Jiang Ran had no idea who lived in Room 203.

But he figured he'd find out when he got there.

When he reached the door of Room 203, he noticed it was slightly ajar, not properly closed.

Just as he hesitated about whether to knock or ring the doorbell before entering,

An electronic female voice came from inside, sounding like an AI.

The voice said the door wasn't locked and told him to come straight in.

Jiang Ran pushed the door open and entered.

After stepping inside, he closed the door behind him.

His gaze was instantly drawn to something in the living room.

The living room of Room 203 was quite spacious.

Aside from the basic decorative fixtures, the only other item was a television.

There was no sofa, no coffee table.

Because of this, the empty living room could accommodate very large objects.

What immediately caught his attention was a common green-felted gambling table.

Exactly like those frequently seen in movies and TV dramas.

As Jiang Ran approached and gently touched the gambling table, he suddenly realized he hadn't seen the resident of Room 203 since entering!

At that moment, a loud BANG from above his head startled him.

Jiang Ran quickly stepped back, but it was already too late.

A massive amount of colorful confetti and streamers showered down from above, covering him, the gambling table, and the nearby floor.

Wondering what it was, Jiang Ran looked closely and realized it was the kind of colorful party streamers used during birthday celebrations.

His heart still racing, he looked up and noticed a burst balloon-like object high on the ceiling - these colorful confetti and streamers had been stored inside it.

This development...

Made Jiang Ran even more confused about what kind of person lived here...

An unlocked door.

An electronic female voice.

Plus this birthday party-like situation.

While Jiang Ran was still puzzling over it, he heard PFFT PFFT PFFT sounds from a horn behind him.

Turning around, he saw a figure moving with crab-like steps, blowing a horn as it emerged sideways from the bedroom.

Only then did Jiang Ran suddenly understand.

Indeed, only that person could come up with these kinds of antics.

And that person was precisely the clown who had appeared at that welcome party!

Today the clown's outfit was identical to the one from the welcome party.

The red and white ridiculous clown costume, red ball nose, clown makeup with an exaggerated red mouth, and big red curly hair.

Now, the clown moved with comical steps over to the security door, turned around to do something unclear, then turned back and came before Jiang Ran.

PFFT PFFT PFFT went the horn.

And he said: "So, how about that preview performance?!"

Jiang Ran felt somewhat speechless, perfunctorily saying it was quite good, then immediately asked:

"Um... Mr. Clown, may I ask what you need my help with?"

Jiang Ran hadn't forgotten he came here to provide assistance.

After Jiang Ran's question, the clown stopped blowing the horn.

His posture returned to normal.

But the smile remained on his face.

He said: "I want you to play a game with me."

"A game? What kind of game?"

Jiang Ran never expected the clown wanted to play games with him?

Honor of Kings? Or PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds? Or some other game?

The clown smiled and extended four fingers.

Word by word: "A gamble-with-your-life game."

From the moment Jiang Ran encountered the clown,

The Danger Warning System in his mind had been constantly alerting:

[Ding! Dangerous person detected, please distance yourself immediately! Points +8, Points +8...]

Then, now that the clown had spoken those four words "gamble-with-your-life game,"

It directly changed to:

[Ding! Host is about to encounter danger! Please distance yourself immediately! Points +10! Points +10! Points +10...]

This was exactly like last time, when Jiang Ran, Xiao Q, and Xiao Peng's two other friends were having their door sawed through by the young white man with a chainsaw, who came in intending to kill them.

About to encounter danger, points directly maxed out at 10!

Unfortunately, last time other personalities were awakened by the system, resulting in that period of memory that Jiang Ran simply couldn't recall.

Even so.

Jiang Ran now listened to the frantic mechanical voice in his mind, his heart transitioning from calm beating to rapid pounding.

He could hear his own heartbeat clearly in the increasingly oppressive silence of the Room 203 environment.

At this moment, he forced an awkward smile:

"Gamble-with-your-life game? Is it a computer game? Or mobile game? Probably a horror game, right?!"

Jiang Ran wondered if he might have misunderstood?

Maybe it wasn't the life-or-death gamble he imagined?

The clown laughed: "Literal meaning, it's gambling with lives, gambling with both our lives."

"You win, I die. I win, you die."

Jiang Ran froze: "You're joking, right?"

The clown pulled a sharp dagger from within his clown costume, twirled it skillfully in his right hand, then suddenly stabbed it into the gambling table, the blade sinking deep into the surface.

"What do you think?"

Staring at that dagger for three seconds.

Jiang Ran's body suddenly moved.

Quick as a fleeing rabbit, he reached the door of Room 203.

He tried to open the door to escape, but to his horror discovered it wouldn't open.

The clown stood in the living room, emitting his shrill clown voice: "La la la, don't bother trying. Didn't you see I went to the door first before coming to you? Today, in this place, only one person will walk out."

Alright, alright.

Jiang Ran regretted coming here today for that 50 yuan.

But thinking carefully, if you escape the first day, you won't escape the fifteenth.

If this clown had set his sights on him, this day would have come eventually.

But, this is so bizarre!

Jiang Ran still found it hard to believe that someone in his apartment building wanted to play some kind of gamble-with-your-life game with him.

How could this be so much like a movie or novel plot? He wasn't acting in a movie!!!

"Wait, you're a clown - is everything today just rehearsal for a future performance you can't reveal to me? For realism?! When everything's over, you'll say it was all just a joke?!"

Jiang Ran still refused to give up.

He felt this must be some new type of performance, a horror thriller show.

But the clown, seemingly wanting Jiang Ran to accept reality so it wouldn't affect their upcoming gamble-with-your-life game,

Said: "Go online and search for 'clown killings' in our country, then you'll know whether this is performance rehearsal or not."

Jiang Ran pulled out his phone, originally intending to send a text to call the police during the search. Regardless of whether the clown was joking.

But unfortunately, the clown came over and stood beside him, watching closely.

Searching for "Hua Country clown killings" on his phone.

Jiang Ran prayed inwardly, hoping he wouldn't find anything.

That this was just some new performance show requiring rehearsal.

But sadly, he found results.

After finding them, Jiang Ran briefly scanned through.

It said this clown was a deranged serial killer who had murdered many people. Reading this far, he didn't continue - there was no need.

Then, he compared the clown photo from his search results with the person before him.

You couldn't say they were identical - you had to say they were absolutely the same person.

Even though both faces wore clown makeup.

The facial features and bone structure were there.

You could still clearly distinguish them.

And the clown makeup was exactly the same...

At this point, Jiang Ran deflated, collapsing to sit down heavily.

Good grief, his luck was truly terrible!

How could he have encountered a deranged serial killer?!