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

As the instance settlement panel disappeared from view, Lin Shuang remained standing still.

S-rank dungeon cleared, all team members survived.

The words on the panel flickered twice, turning into specks of light that merged into the black mark on her wrist. The space around her began to change; the ruined dungeon scene shattered, replaced by a hazy, desolate wilderness.

A bizarre world, an area outside the instance.

Shen Du stood beside her, putting away the blood-stained dagger. Old Qian squatted on the ground, panting heavily, while A Yao supported Monkey—Monkey's left arm was still bleeding, from the player who slashed it in the dungeon.

"He's alive," Old Qian said, then began to dry heave.

Lin Shuang also felt like vomiting.

The pressure of the S-rank dungeon was immense. For seven whole days, they were trapped in that eerie mirror city, walking a tightrope every second. In the final stage, they not only had to deal with the dungeon boss, but also managed to kill three players who came to steal their points.

"Where did those three people come from?" Lin Shuang asked.

Shen Du shook his head.

"Who cares where they came from? They deserve to die for stealing our points." Monkey gritted his teeth as Ah Yao bandaged him. "Damn it, if they hadn't ambushed me, would I have gotten this cut?"

Lin Shuang didn't say anything more. Murder was nothing new in this strange world, and PvP within dungeons was allowed by the rules. But she felt uneasy, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"Let's go first," Shen Du said.

Lin Shuang nodded and helped Lao Qian up. The five of them walked forward along the gray wilderness, their destination the nearest safe haven.

The map of this bizarre world also has a structure outside the instance—Lin Shuang only recently realized this. Each time she clears an instance, a portion of the map unlocks. Now, the area she can see is much larger than when she first entered; there are building outlines in the distance, and some moving points of light.

Those bright spots are other players.

"Wait." Shen Du suddenly stopped.

Lin Shuang noticed it too. The black mark on her wrist was burning hot—a warning sign of danger.

A row of figures appeared at the edge of the wilderness.

A dozen or so people were moving very fast, heading straight in their direction.

"Damn, pursuers?" Old Qian stood up, no longer bothering to vomit.

The monkey hid its injured left arm behind its back: "Run or fight?"

Lin Shuang counted the number of people opposite her. Fourteen, no, sixteen. Moreover, their movement speed and formation clearly indicated that they had undergone coordinated training, and were not scattered individuals.

"They can't escape." Shen Du judged quickly. "They have tracking devices, and they're faster than us."

As the other party drew closer, Lin Shuang finally recognized the person leading the group.

The man wore a dark red coat and had a scar on his face that ran from his left eyebrow to his chin. The dozen or so men behind him all wore the same armband—a black flame emblem.

"Purgatory Guild." Ayao's voice trembled slightly.

Lin Shuang knew this name. The second-ranked guild in the bizarre world, led by Guild Master Pei Jin, nicknamed "Mad Dog." He was called Mad Dog because he was unreasonable and would hunt down anyone who offended him to the ends of the earth.

The question is—when did she offend the Purgatory Guild?

The other party stopped ten meters away. The one leading the group was not Pei Jin himself, but a tall, thin man who looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a black cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Lin Shuang, right?" The tall, thin man exhaled a puff of smoke. "Our guild leader asked me to pass on a message."

"Who are you?" Lin Shuang asked.

"Purgatory Guild, Second Captain, Yang Ge." The other person tilted his head. "The three people you killed in the S-rank dungeon 'Mirror City' were from our guild."

Lin Shuang's heart skipped a beat.

Were those three players who ambushed them members of the Purgatory Guild?

"They started it," the monkey shouted from behind.

Yang Ge didn't even glance at the monkey, his gaze fixed on Lin Shuang: "Who struck first is unimportant. You killed our people, so you have to give an explanation."

"What explanation?"

"Two choices." Yang Ge held up two fingers. "First, hand over all the rewards from clearing your S-rank dungeon. Second—"

Before he could finish speaking, the dozen or so people behind him had already revealed their respective ghost weapons.

The meaning is obvious.

Lin Shuang glanced at Shen Du. Shen Du remained expressionless, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword.

"Hand it over?" Old Qian muttered from behind, "I fought for seven days and seven nights in the dungeon to get this stuff, why should I give it to them?"

"We outnumber you," Yang Ge said, stubbing out his cigarette. "I advise you to be sensible. You've probably heard about our chairman's temper."

Lin Shuang had indeed heard about it. Last month, the Purgatory Guild chased down a five-person team for three whole days, forcing them to hand over all their equipment before releasing them. Two of those five were B-rank dungeon clearers and quite strong, yet they were still taken down.

But that was something Lin Shuang used to be afraid of.

She just came out of an S-rank dungeon. She lived there for seven days, seeing all sorts of monsters and demons. Sixteen people?

Lin Shuang weighed the options in her mind. Her team consisted of five people; Monkey was injured, and Lao Qian was in poor condition. They were at a disadvantage in a real fight. But she couldn't possibly hand over the reward for clearing the level—it was a three-star ghost artifact and eight thousand strange points, earned with the lives of all five of them.

"Let me think about it," Lin Shuang said.

Yang Ge raised an eyebrow: "What are you thinking about?"

"How would you like to phrase this politely?" Lin Shuang said. "After all, directly telling someone to 'get lost' doesn't seem quite appropriate."

Yang Ge's expression changed.

Someone behind him cursed, "You're asking for it!"

Shen Du moved.

His speed was extremely fast. The moment his short sword was drawn, a black blade of energy slashed directly at the two people in the front. The two men were clearly not expected that he would dare to strike first. They hurriedly raised their ghost weapons to block, but were knocked back four or five meters by the blade of energy.

"Attack!" the monkey roared, ignoring his injured arm, and grabbed a red-hot iron rod with his right hand, charging forward.

The battle erupted instantly.

Lin Shuang did not hesitate. The mark on her wrist lit up, and a paper crane the size of a palm flew out from her sleeve—this was the three-star ghost artifact "Soul-Guiding Crane" that she obtained in the S-level dungeon, which could seal off an area for a short time.

The paper crane exploded in the air, turning into dozens of white threads that trapped Yang Ge and the five people around him in place.

"Three seconds," Lin Shuang said. "You can only hold me for three seconds, hurry!"

Old Qian and A Yao grabbed the monkey and ran. Shen Du covered their retreat, forcing back the pursuers with two more slashes.

Three seconds passed in the blink of an eye. Yang Ge broke free of the white silk, his face ashen.

"Chase!"

But Lin Shuang and the others had already run more than fifty meters. A glowing disc appeared not far ahead—it was the entrance marker for the safe outpost.

There's a rule in this eerie world: PvP is prohibited within safe zones. Once someone enters a zone, the Purgatory Guild is powerless to stop them.

The monkey was being carried away, still cursing, "Damn it, they're just taking advantage of the numbers—"

"Save your energy," Lin Shuang said.

The five people stumbled and rushed into the circle of light at the safe outpost.

Their feet suddenly went soft, and the ground turned into black stone slabs. Transparent walls of light rose up around them, separating them from the outside world.

Yang Ge led his men to the outside of the light wall and stopped. He stared at Lin Shuang through the light wall and smiled.

"You ran pretty fast," he said. "It's okay, we're not in a hurry."

He turned and took a few steps, then turned back: "By the way, everyone in the live stream saw your performance in the S-rank dungeon. You were pretty impressive. But the more impressive you are, the more interested the guild leader will be."