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

Zhou Lang noticed. She would suddenly stop, stare blankly at a certain spot, then shake her head and continue walking. Sometimes she would stay up late at night, sitting there looking at the runes on those scraps of cloth over and over.

"Are you alright?" Zhou Lang asked again.

"It's nothing. My mind is just a mess," Gu Ye said.

Zhou Lang didn't press the matter further. He knew that Gu Ye's memory was slowly returning, and that the process was probably not pleasant.

Two underground floors.

Fang Yan led the way, followed by Zhou Lang and Gu Ye. Zhao Qiang and his two companions provided support from above, ensuring that their escape route was not cut off.

"There's a room up ahead, the door's unlocked," Fang Yan's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Zhou Lang and Gu Ye walked over. It was a small room, filled with dust and trash. But in the corner, there was a table.

There is something on the table.

Zhou Lang walked over and wiped the dust off with his hand. It was a notebook.

The notebook's cover bore a symbol—exactly the same as the binding pattern on the stitched-up corpse demon's body.

He turned to the first page.

"...Experiment No. 037, bind the three-star monster 'Stitched Corpse Demon' to a designated area, and test the duration of the binding rune..."

"...On the 14th day, the binding marks are decaying faster than expected, requiring energy replenishment..."

"...It is recommended to use the instance core as an energy source, which can achieve permanent binding..."

Zhou Lang turned the pages one by one, becoming increasingly alarmed with each reading.

This notebook details how to control ghosts using binding runes and how to power them using the dungeon core. The entire "Ghost Realm" dungeon is, from beginning to end, an experimental field for someone—or some organization.

"Fang Yan, come and see."

Fang Yan walked over, picked up the notebook, and quickly glanced through it. His expression changed.

"I guessed right," he said. "This isn't a natural copy. It's man-made."

"Who?" Zhou Lang asked.

Fang Yan turned to the last page of the notebook. There was a signature there, the handwriting messy, but barely legible—

"X".

Zhou Lang was stunned.

X Union.

It's that name again.

The mysterious organization mentioned in the document he discovered three months ago has reappeared.

"The X Guild?" Fang Yan looked at his expression. "You've heard of it?"

"Hmm," Zhou Lang said briefly. He didn't explain in detail.

Gu Ye stood to the side, remaining silent. But Zhou Lang noticed that her complexion had turned very pale.

"Gu Ye?"

"...I remember now." Her voice was very soft.

"What did you remember?"

Gu Ye didn't answer immediately. She leaned against the wall, her eyes closed, her fingers trembling.

About a minute later, she opened her eyes.

"I remember now," she repeated. "Almost everything."

Zhou Lang waited for her to continue.

"I used to be... a high-level player. A really high-level one." Gu Ye spoke slowly, carefully choosing each word. "I participated when horror games first came out. I played all the way to the maximum level."

Zhou Lang's heart skipped a beat. Max level? Horror games have max levels?

"Later, I left the game," Gu Ye continued, "the only one who left successfully."

Fang Yan listened from the side, his mouth slightly open.

"Wait," he said. "The only max-level player to leave the game? You are—that person?"

Gu Ye did not answer.

But her silence was the answer.

Zhou Lang looked at her, his mind racing. Of course, he had heard of that legend. It was the most widely circulated story in the horror game community—there was a person who reached the maximum level in the very early days of the game, then successfully escaped the game and returned to a normal life.

No one knows who that person is. No one has ever seen them. Only a code name circulates among various intelligence networks.

"So how did you lose your memory?" Zhou Lang asked.

"I don't know." Gu Ye shook his head. "I can't remember that part. I only remember that I was doing something, and then suddenly I don't remember anything. When I woke up, I was in that instance."

She paused for a moment, as if hesitating whether to continue.

"There's one more thing."

"What?"

Gu Ye pursed his lips.

She didn't say.

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back. She chose not to mention that she had founded the X Guild.

It's not that she doesn't trust Zhou Lang. It's just that she hasn't figured things out herself yet.

If she founded the X Guild, what does the signature on this lab notebook represent? Was it done by one of her people? Or is someone impersonating the X Guild?

She needs time to think things through.

"It's nothing," Gu Ye said. "I'll tell you when I remember."

Zhou Lang glanced at her but didn't press the matter. He could tell Gu Ye was holding back, but he didn't intend to pressure her. Everyone has their own secrets.

"Okay." Zhou Lang put the notebook into his bag. "Let's go out first. It's not safe to stay here any longer."

The three returned to the ground along the same route.

The cleanup operation concluded on the fifth day. The Ghost King was not defeated—Li Feng ordered a temporary retreat after losing three players. The core was not destroyed, but the cleanup of the outer area was largely complete.

The military declared the operation "partially successful" and promised to organize a second attack.

The players received 3000 points of Mystery as a reward—less than the 5000 promised by Li Feng. Some complained, but no one dared to cause trouble.

Zhou Lang had no time to worry about the money. His mind was completely occupied with the X Guild and the artificial dungeon.

As they left the abandoned factory, Fang Yan walked over to him.

"What do we do next?"

"I'm thinking about it," Zhou Lang said.

"The guild competition is about to begin," Fang Yan suddenly said, seemingly out of the blue.

Zhou Lang looked at him.

"I'm eligible to participate, but I haven't used it," Fang Yan said. "What about you? Based on your dungeon evaluation, you should be qualified too."

Zhou Lang had indeed heard of the Guild Tournament. It was a nationwide competition for high-level players, and the teams that made it to the finals would gain access to SS-level dungeons.

SS-rank dungeon. The legendary finale of a horror game.

If we want to find out the truth behind all this, an SS-rank dungeon might be the only answer.

"I'll check," Zhou Lang said.

Zhou Lang checked his eligibility for the competition in the system.

The result surprised him somewhat.

"Congratulations, player Zhou Lang. Given that you have achieved the highest rating (S-rank) in all completed dungeons, the system has made an exception and allowed you to participate in the Guild Competition ahead of schedule, directly entering the final stage."

Gu Ye checked his own as well. He got the same message.

Fang Yan also confirmed that he had the qualifications long ago, but had not used them.

The problem lies with Zhao Qiang, Han Yingying, and Chen Ming.

"The three of us aren't qualified," Zhao Qiang said dejectedly. "The system says we need to complete three more SS-level dungeons before we can participate."

"Three SS-level rank attacks?" Zhou Lang frowned. "How long would that take?"

"It depends on luck. SS-level dungeons aren't always available; you have to wait for the system to refresh them," Zhao Qiang said.

That's not a big problem. Time is tight, but it's not completely too late.

The real problem comes later.

When Zhou Lang clicked "Confirm Participation," a new prompt appeared in the system.