Horror games? Whatever, I'll die.

Mo Qiuping thought for a moment and then shook her head, "As long as I keep my wax figure safe, I can pass the level safely, which does not meet the difficulty of a B-level level."

Jiang Qingjian pondered for a moment, then brought up the system panel, displaying the mission information for this instance to everyone.

"Reviewing the dungeon quests and background information might be helpful."

[Mission: Invited to a lakeside villa, uncover the truth of what happened back then, eliminate the murderer, and leave the villa alive.]

Upon closer inspection, everyone noticed a crucial point: they roughly knew the truth and the way out, but the definition of who killed the murderer remained somewhat ambiguous.

Is the murderer Liang Zaibing, the instigator, or all the players?

Is the completion of the mission defined by killing one person or killing everyone?

Killing one would be fine; it all depends on one's own ability.

If all the murderers are killed, no player can leave this instance alive.

On the day the vengeful ghost returns, those who caused your death will pay the price.

However, the sentence in the background description clearly means that not a single one will be spared.

Where then is the way out?

The line of thought has reached a dead end.

“The chain of clues is still missing a few links,” Jiang Qingjian thought with a frown. “Perhaps we should start by investigating the origin of all the supernatural phenomena—the wax figures in the basement. Understanding the cursed nature of the wax figures should help us find a way out.”

When the wax museum was mentioned, Liang Zaibing felt a sudden chill; his manhood was still hidden there.

Although they were well hidden, everyone present was a shrewd and capable individual, so it was hard to say that they wouldn't discover anything amiss.

Liang Zaibing thought about it and gave up. The wax figure that he had burned half of was still in the same place, and there was no way to cover it up.

"I've been to the basement before, let me lead the way."

Liang Zaibing stood up and led everyone toward the study.

He deftly pulled down the black book from the west bookshelf, and the mechanism opened again.

The group filed down the building, but were suddenly stopped by a shout.

"and many more."

Liang Zaibing turned around and, through the thick crowd, barely managed to catch a glimpse of Jiang Qingjian.

He stood against the light at the entrance, his figure both tall and indistinct, holding something in his raised hand.

It was that book about the interconnected mechanisms.

-----

Liang Zaibing leaned against the bookshelf with her arms crossed, looking at the black book on the desk with a puzzled expression.

—A detailed explanation of medieval witchcraft.

"You're saying this is a crucial clue? Seriously? It sounds like some kind of made-up folk tale from a street stall!"

"You'll know if you open it and take a look."

Ivan flipped open the heavy cover, scanned the table of contents, and found the entry for "Puppetry".

It mentions a method for making a zombie puppet.

First, you must kill a human, extract his soul as he lies dying, and infuse it into a demonic humanoid statue.

The deceased will forget that they are dead and continue their life before death using the body of a doll.

His original body will be preserved by the witch as a medium for cursing and controlling the undead puppets.

Sheng Jingyu stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "What do you mean? We're already dead?"

Liang Zaibing silently opened the system panel, pointed to the system prompt, and said, "I'm afraid so."

On the day the vengeful ghost returns, those who caused your death will pay the price.

Before they even realized it, they were killed and turned into undead puppets the moment they entered the instance, and then explored the instance without realizing it.

Moreover, this process is unavoidable, and is closer to the system's forced premise setting. The entire instance is based on the premise that all players have been turned into living corpse puppets.

If you place your hand on your chest, you can still feel your heart beating and your blood flowing; you can't tell at all that it's a wax figure.

The wax figures with Yu Nian's face didn't resemble living people at all.

It seems the system has modified everyone's perception in order for the dungeon to proceed smoothly.

Horror games do not have dungeons with no way out; even if players die at the start, there is always a way to survive.

Now that the task of "solving the murderer" has been accomplished, the real challenge is "leaving the villa alive".

“So what we need to do now,” Liang Zaibing tapped his knuckles on the book cover, “is to find a way to bring us back to life.”

-----

"You said you sank the wax figure to the bottom of the lake?"

Liang Zaibing stared wide-eyed in disbelief, clearly not expecting such a reckless person.

However, judging from Ivan's current condition, he should not be easily drowned even if his body is turned into a wax figure.

"It wouldn't sink, so I tied it up with water plants."

Liang Zaibing fell even more silent.

Aquatic plants, which may be harmless when they are put into the water, may become deadly weapons when they are removing the wax figures.

Recalling the scene at the fountain pool, Liang Zaibing knew that if he went down into the lake, Yu Nian's ghost would do anything to kill him.

After considering everything, Liang Zaibing took out a bundle of safety ropes. "Go get the wax figure. If there's any danger, pull the rope, and I'll find a way to save you."

Ivan had no objections and allowed Liang Zaibing to tie the safety rope around his waist and thighs, combining them into a bundle behind his back, with the other end securely tied to the tree trunk.

Ivan entered the water very gently, like a wave merging into the sea, almost creating ripples, but his underwater swimming speed was exceptionally fast.

Liang Zaibing only saw a blurry black shadow flash by on the shore before disappearing into the seaweed, and the safety rope in her hand quickly shortened.

Are Russians such good swimmers?

Liang Zaibing was puzzled for a moment, then, considering her own breaststroke skills which she couldn't even swim a lap, she obediently continued to let the air out.

The tension from the other end of the safety rope fluctuates, giving one the illusion of fishing.

Yes, she's a blonde, blue-eyed mermaid, 1.9 meters tall, who could kill him with a single swipe of her tail.

The safety rope in his hand stopped decreasing and instead began to sway slightly; it seemed Ivan had found his wax figure.

Seven minutes had passed at this point.

Liang Zaibing was a little anxious. If it were him, he would have been in a floatation bag after holding his breath for three minutes. Even if Ivan had a great lung capacity, he couldn't exceed the limits of his body. He wasn't a real mermaid.

Wait, why not put diving gear on him?

Liang Zaibing imagined swimming to the bottom of the water with a diving bag on her back, only to have Yu Nian pull out her oxygen tube, and thought that even a clumsy method would work.

At least the system's specially supplied safety rope is much stronger than that of the diving equipment.

The safety rope loosened, and ripples spread across the surface of the lake near its center. A man with light blond hair, porcelain-white skin, and eyes etched by the grey moonlight emerged from the azure water, truly resembling a bewitching siren.

Once freed from the seaweed, the wax figure quickly surfaced, and Ivan swam rapidly toward the shore, dragging it with one hand.

Liang Zaibing had just breathed a sigh of relief when her heart jumped again. She pointed behind Ivan and shouted, "Watch out!"

The wax figure's hand, gleaming with an eerie light, suddenly moved and viciously choked Ivan's neck.

Ivan seemed oblivious until his neck was gripped by an arm, at which point he slowly raised his hand.