After the door closed.
Just a few seconds later, the "person" who entered the hall let out a strange cry.
"Ah."
"He" glanced at the staircase behind the players.
"What happened here?"
As he spoke, he walked further inside.
The players, still standing in the center of the hall, warily shifted aside to make way for the newcomer.
"Why is there so much... is this flour?"
When the butler-like "person" reached the staircase, he bent down to examine the layer of white powder that had recently been sprinkled on the wooden steps.
For a full few seconds.
Then he spoke again.
"Too dirty."
After that, he straightened up and smiled at the maid he had brought with him.
"Clean this up quickly."
Following his instruction, the maid moved toward the staircase. Her face wore the same artificial smile as the butler's, though hers was utterly devoid of any living vitality.
He Yi, still standing on the mid-level of the staircase, looked uneasy. Especially as the two dead beings approached, he found himself stuck—unable to go up or down, frozen in place.
But the ghostly butler acted as if he didn’t see him.
"He" had already turned around to face the players in the hall.
As though He Yi on the staircase simply didn’t exist.
That thought sent a chill down He Yi’s spine, cold sweat beginning to form.
When the butler turned, those hollow, lightless black eyes once again fell upon the visitors.
"He" asked with a smile, "Have you all had breakfast?"
"Ah, I’m not sure if the food prepared last time has been finished, but no matter—we’ve brought new provisions."
After speaking to himself, the shell of a body headed in the direction of the dining room.
This move made the players even more nervous.
Chang Zhao watched the figure's back and muttered quickly under his breath, "Is he going to open the dining room door?"
"What do we do? Quick, think of a way to stop him."
"It's too dangerous—a A-Class apparition... Wait, he might not be able to break that chain." Shen Jing still clung to a sliver of hope.
"What are they?"
The white-haired beauty, who had been calmly observing the two dummies, finally spoke.
Wen Shichun felt somewhat dazed.
He had just realized that the previous "ghost" had been pretending to scare him.
But now, suddenly, something genuinely wrong had appeared.
This caused a string in Wen Shichun’s mind to instantly snap back into tension.
"Xiao E, don’t panic," Chang Zhao moved closer to Wen Shichun. Though his own heart was drumming with fear, he still whispered reassurance: "Ghosts have conditions for killing. Even if they’re from a higher-level instance."
"Don’t worry."
"It actually escalated into a supernatural instance."
"What’s really going on…"
"..."
Wen Shichun’s face remained expressionless.
Ghost.
The system, silent for a long time: [...]
Just now...
It seemed to have heard a long stream of monosyllabic thoughts from its host.
But before it could offer any comfort, the alarms in the system’s mind blared—
Oh no!
...
His calm, powerful heart beat steadily, one thump after another.
In the hall, Wen Shichun watched the ghost butler’s retreating back, his hand movements shifting almost imperceptibly.
The ghost butler had already reached the entrance of the dining room.
That voice, completely unlike that of a living person, was still muttering to itself.
"Why is it locked?"
...
System: [!]
The host's aggressiveness is too high!
The system urgently said: [Don't be impulsive.]
Just after advising, it heard the host's calm reply: [I'm not being impulsive.]
The person speaking to it was extremely composed: [It has a physical form, doesn't it.] "That's not how the game is meant to be played!"
Taking a deep breath as it clearly sensed the host's thoughts, the system said:
[Think about it—if you chop it into pieces, and then when no one is paying attention, it sews itself back together and appears in front of you again.]
The system reasoned gently.
It was truly, entirely considering the host's best interests.
It just didn’t want the host to be terrified out of their wits by something even more horrifying later.
...
Wen Shichun fell silent.
"Everyone, be careful," Xun Yi said at that moment. "Let's see what they're going to do first."
At the dining room entrance, the ghost butler had already begun fiddling with the chain tool.
"Brother, as long as we don't trigger their killing conditions, the entities in this instance won't easily kill players," Yue Cheng, next to Wen Shichun, whispered. "Even ghosts have to follow the instance's rules."
However, none of them currently knew what the ghost butler's killing condition was.
But...
It might be best not to take out any flour for now.
The ghost butler had already shown its dislike for 'dirt'.
Perhaps they could start by considering the preferences associated with the 'butler' identity.
At this thought, the players silently cursed in their hearts—this boss really knew how to pick the perfect time to bring in reinforcements.
However...
Fortunately, they could also call for outside help.
It's just that the Wheel of Fate—
It really all comes down to luck.
...
"No matter what they say later," Shen Jing looked at Wen Shichun, speaking with some concern, "we'll follow their instructions first and try not to make any mistakes."
These are A-Class dungeon supernatural beings.
If they trigger the killing mechanism of a A-Class supernatural being, they, as B-Class players, would have no ability to cope.
It would almost certainly mean death.
Shen Jing looked worried and miserable.
All they could do now was observe and wait.
Then find a way to catch the instance's boss without triggering the monsters' killing intent.
...
Just as the group's gaze fell upon the ghost butler, the ghost maid who had been cleaning the stairs silently appeared beside the players.
Wen Shichun turned sideways and found himself face-to-face with the ghost maid's smiling visage.
The ghost maid stopped right in front of Wen Shichun.
Her pitch-black, hollow eyes stared fixedly at him.
She made a strange sound, as if offering sincere praise.
"You are truly beautiful."
Her wooden eyeballs seemed to grow slightly larger.
Then she giggled again, adding,
"You're just the type the master likes."
……
When Wen Shichun made eye contact with her, the B-Class players who heard the sound were all on high alert, watching the situation closely, though no one dared to turn around too obviously.
Chang Zhao wanted to remind Xiao E not to interact too much with the ghost. Just as he was about to subtly pull Xiao E beside him, he heard Xiao E's clear, cold, yet pleasant voice ring out through the hall.
Unhurried, neither too loud nor too soft.
Like a babbling stream flowing through winter.
Wen Shichun lifted his gaze.
"Your master is dead."
...
Upon hearing Wen Shichun's response, the ghost maid's strange smile seemed to widen.
But 'she' said nothing more. Picking up the maintenance tools, 'she' headed toward the dining room.
Over there, the ghost butler had already managed to break the chains by some method.
Shen Jing had noticed the chains' durability steadily decreasing. When the item was completely destroyed, her face turned pale. "What do we do now?"
The ghost was about to be released.
He Yi only slowly descended the stairs after the ghost maid had left.
He now joined his teammates.
Seeing the anxiety on their faces.
"No need to worry about that anymore."
He Yi said, though his gaze was fixed on the white-haired young man before him.
"I saw on the surveillance feed that the ghost maid opened the kitchen window from the outside."
"The ghost has already gotten out."
Several pairs of eyes turned to He Yi.
"What? You still don't believe me?" He Yi said with an amused laugh, his voice kept very low. "First, think about how we're going to deal with these two ghosts."
As he finished speaking, the ghost butler and ghost maid at the far end of the hall turned around.
Their eyes fell on the players.
The kitchen door was already wide open.
There was no sign of any ghosts.
Even Xun Yi felt his scalp tingling under the gaze of these two A-level ghosts.
"Guests, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"
The voice of the ghost butler drifted from the far end.
"Hurry and prepare breakfast for our guests."
Although the ghost butler was speaking to the ghost servant beside him,
his gaze remained fixed on the players in the hall.
"Let's go."
Xun Yi said in a low voice.
Then he took the first step toward the kitchen.
Wen Shichun walked in front of He Yi. Just moments ago, when the ghost servant spoke, his tentative reply hadn't provoked any consequences.
It seemed that thing still wanted to deal with him personally.
How nice.
But one thing was strange.
Why would two A-class ghosts be controlled by a B-level dungeon boss?
...
After everyone had entered the dining room, the ghost butler followed them in and closed the door behind him.
"Please take a seat, guests."
After speaking, he walked step by step, his movements slow and stiff, toward the far end of the room. He resembled a corpse that had long since rotted, struggling to move again.
He looked so weak that Wen Shichun began to entertain some ill-advised ideas.
The system spoke up again: [Maintain your rationality.]
Its tone was somewhat cold, attempting to dissuade the host from certain unrealistic thoughts.
Wen Shichun's eyelids twitched slightly, and he whispered: [I'm just thinking.]
No one made a move.
Everyone had assumed the ghost butler would take the seat at the head of the table.
Instead, he walked over and simply stood behind the main chair, his smile seemingly frozen in place, his lifeless black eyes staring motionlessly in the players' direction.
Under that gaze, everyone quickly took their seats from the previous night.
The intermittent sounds of the ghost servant working in the kitchen drifted to the players.
Some people's faces changed color.
Were they really going to eat food prepared by ghosts?
...
As Wen Shichun took his seat, he discreetly summoned his game panel.
He wasn't the only one making this move.
Just like the night before, Yue Cheng sat across from him, with Chang Zhao and Shen Jing on either side.
As his fingers moved, the ghost butler at the end of the table seemed to turn its gaze in his direction, but the person operating the panel remained unfazed, continuing to pull up the information he wanted to see.
Finally, his eyes landed on the instructions for the [Wheel of Fate].
On the other side, Xun Yi, who had also opened his panel, directly sent a message in the team chat channel.
Xun Yi: [That ghost calls itself the manager of this mansion. And that ghost servant—'he' refers to 'her' as the caretaker. Even though they're dressed like a butler and a maid... Remember, the first time we heard the term 'manager' was after Xiao Shi finished the phone call. Shi said then, 'The manager is raising it according to the homeowner's will.']
...
[Are you saying... their appearance is because of that phone call?]
