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

Zhou Lang opened his eyes and found himself still at home.

The TV was on on the sofa, showing some kind of home makeover program. On the coffee table was a half-eaten bowl of instant noodles, the noodles already lumped together.

He glanced at his phone; it was 9:30 PM. Less than two hours had passed in reality since he entered the manor instance.

The system panel pops up.

The "Terrifying Manor" instance has been resolved.

[Rating: S]

[Reward: 1200 game coins have been transferred to your account]

[Bonus Reward: Skill Attribute "Bandage Binding" Unlocked]

[Current terms: ghost hunter, bandage restraint]

Zhou Lang glanced at it, turned off the panel, and finished eating the rest of the instant noodles.

My phone vibrated. It was a message from Zhao Qiang.

"Brother Lang, are you back yet?"

"Yes."

"I went back too! Bro, let me tell you, after this ghost took over the room's owner, I've been having a blast in the manor. All the ghosts listen to me."

"Um."

"That butler who killed me even poured me tea! Do you even know what pouring tea means?!"

Zhou Lang did not reply.

Zhao Qiang sent another message: "By the way, has Han Yingying come back? Has she contacted you?"

Zhou Lang scrolled through his contacts but found no unread messages from Han Yingying. He typed "I don't know" and sent it.

Zhao Qiang replied instantly: "Aren't you worried about them? They risked so much with you."

Zhou Lang turned his phone face down on the table and went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.

To be honest, Han Yingying isn't on his mind right now.

It's money.

In-game currency can be used to buy items in the in-game store, or it can be exchanged for real-world currency. The exchange rate is 10:1, meaning 1200 in-game currency is equal to 120 RMB.

It's not much, but it's better than nothing.

He currently has a total of 3400 game coins in his account, plus what he had saved up before. He's still far from his goal.

The goal is simple—to buy a "location card".

The location card can track a person's location within the game system, including the current instance they are in.

Price: 50000 game coins.

Zhou Lang washed the dishes and sat back on the sofa. He opened the system shop, flipped through a few pages, and stopped at an item.

[Investigation Order - Copy]

[Effect: Allows you to specify a single instance to be included in the investigation, without being restricted by instance matching.]

Price: 800 game coins

[Note: This product is only valid for copies containing abnormal data.]

He stared at the prop for a while.

He had noticed this before. The system shop occasionally refreshes with special items, and this investigation order was posted last week, but no one had bought it yet.

The reason is simple—a copy of "abnormal data" is required to use it, and what is abnormal data? A surge in the mortality rate is an example.

Zhou Lang closed the online store and opened the community forum.

The most popular post on the forum is titled: "[WARNING] The death rate in the new dungeon 'Giant's View Inn' has reached 87%. Players below C-rank are advised to avoid it!"

The comments section below the post was filled with lamentations.

"What the hell do I do now that I've been matched with this dungeon? Is there a guide?"

"Without a guide, almost no one who goes in ever comes out."

"Two people came out, one went insane and the other had amnesia, we couldn't get anything out of them."

"Is there a bug in the system? Is an 87% death rate normal for a D-rank dungeon?"

Zhou Lang scrolled down and came across a comment: "The bizarre number and difficulty of this dungeon far exceed the D-level standard. I suspect it's a rating error or data anomaly."

Data anomaly.

He left the forum, reopened the store, and bought the investigation warrant.

Subtracting 800 from 3400 leaves 2600.

Meat hurts.

However, this investigation order allows him to enter a specified copy without matching restrictions. It can be used as long as the copy contains anomalous data.

Why did he enter this high-mortality instance?

Two reasons.

First, investigating dungeon bugs can earn extra rewards from the system. He'd seen on the forums that someone had earned 5000 game coins in one go using investigation tokens.

second--

My phone vibrated again.

Han Yingying's message: "Zhou Lang, my matchmaking for tomorrow's dungeon has been completed."

A screenshot is attached below.

[You have been matched with the instance: Giant View Inn (Grade D)]

[Entry Time: Tomorrow at 14:00]

【Friendly Reminder: Have a pleasant journey】

Zhou Lang stared at the screenshot for three seconds.

He replied: "Don't go."

Han Yingying: "It's a system-matched event. If you don't go, your credit score will be deducted. If it reaches 0, you'll be forced to enter a random instance."

Zhou Lang knew this rule. Not going was more dangerous than going.

He thought for a moment and typed: "Then don't move around after you go in, wait for me."

Han Yingying didn't reply for a while. After about two minutes, she replied with a single word: "Okay."

A few seconds later, another message appeared: "You want to enter this instance too?"

"Um."

"How do I get in? This isn't the match you're supposed to get, is it?"

"There is a way."

Han Yingying didn't ask any more questions. She sent a message saying "See you tomorrow" and then went offline.

Zhou Lang put down his phone, leaned back on the sofa, and thought for a moment.

An 87% mortality rate and a D-level rating. There's definitely something wrong here.

It's either a problem with the copy itself or a problem with the rating system.

Either way, it's an opportunity for him.

High risk means high reward.

He needed money, a lot of money. 50000 game coins were no small sum, but he couldn't delay any longer about his sister's whereabouts. His sister's data was in the system, and the location card could pinpoint which instance she was in. The prerequisite was—she was still alive.

Zhou Lang didn't want to think too much about this "premise".

He set his alarm for 1 p.m. the next day, took a shower, and went to bed.

While lying in bed, he opened the system panel and looked at his entries.

[Ghost Scarer]: Gain extra rewards when frightening eerie things. The higher the fright level, the richer the reward.

[Bandage Binding]: Summons bandages to bind a target for a duration depending on the target's strength. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

Two entries. No one else has any.

This was a bug-like advantage the system gave him when he entered the game. Why was he the only one with it? He didn't know. But he planned to use this advantage to its fullest extent.

Zhou Lang closed his eyes.

Tomorrow afternoon, Giant View B&B.

At 1:55 p.m. the next day, Zhou Lang sat on the sofa at home, clutching the investigation warrant in his hand.

The system panel displays:

[Investigation Order - Copy]

[Target Dungeon: Giant View Inn (Rank D - Anomaly)]

【Use? Yes/No】

He clicked "Yes".

A flash of white light.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing on a muddy road.

The sun was still out, and it wasn't dark yet. Mountains lined both sides of the road, with few trees, most of them bare. In the distance stood a three-story building, its exterior painted white, but the paint was peeling badly. A wooden sign hung at the entrance—"Giant View Homestay."

The characters are written crookedly, but they are indeed these five characters.

Zhou Lang looked around; he was the only one on the muddy road.

He arrived earlier than the other players. One of the advantages of the investigation warrant is that you can choose to enter the instance early. He chose to enter five minutes early.

Five minutes is enough for him to get a lot done.

He strode towards the guesthouse door and pushed it open to go inside.

The door wasn't locked. The lobby wasn't large, with a reception desk and seven keys hanging on the wall behind it, each corresponding to one of the seven rooms. Next to it was a check-in notice; the handwriting was blurry, but still legible: