The male supporting character was actually myself.

Wise, calm, and quick-witted, always able to find clues and solutions in a chaotic mess.

If I had half your abilities, I wouldn't have fallen for this scam. By the way, what's the point of confirming it's virtual? Is there any way to crack it?

"I've been through a lot, which is why I have the qualities you mentioned. Luck and ability—if I lacked either one, I would have been finished long ago."

"I know the apartment is virtual and there's no way to crack it right now, but we'll have one soon, and you can help me out." Jiang Chen took out two crowbars from his spatial storage, handed one to him, and then aimed at the long table in the room and smashed it down hard. The impact made his hand go numb, but the long table didn't budge.

"Smash it anywhere?" Duan Chengze was a little confused. After taking the crowbar, he looked at the clock on the wall and smashed it hard.

"Duang! Duang!"

"Bang! Bang!"

"Thud! Bang!"

……

The two were smashing things up in the simple living room, but before they had even started for two minutes, there was a knock on the door.

When Jiang Chen opened the door, he saw Liang Rumeng, the "building manager".

"What are you two doing making such a racket in the house? Are you tearing the house apart?" She frowned slightly and glanced into the house, her sharp voice full of lecturing, "Young people should use their energy and strength to exercise so they can have an easier time in dungeons."

Making noise and vandalizing things to disturb the neighbors' rest is highly unethical!

Duan Chengze, with his handsome face and sweet words, said with a faint smile, "Aunt Liang, we're just sparring. Look how dangerous our beginner dungeon is. Who knows what kind of terrifying dungeons we'll encounter in the future? I think it's necessary to practice our fighting skills."

"Then let's stop here. Don't get really injured. We have to go into the dungeon tomorrow. What if we go in injured and it's dangerous?" Liang Rumeng's expression softened slightly as she patiently advised, "I've been here for a month, and I've never seen such a difficult beginner dungeon."

You two are probably having bad luck; you'd better be more careful in the future.

We live in the same apartment, but the chances of us running dungeons together are slim. We have no choice but to take care of ourselves…

The old lady lectured for a while before leaving.

Jiang Chen closed the door, gesturing for him to put down the crowbar, and said softly, "Do you have enough time to buy a day off tomorrow?"

Everything in the apartment needs to be purchased using a countdown timer. Two days can be used to purchase a one-day vacation, during which you don't need to enter the instance.

“Okay!” Duan Chengze readily agreed. “I got a 35-day reward from the ‘Close Your Eyes When It Gets Dark’ dungeon, which is more than enough for a while. Do you have any special plans?”

“Through Song Gang’s introduction, we learned that some dungeon countdowns will not stop, which means that some people may not leave the room for several days after entering the dungeon.” He tried to keep his voice down and said, “We need to try various methods to find the entry point for the virtual apartment.”

Such a vast virtual space could not have appeared out of thin air.

Once our consciousness is connected, there must be a connection point. As long as we find the connection and sever it, we can escape the virtual space.

Of course, an even more extreme approach would be to find a way to sever the connection between this virtual apartment and the main server, causing it to disappear and allowing us to wake up.

You need to be mentally prepared; generally, once your mind enters the virtual world, your body will definitely be controlled as well.

Our bodies are nowhere in sight, and if we were to escape, we would most likely face a fierce battle in reality as well.

Duan Chengze, who now obeyed him completely, lowered his voice and asked, "So, shall we continue smashing it now?"

Jiang Chen shook his head. "Let's go find Lin Yuan and Zhi Meng and have a proper talk."

When the two of them came over yesterday, everyone else was there, and since they weren't familiar with each other, they couldn't get many details clearly.

After experiencing a dungeon together, Jiang Chen felt he could find some clues from their experiences.

"I really am a fashion designer." Lin Yuan opened the door and let them in. After understanding their purpose, he sighed and said, "You know about that genius designer who caused a sensation throughout the country last year, right?"

Duan Chengze nodded. "I've heard that news. I think it was about Yao Wei? He released a series called 'National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance' for his graduation project and was hailed as a genius that only appears once every few centuries."

Chapter 42 The Dim House Number

"That's my graduation project!" Lin Yuan's face twisted as he cursed viciously, "Yao Wei is a thief! He stole my graduation project, modified some details, and used his family's wealth and power to publish it ahead of time and create hype. In the end, I became the plagiarist!"

Do you know how much of an impact it can have on a designer if they are embroiled in a plagiarism scandal before they become famous?

I lost my job and, under his malicious suppression, became a pariah, hated by everyone.

Yao Wei put on a saintly act, saying he forgave me for plagiarism and was willing to offer me a job. In reality, he had been indulging in debauchery and had no real talent. He just wanted me to be his ghostwriter.

I'd rather die than agree!

Looking back now, I was so stupid. I should have agreed first and then gathered evidence.

But back then I was young and impetuous. If I refused, I would have no way to make a living. I could only do odd jobs to save money and then do design work to prove myself.

To save some money, I found this cheap and quiet apartment online, hoping to focus on finishing the design in peace. Who knew I'd run into this mess!

Can you still remember how you got here?

Faced with Jiang Chen's question, Lin Yuan tapped his chin with his finger and thought carefully before slowly recounting how he booked the room online and received the keys.

They then asked Dreamweaver again.

"We all came here on bus number 114."

"Huh? This is normal, isn't it?" Zhimeng looked at Jiang Chen with a puzzled expression and said, "After all... this apartment is in a remote location, and only that bus route is the closest. There are quite a few people on the bus. Is it possible that we could be targeted?"

Duan Chengze pondered for a moment and said, "The four of us also have something in common—we've all dozed off on the bus."

"I was just taking a nap; the road is just too far," Lin Yuan said sarcastically. "If someone had actually made a move, I would have definitely noticed!"

Jiang Chen smiled faintly, "I think we were already under control when we fell asleep, and the memories that followed were all virtual."

Especially that tree-lined path, the contrast between the beginning and end is huge, giving us the illusion that the predicament only began there.

In fact, the tree-lined avenue is just a smokescreen.

I've identified the problem, but I need time to prove it.

"Just hang in there for two more days, and maybe we'll be able to get rid of this virtual apartment soon."

Upon hearing this, everyone else's eyes lit up, and they looked at him with hope.

"Host, you really thought of a way to escape the demon dungeon?" The little white cat, completely bewildered, couldn't understand what was going on. Its CPU was spinning so fast it couldn't figure it out.

"If I hear footsteps again tonight, I'll be absolutely certain."

The peaceful yet boring day passed quickly. In the evening, Jiang Chen had the little white cat place a recording camera on the roof, then washed up and lay down on the bed to sleep peacefully.

"Stab! Stab!"

A faint sound of electricity suddenly rang out in the darkness, and Jiang Chen was jolted awake to see one or two flashes of lightning in the void beside his bed.

Just like the flickering that occurs when there is a poor screen signal, he reached out to touch it and found nothing.

A few seconds later, a beautiful woman in a red brocade robe, with an oval face like jade, delicate eyebrows, and phoenix eyes, appeared in the room. Her expression was anxious, and her voice was intermittent: "...The passage...is closed, come out quickly...be careful..."

The image appears to be struggling against some force, flickering and then disappearing.

Who is that beautiful woman who looks familiar?

Why is the channel closed?

Jiang Chen felt a throbbing sensation in his temples, as if some very important memory had been folded away.

"Little White, go and see what everyone else is doing right now." He thought for a moment, then shook the little white cat awake and whispered the instruction.

The fluffy ball shook its fur and hopped out.

"Host, the protagonist Duan Chengze is sleeping soundly; Dream Weaver and Lin Yuan are also asleep; Song Gang is still running and exercising, and he looks quite unhappy; the old lady is truly worthy of being an accountant, still keeping accounts so late, writing and calculating in a little notebook very seriously."

After reporting, the little white cat licked its paws and asked curiously, "Master, did you hear something again? Should I go up to the roof and take a look?"

Jiang Chen shook his head and said, "Are you sure the camera's Bluetooth is on? We'll receive the footage within a certain distance, right?"

"Yes, yes!" The fluffy little ball wagged its big, fluffy tail proudly. "That's a product from the interstellar world, it's super awesome!"

He smiled contentedly, cuddled the little white cat, and rolled onto the bed. "Go to sleep, go to sleep. We can talk about it tomorrow!"

The next morning, after washing up and having breakfast, the six of them gathered in the living room.

Song Gang's face was gloomy, and he ignored everyone.

Lin Yuan toyed with a paper cutter in his hand, his sinister gaze occasionally sweeping across his face;

As always, Dreamweaver tries to minimize its presence.

Liang Rumeng continued to take on the responsibilities of a head of the family, dormitory manager, and building manager, striving to create a lively atmosphere and introduce the details of the building to everyone.

For example, to determine whether other guests have had an accident in the instance, you only need to look at the color of the door number on their door.

If someone dies, the lit house number will turn dark.

When the newlyweds come and open the door, the door number will light up again.

If the address is always lit up but you can't see the other person for several days, it must be because they've entered a dungeon where time passes or something similar.

After understanding the situation, Jiang Chen gave the little white cat a wink.

"I have to go into the dungeon again." Wearing the ill-fitting clothes Jiang Chen gave her, Zhimeng's face turned pale with nervousness. "Aren't you guys going?"

Everyone shook their heads, and her face turned even paler.

"Go ahead, be brave, it'll be fine!" Liang Rumeng encouraged her. "If it's a time-pause instance, you'll be back soon."

Amidst everyone's words of comfort and encouragement, Zhimeng returned to her room to make final preparations.

Five minutes later, Song Gang also got up and left, his face showing a determined look full of ambition.

"I also have to accept the summons to enter the dungeon. See you later." Liang Rumeng then said goodbye and went upstairs.

At 10 a.m., only Jiang Chen, Duan Chengze, and Lin Yuan, who had not yet received the dungeon invitation, remained in the living room.

"Host! They've all disappeared!" The little white cat came bouncing back happily, squatted on his shoulder, and explained earnestly, "I saw it very clearly. After they went back to their room, they tidied up, lay on the bed, and closed their eyes. About a few minutes later, they suddenly disappeared."

So after receiving the invitation, I disappeared from the apartment and was teleported into the instance.

The Dream Weaver girl disappeared for about a second, and then reappeared on the bed, pale-faced and panting heavily.

Neither the elderly woman nor Song Gang showed up!

Jiang Chen suddenly stood up. "Let's go upstairs and take a look!"

Liang Rumeng's room number was lit up, but she wasn't in the room; she had probably entered a copy of the passage of time.

Zhimeng opened the door and greeted them, "To you, I was only gone for a short while, right?"

Phew, I spent two days and one night in the dungeon.

Fortunately, it was a single-player dungeon and not too difficult, but it was incredibly tiring; I didn't even want to move from my bed.