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

The ghost stopped moving: "Your sister?"

"Zhou Wan entered the game a month ago and then disappeared."

The ghost was silent for a moment: "She's still alive, but I don't know where she is."

You're lying.

"I have no reason to lie to you," the ghost said. "But I can give you a suggestion: go to the mall. You'll find the answer you're looking for there."

"Which shopping mall?"

You'll find out soon enough.

The ghost's figure vanished completely.

Zhou Lang was left alone in the room.

He stood there for a while, then turned and left.

Back at the restaurant, Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying had already finished eating.

"Where did you go?" Zhao Qiang asked.

"What a ghost." Zhou Lang sat down and continued eating his breakfast.

"What the hell?"

"A ghost who knows a lot of things."

Han Yingying looked at him: "What did it say?"

Zhou Lang briefly recounted the conversation that had just taken place.

"A shopping mall?" Zhao Qiang scratched his head. "What shopping mall?"

"I don't know," Zhou Lang said, "but it should be the next instance."

"Are you planning to go?"

"Go," Zhou Lang said. "I need to find my sister."

Han Yingying bit her lip: "I'll go with you."

"I'll go too," Zhao Qiang said.

Zhou Lang looked at the two of them and did not refuse.

At noon, the system notification sounded precisely on time:

[The Horror Manor instance has ended]

[Start Settlement]

[Player: Waves]

[Completion Rate: 100%]

[Rating: Perfect]

Basic Reward: 1000 Game Coins

[Bonus Reward: 2000 Game Coins]

[Special Reward: Manor Contract]

Total: 3000 game coins

Zhou Lang looked at his account balance; he now had 4200 game coins.

[Player: Han Yingying]

[Completion Rate: 85%]

[Rating: Excellent]

[Reward: 800 game coins]

[Player: Xiong Batian]

[Completion Rate: 90%]

[Rating: Excellent]

[Reward: 1000 game coins]

After the settlement was completed, the three were teleported out of the instance.

Zhou Lang opened his eyes and found himself back in his rented room.

The time displayed on the phone is 3 PM.

He lay in bed and closed his eyes to rest.

Although this dungeon run was thrilling, it was very rewarding. I not only got 3000 game coins, but also obtained the special item, the Manor Contract.

More importantly, he learned that his sister was still alive.

As long as you're alive, there's hope.

As Zhou Lang was thinking, his phone suddenly rang.

It was Zhao Qiang calling.

"Feed?"

"Brother Lang, have you checked the game forums?" Zhao Qiang's voice was urgent. "Something terrible has happened."

Zhou Lang opened the forum, and the title of the pinned post on the homepage was:

[Shocking! The death rate in the mall dungeon is as high as 80%!]

He clicked on it and saw that the post described the mall instance in detail:

"This dungeon is insane. It releases a ghost every two hours, and each one is stronger than the last. Out of our team of ten, only two survived."

"The most terrifying ones are those twin sisters; they're S-rank demons, and we can't beat them at all."

"Never go to the mall dungeon, you'll just be throwing your life away."

There are thousands of replies below, most of which advise people not to go.

Zhou Lang flipped through a few pages and found a useful piece of information:

"The trigger condition for the mall instance is to enter any large mall in the real world. If you stay in the mall for more than an hour, you will be forcibly teleported into the instance."

"So everyone, please don't go to shopping malls lately."

Zhou Lang turned off his phone and lay back down on the bed.

The mall instance has a mortality rate of 80% and is an S-rank ghost.

That sounds dangerous.

But he had to go.

Because there are clues about my sister there.

Zhou Lang stayed in the rented room for three days.

For the past three days, he has been studying the information about the mall instance. There are more and more posts about this instance on the forum, but not much useful information.

Most people were either complaining about how difficult the dungeon was or mourning their fallen teammates.

Only a few posts mentioned some details:

"The core of the mall instance is to investigate the truth behind the cable car accident. Once you find the truth, you can clear the instance."

"But the problem is, those ghosts won't let you investigate properly; they'll keep chasing you."

"Moreover, the mall is very large, and the clues are scattered in various corners. It is basically impossible to find all the clues within 24 hours."

After reading these posts, Zhou Lang had a general idea in mind.

The difficulty of this instance lies in the tight time constraints; you must both evade the ghosts' pursuit and investigate the truth.

However, knowing the location of the clues in advance can save a lot of time.

He opened his private messages and sent a message to Han Yingying:

Do you have a detailed map of the mall instance?

Han Yingying quickly replied: "Yes, I had someone buy one for me, it cost 500 game coins."

Send it to me.

"it is good."

A few minutes later, Zhou Lang received the map.

The map is very detailed, marking each floor of the mall and the function of each area.

The shopping mall has five floors:

The first floor houses the clothing and dining areas.

The second floor houses the electronics section and a bookstore.

The third floor houses a children's play area and a cinema.

The fourth floor houses a gym and a beauty salon.

The fifth floor is the office area, which is the office of the mall's management.

The basement level is a parking lot.

The second basement level is the cable car station.

Zhou Lang stared at the second basement level for a long time.

The cable car station—this should be the core area of ​​the instance.

But according to the post, the second basement level is the most dangerous place, where the twin sisters are located.

Zhou Lang put down his phone and began organizing his equipment.

Oil lamp, scissors, chainsaw, and the estate deed brought from the haunted manor.

He opened the contract and looked at it; the text on it suddenly began to change:

Manor contracts can be converted into any building contract.

Should it be converted?

Zhou Lang paused for a moment, then selected "Yes".

Please select the building type.

A list appeared before my eyes, showing various types of buildings: villas, apartments, hotels, shopping malls...

Zhou Lang chose "the shopping mall" without hesitation.

[Conversion Successful]

[Item Obtained: Mall Contract]

[Effect: In the mall instance, you can temporarily gain mall management privileges for 10 minutes.]

Zhou Lang looked at the contract in his hand and twitched his lips.

This is just in time.

The next day, Zhou Lang arranged to meet Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying at Wanda Plaza in the city center.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Zhao Qiang stared at the mall entrance, his face pale. "This place is a death trap now."

"I have to go," Zhou Lang said.

"Then I'll go with you." Zhao Qiang took a deep breath. "Since we're all going to die sooner or later anyway, we might as well die with some value."

Han Yingying didn't speak, but her eyes had already shown her attitude.

The three of them entered the mall.

There weren't many people in the mall; most people knew it was dangerous there and avoided it if they could.

Zhou Lang checked the time: 2 PM.

According to the rules, anyone who stays in the mall for more than an hour will be teleported into a dungeon.

They found a coffee shop, sat down, and ordered three coffees.

"Remember a few things once we enter the instance," Zhou Lang said. "First, don't act alone. Second, don't fight ghosts head-on; avoid them if you can. Third, follow my instructions."

"Understood." Zhao Qiang nodded.

Han Yingying nodded as well.

Time passed second by second.