As soon as he stepped onto the fourth floor, Xiao Gui'an understood what the clue meant by footsteps.

Light yet somehow heavy, chaotic and disorderly, with faint children's playful laughter echoing in the empty corridor, stirring up cool breezes as if small figures were running past.

Large patches of yellowed walls had peeled off, revealing the dark, blood-red base color underneath.

If they calculated the time now, it was already approaching 7 PM. The sky had grown darker, and the corridor's light would be completely devoured in the final twenty-something minutes.

The hint only mentioned this floor but didn't specify which room.

What kind of ghost or monster might emerge if they knocked on doors outside the instance dungeon?

Xu Zisheng moved closer, rummaged through some garbage and clutter beside several doors, glanced around, then stood up and said to Xiao Gui'an, "Let's check 3B303 and 3B304 first, choose one of the two."

Huh? Why?

Aren't you here for the first time? Why do you seem more familiar with this than me?

The garbage and clutter always contained some information, and the blood-stained shoes of varying sizes on the shoe rack by the two left-side apartments also indicated something.

Plus, when he was searching for those ghost children downstairs earlier, he had briefly observed the balconies of residential buildings where he could see the situation.

Also, in this Sunshine Residential Area, the left side faced the sun, so generally the lighting would be better, and that ghost child's home earlier was also on the left side.

Although Xu Zisheng didn't think ghosts needed to worry about reading and writing, perhaps it was the ridiculous twisted humor of whatever mastermind was behind all this.

Clearly no longer part of the human world, yet still maintaining these disguises.

"Calm your mind, observe more."

Although they might only meet this once, Xu Zisheng genuinely hoped Xiao Gui'an could learn some principles for surviving in the horror game world.

After hearing Xu Zisheng's explanation, Xiao Gui'an once again felt how truly meticulous and careful he was.

Tsk tsk—

No wonder I can't be the protagonist, only qualified to play NPCs. It really takes extraordinary qualities to shoulder such a heavy responsibility.

All he could do was act and write scripts.

But actually, Xiao Gui'an's peculiar thought processes and his tendency to self-interpret everything were quite remarkable in their own way.

This time, Xiao Gui'an didn't speak his thoughts directly. Instead, staying in character as [Gui Yi], he muttered, "Alright, alright, you're really amazing."

"Mm, I am amazing." Xu Zisheng took Gui Yi's somewhat unconvinced and sarcastic remark quite well, even wearing a faint smile.

Just based on the genuine positive emotion points [Gui Yi] was currently providing, Xu Zisheng planned to give him a hand in the horror game.

Hmm—

Xiao Gui'an subtly glanced at him several times with suspicion.

This kind of reaction again?

So troublesome.

Before figuring out what kind of judgment mechanisms Xu Zisheng had, Xiao Gui'an felt he needed to be more restrained, otherwise his character portrayal might deviate.

But maybe he was just being too sensitive. After all, someone capable of bearing an entire world in a place like this was already not normal, separated from madness by only a thin line.

Or perhaps the other party was already mad, which was why he couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.

All smiles now, but wouldn't he suddenly pull out a knife and stab me later?

White blade in, red blade out.

For the first time, Xiao Gui'an felt somewhat unconfident about his acting skills.

[Proxy System, Proxy System, how do you think I'm performing?]

Xiao Gui'an called out in his mind.

The cold, rigid mechanical voice replied, [Host's performance is flawless. Analysis of your micro-expressions and movements shows no vulnerabilities whatsoever. You have completely presented your established student Gui Yi character in the game. Host need not worry, please continue your performance.]

[That's not right, I keep feeling he's strange. As the protagonist, he must have some unimaginable methods, right? You won't be discovered, will you?]

[Host need not worry about this matter. Additionally, the system has no permission to query the other party's abilities and attributes. You only need to properly perform your self-established student and writer identities.]

[Your judgment regarding the student identity cognition is correct and hasn't deviated from the world's basic assessment. As a cannon fodder NPC, guide the protagonist, contrast the protagonist, finally do something stupid, block a knife, backstab and reap what you sow are all acceptable. Once host completes the performance task, it's done.]

[Speaking of which, why can't you just directly give me all the game information?]

[Based on previous data analysis, this is the most successful performance method. Omniscience and complete ignorance are both undesirable. So-called omniscience leads to foolishness and arrogance, while complete ignorance is even less suitable.]

[However, host, you could be considered completely ignorant in another sense.]

Xiao Gui'an felt these performance rules had some substance to them.

Neither all-knowing nor completely ignorant.

You're both within the script and outside the stage.

As if performing a grand play for someone to watch.

As for what the Proxy System said about him, it referred to him arriving half a day early yet failing to uncover much information.

Xiao Gui'an didn't mind this point.

[I don't think that's my fault. They were just too introverted, it's normal for them to be somewhat wary of a new resident like me.]

[I'll definitely get familiar with them later!]

Xiao Gui'an thought with conviction.

It wasn't the final moment yet. Maybe Xu Zisheng was just better at keeping composure, but had already figured out how to deal with [Gui Yi] in his heart.

That made sense.

He needed to be careful, otherwise if one move went wrong and he really got taken down by the other party, the loss would outweigh the gain.

"Between these two, you pick one."

"Then this one with the character 'Fu' pasted on it." Xiao Gui'an pointed at 3B303. If they opened the wrong door, he could implement the backstabbing move, pushing Xu Zisheng out to block the knife.

If they encountered something too troublesome, he could run away then return in ghost form, pretending to have grudges against other ghosts, creating an opportunity for Xu Zisheng to escape.

When he ghostified later, he'd do some slight disguise—Xu Zisheng definitely wouldn't recognize him. After sending him off, he could find an opportunity to leave.

If they opened the right door, that was fine too. The second round would come soon anyway, and he'd have plenty of chances to make his move.

"Creak—" The door of 3B303 slowly opened, revealing a somewhat short figure through the half-open door.

The other wore a frilly dress full of wrinkles, a long-faded apron, and held a rusty kitchen knife dripping with blood. The sound of something stewing could faintly be heard from inside the room.

"Is there something you need?"

The short woman asked softly, her head lowered, steadily holding the kitchen knife, not looking at the two people standing outside the door.

"Hello, sister. We're new electricians here for routine inspections door-to-door. We were wondering if we could come in and take a look."

Xu Zisheng smiled with amiability, speaking with sincere words.

The short woman shook her head, refusing, "Not needed. Our home is fine. Please go to other homes."

She tried to close the door, but Xu Zisheng raised his hand to block it. After struggling several times without being able to close the door, she finally realized something was wrong.

The short woman slowly raised her head, revealing a malnourished face. Her eye sockets were deeply sunken, many parts of her face had purplish-blue and black marks, and her lips were chapped.

Xiao Gui'an peeked from behind Xu Zisheng. The wounds on the other's nose bridge and mouth corner seemed freshly added, probably recent injuries.

Were they caused by game players?

Or—Xiao Gui'an slightly frowned—were ghost NPCs also engaging in worldly domestic violence?

Xu Zisheng also noticed the wounds on the other's face, his eyes darkening slightly, but he remained unflustered as he said, "When we were downstairs earlier, we saw several children playing games. We met a playful child named Xiao Qiao..."

That name seemed to touch a nerve in her. Her somewhat timid expression softened a little, and her eyes seemed to gain a bit of light. "Then... you may come in..."

They actually chose correctly?!