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

After the manor instance ended, the three successfully returned to reality.

Zhou Lang received many rewards, but the most valuable was the oil lamp—a permanent item that could illuminate all invisible entities. Zhao Qiang also gained a special attribute for his experience of "replacing a ghost": [Parasitism], allowing him to temporarily occupy the bodies of non-player units in dungeons.

Han Yingying's reward was a silver dagger with a purification effect.

Each of the three gained something, but Zhou Lang knew in his heart that even the strongest individual has its limits. The difficulty of future dungeons would only become more and more insane, and going it alone wouldn't get you far.

"You've heard about the guild competition, haven't you?"

Zhao Qiang leaned over his desk, scrolling through his phone, and shoved the screen right in front of Zhou Lang's face. A notice was pinned to the top of the forum's homepage—

The first Guild Competition is about to begin. The champion guild will receive an SSS-level dungeon entry qualification. Participating teams consist of six players, and each guild is limited to one team.

SSS-level dungeon.

Zhou Lang stared at those words for three seconds.

The existing dungeon ratings range from D to S, and the highest he's ever cleared is S. SSS-rank—a jump of two whole major tiers—it seems absurd just to think about it. But there's a smaller line of text below the announcement:

[The SSS-level dungeon may contain key clues to the mysterious arrival of the creature.]

Key clue.

Zhou Lang returned the phone to Zhao Qiang, leaned back in his chair, and remained silent. His sister's disappearance was inextricably linked to the strange occurrences; if they could figure out the root of it all…

"beat."

"Huh?" Zhao Qiang looked up.

"We'll participate in the union competition."

Zhao Qiang grinned: "How many people are in our guild? At most, including you, me, and Han Yingying, there are only seven active members. In a six-a-side competition, we can't even gather a single substitute."

"That's enough," Zhou Lang said.

Zhou Lang's guild is called "Slacking Off Alliance," a name given by Zhao Qiang, which Zhou Lang is too lazy to change.

In addition to the three core members, the union also has four other members: Lin Zhiyuan, Sun Hao, Chen Xiaobei, and Qin Ya.

Lin Zhiyuan was thirty-two years old, the oldest in the guild, and used to be a construction worker. After the strange occurrences, he lost his job and made a living by running dungeons. He played conservatively, but his strength lay in his steady approach; he never acted rashly. Once, when he was in a group running an A-rank dungeon, all his teammates panicked, but he was the only one who squatted in a corner eating compressed biscuits, and he managed to wait until the completion condition was triggered.

"Are you nervous?" Zhao Qiang asked him.

"I'm nervous," Lin Zhiyuan said, "but I'm even more nervous when I'm hungry."

His wife, Song Yue, didn't have any player qualifications and waited for him to come home. Every time before entering a dungeon, Lin Zhiyuan would call Song Yue. He wouldn't say anything special, just ask, "What do you want for dinner?" as if he were just going out to work overtime.

Sun Hao is 25 years old, a retired soldier, quiet, and highly skilled with his hands. His skill is "Disassembly," which allows him to quickly disassemble mechanical devices in dungeons, making him extremely practical.

Chen Xiaobei, online name "Brother Bei, Don't Make Trouble," is in his early twenties. He was caught up in a bizarre event before graduating from university. He has a carefree and talkative personality, but his mind works quickly when it matters. His attribute is "Resonance," which allows him to briefly sense the emotional fluctuations of other beings within a ten-meter radius.

Qin Ya is the only ranged damage dealer, and her stats include [Mark]. Targets marked by her cannot become invisible for thirty seconds. When combined with Zhou Lang's oil lamp, the effect is doubled.

Six people, just enough.

Training began the day I registered.

Zhou Lang chose an abandoned underground parking lot as the training ground for a very practical reason—it was free, and quite shady.

"Most of the environments in the dungeons are poorly lit, so get used to the darkness first." He turned off all the lighting equipment, plunging the parking lot into complete darkness.

"The first challenge is blindfolded combat."

Chen Xiaobei raised his hand: "Brother Lang, I have a question."

"explain."

"What's the point of blindfolding someone who can't see anyway?"

"Psychological suggestion," Zhou Lang said. "Being blind and knowing you can't see are two different things. When you're blindfolded, your brain will automatically switch to an auditory-priority mode."

Chen Xiaobei thought about it and it seemed to make sense, yet it also seemed not to. But he always did what Zhou Lang said.

The training was tough.

It's not the kind of suffering you see in action manga—where the background music starts, sweat splatters, and then a quick montage jumps to everyone getting stronger.

It was truly bitter.

On the first day, during blindfolded combat, Zhao Qiang broke his nose. On the second day, during the simulated escape scenario, Qin Ya fell from a three-meter-high platform and sprained her ankle. On the third day, during trust and teamwork practice, Chen Xiaobei was responsible for catching Sun Hao as he fell backward—but he failed.

Sun Hao had a bump on the back of his head and hadn't spoken to Chen Xiaobei for three days.

But on the fourth day, when Chen Xiaobei knelt down to help Sun Hao change the ice pack, Sun Hao cursed at him, "Be gentle, you piece of trash," and then the two made up.

Matters between men are that simple.

Han Yingying was in charge of logistics and intelligence. The matchup information for the guild competition was announced in advance, and she compiled information on the known members of each opposing guild into a table. The printed table alone was seventeen pages long.

"You really memorized it all?" Zhao Qiang flipped through the stack of papers, his face full of disbelief.

Han Yingying didn't answer, but casually pulled out a page from the middle: "The Second Guild, the guild leader's code name is 'Rift,' real name unknown, the entry seems to be related to spatial tearing. There are six core members, two of whom have been on the wanted list—for deliberately killing friendly players in dungeons."

Zhao Qiang's hand trembled slightly.

"What a coincidence." Zhou Lang glanced at the match schedule. "They're in the first round."

The day of the competition.

The format is unique—instead of two teams fighting face-to-face, both teams enter the same instance simultaneously, and whoever clears it first wins. However, there are no rules within the instance prohibiting attacks on the opposing team.

In other words, you can choose to solve the puzzles honestly and complete the game, or you can choose to kill all your opponents.

The choice for the second union is obvious.

The instance setting is an abandoned hospital. The corridor stretches as far as the eye can see, and the overhead lights flash every few seconds, changing the length of the corridor each time they flash.

"Chen Xiaobei, sense it." Zhou Lang lowered his voice.

Chen Xiaobei closed his eyes, then opened them a moment later: "About fifty meters ahead, six people. Their emotions... are very excited. It's the excitement of a hunter."

"They came for us," Zhou Lang said.

"What should we do?" Zhao Qiang asked.

"Clear the level first. Ignore them."

The six quickened their pace, advancing deeper into the dungeon. The objective of clearing this hospital was to find seven medical records hidden on different floors and piece together a complete patient number. Once they got it right, the elevator would activate, and they could leave from the top floor to complete the level.

Zhou Lang divided them into two groups: he led Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying up to the upper level, while Lin Zhiyuan led Sun Hao, Chen Xiaobei, and Qin Ya down to the lower level.

The problem lies on the fourth layer.

When Han Yingying found the third medical record at the nurses' station, the wall exploded.

It's not a ghost, it's a person.

Two wanted criminals from the Second Union broke through the wall of the next room. One was carrying a welding cutter, and the other was holding a modified nail gun.

The nail gun fired first.

Three steel nails struck the table in front of Han Yingying, sending wood chips flying.

"Han Yingying!"