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

"It's safe for now," Han Yingying said.

The tall, thin man glanced at Zhou Lang, said nothing more, and led his two teammates to the other end of the corridor.

Zhou Lang remained expressionless and turned back to continue studying the map on the third floor.

Han Yingying watched the three people's backs, thought for a moment, and then said nothing.

The corridor on the right side of the third floor was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Zhou Lang stood at the entrance of the corridor and glanced at his watch. He counted to thirty, and the light at the end of the corridor flickered. He counted to thirty again, and the light flickered again.

"The pattern is correct." He nodded to Han Ying.

Han Yingying held a safety flashlight, ready to turn it on at any time.

"I'll go first," Zhou Lang said.

Zhao Qiang grabbed his sleeve: "Are you alone?"

"I'll go try it and see what happens when it refreshes. You guys wait here."

Zhao Qiang was about to say something when Han Yingying stopped him: "Let him go. He knows what he's doing."

Zhao Qiang released his grip.

After the lights flashed, Zhou Lang stepped into the corridor. He walked at a moderate pace, counting down the seconds. The corridor was lined with closed ward doors, numbered from 301 to 315. He needed to find the medical records room, which should be at the very back.

After walking for fifteen seconds, he reached the middle of the corridor. The air ahead began to cool, and something was taking shape.

Twenty seconds.

Zhou Lang quickened his pace.

Twenty-five seconds.

He saw a door at the end of the corridor with the words "Archives" written on it. At the same time, he also saw something being refreshed—black liquid began to seep from the walls of the corridor, and the liquid gathered into human shapes.

Twenty-eight seconds.

He started running.

Thirty seconds had passed when I grabbed the doorknob.

A sharp shriek came from behind him. All the liquid humanoids turned to look at him.

Zhou Lang pushed open the door and slipped inside, then closed it behind him. There were a few loud bangs outside the door, then silence.

He looked around the archives. The metal cabinets were neatly arranged, their labels faded and illegible. He began to search.

Three minutes later, he found the folder labeled "1987-Special Medical Records". Opening it, he found a stack of yellowed papers that recorded the hospitalization process of a patient named "Li Yuan".

He quickly scanned the document, memorizing the key information. Then he faced a problem—how to get out.

The things outside the door are still there.

He opened the system panel and looked at his skills.

【Fusion Form - Bandaged Demon】—Can briefly transform into a demon form for fifteen seconds. During the transformation, it cannot be attacked by its own kind.

enough.

He activated his skill, and grayish-white bandage patterns appeared on his body. Then he opened the door.

The black liquid humanoids in the corridor stared at him without moving.

Zhou Lang walked through them. They tilted their heads to look at him, but did not attack.

When they returned to the entrance of the corridor, Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Found it," Zhou Lang said.

"Then we should start now—" Zhao Qiang hadn't finished speaking when there was another commotion coming from the stairs.

The tall, thin man, the burly man, and the girl with the ponytail rushed up to the third floor. This time, they were in worse shape; the burly man had an injury on his arm, and the girl with the ponytail was crying.

"The first and second floors are completely blocked!" the tall, thin man shouted. "Those things are blocking the stairs!"

The burly man looked at Zhou Lang: "Have you found your target?"

"Found it."

"Then how do we retreat?"

Zhou Lang thought for a moment: "Let's go together."

The tall, thin man and the burly man exchanged a glance.

"The corridor has a refresh mechanism," Han Yingying explained the rules. "I have a safety flashlight; it won't trigger a check within its beam for sixty seconds. If there are many people, squeeze in tightly, and you can get through in one go."

The tall, thin man hesitated for a moment: "Aren't you afraid we'll hold us back?"

"I'm scared," Zhao Qiang said honestly.

Han Yingying glared at him.

"But we can't just watch you die," Zhao Qiang added.

The six people lined up in a row. Han Yingying turned on her safety flashlight and walked in front, the beam illuminating a circular safety area. The others walked closely behind her.

When we reached the middle section, the black humanoid figures reappeared. They stood outside the circle of light, constantly peering their heads inward.

The girl with the ponytail gripped the burly man's shirt, her knuckles turning white. The tall, thin man kept staring at the humanoid figures, his lips trembling, but his steps didn't falter.

Forty seconds passed. The beam of light began to flicker.

"Hurry up." Han Yingying quickened her pace.

Fifty seconds.

The six of them squeezed through the door at the end of the corridor. Han Yingying turned off her flashlight, and the moment the light disappeared, the corridor behind her was completely swallowed by darkness.

The tall, thin man sat on the ground, panting, "Damn it."

The burly man patted him on the back.

The girl with the ponytail squatted in the corner and whispered "thank you".

Han Yingying walked over to Zhou Lang and asked in a low voice, "What does it say in the file?"

Just as Zhou Lang was about to reply, a system notification popped up.

[Dungeon objective completed. Calculating results...]

The image began to blur.

Just then, the burly man suddenly looked at Han Yingying and said, "Your skill... is very similar to that of the expert on the forum."

Han Ying was taken aback.

The burly man continued, "It's that one—one of the top three in the anonymous section. The Insightful One. Not many people have that."

Han Yingying's mind suddenly went blank.

Visuals. Sound. Lighting.

A laboratory. A white lab coat. Someone is talking to her, but she can't hear what they're saying.

Her hands were trembling.

"Han Yingying?" Zhou Lang's voice came through.

She snapped out of her daze and found herself standing there, her forehead covered in sweat. Zhou Lang was standing in front of her, looking at her.

"It's nothing," she said. "It's just... I suddenly had a headache."

Zhou Lang's gaze lingered on her face for two seconds, but he didn't ask any further questions.

But he was standing half a step closer than before.

The settlement screen pops up:

[Dungeon cleared. Rating: A.]

The reward has been issued.

The six people were teleported back to their respective locations.

The first thing Han Yingying did after getting home was to turn on her computer and search for "Insight-based skills". There were indeed related posts on the forum, but most of them had been deleted. She found a screenshot of a post titled "Anonymous Master's Skill Demonstration", with comments analyzing how the skill worked.

Exactly the same as hers.

She didn't remember when she acquired this skill. The system called it "first awakening," but what were the conditions for awakening? She didn't know.

Han Yingying turned off the computer and leaned back in her chair.

She felt she had forgotten many things. Important things.

My phone vibrated.

Zhou Lang sent me a message: 【Are you free tomorrow?】

She replied: 【What's wrong?】

I'd like to confirm something. If it's convenient for you, tomorrow at 3 PM, at the pavilion in the park.

Han Yingying stared at the message for a while, then replied with "Okay".

She didn't ask to confirm anything. She knew Zhou Lang wouldn't make an appointment with someone for no reason.

Before going to sleep, she remembered what the burly man had said—"He seems to be a big shot."

Who is the big shot? Who is she?

With these questions in mind, Han Yingying closed her eyes.

The next afternoon, at the park.

Zhou Lang sat on a stone bench in the pavilion, a bottle of unopened mineral water in front of him. He was lost in thought.

The bugs in the dungeon are becoming increasingly obvious. Last time in the Haunted Mansion, there was a transparent section on the basement wall—not a game design flaw, but a genuine bug, like a missing texture. Through that transparent area, he saw a string of code.