Survival on the Internet: A Bizarre Start at Sea

"It's a perfect fit for Lillia's control and support abilities, and it also comes with skills that enhance survivability."

Su Zhisu handed the staff to Lilia.

"Lilia, your spoils, combined with Dream Dust, should have an even stronger control effect."

Lilia happily accepted the staff, holding it with great delight.

The moment she touched the staff, two faint lights flashed across her body, indicating an upgrade!

[Network Notification]: Your teammate "Dream Weaver" has leveled up! Current level: Lv.6!

[Network Notification]: Your teammate "Dream Weaver" has reached Lv.6 90% experience!

"It seems the experience rewards for challenging opponents of higher levels are indeed generous. Lilia has leveled up twice and is almost at Lv.7..."

Putting away the other spoils, Su Zhisu frowned and looked around.

The area guardian was defeated, and the erosion level was greatly reduced, but the expected dungeon completion prompt did not appear.

The beach remained silent, and the dark red "sea" in the distance continued to rise and fall slowly, but the oppressive feeling that had once been unsettling had vanished.

"Something's strange. The 'end' of this dungeon isn't just defeating the dungeon 'boss'."

"Lilia, let's look around and be careful."

After a short rest, the two began to explore the beach, which had become "cleaner".

After the erosion level decreased, even the weakest twisted remnants could no longer be seen, and the surroundings were eerily quiet.

A short while later, in the middle of a relatively flat beach, Su Zhisu stopped.

There's something there.

A small, wooden music box that looks very old.

The box is exquisitely crafted, but its surface is engraved with a blurry, seemingly weeping human face, giving it an overall eerie and indescribable feel.

It lay quietly on the pale gravel, out of place with its surroundings, as if it had been deliberately forgotten there.

"This is... a strange object?"

"Completely different from those 'monsters,' this thing looks..."

"Is it dead?"

Su Zhisu did not approach rashly.

He gestured for Lilia to keep her distance, while he slowly circled the music box to observe it.

There were no energy fluctuations or signs of mental pollution; it was just like an ordinary old object.

But the more ordinary something is, the more abnormal it seems in such a place.

"Try using your mental power to sense it."

Su Zhisu carefully separated a wisp of his spiritual power and gently reached out towards the music box like a tentacle.

The instant my mental energy touched the music box—

"Click".

A slight click of a mechanism was heard.

The lid of the music box opened by itself, leaving a small crack.

A melody, ethereal, melancholic, and with a certain ancient charm, flowed out from the cracks in the box like a gentle stream.

This music... isn't unpleasant to listen to; on the contrary, it has a strange kind of magic.

Su Zhisu's attention was involuntarily drawn to the box, her gaze falling on the face pattern on the surface as it slowly opened.

It was as if the world's deepest secret was hidden inside.

Even Lilia, who was not far away, looked over with a dazed expression.

In the dim light, the crying face pattern seemed to turn into a smile.

"Oh no! There's something wrong with this music!"

Su Zhisu bit his tongue hard, and the sharp pain instantly brought him to his senses!

He tried to look away and shut down his senses, but the music was inescapable, penetrating deep into his mind.

He felt his thoughts becoming sluggish and his body somewhat out of control; all he wanted to do was listen quietly and see what was inside the box.

The music box lid was fully open. Inside, instead of dancing figures, there was a deep, swirling darkness, as if connected to an unknown void.

As the music gradually became more urgent, an indescribable anxiety began to permeate the air.

At last……

As the last note faded, the lid of the music box snapped shut.

Su Zhisu and Lilia both jolted awake and snapped back to reality.

But the sight before them sent a chill down their spines at the same time!

They... are no longer in the same spot!

Su Zhisu found himself standing on a rock about twenty meters away, while Lilia was further behind him, her face showing the same bewilderment and horror.

The music box inexplicably appeared not far away, and its closed lid was about to be opened.

"Where was this... five minutes ago?"

"The effect of this music box is... displacement?"

Su Zhisu immediately checked the records on the comprehensive network.

[Network Notification]: You are affected by the rules of "Music Box". Your current location has been reverted to 5 minutes ago.

[Network Notice]: Warning: You are experiencing intense sadness and involuntarily recalling past regrets.

【综网提示】：正在进行检定，难度60……1d100+30=45＜60

[Network Notification]: Check failed. You are affected by the emotion "Sadness" for 5 minutes. A strange power is spreading towards you...

An inexplicable and heavy sadness instantly gripped Su Zhisu's heart.

He recalled his lonely childhood, and a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him, making him want to give up everything and sink into despair.

Lilia, standing next to her, had red eyes and tears streaming down her face, clearly caught in a similar emotional predicament.

"It's not just about displacement..."

"It even forcibly triggers negative emotions! This thing is so weird!"

"Lilia, let's go!"

Noticing that the music box was about to open again, Su Zhisu suppressed his grief, pulled Lilia up, and quickly retreated until the music box was completely out of sight before stopping.

The feeling of being manipulated emotionally only began to subside at this point.

"We can't force it; we don't understand its rules at all."

"Just seeing it attracted my attention; if... the consequences would be unimaginable."

"Your Excellency... what is that?"

Lilia wiped away her tears, still shaken.

"A strange object... a source of pollution of the rule type."

Su Zhisu's expression was solemn.

"I think I understand why I can't beat the game."

"This music box is the cause. If we don't solve it, the erosion level of this instance probably won't drop below 10%."

As if to confirm his guess, the notification from the online platform arrived belatedly:

[Network Alert]: An uncontained strange object—a music box—has been detected.

[Network Notice]: Before successfully containing this strange object, the dungeon "Abyss-Shallow-2" will enter a cyclical reset state. Each reset will continuously increase the erosion level to a baseline of 15%, and the dungeon boss [Abyss Anchor Binder] will re-form.

[Current instance status]: Looping reset (incomplete)

"The cycle resets... This means we can repeatedly farm experience and materials here, but we can't truly conquer this level."

"But the dungeon's corruption level will keep increasing, and eventually it will reach 100%!"

"Moreover, we have to face that troublesome [Anchor Binder] every time."

"Lilia, let's go back first."

Su Zhisu made a decisive decision.

"Let's take a long-term view..."

"You've become familiar with the new staff; your strength has increased."

"And I... need to figure out how to contain that thing."

Without further hesitation, the two decided to exit the instance.