It was still the same pitch-black building, with its long staircases, dust-covered floors, and piles of discarded debris. Gu Mian even suspected he might still be in the same building, just shifted to a different floor. The building seemed to have no windows. Gu Mian, holding his flashlight, searched the dark surroundings for a long time but couldn't find a single one. Left with no other option, he decided to continue down the stairs to see if the paranormal events would persist.

This time, however, he reached the ground floor unimpeded and even managed to leave the eerie building. Throughout this, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. He wasn't sure if this was the instance's leniency or the calm before the storm.

He was now standing under the pitch-black night sky.

The time within this instance was late September.

The night wind was quite refreshing, and Gu Mian now had a clear view of his surroundings.

This area was very open, the only conspicuous features being the two buildings right here.

Two nearly identical greyish-black buildings, each about nine stories high, stood approximately a hundred meters apart. Their gloomy exterior walls had almost no windows, making it difficult to count the exact number of floors.

Between the two buildings was a tall, net-like fence, appearing to be over three meters high.

The building he had just exited was one of these two.

Gu Mian stared at the two buildings under the night sky, trying to understand the connection between them.

Perhaps I wasn't in the same building before and after the transfer.

Gu Mian narrowed his eyes. Two buildings that look so similar...

As he mused, he took a few steps forward, intending to get closer to the greyish-black building opposite. However, after just two steps, Gu Mian noticed something: a sign on the fence.

Even though the fence was over three meters high, Gu Mian's saw could easily cut through it.

What truly made Gu Mian hesitate was the warning on the sign: "High Voltage. Do Not Climb."

"This is really excessive," Gu Mian muttered, his gaze following the line of the fence.

Could this high-voltage electric fence have been set up specifically for me? Did they move me here, while the other players are still on the other side?

The fence, over three meters high, encircled both buildings, effectively separating them and completely preventing anyone from crossing between them. This is infuriating.

Seeing this, Gu Mian abandoned his plan to take out his electric saw and instead stared intently at the opposite building.

Just then, he suddenly saw Chu Changge's face appear in a window of the opposite building. It was a window on roughly the fifth or sixth floor.

Despite the distance, Gu Mian recognized him instantly. Chu Changge was standing by the window, seemingly gazing at something.

Following Chu Changge's line of sight, Gu Mian saw it ended on the building behind him. On that building, directly opposite Chu Changge, was another window.

A dark figure flashed rapidly past the window of the building behind Gu Mian, as if someone had just been there.

Gu Mian frowned and turned to look back at Chu Changge's window.

But the window was now empty. There was no one there.

"Did you hear that? It sounds like there's some noise upstairs in our building!"

At that moment, Keke and Pan Yue were cautiously making their way through the pitch-black building. They couldn't just keep going upstairs. After a brief discussion, they decided to first search each floor they passed for any other people.

As they moved nervously through each floor, they suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps from the floor above.

Pan Yue reacted quickly, stopping at once to ask Keke.

Keke clutched Pan Yue, who was in front of her, tightly. "I heard it! It's right above our heads!"

"Don't say it like that. It sounds like there's something on the ceiling right above us..." Pan Yue also hunched over slightly.

"Okay, okay," Keke whispered, "so, should we go up and check?"

As Pan Yue moved towards the stairs, she replied, "Of course. Aren't we trying to find the others and figure out what's going on?"

Keke hesitated. "But what if it's a ghost? What if it kills one of us?"

Pan Yue puffed out her chest, as if to bolster her courage. "Things are pretty strange right now... We've definitely experienced some bizarre things, but I doubt anyone will die. You think the person playing the ghost would actually kill someone? Would they dare?"

Keke couldn't explain to her that among the three 'ghosts,' one might be real. She could only nod in agreement. "We should still be careful..."

Pan Yue didn't argue, instead carefully leading Keke up the stairs behind her.

As she climbed, she tried to reassure Keke, "No one will die, don't worry. As soon as we get out of this place, we'll call the police."

Keke remained silent.

Meanwhile, the footsteps from upstairs seemed to grow more urgent.

But shortly after Pan Yue spoke, the urgent footsteps vanished. The area instantly fell silent again, as if the sound had never been there.

Pan Yue and Keke reached the landing of the stairwell on that floor. Pan Yue stood before the doorway to the floor, carefully poking her head in and calling out, "Is anyone there?"

There was no response.

Overwhelming darkness filled this floor. Keke carefully adjusted her flashlight. But the beam couldn't penetrate the darkness beyond the doorway; it seemed to pour out, making their hearts pound with unease. The long staircase behind them was also pitch-black, as if something might crawl up it at any moment.

"What should we do?" Keke whispered to Pan Yue.

Beads of sweat had formed on Pan Yue's forehead. I clearly heard footsteps, but no one replied... There's something terrifying about this.

Just as the two of them hesitated by the dark entrance, wondering whether to go in, a voice suddenly came from within.

"I've fallen... help me..."

It was a very faint male voice, so weak it was impossible to identify who it belonged to. The person inside sounded as if they could lose consciousness at any moment.

There really is someone in there!

Hearing this, Pan Yue immediately wanted to step inside but was pulled back by Keke. "Are we really going in?"

"I'm a little scared too," Pan Yue said, gripping Keke's hand, "but we have to go in."

With that, she lifted her foot and quickly stepped inside. Keke hurried after her, flashlight in hand.

The flashlight beam wasn't strong enough to cut through the darkness of the entire floor, so the two had to carefully feel their way forward.

"Where are you? Who are you?" Pan Yue called out, her voice louder now, trying to pierce the dim light of the flashlight.

Keke stayed close to Pan Yue, warily scanning their surroundings.

The faint voice continued to call out.

"I'm... I'm to the right of the entrance... Help me..."

To the right? Keke thought, shifting the flashlight beam towards the right side of where they had entered.

But the floor area was vast. The light only revealed abandoned cardboard boxes and some steel pipes or similar debris.

Pan Yue quickly advanced a few steps. Keke hurriedly followed, keeping the flashlight steady.

"Over here..."

The faint voice was still audible in the darkness. Pan Yue quickened her pace, and Keke almost broke into a run to keep up.

They hadn't been moving through the darkness for long when a hand appeared in the flashlight beam.

"Found him!" Pan Yue exclaimed, overjoyed at the sight of the hand in the light. She immediately took a few steps forward, trying to get a clearer look at the fallen person.

Keke also moved forward, shifting the flashlight beam ahead. They could now vaguely make out the person making the sounds.

The moment they saw clearly—

The hairs on the arms of Pan Yue, who was in front, stood on end. She almost turned and fled.

Keke's hand trembled violently, and she nearly dropped the flashlight.

Before them lay a young man. Two iron pipes impaled his abdomen and ribs, protruding from his back, smeared with fresh blood and shredded flesh.

He was crawling on the ground, the iron pipes embedded in his body scraping against the cement floor with a harsh, grating sound.

"I've fallen... Help me..."

His voice had become strange, as if squeezed from his throat. The piercing sound echoed continuously across the empty floor.

Keke saw the man on the ground lift his head. He twitched, extending a hand, his bloodshot eyes fixed on her—an incredibly terrifying sight.

At that instant, Pan Yue, still in front, shuddered violently, then abruptly turned and fled.