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

When Lin Mian sat up in bed, it was still dark.

She glanced at her phone; it was 4:30 a.m. Her stepmother's message was still online: "Remember to bring an umbrella tomorrow, it's going to rain."

It was an ordinary message, as ordinary as it gets.

Lin Mian replied with an "okay" and tossed her phone next to her pillow. She rubbed her eyes and got up to wash up. She looked fine in the mirror, except for her dark circles.

I've been having a lot of dreams lately.

Her dream was filled with fragmented, incomplete images of the dungeon. She remembered some of the rules from the last dungeon—you couldn't stay in the corridor for more than thirty seconds, and you couldn't look back at the third door.

It seems she broke some rules.

I can't remember exactly what it was.

The day was pretty boring. I paid the utility bills, bought a box of instant noodles at the supermarket, and picked up a package on the way. My stepsister called to ask if I wanted to have dinner together this weekend; she sounded very friendly.

"Okay, you decide on the location then," Lin Mian said.

After hanging up the phone, she felt that something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

This feeling has lasted for several days.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Lin Mian lay back in bed. Sleepiness came quickly, abnormally quickly. She tried to keep her eyes open and look at her phone for a while longer, but her consciousness sank as if being pressed into water.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a cable car.

The cable car moved slowly through the air, with thick, impenetrable fog outside the windows. Inside the car were several other people, their expressions varied—some tense, others expressionless.

A semi-transparent panel floated in front of me.

Welcome to the instance: Cloud Cableway

[Dungeon Level: B]

[Clearance condition: Safe arrival at the final destination]

Note: Please follow the cable car rules.

Lin Mian stared at the panel for two seconds, and the thought "as expected" popped into her mind.

She looked around. The cable car could probably seat twelve people, but eight were currently in it. Near the door stood a tall man in a black hoodie, his hat pulled low so she couldn't see his face.

He was looking at her too.

Lin Mian withdrew her gaze and looked down at the rule board posted inside the cable car—

Cable Car Rules

1. Do not open the car windows.

2. At each stop of the cable car, one person must get off.

3. You may not return after getting off the bus.

4. You cannot get off at the fifth stop.

5. If anyone violates the rules, everyone will be punished.

Eight people, I don't know how many stops there are.

Lin Mian silently counted the heads.

"What the hell does this mean? We have to get off at every stop?" a burly man shouted. "What about the people who got off? Are they dead or alive?"

No one answered.

The burly man cursed and slammed his fist on the armrest of the seat.

Lin Mian noticed that the man in the black hoodie had taken off his hat.

He's someone I know.

The man she'd seen in the last instance—she didn't know his codename, but Lin Mian remembered his face. He was thin, with deep-set eyes, and his gaze was calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

He recognized her and walked towards her.

"We've run into each other again," he said.

"Um."

"I thought about that corridor solution you gave me for a long time last time." He leaned against the railing, his voice low. "Have you done similar dungeons before?"

Lin Mian thought for a moment and said, "I don't remember."

The man glanced at her but didn't ask any further questions.

"An alliance?" he said.

"Can."

The alliance was sealed in just two words, as simple as agreeing to a meal. A girl nearby overheard this and glanced over.

The girl looked to be in her early twenties, with her hair in a ponytail, and her fingers were constantly fidgeting with the hem of her clothes. Her lips were pale, clearly indicating she was either a novice or had bad luck.

The cable car swayed and slowed down.

We've arrived at our first stop.

An announcement came over the loudspeaker: "First stop, please have one passenger disembark. Sixty seconds remaining. If no one disembarks, a passenger will be randomly selected."

The carriage fell silent.

"I'll go." A middle-aged man stood up. He wore glasses, carried a briefcase, and had a calm expression. "The rules don't say you die as soon as you get off the bus. Maybe there's another chance outside."

"Are you crazy? It's all foggy outside, you can't see anything!" the burly man said.

The middle-aged man ignored him and walked to the car door.

The door opened, revealing a small platform shrouded in mist. The middle-aged man stepped out, the door closed, and the cable car continued its journey.

There are seven people left.

Lin Mian glanced back out the window. The fog was too thick; she could no longer see the platform.

"He won't die, will he?" the girl with the ponytail asked softly.

"I don't know," Lin Mian said.

The man in black sat down next to her, his voice barely audible to her: "If we can't get off at the fifth stop, it means there's a problem at the fifth stop. I don't know how many stops there are in total, but assuming eight people, it's at most seven stops."

"What do you think is the real condition for winning?"

"It's not about reaching the final destination," he said. "It's about figuring out why someone has to get off the bus."

Lin Mian looked out the window.

Something is moving in the fog.

When they arrived at the second stop, the burly man got off the bus on his own initiative.

His reasoning was simple: "I don't want to be randomly selected, I'd rather choose myself."

The burly man, named Jiang Ming, was large and had boxing tattoos on his arms. Before getting out of the car, he glanced back at Lin Mian and said, "Little girl, good luck."

The door closed.

There are six people left.

The girl with the ponytail came over and sat down next to Lin Mian.

"Um, you guys look really impressive," she said. "Can I come with you?"

Lin Mian glanced at her: "What's your name?"

"Chen Ke".

How many times have you entered a dungeon?

"Three times." Chen Ke lowered her head. "I only survived because I was lucky."

Lin Mian remained silent. The man in black did not object, which was taken as tacit agreement.

The three formed an alliance.

The cable car continued its swaying journey. At the third stop, a silent man got off. At the fourth stop, a woman who had been crying was pushed off by others.

Lin Mian didn't move at all.

The two men who pushed the person off the bus were looking at each other, trying to make sure the other wouldn't attack them at the next stop.

Fifth stop.

The announcement came over the loudspeaker: [We have arrived at the fifth stop. Passengers are not permitted to disembark at this stop.]

The door was not opened.

But the cable car stopped.

The fog outside the window had lifted a little. Lin Mian leaned against the window and looked out—there was a person standing on the platform.

It was the burly man, Jiang Ming.

He was still alive, standing on the platform, waving to the cable car.

"Damn! He's not dead!" one of the two men shouted.

Lin Mian noticed that Jiang Ming was gesturing something. He was pointing to the bottom of the cable car and then made a "be careful" gesture.

Underneath the cable car?

She crouched down and pressed her ear to the floor.

there's noise.

A very light scraping sound, like something climbing at the bottom of the cable car.

"There's something down there," Lin Mian said.

The man in black also squatted down, listened for a few seconds, and then his expression changed.

"Not one," he said.

Chen Ke's face turned pale, and she took a step back.

The cable car restarted. The fifth stop had passed, and Jiang Ming's figure disappeared into the fog.

The remaining people were: Lin Mian, the man in black, Chen Ke, and two men who pushed people out of the car.

Five people, not sure how many more stops there are.

"The rules say someone must get off at each stop." The man in black stood up, dusting off his hands. "But no one can get off at the fifth stop. In other words, no one is taken off at the fifth stop."