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

Han Yingying saw all this and felt a chill run down her spine.

"30, 29, 28—"

The floor began to crack, and the tiles underfoot popped up one by one, revealing a dark red light underneath. Han Yingying took a step back, pressing her back against the wall, and found that the wall was also shaking.

The room is deformed.

The ceiling is rising, the walls are receding, and the living room is becoming a vast space. The tables and chairs, the dishes, the artificial flower, the television—everything is being swallowed by darkness, receding into the distance, becoming smaller and smaller, more and more blurry.

Lin Fang and Liu Shihhan also disappeared.

"10, 9, 8—"

Han Yingying tried to grab something, but her fingers traced the wall and she couldn't grasp anything. She opened her mouth to shout, but the sound got stuck in her throat.

"3, 2, 1—"

Darkness completely enveloped everything.

The landing felt lighter than I expected.

My foot landed on some kind of hard ground, my knee bent, and I regained my balance.

Han Yingying took a few seconds to adjust to the surrounding light. It was a narrow street with low, old buildings on both sides. The streetlights were dim, and the sky was hazy, with no stars or moon in sight, as if veiled by a layer of gauze.

Several people were standing by the roadside.

They weren't ghosts—at least they didn't look like them. They had normal facial features, normal body temperature, and different postures and expressions. The only thing they had in common was that each of them had a different degree of bewilderment on their face.

Han Yingying looked down at herself. Her clothes had changed. She was wearing a gray sweatshirt, jeans, and a backpack, completely different from before she left. There was a wallet in the backpack. She opened it and saw several gray-green banknotes, but instead of the image of RMB, they had a picture of an owl with its eyes closed.

There was a card tucked inside the wallet.

[Player: Han Yingying]

[Level: Newcomer]

[Customs clearance record: None]

[Skills: None]

Current instance: "Terrifying Inn" (Rank D)

She looked at it several times to make sure she wasn't mistaken.

Player. Dungeon. Skill.

These words stirred something deep within my mind, vaguely, like looking at a stone at the bottom of water through the surface—I knew something was there, but I couldn't make out its outline.

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?"

A voice came from the side. Han Yingying turned her head and saw a tall man in a leather jacket, with a buzz cut, a scar on his chin, and a relaxed posture with his hands in his pockets.

"They've already started the self-introductions, are you deaf?"

Han Yingying looked around. A few people on the roadside had formed a loose circle, and a thin man wearing glasses was talking.

"My name is Fang Xu. I've cleared two D-rank dungeons. I don't have any special skills, except that I'm fast." He pushed up his glasses, his voice tinged with self-deprecation.

A woman in a long red dress chimed in. Her makeup was exquisite, her lips a vibrant red, and her voice was deep and magnetic: "Chen Ruo, three D-ranks, one C-rank. Her skill is charm, effective on living people, but less effective on ghosts."

The tall man with the buzz cut and scarred face turned to look at Han Yingying: "Your turn."

All eyes turned to them.

Han Yingying quickly assessed her situation. A newbie, no clear history, no skills. If she told the truth—

Fang Xu paused for a moment as she adjusted her glasses; she understood that look in his eyes. The way veteran players looked at newcomers contained both pity and calculation. Newcomers in a team were either a burden or a disposable pawn.

"Han Yingying," she said, her voice calmer than she had expected, "a C-level clear on the first try."

She herself was a little surprised when she said that.

Even more surprisingly, as soon as he finished speaking, a line of semi-transparent text popped up in front of him.

Lying behavior detected.

[Meets the trigger conditions for the hidden skill "The Deceiver".]

[Unlocked Skill: Conman (Rank D)]

[Skill Effect: Lies will not be detected for a certain period of time. Effective against strange creatures lower than your level. Can be used three times per day.]

[Additional Fix: Clearance record updated - Rank D x1, Rank C x1.]

Han Yingying stared at the line of text for three seconds, her heart racing.

It's helping her cover up her lie.

Chen Ruo raised an eyebrow and looked Han Yingying up and down: "C-level? You look quite young."

"I was lucky," Han Yingying said.

The man with the buzz cut and scarred face snorted and didn't press the matter further. He introduced himself as Zheng Kai, a two-time D-level clearer with the skill "Iron Wall," which allowed him to withstand damage.

The last person stood at the edge of the circle, remaining silent. He wore a black coat, and his hood was pulled low, obscuring his face.

Zheng Kai gestured with his lip towards him: "What about you?"

The man lifted the brim of his hat, revealing half his face. He was a young man, not particularly handsome, but he had a certain air about him that drew attention. He was relaxed and unhurried, as if watching a play that had nothing to do with him.

"Waves and waves."

Han Yingying was stunned for a moment.

"What a terrible name!" Zheng Kai frowned.

"ID," the man said, "Three times at Rank D, once at Rank C. Skills cannot be disclosed."

"What's with the mystery?" Zheng Kai muttered in dissatisfaction, but seeing that the other person's completion record was no worse than his own, he didn't say anything more.

Han Yingying stared at the person's profile, a strange feeling creeping into her mind—as if she'd seen him somewhere before. But she couldn't recall any connection.

After the self-introductions ended, the sound of an engine came from the end of the street.

A bus emerged from the fog, moving slowly, its headlights casting a yellowish glow, making the rust on its body particularly noticeable. The door opened, revealing the driver in the driver's seat—a middle-aged man in a gray uniform, with a sallow complexion, sunken eyes, and a slight smile as he looked at the crowd.

That smile was so perfect, so perfect it was unreal.

A notice was posted on the side of the vehicle: [A valid ticket or one "Strange Coin" is required for boarding. Those without a ticket are not permitted to sit.]

Fang Xu was the first to rummage through his wallet, pulling out a grayish-green coin and handing it to the driver. The driver took it, bit into it, nodded, and let them go. Fang Xu found a seat near the front and let out a long sigh.

Zheng Kai and Chen Ruo also boarded the car one after another.

Han Yingying rummaged through her wallet—there were a few banknotes, but not a single coin.

She stood in front of the car door for two seconds. The driver tilted his head to look at her; his standard smile remained unchanged, but something was shifting in his eyes.

"Where's the ticket?" the driver asked. His voice was hoarse, like a tape recorder playing back.

Han Yingying looked up and met the driver's gaze.

"It's already been given," she said.

[The Fraudster skill has been activated. Uses: 2/3.]

The driver tilted his head and looked at her for three seconds. Han Yingying's back was covered in a thin layer of sweat, but her face remained expressionless.

"Oh, right." The driver nodded slowly. "It's been approved. Go on."

He stepped aside. Han Yingying stepped onto the stairs and found an empty seat in the middle.

The last person to board the bus was the man nicknamed "Lang Li Ge Lang" (meaning "Wandering Wave"). He tossed a coin to the driver, paused as he passed Han Yingying, and glanced down at her.

Han Yingying didn't look up.

The car door closed.