"Isn't this our little newbie?" Cobra adjusted his glasses and smiled slightly.

"Why aren't you staying in your room? What are you doing out here?"

Qin Nuo replied, "A neighbor lost something and asked me to help retrieve it."

At the mention of the word "neighbor," both Jiang Xiaobai and Cobra's expressions changed slightly.

This newcomer had already managed to connect with the residents here so quickly?

In fact, when the game content was first announced, as veteran players, they already knew how to play this particular instance.

There were essentially two main objectives.

One: Build a good relationship with the residents of the Bloodstained Apartment to gain favorability.

Two: Identify the serial killer in the apartment.

These were the only two ways to achieve a high score in the instance.

So, since moving in yesterday, not only Qin Nuo, but the other six experienced players had been contemplating how to get along with the neighbors.

Inevitably, they all faced a lot of closed doors!

Some residents even bizarrely discouraged them from trying to befriend them!

"Are your neighbors easy to get along with?" Jiang Xiaobai asked, his face a bit dark.

His room was on the third floor, and last night he deliberately used the excuse of a broken bathroom to knock on the door next door.

The resident was a middle-aged man, but from the moment Jiang Xiaobai entered, the man's gaze was filled with lewdness and greed.

Jiang Xiaobai felt a chill run down his spine under that stare.

When he mentioned borrowing the bathroom, the resident's eyes lit up with excitement and even thoughtfully offered him a bar of soap!

Terrified, Jiang Xiaobai turned and ran back to his room, adding two more locks to the door!

Damn it!

Even ghosts have preferences!

Recalling the look in that resident's eyes last night, Jiang Xiaobai's expression was as if he'd eaten something foul.

"Very easy to get along with, the neighbors are all very friendly," Qin Nuo said, lying through his teeth.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Qin Nuo's words left the two of them skeptical.

"Where's the item you helped the resident retrieve?" Cobra asked directly.

"With the old landlord."

This statement made Cobra and Jiang Xiaobai's expressions turn a bit peculiar.

"Looks like we have the same goal."

"I received a D-level task to retrieve a resident's eyeball from the landlord!" Cobra said.

"Mine is also D-level, to retrieve an arm for the resident of 506!" Jiang Xiaobai added.

"That old man likes to collect body parts from others."

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy to get them back," Jiang Xiaobai said.

"You're wrong. The residents handed over their body parts because they couldn't afford the rent, so they used them as collateral."

"In other words, we just need to use Ghost Currency to buy them back!" Cobra analyzed.

Improving the instance score offers benefits far greater than a single rent payment, so it's not a losing deal.

Therefore, they were more than willing to solve it with money.

They arrived at the first-floor lobby.

This time, the landlord's chessboard was on the table, and he was immersed in a game with himself, smoking an old pipe.

Without looking up, the landlord knew Qin Nuo and the others had arrived. He moved a chess piece and asked, "What do you want?"

"Old man, we want to retrieve the items that some residents have pawned here," Cobra stated their intention.

"Who are you to them?"

Cobra was momentarily speechless.

Qin Nuo chimed in, "It doesn't matter, just three good-hearted people willing to help."

The other two looked at Qin Nuo with strange expressions.

That excuse.

Even a ghost wouldn't believe it!

"Alright." Unexpectedly, the old man nodded in agreement.

Cobra and Jiang Xiaobai were overjoyed and quickly asked, "How much Ghost Currency is needed for redemption?"

The old man sat up straight, his terrifying face lifting as he took a puff of his pipe before saying, "I don't need that stuff."

"Play a game of chess with me. If you win, you can take it back."

Chess!

Cobra and Jiang Xiaobai stared at the box of spoils, their faces twitching, feeling a bad premonition.

"What if we lose?"

"I'll take something from you."

The old man seemed to enjoy playing chess with others, messing up the chessboard's pieces and rearranging them, his mouth cracking open to reveal yellow teeth, paired with his terrifying and eerie face, it was quite unsettling.

"Come on, young man."

"If you win, not only can you take back one item, but I'll also reduce your rent by half. How about that?"

The more enthusiastic the old man was, the more uneasy Cobra and the others felt.

"Old man, are you good at chess?" Cobra tentatively asked.

"Not bad. I once won the district championship and represented the city in a provincial competition, also winning an award. If there were a ranking, I'd be roughly a nine-dan."

Speaking of the past, the old man was extremely proud, stroking his goatee and laughing heartily.

"Old man, sorry to bother you."

Cobra immediately backed out, turning to leave.

Jiang Xiaobai also forced a smile and said, "Landlord, you should play by yourself!"

The landlord's face darkened, clearly a bit annoyed.

Cobra's expression changed, and he quickly explained, "Old man, we're not very good at chess. Playing against us wouldn't be challenging at all!"

The landlord's face softened slightly, sighing, "Young people today lack ambition."

"Next time you interrupt my chess game, each of you will leave something behind."

The old man seemed quite displeased, having his game disrupted like that.

The two nodded quickly.

The landlord of the Bloodstained Apartment was undoubtedly the most terrifying ghost; otherwise, the residents wouldn't fear him so much...

Ghost Currency was fine.

But exchanging body parts for favorability was too costly!

Even if they knew how to play chess, they wouldn't dare play like this!

"Old man, let's play a game," Qin Nuo agreed.

The landlord's murky eyes gleamed, and he smiled, "You're quite the young man, come on then!"

Cobra and Jiang Xiaobai, who were about to leave, were stunned.

What was this newbie thinking?

Or did he have enough confidence in his chess skills?

Then, they saw Qin Nuo's move.

He sat down in front of the old man, took out his phone from his pocket, opened the Dragon Country Chess app in single-player mode, and set the difficulty to hell level.

Qin Nuo smiled and said, "Old man, do you mind if I play chess and use my phone at the same time?"

"Young man, it's better not to multitask."

"No worries, I don't need to focus to win at chess."

"…"

The landlord's mouth twitched, feeling insulted, but he said nothing.

This bold move left Cobra and the others dumbfounded.

Damn!

Skill brings courage!

Cheating right in front of him, has this newbie always been this bold?

The game quickly began.

The landlord played aggressively and boldly, while Qin Nuo calmly mirrored his moves on the phone, using the hell-level AI's moves to counter.

After just seven or eight moves, the landlord's face turned grim, his brows furrowed, as if facing a formidable opponent.

He pondered for a long time before making a move.

Qin Nuo, however, responded within a second.

As the game progressed, the landlord's face grew increasingly unpleasant.

Even ferocious…

Cobra and Jiang Xiaobai's eyes lit up.

This daring method actually worked; perhaps they could learn from this bold move.

However, just as they were entertaining such thoughts, the landlord suddenly looked up, staring intently at Qin Nuo.

His voice, as if coming from a mass grave, was filled with intense hostility: "Kid, what are you looking at on your phone?"