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

Before them lay a narrow passageway, with rusty iron rings embedded in the walls, dripping black liquid.

The oil lamp's light shone less than three meters, casting long, green shadows of the three people.

Zhao Qiang touched the wall, his fingertips covered in a sticky substance. He brought it close and smelled it, and his face turned green.

"Blood."

Han Yingying covered her mouth.

Zhou Lang didn't speak, nor did he stop walking. At the end of the passageway was an arched doorway, above which was carved a line of characters; the oil lamp shone through it—

"Those who are alive must not enter beyond this door."

"So...should we go in or not?" Zhao Qiang's voice trembled.

Zhou Lang had already stepped inside.

Behind the doorway was a huge basement, at least two hundred square meters in size. The green light of the oil lamp barely illuminated one corner, but it was enough to make the three people hold their breath.

In the very center of the basement stood a coffin.

The coffin was open, without a lid.

The walls were covered with portraits, each depicting the same person—a middle-aged man in a suit, with an elegant smile, but whose eyes were painted as empty black holes.

"The owner of the manor," Han Yingying said softly.

Zhou Lang walked to the coffin and looked down inside.

Inside the coffin lay a mummified corpse, dressed in the same suit as in the portrait. A dagger was stuck in the corpse's chest, with a red rope wrapped around the hilt, the other end of which was connected to a bronze plaque at the bottom of the coffin.

The inscription on the bronze plaque reads:

"The butler-maker—Henry Morton. Cause of death: suicide. Last wish: to remain at the manor forever."

"So this guy murdered the butler, then locked himself underground to wait for death?" Zhao Qiang walked around the coffin. "Is he crazy?"

Zhou Lang ignored him; he was looking at the small characters on the back of the bronze plaque.

"Whoever unlocks the secret of this coffin may inherit the manor, or choose to end it all."

He had barely finished speaking—no, he hadn't even uttered the words aloud.

But the mummified corpse inside the coffin moved.

Zhao Qiang's scream nearly caused the passageway to collapse.

The mummified corpse sat up slowly, its joints creaking and groaning like a rusty machine restarting. Its head turned towards Zhou Lang, its empty eye sockets mirroring those of the butler who had killed him.

"Which one...do you...choose?"

The sound was like sandpaper scraping against a sheet of metal.

Zhou Lang looked at the dried corpse and asked a question that no one had expected: "If I inherit the manor, is it my responsibility to kill the butler?"

The dried corpse paused for a moment.

This thing can be stunned.

"Yes."

"Where are the ghosts?"

"They're all... yours."

"Okay, I choose to inherit."

Han Yingying and Zhao Qiang looked at him at the same time, their expressions both: Are you serious?

Zhou Lang was certainly serious. A manor, plus a butler to kill and a bunch of ghosts—it was a good deal.

A withered hand emerged from the coffin from the mummified corpse, cradling a black key in its palm. Zhou Lang reached out to take it, and the moment his fingertips touched the key, the entire basement shook violently.

[Ding—Congratulations to player "Langligelang" for triggering the hidden ending: Manor Heir]

[Dungeon Rating: SSS]

[Rewards being processed...]

[Item Obtained: Manor Key (Unique item, can summon the Butler to perform one mission)]

[Gain Skill Fragment x3]

[Gold Coins Earned: 5000]

[Bonus Reward: Permanent Access to the Manor (allows access to the manor for rest and recuperation outside of instance hours)]

System notifications rang out in quick succession, and Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying also received their respective settlement information, but their rewards were much meager compared to Zhou Lang's.

"How do you always manage to pull off a hidden ending?" Zhao Qiang stared at his pitiful 800 gold coins, his face full of resentment.

Zhou Lang carefully put away the manor key. "Luck."

Space began to collapse, white light enveloped the three people, and after a moment of spinning, Zhou Lang was already standing in a room in the real world.

It was just dawn outside the window, and the June sunlight peeked in through the gaps in the curtains.

My phone lit up; it was a message from Zhao Qiang:

"Brother Lang, there's a meeting at school tomorrow about a few dungeons having problems, causing players to go and not return. Are you going?"

Zhou Lang typed two words: "Go take a look."

-

The next afternoon, the school auditorium was more than half full.

Standing on the stage was a middle-aged man in a uniform, the deputy director of the municipal game administration bureau, surnamed Ma. He had a beer belly but spoke fluently.

"In the past month, three C-level dungeons have experienced anomalies. Players who entered, regardless of level, had a zero survival rate."

A commotion broke out below.

The clear rate of C-level dungeons is normally over 60%, so a zero survival rate means that there is a fundamental problem with these dungeons.

Deputy Director Ma flipped to a slide—it was a photo of a two-story building with a sign that read "Yunlai Inn".

"This is one of three anomalous instances, codenamed 'Cloud Inn.' It was originally designed for C-level difficulty, a seven-day survival game. It already devoured twenty-three players last month."

Someone in the audience raised their hand: "What's the reason?"

"Preliminary assessment indicates a high-level bizarre intrusion." Deputy Director Ma's expression was grim. "We don't know the exact level. Neither of the two groups sent to investigate have returned."

Zhou Lang sat in the last row, leaning slightly forward.

Zhao Qiang whispered from the side, "Twenty-three people already, that's too much..."

Han Yingying was sitting to Zhao Qiang's right, also listening. She turned to look at Zhou Lang and found that his attention was completely absorbed by the photo.

After the briefing ended, Zhou Lang did not leave.

He stopped Deputy Director Ma.

"I want to enter that instance."

Deputy Director Ma sized him up: "What rank are you?"

"C-rank player, fourth dungeon."

"Then don't go and get yourself killed." Deputy Director Ma waved his hand. "The team that went last time was led by a B-level officer, and they still didn't come back."

"I have a way."

Deputy Director Ma stopped. The young man's tone was too calm when he said this; it didn't sound like boasting, but more like he was talking about what he had for lunch.

"What's your name?"

"Waves and waves."

Deputy Director Ma's lips twitched. He'd heard of that name before. It'd been circulating quite a bit among gamers lately—that crazy guy who dared to scare ghosts in the beginner dungeon.

"Even if you are capable, you can't do it alone; you need at least a team of three."

"I have teammates."

Zhou Lang glanced back. Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying were standing at the entrance of the auditorium. Zhao Qiang was shaking his head vigorously, while Han Yingying had an expression that said, "I knew you were going to cause trouble."

But in the end, neither of them left.

Zhao Qiang's reason was: "If you die, who will copy my math homework?"

Han Yingying didn't give a reason, only saying, "When are we leaving?"

-

The process of entering the instance was faster than I expected.

The administration gave each of the three people a set of basic supplies and a copy of the briefing. The briefing was thin and contained limited information:

[Instance Name: Cloud Inn]

Original Level: C (Current Status: Abnormal)

[Type: 7-Day Survival]

[Rules Summary: Safe areas can be investigated during the day; be wary of strange occurrences within the guesthouse area at night. Survive for seven days to complete the game.]

[Known NPCs: Innkeeper (male), innkeeper's wife, and several guests.]