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

My phone vibrated again.

It's not a news notification, it's a WeChat message.

[Han Yingying: Are you home yet?]

This number was added after the last dungeon run. The three of them agreed to stay in touch in real life as well—after all, the time to enter the dungeon is not fixed, and sometimes it needs to be discussed in advance.

Zhou Lang typed back: 【Arrived.】

[Han Yingying: Did you see the news? The one about the subway.]

Zhou Lang: I've seen it.

[Han Yingying: Strange things are happening near my house too. Last night, the security camera at the convenience store downstairs captured someone walking in, but the doorbell didn't ring, and the clerk didn't see anyone come in. Rewinding the footage, the person disappeared behind the shelves.]

Zhou Lang stared at the screen for a few seconds, typed a line of text, deleted it, and retyped it.

[Zhou Lang: Don't go out alone lately.]

After sending it, I realized it didn't quite feel right, so I added: "[Zhao Qiang too. None of you should go out alone.]"

[Han Yingying: What about you?]

Zhou Lang: I'm fine. Ghosts will avoid me.

There was no further reply. About half a minute later, a meme appeared—a cat rolling its eyes.

Zhou Lang put down his phone and went to the kitchen to make himself a bowl of instant noodles.

He kept thinking about one thing while eating noodles.

What is the relationship between bizarre events in real life and dungeons in games? Are they from the same source, or is there a cause-and-effect relationship? Dungeons are getting harder and harder, and bizarre events in real life are also increasing. It is unlikely that these two things are happening at the same time, which is not a coincidence.

He thought of his sister.

Zhou Lang's older sister, Zhou Jing, disappeared on the very first day the horror game began. She didn't die—at least the system didn't issue a death notice. She simply vanished, evaporated from the real world, and all means of contact became invalid.

Zhou Lang entered the game a month later. While others were forcibly selected to enter, he actively sought out the entrance.

To find her older sister.

After finishing the instant noodles and drinking all the soup, Zhou Lang threw the bowl into the sink without washing it and went back to bed.

The notification for the SS-level dungeon was still displayed on the panel, in bright red, which was quite glaring.

He closed his eyes.

Never mind, I'll just take a nap first.

The next day, Zhao Qiang called, and the first thing he said was, "I saw the news, it scared me to death."

Which one?

"Both! You're saying real life is starting to be haunted? How are we supposed to live? We can't escape it in the game, and it's not safe outside either!"

"Didn't you say you'd never go into dungeons again?"

"That was just said in anger! Who would believe that..." Zhao Qiang paused, "By the way, have you unlocked SS-level yet?"

"Unlocked."

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone. "Don't go."

"How am I supposed to find my sister if I don't go?"

After a two-second silence, he said, "Then I'll go with you."

"Your level is not high enough."

"I can farm it! I'll queue for an A-rank dungeon right now!"

What is your survival rate for Grade A?

"...about sixty percent..."

Do you even believe it yourself?

Zhao Qiang fell silent.

Zhou Lang hung up the phone and began organizing his inventory in preparation for the SS-level dungeon.

He had a feeling that the next instance wouldn't be peaceful.

It's not just because the difficulty has increased.

He noticed the union members' gazes meeting in the safe zone. When word got out that Han Yingying had rejected all offers, not everyone would simply laugh it off.

Some people get angry and upset when they are rejected.

Especially those who believe they "shouldn't be rejected".

The teleportation to the SS-rank dungeon will begin in three days.

Zhou Lang was eating breakfast—half a steamed bun and a cup of soy milk—when he received the notification. A flash of red text appeared on the screen, and he put down his bun and glanced at the copy information.

[SS-Rank Dungeon: Echo Hospital]

[Synopsis: In this abandoned hospital, the dead never truly leave. They wander the corridors, repeating their final actions. Find the hospital's core area, break the seal, or—become a new echo.]

[Player limit: 20 players]

[Estimated duration: 72 hours]

Twenty people. A-rank dungeons typically have around ten people, while SS-rank dungeons require double that. Either the area is larger and requires exploration to be spread out, or the death rate is too high, necessitating a larger team.

Neither possibility is good news.

When the white light swept him away, there was still half a bite of steamed bun left.

-

The landing site was a wasteland.

The sky was gray, there was no sun, and the air smelled of disinfectant mixed with decay. Ahead stood a gray-white building, seven stories high, with peeling and mottled exterior walls, its door wide open, and the inside dark and gloomy.

A plaque hangs on the front of the building, most of the characters are blurred, and only the two characters "echo" can be barely made out.

Zhou Lang looked around and saw people appearing one after another on the wasteland.

Han Yingying landed three meters to his left. She was wearing different equipment today, a lightweight combat suit, with two short swords at her waist. She saw Zhou Lang, walked over, and nodded without saying a word.

Zhao Qiang didn't come. His level was indeed too low, and he was blocked by the system.

But Zhou Lang saw several familiar faces.

Lin Yuan stood not far away, head down checking his equipment. This guy was a veteran player, with a steady playstyle. He had cooperated with Zhou Lang once before in an S-rank dungeon, so they had some acquaintance. Standing next to him were two people—Chen Mo and Su Yao. Chen Mo was a taciturn, tall man, the main tank; Su Yao was a healer, petite, wearing round glasses, and looked like a college student.

All three of them had played dungeons with Zhou Lang and Han Yingying a few times. Their relationship wasn't exactly close, but they were at least trustworthy.

The fourth person Zhou Lang met caught his eye a few more times.

Fang Ming.

This person has a complicated reputation among gamers. He's skilled and intelligent, but he doesn't take sides. He's always neutral, always observing, and always making the choice that's most advantageous to himself after weighing the pros and cons. He's not a bad person, but he's definitely not someone you can confide in.

Fang Ming noticed Zhou Lang's gaze and slightly raised his hand in greeting.

Twenty people arrived one after another.

Zhou Lang quickly scanned the document, and his heart sank.

Of the twenty people, at least eight wore guild badges on their chests. Three were from the Azure Sky Guild, three from the Arbiter Guild, and two from the Blazing Flame Guild. These people exchanged glances, and their formation naturally tightened.

Han Yingying saw it too.

"They came for me." Her voice was flat.

"It's not necessarily just you," Zhou Lang said. "I've also offended some of the arbitrators."

"When?"

"In the dungeon before last, I stole an S-grade piece of equipment from them."

Han Yingying glanced at him. "...You didn't tell me."

"There's not much to say. They couldn't beat that boss, so I did it for them, and the loot is mine."

That's perfectly reasonable. But the union members won't think that way.

The bell rang to signal the start of the instance.

A deep voice came from the hazy sky, without any physical form, as if it were seeping out from the air.

"Welcome to Echo Hospital. Here, sound is the deadliest weapon. Every dying patient leaves behind an echo, their last voice before death. Those who hear the echo are gradually assimilated and become the new echo."