A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

In front of me was a huge space.

Zhou Lang raised the oil lamp, its green light illuminating the entire basement—it was much larger than he had imagined, resembling an abandoned warehouse, piled high with old furniture and miscellaneous items. Yellowed photographs hung on the walls, the faces in them scratched and smudged.

"This place is fucking creepy." Zhao Qiang swallowed.

Han Yingying didn't speak, following closely behind Zhou Lang. She noticed drag marks on the ground that stretched deep into the ground.

Zhou Lang walked to a pile of boxes and kicked aside the top one. The box was full of account books, the paper yellowed and brittle. He randomly flipped open one, which recorded the estate's expenses—food, wages, and maintenance costs.

"Why are you looking for these?" Zhao Qiang asked.

"Let's look for clues." Zhou Lang continued flipping through the pages. "There's something wrong with this manor; it's not just a simple case of it being haunted."

He turned to a page that recorded a huge expense: a basement renovation project, 50.

50? That much money to renovate a basement?

Zhou Lang put the ledger into his inventory and continued walking inside.

Deep in the basement was a wooden door, boarded up, seemingly sealed shut. Zhou Lang took out a chainsaw and sawed at the board.

The sound of the chainsaw echoed in the basement, so piercing it sent chills down your spine.

"Are you crazy?" Zhao Qiang covered his ears. "That noise will attract ghosts!"

"They already knew we were here," Zhou Lang said without looking up. "The oil lamp can only keep them away, but it can't hide our location."

The wooden planks were quickly sawed open, and Zhou Lang kicked the door open.

Behind the door was a small room with more photos hanging on the walls. This time, the faces in the photos weren't scratched, and Zhou Lang could see clearly—it was a young woman dressed as a maid, smiling sweetly.

Each photo is accompanied by a date, ranging from 1995 to 1998.

"Who is this?" Han Yingying asked.

Zhou Lang didn't answer; he stared at the last photo. The woman in the photo was no longer smiling; her expression was stiff, and her eyes were empty. Below the photo was a line of text: Anna Forever.

There was a wooden box in the corner of the room. Zhou Hao walked over and opened it.

Inside the box was a maid's uniform, rotten and moldy, emitting a foul stench. Underneath the uniform was a diary.

Zhou Lang picked up the diary and turned to the first page.

"March 12, 1995, today is my first day working at the manor. The butler is very kind and has arranged the best room for me."

"On June 3, 1995, my host praised my cooking, and I was very happy."

"On February 14, 1996, my master gave me a necklace, saying that I was the most beautiful maid in the manor."

The diary entries were quite ordinary, recording a maid's daily life. But the further you turned the pages, the more illegible the handwriting became, and the stranger the contents grew.

"On October 5, 1997, the master came to my room again tonight. I didn't want to, but I couldn't refuse."

"On December 20, 1997, I became pregnant. My master said he would marry me and told me not to tell anyone."

"On March 1, 1998, my master lied to me. He wouldn't marry me; he was going to give me away."

"On March 15, 1998, I couldn't leave. I wanted to stay here, forever."

The last page contained only one sentence, etched so forcefully into the paper that it almost pierced it:

"I will have everyone with me."

Zhou Lang closed his diary and turned to look at the door.

A woman dressed as a maid stood there, her face deathly pale, her belly swollen. Her eyes were black, with no whites, and she stared intently at Zhou Lang.

"You've found it," the woman said, her voice seeming to be squeezed from the depths of her throat. "You've found my secret."

Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying were so frightened that they backed away, but Zhou Lang didn't move.

"Are you Anna?" Zhou Lang asked.

"That's me." The woman smiled, a twisted smile. "I've been waiting here for over twenty years, and finally someone has found me."

"You killed everyone in the manor?"

"They deserve to die!" Anna's voice suddenly turned shrill. "My master lied to me, the butler sided with him, and the other servants laughed at me. They all deserve to die!"

"So you turned them all into ghosts?"

"Yes." Anna walked into the room, leaving a puddle of black liquid on the floor with each step. "I made them stay here forever, to keep me company and serve me."

Zhou Lang looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"You're pretty pathetic."

Anna was stunned; she hadn't expected Zhou Lang to say that.

"But what you did was even worse," Zhou Lang continued. "You imposed your own pain on others and thought it was perfectly justified."

"What do you know!" Anna screamed. "You have no idea what I've been through!"

"I understand." Zhou Lang's voice was calm. "My parents are dead, and my sister is missing. My situation is much worse than yours."

"Then why don't you retaliate?"

"Because it's pointless," Zhou Lang said. "Revenge changes nothing; it only causes more people pain."

Anna stared at Zhou Lang, a flicker of hesitation crossing her dark eyes.

You're lying to me.

"I'm not lying to you," Zhou Lang said. "Do you want to be trapped here forever? Trapped in this dilapidated manor, watching those ghosts, and thinking about the man who lied to you?"

Anna fell silent.

"Let go," Zhou Lang said. "Let them go, and let yourself go too."

The room remained quiet for a long time.

Anna suddenly laughed, laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face.

"You're right," she said. "I've been stuck here for far too long."

She turned and walked towards the door, but halfway there, she turned back and glanced at Zhou Lang.

"Thank you."

As soon as she finished speaking, Anna's body began to glow, the light growing brighter and brighter until she disappeared completely.

The darkness in the basement faded, and the photos on the wall fell one by one, turning to ashes.

[Horror Dungeon: Horror Manor, Completed]

[Rating: Perfect]

[Reward: 1000 game coins, Special item: Anna's Necklace]

Zhou Lang looked at the necklace that had suddenly appeared in his hand; a heart-shaped pendant hung from the silver chain.

"That's it?" Zhao Qiang asked in disbelief. "We've already cleared the game?"

"Okay." Zhou Lang put the necklace into his inventory. "Let's go, it's time to go back."

The three of them walked out of the basement, and all the ghosts in the manor vanished. Only the butler remained in the hall, standing there, his body slowly turning transparent.

"You did it," the butler said. "You freed Anna, and you freed us."

"Are you all being controlled by her?" Zhou Lang asked.

"Yes." Butler Killer nodded. "Anna's resentment after her death was too strong, trapping us all here. Now that she's gone, we're free."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know." The butler laughed. Although it had no face, Zhou Lang could feel its laughter. "But it's better than being trapped here."

Its body has completely disappeared.

The manor began to collapse; the walls cracked and the ceiling fell.

"Run!" Zhou Lang shouted.

The three rushed out of the manor, and just as they reached the gate, the entire manor collapsed with a roar, turning into ruins.

[Teleporting players out of the instance]

A flash of white light, and Zhou Lang opened his eyes to find himself back in the real world.