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

The nurse stared at Zhou Lang for a few seconds, then smiled. The smile was stiff, like a mask.

Zhou Lang turned and left.

He quickened his pace, walked to the elevator, and pressed the button.

The elevator doors opened, and three nurses stood inside.

They all turned to look at Zhou Lang, their faces displaying stiff smiles.

"Sir, where are you going?" one of the nurses asked.

"First floor," Zhou Lang said.

"Please come in."

Zhou Lang stepped into the elevator, and the three nurses stood there without moving, staring at him.

The elevator doors closed.

Zhou Lang leaned against the elevator wall, reached into his pocket, and grasped the oil lamp.

The elevator began to descend.

First floor, second floor, third floor...

wrong.

The elevator is going down, but the floor indicator is jumping up.

Zhou Lang looked at the three nurses, who were still laughing, their smiles growing wider and wider until their mouths stretched to their ears.

"Sir," one of the nurses said, "have you come to the wrong place?"

"Outsiders are not welcome here," another nurse said.

"You should stay," the third nurse said. "Become one of us."

Three nurses simultaneously reached out and grabbed at Zhou Lang.

Zhou Lang took out an oil lamp and lit it.

Green light illuminated the elevator, and the hands of three nurses froze in mid-air.

They stared at the oil lamp, their smiles vanishing, replaced by fear.

"This is……"

"impossible……"

"How did you get this...?"

Zhou Lang ignored them and pressed the button for the first floor.

The elevator stopped going up and started going down.

The floor display has returned to normal, showing the third floor, second floor, and first floor.

The elevator doors opened, and Zhou Lang stepped out, glancing back at the three nurses.

"See you next time," he said.

The elevator doors closed, and the three nurses disappeared.

Zhou Lang walked out of the hospital, stood at the entrance, and lit a cigarette.

He was now certain that this hospital was the setting for the next instance. And judging from what had just happened, this instance was quite difficult.

The three nurses were clearly ghosts, but the fact that they could move around during the day suggests that the ghosts in this instance were stronger than those in the Horror Manor.

Zhou Lang took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring.

He needs to prepare.

First, he needs to upgrade his skills.

Zhou Lang opened the system interface and found the skill upgrade card.

Skill Upgrade Card

[Note: This skill can be upgraded by one level.]

[Currently Upgradeable Skill: Scaring Ghosts (Rank C)]

Use or not?

Zhou Lang chose to use it.

Skill upgrade successful

[Scaring Ghosts (Level C) → Scaring Ghosts (Level B)]

[New effect: Can inflict fear on ghosts of rank B and below, with the duration extended to 30 seconds]

[New effect: Ghosts under the fear state have their attributes reduced by 50%]

Zhou Lang looked at the upgraded skill and nodded in satisfaction.

A B-level skill is sufficient for most situations.

Next, he needs to prepare the props.

Zhou Lang opened the online store and browsed the items available for purchase.

[Exorcism Talisman x10: 500 Gold Coins]

【Holy Water x5: 300 Gold Coins】

Protective suit: 800 gold coins

Night Vision Gear: 600 Gold Coins

[Medical Kit: 200 Gold Coins]

Zhou Lang thought for a moment, then bought a ghost-repelling talisman, holy water, and a medical kit, spending 1000 gold coins.

He wanted to keep the remaining gold coins for future use.

After finishing these tasks, Zhou Lang returned to his rented apartment.

The landlord was waiting for him at the door.

"Zhou Lang, you're finally back." The landlady, a middle-aged woman, had an unfriendly expression. "The rent is due; you've been a month behind."

"I know," Zhou Lang said. "I'll give it to you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" the landlord sneered. "You said tomorrow last time too, and what happened? Let me tell you, if you don't pay today, you're moving out tomorrow."

Zhou Lang looked at her without saying anything.

The landlord felt a chill run down his spine from the look in his eyes and took a step back: "You... what do you want?"

"It's nothing," Zhou Lang said. "I'll pay the rent."

He pushed open the door, went inside, and closed it.

The landlord stood outside the door, cursing as he walked away.

Zhou Lang sat on the bed, looking at the sky outside the window.

As darkness fell, night descended.

He closed his eyes, and his sister's face appeared in his mind.

His sister has been missing for a month, and he entered the game to find her.

But so far, he hasn't found a single clue.

Zhou Lang opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them.

No matter the cost, he will find his sister.

My phone suddenly rang.

Zhou Lang picked it up and saw that it was a call from Zhao Qiang.

"Feed?"

"Brother Lang, where are you?" Zhao Qiang's voice sounded very nervous.

"At home, what's wrong?"

"I...I might be in trouble," Zhao Qiang said. "I just received a game notification saying I've been selected to participate in the next instance."

"When?"

"Tomorrow night," Zhao Qiang said. "And this time the dungeon is A-rank, I... I'm afraid I won't be able to make it."

Zhou Lang was silent for a few seconds: "What is the dungeon scenario?"

"The hospital," Zhao Qiang said, "the city's central hospital."

Zhou Lang's eyes lit up.

really.

"Don't be afraid," he said. "I'll be participating in this instance too."

"Really?" Zhao Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I feel relieved to have you here."

"See you tomorrow," Zhou Lang said, and hung up the phone.

He looked at his phone screen, a smile playing on his lips.

It seems the game system knew he was interested in this hospital, so it directly assigned him to this instance.

Just right.

He also wanted to see what secrets this hospital was hiding.

At 8 p.m. the next day, Zhou Lang appeared at the entrance of the city's central hospital on time.

The hospital is completely different at night from during the day. The lobby, which is bustling with people during the day, is now empty, with only a few dim lights flickering.

Zhou Lang walked into the hall and saw that Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying were already there.

"You've come too," he said.

In front was a huge space, with rusty iron chains and various instruments of torture hanging on the walls.

The air was filled with the smell of decay.

"This is the basement?" Zhao Qiang covered his nose, his voice trembling.

Zhou Lang walked forward, holding the oil lamp. The green light illuminated the writing on the wall. The words were written in blood, crooked and scraggly, warnings such as "Don't come down" and "Run away quickly."

"It seems someone has been here before," Han Yingying said.

"And they didn't make it out alive," Zhou Lang added.

They continued walking and soon came to the second lock.

This lock wasn't an ordinary iron lock, but a complex mechanical lock with strange symbols engraved on it. Zhou Lang tried to cut it with scissors, but the scissors bounced off the lock the moment they touched it.

"It seems the ordinary method won't work." Zhou Lang put away the scissors and began to examine the mechanism lock.

The lock had nine buttons, each engraved with a different symbol. Zhou Lang recalled the paintings he had seen in the manor, which also had similar symbols.

"Wait, I remember the paintings on the restaurant wall..." Han Yingying suddenly said, "The order of the symbols in those paintings is..."

She closed her eyes to recall, then began pressing the buttons.

Click, click, click…

After the seventh button was pressed, the lock made a soft click and opened automatically.

"How do you remember it so clearly?" Zhao Qiang asked in surprise.

"I have a photographic memory," Han Yingying said, "but I don't usually use it."

Zhou Lang glanced at her but didn't say anything. This girl was more useful than he had imagined.

The second lock broke.

They pushed open the door, and inside was another corridor, but this time the corridor was lined with cells on both sides. The cells were filled with all sorts of ghosts, some missing limbs, some covered in blood, and some that were not even recognizable as human.