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

"Unless—someone finds the master's heart and destroys it."

"The master's heart is hidden beneath the seventh rose bush in the garden."

Zhou Lang closed the booklet.

Everything connected.

The real way to clear this instance isn't by serving as a servant for seven days—that's just the basic survival requirement. The true way to clear it is to find and destroy the manor owner's heart. The butler is the former "highest-rated" servant, which is why he's paying extra attention to you.

Because his own evaluation was "perfect".

If he doesn't do something, he'll be the next butler to be killed in seven days.

"Zhou Lang, you don't look well." Han Yingying walked to his side.

"Take a look at this." He handed over the booklet.

After reading it, Han Yingying's face turned pale. Zhao Qiang leaned over and read a few lines; his face turned even paler.

"So... if you get the highest rating, you'll become a ghost in seven days?" Zhao Qiang's voice cracked.

"That's how it is in theory."

"And yet you were working so hard to get high ratings!"

"If you don't work, you'll be directly 'collected' and turned into a human skin on the wall. Which do you think is better?"

Zhao Qiang opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

"Don't panic, the walkthrough is written in the booklet." Zhou Lang repeated the contents of the last page, "The seventh rose tree in the garden, the master's heart. Destroy it, and the manor is finished."

"Then let's go dig now!" Zhao Qiang said anxiously.

"Not now," Zhou Lang shook his head. "The garden is our work area during the day, and ghosts patrol everywhere. Besides, the 'master' hasn't appeared yet, so we don't know what level it is. Acting rashly will only lead to our deaths."

"What should we do then?"

Zhou Lang thought for a moment: "Let's go back first and figure out the layout of the garden when we're working tomorrow. Where is the seventh rose tree? What ghosts are around? How long will it take to take action? We need to find out all of these things in advance."

The three returned the way they came.

As Zhao Qiang passed the glass cases, he deliberately turned his head to the other side and walked very quickly. Han Yingying walked at the very back, and before leaving the collection room, she glanced back at the silent, screaming human skins.

Those people were once players just like them.

Back on the first floor, the corridor was still teeming with ghosts. The green light of the oil lamps kept them at bay, but Zhou Lang noticed that there were more ghosts than before he went down.

"They're gathering," Han Yingying whispered.

Zhou Lang didn't answer, and quickened his pace.

The three returned to their respective rooms and agreed to meet in the garden at noon the next day.

Zhou Lang closed the door, placed the booklet on the table, and read the last paragraph again.

"The master's heart is hidden beneath the seventh rose bush in the garden."

Which tree is the seventh? From which side do we start counting? These details are not specified.

Furthermore, what form does the "heart" take? Is it a real heart, or some kind of eerie prop?

Another problem is—what about Xiong Batian? He caused a scene during the day; who knows if he'll cause trouble tonight? What if he finds out the contents of the booklet…

Zhou Lang lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

The wood grain on the ceiling was distorted and deformed under the green light of the oil lamp, as if something was crawling behind the wooden planks.

He turned over, placed the oil lamp on the bedside table, and closed his eyes.

A thought flashed through my mind: When the butler was paying his salary, he glanced at me. What did that look mean?

Does it know it has been in the basement?

Or is it... waiting for me to come?

Put aside things you can't figure out for now.

Zhou Lang fell asleep quickly.

In his dream, he saw his sister.

The older sister stood in a white space, her back to him, her long hair reaching her waist. Zhou Lang called out, but she didn't turn around; she simply waved her hand gently, as if to say, "Don't come any closer."

Then the white space shattered, and the sister's figure dissipated into countless points of light.

Zhou Lang suddenly opened his eyes.

Its daybreak.

At six o'clock in the morning, the butler appeared on time.

Today's work schedule is as follows:

It read out names one by one and assigned tasks. Xiong Batian was assigned to wash dishes in the kitchen, Zhao Qiang to clean the second-floor corridor, and Han Yingying to tidy up the study.

"What a load of rubbish." The butler paused for a moment. "Today you're in charge of garden maintenance. Prune the roses, water them, and weed."

Zhou Lang's heart skipped a beat.

Garden maintenance?

Last night he discovered the clue that "the heart is under the seventh rose bush in the garden" in the basement, and today he's been assigned to the garden?

Coincidence or intentional?

He glanced at the butler, whose face, devoid of features, revealed nothing.

"Also, starting today, night patrols will be increased," the butler added. "Anyone leaving their room at night will have their entire salary deducted and receive a warning. Three warnings will result in dismissal."

The meaning of being dismissed is clear to everyone—to become a human skin in a glass cabinet.

Zhao Qiang's gaze drifted to Zhou Lang, who shook his head slightly, signaling him not to panic.

After receiving their tools, Zhou Lang took his gardening shears and watering can and headed to the backyard garden.

The garden was quite large, about half the size of a football field, and surrounded by a black iron fence. Thick fog enveloped the area outside the fence, making it impossible to see anything.

The garden is full of roses.

It was all red, an unnatural red, with each petal a deep, almost blackish red, as if it had been soaked in blood.

Zhou Lang began to count.

Starting from the left side of the garden entrance, the first tree, the second tree, the third tree...

The rose bushes are arranged neatly in two rows, with ten roses in each row. But from which side do we start counting the "seventh rose"? If we count from the first row on the left, the seventh rose is slightly to the right of the middle. If we start from the right, it's in a different position.

He didn't rush to start, but began pruning according to the normal workflow.

When he was pruning the first tree, he noticed that there was a small stone tablet at the base of each tree with numbers engraved on it.

The first one: I.

The second one: II.

The third tree: III.

Roman numerals.

Zhou Lang walked around and found the tree with "VII" engraved on it.

The seventh rose bush is in the southeast corner of the garden, right next to the iron fence. This tree is thicker than the others, with a trunk as thick as an adult's arm, and its branches and leaves are so lush that they cover most of the corner.

The soil under the tree was different from elsewhere—it was darker in color, with an unnatural dark red hue.

Zhou Lang squatted down, pretending to weed, and touched the soil with his hand.

It was soft, moist, and warm.

The soil is warm.

He dug down two fingers' depth and his fingers touched something hard. It was smooth, irregularly shaped, and had angular edges.

It's not a stone.

Just as he was about to continue digging, he heard footsteps behind him.

"The garden weeds have been pulled well."

Zhou Lang abruptly withdrew his hand and turned around. The butler was standing three steps away, having arrived at some unknown time.

"Be careful with your work," the butler said. "Pay attention to the flower shape when pruning, and don't damage the roots. Especially this one—"

It pointed to the seventh rose bush.

"This is the owner's favorite tree. If it gets damaged, the consequences will be severe."