After seeing Wen Shichun's player rating, many shared the same skepticism as the man in the black hoodie—though none voiced it aloud.
"I came alone," Wen Shichun replied, his gaze sweeping the group before settling on Xun Yi.
Now that he understood the mission, he was inclined to investigate inside the estate for clues. If it was purely a matter of solving a case, that wasn’t much of a problem for him. The area outside the estate looked barren and deserted, with no signs of shelter as far as the eye could see—not his priority. Besides, the dungeon's interface showed the current time as 4:15 PM. Judging by the sky, nightfall wasn’t far off.
Honestly, when he saw the dungeon’s background and mission, Wen Shichun had secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The clearance condition was to catch the killer.
His eyes returned to the fenced-off area.
Was the murderer still inside?
The white-haired young man’s voice was cool and composed, unnervingly calm for an E-rank player in a B-level dungeon.
If not for his player rating being undeniably E-rank, it would’ve been hard to associate this striking young man with the usual image of a low-level player.
Was he really alone?
That composure… Was someone protecting him?
Even Xun Yi’s eyes, behind his glasses, held a trace of scrutiny.
However—
This wasn't important for now.
The man in the black hoodie shared Xun Yi's thoughts—in fact, he was even more direct. He pushed open the iron gate standing before the players. The gate wasn't locked, and without hesitation, the man in the black hoodie strode straight into that cold, shadowy estate.
He showed no intention of engaging with the other players, clearly uninterested in teamwork.
Xun Yi didn't seem surprised. In the game, many players preferred to tackle dungeons alone. Not everyone was willing to cooperate, especially in a matchmade team where none of them knew each other. At best, they could only manage superficial coordination. It was fine if they could work together to complete the main task and clear the instance, but the moment danger arose, self-preservation would undoubtedly come first.
Still, for some reason, this E-rank player gave Xun Yi the impression of a true loner—maybe it was the man's aggressively dyed hair, or the icy aloofness that never left his expression.
But the player called "Shi" remained where he stood, showing no sign of leaving.
Xun Yi's gaze flickered slightly. Was he actually nervous after all? Or... did he have a teammate among the remaining players?
In the end, only the man in the black hoodie left.
The others seemed willing to stick together.
"I'm Shen Jing from District 3," said the long-haired woman on the far left. Aside from Xun Yi, she was the only other B+ player in this session, appearing to be in her early twenties.
After her, the slightly older woman beside her spoke up. "District 3, Bo Ya."
The last to introduce himself was a young man in his twenties with delicate, clean-cut features and strikingly bright eyes. He had been standing close to Xun Yi the entire time and only spoke after everyone else had finished.
"Hello, everyone! I'm Yue Cheng from District 4."
His voice was pleasant, carrying a note of innocent cheerfulness that felt entirely out of place in their current situation.
Yet the moment the words "District 4" left his mouth, the other players visibly tensed. Even Xun Yi, who had seemed the most composed of the group, frowned slightly.
Wen Shichun observed them quietly. Once again, he found himself in a situation where everyone else seemed to understand something he didn't.
A player from District 4...
Was there something special about that?
The other certainly didn't seem welcome.
What exactly is the difference between these districts?
The system's voice sounded almost simultaneously with Xun Yi's: [Go in first.]
"Then let's go in and take a look first," Xun Yi said, his gaze fixed on the mansion at the edge of their vision. Built in such a place, the private land enclosed by black railings resembled a prison more than anything else.
Several minutes had already passed, and there was no telling how the man who had entered earlier was faring. After everyone announced their game aliases, the only one left was the man in the black hoodie who had departed first—He Yi, a B-rank player from District 6.
No emotion showed on Xun Yi's face. Knowing the clearance condition, He Yi must have been aware that the killer was likely waiting inside. Yet he still dared to enter the mansion alone.
He probably had some special skill.
And no shortage of survival tactics.
The other players had no objections to Xun Yi's suggestion. The group headed toward the mansion, with Wen Shichun walking at the very back. After everyone passed through the gate, the black iron door slowly closed behind them with a drawn-out, eerie creak.
Wen Shichun, who had been at the rear, turned around the moment the gate began to move. His ice-blue pupils remained fixed on the iron door until, at the very last moment before it shut, the white-haired young man strode forward and grabbed one of the iron bars.
The gate closed.
He pushed against it with force, but the gate didn't budge—as if locked in place. Yet when he looked at where the lock should have been, there was nothing there.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Chang Zhao called out toward the gate.
As Wen Shichun walked back, several of those who had been moving farther in stopped and turned to look at him, clearly puzzled.
Once the gate had closed, the B-rank players deduced that the dungeon's map was confined to this private estate—meaning the killer was indeed very close now. But watching Wen Shichun's attempt to push the door open, Chang Zhao couldn't help but let out a laugh. The man muttered under his breath, "Why would an E-rank even join a B-rank dungeon? Zero common sense. Total deadweight."
"That's the dungeon sealing itself," a female voice chimed in, as if offering a reminder.
No one had bothered to check earlier, their assumptions leading them astray.
Impatience was already spreading through the group.
Wen Shichun didn't speak. His hand still rested on the iron bar, his blue eyes staring straight ahead at the empty space before him.
But then—
When he lowered his gaze to look at his fingers gripping the railing...
His steady breathing suddenly hitched for an instant.
The iron gate didn’t seem completely locked after all—he could even push it slightly ajar.
Just as he hesitated, recalling the veteran players’ warnings, the heavy door gave a faint, taunting sway, rocking back and forth in deliberately small movements.
As if something stood on the other side… gripping the bars just like him.
The realization sent alarm bells clanging through Wen Shichun’s mind—though his expression remained perfectly composed.
An icy gust blew through the gaps between the bars, frosting a thin crystal of ice on the beautiful young man’s pale cheek.
As he raised a hand to wipe it away—
"The weather’s turning," Xun Yi called sharply from behind. "Get inside. Now."
