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

"Hurry!" Zhou Lang urged, following after them.

The three rushed up the stairs, their footsteps crashing against the stone walls, making a clattering sound like ping-pong balls. The black mass pursued them, its speed unexpectedly slow—but Zhou Lang didn't see this as good news; the longer it waited, the more trouble it would cause.

Zhou Lang stopped halfway down the stairs.

Zhao Qiang reacted a beat too slow and almost bumped into him. "What are you doing!"

"You guys continue," Zhou Lang handed the oil lamp to Han Yingying, then pushed the chainsaw into Zhao Qiang's hands. "Hold this carefully, don't cut yourself."

Zhao Qiang caught it, his expression indescribable. "Then you—"

"I have a way."

"Are you all alone?" Han Yingying didn't move.

"What does 'staying with two options' mean? Does it mean it can choose one more? Let's go."

Zhou Lang was always concise in his speech, rarely giving anyone room for negotiation; he was either fierce or utterly ruthless. Han Yingying was shoved by him and stumbled as she ran upstairs. Zhao Qiang, carrying a chainsaw, followed, but after a couple of steps, he couldn't help but turn back and say, "Don't die!"

"Do your best."

The footsteps faded away, leaving Zhou Lang alone on the stairs, standing on the halfway point, looking down.

The black mass was slowly rising. The passage was too narrow, so it squeezed in from both sides. The black liquid at the edges scraped against the stone wall, leaving scorch marks and carrying a burnt smell as it floated upwards.

Zhou Lang reached into his pocket and took out a copper coin—the change from his daily salary. It was light, and he flicked it between his fingertips. It tumbled twice in the air before falling back onto his fingertip.

"Kill the butler," he shouted, his voice low. "Do you know what it means to lose the core node?"

The black figure paused, its empty eyes hovering over his face.

"You're just a bunch of scattered, eerie energy now. Your foundation is gone, you won't last long," Zhou Lang said, tucking the coin between his fingers. "I have a suggestion for you—retreat."

The black mass surged upwards, now only three or four steps away from Zhou Lang.

"With the core gone, staying here is just a waste of time," Zhou Lang said, not retreating. "It's better to withdraw to the Strange Domain, recover, and then find a manor to settle down. Isn't that more worthwhile than wasting time here with me?"

The low rumble intensified, accompanied by vibrations, and stone chips fell from above.

"Of course, if you think you can still fight, you can try," Zhou Lang put the copper coin back into his pocket, "but you saw the effect of the green light of the oil lamp on you. I can kill you, but you may not be able to kill me—you figure that out yourself."

The green light of the oil lamp is indeed effective against this kind of eeriness; the black liquid shrinks inward at the edge of the light, an instinctive reaction that cannot be hidden.

The silence lasted for about ten seconds.

The black group started to retreat.

It didn't dissipate, but rather slowly receded, the black liquid seeping along the cracks in the stone and disappearing silently in the darkness of the basement.

Zhou Lang stood there for a while, making sure there was no movement, before walking upstairs.

At the exit, Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying stayed there, neither of them leaving.

"I'll let you run."

"Stop talking nonsense," Zhao Qiang handed the chainsaw back. "Is it done yet?"

"Okay, I've cancelled."

"How did you make it retreat?" Han Yingying asked.

"Reason with it."

"..."

"If you reason with adults properly, it will back down," Zhou Lang said as he walked down the corridor. "There's nothing strange about it."

Zhao Qiang was silent for a moment, then said, "You're trying to reason with a ghost."

"Ghosts also have pros and cons to consider, but these pros and cons are different from those of humans. We need to analyze it from a different perspective," Zhou Lang said, turning the corner. "Let's go back to the main hall."

The ghosts in the corridor were gone, the walls no longer exuded that oppressive chill, and even the air had changed, no longer feeling as heavy as before.

The estate is loosening.

When the three returned to the hall, the butler was not there.

The furnishings in the hall remained unchanged; the clocks, paintings, and vases were all in their original places. However, the oppressive feeling that made it unsuitable for strangers to linger was gone. The ordinary wooden furniture was just ordinary wooden furniture; there was nothing waiting inside.

"Is it completely resolved?" Zhao Qiang looked around.

"It won't happen again anytime soon," Zhou Lang said, sitting down on the sofa. "But how soon is uncertain."

"So now we—"

The system notification sound arrived before he spoke.

[Dungeon quest completion rate: 112%]

[Hidden quest complete. Dungeon reset in 30 minutes.]

Please organize your items before the settlement.

Zhou Lang shared the interface with the two of them, and they each took a look.

"112%..." Zhao Qiang stared at the number. "How can that exceed 100%?"

"The hidden quest has been triggered," Han Yingying said. "The rewards for the dungeon where the hidden quest is triggered will be stacked proportionally."

How many stacks?

"Check the reviews."

The system then displayed a message:

[Instance Rating: Perfect (including hidden content)]

[Reward calculation in progress...]

[Final Reward: 1800 Mysterious Coins, 5 Attribute Points, 3 Random Items, Title: Manor Terminator.]

Zhao Qiang stared at the string of numbers, speechless for a long time.

Han Yingying flipped through her random item inventory. "I have two defensive items here, and one more—" she paused, "an offensive item, legendary quality."

"Legendary quality?" Zhao Qiang leaned closer for a look and gasped. "What is this? So many people would kill for it."

"So," Han Yingying put away the props, "it's better to follow the right person than to run around on your own."

Zhao Qiang opened his, his expression blank. "A contract item, a soul contract... what is this?"

"You can establish a two-way contract with the supernatural, you can summon it, and the other party can sense your location," Zhou Lang said. "It depends on who you sign with. Some supernatural beings are worth signing with, while others will only cause you trouble."

"So how should I choose?"

"We'll look into that later," Zhou Lang said, putting the coins into his backpack. "Now watch mine."

Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying both looked in his direction at the same time.

Zhou Lang opened his inventory and found the newly arrived item:

[Manor Jurisdiction (Incomplete): The holder can issue limited commands to the strange entities remaining within the manor. Uses: 3/3. Note: This item is incomplete; some functions are damaged.]

"..." Han Yingying read it twice. "What does this mean? You can control the ghosts in the manor?"

"Limited control," Zhou Lang put away the props. "We'll have to test them to know exactly what they can do; that's not important right now."

Zhao Qiang read the item description over and over again, asking, "How many Strange Coins is this worth?"

"I don't know," Zhou Lang said, "but I won't sell."

"What I mean is..." Zhao Qiang paused, "this thing is very important, isn't it?"

"it works."

"How do I use it?"

"You'll find out when you find out," Zhou Lang said, changing the subject. "Wait for the settlement."

Zhao Qiang couldn't ask any more questions. He leaned back on the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The three waited in the lobby for the settlement. The system notifications were intermittent, and other players' performance evaluations were displayed one by one. Most of them were good, three were excellent, and Zhou Lang's perfect score was displayed at the top, which was particularly eye-catching.

"You're so perfect," Han Yingying tilted her head, "how did you manage to get that score? I also rated your daily performance as excellent, but your total score is much lower."