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

"Next stop—Nanfeng Road. Please note that the lights in carriage 7 will be turned off after the next stop. Passengers, please do not—"

The broadcast paused here.

"—Don't look out the window."

The broadcast has ended.

Han Yingying glanced around, quickly determining her location—carriage number 5. The player panel on her wrist had already updated the dungeon rules:

Rule 1: The train has 8 carriages. At each station, the lights in a designated carriage will be turned off, and entry into the carriage with the lights off is prohibited.

Rule 2: Do not look out the car window for more than five seconds.

Rule 3: Find the train conductor and obtain destination information.

Rule 4: Disembark from the train before reaching the final destination. Otherwise—

The fourth rule is followed by a black square, which is obscured.

She stood up and walked forward, holding onto the seat. The door at the junction of the carriages was rusted shut; she had to pull it twice to open it.

Carriage number 4.

There are people in this carriage.

A girl in her early twenties was huddled in a corner seat, her hands covering her mouth, her whole body trembling. On the floor in front of her, a black mass was slowly wriggling.

The shape of the thing was inconsistent; sometimes it looked like a human hand, sometimes like a puddle of melted asphalt. It was crawling along the seat leg towards the girl.

The girl's eyes lit up when she saw Han Yingying: "Help—"

As soon as she spoke, the black mass rapidly expanded.

Han Yingying didn't think much of it.

She rushed over, grabbed the girl's arm, and pulled her back. At the same time, she made a cut on the panel with her right hand—among her few items, there was a flashbang that was universal for the dungeon.

"Close your eyes."

The moment the light came on, the black thing let out a sharp screech, quickly contracted, and disappeared through the gap under the seat.

The carriage fell silent again. Only the clatter of the train could be heard.

The girl collapsed to the ground, panting for a long time before finally managing to utter a complete sentence: "Thank you... My name is Tang Xiaoyu."

"Han Yingying," she replied briefly, putting away the remaining flashbang. There were only three of them; she had just used one.

Tang Xiaoyu was around twenty years old, with a ponytail, wearing a very ordinary hoodie and jeans. She looked like an ordinary player who had been dragged into this strange place.

"How many times have you done this?" Han Yingying asked.

"The second time... the first time was last month, I almost didn't make it out alive." Tang Xiaoyu's voice was still trembling. "This time they didn't even give me time to prepare..."

Han Yingying didn't reply. She was the same.

The two walked forward along the train carriage. Carriage number 3 was empty. Carriage number 2 was also empty. When Han Yingying pushed open the door of carriage number 1, she stopped.

There were three people sitting inside.

One is Zhou Lang.

He leaned back in the last row of seats, his feet propped up on the back of the seats in front of him. When he saw Han Yingying come in, he raised his chin as a greeting.

"When did you come in?" Han Yingying asked.

"I arrived ten minutes earlier than you," Zhou Lang said. "I came in from carriage number 1."

Two unfamiliar faces were sitting next to him.

One was a man in his late twenties, with short hair, wearing a black windbreaker, leaning against the window with his eyes closed, resting, his face expressionless. The other was younger, with a round face and glasses, looking down and fiddling with something on a panel.

"These two," Zhou Lang pointed, "were here when I came in. This one is called Fang Yan, and that one is called Lu Yuan."

Fang Yan didn't open his eyes, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Lu Yuan adjusted his glasses, glanced at Han Yingying and Tang Xiaoyu behind her, and forced a polite smile: "Hello, hello. You heard the announcement just now, right? The lights in carriage 7 will be turned off at the next stop."

Tang Xiaoyu timidly raised her hand: "I was just at number 4, that black thing—"

"Don't dwell on the past," Fang Yan suddenly said, his voice low and devoid of warmth.

Tang Xiaoyu swallowed her words.

Han Yingying sat down opposite Zhou Lang, her gaze sweeping between Fang Yan and Lu Yuan. These two were far too calm. Despite the ghostly figures flickering around in the subway dungeon, their reaction was as if they were waiting for a regular late-night subway.

"How many times have you been in the dungeon?" she asked.

Lu Yuan looked up at Fang Yan, but Fang Yan didn't react.

"Twelve times," Lu Yuan said.

Han Yingying and Tang Xiaoyu were both stunned.

Surviving twelve dungeons to this day—that's considered top-tier among players. Most people don't even make it past the fifth dungeon.

"Moreover," Zhou Lang added casually, "the two of them already have S-level certifications."

"S-rank?" Tang Xiaoyu's voice rose a half-octave. "Aren't you going to participate in the S-rank challenge? Then you won't have to be forced into the dungeon anymore—"

"I won't participate." Fang Yan opened his eyes.

Two words, concise and to the point, without any explanation.

Lu Yuan smoothed things over for him, saying, "The reasons are rather complicated, we'll talk about them another time. In short, we've chosen to stay in the normal dungeon pool."

This doesn't sound right at all. S-rank qualification means freedom—no longer being randomly pulled into dungeons by the system, but being able to choose whether to enter the bizarre, something countless players dream of.

These two people have tickets, but they are not going in.

Han Yingying did not ask any further questions.

The train swayed again, and an announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Nanfeng Road Station has been reached. Lights in carriage 7 are off. Next stop—Jiahe North. Lights in carriage 4 will be turned off upon arrival."

Tang Xiaoyu's face paled for a moment—she had just been in carriage number 4.

"Don't panic," Zhou Lang took out an oil lamp from his pocket, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Let's sort out a few things first. First, there are five people and eight carriages, one carriage less at each station. Second, we need to find the train conductor. Third—"

He turned to look out the car window.

The tunnel walls outside the window were covered with pale human faces, sometime during the day.

"Don't look out the window."

Just as Zhou Lang said, "Don't look out the window," Tang Xiaoyu happened to turn her head and glance towards the window.

Han Yingying reacted quickly, grabbing her head and turning it back.

"Rule number two: You cannot look out the window for more than five seconds."

Tang Xiaoyu's breathing quickened a few beats, and she nodded frantically.

Fang Yan never looked towards the window. Neither did Lu Yuan, but his hand was already on the player panel, ready to use items at any moment.

"Train conductor...do you have any leads?" Han Yingying asked.

"Fang and I searched all three carriages, but we didn't find them," Lu Yuan said. "They're probably in the back carriages."

"The lights in the rear carriages will gradually turn off."

"Yes, so we need to be quick."

Zhou Lang stood up, picked up the oil lamp, and walked towards the door: "I'll go."

Han Yingying stood up as well.

"I'll go too."

"I—" Tang Xiaoyu gritted her teeth, her legs trembling, but she still managed to stand up by supporting herself on the chair.

Fang Yan opened his eyes and glanced at her, but said nothing. Lu Yuan, however, smiled and said, "Then we can't just sit here any longer. Brother Fang?"

Fang Yan stood up.

The five people walked through the connecting door of carriage number 1 and headed to the back.