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

Zhao Qiang asked in a low voice, "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It's hard to say," the thing replied calmly, as if stating the weather. "It depends on what remains."

"...This answer is useless," Zhao Qiang muttered.

"I know," the thing said, "which is why I'm telling you, instead of choosing to hide it."

This was a way of handling things that Zhou Lang hadn't expected. He looked at it for a while and said, "Is there anything else?"

"there is none left."

"Okay." He handed the oil lamp to Zhao Qiang and let him hold it, while he took out a chainsaw from his pocket.

The thing looked at the chainsaw, paused for a moment, and said, "You brought this here to destroy the altar?"

"It's versatile, and it came in handy this time," Zhou Lang said.

"..."

The thing stopped talking and just stared at him. What was hidden in those two black holes was unclear.

The sound of the chainsaw bouncing back and forth in the stone chamber was very loud. Zhao Qiang covered one ear with one hand, while continuing to hold the oil lamp in the other, tilting it towards Zhou Lang. The green light shone on the altar, making the details very clear, and the crack was even more obvious in the light.

Zhou Lang walked to the edge of the altar, aimed the saw at the middle seam, and pressed it down.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 20 ...

The sound of the altar cracking was not like stone breaking, but more like something being torn apart. At that moment, the air in the stone chamber was compressed. It wasn't an airflow, but something was pushing outward, pushing all three people back more than half a step at the same time. Zhao Qiang almost lost his balance, but Han Yingying grabbed him.

The candles went out, and the black liquid overflowed the rim of the bowl, spreading outwards before disappearing, as if it had been absorbed by something.

The oil lamp still glowed green, but the flame was lowered and burned close to the wick, making the light dimmer than before.

The faceless thing began to become transparent. It didn't disappear slowly, but rather it started from the edges, disappearing piece by piece, until even its outline was gone. Just a second before it completely vanished, Zhou Lang saw something flash by in the two black holes—not a gaze, but more like a mark, glancing at him before disappearing.

And then nothing was left.

The only light in the stone chamber was from the oil lamp, which cast long, crooked shadows of the three people on the ground.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhao Qiang, holding the oil lamp, looked around and said, "Is it over?"

"It's over."

"Is that all?"

"Yes." Zhou Lang turned off the chainsaw, dusted it off, and asked, "What kind of ending do you want?"

Zhao Qiang thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "At least give me an explosion or something, to match how tense I was just now. My hands were shaking for three minutes, look."

He stretched out his hand, which was indeed still trembling. He looked at it himself, then turned to Han Yingying and said, "Look, this is real. Zhao Qiang's hands were shaking for three minutes in the basement. It's a major event."

Han Yingying said, "Your hand trembling cost you 100 points."

Zhao Qiang: "...What do you mean?"

"Poor contribution, downgraded, that's roughly the price to pay."

Zhao Qiang paused for two seconds, then said, "That's alright, one hundred yuan is acceptable."

Zhou Lang didn't participate in the conversation. He put the chainsaw away, glanced at the fragments of the altar, and walked towards the door. "It's about time. Let's go up."

The two followed.

After walking a few steps, Zhao Qiang remembered something and said, "That thing said part of it would stay behind, where did it stay?"

"Wait for the system to tell us."

"Aren't you worried?"

"Overthinking is useless."

Zhao Qiang followed, and after a couple of steps, he muttered under his breath, "Zhou Lang, I think you're too accepting of fate. A normal person would worry about that."

There is no hurdle that cannot be overcome.

"...What kind of logic is this?"

"You're just not reckless enough," Zhou Lang said. "If you were reckless enough, you wouldn't see it as an obstacle."

Zhao Qiang remained silent for a while, then finally said, "You have a point."

The three walked towards the stairwell, the green light of the oil lamp casting long shadows behind them. Nothing remained in the stone chamber: a broken altar, extinguished candles, and the air left behind after something had dispersed—even quieter than before they entered.

The speed of going upstairs was much faster than coming down. The ghosts in the corridor were gone, completely gone. They hadn't just moved to a different place; they were gone altogether. Even the feeling of being watched had dissipated. The whole building had become an ordinary old house, a bit dilapidated and a bit cold, but just a house.

The three returned to the hall, sat down, and each took a breath without speaking.

A few minutes later, the system beeped.

[Congratulations to the player for completing the main quest: Lifting the Manor Curse.]

[Rewards being processed...]

[Zhou Lang: Mission completion contribution 80%, bonus item x1, points +500, rating: Abnormal.]

[Han Yingying: 10% contribution to task completion, +100 points, rating: Good.]

[Zhao Qiang: 10% contribution to task completion, +100 points, rating: Good.]

Zhao Qiang stared at the screen for a long time before asking, "What did I contribute?"

"Light the oil lamp," Zhou Lang said.

"...That's it?"

"He also stepped on Han Yingying's feet twice, which interfered with the mission process, and his evaluation was reduced by half a level."

Han Yingying couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Zhao Qiang said, "Fine, our friendship ends here."

"it is good."

"You should say something like, 'That's not how it is, you've helped me a lot.'"

"Do you really think I should say that?"

Zhao Qiang thought for a moment and said, "...Never mind, it's strange to say it out loud, just pretend I didn't mention it."

[The instance is about to close. Players are requested to leave the manor within ten minutes.]

Zhou Lang stood up and opened his inventory—a new icon had appeared inside.

[Used lamp wick x1: Origin unknown, cannot be discarded, purpose unknown.]

He stared at the line of text for two seconds. The thing had said that a part of it would remain in another form.

This is the wick.

Its purpose is unknown and cannot be discarded. Items given by the system always have a follow-up, but we can't see it now, so we'll leave it for now.

The three of them left the manor. It was night outside, and there were puddles in the open area, the moonlight shattering into fragments in the water. Reaching the safe zone, Zhou Lang put the oil lamp back into his inventory. The green light went out, and the surroundings returned to normal darkness. A cool breeze blew from the side.

Just then, Zhao Qiang said, "There are people over there."

Zhou Lang looked up.

Across from the open space, a middle-aged man stood leaning against a tree. He was dressed simply and carried a first-aid kit, as if he had just run out of a medical facility. The brand name on his clothes was turned inside out, but the buttons were neatly fastened. He walked steadily, and his demeanor did not seem flustered, but rather as if he had been waiting for a long time and had finally arrived.

He saw them coming out this way, but instead of coming over, he just stood there and waited.

"Do you know each other?" Han Yingying asked.

"I don't know him."

The man finally walked over, stopped three steps away, and said, "You came from the manor?"

"right."

"Is the main storyline complete?"

"right."

His questioning style was very direct, as if he had asked the same set of questions many times before, almost strangely so. Zhou Lang listened for a moment and then asked, "How long have you been waiting here?"