The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

"I mean, who's in there? And what are they dawdling about?"

In front of me was a small cart filled with cleaning tools and fresh sheets and blankets.

Behind them was an older woman in a work uniform, one hand on her hip and the other on the bicycle handrail.

Upon seeing Li Can standing inside the door, he almost lost his balance and slid to the side along with the wheel.

"Be careful." Li Can quickly reached out to help.

He thought to himself, "The NPCs in this dungeon game are so realistic. Their little gestures, expressions, and tones are no different from normal people in the real world."

Previously, when Li Can first woke up from the first dream and met the nurse and other patients, he was unaware of this.

Now that I've recovered and adjusted my thoughts, looking back at everything, the resemblance is incredibly high.

Their eyes met in mid-air, and in that instant, Li Can saw a white halo flash in her eyes.

The woman steadied herself, pushed her cart past Li Can, and went inside, leaving him with only her back view.

"What's that stinking stuff? Did you eat shit in my house?"

No, they're ignoring me? He was counting on this NPC to help him keep an eye on things and conduct a small experiment. What if he got caught impersonating Zhou Yong later?

Li Can sighed and followed him into the house.

"...Who do I look like to you?" After a few seconds of silence, he didn't know how to ask this question, so he finally managed to utter a fart.

The middle-aged woman was sweeping trash across the ground with a broom, her eyes narrowed, and her anger seemed to be rising.

"You've come here in human skin to beg for a reward, haven't you? I'm asking you, did you eat snail rice noodles in my room?"

"I thought it was one of those girls from the nurses' station who came here, but it turns out it's you, a grown man, instead of going out to work, you're here sneaking around eating."

"I really can't be bothered to talk to you. You're so fat, don't you know you should lose some weight? Look at your belly, the buttons are about to burst open."

"And didn't you say last time that this outfit of yours was too old and you wanted to get a new one and left it with me? Why are you wearing it again without even thinking it's dirty?"

Li Can was taken aback by what he heard, but the implication in his words made his expression soften.

Judging from his appearance, he should now look like Zhou Yong, number 1612, in the eyes of others.

He was sitting next to Li Can before he died, and the old lady's description of her current physique perfectly matched Zhou Yong's.

After all, his original self was not fat at all.

She still called him a "big man," even though he looked incredibly immature for his age... In layman's terms, his eyes were filled with innocent naiveté...

However, Li Can didn't believe it; he thought he was incredibly clever.

"It's nothing, I just feel it's better to be frugal, so I'll be going now."

Having gotten the verification he wanted, Li Can was in a good mood. He chuckled and wanted to slip away.

Unexpectedly, the woman grabbed his arm and said, "Hey, wait a minute! I was wondering why my room smells so bad. What did you bring in here?"

They saw the person opposite them use a broom to lift a long, sticky, slippery black unidentified object between them.

Li Can looked back and saw that it was the hair he had pulled from the zombie puppet's throat; he had forgotten to clean it up.

If this NPC starts making a fuss and causing trouble, he's prepared to take action and quiet her down first.

But she only reacted for a moment before putting the things down on her own.

"Oh, so that's what it is. Be careful next time you go out, maybe it's stuck to the sole of your shoe."

Suddenly, an alarm radar went off in Li Can's mind.

What does "be careful next time you go out" mean?

By the way, from the moment you enter the instance, there are repeated keywords and key elements related to "hair".

The older woman's reaction was unusual; it was as if she was directly telling him what was wrong.

"Maybe so, after all, people working underground often don't notice things," Li Can replied calmly.

In reality, they were just trying to get information out of him.

"Indeed, several lights downstairs have been broken recently and no one has come to fix them. It's pitch black. But you're being too careless. If someone finds out, we'll all be in trouble."

As she spoke, she gestured as if she were about to behead someone.

Li Can looked into her eyes. Several wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes, her upper eyelids drooped downwards, and a small black pupil hung in the center of her already yellowish whites.

As he spoke, his pupils were filled with trembling fear.

The fear seemed genuine; it was as if something was truly threatening her life.

Her words confirmed at least one of his previous guesses: the place was in the basement. Furthermore, they provided an even more helpful piece of information: employees like him and her were allowed to work there.

Speaking of which, Li Can is about to go down and take a look.

Finding the exact location by himself would take forever.

Hey, there's a ready-made fully automated human guide right here.

Thinking of this, Li Can silently found a pair of gloves in the storeroom, put them on, picked up the hair from the broom, and examined it closely.

As he looked, his gaze shifted, then lingered on the woman's waist for a moment, before he suddenly launched into a dramatic performance:

"Oh dear, where did your knife go? Did you drop it down there? Go look for it quickly."

Of course he knew where her knife was. Just as the old lady almost fell when she opened the door, he caught her and immediately spotted the self-defense knife tucked into her waistband. He quickly grabbed it.

I never expected it could still be used to fool people at this time; it's like it's already put to good use right after I started working.

"How could that be?" The woman said confidently, groping behind her with one hand while waving the other, saying it was impossible.

The next second, her face froze.

"Oh no... If those experimental subjects find this, it'll be a disaster! No, no, you're right, I have to go down and look for it!"

She is in a hurry.

Li Can smiled, then waited patiently for her to continue.

"This is something only the two of us should know. You absolutely mustn't go around telling anyone."

"You can completely trust me."

Nodding, the woman packed up her tools and started to walk away, but stopped at the doorway.

"Wait a minute, I remember..." She slapped the back of her head, feeling a little confused. "Why don't you come down with me to look for it? Two people can always get there faster. My eyesight isn't good."

Li Can was waiting for her to say those words; he was actually taking a gamble, just in case.

"Ah... I have to go again? Okay, I'll help you this time. If you find it, remember to owe me a favor."

"Alright, alright, stop being so glib. Do I look like the kind of person who doesn't repay favors? Hurry up, my heart is pounding."

As they talked, they walked away towards the elevator, their voices still lingering in the distance.

"That's settled then. Don't go back on your word later, I've recorded it." Li Can took out the phone he had drawn from the resource egg and gestured with it.

"..."

"..."

At this moment, a middle-aged man with a Taoist-style haircut and wearing a white coat walked out of the doctor's office at the other end of the corridor. He rubbed his still sleepy eyes and forced himself to stay awake.

"Damn it, thank goodness we're out of the first layer of the nightmare."

"I think I've taken a bit too long. I wonder how that brat Wang Qing is doing. Is he still stuck inside?"

"Forget it, it's safer for him to stay inside for now."

"Am I seeing things? That person who was chatting and laughing with the NPC just now looked so familiar..."