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

At the end of the basement was a wall.

It wasn't a secret room or a treasure trove; it was just a dusty, gray cement wall. Zhou Lang held up an oil lamp and shone it on the wall. The surface was rough, with several cracks, and water was seeping through.

"That's it?" Zhao Qiang leaned closer.

Han Yingying also peeked out.

The three people stared at the wall and remained silent for a few seconds.

Zhou Lang suddenly chuckled. He stepped forward and tapped the wall with his knuckles—it was hollow. He took out a chainsaw, pulled the rope, and the motor hummed to life.

"Stand back."

The chainsaw cut into the concrete wall, sending debris flying. Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying retreated to the stairwell, covering their ears as they watched him operate. In less than two minutes, a half-meter square section of the wall was completely cut off.

Behind the wall is a coffin.

The former owner of the manor lay in the coffin, seven iron nails driven into his chest, each one rusted through. Beside him lay a booklet with two words written on its cover: Contract.

Zhou Lang flipped through the booklet, which recorded the origins of the butler's murder and the rules governing the manor's ownership. Simply put—whoever pulls out the iron nail becomes the new master.

"Should we pull it out?" Zhao Qiang asked.

Zhou Lang thought for a moment, then closed the booklet and stuffed it into his pocket.

"pull."

He pulled out the nails one by one. When he pulled out the seventh, the entire manor shook, and dust fell from the trees. Then, a system notification sounded in the minds of all three of them simultaneously.

The dungeon "Terror Manor" is complete. Rating: SSS.

[Rewards being processed...]

The three people were enveloped in a white light. When the light dissipated, Zhou Lang was already standing in his rented room.

There were a bunch of things on the table—three thousand game coins, a master key that could open any lock, and a black card.

The card read: Investigator's Pass.

This card allows entry into any instance for investigation. Limited to one use.

Zhou Lang looked at the card over and over again.

He remembered this item. He'd found it on an NPC during the last dungeon run, but hadn't used it. At the end of the run, the system recognized it as a completion reward and materialized it.

My phone vibrated. Zhao Qiang had sent me a message.

"Brother Lang, have you checked the forums?"

"without."

"There's a bug in a dungeon; the death rate is 92%. Almost everyone who goes up there doesn't come back alive. The developers haven't even released a patch."

Zhou Lang opened the forum, and the title of the pinned post was eye-catching: [Urgent Warning: The S-rank dungeon "Giant's View" may have a fatal bug. All players are advised to avoid it!]

The post received hundreds of replies, most of which were cursing. A few survivors posted their experiences, with fragmented and disorganized descriptions, but several keywords recurred: inn, drowning, fire, and no safe period.

Zhou Lang finished reading the post and then looked through the survivor's detailed description.

There's no safe zone—entering is like entering hell mode; the eeriness begins from the very first second. This is completely different from previous dungeons. Previously, there was at least a daytime buffer, allowing players to figure out the rules and react accordingly. Giant's View has completely eliminated that mechanism.

He picked up the investigator's pass and twirled it in his hand.

The phone rang again. This time it was Han Yingying.

"Zhou Lang, I've been assigned to the Giant Temple by the system."

The voice message was only a dozen seconds long. Han Yingying's voice was very flat, but the end of her sentence was a little strained.

Zhou Lang replied with a text message: "When?"

"Tomorrow at 3 PM."

"Don't panic, I'll go too."

He took a picture of the pass and sent it over. There was a moment of silence on the other end, then a reply of "OK".

Zhao Qiang called: "Brother Lang, you don't want to join Giant Temple, do you?"

"It's been decided."

"Damn, are you crazy? Do you know what a 92% mortality rate means? Nine out of ten people who go in don't come out!"

"So I went to see what was going on."

Zhao Qiang cursed several times on the other end of the phone, and finally said angrily, "Then you better watch out. I'll keep an eye on the forum for you outside, and I'll forward any new information to you immediately."

"OK."

"And..." Zhao Qiang hesitated for a moment, "Han Yingying is also inside, please take care of her."

Zhou Lang hummed in agreement and hung up the phone.

At 2:50 PM the next day, Zhou Lang stood in the center of his room, clutching his investigator's pass. He hadn't brought much with him today—an oil lamp, a master key, scissors, and some game currency left over from the last dungeon run. The chainsaw was too conspicuous, so he hadn't brought it.

At exactly three o'clock, the pass emitted a dark red light.

His vision blurred for a moment.

When he looked more closely, he was standing on a dirt road, in front of a three-story building. It was a wooden structure, painted dark red, with two lanterns hanging under the eaves, on which were written the three characters "Giant Temple".

The handwriting was crooked and twisted, and the right half of the character "观" (guān) had a downward stroke, as if it were about to drip.

The air in the mountains was chilly. The sky looked off—even though we came in at three in the afternoon, the sky was already gray and dark, the clouds were low and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

The inn's main gate was open.

There were already four people standing at the door.

At the front was a tall man with a buzz cut, wearing a camouflage jacket, and his arms were thicker than Zhou Lang's thighs. He had his arms crossed and was surveying the exterior of the inn.

A woman, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, stood nearby. She had long hair, wore a wine-red, tight-fitting sweater, and her makeup was exquisite. She leaned against the door frame, tapping her nails on her arm, looking utterly bored.

Behind her was a young girl, who looked to be under twenty. She had her hair in pigtails, was carrying a small bear handbag, and had big eyes. She stood timidly at the very back.

There was also a boy, wearing a school uniform, who looked like a high school student. He was carrying a backpack, expressionless, and staring at a window on the second floor of the inn.

Han Yingying is not here.

Zhou Lang walked over. The man with the buzz cut noticed him first and gave him a once-over.

"Another one. How many times have you done this?"

"The fifth time," Zhou Lang announced.

The man with the buzz cut nodded, his tone becoming more polite: "My name is Chen Guodong, this is the fourth time. What about you?"

"Waves and waves."

Chen Guodong's expression froze for a second.

The woman in the burgundy sweater chuckled, "That's quite a flamboyant name."

"It's just a game name," Zhou Lang said without replying.

The little girl with pigtails whispered, "My name is Su Xiaomian, and this is the second time... I'm so scared."

The boy in the school uniform finally looked up from the second-floor window, glanced around at everyone present, and gave a brief self-introduction: "Lin Yuan, this is my first time."

His voice was dry and flat, without any inflection.

Zhou Lang glanced at him a couple more times. A high school student entering a dungeon for the first time, facing this environment, wasn't nervous or curious; he just dryly gave his name. Either his mental fortitude was outrageous, or there was something wrong with him.

The system notification sound suddenly rang in everyone's heads.

The dungeon "Giant's View" is about to open. Number of participants: 6/6. Please wait at the inn for further instructions.

Six people.

Only five people are standing here.

Footsteps sounded from inside the inn, and Han Yingying came out. She was wearing a gray sweatshirt, her hair was casually tied up, and she was holding a map in her hand.