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

He held the chip between his fingers: "This game isn't some supernatural phenomenon at all. Someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes."

The cable car station was shrouded in wind and snow, and the temperature was so low it could freeze a person's blood.

Zhou Lang carefully put away the broken chip. Han Yingying watched his movements, the code name "Thousand Faces" and Zhou Lang's earlier deduction about "manipulating things behind the scenes" swirling in her mind.

"If it was done by someone, then this is an enormous undertaking." Han Yingying rubbed her frozen hands.

"Whether it's big or not, we'll find out by checking." Zhou Lang turned and walked towards the exit. "Let's find a warm place first. I don't want to be the first player to freeze to death."

Outside the station exit was an abandoned ski resort. The snow was deep, crunching underfoot. Several wooden cabins were scattered across the hillside, their dark windows like closed eyes.

The two entered the nearest wooden cabin. Pushing open the door, they found a fireplace burning inside, its flickering flames bringing an eerie warmth.

Chen Mo was already sitting by the fireplace, holding a cup of hot tea that he had somehow gotten his hands on.

"You guys are pretty slow." Chen Mo pushed up his glasses. "I just checked. There are seven buildings in this resort, and only this one is safe. The others all have 'things' inside."

"Safe?" Zhou Lang walked to the fireplace, stretched out his hands to warm them, and said, "Talking about safety in a horror game is like looking for gold in a cesspool. There is some, but not much."

Chen Mo ignored Zhou Lang's crude analogy and looked at Han Yingying: "Thousand Faces, what are the plans for the next move?"

Han Yingying was still a little uncomfortable with the title, but she quickly got into character: "Since only this house has a fireplace, it means it's a safe haven, but it could also be a trap. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight."

Zhou Lang found a broken chair, sat down, and closed his eyes: "I'll keep watch for the rest of the night. Don't disturb my sleep."

Night had fallen. The wind and snow lashed against the windows, howling like wild beasts.

Chen Mo and Han Yingying took turns keeping watch during the first half of the night. Chen Mo kept his eyes glued to the pocket watch in his hand, the ticking of the hands being particularly clear in the quiet room.

"Your watch is a good thing," Han Yingying broke the silence.

"It's an heirloom." Chen Mo smiled, a hint of bitterness in his smile. "It allows me to control an extremely short period of time, but at the cost of my lifespan. I won't use it unless absolutely necessary."

As they were talking, the fire in the fireplace flickered. The originally orange-red flames turned a ghostly green.

The temperature inside the room dropped sharply.

Han Yingying became alert, her con artist skills ready to be unleashed.

Black mist slid in from under the door. The mist gathered on the ground, forming a blurry human figure.

Chen Mo stood up, gripping his pocket watch tightly.

The human form became clearer; it was a headless corpse wearing a ski suit. It held its own head in its hand, and the eyes on its head were staring intently at them.

"Give me back my head..." came a muffled voice from the head.

Han Yingying stepped forward: "Your head is in the snow. A polar bear carried it away. It went to the back mountain."

False information was being disseminated. The headless corpse paused, considering the veracity of the information.

But this time, the eerie creature wasn't completely fooled. The mouth on its head grinned in a bizarre arc: "You're lying to me... I smell a living person on you."

It pounced, moving incredibly fast.

Chen Mo opened his pocket watch; the hands reversed. Time seemed to freeze for half a second. He shoved Han Yingying aside, but was grazed on the shoulder by the headless corpse's claws. Black frostbite marks appeared at the wound.

"Physical attacks are useless, we need to find its weakness!" Chen Mo clutched his shoulder and backed away.

As the headless corpse prepared to launch a second attack, a rusty pair of scissors flew out of nowhere and precisely pierced the head in its hand.

"It's so noisy." Zhou Lang yawned and stood up from his chair. He didn't even grab the chainsaw and went straight to the headless corpse.

The corpse angrily flailed its arms. Zhou Lang neither dodged nor flinched; the bandages on his left arm burst open, binding the corpse tightly.

"You want the head, huh?" Zhou Lang pulled out the scissors and snatched the head away. "This thing is too ugly; it doesn't fit my aesthetic."

He threw his head directly into the dark green fireplace.

The flames surged, emitting a piercing scream. The headless corpse struggled violently, turning into a pool of black liquid that seeped into the floor.

The fireplace fire returned to its normal color.

"Violent, but effective." Chen Mo's gaze towards Zhou Lang changed. He had originally thought Han Yingying was in charge, but now it seemed that this seemingly carefree man was the real ruthless one.

"We can't even sleep in peace." Zhou Lang sat back down in his chair. "The rule in this godforsaken place is that the fire can't go out. It just tried to use some weird trick to put out the fire and freeze us to death."

Han Yingying nodded: "It seems that these seven houses are part of a unified formation. If we want to clear the level completely, we need to clear out the items in the other six houses as well."

The snow stopped the next morning.

The three stepped out of the wooden house, the sunlight blinding them. A muscular man appeared out of nowhere, his arm wrapped in thick bandages, his face grim.

"Count me in," the muscular man said in a deep voice. "My name is Wang Hu. I was freezing outside all night and almost died. My chances of survival are higher if I'm with you guys."

A temporary team of four people was formed.

Over the next few hours, they began their sweep. Han Yingying was responsible for using her trickster skills to lure out the strange occurrences and create openings, Chen Mo used his pocket watch to control the situation at crucial moments, Wang Hu was responsible for physical restraint, and Zhou Lang was the main damage dealer.

His fighting style is simple, brutal, and irrational. Chainsaws and scissors wield extraordinary destructive power in his hands. Even more terrifying is his bandaged arm, capable of suppressing any spirit.

They ran into trouble when they got to the last cabin.

This house was larger than the others, and a huge brass lock hung on the door.

As usual, Zhou Lang took out scissors to forcefully break down the lock, but the scissors cut into the lock, leaving only a white mark.

"This lock is strange." Zhou Lang narrowed his eyes.

"This is a rule-based lock." Han Yingying examined the keyhole. "It requires a specific key or certain conditions to open. Forcibly breaking it will trigger an instant-death rule."

"What are the conditions?" Wang Hu asked.

Chen Mo pointed to a line of small print above the door frame: "Sacrifice a most authentic memory."

Everyone fell silent. In horror games, memories are linked to mental state, and sacrificing memories can very likely lead to a collapse of sanity.

"I'll do it," Han Yingying stepped forward. She had property left by her parents to deal with, but she didn't mind losing some painful childhood memories.

"It's not your turn." Zhou Lang reached out to stop her. He walked to the door and placed his hand on the keyhole.

"What are you doing?" Han Yingying frowned.