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

A gurgling sound, similar to a person burping, came from the drain.

A strand of long, black hair emerged from the drain hole, wriggling and twisting in the sink as if it were alive. Then, a tremendous force forced open the metal mesh of the drain hole from below, and an eyeball, swollen beyond recognition, burst out, staring intently at Zhou Lang standing in the doorway.

"These water pipes are no good; they can get all sorts of trash stuck in them," Zhou Lang said coldly, staring at the eyeball.

Its eyes darted around, seemingly enraged by Zhou Lang's provocation. More hair poured out of the sewer, creeping down the edge of the sink, trying to wrap around Zhou Lang's ankles. At the same time, the tap no longer flowed water, but murky corpse water, emitting the distinctive stench of the Giant's Temple.

Zhou Lang did not back down. He reached for a bottle of strong drain cleaner on the sink (which he had taken from the storage room during the day), unscrewed the cap, aimed it at the drain, and poured the whole bottle down.

This liquid, rich in strong alkalis and corrosive chemicals, was poured directly onto the swollen eyeball and hair.

"Sizzle—"

A violent chemical reaction occurred instantly, and white smoke rose. A muffled and piercing scream came from the sewer. The eyeball instantly shrank and dissolved, and the hair quickly retracted into the depths of the pipe as if electrocuted.

"If physical attacks don't work, let's try chemical magic." Zhou Lang threw the empty bottle into the trash can and turned on the exhaust fan.

Just then, a terrified scream suddenly came from the corridor outside.

It was the voice of the girl in the red beret.

"Help! No! Get away from me—"

Zhou Lang walked to the door and looked out through the peephole.

The corridor lights flickered wildly. The girl in the red beret slumped to the floor, waving her hands erratically. Directly in front of her, through the crack of a half-open door, a flat human face was squeezed out. The face had no bone support, like a crumpled mask, slowly pushing itself out through the crack, its features distorted horribly from the pressure.

Human skin lantern.

The girl had clearly violated the rule of "not leaving the room at night" and was caught by the lantern ghost in the corridor.

"Help...help me..." The girl saw the light coming through the crack in the door of room 304 and scrambled toward it, desperately pounding on Zhou Lang's door.

The human skin mask had completely squeezed out of the door crack, and it slid along the ground like a snake, quickly wrapping around the girl's calves.

Zhou Lang tightened his grip on the doorknob.

To save or not to save?

The rules are clearly stated: be wary of strange occurrences while inside the guesthouse. However, there is no rule against opening the door.

Opening the door means facing this extremely resentful C-rank (possibly actually B-rank) monster. If they don't save her, the girl will undoubtedly die, and her death will further intensify the resentment within the instance.

"You'd better not move," the bandaged man warned. "Once you step out of this door, the rules' protective mechanism will fail you. With your current strength, you can handle one, but if you attract several others, you're dead."

Zhou Lang looked at the girl being dragged into the darkness through the peephole and slowly released the doorknob.

He is not a saint; preserving oneself is the only rule when there is no absolute certainty.

The girl's screams abruptly ceased. The corridor fell silent once more, save for the lingering smell of burnt face powder seeping into the room through the crack in the door.

On the morning of the third day, a suffocating atmosphere of death filled the air.

The atmosphere in the restaurant plummeted. The sketching team, which originally consisted of seven people, had dwindled to five. The girl in the red beret had vanished completely, along with her luggage.

"Call the police! We have to call the police!" The team leader, a tall guy wearing black-rimmed glasses, slammed his fist on the table, on the verge of a breakdown. "There's definitely something wrong with this place! Yesterday, Ah Jie almost drowned in the lake, and last night, Xiao Mei disappeared again! Where's the boss? Get that old geezer out here!"

The boss didn't show up. The kitchen was quiet; even the stove where they usually cooked porridge wasn't lit.

Zhou Lang leaned against the doorframe, coldly observing the group of frightened birds. Call the police? In this space, sealed off by an S-level eerie entity, there was no telephone signal, not even a fly could escape.

"You!" The team leader suddenly turned his attention to Zhou Lang, his eyes bloodshot. "You stayed next door to Xiao Mei last night! Why didn't you come out to help when you heard the commotion? Are you in cahoots with that boss?!"

Zhou Lang straightened up, dusted off non-existent dust from his cuffs, and looked at him calmly: "So I come out, and then die with her?"

"You cold-blooded bastard!" The trendy guy named A-Jie stood up, grabbed a porcelain bowl from the table, and threw it at Zhou Lang.

Zhou Lang tilted his head slightly, the porcelain bowl flying past his ear before shattering against the wall behind him. Without a word, he pulled out the heavy industrial chainsaw from his storage space.

"Buzz—"

The motor roared, the saw teeth spun wildly, and a piercing metallic cutting sound filled the air.

The five students froze on the spot, their faces as white as paper. The leader's mouth was agape, emitting meaningless hoarse sounds, and his legs involuntarily retreated.

"Now, shut up and listen to me." Zhou Lang turned off the chainsaw, picked it up, and walked to the table. "If you want to live, stay in the hall and don't go anywhere. If anyone makes a fuss and wastes my energy, I don't mind bleeding you out before those things eat you up."

Violence is always the quickest way to establish order. The hall was completely silent.

Zhou Lang turned and walked towards the backyard. Time was running out. Today was the third day, and the rules were: the eerie entities could appear as a whole, but they couldn't use skills; they could only lure players to open the doors.

This might sound safer than the second day, but it's actually a huge trap. Because by the fourth day, they'll start attacking. If a way to resolve their resentment isn't found today, the guesthouse will become a one-way slaughterhouse tomorrow night.

Arriving at the cement wall where the corpse was hidden, Zhou Lang took out a chainsaw.

Although physical attacks have limited effect on spirits, they are still very useful for breaking down walls.

"Buzz—click click click!"

The serrated edge cut into the rough cement, sending dust flying everywhere. Zhou Lang cut a half-meter square opening along the spot where he had found the fingernail yesterday.

A strong stench of decay erupted, stinging people's eyes.

The wall was hollow inside. Curled up inside was a highly decomposed female corpse. The body was in a horrifying gigantic state, her skin swollen and greenish, almost bursting through her floral shirt. Most bizarrely, the corpse's hands were in an extremely strange position—her ten fingers were deeply dug into the concrete in front of her, while her lower body was firmly nailed to the wall bricks by several rusty steel bars.