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

When Zhou Lang and the others returned to reality, it was just dawn.

Zhao Qiang, sprawled on his sofa, sent Zhou Lang a message: "It's good to be alive." Zhou Lang replied with a simple "Mm," tossed his phone next to his pillow, and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while.

The completion of the Terror Manor instance went fairly well. He got an S-rank rating, and the system rewarded him with a new item—a black bone whistle, the description of which read, "Blow it to summon the ghost you've fused with, lasting thirty seconds." Interesting.

Zhao Qiang received an A grade, and so did Han Yingying. They were both quite satisfied with the result; after all, surviving was the greatest achievement.

Zhou Lang rolled over, his mind still replaying what he'd seen in the basement. The wall was covered in symbols; he recognized a few—they were from his sister's notebook. This thread couldn't be broken; he'd explore it again on the next dungeon run.

He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Han Yingying's situation was not so peaceful.

She returned to her rented room, took a shower, and snuggled into bed before her hair was even dry. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was racing; she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Her mind was filled with the image of Zhou Lang walking ahead with the oil lamp, and the scene of the ghosts automatically making way for him—she couldn't shake it off.

I can't quite describe the feeling. It's not admiration, nor is it entirely gratitude. It's just that there's a certain energy about that person that makes you want to follow in their footsteps.

I don't know when I fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes again, she was standing in a rain-soaked alley.

The air was damp, the ground was paved with bluestone slabs, and the walls on both sides were covered with dark green moss. In the distance, a bell tolled, once, twice... a total of twelve times.

The system notification popped up coldly.

Welcome to the instance: Lonely City in the Rainy Night

[Dungeon Difficulty: Rank A]

[Survival Requirements: Survive in the isolated city for three days and find a way to leave]

**Caution:** Do not look back after dark.

Han Yingying: "..."

She didn't even change her underwear!

My hand instinctively reached for my pocket—thankfully, the dungeon automatically brings in my personal items. A dagger, two talismans, and a bottle of holy water. The supplies I'd accumulated from the last dungeon were barely enough.

Footsteps echoed from the end of the rain-soaked alley. There was more than one person.

Han Yingying pressed herself against the shadows in the corner of the wall and held her breath.

Three figures emerged from around the corner. The one in the lead was a tall man wearing a windbreaker, with short hair and a brisk walk, clearly an experienced fighter. Behind him followed a man and a woman—the man wore glasses, was tall and thin, and walked with a slight hunch; the woman was shorter, looked to be in her early twenties, and had red eyes, clearly having just cried.

"There might be NPCs ahead—" Before the tall man could finish speaking, the short girl slipped and fell straight down the steps.

Below the steps was a dark ditch, the water of which was black and shiny, with unidentified objects floating on the surface.

Without a second thought, Han Yingying darted out, grabbed the girl's wrist, and pulled her back. The two of them tumbled together, Han Yingying's back hitting the stone slab, making her wince in pain.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

The girl was stunned for a few seconds, then came to her senses, her voice trembling with tears: "Thank you... thank you."

The tall man and the bespectacled man arrived. The tall man sized up Han Yingying. "You're in this instance too?"

"Nonsense." Han Yingying stood up and dusted herself off. "If I were an NPC, I would have pushed her down just now."

The tall guy chuckled, "Alright, you're a straightforward guy. My name is Meng Kai, and this is Lu Yuan." He pointed to the man with glasses, then to the girl, "Her name is Su Xiaomian. She's only been in the dungeon twice, a complete newbie."

Su Xiaomian shrank her neck and didn't refute.

"Han Yingying," she said, giving her name. "Did you all come in together?"

"No." Lu Yuan—the bespectacled man—adjusted his glasses, his voice calm. "I'm with Lao Meng; she was randomly matched."

Han Yingying noticed that Lu Yuan was wearing a black watch on his wrist, with a small "S" logo on the dial. Meng Kai also had one.

She'd seen this before. It was an S-level qualification mark, signifying that the holder was qualified to participate in S-level dungeons.

Only a handful of people in the entire game have obtained this badge.

"Do you have S-level qualifications?" Han Yingying asked directly.

Meng Kai scratched the back of his head. "Ugh, don't even mention it. There are some, but neither of us are going."

Why?

"Because I want to live." Meng Kai said matter-of-factly, "The death rate of S-level dungeons is over 80%, I'm not out of my mind."

Lu Yuan added, "He must have lost his mind. He insisted on grinding achievements, and ended up reaching S-rank. Now it's too late to regret it. The system keeps pushing S-rank invitations every few days; it's so annoying."

"I don't think you refused that decisively either," Meng Kai retorted.

The way these two are bickering suggests they're old partners.

Han Yingying had a general idea of ​​what was going on. They were strong enough, but they valued their lives. There were actually quite a few people like this, but most of them died on their way to S-rank. Those who actually qualified and managed to escape unscathed were truly rare.

"Alright," she interrupted them, "the rain is getting heavier, we need to find a place to stay."

The lonely city on a rainy night was more complicated than Han Yingying had imagined.

The entire city was trapped in an endless rainy night, the streets winding and the lettering on the street signs blurred by the rain. Occasionally, you could see lights on in buildings, but they would go out as soon as you got closer, as if playing a trick on you.

The five of them found an abandoned hotel. The door was unlocked, so they pushed it open and went inside.

The lobby was dusty and grimy. A bunch of keys hung behind the counter, and the registration book at the front desk was open, with crooked handwriting on it.

"Welcome. Check-out time: forever."

Su Xiaomian shivered and moved closer to Han Yingying. Ever since she was rescued, this girl had been sticking to Han Yingying like a little tail.

"Let's assign rooms first." Han Yingying took out three keys. "Su Xiaomian and I will share a room, you two can choose whichever you prefer."

"Okay." Meng Kai took the keys and led Lu Yuan upstairs.

Han Yingying led Su Xiaomian into a room on the first floor. The room was small, with two single beds and the curtains drawn tightly. She checked the doors and windows to make sure there were no hidden passages or mechanisms before sitting on the bed.

"Sister Han," Su Xiaomian said timidly, sitting on the opposite bed, "Aren't you amazing?"

"Not really."

"But when you saved me just now, your reaction was incredibly quick... and you didn't seem that scared."

Han Yingying thought for a moment, "I am afraid. But I still have to do the job."

Su Xiaomian lowered her head. "I almost died the first time I ran a dungeon, and this is the second time... I really don't know if I can survive."

"Yes," Han Yingying said. "Just stay close to me."

Su Xiaomian looked up at her, her eyes reddening again, and nodded vigorously.

The next day—if the concept of "sky" still existed in this city of eternal night—Han Yingying led her team to explore the isolated city.