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

The basement was bigger than I had imagined.

The light from the oil lamp illuminated a spacious area. The ground was paved with stone bricks, so damp that water could be wrung out. In the center stood a wooden table with a yellowed book on it and a bronze candlestick beside it.

"Where is this place?" Zhao Qiang looked around, his voice low.

Zhou Lang walked to the table and opened the booklet.

It contains the history of the manor—or more precisely, the death records of every servant who served there. A dense array of names, each followed by the date and cause of death: drowning, falls, cardiac arrest, unknown causes…

The last page was blank, but three squares were drawn on it in red pen.

Han Yingying leaned closer for a look, her expression changing: "Three compartments... are they reserved for us?"

"No." Zhou Lang pointed to a line of small print below the grid. "Look."

The sign read, "Please fill in the name of the person you wish to take away."

The three were silent for a few seconds. Zhao Qiang was the first to react: "This is... the exit?"

Zhou Lang nodded. He took out a pen from his pocket and wrote "Zhao Qiang" in the first square and "Han Yingying" in the second square.

"And you?" Han Yingying asked.

"I don't need to write," Zhou Lang said. "I'm already a part of the manor."

These words stunned both of them.

Zhou Lang didn't explain much, only saying, "Don't worry, I have my ways. After you write your names, you'll be sent out of the instance. As for me—"

Before he could finish speaking, the basement walls began to shake.

The ghosts have arrived.

These weren't the quiet, suppressed ghosts of the corridor, but rather ghosts that surged forth from the walls, floor, and ceiling—far more numerous than before. They filled the entire basement, surrounding the three of them.

Zhao Qiang's legs went weak, but he still stood up. Han Yingying clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh.

Zhou Lang laughed.

He placed the oil lamp on the table and took out the chainsaw from the inventory.

"Do you know why my evaluation has always been perfect?" he asked.

The sound of the chainsaw echoed throughout the basement.

The ghosts actually took a step back.

Instead of sawing off the ghost, Zhou Lang gave the largest ghost on the ceiling an extremely bright smile.

"Hey, old buddy," he said, "remember me?"

The ghost's body was trembling.

This is the correct way to use the "scare ghosts" skill—not physical intimidation, but making the ghosts afraid of you as a person. After spending so many days in the haunted manor, Zhou Lang's very existence had become a nightmare for these ghosts.

The giant demon let out a sharp screech, and all the demons instantly shrank back into the wall.

Zhao Qiang: "..."

Han Yingying: "..."

The two looked at each other and saw the same thing in each other's eyes—is this person really not a ghost?

The names in the booklet began to glow. Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying's bodies became transparent as they were being teleported away.

"Wait for me outside," Zhou Lang said.

Han Yingying wanted to say something, but her body had already completely dissipated.

The basement fell silent again. Zhou Lang stood there alone, looking at the remaining blank spaces in the booklet.

He didn't write his name. He was going to do something else.

He turned to the first page of the booklet and found a peculiar name—the manor's first butler, and also the predecessor of the butler who was killed. Next to the name was a note indicating the cause of death: voluntary sacrifice.

"Interesting." Zhou Lang tore off this page and put it into his inventory.

Then he walked towards a small door at the far end of the wall—a door the butler had never mentioned. What lay behind that door, he didn't know. But it didn't matter.

There are no insurmountable obstacles, only a lack of recklessness.

He pushed open the door.

White light engulfed everything.

……

When his vision returned, Zhou Lang was standing in his room.

The game panel on my wrist pops up the results screen:

[Terrifying Manor - Settlement]

[Rating: SSS]

[Rewards: Bandaged Ghost Fusion (Completed), Manor Management Rights (Acquired), Hidden Item "Death Logbook" (Acquired)]

[Bonus Reward: 1 Intelligence Fragment obtained due to triggering a hidden storyline]

Fragments of intelligence?

Zhou Lang clicked on it and saw only one sentence: "The core of all the dungeons points to the same source."

It was so vague it sounded like a meaningless statement. But Zhou Lang remembered it.

My phone rang; it was a message from Zhao Qiang.

"Brother Lang, are you out yet? Han Yingying and I are back safely."

Zhou Lang replied with an "Mm".

The next message was from Han Yingying: "Thank you. If we run into each other in the next dungeon, shall we team up again?"

Zhou Lang thought for a moment and replied, "We'll see."

He put down his phone and glanced out the window. The moon was full, and city lights twinkled in the distance. The world hadn't collapsed after the horror game arrived; people were still going to work, eating, and sleeping. Only now, everyone had a panel on their wrist, receiving notifications every so often that they were forced to enter the game.

If you don't participate, you die.

Simple and straightforward rules.

Zhou Lang took a shower and lay in bed. He thought of his sister, and the bowl of porridge she had left on the table the day she disappeared, which hadn't even had time to be heated up.

He turned over and closed his eyes.

Let's talk about it tomorrow.

Three days later, the notification for the new instance arrived.

Zhou Lang was having lunch in the school cafeteria. In front of him was a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs, a bowl of rice, and a cup of soy milk. Zhao Qiang sat opposite him, and just as he picked up a piece of pork rib with his chopsticks, the control panel on his wrist lit up.

Please note: You have been selected to participate in the fourth horror game.

[Instance Name: Benevolent Hospital]

[Instance Level: A]

[Entry Time: 18:00 today]

Number of attendees: 12

[Special Note: This instance has a character allocation mechanism; you will be assigned a fixed role upon entry.]

Zhao Qiang's ribs fell back into the plate, and his chopsticks were shaking.

"Here we go again." His voice was dry.

Zhou Lang stuffed the last mouthful of rice into his mouth and wiped his mouth. "A-level, not bad. I even passed S-level last time."

"That's different! You were there last time!" Zhao Qiang grabbed Zhou Lang's arm. "This time... you were chosen too, right? Please say yes."

Zhou Lang showed him his control panel. The same notification.

Zhao Qiang breathed a sigh of relief and slumped into his chair. "God is still on my side."

"Don't be too happy yet," Zhou Lang withdrew his hand, "If twelve people go into an A-level dungeon, it's good if seven or eight of them come out alive."

Zhao Qiang tensed up again.

Zhou Lang ignored him and opened the panel to check the details. "Renxin Hospital," the name was quite ironic. An A-level dungeon meant it wasn't easy, but with his current strength and item reserves, it shouldn't be too troublesome.

The key is the "role assignment mechanism." This means that once you're in, you can't choose your role; the system will assign one for you. Doctor, nurse, patient... different roles correspond to different rules and restrictions.

Zhou Lang skipped his afternoon classes. He went back to his dorm and started organizing his belongings.