***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Fray for the donation! ^^
***
The night was already deep. Although many households in the residential complex still had their lights on, the illumination couldn’t reach the dark corners, nor could it provide even a sliver of security. The dim lights occasionally flickered, instead breeding countless dangers and fears.
Building D was the most peculiar building in the entire complex. No sales information could be found in the sales office, and it had almost no residents. Whether it was day or night, it felt eerily empty.
But at this moment, a crowd of ‘people’ stood at the door of a room on the third floor of Building D, all staring intently at the two figures on the bed, their eyes filled with danger and terror.
The atmosphere froze in that instant. The room was so quiet that the drop of a pin could be heard.
The moment the door was slammed open, Xu He also turned his head toward the entrance, naturally spotting the few ‘uninvited guests’ at the door.
The ‘gentleness’ in his eyes when he looked at Ruan Qing vanished in an instant, replaced entirely by a chilling, menacing glare. The sinister aura around him was no longer restrained or suppressed.
The ‘people’ at the door were the same. In that moment, the atmosphere in the room became even more dangerous and terrifying, so oppressive it felt hard to breathe.
Even Lan Xu, who was unaware of the situation, sensed that something was wrong. His brows furrowed deeply as he subtly glanced at the trembling boy being held in the arms of the vengeful ghost on the bed.
Was this person… really a player?
In the Infinite Horror Game, there were instances where NPCs or bosses disguised themselves as players, but they would never know too much about the conditions for clearing the game—unless they were the major bosses of certain special dungeons.
Lan Xu’s frown deepened. This person was far too weak to be a dungeon boss. Even though his aura was occasionally repulsive, he was so fragile that Lan Xu could easily deal with him.
Could it be that he would become the dungeon boss only after dying?
That seemed to be the only explanation.
The clues in this dungeon were too scattered, but the only thing that could be confirmed at the moment was that this boy was the key to the dungeon.
Whether he was the dungeon boss or not, he couldn’t die.
Lan Xu quietly lowered his presence, standing in the corner without making a sound, secretly waiting for an opportunity.
***
Ruan Qing’s delicate face turned pale the moment he recognized the figures, so pale it was almost transparent, and so fragile it seemed on the verge of breaking.
Ruan Qing truly hadn’t expected Lan Xu to lead these people here. It was likely that when Lan Xu had carried him, he had picked up a trace of Ruan Qing’s aura, which had allowed these figures to detect his presence.
If he had known, he wouldn’t have let Lan Xu leave.
Dealing with one vengeful ghost was already difficult enough. Now that all these figures had discovered him, the chances of him leaving alive were practically zero.
Ruan Qing’s face was pale as his gaze stiffly swept over the figures. His eyes were damp, a layer of mist covering them, and the fear and terror in his eyes were almost overflowing.
However, when his gaze slid past Zhou Jinchen, who stood at the very edge, his eyes paused for a moment. They narrowed almost imperceptibly for a split second before returning to normal—so quickly that no one noticed.
Not even the viewers in the live stream, as their attention was entirely focused on the ghosts and Lan Xu.
[Oh my god! What did Boss Lan just do? Why did he bring all these unlucky souls back with him?]
[He didn’t do anything! He just went out and got chased by vengeful spirits, and they kept multiplying. Look at the situation now. Still, gotta admit, Boss Lan’s a beast for surviving this long with so many spirits after him.]
[Is this what the third night of the dungeon is like? This is terrifying. I can feel the horror through the screen. No wonder no player has survived the third night so far. Who could possibly live through this? Being able to keep your body intact would already be a miracle.]
[Wait… is this something an advanced player can handle? There have been plenty of advanced players in this dungeon before, and most of them died instantly after encountering just one vengeful spirit. But now there are four of them! I feel like he’s not just an ordinary advanced player.]
[I agree. I’ve felt something was off since the second day when he followed those two spirits into the room. Speaking of which, there’s a top-ranked player with the surname Lan on the leaderboard.]
The viewers in the live stream were immediately shocked by this comment. While most of them had never seen the top-ranked players in person, they were very familiar with their names, as they were prominently displayed on the leaderboard.
And the only player with the surnamed Lan was the one who occupied the very top of the leaderboard.
[No way! That guy’s been missing for a long time. Even if it were him, there’s no way he’d be streaming. Impossible, absolutely impossible.]
[I also think it’s completely impossible. That guy wouldn’t come to a dungeon like this. Besides, I’ve been watching this streamer for a while now, and he just seems like a regular advanced player. I haven’t noticed anything unusual about him.]
Ruan Qing had no idea what the live stream was discussing. After glancing at the scene, he lowered his eyes slightly. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he did so. He clutched at Xu He’s shirt nervously, seemingly terrified by the intrusion. His posture showed clear dependence on Xu He.
At least among these people, he had chosen Xu He. Even his fear of ghosts seemed to fade in this moment, as he forgot to be afraid of Xu He.
This scene was strikingly similar to the one in the basement—equally warm and intimate.
Equally… infuriating.
Although the group had collaborated in the kidnapping, they had never truly been on the same side. And because of the young man, they had long since developed murderous intentions toward one another—even Yan Lulin, the most mature and composed among them, was no exception.
However, before anyone could act on their intentions, they all died in that inexplicable explosion.
They died without understanding why, and in death, they became beings no longer of the same world as the young master.
After all, they were no longer human.
Their deaths were different from Ruan Qing’s experience. While Ruan Qing had opened his eyes and arrived at the correct time node in the dungeon, they had truly lived through those long years.
From the moment they lost their rationality as humans, reduced to vengeful spirits unable to control themselves, wandering near the basement driven by obsession and instinct, to the moment they regained their memories and clearly recalled everything—everything from when they were still human.
After death, they had long lost their human emotions, yet they still felt fear and terror.
They had all died in that explosion, and the basement door had been locked by them, with no way out. In such a situation, the fate of the young man in the basement was all too easy to imagine.
Perhaps he had died unnoticed during one of his episodes. Perhaps he had died of thirst. Or starvation.
Or perhaps he had died alone, consumed by endless fear.
The young man might have been waiting for them to return, waiting for them to bring him what he wanted, waiting for them to come back and keep him company.
But they… could no longer go back.
In the moments after their deaths, they had no rationality, no memories, and had not even fully transformed into vengeful spirits.
No one could go back. No one could save him. In a way, dying during one of his episodes might have been the gentlest fate, sparing him prolonged suffering.
Just the thought of it was enough to make their hearts ache to the point of being unable to think, and even as vengeful spirits, this pain did not ease.
Yet they were completely unable to approach the basement, unable to know what had become of the person inside.
They endured decades of torment and agony before they finally saw this person again.
But this person was now clinging to Xu He, hiding in his arms, looking at them with fear and terror in his eyes.
Just like back then.
Xu He was nothing but a despicable, shameless liar, yet time and time again, he had won the young man’s favor. Now, with old grudges and new hatred combined, the ‘beings’ could no longer suppress the killing intent in their hearts, along with the fear and malice they had accumulated over decades.
The almost tangible yin energy caused the temperature in the air to drop even further, cold as if they were trapped in a freezer.
Ruan Qing shivered from the cold, instinctively moving closer to Xu He.
But Xu He was no longer human either. Getting closer to him only made things colder—so cold that Ruan Qing’s teeth chattered, so cold that his entire body lost its warmth.
Though still alive, Ruan Qing’s body temperature was now no different from that of a corpse.
Xu He noticed this and released him, toning down the chilling aura around him. Seeing this, the others also instinctively directed their own dark energy away from Ruan Qing on the bed.
However, their murderous intent did not diminish in the slightest—in fact, it grew even stronger.
But that intent was directed at Xu He.
Just as the room fell into a deathly silence, the chandelier in the room suddenly shattered, plunging the space into complete darkness. Only eerie, spine-chilling sounds could be heard.
Ruan Qing’s night vision wasn’t weak, but the darkness completely engulfed the room, making it impossible to see anything.
He could sense that Xu He was no longer beside him, and the temperature around him had risen slightly, indicating that the others were now some distance away.
It seemed these ghosts didn’t know that he was the one who had killed them in the explosion. That was a good sign.
Listening to the sounds that seemed neither too close nor too far, Ruan Qing swallowed hard, trying to suppress the fear in his heart. He wanted to take advantage of the chaos as the ghosts fought each other to escape.
But the moment he moved, he noticed the sounds drawing closer, and the temperature in the air dropped once again.
They… wouldn’t let him leave.
Ruan Qing’s face grew even paler, but he could only sit rigidly on the bed, no longer daring to entertain any thoughts of escape.
