Rows of tiny fangs had easily snapped his neck; one could even see a squirming esophagus within the gaping, bloody maw.
The man’s wife, who had followed him out fearing he’d do something impulsive, caught sight of the monster feasting on her husband. She let out a piercing shriek and collapsed—it was unclear if she had tripped or simply fainted from terror. Attracted by the noise, the monster slowly looked up. Two bulging, greyish-white fish eyes locked onto the new prey. It immediately dropped its current meal and rose slowly to head toward her.
Crimson "saliva" dripped from its mouth, merging with the blood on the floor. All its attention was fixed on the fresh prey nearby, so much so that it didn't notice Cui Ye approaching until she was within two meters. Just as it began to turn, something pierced through its right eye socket. Sharp pain flared, but it was already too late to resist.
Squeltch. Something viscous dripped onto the face of the woman from 1601. The stench was so foul she nearly gagged up her dinner. She opened her eyes only to find a bloodless, dead fish-eye staring back at her. There was only one eye left on the creature because the other was currently on her face.
The woman, having just come to, lost consciousness again. Behind her protective mask, Cui Ye’s mouth opened and closed. Confirming the woman hadn't seen her face saved her the trouble of explaining herself—besides, she didn't consider herself much of a comforter.
She glanced at the mangled corpse in the pool of blood nearby. Now that the crisis was over, the urge to vomit surged up. However, her protective mask was a one-piece sealed unit; if she threw up now, she’d gross herself to death. She held it in.
Deeply repulsed by the mental image of her own vomit, Cui Ye’s eyes twitched. She increased the strength of her stirring hand until she was sure the monster’s brains were thoroughly scrambled. Only then did she pull the boning knife out. She considerately let the monster’s body fall to one side so it wouldn't land on the woman and scare her awake.
[Random Mission: Kill the Intruder (Completed)]
[Mission Reward: Gold Coin 2]
[Killed Level 1 Water Monster: Gold Coin 1]
The threat in the building was neutralized, and she had bagged three gold coins. A total victory.
Aside from the leopard print thermal leggings, the reason she was able to land a killing blow was because of the timely [Friendly Hint]
When she had plucked up the courage to push open the door and peek toward the stairs, a new prompt appeared: [Infancy: "Squishy"]
By the time Cui Ye arrived, the monster had already killed the man and was moving in on the woman. She didn't have time to hesitate. She instinctively aimed for the head; who knew if a creature with a serrated-chrysanthemum for a mouth kept its heart in the right place? At least she could see the brain.
She had used every ounce of her strength, terrified she wouldn't pierce the skull. Fortunately, just as the hint suggested, the blade went through without resistance.
Looking at the dead monster, Cui Ye avoided its horrific mouth and focused on its neck. There were several scales there—the kind you’d only find on a fish. She pressed the tip of her knife against a scale and found it only left a faint scratch. Recalling the "Infancy" stage in the prompt, a grim suspicion formed in her mind. She wiped her boning knife on the creature’s hospital gown; greyish stains smeared the First City Hospital logo.
The "Intruder" mission name made it clear: this monster wasn't a resident. It was a patient who had escaped from First City Hospital—the very place she had visited today. This brought the patient with Scale-Spot Disease back to mind. Just as she sank into thought...
Footsteps echoed from the stairs leading to the sixteenth floor. An elderly couple, seeing that their son and daughter-in-law hadn't returned and hearing the scream, realized something was wrong. They grabbed their grandchildren and knocked on the doors of the other two units on their floor. After some hesitation, the neighbors grabbed tools and came down together, stopping at the landing.
One of them peeked around the corner and locked eyes with Cui Ye, who was standing there in a raincoat holding a boning knife. Seeing two "corpses" at her feet, the man screamed and bolted. The others behind him were spooked as well; assuming a murderer was about to silence them, they scrambled back to their homes.
Confused, Cui Ye watched the figures vanish. Once she was sure it was safe, she put the boning knife into a zip-lock bag and sealed it, planning to disinfect it thoroughly for future use.
Originally, she was worried these monsters carried a virus and didn't want to bring the knife back, but she didn't have to worry about that anymore. She was already infected.
[Infected by unknown virus. Infection level: 1%]
When Cui Ye returned to the rental, she saw two terrified faces. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who had received the prompt.
Wang Zhiqiu: "Were you guys infected too?"
They compared notes. Wang Zhiqiu and Cui Ye were both at one percent, while Liu Yue was at two. This discovery sent Liu Yue into a panic. "I haven't stepped out of the house all day! Why am I infected, and why is my number higher than yours?!"
Cui Ye and Wang Zhiqiu didn't know either. If they were infected, there had to be a source. Cui Ye had assumed she got the prompt because of her proximity to the monster, but her roommates were infected too. Since one of them had a higher level than her, it likely wasn't contact-based. So, what was the cause?
As she pondered, her roommates asked about the situation outside. They had no idea what had happened.
Earlier, when Wang Zhiqiu saw Cui Ye head out alone in a black raincoat, she had hesitated to follow. Then she heard the scream, the thud of something hitting the ground, and later, men’s voices and frantic footsteps. There had been no sound of a struggle. Seeing Cui Ye return unscathed only made Wang Zhiqiu more confused.
The boning knife sat quietly at Cui Ye’s waist, hidden by the black raincoat. No one would notice it. Cui Ye reported the situation truthfully: "Someone died out there. There's blood everywhere. I didn't dare get close. Someone from upstairs came down to check, but they were scared off too. We’ll probably have to wait for the police to handle it."
The two women inside hadn't expected someone to actually die. Hearing this, they instinctively looked at the security door. Wang Zhiqiu immediately went to double-lock it, while Liu Yue scrambled to find things to barricade the entrance.
By the time they finished reinforcing the door and turned around, Cui Ye was gone.
In her bedroom, Cui Ye locked her door and went into the bathroom. She cleaned the raincoat and the knife, then hung them up to drip-dry. In the enclosed bathroom, the humidity surged, and a second infection prompt soon appeared: [Infection level: 2%]. The effect was immediate.
Staring at the condensation on the bathroom walls, Cui Ye had her answer.
The endless rainy season, the mutated and lethal Scale-Spot Disease... the apocalypse had been unfolding for a long time. People just hadn't thought of it that way.
Cui Ye looked at the AC and dehumidifier running at full power in her room. This month, the power had already been cut three times for "area maintenance." If the power went out again, the infection level would likely skyrocket.
Only by living somewhere dry enough to seal out the moisture could one stop the infection from deepening. Furthermore, water exposed to the air could no longer be drunk. At that thought, her heart tightened. She only had two bottles of mineral water left.
Chapter Notes:
The heart-pounding sound of the door being bashed in vanished, replaced by a mess of shouting and footsteps. Inside the apartment, Liu Yue and Wang Zhiqiu breathed a sigh of relief. They had just explained in the neighborhood group chat that they didn't know the person banging on their door. They had originally planned to wait forty minutes like the owner of Unit 703, but now that someone from upstairs was coming down to chase the intruder off, it was even better. Neither of them intended to stop it; they just found it strange that Cui Ye had sent messages trying to keep the male owner of 1601 from coming out.
Wang Zhiqiu assumed Cui Ye was just worried about a fight. She patted Cui Ye’s shoulder to comfort her. "I’ve run into the guy from 1601 a few times. He’s over six feet tall and built like a bear. Just standing there, he’s like a brick wall. That coward harassing us at midnight will probably go weak in the knees the second he sees him."
Liu Yue didn't say anything. Though she felt Sister Wang was right, something felt off, even if she couldn't put her finger on it. She kept her eyes glued to the door, neither of them noticing when Cui Ye slipped back into her bedroom.
In her room, Cui Ye was rummaging through her things. She hadn't explained herself to her roommates because their reactions had confirmed a suspicion: she was the only one who had triggered the mission.
[Random Mission: Kill the Intruder (Pending Acceptance)]
The mission had appeared the moment she spotted the figure through the peephole. That was likely the trigger condition. Cui Ye hadn't accepted it immediately because she wasn't sure if there was a penalty for failing. She still knew too little about the game's rules and had to act with caution.
Stepping back out, Cui Ye looked through the peephole again. The red danger prompt had vanished; it seemed the "danger" had been lured away by a new target.
She hoped the intruder was just some drunk idiot, but clearly, now that the apocalypse was here, anomalies couldn't be treated with common sense.
The fifteenth-floor hallway was exceptionally damp, with slanted rain drifting in from outside. It was only August, but the nighttime temperature had already plummeted below ten degrees Celsius.
The damp, cold air rapidly sapped body heat. The man who had been cursing and clutching a kitchen knife a second ago was now lying on the ground, his limbs twitching. He didn't even have time to scream for help before the figure from the corner snatched his life away, leaving him slumped on the floor with a broken neck.
In his final moments, the man saw a deformed human face. The features had vanished, and the entire face had split open like a tearing starfish. Rows of tiny fangs had easily snapped his neck; one could even see a squirming esophagus within the gaping, bloody maw.
The man’s wife, who had followed him out fearing he’d do something impulsive, caught sight of the monster feasting on her husband. She let out a piercing shriek and collapsed—it was unclear if she had tripped or simply fainted from terror. Attracted by the noise, the monster slowly looked up. Two bulging, greyish-white fish eyes locked onto the new prey. It immediately dropped its current meal and rose slowly to head toward her.
Crimson "saliva" dripped from its mouth, merging with the blood on the floor. All its attention was fixed on the fresh prey nearby, so much so that it didn't notice Cui Ye approaching until she was within two meters. Just as it began to turn, something pierced through its right eye socket. Sharp pain flared, but it was already too late to resist.
Squeltch. Something viscous dripped onto the face of the woman from 1601. The stench was so foul she nearly gagged up her dinner. She opened her eyes only to find a bloodless, dead fish-eye staring back at her. There was only one eye left on the creature because the other was currently on her face.
The woman, having just come to, lost consciousness again. Behind her protective mask, Cui Ye’s mouth opened and closed. Confirming the woman hadn't seen her face saved her the trouble of explaining herself—besides, she didn't consider herself much of a comforter.
She glanced at the mangled corpse in the pool of blood nearby. Now that the crisis was over, the urge to vomit surged up. However, her protective mask was a one-piece sealed unit; if she threw up now, she’d gross herself to death. She held it in.
Deeply repulsed by the mental image of her own vomit, Cui Ye’s eyes twitched. She increased the strength of her stirring hand until she was sure the monster’s brains were thoroughly scrambled. Only then did she pull the boning knife out. She considerately let the monster’s body fall to one side so it wouldn't land on the woman and scare her awake.
[Random Mission: Kill the Intruder (Completed)]
[Mission Reward: Gold Coin 2]
[Killed Level 1 Water Monster: Gold Coin 1]
The threat in the building was neutralized, and she had bagged three gold coins. A total victory.
Aside from the leopard print thermal leggings, the reason she was able to land a killing blow was because of the timely [Friendly Hint]
When she had plucked up the courage to push open the door and peek toward the stairs, a new prompt appeared: [Infancy: "Squishy"]
By the time Cui Ye arrived, the monster had already killed the man and was moving in on the woman. She didn't have time to hesitate. She instinctively aimed for the head; who knew if a creature with a serrated-chrysanthemum for a mouth kept its heart in the right place? At least she could see the brain.
She had used every ounce of her strength, terrified she wouldn't pierce the skull. Fortunately, just as the hint suggested, the blade went through without resistance.
Looking at the dead monster, Cui Ye avoided its horrific mouth and focused on its neck. There were several scales there—the kind you’d only find on a fish. She pressed the tip of her knife against a scale and found it only left a faint scratch. Recalling the "Infancy" stage in the prompt, a grim suspicion formed in her mind. She wiped her boning knife on the creature’s hospital gown; greyish stains smeared the First City Hospital logo.
The "Intruder" mission name made it clear: this monster wasn't a resident. It was a patient who had escaped from First City Hospital—the very place she had visited today. This brought the patient with Scale-Spot Disease back to mind. Just as she sank into thought...
Footsteps echoed from the stairs leading to the sixteenth floor. An elderly couple, seeing that their son and daughter-in-law hadn't returned and hearing the scream, realized something was wrong. They grabbed their grandchildren and knocked on the doors of the other two units on their floor. After some hesitation, the neighbors grabbed tools and came down together, stopping at the landing.
One of them peeked around the corner and locked eyes with Cui Ye, who was standing there in a raincoat holding a boning knife. Seeing two "corpses" at her feet, the man screamed and bolted. The others behind him were spooked as well; assuming a murderer was about to silence them, they scrambled back to their homes.
Confused, Cui Ye watched the figures vanish. Once she was sure it was safe, she put the boning knife into a zip-lock bag and sealed it, planning to disinfect it thoroughly for future use.
Originally, she was worried these monsters carried a virus and didn't want to bring the knife back, but she didn't have to worry about that anymore. She was already infected.
[Infected by unknown virus. Infection level: 1%]
When Cui Ye returned to the rental, she saw two terrified faces. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who had received the prompt.
Wang Zhiqiu: "Were you guys infected too?"
They compared notes. Wang Zhiqiu and Cui Ye were both at one percent, while Liu Yue was at two. This discovery sent Liu Yue into a panic. "I haven't stepped out of the house all day! Why am I infected, and why is my number higher than yours?!"
Cui Ye and Wang Zhiqiu didn't know either. If they were infected, there had to be a source. Cui Ye had assumed she got the prompt because of her proximity to the monster, but her roommates were infected too. Since one of them had a higher level than her, it likely wasn't contact-based. So, what was the cause?
As she pondered, her roommates asked about the situation outside. They had no idea what had happened.
Earlier, when Wang Zhiqiu saw Cui Ye head out alone in a black raincoat, she had hesitated to follow. Then she heard the scream, the thud of something hitting the ground, and later, men’s voices and frantic footsteps. There had been no sound of a struggle. Seeing Cui Ye return unscathed only made Wang Zhiqiu more confused.
The boning knife sat quietly at Cui Ye’s waist, hidden by the black raincoat. No one would notice it. Cui Ye reported the situation truthfully: "Someone died out there. There's blood everywhere. I didn't dare get close. Someone from upstairs came down to check, but they were scared off too. We’ll probably have to wait for the police to handle it."
The two women inside hadn't expected someone to actually die. Hearing this, they instinctively looked at the security door. Wang Zhiqiu immediately went to double-lock it, while Liu Yue scrambled to find things to barricade the entrance.
By the time they finished reinforcing the door and turned around, Cui Ye was gone.
In her bedroom, Cui Ye locked her door and went into the bathroom. She cleaned the raincoat and the knife, then hung them up to drip-dry. In the enclosed bathroom, the humidity surged, and a second infection prompt soon appeared: [Infection level: 2%]. The effect was immediate.
Staring at the condensation on the bathroom walls, Cui Ye had her answer.
The endless rainy season, the mutated and lethal Scale-Spot Disease... the apocalypse had been unfolding for a long time. People just hadn't thought of it that way.
Cui Ye looked at the AC and dehumidifier running at full power in her room. This month, the power had already been cut three times for "area maintenance." If the power went out again, the infection level would likely skyrocket.
Only by living somewhere dry enough to seal out the moisture could one stop the infection from deepening. Furthermore, water exposed to the air could no longer be drunk. At that thought, her heart tightened. She only had two bottles of mineral water left.
Chapter Notes:
- 脆皮 (Cuìpí): Translated as Squishy. Literally "crispy skin." In gaming, this refers to a character with high damage but very low health/defense.
- 幼年期 (Yòunián qī): Infancy / Juvenile stage. Suggests the monster is just a "baby" and will get much harder to kill later.
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