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

Deep inside the basement was an even larger iron door.

Zhou Lang shone his oil lamp over the door, revealing it covered in densely packed runes, some of which had peeled away, exposing the blackened metal beneath. The door had no lock, only a recess shaped like an open palm.

"What kind of key do you need?" Zhao Qiang leaned closer to take a look.

Zhou Lang didn't answer, but raised his hand and pressed it down.

A slight tremor ran through the room, the runes lit up and then went out in turn, and the iron gate slowly slid open to both sides. Behind the gate was a small room with a stone platform in the center. On the platform was a yellowed booklet, and next to it was a black token.

Zhou Lang walked over and opened the booklet.

It records the construction process of this manor—or more accurately, the process of its "transformation." The original owner of the manor died a violent death, and after an organization took over, it transformed the entire manor into a container for raising and collecting ghosts. The butler was a guard they created to watch over these ghosts.

The last page of the booklet had a line of small print: "The source of the strangeness is not within the manor."

"What do you mean?" Han Yingying asked.

Zhou Lang stuffed the booklet into his pocket and picked up the black token. The token was cold to the touch, with the character "庄" engraved on the front and a string of incomprehensible numbers on the back.

"That means the anomaly in this instance wasn't caused by the manor itself." Zhou Lang flipped the token over. "Something is controlling all of this from the outside."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire mountain villa began to tremble.

The ground cracked, the walls shattered, and large sections of the ceiling fell down. Zhao Qiang pulled Han Yingying back two steps, and a brick hit the spot where he had just been standing.

"withdraw!"

The three ran back. The stairs crumbled beneath their feet. Zhou Lang, holding an oil lamp in one hand and grabbing Zhao Qiang with the other, scrambled out of the basement. In the lobby on the first floor, the furniture was moving on its own, tables and chairs being pushed wildly against the walls as if by an invisible hand.

The butler stood in the center of the hall. He turned to look at Zhou Lang, and for the first time, something that could be called an "expression" appeared in his empty eye sockets.

"You shouldn't have gone down," it said.

"You can't stop me." Zhou Lang held up the token.

The moment the butler saw the token, its entire body trembled. It lowered its head, its once straight back bending over.

"The Lord commands..." its voice grew hoarse, "The new Lord."

The vibration stopped.

The frantically moved furniture returned to its place, and the cracked walls began to heal on their own. The entire villa fell silent, with only the sound of the wind blowing in through the broken windows.

Congratulations to player "浪里个浪" for completing the hidden quest: Seize the Manor Lord's Token

[Rating: SSS]

[Rewards being processed...]

A series of notification boxes popped up in front of Zhou Lang. Before he could even read them carefully, another message appeared:

[The instance is about to close. All players will be teleported to the safe zone in 60 seconds.]

"Is it over?" Zhao Qiang plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

"It's over." Zhou Lang put away the token.

A white light enveloped the three of them.

When they opened their eyes again, they were standing in a vast, white space. This was the settlement area after the dungeon ended. There were other players who had also come out of the dungeon, standing in twos and threes, with different expressions—some were relieved to have survived, and others were saddened by the loss of their teammates.

Zhou Lang's settlement panel popped up:

[Instance: Terror Manor (S-rank)]

[Clearance Rating: SSS]

[Rewards: Manor Lord's Token (Special Item), Refined Scissors (Weapon Upgrade), Enhanced Oil Lamp (Lighting + Exorcism), 3000 Gold Coins]

[Bonus Reward: Scary Value +500]

Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying received fewer rewards, but they were still significantly more generous than those for a normal completion. Zhao Qiang looked at the 1500 gold coins on his screen, his expression shifting from fear to delight so quickly that one might doubt whether his earlier terror was genuine.

"Brother Lang, following you means you'll always get what you deserve." Zhao Qiang stood up and patted off imaginary dust from his butt.

Han Yingying's attention was elsewhere. She stared at Zhou Lang's completion rating for a few seconds and asked, "An SSS rating is quite rare, isn't it?"

"You can count the number of people who've ever gotten an SSS rank in the entire game on two hands," Zhao Qiang interjected. "Last time, a top player got an SSS rank in an A-rank dungeon, and three guilds were fighting over it. Brother Lang's is an S-rank SSS rank—"

Before he could finish speaking, people in the settlement area were already looking in his direction.

The news spread very quickly.

On the bulletin board in the safe zone, Zhou Lang's clearance information was prominently displayed at the top. An SSS rating for an S-rank dungeon—a score that ranks among the top ten in the entire history of the game.

The first group of people arrived in less than five minutes.

"Mr. Langligelang, I am the vice president of the Frostblade Guild. I wonder if you would be interested—"

"Brother Lang! Our Blazing Flame Guild cordially invites you to join us. Excellent benefits, guaranteed annual salary—"

"Mr. Zhou, how about learning about the Silverwing Guild? Our guild offers the best benefits in the entire server—"

Seven or eight people surrounded him, handing out business cards like they were handing out flyers. Zhou Lang glanced at them; he didn't recognize a single one of them.

"I'm sorry, he has no plans to join the union at the moment." Han Yingying stepped in front, her tone polite but her attitude clear.

These people looked at each other, and a few wanted to say something, but Han Yingying silenced them with a single look.

She handled the situation with unexpected efficiency.

Zhou Lang watched from behind, somewhat surprised. Zhao Qiang leaned closer and whispered, "Sister Yingying's aura is even more imposing than those union vice presidents."

"When did you start calling her Sister Yingying?"

"She pulled me up in the basement just now, so I think there's nothing wrong with calling her 'sister'," Zhao Qiang said confidently.

Most people dispersed, but a few remained. One of the men, dressed in a dark red uniform, glanced at Han Yingying a couple more times, muttered something under his breath, and turned to leave.

"Who is that person?" Zhou Lang asked.

"The Dark Erosion Guild," Han Yingying turned around, "the second-largest guild."

"Do you know him?"

"I've dealt with them before." She didn't elaborate.

The three left the safe zone and entered the game lobby. This was the social area for players, where they could trade items, view leaderboards, and accept quests. The lobby was bustling with people, but quite a few noticed Zhou Lang and his companions.

Zhou Lang found a corner to sit down and began to organize the items he had obtained from this dungeon. He carefully examined the attributes of the Manor Lord's Token—this item could summon ghosts from the manor to fight for him under certain conditions; it had a limited number of uses, but its power was considerable.

"Waves and waves."

A voice came from the side. Zhou Lang looked up and saw a man wearing a half-mask standing three steps away, arms crossed.

"who?"

"Dark Eclipse Guild, Tactical Department Head." The man removed his mask, revealing an ordinary face. "Call me Lin Qi."

"Didn't we just say we wouldn't join any guilds?" Zhao Qiang frowned.

Lin Qi didn't look at him; his gaze was fixed on Zhou Lang. "I'm not here to recruit. I'm here to remind you—there are some people you shouldn't offend lightly."