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

The pipe broke, and green liquid gushed out.

The spliced ​​body's screams stopped abruptly, and its body began to convulse violently.

"Skill triggered. The spliced ​​entity's Fright value is 99, and 500 points of Eerie ability have been gained!"

"Obtained special item: The Headmaster's Diary!"

Zhou Lang put away the chainsaw and looked at the assembled body that was gradually ceasing to struggle.

The liquid in the glass jar was decreasing, and the assembled body began to rot, emitting a foul odor.

"It's over?" Zhao Qiang couldn't believe it.

"Not yet." Zhou Lang walked to the corner of the room, where there was a safe. "The diary should be in here."

He pried open the safe with scissors, and sure enough, there was a yellowed diary inside.

Turn to the first page, it says:

"On March 15, 1987, we admitted a special patient. She said she could see ghosts and that the world was about to be destroyed. I thought she was crazy, but her eyes made me uneasy."

Zhou Lang continued scrolling down.

"On May 20, 1987, the patient became increasingly talkative. She said that ghosts would descend in thirty years and everyone would die. I began to believe her because I saw it myself."

"On August 1, 1987, I made a decision. Since everyone is going to die anyway, I might as well let them be free sooner. I will set this place on fire and then use their bodies to create a perfect vessel."

"On August 15, 1987, the plan succeeded. Everyone died, including myself. But I am alive, in another way. I will wait, wait for the day the prophecy comes true."

This concludes my diary entry.

Zhou Lang closed the diary and looked at the completely dead composite.

"So all of this was in preparation for the arrival of a terrifying era?"

"What do you mean?" Han Yingying asked.

"The Dean knew the Age of Horror was coming," Zhou Lang said. "So he made preparations in advance, wanting to use this composite to be resurrected in the new world."

"So what do we do now?" Zhao Qiang asked.

"Leave here." Zhou Lang turned and walked out. "We already know the truth about this game. Now we just need to figure out how to get out."

The three returned the way they came, and Zhou Lang stopped when they passed the operating room.

The photos on the wall began to spontaneously combust, one after another, and soon turned to ashes.

"This is…"

"The game is resetting," Zhou Lang said. "The composite entity is dead, and this instance is also ending."

They quickened their pace and rushed up the stairs.

As soon as I arrived in the lobby on the first floor, I saw the butler standing there.

Its body was trembling, and cracks appeared on its stitched face.

"You...killed it..." the butler's voice trailed off, "You...destroyed everything..."

"You knew all along that the assembly would fail," Zhou Lang said. "That's why you brought the players here, trying to use their fear to keep the assembly alive."

The butler remained silent.

"But you didn't expect someone would kill it outright," Zhou Lang continued. "Now the game is over, and it's time for you to disappear too."

The butler's body began to disintegrate, turning into wisps of black smoke.

"You... will regret this..." it left behind its last words before vanishing completely.

The lights in the hall began to flicker, and cracks appeared in the walls.

"Hurry up!" Zhou Lang pulled the two of them and ran towards the door.

They rushed out of the mountain village, followed by a huge roar.

The entire building began to collapse, turning into dust.

"Game over, evaluation in progress..."

"Player 'Wandering the World,' 100% completion, rating: SSS!"

"Rewards: 1000 points in Mystery, special title 'Truth Seeker', Skill Upgrade Ticket x1!"

"Player Zhao Qiang, Completion rate 80%, Rating: A!"

"Player Han Yingying, Completion Rate 80%, Rating: A!"

A flash of white light, and the three returned to the real world.

Zhou Lang opened his eyes and found himself lying on his bed in his rented room. It was already daylight outside, and sunlight streamed in through the tattered curtains.

He sat up and checked his body. The bandage on his right hand was still there, indicating that the fusion was real.

"Bandages?" he exclaimed inwardly.

"What?" the bandaged man's voice rang out immediately. "Have you found any clean bandages?"

"Not yet," Zhou Lang said, "but I'll look for it."

"That's good." The bandaged man's voice was filled with expectation.

Zhou Lang got out of bed and walked to the mirror. He looked the same as before, but his eyes were sharper.

My phone suddenly rang.

It was Zhao Qiang calling.

"Zhou Lang! Are you alright?" Zhao Qiang's voice was very excited. "I just woke up, I was so scared!"

"I'm fine," Zhou Lang said. "How about you?"

"I'm fine, it's just..." Zhao Qiang paused for a moment, "I think I've become stronger."

"What do you mean?"

"I can see some things now," Zhao Qiang said. "Those ghosts, I can see them now."

Zhou Lang frowned. Was this a side effect of the game? Or did everyone who experienced that instance gain some kind of ability?

"Don't panic," he said. "Let's arrange a place to meet and discuss it in detail."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Lang opened the system panel.

In addition to the previous skills, there is now a new option.

Title: Truth Seeker

"Effect: Makes it easier to find hidden clues in dungeons, and increases the amount of Mystery gained by 50%."

"Skill Upgrade Ticket: Can upgrade any skill by one level."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Lang decided to upgrade "Scare Harvest".

"Scare Harvest LV2: Obtain rewards by scaring ghosts and monsters. When the scare value reaches 60 or above, there is a chance to obtain the core ability of the ghost or monster."

Core competencies?

Zhou Lang's eyes lit up. This meant that he could not only obtain the ghost artifact, but also directly gain the abilities of ghosts and monsters?

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Zhou Lang opened the door, and Han Yingying was standing outside.

"How did you know I lived here?" Zhou Lang asked, somewhat surprised.

"Zhao Qiang told me," Han Yingying said. "I have something I want to tell you."

Zhou Lang let her in and poured her a glass of water.

"Thank you." Han Yingying took the water glass. "If it weren't for you, I might have died in that dungeon."

"You're welcome," Zhou Lang said. "We're teammates."

Han Yingying was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is your sister also in the game?"

Zhou Lang paused.

How did you know?

"In the room with the mosaic, I saw a photograph," Han Yingying said. "The woman in the photograph looks a lot like you."

Zhou Lang's heart raced.

Where?

"It's in the corner, blocked by other photos," Han Yingying said. "I remember the date was written under the photo; it was from a month ago."

A month ago, my sister went missing.

Zhou Lang clenched his fist. His sister had indeed entered the game and visited that villa.

"Is she still alive?" he asked.

"I don't know," Han Yingying shook her head, "but she doesn't look injured in the photo."

Zhou Lang breathed a sigh of relief. At least his sister was still alive at the time.

"There's one more thing," Han Yingying continued. "I saw a line of text on the back of the photo."