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

Dawn finally arrived. As golden sunlight pierced through the clouds, all the ghosts and monsters turned to ashes in its glow. A mechanical beeping sounded:

[Dungeon Cleared - Survive to Dawn]

[Rewards being processed...]

The six people sat slumped in the small building, none of them wanting to move.

Fang Xu dusted himself off and looked at Shen Yao and Zhou Lang: "You two are really good fighters."

Chen Yu's glasses were broken in one leg and hung crookedly on his face, but his expression was one of relief and excitement: "Next time, I want to be in your team again!"

"There won't be a next time." Fang Xu calmly poured cold water on the idea. "I told you, after this, we'll continue being couch potatoes."

Chen Yu's expression fell.

Lin Ke held onto Shen Yao's hand tightly, refusing to let go: "Sister Shen, can you take me with you next time?"

Shen Yao glanced at her. Although the girl was scared, she didn't falter at the crucial moment—when being chased by ghosts, she didn't scream or lunge at others; she just gritted her teeth and kept running.

"Okay," Shen Yao said.

Zhou Lang nodded, which was taken as approval.

Fang Xu pulled Chen Yu to his feet: "Then we'll be going now. See you next time if fate allows."

"Wait!" Chen Yu shouted to Shen Yao, "Are you really not Qingniao? You can check! There's information about her on the forum!"

Fang Xu dragged him away.

The dungeon settlement screen flashed by. Shen Yao obtained 8000 points of Mystery and a three-star Ghost Artifact—a silver bracer with a skill cooldown reduction effect.

A flash of white light, the bluestone path disappeared, and the ceiling returned.

Shen Yao opened her eyes and found herself lying in her own bed. It was already daylight outside the window, and sunlight streamed in, falling on her face.

The alarm clock shows: 6:47 AM.

She stared at the ceiling for a long time.

A whole night passed in the instance, but less than four hours had passed in reality. The different flow of time—this is a basic premise of horror games.

But something was scratching at her mind.

Zhou Lang's words: The dungeon difficulty is abnormal. It was selected by a bug.

She sat up and touched her right hand. There were no marks on her palm, but the sensation of annihilation light lingered in her muscles. That wasn't a skill an A-rank player should possess.

"Bluebird".

She silently repeated the name to herself, her heart beating a little faster than usual.

Shen Yao did two things that morning.

The first thing to do is check your registration record at the Player Management Bureau. The record is very simple: Shen Yao, A-level player, registered three years ago. The records over the past three years include dozens of dungeon clears, with ratings ranging from D to A, steadily climbing the ranks.

There is no information about the "Bluebird".

The second thing is to search for "Bluebird" on the forum.

There's a lot of information, but it's all fragmented. "Bluebird" is a legendary figure in the horror game community, her true identity is unknown, she's female, and she consistently ranks in the top three. Her signature skill is Annihilation Light. About two months ago, she suddenly disappeared from the leaderboard, and no one knows where she went.

Shen Yao's amnesia also began two months ago.

coincidence?

She closed the forum, a vague sense of anxiety washing over her. It was as if the answer was right in front of her, but she couldn't reach it.

Over the next three days, Shen Yao tried to gather more information about "Bluebird." However, the online content was either praise or speculation, lacking any substantial information. Bluebird's true identity was kept extremely secret; even the Administration's public database contained no corresponding entry.

On the third night, Shen Yao took a shower and sat at her desk organizing information.

A few lines were written in the notebook:

— Annihilation Light, an S-rank skill, requires clearing 3 S-rank dungeons and having 5 Deception Points.

—The Bluebird disappeared two months ago.

—I lost my memory two months ago.

—I will use the light of annihilation

She stared at those lines of text, her pen tip pressed against the notebook, trying to write down some kind of conclusion.

Then the world changed.

Without warning. Without any indication. One second she was sitting at her desk, the next second the chair, the desk, the room—everything vanished.

She stood on a desolate plain. Beneath her feet lay cracked yellow earth, and the sky was a dark red, like a cloth soaked in blood.

[Dungeon Open - "Bone Plains"]

[Difficulty: S]

Number of players: 6

[Mission: Find the seven "Soul Stones" scattered across the wasteland and place them on the altar.]

[Tip: The bones in your feet will awaken after you remain still for more than ten seconds.]

S-rank. Another S-rank.

Shen Yao looked down at her feet—white bone fragments were indeed visible in the cracks of the loess soil, densely packed, as if this land itself was made of bones.

"Sister Shen!"

A familiar voice came from the right. Lin Ke ran towards her, her ponytail swaying behind her. Although her expression wasn't good, she was much calmer than last time.

"You're here too," Shen Yao said.

Zhou Lang walked over from another direction, chainsaw on his shoulder, and nodded to her.

Then--

"Damn it, it's you guys again?" Fang Xu's curse came from further away. He and Chen Yu stood side by side on a protruding rock, both looking rather unwell.

The last person was Song Lei—the baseball cap rookie from Dusk Town last time. He stood furthest away from everyone, trembling all over, but at least he didn't squat down.

There were six people, four of whom were the same faces from last time.

Fang Xu jumped off the rock and walked over, his tone unfriendly: "Did you guys cheat in the lottery? Why did you squeeze me in again?"

"You're asking me? Who should I ask?" Zhou Lang said.

Chen Yu was quite pleased. He jogged over to Shen Yao, his glasses frame covered in tape—he had managed to fix the broken leg from last time.

"Miss Shen!" he called out loudly, "It really is you again! I did a lot of research after I got back, and I have so much to tell you—"

"Let's talk about whether we can survive first." Fang Xu pulled him back.

Shen Yao ignored Chen Yu's enthusiasm; her attention was on her feet. The prompt said that if she stayed still for more than ten seconds, her bones would awaken—meaning they had to keep moving.

"Don't just stand there," she said. "Let's talk as we walk."

The six of them sprang into action. Shen Yao and Zhou Lang led the way, with Lin Ke close behind Shen Yao. Fang Xu and Chen Yu were in the middle, and Song Lei brought up the rear, running quickly with small, quick steps, afraid of falling behind even a step.

Chen Yu kept talking the whole time he was moving.

"Miss Shen, I studied the Annihilation Light you used last time for a long time. The way that skill is released is exactly the same as the combat video of Qingniao circulating on the forum - right palm push forward, silver-white light pillar, concentrated attack type. Most people learn this skill by using a spread attack method, but Qingniao is the only one who condensed it into a single point attack. You also used a single point attack."

Shen Yao walked on without turning around: "So?"

"So I'm 80% sure you are Qingniao," Chen Yu said. "Or at least you have some connection with Qingniao. Do you know what Qingniao's status is in the gaming world? She's a legendary figure. Two years ago, she led the team to clear the first SS-level dungeon in the entire server. A six-person team went in, and all six came out alive—unprecedented."