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

Zhou Lang folded the paper and put it in his pocket: "Let's split up. Zhao Qiang and I will go to 103, and Han Yingying will take Su Wan and Gu Bei to 105. Lin Mo will stay here and watch the full-length mirror. Call if anything happens."

"Why did I stay?" Lin Mo wasn't dissatisfied; he was simply confirming the reason.

"You speak little, so your reflection in the mirror doesn't reveal any weakness in your attack."

At first glance, it sounded like a compliment, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like an insult. Lin Mo thought about it and didn't refute it.

Split up.

Han Yingying led Su Wan and Gu Bei to the door of room 105, which was unlocked. Pushing the door open, they found the room layout was exactly the same as 106, but the papers on the table had been removed.

"Someone was here first." Su Wan squatted down to look at the footprints on the ground. "Two people, one wearing sneakers and the other wearing leather shoes. The footprints are very fresh, within half an hour."

Gu Bei checked every corner of the room: "The drawers are empty, and there's nothing under the bed. The papers were taken, and no copies were left."

Han Yingying walked to the full-length mirror. This mirror was the same size as the 106 mirror, but there was a crack on the surface, extending from the upper left corner to the lower right corner.

"This mirror has been used." She touched the crack. "Rule Six says a used mirror will break, but this one didn't break, it's just cracked. Either the rule is flawed, or..."

"Or someone only went in halfway before coming back out," Su Wan continued.

As the three were discussing, a noise came from the other end of the corridor.

Han Yingying peeked out—two people were standing in the middle of the corridor, a woman in a red jacket and a bald man. They were the same couple she had seen in the wasteland before.

The woman in the red jacket grinned when she saw Han Yingying: "You guys are collecting rules too?"

Han Yingying did not answer immediately.

"Don't be nervous, we're not here to cause trouble." The woman in the red jacket raised her hands in a friendly gesture. "My name is Cheng Qian, and this is my partner, Zhong Shi. We got the paper for room 103."

"Paper from 103?" Han Yingying became alert—wasn't that the direction Zhou Lang and Zhao Qiang went?

"Your companion is in room 103. We met him at the door. Your friend in the black hoodie asked me to come find you and gather the information."

"What did he say?"

Cheng Qian tilted her head and imitated Zhou Lang's tone: "Go to 105 and find Han Yingying. Tell her the rules for 103. Don't cause trouble."

The tone was quite similar. Han Yingying was skeptical, but the other person did indeed know her name and room number.

"What are the rules for 103?"

Cheng Qian pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket, unfolded it, and read aloud: "Rule Seven: The clock tower is located at the boundary between the mirrored and solid surfaces. Once the large clock on the mirrored surface is found, a 'phantom clock tower' will simultaneously appear on the solid surface. Rule Eight: The phantom clock tower only exists for fifteen minutes. The large clock must be rung within fifteen minutes. Rule Nine: The person who runs the bell must enter the clock tower alone and may not have any companions."

Han Yingying combined these three rules with the six rules of 106, and her thinking gradually became clear.

"The whole process is like this—" she took out her notebook and quickly wrote it down, "One team enters the mirror and finds the clock tower, triggering the appearance of the phantom clock tower in the real world. Then, one person stays in the real world and enters the phantom clock tower alone to ring the bell. There is a 15-minute time limit, and the people on the other side of the mirror have a one-hour stay limit."

"The problem is that there will be reflections in the mirror that act as enemies, and they possess all of our abilities," Su Wan added. "The team that enters the mirror not only has to find the clock tower, but also defeat their own reflection."

"It's not about winning," Han Yingying thought for a moment. "It's about finding the clock tower while being chased by the reflection. As long as we find it, we don't need to kill the reflection."

"And what about the other side? The bell ringer enters the bell tower alone; is there any danger inside?"

Han Yingying flipped through the paper. The rules didn't mention anything about the inside of the clock tower.

"The unknown is the most terrifying," Gu Bei said.

"But someone has to strike the bell."

Han Yingying put away her notebook. She turned to Cheng Qian and Zhong Shi: "What about your plans?"

Cheng Qian shrugged: "I originally planned to go solo after finding all the rules, but it seems this instance isn't suitable for solo play. How about the six of you, plus the two of us, form a team?"

Han Yingying didn't agree immediately. She needed to discuss it with Zhou Lang first.

Eight people gathered in room 106.

After listening to Cheng Qian's suggestion, Zhou Lang glanced at her and asked, "When did you and Zhong Shi receive the dungeon notification?"

"Same as you, six hours ago."

What's the highest level dungeon you've ever completed?

Grade A.

"Pass rate?"

"One hundred percent. Just two copies." Cheng Qian smiled. "Don't interrogate us like we're criminals; we're legitimate."

Zhou Lang didn't press further, turning to Han Yingying: "What do you think?"

Han Yingying considered for a few seconds. Having two more capable people in an S-rank dungeon wouldn't be a bad thing, but trust was an issue. However, they didn't have many other options.

"Cooperation is possible, but there are conditions," she told Cheng Qian. "Before entering the mirror, everyone must reveal their inventory. Knowing each other's cards will prevent chaos during the fight."

Cheng Qian readily nodded: "Okay."

The eight people revealed their inventory items one by one. Han Yingying noticed that Cheng Qian had a weapon called "Sky-Splitting Blade," which was of high quality; Zhong Shi had a small round mirror in his inventory—in this dungeon related to mirrors, was this item a useful tool or a potential threat?

"What is this mirror?" Zhou Lang noticed it too.

Zhong Shi spoke, his voice deep and resonant, as if rising from the earth: "A reflector. It can deflect enemy skills back. It's a one-time use item."

Zhou Lang's gaze lingered on the small round mirror for two seconds before shifting away.

"Okay." He stood up. "The plan is this—"

"Han Yingying, Lin Mo, Cheng Qian, and I will enter the mirror image to find the clock tower. Zhao Qiang, Su Wan, Gu Bei, and Zhong Shi will stay in the real image and wait for the illusory clock tower to appear. The person who will ring the bell—"

He looked around.

"I'll do it," Zhao Qiang raised his hand, then was startled by his own words. "Wait, what did I just say?"

"You said you'd come." Zhou Lang patted him on the shoulder.

"No, no, no, I take it back—"

"The rules say the bell ringer must enter alone," Zhou Lang interrupted him. "Your combat power is the lowest; entering the mirror plane will only hold you back. Stay in the real plane, run into the illusory clock tower, ring the bell once, and you'll have completed the mission."

Zhao Qiang opened his mouth, only to find that although the words were hurtful, they were logically flawless.

"What if there's a ghost in the clock tower?"

"Then you should run and knock."

"...Alright then."

The plan has been finalized. But before we can take action, there's one more problem to solve.

Gu Bei pointed to the full-length mirror: "This mirror can only be used once. Should all four of us go in at the same time, or in batches?"

"At the same time," Zhou Lang walked to the mirror, "we'll hold hands and step over it together. The way out is the same—if this mirror breaks, there's no way back, so we must find another mirror as an exit."