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

Su Xiao added, "It stood there until dawn and then walked away by itself. I was so scared that I didn't sleep all night."

Zhou Lang squatted down nearby, using a twig to draw a map of the town on the ground. He marked several locations and then drew a circle around the location of the stone tablet in the square.

Han Yingying noticed the markings he drew—not the locations where ghosts appeared, but the changes in fog concentration at the edge of the town.

He was studying the boundaries of this copy.

She didn't ask.

The second day's exploration progressed significantly. Han Yingying used her spiritual vision skill to discover a complete underground water system in the town. The water flowing in the channels was not water, but liquid mist. This mist gushed out from an ancient well in the center of the town and spread throughout the entire town.

"The source is in the ancient well," she told the others.

Su Xiao stared at Han Yingying scanning the canal with her spiritual vision, her expression growing increasingly strange.

"Your skill..." Su Xiao hesitated for a moment, but still said it, "is very similar to that of the top player on the game leaderboard."

Han Yingying was taken aback. "Which big shot?"

"'Like a wave,'" Su Xiao said. "His skill also allows him to directly see through the essence of ghosts. Your spiritual vision works too similarly to his. You two can't be the same—"

Zhou Lang coughed beside him.

Su Xiao turned to look at him, and Zhou Lang said expressionlessly, "It's time to go, it's getting dark."

Su Xiao looked at Zhou Lang suspiciously, then at Han Yingying, but ultimately didn't press the matter further.

But something in Han Yingying's mind was touched by Su Xiao's words.

Fragmented memories flooded back—a door, a corridor, someone calling her name, the voice familiar but indistinct. Then a room, a mirror in the room, the reflection wearing clothes different from what she was wearing now—

"Han Yingying?"

She snapped out of her daze. Zhou Lang was standing right in front of her, very close.

"I'm leaving," he said, his tone as flat as usual, but his withdrawn hand betrayed him—he had just reached out to help her but pulled back.

"It's nothing." Han Yingying rubbed her temples. "Let's go."

Zhou Lang glanced at her again, said nothing, and turned to lead the way.

Zhao Qiang jogged to catch up, then turned back and mouthed "Are you okay?" to Han Yingying. Han Yingying waved at him.

The second night was much more dangerous than the first.

The fog in the ancient well became aggressive after nightfall, transforming into white tentacles that emerged from the cracks in the ground. The five people were forced to retreat to the stone monument in the square—the fog dared not approach within three meters of the monument.

However, the safe zone around the stone tablet is shrinking.

Fang Yi gritted his teeth and used an iron rod to strike the approaching tentacles, but with little effect. Su Xiao, standing nearby, shone a flashlight on the base of the tentacles and discovered that the strong light could temporarily make the tentacles retract.

"Light! Hit them with light!" Su Xiao shouted.

Zhao Qiang pulled out three glow sticks from his pocket—he had bought them for twenty yuan from the general store before entering the dungeon, originally for lighting.

"It was worth the money!" Zhao Qiang broke the glow stick in half and threw it away. The green light exploded on the ground, and the tentacles all scrambled to avoid it.

Fang Yi reacted quickly, pulling out a lighter from his person, lighting a tattered piece of clothing, and throwing it out. The flames spread, unleashing even more tentacles.

The five of them worked together to hold out until dawn.

As soon as it was light, the fog receded back into the ancient well, and the tentacles disappeared completely.

Fang Yi sat on the ground, panting. He looked at the remaining glow stick in Zhao Qiang's hand, and then at Zhou Lang—who had stood on the outermost edge all night, using the green light of the oil lamp to shield everyone from the fiercest waves of attacks.

"Your light..." Fang Yi wanted to ask something, but shook his head and didn't.

On the third day, the operation was completed.

Han Yingying used her spiritual vision to pinpoint what was at the bottom of the ancient well—a huge cocoon formed from condensed mist. The cocoon contained the souls of all the missing townspeople, who were being devoured and merged by an entity similar to a "mother," constantly generating denser mist to expand its territory.

"Break the cocoon, release the souls of the townspeople, and the fog will dissipate," Han Yingying concluded.

Zhou Lang nodded. He pulled out his chainsaw and jumped into the ancient well.

Zhao Qiang was in charge of lowering the rope at the wellhead. Fang Yi and Su Xiao each guarded one of the two entrances to the square to prevent night from falling early. Han Yingying used her spiritual vision to monitor the changes in the cocoon in real time and guided Zhou Lang by shouting.

The roar of a chainsaw, mixed with a piercing screech, came from down the well. Three minutes later, a beam of white light shot into the sky from the bottom of the well.

[Dungeon Cleared]

[Evaluation settlement in progress...]

Five people stood in the white light, waiting to be teleported.

Taking advantage of the break, Han Yingying walked up to Fang Yi and Su Xiao: "Are you two interested in forming a team? The long-term kind?"

Fang Yi was taken aback.

Su Xiao looked at Fang Yi, then at Han Yingying: "We... aren't strong enough, are we?"

"Your performance last night wasn't bad," Han Yingying said. "What you lacked was experience and props."

Fang Yi was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "Thanks, but we have our own plans. We'll try working independently for a while and see how it goes."

Han Yingying didn't try to persuade her further.

A white light enveloped everyone, and their vision disappeared.

Wednesday, 7:12 AM.

Han Yingying sat on the bed, the light from her phone screen shining on her face.

The first news item: "Renovation project of downtown shopping mall completed ahead of schedule."

She could recite them without even looking at the last two.

This time, she didn't hesitate. She turned on her computer and logged into that underground forum. The link she had saved last time was still there—a long post about "ominous signs of impending doom." The author claimed to be a former employee of a research institution and listed twelve signs.

Han Yingying checked each item one by one.

Rule 1: Time loop, specific dates appear repeatedly. — Hit.

Article Two: Phenomena that do not conform to normal physical rules appear in the environment. — She recalled the mirror in her house breaking by itself last month; it was fate.

Article 3: Ordinary people begin to have recurring nightmares with the same content. —She wasn't sure how it was for others, but for herself…

Article 4: Spatial boundaries are blurred; certain buildings or landmarks may "overlap" at specific times.

Just as she was about to look down, a loud bang came from downstairs.

Han Yingying walked to the window and looked down. Everything on the street was normal; the steamed bun vendors were calling out their wares as usual, and pedestrians were coming and going. But her attention was drawn to a building on the street corner—a breakfast shop that she saw every day when she passed by.

The problem is that, in her memory, that breakfast shop was supposed to be closed on Wednesdays.

But it's open today.

No—it's not "open." It's flickering. Like a poorly received TV screen, one frame shows an open door, the next a closed door, and the frequency keeps increasing.

Han Yingying's heart raced. She grabbed her coat and ran outside, just reaching the stairwell—

The mark on my wrist lit up again.

"No--"

White light.

When she opened her eyes again, all she saw was darkness.

The air was filled with a mixture of rust and a cloying sweetness. The ground beneath my feet was metallic, making a hollow echo when I stepped on it.