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

Han Yingying opened her eyes.

She stared at the crack in the ceiling for a full half minute.

She'd seen this crack before. Not in the dungeon, but right here on this bed, from this very angle; she'd seen it more than once. The bedroom curtains weren't fully drawn, and light seeped through the crack, illuminating the wardrobe handle.

She sat up, but instead of grabbing her phone, she closed her eyes and recalled what had happened last night.

The Horror Manor instance is complete, and all the rewards have been claimed. Zhao Qiang should be fine too. As for Zhou Lang…

She thought of the man holding an oil lamp in the corridor, being made way for by a group of ghosts, and her lips twitched, but she didn't laugh.

Because there was something that made her uncomfortable.

Her phone rang. The alarm clock struck seven. She turned it off, rolled over, and saw a half-full glass of water on the bedside table.

It was released last night.

No—she remembered pouring a whole glass.

Han Yingying picked up the glass of water, examined it for a few seconds, then got up and went to the kitchen. There was a sticky note on the refrigerator with her own writing: Milk, Eggs, Bread. She always replenished her supplies whenever she returned to reality; there was nothing strange about that.

Strangely, the refrigerator was full of milk.

She clearly remembered drinking it last time.

Han Yingying didn't rush to conclusions. She changed her clothes and went downstairs to the convenience store, deliberately observing a few details on the way: the white bread cart parked at the entrance, the bed sheets drying on the balcony across the street, and the uncle selling pancakes at the alley entrance.

The uncle was flipping a pancake, and the sound of the spatula scraping against the bottom of the pan was particularly clear in the morning air.

She had heard this voice before.

The same action, the same time, the same pancake.

Han Yingying stopped at the convenience store entrance, took out her phone, and quickly typed a line in her notes app:

"The third morning of the same pattern. The fridge is full of milk. The pancake vendor flips the first pancake at 7:12. The white bread truck has a flat left rear tire."

Her fingers paused, then she added, "If it happens again next time, it won't be a coincidence."

A message popped up on the phone screen.

Game system.

[Dungeon matchmaking in progress... Please complete your preparation within 30 minutes.]

Han Yingying stared at the message, her whole body stiffening for two seconds—not out of fear, but out of resentment.

She hasn't had time to check yet.

It felt a lot like when you've just figured out the solution to the last big question in an exam, and the proctor just tells you to collect the papers.

But rules don't wait for anyone. She carefully saved the memo and turned back to her apartment.

Thirty minutes later, the world shattered and reformed before my eyes.

-

When her vision returned, Han Yingying found herself standing in a large hall.

It was called a lobby, but it was more like the foyer of an old-fashioned movie theater. The floor was covered with a dark red carpet, several yellowed movie posters hung on the walls, the lights flickered, and there was a musty smell of dust in the air.

There was no one behind the glass of the ticket window, but five tickets were neatly arranged on the windowsill.

"Han Yingying".

She turned her head and saw Zhou Lang.

He was wearing a gray hoodie, his hair was a little messy, and he looked like he had just gotten up and been dragged in. Standing next to him was Zhao Qiang, who looked unwell, his hands in his pockets, visibly trembling.

"It's you two again." Han Yingying walked over.

"Fate," Zhou Lang said, his eyes already scanning the posters.

Zhao Qiang forced a smile: "I don't think this is fate, it's death wish."

There were two other people standing on the other side of the hall.

A man and a woman. The man was in his early twenties, wearing sportswear, with short hair, and looked fairly capable, but his eyes kept darting around, clearly very nervous. The woman was about the same age as Han Yingying, with her hair in a ponytail, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and looking down at the system panel on her phone.

"Hello," the man spoke first, his voice a little dry. "My name is Lin Yuan, this is my second time entering the dungeon."

The woman glanced up and said, "Su Ke, the third time."

Han Yingying gave her name, and Zhou Lang simply nodded without saying a word. Zhao Qiang, on the other hand, was very enthusiastic and took the initiative to shake her hand, probably to bolster his courage.

The system notification sounded at that moment.

Welcome to Midnight Cinema.

This screening will feature five films, running from midnight to 6:00 AM.

Each viewer has received a movie ticket, which indicates their seat number and showtime.

Rule 1: You may not leave the screening room during the film screening.

[Rule Two: Characters appearing in the movie may step out of the screen. Please remain quiet and avoid eye contact with them.]

Rule 3: If your movie ticket is lost or damaged, you will lose your right to see the movie—and your right to live.

Enjoy the movie!

Zhao Qiang: "..."

He looked at the ticket in his hand, then at Zhou Lang: "Can I change my hobby? Like square dancing?"

Zhou Lang ignored him and picked up his ticket to take a look. It read: Screening Room C, Seat 7, Number 3, Showtime 03:00.

Han Yingying's ticket is for screening room A, row 1, seat 5, showing at 00:00.

"Midnight show." She flipped the ticket over; it was blank, with no indication whatsoever. "I'm in the first show."

Su Ke pushed up her glasses: "I'm also at midnight, in screening room A, but my seat is in the last row. Same screening room, different seats."

Lin Yuan's ticket is for screening room B at 2:00 AM, and Zhao Qiang's ticket is for screening room B at 1:00 AM.

Five people, three screening rooms, with staggered screening times.

Zhou Lang put the ticket away, walked to the ticket window, and bent down to look inside. Behind the window was a narrow, dark passageway leading to some unknown place.

"What did you see?" Han Yingying asked.

"The direction of the screening room," Zhou Lang said.

"You'd like to go to the screening room?"

"The movie was shown from there." His tone was flat, as if he were commenting on the nice weather. "You need to find out what movie is being shown to know what will happen next."

Su Ke walked over, her expression clearly hesitant: "The rules don't say we can't go to the screening room, but they don't say we can either. It's in this gray area..."

"That's often where the breakthrough point lies." After saying that, Zhou Lang flipped through the window.

Zhao Qiang whispered from behind, "He's always like this, you'll get used to it."

Han Yingying didn't stop him, but checked the time—the system showed it was 11 p.m., and there was still an hour until the midnight show.

"Let's go, let's scout ahead first," she said to the remaining three people.

The five people split into two groups. Zhou Lang went towards the projection room alone, while the remaining four went to check the three projection rooms.

Screening room A was the largest, with at least two hundred seats, all old-fashioned folding chairs with scratches all over the wooden armrests. The screen was huge, grayish-white, with several dark marks of indeterminate origin.

Han Yingying walked to her seat—number 5 in row 1, right in the middle of the first row.

The seat closest to the screen.

Su Ke stood in the last row and exchanged a glance with her across the entire screening room. There were nearly thirty meters between them, with empty chairs in between.

"First row," Su Ke's voice echoed in the empty hall, "the most dangerous spot."