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

"You need to combine daily performance bonuses with bonuses from hidden tasks to get a perfect score," Zhou Lang said. "Relying solely on daily performance bonuses is only considered excellent."

How did you know there was a hidden quest?

"Just a guess."

Han Yingying raised her hand and threw the cushion next to her at him, "Can you please stop saying you're guessing every time?"

Zhou Lang shifted to the side, the cushion grazing his face as it flew past and landed on the ground. "It really was a guess," he said. "Integrate all the known information, then go in the most likely direction. If it's right, it's right; if it's wrong, adjust it."

"Then tell me, how did you deduce that about the basement?"

"It was overly sensitive about the basement when it came to killing the butler," Zhou Lang said. "The first time I thought about going down there, it stopped me, and when it paid my salary, it gave me a special look—parasitic creatures have an instinctive aversion to things that threaten their hosts, which manifests as that kind of wariness. But it didn't explicitly forbid it, it was just wary, which means it judged that I didn't have the ability to threaten the core and had a sense of wishful thinking. This is a loophole."

Han Yingying rested her chin on her hand and looked at him without saying a word.

After a while, she asked, "Why do you know so much about ghosts?"

"We've had more contact with each other."

Why so much contact?

Zhou Lang didn't respond to that, but looked down at his watch. "The settlement is almost done. Go and call Xiong Batian and the others."

He changed the subject, and Han Yingying stood up, took a few steps, stopped and turned back, "After the dungeon is over, I want to get to know you better."

Zhou Lang did not respond.

Han Yingying didn't wait for a reply and turned to look for someone.

After she walked away, Zhao Qiang lowered his voice and leaned closer, "What she meant was—"

"Go and call someone."

"I don't--"

"go."

"Fine, fine," Zhao Qiang muttered after taking a few steps, "I'm just a gofer."

Five minutes before the settlement, players gradually gathered back in the lobby, seven or eight of them, each with a different expression. Xiong Batian, who had gotten a "Good" grade, stood in the corner staring at Zhou Lang's "Perfect" grade for a long time. "How did you get this 'Perfect' grade? There's no 'Perfect' grade in the quest, is there?"

"Yes, it only appears when a hidden quest is triggered," Zhao Qiang explained, adding a twist, "We went down to the basement last night and smashed the core."

"...You went to the basement last night?" Xiong Batian's voice rose a notch. "Didn't the system say we weren't allowed to leave the room—"

"The system said we weren't allowed to leave the room," Zhao Qiang said seriously. "We left the room, not the manor gate, so we didn't break the rules."

Xiong Batian opened his mouth, then stared blankly for a long time, "...Isn't that very dangerous?"

"Danger has nothing to do with the outcome," Zhao Qiang glanced at him sideways, "If you chicken out, you'll just get a 'good' grade."

These words were blunt, and Xiong Batian's face turned ugly. Before he could even refute them, the countdown to the settlement reached zero.

A sudden burst of white light illuminated the hall, obscuring all outlines, and the system voice sounded one last time:

[Instance completion complete. Welcome back to reality.]

The actual time is 6:12 AM.

Zhou Lang opened his eyes to find himself in his own bed. The ceiling was ordinary. He could vaguely hear the sounds of breakfast stalls opening downstairs, and someone was dragging a chair next door, making a creaking sound. There were no ghosts, no housekeeper, and no green oil lamp.

He lay in bed for a while, then picked up his phone to look at it—

Three messages were unread: two were regular system notifications, and one was from Zhao Qiang, sent at 2:58 AM.

I've inquired about your sister's situation. She's not on the city's missing players list, but I've heard that an SS-level dungeon recently opened, and the first batch of people who went in haven't come out yet. The missing person might have been directly selected for that dungeon. Do you want to check it out?

Zhou Lang stared at the message for about twenty seconds, then replied with two words:

Check it out.

He put down his phone, got up, brushed his teeth, and went out. After completing this routine, he ran into Zhao Qiang in the hallway. The latter looked sleepy and his hair was a mess.

"Did you see my message?" Zhao Qiang rubbed his eyes.

"I've seen it."

"An SS-level dungeon," Zhao Qiang followed, his voice still a little hoarse, "It says it will be officially opened soon, but I couldn't find out what the entry requirements are."

"Let's eat first."

Aren't you in a hurry?

"Is it useful in an emergency?"

Zhao Qiang couldn't refute it and followed him into the elevator. "Han Yingying said yesterday that she found a player information exchange group. There are people in the group who know how to enter the SS-level dungeon. Do you want to join?"

"add."

"Okay, I'll tell her."

The elevator reached the ground floor. The sun had just risen outside, and the light was so dim it looked like it had been diluted with water. There weren't many pedestrians, and the oil in the breakfast stalls on the roadside was still sizzling. The smell of soy milk and fried dough sticks wafted over on the wind.

Zhao Qiang bought a set, and Zhou Lang bought two steamed buns, which they ate standing by the roadside.

"Tell me," Zhao Qiang said, sipping his soy milk, "how do you plan to use the jurisdiction over that manor?"

Zhou Lang took a bite of his steamed bun and said, "We'll see."

"You still have three chances, don't waste them."

"I know."

"Every time you say you know, it makes me uneasy," Zhao Qiang paused. "What did you know before? You knew you had to go into the basement, you knew to cut the chain, and then you went and tried to reason with the ghost. Is that what you call knowing?"

"As long as the result is fine."

"You'll get me sooner or later," Zhao Qiang sighed, taking a sip of soy milk. "But I can't help following you; it's all my own fault."

Zhou Lang ignored that question, folded the paper bag neatly, and threw it into the trash can. "How do I join the chat group?"

Zhao Qiang opened his phone and forwarded the invitation link.

Zhou Lang joined the group, which had nearly two hundred people. Messages were scrolling by quickly, mostly discussing the settlement data from last night's Horror Manor dungeon. Most were rated "Good," three were rated "Excellent," and scrolling up, there was only one "Perfect," with the ID "浪里个浪."

Someone recognized him:

Who is this "Perfect" person? What kind of weird name is this?

[Last night's raid on the mountain villa supposedly triggered a hidden quest.]

[A hidden quest at the manor? How come I didn't know?]

[The core of the basement, it's only triggered when you cut into it, and most people can't get in there.]

[They went to the basement? They're not going to stop killing the butler?]

Han Yingying sent a message in the group: [We tried to stop them, but we bypassed them. The core of the basement is in the circular hall on the ground floor. Those who are interested can take a look.]

A bunch of question marks appeared below, followed by a barrage of follow-up questions.

Zhou Lang glanced at it, then left, putting his phone back in his pocket. "This group is alright; it has some informational value."

"You only watched for two minutes."

"That's enough," Zhou Lang said. "Someone in the group mentioned the entry requirements for SS-level dungeons—clearing A-level dungeons at least twice. How many times have you cleared them?"

Zhao Qiang paused for a moment, then said, "Once..."

"Then we'll have to run it twice more," Zhou Lang said. "I'll let you know when the next dungeon will be available; we'll go in as a team."

Zhao Qiang was happy for a second, then realized, "Then I'll still have to go in two more times, won't I?"

"Didn't you want to reach SS-rank?"

"I—" Zhao Qiang hesitated, then sighed resignedly, "Fine, take me with you."

The two walked back. There was a tree by the roadside, and an orange cat was perched on it. The cat turned its head and glanced at Zhou Lang. Zhou Lang looked up and met its gaze, but the cat turned its face away and ignored him completely.

Zhou Lang didn't say anything and continued walking forward.