WTNL Chapter 42 [Arc 3]

Thank you ‘Lou’ for the Ko-fi~

Antai Community
Chapter 42: Goddess of luck’s blessing

Wen Jianyan once again returned to that live broadcast waiting room full of cameras and transparent compartments.

Before the next instance began, he hurried to check his backpack.

The [Xiaojie’s Tooth] obtained in the Decai Middle School instance had already been used, and as for [Mr. Mirror], Wen Jianyan still hadn’t figured out its use, so he could only temporarily leave it in his backpack.

The two items obtained in the Fukang Private General Hospital were also placed into the backpack.

[Lin Qing’s Medical License (Hard-level item in the Fukang Private General Hospital instance)
Effect: Blocks one fatal attack.
Note: The streamer obtained Lin Qing’s Blessing, the item effect enhanced: Gain a one-minute invincibility effect after use]

The quantity below the medical license was *1, meaning this was a single-use consumable item.

[Holy Infant’s Remains * Slumbering (Epic-level item in the Fukang Private General Hospital instance)
Effect: Awaken the Holy Infant, gain the identity of the Mother of the World for 30S]
[LV1]
[Permanently bound to streamer: Wen Jianyan]

There was no quantity indicated below the Holy Infant, only a very long cooldown bar.

This was an extremely rare growth-type item in Nightmare, and this Holy Infant’s Remains he obtained was the rarest of the rare. Not only would it not be consumed, but it was also permanently bound to the streamer; it couldn’t be dropped, nor could it be snatched away.

At the very least, Wen Jianyan had never heard of a second similar item existing up until now.

He touched the Holy Infant in the void with his fingertips, a trace of inadvertent gentleness flashing through his eyes.

[Apple Seedling: LV2]

[Flower of Breaking Illusions: Developing]

[Fruit of Lies: Developing]

The blood-red countdown in the void had thirty seconds left.

The lively voice of the little assistant came to his ear:

“The amount of points a D-rank streamer can bring into the instance is: 5,000 points. Please spend sparingly, streamer, and strive to survive!”

This was much better than E-rank, which could only bring in 1,000 points. At least he could buy a life-saving item or redeem fifty minutes of survival time. The fault tolerance rate was much higher than before.

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and closed the backpack interface.

During this period of time, wearing various appearances, he mingled and inquired among various low-level and mid-level guilds, learning a lot of valuable information.

However, the specific information and plot inside the instances always remained a secret.

Obviously, the Nightmare live broadcast room had a very strict set of “anti-spoiler” rules. Not only could streamers not watch live broadcasts, but they also wouldn’t enter the same instances, and the system would severely punish streamers who leaked instance plots or contents. Therefore, no streamer could know the contents of the next instance in advance.

However, the modes of instances below C-rank were basically fixed. Streamers only needed to avoid various death rules, maintain the live broadcast, and clear the instance by redeeming survival time. As long as they didn’t think about collecting hidden items or changing the plot, the difficulty of surviving generally wouldn’t be too great.

But instances at C+ rank and above were different.

The instance modes would become more flexible, demanding, and varied. For example, the team-hunting battle opened in the last instance was one of these unique modes. In this kind of instance, although survival time was still important, if the tasks weren’t completed, one would still face a fatal crisis even if they had enough survival time.

Due to rank restrictions, and also to avoid being targeted again by members of Dark Fire, the streamers Wen Jianyan interacted with were basically around his own rank, D-rank, with the highest being C-. Therefore, his understanding of instances C+ and above was not deep.

But it didn’t matter.

D-rank streamers could only enter C-rank instances at most.

After having a thorough understanding of the rules, Wen Jianyan was very confident about entering the instance this time.

The experience he summarized could be simply summed up in three words:

Don’t court death.

As long as he didn’t arbitrarily increase the plot deviation out of boredom, given the current popularity of Wen Jianyan’s live broadcast room, passing a D-rank or even C-rank instance would be absolutely secure.

There was absolutely no need to worry!

However, before Wen Jianyan could put his mind at ease, he heard that mechanical female voice ring in his ear again:

“Ding! Due to the streamer’s brilliant performance in the last instance, a B-level instance will be specially opened for you!”

“We hope the streamer will keep up the good work and continue to enhance the viewers’ watching experience!”

Wen Jianyan: “……………………”

Ah?

[Welcome to the Nightmare Live Broadcast Room; the next live broadcast will begin immediately.]

[Our motto is—Entertainment to Death!]

__

Wen Jianyan’s eyelids trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Noisy, highly life-like sounds entered his ears. Crowds flowed endlessly—the elderly, children, men, and women. Laughter, shouting, talking… countless streams of sound mixed together, rushing at him like a massive, clamorous wave, enveloping him completely.

The sudden change from extreme silence to extreme noise in his ears created a stark contrast that left Wen Jianyan unable to collect himself for a moment.

He blinked. After a brief period of bewilderment and blankness, his vision slowly focused.

He realized that he was standing right in the middle of a fresh food market.

The sun was setting in the west.

A faint red afterglow spilled into the old-fashioned market. On both sides were simple stalls—vegetables, meat, cooked food… The crowd flowed ceaselessly around him. Students after school, office workers just off work, and white-haired elders—they stopped and went, buying what they needed for dinner. Everything was full of the breath of everyday life.

Wen Jianyan was a bit dazed, even momentarily doubting if he was in the real world.

The mechanical voice ringing in his ear pulled him back from his stupor:

“Welcome streamer to the B-level instance [Antai Community]. This instance is a role-playing limited-time instance with a duration of 12 hours. Streamer, please check your identity card promptly and complete the main quest.

Note: The main quest in this instance must be completed; otherwise, it will be judged as a live broadcast failure and the live broadcast room will be closed.”

…B-level.

The corner of Wen Jianyan’s eye twitched slightly.

He was just preparing to turn over a new leaf and be a good streamer who fishes in troubled waters to pad out his time, but as a result, he was directly thrown by the system into this “role-playing limited-time instance” that he had completely no experience with…

So he was definitely being targeted, right!

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh the dog scammer started broadcasting!]

[Good heavens, B-level instance, this difficulty is jumping way too fast!]

[But [Antai Community] is alright; it’s considered on the lower difficulty side for instances of this level.]

[That’s right, this instance is quite friendly to streamers who have just ranked up, and every streamer’s initial survival time is fixed. As long as you don’t draw those few high-difficulty identity cards, you generally won’t be completely doomed right off the bat.]

[Hahahahaha true, I remember there’s an identity card with a super high death rate in this instance. Basically not a single streamer has survived past the first few quests after getting this identity.]

[Yeah yeah yeah, I think it’s a paranormal investigator streamer, right? I’m dying of laughter, that identity card is truly something else, encountering paranormal events is a guaranteed death wish, and that main quest really just traps people to death.]

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, ground his back teeth resentfully, and pulled out his phone from his pocket.

The phone this time was much more advanced than the one distributed by the system in Fukang Hospital. The props handed out to streamers by the Nightmare Live Broadcast Room clearly varied according to the era of the instance.

However, the prompts popping up on the screen were exactly the same.

[Since there are many NPCs in this instance, to ensure the quality of your live broadcast, the Nightmare Backend APP service will be opened for you.]

[Please keep up the good work and create a more thrilling and novel viewing experience for the audience!]

Wen Jianyan skillfully tapped open the Nightmare icon on the phone.

[Identity Card]
Name: Wu Qinghe
Age: 22
Occupation: Paranormal Investigator Streamer
Related Plot: Unlocking

[Initial survival time has been allocated: 5:00:00]

A wave of “…” floated across the “Integrity First” live broadcast room.

[…]

[…Sure enough, not surprised at all.]

[Hahahahahaha I’m dying of laughter; it’s actually you!]

[Because there’s no difference in initial time, he crashed and burned on the identity card! Hahahahahahaha I really shouldn’t have expected the slightest bit of luck from the streamer!]

Completely unaware of this, Wen Jianyan felt his spirits lift.

Five hours!

Hell yeah!

This was his first time starting with such a high survival time! Could it be that the Goddess of Luck was finally smiling upon him?!

Wen Jianyan’s confidence instantly soared, his entire body filled with drive.

His gaze fell on the “Related Plot” column.

This time, the related plot on the identity card was no longer [Not Yet Unlocked] but had become [Unlocking]. Could this be the difference between a role-playing limited-time instance and a regular limited-time instance?

Under his thoughtful gaze, the related plot on the identity card slowly emerged:

[Your name is Wu Qinghe, a contracted paranormal investigator streamer on a platform. Recently, you heard that multiple paranormal events occurred in the Antai Community. Therefore, on July 14th, you brought your equipment here, preparing to shoot footage for your new video “Ghost Festival”.]

The main quests had refreshed.

[Main Quest 1: Move into Antai Community within two hours]
[Completion: 0%]

[Main Quest 2: Go to Room 1304 to film; the filming duration must not be less than ten minutes.]
[Completion: 0%]

Wen Jianyan stared at his phone screen, deep in thought.

The term “move into” was crucial.

Not just enter, but move into.

In other words, he had to live in this complex, rather than simply going inside.

For Wu Qinghe, a paranormal investigator streamer, this would probably be a bit difficult.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[I went next door to peek at the live broadcast rooms of the other streamers. Most of their identity cards are residents inside the Antai Community, and they’ve basically all started exploring the map now. Only our poor dog scammer is miserably locked outside the map by himself, still having to find a way to move in. I’m dying of laughter.]

[Hahahahahahaha it’s truly too tragic.]

[But it’s fine; the first quest shouldn’t be too hard anyway. I remember there are rental ads pasted right at the entrance of the Antai complex, right? As long as the streamer uses points to exchange for some cash and then talks to the apartment manager, it should be no problem.]

While the live broadcast room was chatting lively, Wen Jianyan made a move that exceeded everyone’s expectations.

He raised his eyes, quickly swept his gaze across the market in front of him, and then walked towards a specific direction with extreme purpose.

The proprietress of the pork stall was chopping pork bones on a cutting board with a sharp cleaver. Scarlet blood trickled down the deeply scarred board; her movements were brisk and skillful.

“Hello.”

Just then, a young man’s voice rang out from above: “Excuse me… could you give me a piece of paper?”

The other party truly had a good voice—clear, gentle, and polite. Even in the chaotic market, it drew attention like a clear spring.

The proprietress subconsciously looked up.

A young man was standing in front of the stall, his hands awkwardly spread out. His slender, fair palms were stained with blood smeared from the front of the stall. “Sorry, I accidentally rubbed against a bit just now…”

His appearance was truly outstanding—handsome features, a tall and slender figure, and the clothes he wore were equally clean and decent, making the little bit of dirt on his hands look all the more glaring.

His eyes were lowered somewhat bashfully, rippling with a gentle light in the setting sun. Being intently gazed at by such a pair of eyes made it almost impossible for anyone to harbor the slightest thought of rejection.

The proprietress’s face flushed slightly.

“No problem, young man, wait a moment.”

She wiped her palms on her apron, turned her head to search the stall, but found that the roll of toilet paper placed on the counter just a moment ago had somehow disappeared.

The proprietress hesitated, then pointed to the light yellow oil paper next to her used for wrapping pork:

“I wonder if this will do?”

“Of course.”

Wen Jianyan smiled, pressing his lips together, and took the oil paper from her with his clean hand. “Thank you very much.”

Before turning around and leaving the pork stall, he pulled out the toilet paper he had filched from her counter, tore off a piece, carefully wiped off the blood he had deliberately smeared on his hand, and threw it into the trash can.

Following that, the young man folded and tore the light yellow oil paper. His slender, fair fingers fluttered skillfully, easily folding the paper into the shape he wanted.

He folded three in a row, put the folded items in his pocket, turned around, and walked toward the entrance of the Antai Community.

Knock, knock, knock.

The security guard’s window was tapped lightly from the outside.

“…Who is it? Who is it?”

The security guard was a middle-aged man in his fifties. He pushed open the greasy window and poked his head out. There were dark circles of sleep deprivation under his eyes, and he looked irritable and uneasy:

“What do you want? Visitor registration?”

“No, I’m not a visitor.”

Wen Jianyan retracted his gaze that had been cast into the complex, turning his head to look fixedly at the guard in front of him.

The young man before him looked exceptionally youthful, and both his clothing and appearance were very decent. His responses were refined, courteous, and very polite.

However, an unusually calm glimmer flickered in his eyes. Right now, he was staring unblinkingly, making the guard inexplicably feel a bit creeped out: “Then what are you here for?”

Wen Jianyan took a step forward, pulled out a folded, pale yellow paper coin from his pocket, and gently placed it on the windowsill.

The guard’s expression didn’t look too good: “What do you mean by this?”

“Before 12 o’clock tonight, burn this at the corner of the 13th-floor stairwell where the light disappears, and mix it with wine to drink.”

The young man lowered his voice, instructing word by word:

“But this is not a method to break the curse. Remember, you cannot stay here for long. Go as far away as possible, and do not come back.”

After saying that, he took a step back: “Goodbye. I wish you well.”

Wen Jianyan turned around and walked away from the complex without any hesitation.

He silently counted the seconds in his heart.

“10, 9, 8…”

Very quickly, heavy panting sounds came from behind: “Wait, wait!”

The guard’s voice was panicked and hurried as he slapped a hand onto Wen Jianyan’s shoulder: “Little brother, you wait!”

The corners of Wen Jianyan’s lips curled up slightly, leaving no trace.

He turned his head and asked with feigned confusion: “What’s wrong?”

“You… how did you…”

The guard steadied his body, his eyes shifting uneasily, subconsciously lowering his voice: “What do you know?”

“I’m just passing by.”

Wen Jianyan shook his head, his expression calm.

He took a deep breath, his gaze unconsciously darting toward the Antai Community, and then swiftly withdrew it as if he were highly wary:

“I was just helping out in passing; you don’t need to take it to heart.”

“But…”

He paused.

The guard subconsciously held his breath: “But what?”

“It’s nothing.” Wen Jianyan sighed again and looked up at the gradually darkening sky, a trace of heaviness coloring his eyes. “Tonight is the Ghost Festival. I must take my leave.”

He stopped talking and turned to leave.

“Don’t go, don’t go!” The guard anxiously grabbed Wen Jianyan’s arm. His attitude had done a complete 180-degree turn, now earnest and sincere: “Little brother, you… you look like a master. Recently, recently, this complex indeed…”

He stealthily looked left and right, and after confirming there was no one around listening, he said cautiously:

“Some weird things have been happening.”

“It’s a bit inconvenient to talk here. I wonder if you would be willing to… go inside to chat?” The guard asked nervously.

A trace of a smile flickered through Wen Jianyan’s eyes.

Excellent, he took the bait.

In just a few short minutes, he had already quickly sized up the entire interior of the guardhouse.

Five Emperor Coins were hung by the window; the hanging position was abrupt and awkward and entirely incorrect. They must have been hung up not long ago, and the person who hung them probably only had a superficial understanding of metaphysics.

The guard wore Buddhist prayer beads on his wrist and a cross around his neck, and there was even a small statue of Guanyin on the desk.

Such a complex combination was clearly the act of a desperate person turning to any doctor they could find. Whether it was gods, Buddhas, ghosts, or monsters, as long as it might work, he believed in it all.

When people are in extreme fear, they lose their ability to judge and will grab onto any spider’s thread extended before them.

—Regardless of whether this spider’s thread was folded out of paper used to wrap pork.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[…]

[Fuck! As expected of you, dog scammer! [Tipped 50 points]]

[Fuck! As expected of you, dog scammer! [Tipped 100 points]]

Room 1025.

A stale smell permeated the cramped room. It was piled high with clutter everywhere, leaving almost no room to step.

The tall and straight young man sat on the sofa. With lowered eyes, his gaze fell on the steaming worn teacup on the table, looking completely out of place with his surroundings.

“How many times have I told you not to bring this kind of mumbo-jumbo person into our home.”

In the kitchen, the guard’s wife severely reprimanded her husband: “These people are all swindlers, one and all! Why don’t you ever learn your lesson?”

She yanked at the Buddhist beads on the guard’s wrist, her brows standing on end with anger: “Look at all these things you spent thousands on, are they useful?!”

“No, honey, listen to me; this one is probably the real deal.”

The guard gave her a detailed rundown of what happened at the complex entrance: “…He directly called out the thirteenth floor, and he didn’t even ask me for money…”

Cai Feng snorted coldly: “He’s probably just a busybody who heard about what happened and came over to con you.”

She turned her head and walked out:

“You stay here; I’ll go have a chat with him.”

Hearing the footsteps, the young man raised his eyes and looked toward the direction of the sound. Half of his face was bathed in the sinking twilight outside the window, making his picturesque features look increasingly handsome and refined:

“Hello.”

He greeted politely.

For some reason, the anger pent up in Cai Feng’s heart dissipated a little. Although the words that came out were still stiff, they weren’t as aggressive as expected:

“You say you can solve the weird things happening in this building?”

Unexpectedly, the young man slowly furrowed his brows and shook his head: “My apologies; my knowledge and abilities are shallow. I’m afraid I won’t be of much use.”

Cai Feng froze: “…What?”

Wen Jianyan stood up and looked around the entire room: “The location of the building is very strange. It faces north while sitting south, which already makes it easy for Yin energy to accumulate, yet the main line of the rooms within the building faces east. This year is the Gengzi year, and the Five Yellow Lianzhen Star is situated due east, which is a great malignity symbolizing disasters and misfortune.”

He frowned and pointed out the window: “Look here, the sharp end is pointing straight at the main door; this is the Heart-Piercing Malignity.”

Wen Jianyan looked at Cai Feng:

“How has your sleep been lately?”

Cai Feng’s eyes dodged a bit: “…I-It’s alright, I guess.”

“Haven’t heard any strange noises?” Wen Jianyan pressed on, his light-colored eyes staring straight at her, his clear and calm gaze seemingly able to penetrate everything: “Or perhaps… something unusual?”

Cai Feng: “…”

She suddenly didn’t dare to answer for a moment.

Wen Jianyan let out a shallow sigh: “Malignant energy is already accumulating in the whole building, and it just so happens to collide with this year’s Ghost Festival. The combination of timing and location has jointly created such a Feng Shui grand layout. With just me alone, I am powerless.”

He shook his head, his expression heavy:

“I suggest you’d better move out of this place immediately. At least… do not stay here during the Ghost Festival.”

With just a few words from the other party, Cai Feng couldn’t help but feel her mind shaken and the hair on her back stand up.

Regarding the eerie incidents happening recently in the Antai Community, she hadn’t been completely without doubts in her heart. And now, being frightened by this swindler, she believed it seventy or eighty percent.

She trotted back to the kitchen and started discussing with her husband.

Finally, ten minutes later, the two of them made a decision.

It’s better to believe it exists than to not believe it at all.

Compared to a guard job, their lives were more important.

They simply packed their luggage, hastily made a call to ask for leave and hand over their work, preparing to lodge at an outside hotel for two days.

After thanking Wen Jianyan, they fled the Antai Community as fast as they could without looking back.

Listening to the sound of the vehicle slowly fading away, Wen Jianyan turned around and went back into the building. He pulled a pin out from his sleeve and easily picked the lock of the apartment door in two moves.

[Main Quest 1: Move into Antai Community within two hours]

[Completion: 100%. Reward points: 5000]

The dog scammer looked around the now-empty room in front of him, a satisfied look appearing on his face.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room.

[…]

[…No way! That actually worked?!]

[Fuck, dog scammer, as expected of something you would pull off! How wicked!]

[But in a sense, the streamer really wasn’t lying… if this couple had stayed for the Ghost Festival, they probably would truly be steps away from death.]

[He actually fooled his way through… Awesome.]

Next, it was time to complete the second quest.

Wen Jianyan pulled his phone out of his pocket, preparing to check the phone’s recording function. His movements suddenly halted, his gaze resting on the back of his hand.

On his fair skin, faint black lines had surfaced at some unknown point. Eerie and winding, it looked as if they had seeped out from under his skin.

It looked like… a talisman.

And Wen Jianyan could be considered very familiar with the pattern of this talisman.

It was exactly the same as the one on that “Father God”.

And the hand that showed these lines was precisely the one that ruthlessly plunged the scalpel into the other party’s heart in the Fukang Private General Hospital.

“…”

Wen Jianyan’s pupils quaked as an ominous premonition slowly swelled in his heart.

He hurriedly rushed to the bathroom and wiped the eerie pattern on the back of his hand with a wet piece of paper. However, the pattern seemed like it was rooted deep into his skin, showing no signs of being wiped off at all.

Wen Jianyan stood rooted to the spot with a wooden expression: “…”

His fingers were soaking wet, still dripping with water. The sticky sensation of fresh blood seemed to linger on his skin for a long time; no matter what he did, he couldn’t get rid of it.

…No way, right? Goddess of Luck?

Do you only bless someone for one second?!

__

Author’s Note:

Goddess of Luck: Bet you didn’t expect it? I actually didn’t bless you for even a second.

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