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

"Qian Duoduo, an A-level player," Han Yingying introduced. "His skill is... currency attack."

"That's called money power," Qian Duoduo corrected, dissatisfied. "I can use money as a weapon, and also as a shield. The more gold coins I have, the more powerful it is."

"How many gold coins do you have?" Zhou Lang asked.

Qian Duoduo pulled a handful of gleaming gold coins from her pocket, flipping them between her fingers like a magician: "Not much, just... 120,000?"

Zhao Qiang dropped his steamed bun.

Old He's lips twitched.

What does 120,000 gold coins mean? Zhou Lang painstakingly completed several dungeons, and at most, he only had a little over 6,000. This kid, on the other hand, carries 120,000 with him.

"Is there still one person missing?" Zhou Lang brought the conversation back on track.

"They're outside the door," Han Yingying said. "They won't come in."

Zhou Lang walked to the door, and Zhao Qiang followed him out.

A girl stood against a peeling wall on the side of the café.

She looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a plain hoodie and jeans. She was huddled inside the hoodie, the hood pulled down to cover half her face. She crossed her arms and lowered her head, as if she wanted to disappear into a wall.

"Hey," Zhao Qiang greeted.

The girl raised her eyelids slightly, then quickly lowered them again.

Han Yingying walked over and said in a soft voice, "Su Wan, come in, it's cold outside."

Su Wan.

The girl didn't move. After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice very soft: "There are too many people inside."

"There are only five in total," Zhao Qiang said.

"Five is a lot." Su Wan's voice was muffled inside her hoodie.

Zhou Lang looked at her for a few seconds. Something was wrong with the girl—it wasn't just ordinary introversion, it seemed more like the aftereffects of being frightened by something.

"She's a B-rank player," Han Yingying whispered in Zhou Lang's ear. "Her skill is disguise; she can transform into any ordinary person. In the last dungeon, she was used as bait by her teammates..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was already quite clear.

Zhou Lang walked up to Su Wan, but didn't squat down; he just stood there.

"It's up to you whether you come in or not," he said. "But if you fall behind in the instance, no one will come back to find you. If you're going to stay, then stay close."

Zhao Qiang tugged at Zhou Lang's sleeve, as if to say, "Can't you speak a little nicer?"

Zhou Lang ignored him.

Su Wan remained silent for a long time.

Then she straightened up, still wearing her hat, but moved a few steps toward the door.

Han Yingying followed, and the two entered the coffee shop one after the other.

Zhao Qiang poked Zhou Lang in the back: "Your attempt to provoke me is too crude."

"What kind of provocation?" Zhou Lang said. "That's exactly what I meant."

Zhao Qiang: "..."

All six people have arrived.

Han Yingying projected the basic information of the S-level dungeon onto the table—she had a prop that could project information, similar to a holographic projection.

"Copy Name: Midnight Train"

Difficulty: S-rank.

Maximum number of participants: six.

"Rule: Board the midnight train and get off alive before the final stop."

"The train has twelve carriages, each with its own rules and monsters. You can move forward, but not backward. You cannot be forced to get off the train while it is in motion. At each station, you can choose to get off or continue. The later the station, the greater the reward, but also the greater the danger."

"The final reward is unknown."

That's where the information ends.

"That's it?" Zhao Qiang frowned. "That's too vague."

"That's how S-rank dungeons are," Old He began, his voice neither loud nor soft, as if stating a trivial fact. "The less known information there is, the more unknown variables there are. I've done three A-rank dungeons, and each time the information was less than the last."

"What's there to be afraid of? Money makes the world go round." Qian Duoduo patted the gold coins in his pocket, making a series of crisp clinking sounds. "Last time in an A-level dungeon, I just used gold coins to stun the BOSS."

Old He glanced at him without saying anything, but his eyes conveyed a lot.

"There's one thing to note," Han Yingying said. "S-rank dungeons have a requirement for the number of players; six people must enter at the same time. But there might not be only six of us in the dungeon."

"What do you mean?" Su Wan asked for the first time.

"Other teams might also enter the same instance at the same time," Han Yingying said. "In high-level instances, the competition between players is sometimes more dangerous than that between monsters."

The atmosphere was quiet for a few seconds.

"That's all for now." Zhou Lang stood up. "Meet at the usual place tomorrow night at midnight. Don't be late."

As he reached the door, Lao He suddenly called out to him.

"Young man."

Zhou Lang turned around.

Old He stared at him for a few seconds: "How much scary are you?"

This question is quite abrupt. Terror level is one of the most crucial stats for every player, and it's unusual for someone to ask about it on a first meeting.

"You go first," Zhou Lang retorted.

Old He smiled faintly, a smile hidden in his overworked face, almost unnoticeable unless you looked closely.

"2800," he said.

For a healer who doesn't rush to level up or run high-difficulty dungeons, 2800 is already a very high number. This means that Lao He has definitely spent a considerable amount of time in the game.

Zhou Lang did not answer his question and turned to leave.

Zhao Qiang jogged up to him: "Brother Lang, why didn't you say anything?"

"Not familiar with them."

"So, who are you familiar with?"

Zhou Lang thought for a moment: "You count as half."

Zhao Qiang's expression shifted back and forth between being moved and feeling aggrieved, but he ultimately chose to feel aggrieved.

That evening, Zhou Lang received a message from an unknown number.

"Zhou Lang, or should I call you 'Lang Li Ge Lang' (meaning 'a wild and unruly person')?"

Zhou Lang held his phone but did not reply.

Messages keep coming in:

"Don't be nervous. My name is Shen Ye, and we'll meet in the dungeon tomorrow. I know about your sister. If you want to know more—find me in the dungeon."

The message ended there.

Zhou Lang dialed back, but the number did not exist.

He put down his phone and stared at the ceiling.

My sister's matter.

Very few people in this game know his true identity, and even fewer know about his sister. Who is this "Shen Ye"?

Zhou Lang turned over and closed his eyes.

Whoever it is, they'll find out once they enter the instance tomorrow.

At 11:50 p.m., the six people gathered at the abandoned coffee shop.

Qian Duoduo had changed his outfit, but it was still breathtakingly extravagant—a military green windbreaker with a gold dollar symbol embroidered on the chest. "Custom-made," he explained, noticing Zhao Qiang looking at him, "scratch-proof, waterproof, and ghost-proof."

"Really keeps ghosts away?" Zhao Qiang was skeptical.

"Whether it's effective or not is unknown, but it's expensive."

Old He was wearing the same jacket he'd worn during the day, the patch still on his knee. Su Wan was still wrapped in her hoodie, looking like a shadow, so inconspicuous that you could easily forget she was there unless you looked closely.

Han Yingying did a final check: "Everyone, please check your equipment and skill status."