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

Zhao Qiang took the item, his hands still trembling, but he gripped it tightly.

"Go ahead." Zhou Lang patted his shoulder.

The three entered the portal.

The remaining days became unbearable. Zhou Lang was trapped in the transfer hall with nothing to do, a feeling even more torturous than entering a dungeon. He and Han Yingying went through the documents they had brought out from the basement again, while continuing to dig for information about the X Guild with the help of Shen Mo's intelligence network.

Han Yingying has regained most of her memories, but she keeps it a secret.

During the day, she discussed clues with Zhou Lang as usual, offering analyses and speculations in a restrained tone. Only occasionally, when she came across a passage describing the founder of the X Guild, would she pause her page-turning—just for a moment—before continuing as if nothing had happened.

Zhou Lang noticed it. But he didn't ask anything.

Han Yingying sometimes thought this person was incredibly oblivious, and other times she felt he saw everything. It was contradictory, but Zhou Lang himself was a contradictory person.

On the eighth day, Zhao Qiang and his team completed their first SS-level dungeon. When the three of them were ejected from the portal, they were covered in dust and dirt. Zhao Qiang's left arm was bandaged, Xiong Batian was missing a piece of his armor, and Su Ming's weapon was broken in two.

"How is it?" Zhou Lang tossed a bottle of recovery medicine over.

Zhao Qiang choked on his drink, and after a long pause, he finally spoke: "I almost got killed. The BOSS is a shameless bastard; he chased us down three floors..."

"But you survived."

"He's alive." Zhao Qiang's lips finally twitched.

On the fourteenth day, the second SS-level dungeon was completed. This time it was even more dangerous—Xiong Batian took an attack to save Zhao Qiang, breaking two of his ribs. At the last moment, Su Ming found the BOSS's weakness and pierced its core with a single strike.

Zhao Qiang stayed by Xiong Batian's bedside, his hands trembling as he changed Xiong Batian's bandages. Xiong Batian cursed, "If you keep shaking like that, you'll wrap the bandage around my face!"

"Shut up! You've got a broken rib and you're still so talkative."

"You think your brother Lang is a pushover? He taught me—if you get hurt, swear to distract yourself."

Zhou Lang rolled his eyes. He had never taught this kind of thing before.

On the sixteenth day, the three entered the SS-level dungeon again and completed the final mission. When they returned, Zhao Qiang was no longer trembling, walked with a confident stride, and even his voice was different.

"Brother Lang! Three times! All done!"

Zhou Lang nodded: "Well done."

Zhao Qiang was stunned. This was the first time Zhou Lang had seriously praised him. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he just scratched his head.

Everyone's qualifications have been gathered. The next step is to form a union and formally register.

At this moment, Han Yingying did something that surprised everyone.

She took out the black token.

"The X Guild's restart token." Shen Mo recognized it at a glance, his voice showing a change for the first time. "Where did you get it?"

"It's always been with me." Han Yingying didn't explain further. "I can use this to restart the X Guild, and you can participate in the competition in the name of the X Guild."

"Wait a minute," Xiong Batian sat up in bed, "X Guild—the legendary one?"

"right."

"How did you get their token?"

"I found it." Han Yingying said without changing her expression.

Zhou Lang looked at her. Han Yingying didn't look back at him.

He didn't expose her.

"Then let's use it," Zhou Lang said.

Guild X, restarted.

At the same time, the sky outside the transfer hall began to change color.

It wasn't the color change of sunrise or sunset—it was as if the entire sky had been splashed with ink, a dark, oppressive mass falling downwards. Emergency notices on bulletin boards grew increasingly frequent, and bizarre intrusions into the real world increased dramatically. Teachers appeared in schools who couldn't blink, extra shadows were captured on mall security cameras, and someone entered a non-existent ninth carriage in the subway station.

time is limited.

The SSS-rank dungeon must be cleared as soon as possible. This isn't for any achievement or reward—it's about how long the real world can last.

The day before the registration deadline, Zhou Lang called everyone together.

"The guild tournament, just make it to the finals. If we win the finals, we can enter the SSS-level dungeon." He glanced around, "Anything you want to say, say it now."

No one spoke.

"Then it's settled."

Han Yingying stood at the back of the crowd, her hands in her pockets, her fingertips touching the cold edge of the token.

She had a lot to say. About the X Guild, about herself, about the terrible blank space in the middle of that lost memory.

But now is not the time.

Win the game first. We'll deal with the rest later.

The guild tournament is held in a separate instance of the game.

Six guilds participated, with matchups determined by a draw. The first round consisted of three elimination matches, with the winners advancing to the semifinals, where two teams would compete for a spot in the finals.

X Guild's first opponent is "Heavenly Opportunity," ranked second.

When the lottery results came out, Shen Mo's expression changed.

"The Heavenly Opportunity, the guild leader is called Zhuang Yan." He lowered his voice, "This guy is very cunning. In the last competition, he destroyed two guilds using off-field methods, and four people died after the competition, and no one has found out why."

"Off-field tactics?" Zhou Lang asked.

"Poisoning, ambushing, bribing referees. He's done every dirty job you can think of."

Xiong Batian cursed, "You can do a competition like this?"

"The rules only apply to things within the competition arena," Shen Mo said. "Things outside the competition are not covered by the rules."

Zhou Lang didn't speak. He looked down at the list of members who would have a chance to go to heaven—seven people, two more substitutes than the X Guild.

"Having more people doesn't mean you can fight." Su Ming replaced the broken weapon with a new one and tested its feel.

"It's not a matter of whether you can win or not." Shen Mo's expression was unusually serious. "It's that this guy doesn't play by the rules. You're prepared to fight him head-on, and he'll stab you in the back."

Zhao Qiang crossed his arms and said, "Why am I shaking again?"

"You've been shaking," Xiong Batian said.

On the day of the competition, the arena was packed with spectators. Members of various guilds, casual players, and some NPC referees whose faces were obscured.

Opposite them, the seven members of the Heavenly Opportunity were already in position. The leader, Zhuang Yan, was a middle-aged man dressed in dark red armor, a smile on his face. It wasn't a friendly smile; it was a smile that said, "I already know the outcome."

Zhou Lang glanced at him, without any extra expression.

The rules are simple—two guilds are teleported to the same instance space, where there is a core crystal in the center. The first guild to destroy the opponent's crystal wins. The instance contains roaming monsters and random traps, but the greatest threat is always the opposing team.

Transmission initiated.

A flash of white light, and the five members of Guild X landed in an abandoned town. Leaning buildings lined the streets, and dust swirled in the air. Their crystal was in the basement of a church behind them, its location already marked on the map.

"Su Ming, defend the crystal." Zhou Lang assigned tasks. "Zhao Qiang, Xiong Batian, advance from the front. Shen Mo, flank. Han Yingying and I will find their crystal location."