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

The translucent ghostly figure turned towards him. On that blurry face, the features were slowly becoming clearer.

Zhou Lang took out an oil lamp from his pocket, but didn't light it; he just placed it in his palm.

"Want to scare him?" He pointed at Qin Lie.

The audience was silent.

The ghost remained silent for three seconds.

Then it nodded.

What happened next seemed absurd to Han Yingying even in retrospect—all six ghosts stood up, formed a circle, and surrounded Qin Lie. The ghosts' features became completely clear, each face displaying a different expression, but all sharing one thing in common: they were laughing.

Han Yingying had seen that kind of laugh many times in the dungeon. It wasn't a wide grin; it was a laugh where the face split open in the middle, revealing a mouthful of broken teeth.

Qin Lie loosened his grip on the teacup. The teacup fell onto the table and rolled twice.

He didn't yell, but he took two steps back and bumped into a chair.

The master watched all this from the entrance of the main hall, and the expression on his porcelain face was one of satisfaction.

Zhou Lang patted the ghost on the shoulder: "Thanks, buddy."

Gui Chong grinned and sat back down in his chair. The other five also returned to their places.

Qin Lie returned to his position and did not approach the novice player again.

Zhao Qiang watched the whole thing from this side of the table, his mouth agape—it was huge, really huge.

The fifth dish has been served.

The dishes got increasingly outrageous after that, but Zhou Lang's three-word evaluation system remained consistent: "Edible," "So-so," "Don't make it again."

After the eighth course, there was a relatively long pause. The ghost on the table became fully visible, sitting face-to-face with the living people, creating an incredibly eerie scene.

Han Yingying took advantage of this break to make a decision.

She sat down next to Zhou Lang and lowered her voice: "I have something to say."

"explain."

"Have you noticed... that problems are also arising in the real world?"

Zhou Lang stopped holding his chopsticks.

"After returning to reality early this morning, there were strange traces left on the street near my home. Scratch marks, scorch marks, and a six-fingered handprint. These weren't from a game; they were on a real street."

She observed Zhou Lang's reaction.

Zhou Lang put down his chopsticks and remained silent for a while. He asked, "You're even telling me this?"

"Even what?"

"You are completely unguarded with me."

Han Yingying didn't deny it: "You saved my life. The things I saw you do in the dungeon weren't things a malicious person would do. If something really goes wrong in reality, one person can't figure it out."

Zhou Lang lowered his head and fiddled with the tips of the chopsticks.

After about ten seconds, he spoke.

"Actually, I'm investigating too."

Han Yingying tilted her head.

"I started investigating earlier. After my sister disappeared, I noticed that something was wrong in reality. Some buildings that didn't exist before suddenly appeared and disappeared, and some people's behavior patterns became very strange at certain times—not the kind of possession, but... something deeper."

"What do you mean by 'lower class'?"

"It's at the rule level. Just like there are rules for dungeons, the rules of the real world are being rewritten. I suspect... the arrival of the supernatural isn't a random event; someone—or something—is driving it."

Han Yingying looked at him. This person, who always seemed to be joking around and scaring ghosts, did more things in private than anyone else.

Why didn't you say so sooner?

Zhou Lang frowned: "If word gets out about this, people will either think I'm crazy, or I'll attract unwanted attention. I'm not sure who I can trust."

He paused for a moment: "But since you told me on your own initiative, if I were to keep it to myself, I wouldn't be a decent person."

Fang Ming chimed in from the side, "Are you two finished talking? The ninth dish is here."

The ninth dish contained a complete butterfly, its wings still flapping.

Zhou Lang picked it up and ate it, commenting, "It's crispy."

-

The dishes at the Hundred Ghosts Feast started coming out at a faster pace from the ninth course. The tenth course was a bowl of live tadpoles, the eleventh course was a plate of pancakes that could blink, and the twelfth course was a whole snake coiled into the shape of a flower roll.

By the twelfth round, even the most experienced players were hunching over their food with pale faces. Only Zhou Lang and the six ghosts were eating with the most relish, exchanging pleasantries from time to time—he would raise his cup to the ghosts, and the ghosts would clink their bowls at him, like old friends.

Qin Lie didn't cause any more trouble, keeping his head down and finishing each dish one by one. Han Yingying guessed he was waiting for a later opportunity, but as long as the "all survive" option was still available in the completion conditions, he wouldn't make a move easily.

When the lid of the thirteenth course was lifted, the plate was empty.

Everyone was stunned.

The owner walked out of the main hall, and the facial features on the porcelain surface changed—the eyebrows curved into a smiling arc, and the red dot on the mouth expanded into a crescent-shaped curve.

"The banquet has concluded. Thank you all for attending."

It faced the entire table and deliberately paused in front of Zhou Lang for a moment.

"Especially this one—it's been a long time since I've met such a congenial guest."

Zhou Lang politely replied, "I'll come another day."

A system notification popped up:

[S-Rank Dungeon - Hundred Ghosts Banquet - Cleared. Rating: Perfect. Special Achievement - Friend of the Master.]

All twelve players survived.

Zhao Qiang slumped into his chair, as if all his strength had been drained. Fang Ming and Lu Shan helped each other to their feet. Qin Lie was the first to walk towards the exit, without looking at anyone.

Han Yingying chased after him a few steps: "After he goes back, he will definitely—"

"Let him go," Zhou Lang said. "Let's go out first and talk about it later."

The light covered the field of vision, and the scene began to shatter.

But this time, they didn't return to reality.

-

The ground beneath my feet was paved with bluestone slabs. The sky above was an eternal twilight, neither bright nor dark.

Han Yingying stood on a wide street, flanked by buildings of various styles—modern, traditional, and Western—mixed together in a haphazard way. People walked by, dressed in clothes from different eras, but each had a faint glow from a system panel on their wrist.

Players.

"This is outside the instance," Zhou Lang said, "the main city of the bizarre world. Is this your first time here?"

Han Yingying nodded. Previously, she would always return directly to reality after each instance ended.

"There's a chance you'll enter the main city area after completing an S-rank dungeon." Lu Shan adjusted her glasses. "I've seen that in the data."

Zhao Qiang was still recovering, leaning against the wall as he looked at the street scene, when he suddenly pointed to a huge screen not far away.

A video is playing on the screen—a recording of a banquet of a hundred ghosts.

The scene where Zhou Lang crouches next to the ghost, beckons to it, and asks, "Want to scare him?" is played repeatedly from three different angles. The comments section below is scrolling:

"Who is this guy? Is he recruiting ghosts as his helpers?"

"Waves and waves—found it, B-rank origin, all previous dungeons were perfectly cleared."

"Holy crap, six ghosts surrounding Qin Lie, that's hilarious, hahaha."

"Wait, isn't Qin Lie a member of the blood pact?"

"Oh no, these people are going to be in trouble."

Before Han Yingying could process this information, a group of people walked over from the other end of the street.