Lu Yanli is an ordinary office worker who appears mild-mannered and unassuming. His life takes a terrifying turn when he boards the last subway train home, only to find himself trapped in a supernatural realm where reality distorts into horror. The subway car becomes a death trap, filled with blood fog and a grotesque female celebrity from an advertisement board who devours passengers with a long, serpentine tongue. Alongside Lu Yanli are several other survivors, including He Lou, a seasoned mission player who has survived numerous life-and-death scenarios, and the Li sisters, Li Fangwan and Li Fangzhi, who are also experienced in navigating these dangerous alternate worlds.
The core conflict emerges as the group realizes they are not merely victims of circumstance but participants in a hidden mission. He Lou reveals that their objective is to survive for one week in Lu Yanli’s apartment, located in a building that harbors its own set of horrors. The group must protect Lu Yanli, as his presence is key to completing the task, yet they simultaneously view him as expendable. The situation is complicated by a secondary, hidden mission that forces them to navigate a nightmarish landscape of zombies, blood fog, and malevolent entities.
As the story progresses, the group discovers that the horror is linked to a female celebrity named Lan Zhiyu, who died in 1985 under mysterious circumstances. Investigations reveal that she was not raising minor ghosts, as rumors suggested, but was instead connected to Jiangshi, or hopping vampires. The group encounters these creatures in an abandoned ocean park named after Lan Zhiyu, where a haunting song drives listeners to madness and physical transformation. Lu Yanli demonstrates unexpected competence in these crises, using glutinous rice to repel the Jiangshi and showing a keen awareness of the supernatural rules governing their world.
Key turning points include the discovery that Lu Yanli is not the innocent NPC he appears to be. Surveillance footage reveals that he intentionally awakened the zombies by interacting with the advertisement board before the group even entered the supernatural space. Furthermore, the group learns that Lu Yanli’s apartment building contains a hidden tenth floor, situated between the third and fourth floors, which is the source of the nightly chopping sounds and the feeding ground for the entity residing in apartment 404. This entity consumes the flesh of residents, as evidenced by the gruesome fate of neighbors who enter the elevator.
The narrative direction shifts from simple survival to a deeper investigation of Lu Yanli’s true nature and his connection to the supernatural events. While the group continues to rely on him for the mission, they grow increasingly suspicious of his actions and motives. Lu Yanli maintains a facade of fear and ignorance, but his internal monologue and subtle manipulations suggest he is orchestrating events to his advantage. The story ends with the group facing the escalating dangers of the hidden floor and the entity within, while He Lou pieces together the horrifying truth about Lu Yanli’s role in awakening the horrors they now face.
