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

Three days after the Horror Manor instance ended, Zhou Lang received a system notification.

[System Notification: The death rate in the "Midnight Cable Car in the Underground Mall" dungeon has recently been abnormal, reaching 87.3%, suggesting a possible dungeon vulnerability.]

He sat on the bed in the rented room and pulled out the item he had obtained in the villa—a semi-transparent card with "Dungeon Investigation Order" written on the front and a line of small print on the back: Allows you to preview some of the dungeon's rules and information; destroy after use.

This item was an extra reward he got after killing the S-rank bandaged ghost in the basement, and he hadn't been willing to use it.

With a mortality rate of 87.3%, it ranks third among all known instances. The participants in the first two instances were completely wiped out.

Zhou Lang examined the card twice, then pressed the use button.

The card shattered into tiny sparks, and a passage of text appeared in my field of vision:

[Instance Name: Midnight Cable Car in the Mall's Underground]

[Difficulty Rating: S]

[Background: A cable car company's shoddy construction led to a cable car accident. In the aftermath, a shopping mall was built above the accident site to suppress the spirits of the dead. Passengers are trapped in an endless cycle of reincarnation in an underground cable car, driven by twin sisters.]

Mission Objective: Investigate the truth behind the cable car accident within 24 hours.

[Rules: One creep will be released every 2 hours. The creep will actively pursue players. There is no safe period.]

[Dungeon Bug: The twin sisters (S-rank Mysterious) were not cable car passengers, and their deaths were unrelated to the cable car accident. Before the mall was built, the two were assaulted, and their bodies were buried beneath the foundation. After devouring passengers, they evolved into S-rank, and the remaining passengers affected by them were reduced to A-rank.]

Zhou Lang read the message three times.

Two S-rank monsters and several A-rank monsters are released every two hours, totaling twelve in twenty-four hours. This instance isn't filtering players; it's slaughtering them.

"No wonder the mortality rate is almost 90%."

He closed the panel and sent Zhao Qiang a message: Don't take on any dungeons recently, wait for my message.

Zhao Qiang replied instantly: What's up, bro?

Zhou Lang: There's a problem with one of the instances. I'll go check it out.

Zhao Qiang: Don't go! Last time at the resort, I was almost scared to death. I still have nightmares every night about those ghosts hanging from the ceiling—

Zhou Lang did not reply.

He opened the matchmaking panel, typed "Midnight Cable Car in the Underground Mall," and signed up.

The system popped up a notification: [This instance is rated S difficulty. Confirm participation?]

confirm.

Matchmaking successful. The instance will open at 22:00 tonight. Please prepare accordingly.

Zhou Lang put down his phone and began organizing his inventory. The oil lamp was still working, the chainsaw was fully charged, and the scissors showed little wear. He then spent 600 yuan on a bottle of "ghost-repelling powder" from the store—though the name was corny, it had a three-second dispelling effect on ghosts below Grade A. Three seconds wasn't long, but it could be a lifesaver in a critical moment.

There are 600 yuan left.

He thought for a moment, then bought another pack of Band-Aids. Not props, just regular Band-Aids. He'd scraped himself several times at the resort, and hadn't treated them yet.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, his phone rang.

Han Yingying's number.

"Zhou Lang, you...you also took on a dungeon tonight?" Her voice was a little urgent.

Zhou Lang frowned: "You accepted it too?"

"I was forced into matchmaking! The system said I hadn't participated in three dungeons, and this time I was forcibly assigned an S-rank dungeon! I haven't even properly completed a second dungeon—"

Zhou Lang remained silent for two seconds.

He knew about Han Yingying's situation. She almost died at the start of the first dungeon run, and he was the one who pulled her out. The time at the manor was the fourth time, but she spent most of the time following behind him, and her experience in dealing with strange events independently was almost zero.

The system has now placed her in an S-level instance.

"Which copy?" he asked.

"The midnight cable car in the mall's underground."

The same.

Zhou Lang said, "Stay close to me tonight."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone: "You're in this instance too?"

"Um."

"...Did you report that on purpose?"

"This is none of your business. I'm here to investigate the vulnerabilities in the game."

Han Yingying didn't say anything more, but Zhou Lang heard her exhale, the kind of breath that made her feel relaxed.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Lang leaned against the headboard, lost in thought. An S-rank dungeon, forcibly matched with novice players—what was the system planning?

He couldn't come up with an answer.

At 9:50 p.m., Zhou Lang stood in the center of his room, waiting to be teleported.

At 9:59, my vision began to blur.

At exactly 10 o'clock, his foot stepped onto the marble floor.

A shopping mall.

The place was brightly lit, with a central atrium at least five stories high. Shops lined the perimeter, their neon signs gleaming, and mannequins displayed in the windows. Elevators were running, and some old, outdated pop song played in the background. Everything seemed abnormally normal.

But there were no customers.

The entire shopping mall was deserted, with only Zhou Lang standing in the atrium on the first floor.

No, he's not the only one.

Thirty meters to the left, a burly man in a black suit was looking around. He was at least 1.85 meters tall, and his arms were thicker than Zhou Lang's thighs. He noticed Zhou Lang's gaze and walked over.

"Brother, how many times?" the burly man asked loudly.

"The fifth time," Zhou Lang said.

"This is my fourth time." The burly man stretched out his hand. "Ma Tiezhu, everyone call me Old Ma. I've done this kind of high-difficulty dungeon twice before, so I have experience. Once everyone's here, we need to have a unified command."

Zhou Lang shook hands with him briefly but didn't say anything.

Ma Tiezhu didn't care and continued to survey his surroundings.

The second person to appear was a woman, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, tall and slender, wearing a fitted burgundy dress, her high heels clicking crisply on the marble floor. Her features were striking, but that wasn't what Zhou Lang was interested in—the woman's gait was too relaxed, so relaxed that it didn't seem like she was in an S-level dungeon.

"Su Wan, this is my third time." As she introduced herself, her eyes swept over everyone's faces, finally settling on Ma Tiezhu and looking at him for a couple more seconds.

Ma Tiezhu straightened his chest.

The third one is Han Yingying. She appeared not far from Zhou Lang, and ran towards him immediately after landing. Her face was pale, but she didn't panic.

"I'm fine," she said.

Zhou Lang nodded.

The fourth one was a girl with pigtails, looking to be under twenty, with a round face and big eyes, wearing a pink hoodie and a white pleated skirt; she looked like she'd stepped out of a manga. After landing, she looked around, her eyes reddening, her voice trembling, "W-where am I... I'm so scared..."

Ma Tiezhu strode over: "Don't be afraid, little girl, I'm here. What's your name? How many times have you participated?"

"Lin Xiaoxiao, this is the second time... I almost died last time..." She grabbed Ma Tiezhu's sleeve, tears welling up in her eyes.

Zhou Lang glanced at her again.

The person entering the second instance immediately sought someone to attach themselves to. This logic is sound, but the way she chose to attach herself—grabbing her sleeve, her eyes reddening, exposing her weaknesses—was executed too smoothly.

The fifth one was a boy in a school uniform, about sixteen or seventeen years old, tall and thin, who stood still after appearing.

"Hey, classmate?" Ma Tiezhu called out.