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

The basement was more than twice as big as they had imagined.

The green light of the oil lamp illuminated the four stone walls, which were covered with intricate writing, like some kind of diary. Further inside, black liquid seeped from the cracks in the stone walls, emitting a rusty smell.

"Where is this place?" Zhao Qiang asked, covering his nose.

"Don't touch the wall." Zhou Lang glanced at the black liquid and raised the oil lamp higher.

At the far end of the basement was a wooden door, with a row of nails hammered into the frame, each nail dangling a strand of hair. Han Yingying took a half step back, and Zhou Lang stepped forward, yanked off the hair, and pulled out a chainsaw, hacking at the door panel.

Wood chips flew everywhere, and the door shattered with a crash.

Behind the door was a study. There were no windows, and bookshelves lined all four walls, filled with yellowed booklets. In the center was a desk, on which sat an extinguished oil lamp and an open notebook.

Zhou Lang walked to the table and turned two pages.

The notes were fragmented—written by the manor's first owner. The gist was that he had dug a "crack" while building the manor, and something from within had poured out, causing unrest throughout the estate. The handwriting became increasingly illegible on the later pages, with only three words on the last page:

Don't look back.

"That's it?" Zhao Qiang leaned closer to take a look. "What crack?"

Zhou Lang didn't answer. He noticed a map under the notebook. The map was old, with curled edges, and depicted the entire manor. The basement location was marked with a red ink circle, next to which were the words "Entrance."

"Entrance?" Han Yingying frowned. "What entrance?"

Zhou Lang put the map in his pocket and began rummaging through the other books on the shelf. Most of them were badly damaged by insects, with only a few on the bottom shelf still readable. He quickly scanned them and picked out three to put in his inventory.

Just then, footsteps came from above.

The three of them looked up at the same time.

The footsteps were heavy, approaching the basement entrance step by step.

"Does someone have connections up there?" Zhao Qiang's voice changed.

"Not human." Zhou Lang extinguished the oil lamp.

The basement was plunged into darkness in an instant.

The footsteps stopped at the top of the stairs. Then came a metallic scraping sound—something was going down the stairs.

"It was to kill the butler," Han Yingying said in a low voice.

Zhou Lang pulled her and Zhao Qiang behind the bookshelf. The three of them squatted in the corner, and no one made a sound.

The sound of metal scraping grew closer and closer. Finally, it stopped at the doorway of the study.

In the pitch black, only the nameplate on the butler's chest reflected a faint light. It stood before the shattered wooden door, its empty eye sockets scanning the entire study.

Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.

The butler turned and went upstairs.

The footsteps gradually faded away until they disappeared completely.

Zhao Qiang slumped to the ground: "My pants aren't wet, don't look at me."

"Nobody's watching you." Zhou Lang relit the oil lamp.

"Let's go, take everything we can."

The three retraced their steps, climbed the stairs, and walked through the corridor. The ghosts clinging to the ceiling were still there, but with the oil lamps, they dared not approach. Upon reaching the first floor, Xiong Batian peeked out from behind a pillar.

"Where have you been? We've been looking for you for ages."

"Let's take a walk," Zhou Lang said.

Xiong Batian looked at the dust and cobwebs on their bodies, opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't ask any more questions.

The rest of the night passed peacefully. At dawn the next day, the butler announced the final settlement in the hall.

"Waves Across the Waves - Rating: Perfect. Settlement: 1000. Bonus: Hidden Clue Discoverer"

"Han Yingying - Evaluation: Perfect. Settlement salary: 800."

"Zhao Qiang - Evaluation: Excellent. Settlement salary: 500."

"Xiong Batian - Rating: Good. Settlement Salary: 300."

Xiong Batian's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

A flash of white light, and the four were teleported out of the instance.

-

When I returned to the transfer hall, it was already very crowded.

Three months into the horror game, fewer and fewer players have survived, but each survivor has grown stronger. Groups of three or five gather in the lobby, players from different guilds clearly separated, occasionally exchanging wary glances.

Zhou Lang found a corner to sit down and took out the three booklets he had taken from the basement.

Han Yingying sat next to him, also watching. Zhao Qiang and Xiong Batian went to exchange for supplies.

The text in the booklet wasn't all handwritten; some pages were printed, as if torn from some document. The content covered "game structure," "rule anchors," and "guild system."

"These things don't seem like items generated in a game." Han Yingying flipped through a few pages, her tone somewhat uncertain.

Zhou Lang also noticed this. These three booklets seemed to be some kind of development document, mixed in with the items in the game world. One of them mentioned a name—the X Guild.

"The X Guild," Zhou Lang read aloud. "Have you heard of it?"

Han Yingying shook her head. But she stared at those two words for a long time, her brows furrowing slightly, as if something was churning in her mind.

Are you alright?

"My head hurts a little." Han Yingying pressed her temples. "This name... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."

Zhou Lang didn't press further and continued flipping through the next booklet. This booklet recorded some information about the X Guild: its founding date was unknown, its founder's code name was "Ying," and it was currently the only max-level player in the transfer hall, as well as the only person to successfully leave the game and re-enter.

He paused here and glanced at Han Yingying.

"Ying". Han Yingying.

He closed the page, not showing it to Han Yingying. It wasn't that he was hiding it from her—he needed to think things through first. For someone with amnesia to suddenly discover they have another identity isn't necessarily a good thing.

Before he could finish thinking, someone behind him spoke up.

"Can I take a look at that thing you're holding?"

Zhou Lang turned around, and a tall, thin man stood three steps away. His hair was shaved very short, and he looked young, but the look in his eyes didn't seem like that of a young person. He was wearing a gray gaming uniform without any guild insignia.

"Who are you?"

"Silence," the man said, "not the silence of not speaking, but the 'Shen' of Shen Congwen and the 'Mo' of 'silently pronouncing'."

"Are you listening to us?"

"It wasn't intentional." Shen Mo didn't try to deny it. "I've been keeping an eye on the X Guild for a long time. I also have some of the things you found."

Zhou Lang sized him up for a few seconds.

"You want to cooperate?"

"Each takes what they need," Shen Mo said. "I've been researching alone for two months, and the progress is too slow. You guys are obviously researching too. If we put it all together, maybe we can piece together the whole picture."

Han Yingying did not immediately express her opinion; instead, she looked at Zhou Lang.

Zhou Lang stuffed the booklet into his pocket: "Okay. But there's a condition—you have to give me what you found first."

"Okay." Shen Mo's prompt reply was unexpected.

He took a stack of papers from his inventory and handed them over. Zhou Lang took them and flipped through them—they were indeed information about the X Guild, and even more detailed than what he had. There was even an organizational chart on them, with the code names of several core members marked.