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

"Hands, hair, and the like. Not the whole body, but it's scary enough."

"Scary? You make it sound so easy." Hui-ge smiled wryly.

"There are a few defense methods," Zhou Lang said, holding up a finger. "First, close the bathroom door tightly before going to bed and block it with furniture. The faucet is one of their channels. Second, seal the door gaps with towels. Third—"

He took out an oil lamp.

The green metal casing, the antique design, and the faint glow of the lamp wick.

"This thing can reveal the supernatural and repel them for a short time. But it has limited fuel and can only be used in critical moments."

Hui-ge stared at the lamp. "Where did you get this?"

"The previous dungeon."

Su Tang's expression changed. The way she looked at Zhou Lang now held something more—not suspicion, but rather a reassessment.

"Who exactly are you?" she asked.

Zhou Lang put the oil lamp back into his pocket.

"I'll tell you the details after tonight."

During the rest of the day on the second day, Zhou Lang did two more things.

First, he thoroughly searched the bathroom in room 203. He marked all water-related entrances and exits—faucets, showerheads, drain openings. He sealed the showerhead spout with waterproof tape he found in the first-floor storage room and plugged the drain with a towel. He couldn't seal the faucet—it was a strange passageway; sealing it would be like blocking a source of information.

The second thing he did was to speak with Fang Yan alone.

At the end of the corridor, two people stood by the window.

Zhou Lang cut to the chase: "You're not an ordinary player."

Fang Yan looked at him without saying anything.

"Your gear is too professional. There are hidden pockets inside your jacket, containing at least three items. You were calmer than anyone else once we entered the dungeon, going out to scout the terrain early in the morning. And—" Zhou Lang pointed to Fang Yan's boots, "The tread pattern on these soles is modified from military boots. Are you an Executor?"

The Executors—a special team established by the official team after the game's release. Their duties include investigating high-risk dungeons, eliminating out-of-control anomalies, and recovering high-value items from dungeons. Their role is not publicly disclosed, but it is a topic of discussion among veteran players.

Fang Yan remained silent for ten seconds.

"Not an executor," he said.

"Then what are you?"

"Scavenger".

Cleaners. Zhou Lang had seen this name on the intelligence network; they were an even more outrageous group than the Executors—they specialized in entering Honkai dungeons to handle abnormal situations that exceeded normal ratings. The casualty rate was extremely high, and very few people were willing to do it.

"How long has this instance been broken?" Zhou Lang asked.

Fang Yan finally looked at him properly. "It's been at least half a year. After the first three batches of players were wiped out, the system should have closed this instance and resealed it, but it didn't. The entrance is still open, which means that the S-level anomaly inside is preventing the system's repair process."

"What is your mission?"

"Find the core anchor point of the S-rank anomaly and destroy it." Fang Yan spoke calmly, as if reporting a task. "I was supposed to act alone, but the system matched the four of you in as well—probably because there aren't enough people to meet the dungeon's activation requirements."

Zhou Lang processed this information.

"Where is the S-class's mysterious anchor point?"

"Uncertain. But based on the patterns of previous Collapse dungeons, the anchor point is usually hidden within the original eerie 'memory core.'" Fang Yan paused for a moment. "These seven eerie beings who died in the fire, their death memories are constantly replayed in each round of the dungeon. The S-rank eerie beings parasitize these memories, nourishing themselves with resentment."

"Therefore, we must break the cycle of reincarnation."

Fang Yan nodded. "But the way to interrupt them isn't through violent expulsion. We have to rewrite their experiences—make them remember a different ending. Once these seven anomalies are no longer bound by the memory of death, the S-class anomalies will lose their parasitic foundation."

"It's easier said than done."

Fang Yan didn't answer the question. He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Zhou Lang.

Zhou Lang opened it and saw a hand-drawn floor plan of the guesthouse. The three-story structure was marked in detail, with some rooms marked with red crosses and others with blue circles.

"The red cross indicates the confirmed location of the anomaly, and the blue circle indicates areas where clues may exist," Fang Yan said. "The water stain phenomenon you found in room 303 on the third floor today wasn't in my previous intelligence."

How did you know I went to 303?

"You had black mold stains on your cuffs when you came down from the third floor. That kind of mold only appears on furniture in units 303 to 305."

Alright. Zhou Lang mentally added one rating to this person's score.

"I have a question." Zhou Lang put away the floor plan.

"explain."

Are you planning to tell the other three people?

Fang Yan turned his gaze to the window. The distant mountains became black silhouettes in the twilight. "We'll see. If they can hold out for the first three days, I'll let you know. If they can't—"

He didn't finish speaking.

Zhou Lang understood. The cleaner's logic was simple: only living people deserve to share information.

"I don't do things that way," Zhou Lang said directly.

Fang Yan looked at him, his eyebrows twitching.

"You can do it your way," Zhou Lang said, then turned and left.

At six o'clock in the evening, it got completely dark.

Faster than yesterday.

Zhou Lang noticed this detail—the first day's dusk lasted until nearly seven o'clock, but today it was pitch black by six o'clock. The faster it gets dark, the longer the night is, and the more time the eerie activity will take.

Before the five of them returned to their rooms, Zhou Lang reiterated the defensive measures he had taught them during the day. Hui Ge gave an OK sign when he went back, but his fingers were trembling. Lin Xiaoxi walked with her head down, muttering to herself, seemingly memorizing something. Su Tang appeared calm, but Zhou Lang noticed a lucky charm tucked between her fingers as she held her phone—he didn't know where she got it from, but it was unlikely to be useful in the dungeon.

Fang Yan walked at the back, stopping briefly as he passed Zhou Lang.

"Use your oil lamp sparingly. It's not time to touch it tonight."

"I know."

Fang Yan nodded and entered 205.

Zhou Lang returned to room 203, locked the door, and used the back of his chair to block the doorknob. He also closed the bathroom door, and pushed the desk across it, blocking most of it. He left only a crack open—he needed to see what was happening near the faucet.

Then he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

ten o'clock.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor on time. Tonight's footsteps were more frequent than yesterday's; there wasn't just one, but at least three things moving back and forth in the corridor. Some were light, some were heavy, and one of them was dragging something—the sound was like cloth scraping against the floor.

The footsteps stopped completely when they passed 203.

Zhou Lang opened his eyes.

The doorknob turned. This time it was much stronger than last night, and the door frame creaked slightly. But the lock and the chair worked, and the door wouldn't open.

After the rotation stopped, a rustling sound came from directly below the door crack.

Something is trying to squeeze through the crack in the door.