There was clearly no one behind them.

Yet the huge iron chain had appeared out of nowhere and then locked the gate from the inside.

Reason told Fatty that what was happening now was certainly not due to the iron chain becoming sentient.

"I mean..." Fatty stopped walking and turned to Zi Liang. "There was no one behind us just now, right?"

Zi Liang pursed his lips, hesitated, then shook his head. "There were no humans… but as for ghosts, perhaps."

Fatty: "..."

Forget it; it was better to keep quiet than talk to this sort of person.

In the dim light, Zi Liang lifted his head and looked toward the gate. "But when I came in, I saw a staircase by the entrance. Could something have come down from there and locked the gate?"

Inspired by this, Fatty suggested a bold plan. "Should we go look by the staircase?"

Frequent experiences in Mysterious Dungeons had considerably emboldened Fatty, and he had adopted Gu Mian's ultimate strategy: when it's time to court death, then court death.

Although he would still panic and run chaotically when faced with a ghost, he was willing to court a little death when no manifestations were in sight.

However, other players clearly did not comprehend the essence of this strategy.

"You're courting death!" Zi Liang clutched his handcuffs, staring at Fatty. "Although this might be helpful material for my writing… it's still really scary…"

Material for writing? Fatty looked at Zi Liang in surprise. "Are you an author?"

Zi Liang nodded a little, then added in a whisper, "A Supernatural Author."

Fatty pondered. "Speaking of authors and gathering material, I'm reminded of someone…"

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

At this very moment, Zi Liang *saw* these three strange 'THUMP' characters. That's right, *saw* them… These three 'THUMP' characters originated from the mobile screen.

A few lines of text appeared at the bottom of the screen.

[THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.]

[A strange noise suddenly came from the staircase beside the locked gate, as if something was coming downstairs.]

[Liang'er: Did you hear that sound?]

[Wang Panzi: Run!]

Although the two little figures communicated this way, neither of them moved, seemingly waiting for the player's control.

"Damn it!" Fatty's recently mustered courage to court death instantly deflated a bit. "What's happening?"

He hadn't heard the strange thumping sound with his own ears, but the captions at the bottom of the screen kept updating.

[THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.]

[The sound is getting closer! 'It' seems to have already reached the first-floor landing!]

Zi Liang could almost feel an unseen, unheard thing closing in. Fear spread through his entire body, making his scalp tingle.

"What are you waiting for? Run!" At this moment, Fatty suddenly grabbed the dumbfounded Zi Liang and bolted in the opposite direction.

The moment Fatty took off running, he thought he saw two options appear on the screen.

[At this moment, you decide…]

[Run Away] [Charge and Bite]

Say what you would, but the two options together rhymed pretty well.

Although neither of them had used a finger to select an option, their bodies had already made a choice. They had clearly chosen the first option, [Run Away], so the selection disappeared as soon as it was presented.

At the same time, Zi Liang saw the fleeting options on the screen and gaped. "Why would you charge up and bite it?"

Fatty retorted while fleeing, "So you're saying you'd actually charge forward if not for the biting part? But speaking of which, if the Doctor were here, you'd probably see what exactly gets bitten if one chose the second option."

"Doctor!" Zi Liang was stunned. "The green one, who sawed off my handcuffs?"

Fatty was surprised. "Since you mentioned 'green' and 'saw,' that must be him. Have you two met before?..."

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

The words had barely left his mouth when Fatty heard an indescribable sound from behind him.

A real sound, coming from behind them.

On this very floor.

Right behind them.

The sound only lasted an instant before vanishing, making Fatty momentarily think he was having auditory hallucinations.

But seeing the sudden pallor on Zi Liang's face next to him, Fatty knew that what he'd heard wasn't a hallucination.

Fatty quickened his pace. "You heard it?"

Zi Liang nodded palely.

So the ghosts in this game didn't just exist in the game... they existed in reality too!

The surroundings were very dim, making Fatty suspect a ghost might suddenly pop out of a laboratory at any moment. However, it wasn't the time for such thoughts; they needed to hurry and escape.

The screen kept updating with new information. Fatty, while fleeing, could only spare quick glances and had no time to examine it closely.

[Wang Panzi: It's come down!]

[Liang'er: Run!]

Just then, Zi Liang, who was being pulled along by Fatty, suddenly noticed something at the far edge of his screen.

Long hours of working in front of the computer and a lack of physical exercise had made Zi Liang weak, placing him at a disadvantage from the start of the game. He had finally managed to remove the handcuffs in a certain instance and clear it, obtaining some resources. But then, in the next instance, the handcuffs caused his death, and he lost most of his resources.

So now, he couldn't run as fast as Fatty and could only be dragged along.

Therefore, in the game, Liang'er was behind Wang Panzi. Zi Liang's phone screen view was also slightly behind Fatty's, as the game's field of vision was centered on the character model.

"Brother Fatty!" Zi Liang panted, calling out.

Fatty sprinted forward without looking back. "What's up?"

This laboratory building was huge, so it didn't just have one door; they could escape through another exit. Even if the other doors were locked, there were surely other staircases. Escaping to another floor to shake off their pursuer was also a good option.

Zi Liang, panting heavily, said, "I think I saw the thing chasing us!"

Hearing Zi Liang on the verge of gasping his last breath, Fatty wished he could just sling him over his shoulder and run.

While pulling Zi Liang along in a sprint, Fatty quickly scanned for another exit or staircase. "What did you see?"

"It looks like… hair?" Zi Liang frowned, looking at the thing constantly jumping at the edge of his screen. "It looks like a lock of hair is hopping along behind us?"

Hearing this, Fatty's entire back went numb. "You idiot! That's a ghost hopping on its head!"

Hearing Zi Liang's words, Fatty sped up even more, dashing past one laboratory after another.

And just then, Zi Liang finally saw something besides hair—half a face.

At the very edge of the screen, half a face could be faintly seen, continuously hopping along the floor. Although he could only see half of it, Zi Liang's imagination had always been vivid, especially when it came to ghosts.

He had already pictured a female ghost, covered in blood, landing on her head with each hop. The image itself made him shudder.

If I charge at that thing, I have to bite it?

Just then, Fatty suddenly saw a light ahead. It seemed to be sunlight from outside a door. Not far ahead of them was a stairwell.

Looking closer, there was another main door not far beyond the stairwell.

Zi Liang suddenly spoke, "Brother Fatty, that thing behind us is moving faster than we are!"

If a ghost can't outrun a human, can it still call itself a ghost?

Fatty patted his chest. "Don't worry, we'll definitely reach the door before it catches us."

Just then, Zi Liang unexpectedly asked, "What if the door ahead is locked too?"

If the door ahead was also locked, then rushing over would be like running into a dead end...

So, they first needed to see if there was a chain on the door.

Unfortunately, neither Fatty nor Zi Liang had very good eyesight. They would have to rush past that stairwell to see clearly if the door was locked.

But if they rushed past that stairwell, they really would be in a dead end.

Turning back then might mean coming face-to-face with a female ghost smashing its head on the ground with each movement...

Just imagining that scene was delightful.

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