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

Zhou Lang put down the chainsaw, his hands trembling. He had just killed someone, and although that person was no longer human, the feeling was still terrible.

"Is it over?" Han Yingying asked.

"Not yet," the butler said. "You need to go back downstairs and wait for the settlement."

The three walked back, and when they passed the second basement level, the names on the wall disappeared. When they passed the first basement level, the belongings were gone too. The entire basement was empty, as if no one had ever been there.

Back in the lobby on the first floor, all the other players were there. Xiong Batian, Xiao Cao, and the others Zhou Lang had never seen before were all standing there, looking bewildered.

"What happened?" Xiong Batian asked. "I just heard a loud bang, and then I was teleported here."

Zhou Lang didn't answer; he looked at Butler Sha. Butler Sha stood in the center of the hall, his hand raised.

"The instance has been restarted; settlement will now begin."

A beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping everyone. Zhou Lang felt his body become lighter, as if he were about to float away.

"Wait!" he shouted, "You haven't told us the truth yet!"

The butler looked at him, a complex emotion flashing in his empty eye sockets.

"The truth is, this game has no end," it said. "You think you can leave once you've finished it, but in reality, each level is a new beginning. You'll keep playing until you die, or become like me."

Is there any way to truly leave?

"Yes," the butler said. "Find the creator of the game and kill him. But nobody knows where he is, and nobody has ever seen him."

The light grew brighter and brighter, blurring Zhou Lang's vision. The last thing he heard was the butler's voice:

"Good luck to you."

Zhou Lang opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed. The room was unfamiliar; posters were on the walls, and drawing boards and paints were on the table.

He sat up, feeling a little dizzy. Everything that had just happened felt like a dream, but the items in his inventory were still there, proving it wasn't a dream.

The door was pushed open, and a young girl poked her head in: "You're awake? That's great, I thought you were going to sleep until noon."

Zhou Lang was stunned: "Who are you?"

"I'm your roommate," the girl said with a smile. "Are you still half asleep? My name is Lin Xiaoyu, I'm a third-year art student, and I came here to sketch with you."

Sketching? Zhou Lang recalled the content in the dungeon description—a group of art students came to the town to sketch and stayed at a guesthouse.

"here it is……"

"A guesthouse," Lin Xiaoyu said. "We just arrived yesterday, didn't you forget? The teacher said we're going to town for field research today, so we should get up early."

Zhou Lang got out of bed and walked to the window. Outside was a small town with narrow streets, old houses, and mountains visible in the distance.

He opened the system panel, which displayed:

[Instance: The Mysterious House]

[Difficulty: C level]

[Mission: Survive for 7 days]

Current progress: Day 1

[Player Identity: Art Academy Student]

So, the replication really did restart. But this time it's different; they're not acting as employees, but as tenants.

"Hurry up!" Lin Xiaoyu urged, "Everyone's waiting downstairs."

Zhou Lang changed his clothes and followed Lin Xiaoyu downstairs. There were about a dozen people in the lobby, men and women, all around twenty years old. He immediately spotted Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying; they saw him too, their eyes flashing with surprise.

"Everyone's here," said a middle-aged man in a jacket, holding a camera. "I'm your team leader, just call me Teacher Wang. Today's task is to familiarize yourself with the town and sketch some distinctive sights. Remember, you must be back at the guesthouse by 7 p.m., as it's not very safe here at night."

The students nodded and began to walk out. Zhou Lang followed behind the crowd, taking the opportunity to get closer to Zhao Qiang.

"Did you restart too?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yes," Zhao Qiang said. "When I woke up, I almost thought I was dead."

Where is Han Yingying?

"Over there." Zhao Qiang pointed ahead, where Han Yingying was walking with several girls, looking very natural.

Zhou Lang observed the others, trying to figure out who the players were and who the NPCs were. But everyone looked normal, and he couldn't tell them apart at all.

The group left the guesthouse and walked along the street towards the town center. The town was quiet, and they could only see a few residents occasionally, but they were all in a hurry and did not greet them.

"This place is a bit eerie," Zhao Qiang said. "Did you notice? The way the residents are looking at us is very strange."

Zhou Lang nodded; he had noticed it too. The way the residents looked at them was as if they were dead.

The group stopped in the town square, and Teacher Wang told everyone to have free time and meet back in two hours. The students dispersed, some looking for sights, others browsing the shops.

Zhou Lang pulled Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying aside.

"We need to figure out the rules for this copy," he said. "Last time it was from the employee's perspective, this time it's from the tenant's perspective, so there will definitely be differences."

"Are those seven ghosts still around?" Han Yingying asked.

"They should be," Zhou Lang said, "but their identities may have changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Last time they were the room owners, and we were the waiters. This time we're the tenants, and they might be..." Zhou Lang thought for a moment, "...other tenants."

Zhao Qiang gasped: "You mean, seven of us students are ghosts?"

"Very likely," Zhou Lang said, "so we need to find out who they are."

"How do I find it?"

"Observe," Zhou Lang said. "Ghosts are different from humans; they will always leave clues."

The three began observing the other students. Lin Xiaoyu was drawing a tree, her movements natural. Teacher Wang was taking pictures, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Some of the other students were chatting, while others were sketching; they all seemed normal.

"I can't find them," Zhao Qiang said, scratching his head. "They're too well disguised."

Zhou Lang frowned, then suddenly remembered something. He walked up to a boy who was drawing a house.

"It's well drawn," Zhou Lang said.

The boy looked up, smiled, and said, "Thank you."

"What's your name?"

"Li Yang".

Which department?

Oil painting department.

Zhou Lang nodded and walked away. He asked a few more people, and they all answered fluently. But when he walked up to a girl, she paused for a moment.

"What's your name?" Zhou Lang asked.

"I..." the girl hesitated, "My name is... Zhang Min."

Which department?

"Chinese Painting Department"

Zhou Lang stared at her for a few seconds, and the girl lowered her head and continued drawing. But Zhou Lang noticed that her hands were trembling.

He returned to Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying: "We've found one."

"who?"

"That girl named Zhang Min," Zhou Lang said, "she hesitated and seemed very nervous when answering the question."

"Based on this?" Zhao Qiang was skeptical.

"There's more," Zhou Lang said. "Her paintings are reversed."

"The opposite?"