He Let Me Stay Tonight

“Cousin, what do you think…” Before Bai Ke could finish, a familiar voice interrupted him——

“Little Four, why are you still wandering around? Didn’t I tell you to go home and rest?” Wang Chunying asked, returning from grocery shopping.

Su Lai: “Stopped to do some good deeds for the neighbors. Made a bit of money on the side.” Bai Ke on the back seat cooperatively patted the heavy delivery box and nodded.

Wang Chunying gave them a strange glance. “Who’s moving house?”

“No one’s moving.” Su Lai shook his head. “There were locusts at home. All dealt with now. They won’t be back.”

Wang Chunying looked even more puzzled. “Locusts?”

Su Lai wanted to keep it brief, but realized it was a long story, so he just waved his hand. “Mom, it’s not important.”

“If anyone bullies you, come to Mom.” Wang Chunying didn’t press further. Carrying her two cleavers and heavily loaded groceries, she went inside.

Uncle Wang was still sitting in the living room watching TV. Su Lai and Bai Ke put the retrieved items back in their places.

“Cousin, what did you mean about a problem between affection and the rules?” Bai Ke continued their earlier conversation.

Su Lai: “After your affection hit 100, those boundary-less neighbors showed up uninvited. Looks like 100 is a critical threshold.”

Bai Ke’s eyes widened in realization. “I get it now!” “When affection with residents exceeds 100, the sense of personal boundaries blurs. Then some neighbors who like taking advantage will start moving in.”

Reversing the rules through observing phenomena was the best way to uncover hidden rules.

“But as outsiders, to survive in this community, players have to build connections with the original residents through affection…” This was the most chilling part. Thinking about it, Bai Ke couldn’t help but shudder.

After players entered the instance, survival time was randomly allocated. To complete the main quest of [Surviving Seven Days and Seven Nights], they had to earn corresponding time. The currently known ways to earn time were [Increasing Affection with Residents] and [Completing Randomly Triggered Side Quests].

Comparatively, triggering and completing side quests involved many uncertainties and were quite difficult. Increasing affection was relatively simple. Moreover, after each day’s incorrect answer, the person with the lowest affection was chosen for punishment. The socially phobic youth forcibly isolated last night was the perfect example.

Influenced by these factors, players would inevitably do everything possible to earn affection. This ensured they wouldn’t be punished and could also convert affection into survival time—killing two birds with one stone.

“Resident Affection” became the core value of the instance, a necessary condition for outsiders to survive.

This also perfectly matched people’s perception: those not accepted by the majority are ostracized, bullied, eliminated… eventually losing all survival resources.

But as players eagerly ingratiated themselves with the original residents, working hard to build connections with locals, the affection trap was sprung.

When affection exceeded 100, it triggered a boundary crisis. Neighbors eager to take advantage would swarm in, starting all kinds of takeover behaviors. The player’s mental stability would consequently be contaminated, just like Bai Ke had experienced…

The more Bai Ke thought about it, the more terrified he became. “Cousin, if you hadn’t made your clever move in time, I might have lost myself to that external invasion. I could clearly feel my consciousness dissolving. The consequences would have been unthinkable…”

Su Lai: “Maybe players with excessively high affection will completely merge into the contaminants.”

Bai Ke shuddered. “You mean?”

Su Lai: “Become part of the instance. Stay here forever.” “I’m guessing,” he added.

The air fell silent.

“If the worst happens, I wonder what we’d do?” Bai Ke murmured.

Su Lai was unconcerned. “Have a thick enough skin. Maintain your individuality.” “Just don’t let the worst happen.”

Bai Ke: … True. The words might be crude, but the reasoning wasn’t wrong.

“Looks like completing side quests is the proper way to earn survival time.” Bai Ke said.

Moreover, it was the only correct way.

“But what if I end up with the lowest affection and get forcibly punished…” Bai Ke scratched his hair worriedly.

This instance was too weird, too strange, too evil. Absurd yet real. Giving one a sense of being trapped in a bizarre reality.

Su Lai didn’t answer. This was also what puzzled him now. Was the task to “find the peeper” really as simple as it sounded literally?

The banner he received was very likely the so-called hidden S-rank item. An S-rank item could change the course of the main quest. Perhaps the banner could end the [Survive Seven Days and Seven Nights] task early.

As an interloper without player status, how could he use the banner’s influence and appeal…?

Too bad Su Lai wasn’t a chess player.

After tidying the room, the phone rang again. This time, it was for Bai Ke.

“Hello, this is Wang Xiaoer speaking. What’s the matter?” Bai Ke picked up the receiver nervously.

“You’re the one who reported Du Liang and Du Cai, right?” The staff member used a business-like tone.

Bai Ke paused. “Yes. What’s up?”

“According to the neighbors, Du Liang and Du Cai went missing around noon. So this report is void. Just letting you know.” The staff member said.

Bai Ke: “If it’s void, does the reported name still affect the final result?”

Staff member: “No.”

“Than—” Beep beep beep The line went dead.

This staff member was always impatient. After announcing the void news, she terminated the call, afraid the other party might ask more questions.

Bai Ke, the reluctant reporter, breathed a sigh of relief. Although the two gambler brothers had already been dealt with by Granny Xu, he didn’t want to bear the consequences of reporting either. Void was good.

Hu Xiang knew he was a mediocre “good” person. Whether in the order-bound real world or in the law-of-the-jungle infinite flow, he needed to rely on the collective to survive.

When colleagues and friends played scripted games before, he always played the most mediocre role, going with the flow, lacking initiative, cautiously hiding in the group, trying every means to maximize his own benefit.

People like him couldn’t be lone wolves. They couldn’t survive alone to the end.

But the real infinite flow world was much crueler. Here, no one wanted to pick up this mediocre good person. He didn’t even have value for forming groups. Flattery and eagerness were worthless in the face of the jungle law.

He thought he was doomed to fail silently. On the second night in the instance, he barely slept, imagining countless ways he might die in his mind.

Would he be like that hoodie-wearing socially phobic guy? Blurry-faced armed personnel suddenly bursting into the rental house, his forcibly dragged image appearing on the TV screen, described by the host as an outside tenant infected with the “social phobia virus.”

But he always actively tried to blend into the collective. Why was he still unpopular?

He really didn’t want to embarrass himself on TV. In his view, being labeled as not fitting into the collective was extremely shameful…

Just as Hu Xiang tossed and turned all night, near dawn, the system chimed— [Player Hu Xiang: System detects that your personality traits match the instance’s core mechanism by 89%. Personal skill activated: “You’re a Good Person.”] [This skill is passive. Initial stage only applicable for passive triggering. More functionalities await skill upgrades.] [“You’re a Good Person” can help you become more popular among the crowd. Stay tuned.]

Those four characters, “Stay tuned,” brought infinite hope. From despair to ecstasy took only an instant. Hu Xiang had been mediocre for over twenty years, finally blessed by heaven at a critical moment.

He was a good person. How could a popular good person be mediocre? An 89% match between his personality traits and the instance’s core mechanism—didn’t that mean this instance was tailor-made for him?

In this instance, he was the protagonist!

Filled with anticipation, Hu Xiang welcomed the first morning after his personal skill activated.

As soon as he opened his rental door, he received a completely different treatment from yesterday. Neighbors who had previously stayed indoors now proactively greeted him with smiles. Hu Xiang was flattered. Since leaving the house, his lips hadn’t relaxed, maintaining a warm smile and greeting everyone he met.

Soon, neighbors who had avoided outsiders yesterday clustered around, actively seeking Hu Xiang’s “help.”

Some neighbors said they’d lost money gambling and had nothing to cook, asking this good young man Hu Xiang to lend them money for rice;

Some neighbors said their child was getting married today and registering the marriage. They weren’t having a banquet, but they wanted to share the joy with the neighbors and conveniently ask everyone for a lucky red envelope;

Other neighbors smiled and said they liked Hu Xiang’s sneakers and jacket, but their family couldn’t afford them, beating around the bush for Hu Xiang to take them off right there and give them as gifts…

Although this boundary-crossing “help” made Hu Xiang uncomfortable, he convinced himself he was a good person. Good people were happy to help. As long as he extended a helping hand to the neighbors and didn’t refuse their requests, he would become more popular in Spring Breeze Community, gaining more attention and affection…

Sure enough, as Hu Xiang generously gave, his resident affection skyrocketed. It shot from 20 to 70, 80… 100, 110… The speed completely exceeded his expectations.

Just as he was immersed in the satisfaction of being a “popular good neighbor,” something bizarre happened.

The group of neighbors who had just taken his money and clothes suddenly walked towards his rental without even saying hello. Hu Xiang, barefoot, hobbled over to see what was happening. He found these neighbors, without his consent, were slowly emptying his home!

What was going on? Hu Xiang was bewildered. At the same time, he realized his consciousness was slowly draining away. At certain moments, he couldn’t even feel his own existence, forgot who he was.

But Rule 1 reminded players: “Always remember your name, gender, appearance. Do not forget who you are.”

What to do… don’t forget who you are… don’t forget…

“Hey.” Just as Hu Xiang was about to lose himself, a hand heavily patted him from behind. “Your name is Hu Xiang, right?”

The distracted Hu Xiang stumbled from the pat. He lowered his head, and a pair of bright pink flip-flops came into view.

“Y-yes… I’m Hu Xiang…” Hu Xiang looked up dazedly. He didn’t realize that his eyes had already become murky, his expression as vacant as an original resident’s.

Only then did he suddenly remember his name: Hu Xiang.

“That’s your rental, right?” Su Lai pointed at the attic room in the self-built house, door wide open, neighbors going in and out like ants moving house. “Those neighbors who like taking advantage are starting their takeover.”

Hu Xiang smiled weakly. “It’s okay. I’m a good person. Good people should share their good things with neighbors.”

Su Lai and Bai Ke were both momentarily speechless. What was wrong with this player? Being sold and still counting the money for the trafficker?

“Hu Xiang, snap out of it! Once affection exceeds 100, you cross the safety threshold. The sense of boundaries with neighbors starts disappearing. They’ll gradually invade your private life, like making all kinds of unreasonable requests you can’t refuse. Just like now, blatantly taking over your home.” Bai Ke, having just experienced it, spoke sternly.

Hu Xiang’s gaze was unfocused, as if floating in mid-air. “So what? If the neighbors need these things, just give them to them. Things can be bought again. Rules can’t be broken. The affection I worked so hard to build can’t be destroyed just like that…”

Su Lai and Bai Ke exchanged glances. This guy seemed beyond saving.

Su Lai: “What they’re taking isn’t things you can buy with money.”

This sentence made the dazed Hu Xiang’s eyes widen slightly.

“They’ll take your sense of existence. Make you forget who you are. Then you’ll dissolve and become part of the instance.” Su Lai reminded him calmly. “Still okay with that?”

Hu Xiang’s shoulders shuddered violently. He unconsciously looked at those bright pink flip-flops, like a lost person in a sea fog searching for a lighthouse beacon.

Su Lai: “Players with excessively high affection might really become original residents.”

“For someone who wants an original resident’s household registration, that’s also a good choice.” Bai Ke chimed in. After having his laid-back attitude maxed out by Lai-ge, he felt infected, his words taking on a mocking tone.

“What should I do now…?” Amidst the overwhelming chaos, Hu Xiang barely managed to regain some reason.

Su Lai: “Do something shameless. Lower your affection.”

“But if my affection gets low… I’ll become one of those infected with the social phobia virus… I’m not that kind of person…” Hu Xiang seemed very concerned about becoming a socially phobic “outsider” in others’ eyes.

“Only if the answer is wrong does someone have to be punished.

A Mao and I have already found six peepers. As far as I know, that father-son duo has also found three.

” Qi Mu appeared silently in the alley. “At this rate, the community’s peeping cases will be uncovered soon. No need to wait until 7 PM.”

Although not stated explicitly, she was clearly hinting to the three facing her: today’s “Find the Peeper” task was already in the bag.

This efficiency was a tremendous leap forward.

Su Lai’s analysis last night was right.

After deducing that “peeper was a multiple-choice question,” the veteran players in the instance changed their wait-and-see attitude from yesterday and started actively seeking peepers in the urban village.

Compared to the negative effects of triggering “original resident berserk state,” veteran players preferred to defuse the collective task time bomb and ensure the safety of their own companions.

After all, finding all the peepers in the urban village and submitting a complete list to the village committee was the instance’s optimal solution.

Su Lai didn’t speak. Bai Ke beside him said incredulously. “So so far today, there are already nine reported names?”

Qi Mu nodded. “Probably more to come.”

Since the news hadn’t leaked yet, the reported NPCs were still in the dark and hadn’t gone berserk. The urban village was in harmony.

“Wang Xiaosi, how many have you reported?” Qi Mu asked.

Su Lai knew she was asking knowingly. The registration book was black and white; this seasoned veteran had definitely sneaked a look.

“None.” Su Lai said. “My cousin had one, but it’s voided now.”

Qi Mu smiled. “Not bad.”

Hu Xiang looked at Qi Mu like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline. “You guarantee the answer won’t be wrong tonight… no one will be forcibly isolated…”

Qi Mu, who had given the hint, shrugged. “I don’t guarantee. Can’t guarantee.”

Hu Xiang’s resident affection was still rising, while his mental stability was nearing the critical point of reason.

“How do I stop these neighbors? Please, teach me…” Hu Xiang finally made his choice. He was used to pleasing others daily and had forgotten how to refuse.

Bai Ke, the most patient among the players and most able to empathize, extended a helping hand.

He taught Hu Xiang all of Su Lai’s clever maneuvers—mooching electricity, mooching meals—and encouraged him to grow a thicker skin, to pay back these locust neighbors in kind.

But an unexpected situation occurred. Under the influence of his passive skill “You’re a Good Person,” mooching electricity and meals didn’t get Hu Xiang kicked out by the neighbors.

On the contrary, because he looked like a pushover, the neighbors saw him coming to them willingly and timidly, and started ordering him to help with chores. Unclogging drains, scrubbing toilets, cleaning range hoods… even his T-shirt and socks were taken.

Hu Xiang ended up coming out of each house shirtless.

He tried more actions to “disgust the neighbors.” Like turning the stereo volume to max. But since it wasn’t rest time, the residents didn’t get angry upon hearing the music. Instead, several residents who had been standing outside stopped their vegetable cleaning and danced along to the music in the sunless alley, starting a square dance.

Hu Xiang also threw household trash on the road. The neighbors swarmed over, rummaging through the garbage for recyclables to sell.

After all these maneuvers, his affection rose, not fell.

Bai Ke: “Maybe it’s the song choice?”

“It’s not the song. It’s the person.” Qi Mu shook her head, glancing at Su Lai, who was fiddling with his banner. “If your cousin played music publicly, probably no one would dare dance no matter what song.”

Su Lai: “Let them dance. Let my mom lead. Good for their health.”

Bai Ke: …

Qi Mu looked at Hu Xiang’s miserable state and pursed her lips. “Another one screwed by his own skill.” “Good thing it’s not a team battle. Otherwise, no one would dare touch this hot potato.” “If it were a team battle, this potato would have been thrown out before it got hot.”

Hu Xiang was trapped in the “I’m a good person” loop. This phrase was like a curse pushing him towards death.

“How do I make people dislike me… how do I stop being a good person…” Hu Xiang had nothing left except his resident affection value. His mind was on the verge of collapse. He curled up in a corner, hugging his head and trembling.

“Being shameless isn’t enough. A ‘good person’ like you needs to do something truly bad.” The scarred man chewed his toothpick and smiled cynically.

“Truly bad…?” Hu Xiang looked even more bewildered.

The scarred man finally spat out his toothpick and whispered a few words in Hu Xiang’s ear. No one else heard what he said.

Qi Mu didn’t care either. She glanced at the banner fluttering on the little e-bike, raised an eyebrow, and turned to Su Lai. “What are your plans?”

Su Lai checked the time. It was past 6:30 PM. “Go home for dinner.” “Cousin, don’t keep the food waiting.” Su Lai put on his helmet and said to Bai Ke.

Qi Mu smiled meaningfully. “Truly a good child.”

“Good children don’t go hungry.” Su Lai started the e-bike. “Call me if there are suitable delivery jobs.” He still wanted to make more money from the players.

The e-bike sped away. Qi Mu patted Qi Mao’s shoulder. “Got a light?”

Her judgment was correct. Hu Xiang’s reaction had confirmed her guess: resident affection wasn’t a good thing.

As experienced players, the Qi siblings had taken the most conservative approach. They kept their affection at a relatively safe value, observing those “greedy” newbie players, using them as samples to test the rules.

After all, while numerical values brought benefits to players, negative effects followed.

“Sis, I’m not actually confident about tonight’s reported list.” After the other players dispersed, Qi Mao took two deep drags of his cigarette.

They had caught six peeping suspects from morning till night. They were: the hotel owner who installed cameras in guest rooms, the creepy man who lurked on public toilet roofs, the old man who peeked at neighbors’ privacy by rummaging through trash, the repeater student who used a mirror to spy on the cross-dressing brother next door, the photographer hiding undeveloped film in the studio, and the student who secretly recorded every window’s trivial affairs and wrote them into essays…

“No one’s confident.” Qi Mu admitted frankly. “Precisely because we’re not confident, we pretended to be confident, to push Hu Xiang out.”

Excessively high affection led to disappearing privacy boundaries, but too low affection got you forcibly isolated. Hu Xiang, already mentally contaminated, would find it hard to control the balance. The scarred man’s advice wasn’t out of genuine kindness, but hoping Hu Xiang would “accidentally” drop his affection to the lowest and become tonight’s punishment candidate.

No one was sure today’s submitted peeper list was complete. Before the answer was announced, the person with the lowest affection was the shield.

Following the scarred man’s “kind” suggestion, Hu Xiang climbed up the security grille to the second floor of a self-built house and stuffed his arms full of neighbors’ drying underwear.

And that wasn’t all. Before leaving, he blatantly smashed a neighbor’s flowerpot and the altar in the stairwell.

A “good person” like him, so easily manipulated, needed to do something truly bad to make these opportunistic neighbors keep their distance and completely draw a line.

The most common bad deeds in an urban village were stealing, robbing, and smashing.

Those people had always used “he’s a good person” as a reason to continuously extract benefits from him. Because he had been completely tamed, he could only be bullied and exploited.

He had to resist. Let all who bullied him know he wasn’t to be messed with. He had to be a bad person!

Qi Mu sighed. Seeing it was about time, she stubbed out her cigarette and headed towards the village committee. “Looks like tonight’s reported list can include one more person.”

“Can players also be reported?”

“The staff member told us to find the peeper in the community. They didn’t specify whether it was locals or outside tenants, did they?”

Ever since Wang Xiaosi came home, the food at Wang Chunying’s house was always plentiful.

Beneath the roar of the range hood were gossiping neighbors. Nasty things and nastier things—all sorts were said.

Wang Chunying didn’t care. Her son was home, she was happy. She chopped meat with more vigor than usual, making the chopping board thump louder than the neighbors’ idle chatter.

Let them talk, let them listen, let them wag their tongues. Her son Wang Xiaosi was loved by all. Even the village committee staff personally gave him a banner. Let them envy that.

“A leopard can’t change its spots, and neighbors can’t stop gossiping.” Wang Chunying took off her apron and placed the steaming fish head tofu soup in front of Su Lai. “Dinner’s ready.”

Five dishes and two soups crowded the small round wooden table. Even though Uncle Wang had turned the TV volume up high, they could still faintly hear the neighbors’ laughter and chatter. Wang Chunying had just taught those gossipy neighbors a lesson yesterday, and today they couldn’t resist wagging their tongues again.

“Little Four, if they bother you, I’ll take the cleaver next door.” Wang Chunying said. “Those people are contemptible. Need a lesson.”

The fish head from the soup was scooped into a bowl. The cooked fish eyes had turned murky, staring at Su Lai unpleasantly from the milky white broth.

Su Lai stared back at the fish eyes for a moment, then shook his head. “No need.” He blew on the bowl and sucked down the perfectly cooked fish head and brain in one go.

In this instance, the “eye” element was everywhere. Murky, scalp-tingling stares were omnipresent.

Eyes. Peeping. Everything with eyes was peeping in the dark.

“Little Four, what’s wrong?” Seeing Su Lai staring thoughtfully at his soup, Wang Chunying asked.

Su Lai: “Thinking about this fish.”

Wang Chunying’s gaze sharpened. “What about the fish?”

Su Lai drained the bowl. “This fish died well.”

Fish soup and head consumed, Su Lai had a sudden inspiration, a vague but bold guess forming.

But before he could sort out his thoughts, Bai Ke, watching TV, suddenly yelled “Holy crap!”

Bai Ke hadn’t even swallowed his mouthful of rice. He dropped his chopsticks and pointed at the pixelated TV screen, shouting indistinctly. “Cousin! You’re on the news!”

The dinner table fell silent. Instantly, the whole family’s attention shifted from the table to the TV——