Chapter 72 The Singer, Oh, Singer 5

Lin Xiangjun flashed forward more than a hundred meters in succession; counting the fifty meters she had originally walked, she was now roughly one-fifth of the way into the alley.

The total length of this alley was about eight hundred meters.

The alley was not a straight line; it had turns and bends along the way, forming a roughly irregular wavy shape.

The residential buildings on both sides were very close together. Lin Xiangjun spread her arms, and her fingertips could basically touch the walls on both sides.

A person's arm span is about the same as their height, which meant this alley was only about 1.8 meters wide—she had grown five centimeters taller after using the constitution enhancement booklet.

Such a narrow alley was perfect for the nights in horror movies: two people meeting face-to-face in the alley, one coming home from work, the other standing still with disheveled hair, the puddles on the ground reflecting a silvery light.

When the other person was about to pass by cautiously, the silent, motionless person suddenly raised the butcher knife in their hand...

Lin Xiangjun withdrew her hands.

This instance gave seven days of time, and she needed to spend the night in the instance.

Unlike in 【Who Am I】 where she entered the instance in the afternoon, Lin Xiangjun checked her phone as soon as she entered the instance and confirmed that the instance's start time was twelve noon.

She needed to find a suitable place to stay before nightfall.

But this instance was different from 【Who Am I】; it did not explicitly provide accommodation for residents.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Xiangjun looked at the old person who appeared to be a resident of the residential area walking towards her and took out an item card from her pocket.

【Sky Blue Low-Quality Plastic Suitcase: This suitcase cannot store items; all items placed in the suitcase will be decomposed as fertilizer for flowers. The suitcase will produce a bouquet of flowers every day. After taking it out, it will refresh the next day; if not taken out, the bouquet will remain unchanged. A suitcase that only wants to bloom, cannot hold anything, and is completely useless trash.】

This suitcase was D-rank, which could be said to be useless as acknowledged by the system.

After all, the attributes suitable for a suitcase should be "convenient" or "capacity increase," or at the very least, it should have "sturdy" or "indestructible."

Who would need a suitcase that couldn't hold luggage?

Lin Xiangjun hadn't intended to use it to hold anything anyway; she just wanted to disguise her identity and needed an accessory.

But she had just heard Rule 1 and Rule 2.

In this instance... perhaps this suitcase would have a miraculous effect?

"Hello."

The Old Lady was startled. She looked at Lin Xiangjun, who had walked over on her own initiative, and her first reaction was to size her up from head to toe.

When she saw her wearing a grass-green tracksuit, a hint of terror rose in her eyes, but it was not obvious.

She took a step back, keeping a one-meter distance from Lin Xiangjun: "What is it?"

Lin Xiangjun lowered her eyelashes, masking the look of realization in her eyes.

There were two types of residents in the instance: one was Eerie, and the other was human.

Most Eerie residents existed to trap players; entering the instance was like working for them, and killing players meant extra meals and bonuses, such as the seesaw old man and the Eerie Parents in the previous instance;

Human residents were different. They mostly retained human consciousness and emotions, and in some situations, they would provide help to players.

Was the Old Lady in front of her... human or Eerie?

Lin Xiangjun pretended not to see the wariness in the Old Lady's eyes; she carried a bit of shyness and embarrassment from proactively disturbing someone else.

"It's like this, I want to rent a room here. Do you know if there are any houses for rent?"

"Rent a room?" The Old Lady's eyes were filled with even more confusion, "You want to rent a room here?"

Lin Xiangjun's heart skipped a beat.

The Old Lady's reaction was very interesting.

Hearing that someone wanted to rent a room, her first reaction wasn't to brush it off by saying she didn't know, nor was it to offer help, but to ask "You want to rent a room here?"

Listening to that tone... were there problems with the houses here?

Lin Xiangjun's expression did not change.

"Yes, I work nearby. I saw a residential area here and wanted to ask if there are any houses for rent? Preferably... something cheaper. I just graduated and don't have much money."

Lin Xiangjun observed the Old Lady's expression as she spoke.

The Old Lady had been frowning, but when she heard her request to live in a cheaper house, the wary expression faded for the most part, replaced by a bit of pity and sympathy.

"I see." The Old Lady nodded, but she didn't agree; instead, she advised, "Young lady, if you aren't particularly short on money, you'd better live somewhere else. Although the rent here is cheap, but... sigh, unless you have no other choice, it's better not to come here to live."

Speaking of which, the Old Lady pointed to the left: "That residential area over there, although it's also an old one, the rent is one or two hundred more expensive than here, but it's safe and better than here."

If she could choose, Lin Xiangjun didn't want to live in either.

The problem was that this was her instance. If she entered the instance and left the instance's range without completing the task, she would be blown into fireworks the moment she stepped out.

"Sorry, Grandma, I really am..." She quietly blushed, turning her head away in embarrassment, as if someone had exposed her shortcomings.

Seeing her like this, the Old Lady sighed.

"Alright, then follow me."

She led Lin Xiangjun toward the last row of buildings.

As she walked, she used her long-handled umbrella as a cane to support herself on the ground, making a rhythmic tapping sound.

"The family across from me has a house for rent. It's a one-bedroom, one-living room layout with a kitchen and bathroom. Utilities are also fifty yuan, which I'll consider as a gift to you. The place is a bit small, but it's enough for you to live in alone.

"As for the rent, it's a deposit of one month plus one month's rent. The monthly rent is 150 yuan. If that's okay, we can sign the contract today.

"Their house isn't the cheapest in this residential area, but his house is clean and worth the price."

When the Old Lady said "clean," she deliberately emphasized the tone and gave Lin Xiangjun a meaningful look.

"There aren't many good houses for rent in this residential area. Spending that extra fifty or one hundred to buy peace of mind is worth it."

The wheels of the low-quality suitcase rolled rumblingly on the concrete ground. Lin Xiangjun smiled shyly: "That's good, after all, I'm also afraid living alone."

After a pause, she sighed again and said in a somewhat dejected tone: "If it weren't for having no money and life being truly difficult, I actually wouldn't come here to live, after all, that kind of thing happened... But I haven't been paid, and I only have five hundred yuan in total. Paying three hundred for rent, these two hundred yuan are my food expenses for the week. Where else can I go besides living here?"

The Old Lady also sighed along with her.

"Isn't that so? To be honest, that girl was really pitiful. She studied well and had a good personality. She was almost about to graduate and start working... but those people spoke so unpleasantly.

"The young girl was a good person. When she had no money, she worked odd jobs and collected scrap, earned scholarships and applied for poverty subsidies. Whenever she had time, she would study and read books. Whenever she saw me, she would smile and call me Grandma.

"Sigh, such a good girl..."