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

The next morning, the butler assigned tasks as usual.

"Lang Li Ge Lang, today you're in charge of cleaning the third-floor corridor."

"Han Yingying, you are in charge of tidying up the attic storage room."

"Zhao Qiang, you're in charge of cleaning up the fallen leaves in the back garden."

"Xiong Batian..." Butler paused for a moment, "...rest today."

Xiong Batian's expression wasn't good, but he didn't say anything. In this manor, rest meant no pay, and pay was related to the final score and rewards.

The group dispersed to get to work.

Zhou Lang took a broom and went up to the third floor. The corridor on the third floor was long, with a row of closed room doors on both sides, each with a number tag. At the end of the corridor was a window, through which a dim light shone.

He didn't rush to clean, but instead checked each house number one by one. From 301 to 312, he noticed that the house number 307 was crooked and had scratches on it.

Zhou Lang tried the doorknob; it was locked. He took out the brass key he had found last night and checked it against the lock—it matched the size perfectly.

The key was inserted, and the door lock clicked open.

He pushed open the door.

Inside was a bedroom, laid out similarly to the other rooms, but the walls were covered with notes. The notes, densely packed, all bore the same sentence:

"She will come back."

Zhou Lang went inside and closed the door. He tore off a piece of paper and looked at it; the handwriting was exactly the same as the one in the coffin last night.

There is a diary on the table. Open the first page:

"Day 97. I now know the master's secret. This manor doesn't imprison the living; it imprisons 'her.' All the ghosts, all the rules, are there to seal 'her' memories."

"Day 103. 'Her' power is leaking. Even though she has lost her memories, her instincts still affect reality. The butler noticed this and began to strengthen the seal."

"Day 110. I'm leaving a clue behind. If 'she' re-enters this manor, someone can help her remember."

The diary ends here; the following pages are all blank.

Zhou Lang closed the diary and put it back in its place.

He was now almost certain—Han Yingying was "Hua Ling Shuang"—the Hua Ling Shuang after losing her memory. The source of the abnormal fluctuations in this instance was her. Her power was unconsciously leaking out, interfering with the normal operation of the instance.

The question is, what should he do?

According to the procedures of the Antiquities Bureau, any S-level anomaly should be reported immediately and await instructions from superiors. However, he is currently inside a dungeon, and using communication devices in a C-level dungeon would trigger a system alarm and expose his true identity.

Moreover, he had another concern.

If Han Yingying is truly Hua Ling Shuang, how did she lose her memory? Was it the evil god's revenge? The evil god banished her to the beginner's area, erased her memories, and made her start all over again. If he forcibly awakens her memories now, will it trigger the evil god's contingency plan?

There are too many unknowns.

Zhou Lang decided not to alert the enemy. He would continue to observe and gather information, and then make a plan after leaving this instance.

He cleaned up the traces in the room and went out to continue cleaning the hallway.

At lunchtime, the four of them sat at one table. Xiong Batian sat alone in a corner, eating his food in silence.

Zhao Qiang ate while complaining, "The leaves in the back garden keep falling and falling, it's like that tree has become a spirit."

"Just treat it as exercise," Zhou Lang said.

"I don't need training, I just need to get out of here alive." Zhao Qiang lowered his voice. "What did you find last night? What's that key for?"

"A door has been opened," Zhou Lang said. "There's no danger inside, but there's some information."

"What information?"

"Let's talk about it outside."

Zhao Qiang pursed his lips and didn't press the matter further. He knew Zhou Lang; if someone didn't want to talk, asking a hundred times wouldn't make a difference.

Han Yingying sat across from me, eating very slowly. She was quiet today, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhou Lang glanced at her. "How's the attic storage room?"

"It's a mess." Han Ying looked up, "but I found something inside."

She took a small porcelain bottle out of her pocket. There was a house painted on the bottle, surrounded by many little people.

"What is this?" Zhao Qiang asked curiously as he leaned closer.

Han Yingying shook the bottle; something inside was moving. "I don't know. But when I picked it up, the system notification said 'The House of the Strange has been claimed as its master.'"

Zhou Lang paused for a moment.

The House of the Strange. He knew about this item. It was an S-rank item that could contract with strange beings and make them work for him. The fact that it appeared in a C-rank dungeon was itself abnormal.

What's even more unusual is that it proactively recognized Han Yingying as its master. S-class items are sentient; they choose their masters. Its choice of Han Yingying indicates that it recognized her.

"You're lucky," Zhou Lang said calmly.

Han Yingying put the bottle away. "I also find it strange, but it must be something good, right?"

"It should be."

Zhao Qiang, standing nearby, scoffed. "Why is it that you all get to find good stuff while I'm stuck sweeping fallen leaves?"

They continued working in the afternoon. After cleaning the corridor, Zhou Lang finished his task ahead of schedule and wandered around the manor. He deliberately passed by the attic, wanting to see Han Yingying's working environment.

The attic door was open. He glanced inside.

Han Yingying stood with her back to the door in front of a large mirror. Her hands were on the mirror, and she was saying something.

Zhou Lang listened intently.

"...Do I know you?"

She was talking to herself in the mirror.

Zhou Lang remained silent and retreated.

She appeared in the mirror again. It was the same last night in the basement. Could the mirror reflect Hua Ling Shuang's remaining consciousness? Or is the mirror itself part of the seal?

He needed to find an opportunity to test how much Han Ying actually remembered.

The opportunity came at night.

After dinner, the butler distributed wages and then disappeared. According to the rules, one shouldn't leave their room at night, but Zhou Lang had already ignored this rule once.

He didn't plan to go to the basement anymore. He knocked on Han Ying's door.

The door opened a crack, and when Han Yingying saw it was him, she opened it wide.

"What's up?"

"Let me ask you a few questions," Zhou Lang said directly. "Before you entered this game, did you have any strange dreams?"

Han Ying was stunned for a moment.

She stood in the doorway, her fingers unconsciously gripping the doorframe. After a few seconds, she said, "Yes."

"What kind of dream?"

"It's very blurry." Han Yingying frowned. "I dreamt I was in a very big house, with doors everywhere. I kept opening doors, and behind each door was a different scene. Some were terrifying, and some... were very familiar."

"familiar?"

"Yes. It's that feeling of never having seen them before, but feeling like you've been here before." She looked at Zhou Lang. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

Zhou Lang didn't answer directly. "One more question. Was anything unusual happening when your mother passed away?"

Han Ying's expression changed.

She took a step back, her voice turning cold. "Why did you ask that?"

"It's related to this instance," Zhou Lang said.