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

The clearing of the "Ghost Realm" instance went more smoothly than expected.

More than fifty players were divided into six groups, and with the support of the military's firepower, it took them two whole days to clear out the three-star monsters on the outer perimeter. However, each time they killed a stitched corpse demon, it would reappear every few hours.

"As expected, it will come back to life." Zhou Lang leaned against an iron pillar on the first floor of the factory and wiped the black slime off the chainsaw.

Gu Ye squatted down beside her, examining the shredded cloth she had torn from a corpse demon. She stared at the runes on the cloth for a long time, her eyes somewhat dazed.

"What did you find?" Zhou Lang asked.

"This rune... I feel like I've seen it before." Gu Ye frowned, "but I can't remember where."

It's like this again. Zhou Lang is used to it. Gu Ye's memories are fragmented, often suddenly appearing as blurry pieces, but they can't piece together a complete picture.

The two met in a dungeon three months ago. At the time, Gu Ye remembered nothing, not even his own name, but his skills were terrifying—he single-handedly killed two three-star monsters.

Zhou Lang still hasn't figured out her true strength.

"You two are working on something again?"

The voice came from behind him. Zhou Lang turned around and saw a man in a black hoodie standing about three meters away.

Fang Yan. The captain of Group Six, around thirty years old, with a long, thin face, and always smiling.

"I didn't research anything." Zhou Lang put away the chainsaw.

"Don't be nervous." Fang Yan walked over, squatted down, and glanced at the shredded cloth in Gu Ye's hand. "The things used to sew up the corpse demon? You discovered that too?"

Zhou Lang and Gu Ye exchanged a glance.

"What did you find?" Zhou Lang asked tentatively.

Fang Yan pulled a similar piece of cloth from his pocket, with identical runes on it. "These corpse demons all have this thing on them. I studied it, and it's not something the ghosts naturally have; it's something that's sewn on by people."

Zhou Lang narrowed his eyes.

Was it man-made?

"What are you trying to say?"

Fang Yan stuffed the scraps of cloth back into his pocket: "I think this copy might not have been formed naturally. Someone might have tampered with it."

Zhou Lang remained silent for a few seconds. He had indeed noticed something amiss. The ghosts' movements were too predictable, and their resurrections always occurred in the same locations, as if someone were controlling them.

"Why are you telling us?" Zhou Lang asked.

"Because the others don't care," Fang Yan shrugged. "They just want to finish their work, collect their reward, and leave. But you're different; you're looking for something."

Zhou Lang remained silent.

He was indeed looking for something. To be precise, he was looking for the connection between this instance and the "horror game" system. Three months ago, he found a tattered document in one of the instances that mentioned an organization called "X Guild," which seemed to be related to the origins of the horror game.

"Cooperation?" Fang Yan extended his hand.

Zhou Lang glanced at Gu Ye. Gu Ye nodded slightly.

"Okay." Zhou Lang squeezed his hand. "But there's one condition. Tell me everything you know, don't hold back."

"No problem." Fang Yan smiled. "Actually, I have a copy of the original blueprints. Not the kind of secondhand stuff you get from an intelligence dealer, but the architectural blueprints from before the factory was abandoned."

He pulled out a few yellowed sheets of paper from his backpack and spread them out on the ground.

"Look here." Fang Yan pointed to a mark on the map. "There's a compartment on the third basement level that wasn't mentioned in the official intelligence."

Zhou Lang leaned closer to take a look. There was indeed a room marked "B3-07" on the blueprint, located next to the core guarded by the Ghost King.

"What is this?"

"I don't know. But there's a passage between it and the core," Fang Yan said. "If we can bypass the Ghost King and enter the core through this compartment..."

"It's too risky," Zhou Lang shook his head. "We don't even know the Ghost King's weakness."

"That's why we need to cooperate." Fang Yan put away the blueprints. "Three people's brains are always better than one."

That makes sense. Zhou Lang thought for a moment and nodded.

-

Zhao Qiang and Han Ying found Zhou Lang while they were having dinner.

The group's temporary rest area was set up in an office on the second floor of the factory. Several people sat around on the floor, munching on compressed biscuits issued by the military.

Chen Ming sat in the corner, maintaining his ghost weapon—a short sword. He was the quietest in the team, but the fiercest when he fought.

"I saw you talking to Fang Yan from Group Six for a long time," Zhao Qiang said, his tone somewhat cautious.

"Mmm." Zhou Lang took a bite of the cookie.

"That guy seems a bit off," Han Yingying said in a low voice. "I've heard from people in Group Six that he often wanders off on his own and doesn't follow the group."

"I know."

"You're still getting so close to him?" Zhao Qiang frowned.

Zhou Lang chewed on a biscuit, not in a hurry to answer. He was thinking about how to explain things appropriately. These three people had been working with him for quite some time and were trustworthy, but saying too much about certain things could be dangerous.

"He has something in his possession," Zhou Lang said. "It's useful to us."

"What is it?"

"The blueprints for the dungeon. They contain areas that weren't marked in the intelligence."

Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying exchanged a glance. Chen Ming looked up and looked over as well.

"Are you sure he's not lying to you?" Chen Ming asked.

"The blueprints are genuine; I've verified them. The factory's structure matches the blueprints perfectly."

The three remained silent for a while.

"Then let's go together," Zhao Qiang said. "More people means more options. But let me make this clear: if he tries anything funny—"

"I'll be careful," Zhou Lang interrupted him.

The next day, Fang Yan officially joined their investigation team.

As it turned out, this person was indeed quite capable. He not only possessed the blueprints, but also had a deep understanding of the rune system within the dungeon. With his help, Zhou Lang and Gu Ye quickly discovered an important clue—

The runes on the stitched-up corpse demon belong to the same system as the symbols on the incomplete document from three months ago.

"This set of runes is called 'Binding Runes'," Fang Yan said, pointing to the chart he had compiled. "Its function is to bind ghosts and monsters to a fixed area, allowing them to continuously revive."

"Who drew that?" Gu Ye asked.

"I don't know. But someone who can draw something like this would have to be at least a five-star or higher high-level player," Fang Yan said. "Or... not a player."

Zhou Lang caught the last sentence. "What does it mean?"

Fang Yan hesitated for a moment: "I have a guess, but I don't have any evidence yet."

"explain."

"This copy may have been created by an organization. It wasn't generated by the system; it was created manually."

Everyone fell silent.

Artificially created copies? What does this mean? It means that someone has mastered the underlying rules of horror games and can create copies themselves.

Zhou Lang felt a chill run down his spine.

If this is true, then the truth behind the horror game is far more complex than he imagined.

The cleanup operation entered its third day.

Zhou Lang and Fang Yan worked together, using the architectural blueprints to find another passage leading to the underground level. This route bypassed most of the areas densely populated with ghosts, allowing them to advance their investigation more quickly.

Gu Ye walked at the front of the group; her behavior had been somewhat strange these past two days.