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

The Corpse Demon collapsed to the ground.

Zhao Qiang finished his battle almost simultaneously. He wiped his sweat and remarked, "These two seem weaker than the first one?"

"It's your imagination," Zhou Lang said.

But he wasn't sure.

He looked at Su Nian again. The girl stood there, her hands in her school uniform pockets, still looking sleepy.

What exactly was she saying?

Zhou Lang temporarily suppressed this question. The most important thing now was to survive and get out of this instance.

Li Feng's voice came through the communicator: "Group C, report the situation."

Zhou Lang pressed the call button: "Team C, three stitched corpse demons have been eliminated, no one died."

"Received. Continue processing."

The group continued deeper into the corridor. The corridor grew darker and darker, and the stench of decay in the air grew stronger.

A fork in the road appeared ahead. Three roads led in different directions.

"Which way?" the bald man asked.

Zhou Lang glanced at the map in the intelligence report. The left side led to the warehouse area, the middle to the office area, and the right side to…

"The right side," he said. "The right side leads to the underground entrance."

"Underground?" Han Yingying tensed up. "Isn't that the target for the third phase?"

"Let's see how things go first," Zhou Lang said. "We won't go deep inside, just confirm the location of the entrance."

The group turned right. After walking less than fifty meters, a rusty iron gate appeared ahead. A yellow warning sign was pasted on the gate, the words already blurred and illegible.

Zhou Lang walked to the door and tried pushing it.

Not moving.

"It's locked," he said.

"Then let's go somewhere else first," Zhao Qiang said.

Just as Zhou Lang was about to turn around, a voice came from behind him.

"This door isn't locked."

It's Su Nian.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Su Nian stood at the back of the line, her expression still calm, but her gaze was fixed on the iron gate.

"What do you mean?" Zhou Lang asked.

"I said, this door isn't locked," Su Nian repeated.

The moment she finished speaking, the iron gate clicked open.

Everyone stared at the door that had popped open on its own, and remained silent for three seconds.

"What's going on?" The bald man held the dagger in front of him.

Zhou Lang stared at Su Nian. This girl said the door wasn't locked, and then it opened? A coincidence? He didn't believe in coincidences. After spending so much time in horror games, he had long since stopped believing in such things.

"How do you know the door isn't locked?" he asked.

Su Nian glanced at him: "I could tell."

"I could tell." Zhou Lang pondered these three words. There was clearly no keyhole or handle on the door; he couldn't even push it open. She could "see" it from ten meters away?

Zhao Qiang leaned close to his ear and said, "Something's not right with this girl."

"I know."

But now is not the time to ask questions. Now that the door is open, we need to find out what's inside.

"I'll go in and take a look." Zhou Lang walked to the door with the chainsaw in his hand.

Behind the door was a downward staircase with concrete steps and a rusty handrail. The stairwell was narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

black.

It was very dark.

Zhou Lang took out an oil lamp from his pocket and lit it. The flame illuminated about seven or eight steps below, after which nothing could be seen.

A gust of cold wind swept up from below, carrying a different smell than the stench of decay. It smelled like... something burning.

"Does the communicator work?" Zhou Lang pressed a button.

There were two "buzzing" sounds, but no response.

"The signal is being jammed," Han Yingying said. "The communicator has become unstable since we entered this area."

Zhou Lang thought for a moment: "Let's not go down yet. Mark the location and we'll talk about it in the third phase."

Just as he was about to close the door, Su Nian suddenly spoke up: "There's something waiting downstairs."

Zhou Lang paused.

"What is it?"

"I don't know." Su Nian's expression remained unchanged. "But it knows we're here."

After she finished speaking, a low laugh came from the depths of the stairwell.

It wasn't human laughter. It sounded like something was mimicking human laughter, but the tone was completely off, drawn out too long, with the ending note rising in a high pitch, making one's scalp tingle.

"close the door!"

Zhou Lang pushed the iron gate shut with force. The laughter stopped abruptly the moment the gate closed again.

"Damn it," Zhao Qiang cursed, "What the hell is that?"

"It's not the Stitched Corpse Demon," Zhou Lang said. The intelligence report didn't mention anything about something that could laugh. Either the intelligence was incomplete, or—there were more monsters in this instance than were known.

He turned to look at Su Nian: "How did you know there was something down there?"

Su Nian didn't answer, lowered her head, and resumed her dazed expression.

The bald man said, a little annoyed, "Hey, I'm asking you a question."

"Don't pressure her," Zhou Lang stopped the bald man. It wasn't that he meant well, but Su Nian clearly had a problem, and pushing her too hard would only make things worse. He needed to observe her slowly.

"Let's go, let's go back and take the left turn."

The group turned back to the fork in the road and took the left-hand route through the warehouse area. The journey was peaceful, and they encountered no more ghosts or monsters.

The warehouse area was large, filled with rusty shelves and scattered parts. Zhou Lang ordered everyone to search the area to see if there was anything useful.

He then took the opportunity to walk up to Su Nian.

"Su Nian," he lowered his voice, "what exactly is your identity? Did the Bureau of Demon Suppression send you here?"

Su Nian stood in front of an empty shelf, her fingers unconsciously tracing the dust off the shelf. Hearing Zhou Lang's words, she tilted her head.

"I was also drafted."

"You had no equipment whatsoever, how were you conscripted?"

"The notice said we had to come."

"What are your abilities? What type are they?"

Su Nian was silent for a moment. She raised her eyes and looked at Zhou Lang, as if judging whether he was someone she could trust.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," she said.

"You go first."

"...If others believe what I say, it will come true."

Zhou Lang was stunned.

He repeated the sentence in his mind twice.

What you say, if others believe it, will come true.

That door from just now—

"You said the door wasn't locked, and we believed you, so the door really wasn't locked?"

Su Nian nodded.

Zhou Lang's mind raced. This ability was outrageous. If it were true, wouldn't she be able to do whatever she wanted?

No. There are limitations. She said it would only come true "if others believe it."

The key word is "belief".

If she says something too absurd and nobody believes her, then it won't work.

"So your ability depends on... how much other people trust you?"

"More or less," Su Nian said. "Anything too outrageous won't do."

Zhou Lang looked at her. This ability, if used well, is practically a cheat code. If used poorly—

"What did you just say to those two stitched-together corpse demons?" He recalled Su Nian's lips moving during the battle.

Su Nian's expression changed slightly. It was very subtle, as if she had been struck by something.

"I said... they'll pause for a second."

"Did they believe it?"

"Ghosts are easier to fool than people." Su Nian said this in a very light tone, as if stating an unimportant fact.

Zhou Lang took a step back and re-examined the girl.

Something's not right. Her ability is a beginner-level skill, so it should be quite weak. But she's acting too calmly. She didn't react at all to the three-star monster, and her use of her ability is far too skillful.