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

She lied; that thing really couldn't reach them anymore?

Without a second thought, the three of them ran upwards as fast as they could. Behind them came the angry roar of the "Sleeper" and the dull thud of something hitting the wall. The passage shook violently, and lime fell from above.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" Zhao Qiang ran in the lead, his speed making him seem nothing like someone who claimed to be a coward.

They rushed out of the passageway, went up the stairs, and the three of them ran all the way back to the lobby on the first floor.

Zhou Lang glanced back—the iron door to the basement was still open, and the creature's voice could be heard from the darkness, but it didn't follow.

"It can't get out of the basement?" Zhao Qiang asked, panting as he bent over.

"It must be the restriction of that circular pattern," Zhou Lang said. "That's a sealing array. The manor owner summoned it but couldn't trap it, so he used his own blood to draw an array to seal it underground."

"What about the nail? If the nail flies away, then..."

"That's why I said there's no rush to open the coffin," Zhou Lang said calmly. "You're just lucky the sealing array is still working."

Zhao Qiang: "...You never said you didn't want to open the coffin."

"I told you there's no rush."

"Not being in a hurry and not opening are two different concepts!"

Zhou Lang ignored him and turned to look at Han Yingying.

"What you just shouted—how do you know that thing can't reach us?"

Han Yingying shook her head: "I don't know."

"Then why did you shout like that?"

"I...I just shouted whatever came to mind," Han Yingying herself couldn't explain, "I was probably stunned."

Zhou Lang stared at her for a few seconds, then didn't ask any further questions.

But he remembered it.

The attack stopped the moment she said that. This was no coincidence.

The three returned to their respective rooms. Zhou Lang locked the door, sat on the edge of the bed, and took out the notes from the basement to review them again.

By the light of the oil lamp, he carefully deciphered the words covered in blood. A few characters were barely legible:

"...It needs a container...a child's body is the most suitable...its strength will..."

I couldn't see anything beyond that.

Zhou Lang closed his notebook and shut his eyes to think.

What is the real objective of this instance? On the surface, it's about surviving as a servant in the manor for seven days, but there's an S-rank monster lurking in the basement—once this thing escapes, you won't survive seven days, not even seven seconds.

And that sealing array...

The nails have already snapped open. The coffin lid has been lifted. How long the seal can last is a question.

He opened his eyes and looked out the window. Moonlight streamed in through the gap in the curtains, casting a thin, white line.

The noise started again in the corridor.

Footsteps, creaking, and a very light sound, like fingernails scratching wood.

Zhou Lang's expression remained unchanged. Tonight's ghost—no, all the ghosts in this villa—was a joke compared to the thing in the basement.

He lay down and placed the chainsaw next to his pillow.

"I still need to ask Butler Sha about something tomorrow," he muttered to himself.

There was a clicking sound coming from the doorway, as if something was trying to turn the lock.

Zhou Lang turned over, his back to the door.

"Stop making so much noise, get out."

The sounds at the doorway paused, then fell silent.

About ten seconds later, the "click-click-click" sound rang out again.

Zhou Lang pulled the chainsaw out from under his pillow and pressed the switch. The chainsaw emitted a high-frequency buzzing sound.

There was complete silence at the doorway.

"This trick works pretty well." Zhou Lang turned off the chainsaw and fell into a deep sleep.

On the morning of the fourth day.

Zhou Lang woke up very early. When he washed his face and went downstairs, Xiong Batian was already in the hall, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, resting.

Seeing Zhou Lang come down, Xiong Batian slightly opened his eyes.

"Did you go to the basement last night?"

Zhou Lang paused. "How did you know?"

"The iron gate was open," Xiong Batian said. "I saw it when I got up in the middle of the night."

This person is quite bold, daring to wander around the corridor at night after getting up.

"What did you see?"

"Nothing much. It's just that the smell in the basement doesn't seem right." Xiong Batian slowly stood up, his figure like an iron tower. "A very strong aura of death. Not the kind that ordinary ghosts can emit."

"You're quite knowledgeable about death energy?"

"This is my third time entering a dungeon." Xiong Batian raised his palm, revealing a deep scar. "I was nearly killed by a ghost's claw in the first dungeon. Since then, I've become more sensitive to these auras."

Surviving three dungeons, this guy's got something special.

Zhou Lang leaned against the stair railing. "What is your ability?"

Xiong Batian didn't hide anything: "My physique has been enhanced. My strength, speed, and endurance are all significantly higher than normal. What about you?"

"Keep it a secret."

Xiong Batian didn't press further. "What's in the basement?"

Zhou Lang briefly explained the matter of the coffin and the Sleeper. Xiong Batian remained silent for a while after listening.

"S-rank...this dungeon is a bit off."

"That's definitely not normal."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Just as Zhou Lang was about to answer, Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying came downstairs one after the other. Zhao Qiang looked like he hadn't slept well, with dark circles under his eyes so heavy he could play a panda.

"I didn't sleep a wink last night. All I could see when I closed my eyes was that hand." Zhao Qiang yawned. "Do you know any fast-acting sleeping pills? I'll buy them no matter the cost."

"You should be careful with your money," Zhou Lang said.

The butler walked out from the direction of the kitchen.

"Good morning, servants. Today's tasks have been updated. Please check your task list."

Zhou Lang opened the taskbar.

[Day 4 Task: Clean the garden on the west side of the villa. Deadline: Before 6 PM.]

[Hidden Quest (Triggered): Investigate the origins of the Sleepers. Hint: The butler knows some things from the past.]

Zhou Lang glanced at the hidden mission and walked towards the butler.

"housekeeper."

The butler stopped, and the stitched-up head turned towards him. "What is it?"

"Who was the previous owner of this villa?"

The butler remained silent for two seconds.

"The master is no longer here."

"I know he's gone. I'm asking who he was."

"Master is a...scholar." The butler's voice changed slightly—no, almost imperceptibly—"He studies things he shouldn't be studying."

"Like summoning spells?"

The butler's body stiffened for a moment.

"You went to the basement."

"Yes."

The butler lowered his head, and the stitches seemed to wriggle.

"The old man started his experiment thirty years ago. He said he wanted to bring the dead back to life."

"Resurrection?" Zhao Qiang couldn't help but interject.

"The master's daughter is dead. Drowned. Only six years old," the butler said. "The master went mad, searching everywhere for a way to resurrect her. Then he found a book... a book that described a ritual."

"Summoning ritual," Zhou Lang added.

"No." Butler Killer shook his head. "That wasn't a summoning. That was—an exchange. Using the lives of the living to exchange for the souls of the dead. The master used many servants for experiments, but each time he failed. That thing—the thing that crawled in through the cracks in the ritual—possessed the bodies of all the test subjects."