"Yes, there really isn't much value to it. We can only say this apartment has problems, but what exactly those problems are requires us to investigate ourselves," Ke Bei said.

Xiao Q responded, "Since you shared your information, I'll share mine too!" He then proceeded to recount everything he had experienced in Alice Apartment to Ke Bei.

After listening, Ke Bei fell into a long silence. Then his eyes suddenly lit up as he leaned close to Xiao Q's ear and whispered something.

...

Time passed minute by minute. Soon it was 7:30 PM - time for the welcome party.

Just like last time, Jiang Ran arrived early at the first-floor activity room. Before long, almost everyone had gathered.

As in Jiang Ran's previous experience, the welcome party began with Manager Xiao Zhang asking the new residents to introduce themselves.

First to introduce themselves were Zhou Wu and Jiang Ran's ex-girlfriend Shen Xing. Next was Xiao Q. Seeing Xiao Q immediately reminded Jiang Ran of the incident when the young white man had blocked his door with a chainsaw. Had this guy actually moved in too?

The third person to introduce themselves was Ke Bei. Many people's first reaction was to think of the detective Conan. Last to introduce herself was Li Mengmeng, the dance streamer. She had a pretty face and an especially good figure - understandable for a dancer.

After the new residents finished introducing themselves came the cake-eating session. It was the same towering cake mountain as before. While Jiang Ran enjoyed his cake with relish, the long-term residents complained just like last time, grumbling about whether Xiao Zhang could try something different instead of serving cake every time.

By around 9 PM, the welcome activities concluded and Alice Apartment's residents began returning to their rooms. As he left the activity room, Jiang Ran greeted Xiao Q, who responded with a bright smile. They'd become friends after their initial conflict.

As for Zhou Wu and his ex-girlfriend Shen Xing, Jiang Ran didn't greet them, mainly because the pair showed no intention of speaking to him either.

"Aren't you two leaving?" Soon the activity room was nearly empty. Manager Xiao Zhang, preparing to leave, noticed Ke Bei and Xiao Q still there.

"We'll leave after finishing this game," they said, raising their phones to show screens displaying Honor of Kings.

"Oh, take your time then. Remember to lock up when you leave."

"Will do."

After waiting five minutes to ensure Xiao Zhang had left, they immediately quit their game, abandoning three lonely teammates to battle alone in the canyon. After locking the door, they stayed in the activity room, speaking in hushed tones.

Ke Bei: "Well?"

Xiao Q: "Just like you said - among the long-term residents, I recognized several people who've appeared in online reports."

After hearing Xiao Q's earlier experiences in Alice Apartment, Ke Bei had focused particularly on the psychopathic criminals. He wondered - where else could you find so many psychopathic criminals gathered together? Prison?

Assuming this was indeed a prison, might there be other psychopathic criminals here? This welcome party provided the perfect opportunity to observe the other residents. Even without Ke Bei suggesting it, Xiao Q had planned to do this anyway - after all, he'd recognized the kite-making serial killer Wang Nuli without even being suspicious initially.

From this welcome party alone, Xiao Q had immediately identified at least three psychopathic criminals who'd appeared in news reports, plus several others who seemed familiar. Now in the activity room, they began searching online for news reports about the country's psychopathic killers over the years, comparing them to the long-term residents they'd just seen.

Their online search was really just confirmation - they already knew the answer in their hearts. The answer was:

"This apartment probably houses quite a few different psychopathic killers," Xiao Q said while multitasking between searching and talking.

Ke Bei agreed: "Yes, that seems to be the case. Besides these killers, there must be ordinary people living here too - like the new residents this time, that Jiang Ran you knew from last time, and your friend."

"An apartment housing both ordinary people and psychopathic killers... We ordinary people all signed agreements to get in. Did the others sign agreements too? If so, why would the apartment bring us ordinary people in? To live alongside a bunch of psychopathic killers? That's incredibly dangerous! You could lose your life any day."

Suddenly Xiao Q looked up and asked Ke Bei if he'd ever read any horror or mystery novels. Ke Bei said of course he had.

Xiao Q continued: "Doesn't our situation resemble those novels? The apartment putting us ordinary people in here - doesn't it feel like some kind of survival game where we have to outwit opponents? Ordinary people struggling to survive among psychopathic criminals? Maybe that's why we get paid 10,000 per day - because it's worth that much?"

In the live stream room at that moment:

Middle-aged Uncle: [Damn, these two have figured out about 80% of it. Impressive.]

Domineering Female CEO: [Impressive indeed. I wonder what they'll do after discovering the truth - leave the apartment or stay?]

Back in the activity room, Ke Bei and Xiao Q both got goosebumps. Their own hypothesis had frightened them. Though just speculation, they felt this might very well be the truth.

"If this is how things are, then my friend Xiao Peng's girlfriend Xiao Nuo disappearing from the apartment probably means she's already dead? Killed by one of the apartment's psychopathic criminals? And your father might already be dead too."

Ke Bei fell silent. He wanted to argue that his father might still be alive, but if he were, why had there been no contact for years as if he'd vanished from the world?

Finally Ke Bei said: "This might be the apartment's truth, Xiao Q. What will you do next? Leave?"

Xiao Q shook his head: "I'd like to, but the agreement states we must stay seven full days before leaving. Breaking it would require paying massive penalties that would bankrupt my family."

Ke Bei: "In that case, just focus on surviving the seven days safely. By the way, are you still going to look for that missing female student?"

Xiao Q: "No, I only knew her for a few days through my friend. Why would I look for her? Some kind of savior complex?"

Ke Bei: "Alright. But I need to find my father. Even if our speculation suggests he might have died long ago, I still need to discover how he died, who killed him, and get revenge."

Xiao Q: "Don't worry, I'll help you look."

Checking the time, they realized it was already 10 PM - they'd been in the activity room for a full hour.