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

The fourth instance ended more smoothly than expected.

What was hidden in the basement—a beating heart, chained to the altar—was struck by Zhou Lang's chainsaw, and the entire manor began to collapse. When the system settlement interface popped up, the three were still crouching in the ruins, panting.

[Dungeon complete, rating: S]

The reward has been credited to your personal account.

Please wait in the safe zone for the next instance to open.

After returning to the safe zone, Zhao Qiang was teleported back to his own space by the system. Before leaving, Han Yingying exchanged contact information with Zhou Lang—this world uses a communication tool similar to a panel, which looks like a transparent tablet.

The safe zone was a gray, dimly lit space containing only Zhou Lang's small cubicle, a bed, and a storage cabinet.

He lay in bed, and a scene suddenly flashed into his mind.

sister.

Zhou Yao stood in front of a red door and glanced back at him. Her lips moved, as if she were saying something, but he couldn't hear her. The scene was too blurry; behind the red door was nothing but fog.

Then she went inside.

The door closed.

Zhou Lang sat up in bed, his back drenched in sweat. How many times had this happened? With each completed dungeon, he could recall a little more. What exactly happened the day his sister disappeared? His memory had been deliberately fragmented, piece by piece, slowly returning to his mind like a jigsaw puzzle.

The red door. This is a new clue.

Before he could think it through, the system notification exploded.

[Emergency Dungeon Open]

[Difficulty: S-rank]

[Forced teleportation countdown: 10 seconds]

"What the hell?"

Zhou Lang had barely uttered a curse when everything went white before his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing on a street.

No, this isn't a street. It's an entire town. Grayish-white buildings stand in two rows, the road surface is cracked, the sky is iron-gray, and there's no sun. The air smells of decay mixed with disinfectant.

[Instance: Silent Town]

[Mission: Locate and destroy the town's core within 72 hours]

[Number of survivors: 11]

[Note: The number of monsters in S-rank dungeons is three times that of A-rank dungeons, and "Hunter-type" monsters also exist.]

Eleven people. That's quite a lot.

Zhou Lang looked around and saw that there were only two people around him—Han Yingying and a man he had never seen before.

The man was in his early thirties, with a buzz cut, wearing a faded military green jacket, and carrying a bulging bag on his back. Seeing Zhou Lang staring at him, he spoke up: "Lin Xiu, you've run six dungeons already, this is your first time encountering an S-rank. What about you?"

"Like a rascal," Zhou Lang's game ID read, "The fifth time."

Lin Xiu was stunned: "Entered S-rank on the fifth try? What kind of luck did you have?"

"Maybe God thinks I'm too idle."

Han Yingying walked over, her expression not good. "Zhou Lang, this was a forced teleportation; I wasn't even prepared."

She didn't have much in her inventory; most of it had been used up in the last dungeon run. Zhou Lang checked his inventory—the chainsaw was still there, the oil lamp still had oil, the scissors, and a few other miscellaneous items. He'd make do with what he had.

"Let's figure out the terrain first," Zhou Lang said. "The eleven men are scattered throughout the town, and they're not necessarily all friendly forces."

Lin Xiu chimed in, "It's standard practice in S-rank dungeons that players killing each other won't trigger any penalties. Some people make a living off of that."

good news.

The three began walking north along the main street. The town was quite large, with a uniform architectural style, as if it had been copied and pasted together—grocery stores, clinics, barbershops, post offices, all with their signs still there, but all were closed. The mannequins in the shop windows tilted their heads, their eyes painted exaggeratedly, looking just like real people.

Han Yingying stared at the models for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "Their orientation has changed."

Zhou Lang turned around.

When I passed by just now, the mannequins were facing the street. Now, they're all facing the direction they walked.

"Don't look back, let's go." Zhou Lang quickened his pace.

He doesn't need to light the oil lamp yet. The green light would be the message to everything—hey, there's a living person here, fat and tender.

After walking for about ten minutes, a fork in the road appeared at the end of the main street. The left side led to a residential area, while the right side was a square with a clock tower in the center. The dial at the top of the clock tower pointed to twelve o'clock, and the minute hand was visibly turning backward.

"Could the core be inside that tower?" Lin Xiu pointed to the clock tower.

"It's too obvious." Zhou Lang shook his head. "The dungeon design wouldn't be that stupid."

No sooner had he finished speaking than shouts erupted from the square.

It wasn't a ghost's cry. It was a person shouting.

Zhou Lang ran to the edge of the square in three quick steps and saw a man and a woman being chased by something. The thing chasing them was a black humanoid figure over two meters tall, with no facial features, disproportionate body, and arms that dragged on the ground.

The hunter-like creature is eerie.

The two men stumbled as they ran; the woman tripped, and the man yanked her up to keep running, but the thing was too fast—

Zhou Lang recognized the man.

Zhao Qiang.

"Damn it." Zhou Lang took out an oil lamp from his pocket, didn't light it, and threw it directly at the dark figure.

The oil lamp struck the shadowy figure on the back with a dull thud. The figure stopped and turned to face Zhou Lang.

It has no face, but Zhou Lang can feel that it is "looking" at him.

Zhou Lang stood still, then did something that no normal person would do—

He took a step toward it.

[Skill Trigger: Scaring Ghosts]

[Determining...]

[Detection successful]

The shadowy figure's body suddenly twitched, and it took half a step back.

It was just half a step. But it was enough.

"Zhao Qiang! Run this way!" Zhou Lang shouted.

Zhao Qiang dragged the woman and ran desperately towards the edge of the square. Lin Xiu provided support from the side, while Han Yingying ran to retrieve the oil lamp that Zhou Lang had thrown out.

The shadowy figure stared at Zhou Lang for three seconds, then its body began to melt into the ground, like ink seeping into a crack in the cement, and disappeared a few seconds later.

Zhao Qiang ran up to Zhou Lang, hands on his knees, panting heavily: "Brother Lang... what the hell are you doing here...?"

Zhou Lang patted him on the shoulder: "That's what I should be asking you."

The woman next to Zhao Qiang straightened up. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying. Zhou Lang didn't recognize her.

Han Yingying knew him.

"Su Yao?" Han Yingying walked over quickly. "What are you doing in an S-rank dungeon?"

Su Yao bit her lip, her voice still trembling: "I don't know... I was just staying in the safe zone when someone suddenly sent me something. I opened it and glanced at it, and then I was teleported here."

"Did someone send it to you?" Han Yingying pressed. "Who?"

"The ID is a string of gibberish, and the profile picture is black."

Zhou Lang looked at Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang's situation was exactly the same: "Me too, I received an unknown link, clicked it and came here. Brother Lang, didn't you say not to click on things sent by strangers...? I couldn't resist..."

"Alright, it's good that you're alive." Zhou Lang didn't have time to dwell on this. "Get back to the team first."

Five people. The remaining six players are nowhere to be found in the town.

Zhou Lang led everyone into an empty general store, closed the doors and windows, and several people sat around the counter. The place was very dusty, but it was safe for the time being.

"Let's summarize the situation." Zhou Lang leaned against the shelf. "Zhao Qiang and Su Yao were tricked into coming here. Lin Xiu was forcibly teleported with us. Of the five of us, how many are capable of fighting?"