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

At the end of the stairs was a stone door, unlocked, with only a line of crooked words carved on it: "No entry for the living."

Zhou Lang extended the oil lamp forward, and a sweet, fishy smell seeped out from the cracks in the stone door, like old rust soaking in blood.

"To go in or not to go in?" Zhao Qiang's voice drifted from behind, trembling slightly.

"We've come this far." Zhou Lang reached out and pushed open the door.

The stone door was lighter than I had imagined, opening with a single push. The space inside was unexpectedly large, easily over a hundred square meters, like an underground auditorium. The green light from the oil lamps shone in, illuminating rows of wooden benches, all facing a platform directly in front.

A coffin was placed on the platform.

No, to be precise, there are seven. They vary in size and are arranged neatly. The largest one is jet black and shiny, while the smallest is only the size of a baby.

"Damn it," Zhao Qiang cursed.

Han Yingying didn't say anything, but she moved closer to Zhou Lang.

Zhou Lang walked in, carrying an oil lamp. The bench was covered in a thick layer of dust, but several seats had clearly been used, with human-shaped marks pressed into the dust. He counted—twelve.

"People have been here before," he said.

"Players?" Han Yingying asked.

"It's hard to say." Zhou Lang walked towards the coffin, and when he raised the oil lamp to the largest opening, the coffin lid suddenly shook.

All three people took half a step back at the same time.

The coffin stopped moving, but the tremor was real, and even the ground shook slightly.

Zhou Lang stared at the coffin for three seconds, then took out a chainsaw from his pocket.

"You're going to drive?" Zhao Qiang's voice rose eight octaves.

"How will you know what's inside if you don't open it?"

"It's definitely not good stuff inside, bro!"

Zhou Lang ignored him, went around to the side of the coffin, found a gap, and stuffed the chainsaw in. Before he could even start it, the coffin lid popped open by itself.

Green light shone into the coffin.

Lying inside was a person—a person dressed in a butler's uniform. The face was exactly the same as the one upstairs who killed the butler, but this one had eyeballs in their sockets, a normal human face. A pair of scissors was stuck in its chest, exactly the same as the one Zhou Lang held.

"A real housekeeper," Han Yingying said softly.

Zhou Lang looked down at the scissors in his hand, then at the pair in the coffin. He reached out and pulled the pair out of the coffin.

A wisp of black smoke rose from the corpse's chest, swirled twice in the air, and then shot into Zhou Lang's oil lamp. The lamp's flame changed from green to blue, its brightness increasing dramatically, illuminating the entire basement in crystal clarity.

[Congratulations on obtaining the information fragment: The Past of the Manor]

A scene flashed directly into Zhou Lang's mind—

The owner of this manor killed seven servants and sealed them underground, using their resentment to keep the manor running. The butler who killed the butler was the embodiment of the owner's lingering resentment after death. The curse on the manor will be lifted once all seven coffins are opened.

Zhou Lang snapped out of his daze and briefly relayed the information to the other two.

"Then let's open them all." Zhao Qiang readily agreed this time.

One by one, the seven coffins were opened, each containing a corpse dressed as a servant, with a sharp weapon protruding from its chest. Zhou Lang removed the weapons one by one, and the black energy flowed into the oil lamp.

The last thing—when the coffin, the size of an infant, was opened—was empty. Only a yellowed note remained, with four words written on it:

"It's still alive."

The ground began to shake.

"Let's go!" Zhou Lang shouted, grabbing Han Yingying and running. Zhao Qiang reacted quickly too, and the three of them rushed up the stairs. Behind them came the sound of wood cracking, as if the benches had been crushed by something.

The moment Zhou Lang burst through the iron door to the basement, he slammed it shut behind him. The door shook twice, then fell silent.

The clock struck twelve from upstairs. Midnight.

The ghosts in the corridor vanished. In their place, a voice echoed simultaneously from every corner of the manor:

"You have broken the rules."

That was the sound of the butler being killed.

"But you also completed the hidden mission."

The sound paused for a moment.

"The manor chooses to forgive you. This time."

[Dungeon Cleared]

[Rating: S]

[Rewards being processed...]

A white light shone from beneath the three people's feet.

Zhou Lang took one last look at the end of the corridor—the butler stood there, two eyeballs now residing in his empty eye sockets. He nodded to Zhou Lang.

Then everything turned white.

-

Zhou Lang opened his eyes. The ceiling was white. His room, his bed.

My phone kept vibrating on the bedside table. I'd already seen dozens of messages from Zhao Qiang.

"Brother Lang! I'm back!"

"I won a three-hundred-dollar prize!"

"There's another blue-quality item! It's defensive!"

"What about you? What about you?"

Zhou Lang didn't reply immediately; he first opened his settlement panel.

[Completion Rewards:]

Gold Coins: 1500

[Item: Dark Green Oil Lamp (Upgraded Version) - Illuminates all hidden objects and has a deterrent effect on ghost-like creatures. Quality: Purple]

[Special Reward: The Manor Butler's Approval - Grants one chance to avoid death the next time you enter the relevant dungeon.]

[Bonus Reward (Hidden Quest Completed): 1 Wraith Fragment – ​​Can be used to strengthen fused ghosts.]

Fragments of a vengeful spirit. Zhou Lang clenched his fist, feeling the power of the bandaged ghost within him stir slightly.

He used the fragment.

A tingling sensation spread from my arm to my whole body, and the fusion rate of the bandaged ghost jumped from 35% to 52%. A faint gray pattern appeared on the back of my hand, then disappeared after a few seconds.

My phone vibrated again. This time it was Han Yingying.

Are you alright?

"fine."

"That's good."

She didn't send any more messages. Zhou Lang looked at the chat box, thought for a moment, and typed: "What about you?"

"I'm fine too. I got a speed-enhancing shoe, blue quality."

"good."

"Um."

The conversation ended again. This was always the case when the two of them chatted, but strangely, they didn't feel awkward at all.

The next day, Zhou Lang went to class as usual. The atmosphere in the classroom was a little different than usual—two people were missing.

Zhang Wei and Li Ting's seats were empty.

Zhou Lang asked Zhao Qiang, "Where are the other two?"

Zhao Qiang's expression was grim: "Someone saw them enter the dungeon last night, and then... they didn't come back."

He didn't come back. In the world of horror games, the meaning of these three words couldn't be clearer.

Zhou Lang remained silent for a moment, then opened his textbook.

"Aren't you sad?" Zhao Qiang asked softly.

"Not familiar with them."

"……Too."

During recess, the school broadcasts a message informing all Awakened Ones to assemble on the playground in the afternoon. This assembly usually signifies two things—either the release of new information or the announcement of a death list.

At 2 PM, about a hundred people were standing on the playground. The school's Awakened administrator stood on the platform, holding a megaphone.

"Silence. There are two things. First, three deaths have been confirmed this week—Zhang Wei, Li Ting, and Wang Lei. Three seconds of silence."

No one spoke. Three seconds passed quickly. This kind of thing happens all too often.

"Secondly, the system has issued a new instance invitation. Rank C, The House of the Strange. Limited to eight players, four have already confirmed their participation, four more are needed. Registration is voluntary, deadline is 6 PM tonight."