I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

At 1:30 a.m., Jiangcheng University held an emergency dormitory inspection.

Counselors from various colleges rushed over from home overnight; some came in their pajamas, and some hadn't even washed their faces.

The teachers in the student affairs office repeatedly sent notices in the work group, requiring each college to complete the headcount within half an hour, leaving no one out.

The first to make noise were the student dormitories.

"Knock knock knock—"

Rapid knocking echoed through the buildings, accompanied by the counselor's voice:

"Open the door! Room check! Wake up, everyone! Answer if your name is called!"

"Pull back the curtains, pull back the covers, and remind each other to sign in on the group chat!"

The students were all still half asleep, and when they were woken up, they were naturally full of resentment, each one looking like an evil sword immortal who had been imprisoned in the Demon-Sealing Tower for thousands of years:

"What's going on? Checking dorm rooms in the middle of the night? Are you crazy?"

"I have to work 8 AM tomorrow! Can't a person get any sleep?"

"What's going on? We've never had dorm room checks in the middle of the night before."

"Are you crazy? Checking dorm rooms at this hour..."

Complaints were constant.

But the school didn't have any airtight walls, and soon the news that "someone has gone missing on campus" spread like wildfire.

Shock and panic spread rapidly.

"Missing? What does 'missing' mean?"

"Who's missing? How did they go missing?"

"Teacher, is it true? I just saw a post saying Lover's Lake is haunted, but I thought it was a joke!"

"Really?! Holy crap! This is so exciting!"

"No, it's a missing persons report... Huh? What do you mean by 'ten people missing at once'???"

The counselors weren't actually clear on the specifics either, so they could only keep giving the same information in the group chat:

Don't panic, everyone. The information is still being verified.

Everyone should stay in their dorm rooms, avoid wandering around, and refrain from spreading rumors. The school will notify everyone immediately of any updates.

But the more this happened, the more frightened the students became.

The message spread like wildfire through various class groups, grade groups, and club groups at the speed of light.

Did you know? A guy in Building 3 just vanished into thin air! He disappeared right there in his dorm room!

[Not just one! A couple by the artificial lake is also gone; the security guard saw it with his own eyes!]

[Holy crap, I just heard from the dorm supervisor that several people have gone missing, even the cafeteria ladies have disappeared! (Image)]

Ah, I remember this auntie. She always called out loudly when serving food, but she never shook her spoon. She was such a nice person!

[Remember the fastest online novel website: 121999.com]

[Ten people disappearing at once? That's so weird! Is the school haunted?!]

[Either they were abducted by aliens, otherwise I find it hard to understand how ten adults could disappear at the same time...]

[My hair is standing on end! Oh my god, I want to go home, I don't want to stay at school anymore.]

[No, someone please tell us, is it true? Our whole dorm is terrified!]

Panic can spread like a plague.

College students are equally energetic and curious, and despite repeated warnings from the school against spreading the news, it spread like wildfire.

One by one, the lights in the dormitory building came on.

Some timid students have already started calling their parents; the news simply can't be suppressed.

"What should I do? I'm so scared..."

"I'm too scared to sleep alone anymore, let's share a bed."

"I called my mom and asked her to come pick me up."

"Will the school close down? Will they prevent us from leaving?"

"Really? Vanished into thin air? That's unbelievable!"

"Why would I lie to you? It's all on the security camera! My fellow villager works in the security department, and he said ten people went missing, all of them just vanished right under the surveillance cameras!"

"Ten people, holy crap... Could these guys have been reincarnated in another world and started a new life?"

"Don't even mention it! It gets scarier the more you talk about it!"

Amidst the growing panic, many students planned to leave the school overnight, and some even crowded downstairs in the dormitory building, demanding that the dormitory manager open the door.

The dormitory manager stood in the doorway, sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Students! Students! School rules state that we cannot go out now! Everyone, please return to your dorms and we'll talk again when it gets light!"

"Why can't we go out?!"

A male voice, strained and high-pitched, yelled through the crowd: "Everyone's gone missing! It's too dangerous to stay here! What if we're next?"

"That's right! We want to go home! Let us out!"

The crowd became increasingly agitated, and it was only after counselors from each grade arrived that they were able to calm them down.

The group returned to their dorm room grumbling, but no one could fall asleep.

……

Each dormitory room was dimly lit, and several people huddled together, scrolling through their phones and discussing things in hushed tones.

"I just checked Weibo, and someone has already posted it."

A girl held up her phone, her voice trembling, "#JiangchengUniversityHaunted# is trending on local social media."

Everyone crowded around to take a look.

There are already hundreds of comments under the trending search terms.

There are photos of the scene posted by students from the school, blurry screenshots from surveillance cameras, and various speculations and revelations.

[This was terrifying! I'm in building number 3! The police just arrived!]

My friend, who's from Jiangcheng University, said all ten people vanished into thin air right under the surveillance cameras; science simply can't explain it!

[Have you guys forgotten about that zombie outbreak a while back? It was also in Jiangcheng, tsk tsk, I think this place is really creepy!]

I'm a parent of a student, and I'm on my way there overnight... I hope my daughter is alright...

"No way, such a big school, how could ten grown men go missing? This looks like a rumor."

[They might have been kidnapped and their organs sold abroad; they might already be on a cargo ship bound for Southeast Asia.]

……

……

The room checks are still ongoing.

The counselors took the list and checked it room by room.

I felt a sense of relief every time a name was called.

At 2:37 a.m., the first round of dormitory checks ended.

Besides the seven students who have been confirmed missing and three staff members, all other students on campus, except those who stayed off-campus or went home on leave, are on the list.

Good news: no new missing persons have been reported.

The bad news is that the ten missing people are still nowhere to be found.

……

……

At 1:57 a.m., four police cars and two black SUVs roared into Jiangcheng University.

Red and blue lampposts flickered in the night.

Police tape had already been put up at the school gate. As soon as the car came to a stop, Chen Xi got out of the passenger seat.

She was wearing a black windbreaker, her short hair was neat, her eyes were sharp, and there was no sign of sleepiness on her face.

A dozen or so criminal police officers followed behind, all with solemn expressions, while technicians also quickly caught up, carrying their investigation kits.

Following behind Chen Xi were several young men and women dressed in casual clothes.

—Following the incident involving bus route 404, the Municipal Public Security Bureau urgently established a special task force to deal with such paranormal cases that cannot be explained by science.

After Jiangcheng University reported the incident to the police, the case was reported up the chain of command, and the special task force that Chen Xi was part of was also dispatched here.

……

Logically, when a school experiences a missing person case, the school should prioritize internal investigation rather than reporting it to the police.

However, the fact that "ten people disappeared without a trace" is clearly beyond the school's comprehension.

"Captain Chen!"

The principal, accompanied by school officials, rushed to greet them, his voice trembling with the urge to cry, his expression as if he had seen family members: "We've been waiting for you!"

"Hello."

Chen Xi shook hands with him and got straight to the point: "Please take our technicians to the monitoring room first. I've already learned the general situation on the way."

"Okay, no problem, no problem, I'll definitely cooperate and accompany you. This way, please."

The group quickly entered the security department's monitoring room.

Technicians immediately stepped forward and used technical means to recreate footage from the minute before the missing person disappeared.

Without exception, all the missing persons disappeared without any warning.

It's like someone pulled out a frame from a video, at an extremely fast speed.

The special task force also conducted a detailed investigation of the scene of the disappearance, but found no clues.

Footprints, tire tracks, even signs of struggle—nothing was found.

……

Chen Xi carefully reviewed the investigation results, her expression turning somewhat grim.

Just as she thought.

All the missing persons vanished instantly, leaving no trace—very similar to how Su Ya and the others were pulled into the "instance" in the 404 bus incident.

This kind of supernatural power that is not human... there's no mistake, it can only be a copy.

Following the "Route 404" incident, some within the police force speculated that the so-called "copy" was unlikely to be an isolated case.

During this period, the police have been doing their best to track 404's movements, but they did not expect the new "copy" to appear so quickly.

"Ten people, all of them disappeared in this way?"

"Yes, all of them—except for one case, there are no surveillance cameras inside Building 3 of the men's dormitory."

However, witnesses all claimed that the student named "Chow Sang Sang" vanished into thin air, so he was included in the statistics.

The technicians were quite certain: "The monitoring system is working perfectly, and we haven't detected any external interference. It's almost like..."

—It's like the person in the picture has had their existence erased by an oversized eraser.

"First, send the physical evidence back to the identification center to see if there are any other clues."

We contacted the school and requested that they allocate personnel to help maintain order on campus, calm students, and prevent widespread panic.

Chen Xi glanced back at his colleague from the Special Operations Section, a slender young man.

"Captain Chen, I suspect this case is related to the one at Taiping Cemetery. It seems like a new case has been opened."

The man glanced at the notebook in his hand and added, "According to those who have entered the dungeons, we speculate that each dungeon may have specific entry conditions."

Just like in the "Taiping Cemetery instance", all participants took the "404 bus".

Could these ten missing persons share any common characteristics?

"Then let the school provide detailed information on these ten missing persons, including their identity information, social relationships, and recent whereabouts."

The technicians then compared the surveillance footage again to see what they had done before they disappeared.

The campus is temporarily locked down, and unauthorized personnel are prohibited from entering the campus to prevent further disappearances. All personnel must remain in contact, and dynamic checks will be conducted every ten minutes—is the area completely sealed off?

"They've all been sealed off. There are nine missing persons locations in total. We've put up police tape, and Xiao Li has already led people to the sites to guard them."

"well done."

After a moment's thought, Chen Xi ordered, "Zhou Chong, take the technical investigation team to each scene to investigate, collect trace evidence, and don't overlook any details."

Mo Mo, take some people to interview the witnesses, take detailed statements, and keep the matter confidential.

The technical team stayed behind to continue reviewing the surveillance footage, hoping to find any clues about the "copy" through the video.

She paused here and pointed to two people:

"Jin Sui, Xiao Zhang, come with me to revisit the scene and see if we can find any clues to enter the instance."

—If the instance is really as Suya and the others said, then the ten people who have been pulled into the unknown instance are likely facing a life-or-death crisis.

Perhaps she could use her player identity to enter the instance and confirm the whereabouts of the missing persons.

"yes!"

"yes!"

Everyone immediately sprang into action, each taking on their assigned tasks.

Chen Xi appeared calm, but she knew in her heart that she couldn't stop the speed at which the news spread.

—If the special task force fails to find the missing persons before dawn, the pressure from public opinion alone will be enough to draw national attention to this matter.

……

……