A Guide to Surviving the Mysterious Dungeon and the Twelve Talismans

Your level has been upgraded to LV4.

[Upgrade]: S-level rating, can be upgraded five times; A-level rating, can be upgraded four times; B-level rating, can be upgraded three times; C-level rating, can be upgraded two times; D-level rating, upgrade one level.

[Unlock the following permissions: 6 inventory slots (three slots are unlocked at level 1, with one additional slot for each level increase), open the character panel, and open the contract slot.]

[Player successfully assisted in defeating the serial killer, received an A-level rating, 500 Soul Coins, and one rule-based item blind box.]

Chapter 13 Fixed Points of Death Range

[Host has successfully cleared the dungeon. Horse talisman is automatically loading. In the real world, there are no loading restrictions.]

【Rule Skill Blind Box】: After use, you can randomly obtain a rule-based skill card.

[Inventory x6]: Only items from the Mysterious World can be placed in the inventory. Only one item can be placed in each inventory. Note: There is no limit to the amount of Soul Coins that can be stored.

By the time Zhou An came to his senses, his inventory was already full.

"Splash! Splash!" A rain of props began to fall around Zhou An.

About thirty small props were scattered on the ground at Zhou An's feet.

Name: Zhou An

Age: 24

[Level]: LV4

Strength: 19 (10 points for an average adult male)

[Mental State]: 18 (10 points for an average adult male)

[Physical Fitness]: 17 (10 points for an average adult male)

[Contract Slot]: None

[Skills]: None

Items: [Murder Knife] [Dismemberment Knife] [Pain-Saving Bracelet] [Feel-Free Bracelet] [Rules and Skills Blind Box]...

Soul Money: 48530

Before Zhou An could even feel happy, a message appeared in his mind.

After a long while, Zhou An processed the information, and then he stared blankly at the old man.

The old man was right. After Zhou An settled the rewards, he already knew why the old man wanted to kill him.

Zhou An enters the instance after he dies, and he will not be resurrected just because he returns after clearing the instance.

Zhou An is still considered a dead person.

However, he can exist in the real world in a state similar to that of a soul.

Nothing in the real world can affect Zhou An, and Zhou An can hardly affect the real world either.

However, Zhou An can walk normally, climb stairs, etc., but falling from a height would cause him injury or even death.

Most importantly, after completing the game, players cannot leave their death location by more than one kilometer.

In other words, even if you become a player and successfully complete the game, your activity range will only be one kilometer after you return.

However, there are two ways for players to leave their death location.

Firstly, killing another player will unlock your own fixed activity area.

This is also why the old man attacked Zhou An as soon as he appeared.

Secondly, they sought out a human who could see these deceased individuals, and made a contract with them, becoming the contracted spirit of the spirit contract holder.

Most importantly, once a contract is signed with a living person, ghostly power can be generated within the body.

Players without a contract can only generate ghost power within their bodies after reaching level ten.

"So, you're a veteran player who wanted to leave the death location, so you attacked me?" Zhou An's gaze towards the old man became somewhat strange.

"Yes, that's right. I've been dead for two months now, and I'm stuck here every day. It's so torturous."

"I can't see anyone, just cars whizzing by every day, and there's nothing to eat. I'm starving."

“You drove by, saw me, and then swerved and braked. I was so excited because I could sign a contract with you.”

"I never expected you to die, and you even dragged me into the dungeon. So I had to pretend to be a newbie so I could kill you after I cleared the dungeon."

"Stop torturing me, just kill me, just kill me," the old man pleaded with Zhou An.

At that moment, the old man knew that he was doomed to die.

Looking at the scattered props around Zhou An, the old man understood that the person who killed the serial killer was most likely Zhou An.

"Old man, no wonder you reminded me repeatedly in the dungeon by cursing."

"One last question. That veteran player reminded me not to reveal my name. Why?" Zhou An asked.

The old man said in a deep voice, "Have you read The Three-Body Problem? The Dark Forest Theory states that when players meet in reality, it's either you or me who dies."

"In the real world, killing a player will level you up and give you all of their items and Soul Coins."

"Some players have successfully made a pact with living people. Once your name is exposed, they will track down that name and eventually find the location of your death."

The old man stopped there and didn't say anything more.

Zhou An also understood that once found, the other party would naturally come immediately to kill the player to level up and obtain their items.

"Old man, I really didn't expect that you had actually read The Three-Body Problem."

"However, everyone has met in the dungeon, even if they don't know each other's names, they can still draw what each other looks like."

"In that case, it doesn't matter whether the name is revealed or not." Zhou An still had a question.

"Don't worry, it's impossible. Although I remember, no matter what method you use, you can't make the portrait appear in the real world. Only the name can," the old man replied.

"Alright, that's enough chatting. I'll see you on your way." Zhou An already knew everything he needed to know, so there was no point in keeping the old man around.

The old man didn't say anything, but just stared intently at Zhou An.

Zhou An immediately drew his sword and sent the old man on his way.

The old man's life force vanished, and his entire body turned into ashes and disappeared into nothingness.

An item fell out, along with 50 Soul Coins. The item was an iron bucket.

That is, the iron bucket that Zhou An saw the old man carrying before his car overturned.

Your level has been upgraded to LV5.

[Successfully defeated player Sun Miao. Death restriction lifted. You are now free to leave the death location.]

Zhou An picked up the iron bucket, the soul money, and the old man's dagger.

He glanced at the attributes of the dagger and the iron bucket; they were quite ordinary.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou An picked up the props on the ground and put them all into the iron bucket.

With a thought, the iron bucket vanished from his hand.

Upon seeing this, Zhou An's face lit up with joy.

I just wanted to give it a try, but I didn't expect to successfully exploit the bug.

Soon Zhou An thought of something else and quickly took out four fruits with all attributes from his pocket.

Each level up allows you to consume one fruit, and Zhou An is now at LV5, so he can consume all four fruits that grant all attributes.

Just as Zhou An was about to devour the fruit, he suddenly remembered the old man's words about not being able to find food and starving to death.

"Wait, could it be that we can't eat normal food? Even if I'm in a soul state, I'll still go hungry..." Zhou An thought of a terrible problem.

The information indicates that the dungeon must be run every seven days, and the schedule is fixed with no possibility of postponement.

Of course, if you encounter certain situations like the old man, you will also be pulled into the instance and will not be affected by the seven-day rule.

It takes seven days to enter the dungeon, during which Zhou An is disconnected from the real world.

This means Zhou An will have to go hungry for seven days.

Zhou An knew very well what it felt like to be hungry. He would feel weak in the knees if he missed two meals, and that feeling was unbearable.

"No, I have to eat sparingly. I'll just eat one for now." After thinking for a moment, Zhou An ate a fruit that granted all attributes.

Consuming a fruit that grants all attributes increases your three main attributes by 10.

A warm, comforting feeling came from Zhou An's stomach, giving him a sense of fullness.

Chapter 14 My Study Materials

"It works!" Zhou An's eyes lit up immediately.

If you take one a day, it should last for at least four days.

Zhou An tidied up his belongings, keeping the Pain-Storing Bracelet and the Sensitivity-Free Bracelet to wear, and putting the rest into his inventory.

To Zhou An's surprise, the three fruits with all attributes only occupied one grid.

It seems that anything that is the same can be stored together.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~!"

A bright light, accompanied by a whooshing sound, came from afar.

A car drove past from the adjacent lane.

Zhou An glanced blankly at the dark highway, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Suddenly his gaze fixed on the railing not far away.

A huge gap was seen in the guardrail after it was hit.

Zhou An walked over. This section of the highway was a bridge, and below it was a small river about twenty meters wide.

You can see a badly damaged car in the middle of the river.

Zhou An recognized the car immediately; it was his car.

"I haven't even finished paying off my loan yet..." Zhou An mourned.