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

Whispers arose from the crowd. 5000 points of Mystery and a two-star Ghostly Artifact were indeed very tempting.

But Zhou Lang noticed that no one showed any excitement about the rewards. After all, if you can't even save your life, no amount of rewards will help.

"Alright, let's divide into teams now." Li Feng took out a list and began reading out the names.

Zhou Lang was assigned to the third squad, in a group with Zhao Qiang. Han Ying was assigned to the fifth squad.

"Wait." Just as the group work was about to end, Li Feng's walkie-talkie rang.

He answered the call, and his expression changed several times.

"receive."

Li Feng hung up the walkie-talkie and glanced at the crowd: "Zhou Lang."

Zhou Lang was taken aback: "Here."

"Step forward, you have a new task."

More than fifty pairs of eyes turned to Zhou Lang at the same time. Zhao Qiang also looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Zhou Lang stepped out of the crowd and followed Li Feng to a military vehicle. Inside sat a middle-aged man in civilian clothes, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, who looked quite refined.

"Zhou Lang, right?" The man pushed up his glasses. "My surname is Gu. I'm from the Special Investigation Team of the Horror Game Administration Bureau."

Zhou Lang remained silent, waiting for the other party to continue.

"Your operation in the Ghost Realm is canceled," the man surnamed Gu said. "There's a more important mission that requires your attention."

Zhou Lang's heart skipped a beat. A mission even more important than an A-level dungeon?

"What mission?"

The man surnamed Gu handed over a thin document, only three pages long.

"Two weeks ago, a C-level instance appeared in Yuping Town, a neighboring province," he said. "It's a guesthouse type instance; you can clear it by surviving for seven days. It shouldn't be too difficult, but the management bureau sent two groups of people in."

"And the result?"

"Total annihilation."

Zhou Lang opened the document. The first page contained basic information about the copy, and the second page was a briefing on the two failed operations.

The first batch, consisting of five B-level players, all perished on the fourth day. The second batch, consisting of eight A-level players, was completely wiped out on the fifth day.

"A C-level dungeon killed thirteen A-level and B-level players?" Zhou Lang looked up at the man surnamed Gu.

"So we suspect there's something wrong with this instance," the man surnamed Gu said. "Our initial assessment is that an S-rank anomaly invaded the instance, causing it to collapse. The strength of the monsters inside far exceeds that of C-rank monsters."

Zhou Lang closed the file.

"You want me to investigate a dungeon with an S-rank anomaly?"

"I'm not asking you to fight an S-rank anomaly," the man surnamed Gu said. "The S-rank anomaly is still lying dormant and shows no signs of making a direct move. Your task is to enter the instance, investigate the cause of the collapse, and gather intelligence. Just make sure you come out alive."

"As long as I can get out alive"—that's such an easy thing to say.

"Why me?" Zhou Lang asked.

The man surnamed Gu glanced at him: "Your horror game matchmaking record is quite interesting. High survival rate, strong observation skills, and you possess a special ghost artifact." His gaze lingered on Zhou Lang's arm, on the location of the bandage. "A one-star ghost artifact, 'Bandage Parasite,' of the common type. This type of ghost artifact possesses unique sensing abilities when facing high-level anomalies, which is very helpful for investigations."

Zhou Lang remained silent for a few seconds.

"What if I refuse?"

"If you refuse, you can continue participating in the Ghost Realm operation," the man surnamed Gu said. "Four-star ghosts, ten three-star ghosts. The choice is yours."

What kind of choice is this? To the left is a cliff, to the right is an abyss.

Zhou Lang thought for a moment: "What about the reward?"

"Upon completion of the mission, you will receive 1000 points of Mystery, plus a three-star Ghostly Artifact," the man surnamed Gu said. "In addition, the investigation team will provide you with full equipment support."

1000 points of unpredictability. Zhou Lang made a move.

"OK."

"Great." The man surnamed Gu smiled, his smile mirroring that of the middleman. "Someone will pick you up at the Yuping Town bus station at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

"His cover identity was that of a freelance painter, accompanying a group of art school students to town for sketching. They would stay at that guesthouse."

"Wait," Zhou Lang interrupted him, "I can't draw."

"Even if you're a bad painter, you're still a painter," the man surnamed Gu said. "It's just a cover; you don't need to create any masterpieces. Just bring a few pens and a drawing board."

Zhou Lang had nothing to say.

He returned to the meeting point, and Zhao Qiang approached him: "What happened? You were pulled away?"

"The mission has been changed." Zhou Lang didn't say much more.

Zhao Qiang hesitated for a moment, then patted him on the shoulder and said, "Take care."

"The same to you."

Zhou Lang left the abandoned factory. After walking a distance, the bandaged man's voice rang out.

You should have refused.

"If you refuse, you'll have to fight a four-star monster."

"An S-class monster is ten thousand times more terrifying than a four-star ghost," the bandaged man said. "Do you know what an S-class monster means? It's an existence capable of destroying a city."

"He said that an S-class anomaly is lying in wait."

"You believe it?"

Zhou Lang didn't answer. He certainly didn't believe it completely, but between two evils, he chose the lesser. The Ghost Realm instance was a matter of life and death, while this investigation mission at least had the possibility of "coming out alive."

Moreover—1000 points of unpredictability.

"You're just after that little bit of money," the bandaged man said.

"That's called cunning, not money."

"Same here. You're just greedy."

Zhou Lang did not refute.

Back in his rented room, he began to reorganize his equipment. The guesthouse instance and the factory instance were completely different, and the required items were also different.

A chainsaw is too conspicuous, so I can't bring it. A cane is fine, but I can't say I have bad legs. An oil lamp is also okay; it's not unusual for a painter to carry an old-fashioned oil lamp with him.

Bring both healing potions and defensive charms.

Zhou Lang took the document out and looked at it again.

Information about the instance is scarce. The guesthouse is called "Yunlaiju" and is located at the end of the main street in Yuping Town. The owner's surname is Chen, and he is in his forties. There are seven strange creatures in the instance, but their specific species are unknown.

Safe during the day, dangerous at night.

"Seven monsters, seven days to clear the level," Zhou Lang muttered. "One per day?"

"Not necessarily," the bandaged man said. "It's also possible that all seven could appear at the same time."

"How did the first group manage to survive until the fourth day?"

The bandaged man didn't say anything.

Zhou Lang continued his analysis: "Both groups died after the fourth day. This indicates that the first three days were relatively safe, but the difficulty increased sharply starting from the fourth day."

"They might have just been lucky for the first three days."

"Thirteen people were lucky for three days straight?" Zhou Lang shook his head. "No, there's a pattern here. The monsters in the dungeon should gradually get stronger."

He wrote these deductions down in his notebook.

"There's one more thing," Zhou Lang said, "that guy surnamed Gu said it's a cycle of rebirth. The strange things inside are constantly repeating what happened over the past seven days."

"Reincarnation instances are rare," the bandaged man said. "Usually, it's when the resentment and obsession of ghosts and monsters are too strong that they form a cycle of reincarnation."

"So these ghosts were originally people."

"Most likely."

Zhou Lang closed the notebook.

"We'll deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow. Time for bed."

"You have a very big heart."

"If I don't sleep, I won't have the energy to cope tomorrow. It doesn't matter if I'm carefree or not."

Zhou Lang turned off the light and lay down on the bed.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous. The S-rank anomaly, the complete annihilation of his predecessors, the collapsed instance—these thoughts raced through his mind. But he had done all he could; all that remained was to play it by ear.