The sky was a pale gray, a cold wind was blowing, and sycamore trees were planted on both sides of the road, with leaves covering the ground.
A rather large funeral home stood there, with a sign that read "Renshou Funeral Home." There were also vehicles parked in front of it. A gust of wind blew by, stirring up the leaves on the ground, and a series of figures appeared abruptly.
Si Yehan's consciousness slowly awoke from the boundless darkness. The Vengeful Ghost voices that had once filled his ears had faded away, and what came into view were the seven people and the surrounding scenery.
Three men and four women, plus myself, makes a total of four men and four women, so the dungeon's gender distribution is quite balanced.
Si Yehan's gaze was indifferent as he looked at the standing funeral home. It seemed that this instance would take place in this funeral home.
Apart from that, there are no other buildings in this area, making it seem exceptionally spacious. However, there are cars here, so perhaps we can drive around after completing the dungeon's objectives.
The first two instances prevented access to other areas, and it was unclear whether this instance would allow access. Amidst these thoughts, one of the seven spoke first.
"If everyone has no objections, shall we begin with introductions? Simply state your name and strengths, since we've all been playing the same instance since the first one."
The speaker was a tall, slender man dressed in a well-fitting suit. His eyes and brows revealed a hint of illness, and his face was pale.
Seeing that no one objected, he continued, "My name is Zhuang Xiaosheng, and my strengths are strong adaptability and observation skills."
After Zhuang Xiaosheng finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the man beside him. "Brother, it's your turn to introduce us."
The tall, extremely robust man, even taller than Zhang Kui from the first instance, spoke in a deep, powerful voice. "My name is Xia Yuanhou. I used to be a fitness instructor, but I haven't done it since the first instance. My strengths are adaptability and the ability to gain an advantage through force when facing instance natives."
Xia Yuanhou paused, a look of suspicion on his face, and looked at the person playing with his fingers not far away. It was a boy wearing a white dress and black boots. At first glance, his face looked like a woman's, but because of his thin frame and prominent Adam's apple, he didn't know how to address him for a moment.
The boy, dressed in a long white dress and wearing light makeup, clearly noticed Xia Yuanhou's gaze, a smile playing on his lips, "My name is Ge Congze. This outfit is indeed strange, so I will speak in a woman's voice. Before the dungeon started, I was playing a role-playing game, so I didn't have time to change."
Xia Yuanhou was somewhat stunned; it was the first time he had ever met someone like this. He subconsciously asked, "Is he serious?"
Ge Congze's smile deepened, then his expression turned serious as he said, "It's not serious, but we haven't reached the final step yet. However, now is not the time to talk about such things. My specialty is stealth and concealment. Although it's useless when facing ghosts, it's quite easy for me to steal information from dungeons."
Ge Congze's voice sounded perfectly normal, sweet but not cloying, provided one ignored his Adam's apple.
He said to Si Yehan, "It's your turn."
Si Yehan slightly raised his eyebrows, his dark eyes remaining indifferent. He had always been extremely adaptable, and having seen everything in his past experiences and the slaughter of countless lives, he was naturally not surprised by Ge Congze women's clothing. "Si Yehan, your specialty is solving problems."
After Si Yehan finished speaking, the woman with her hair in a bun not far away chimed in, "My name is Su Wei, Wei as in rose. My special skills are adaptability, I'm not afraid of ghosts, and I won't let you down at crucial moments, so you can explore with peace of mind."
After she finished speaking, she turned to the tall, aloof woman beside her, who exuded an aura of unapproachability, and said, "Sister, it's your turn."
The aloof woman nodded, raised her eyebrows, and first looked at Su Wei before saying, "My name is Xie Fei, and my specialty is analyzing the patterns of Vengeful Ghosts."
After Xie Fei finished speaking, another girl in a plaid long skirt took over the introduction. She had a timid air about her, fair skin, and looked harmless. Her voice was just loud enough for everyone to hear without being offensive. "My Xu Qing, Qing as in sunny weather. My strength is strong communication skills, which allows me to leave a good impression in most situations."
A girl dressed in a well-fitting school uniform, exuding an elegant and gentle temperament, with her hair tied in a low ponytail and bangs framing her face, spoke calmly, "It seems you are all from Great Xia. I am from Yamato. Although it's not proper to discuss nationalities within the game, it's good to clarify beforehand to prevent any future misunderstandings. My name is Qianjing Youhui, and my specialty is analyzing human psychology."
After everyone had finished their introductions, I, being already familiar with the process, easily took out an envelope from my pocket.
[Night Watch: At the funeral home, there have been many new corpses arriving lately, and staff members are disappearing every night. Find out the reason and survive for seven days.]
Si Yehan looked at his letter. There was very little information, and not much to add or delete. So he simply deleted "staff members often go missing at night" and read it aloud without adding anything else.
The moment the words left his mouth, the envelope slowly turned to ashes, drifting to the ground. The ashes, swirling in the wind, disappeared along with the leaves on the ground.
Zhuang Xiaosheng coughed softly and then read his letter, "As the renowned Renshou Funeral Home in the city, this is quite strange. Please survive for seven days! If anyone calls at night, do not turn around."
Xia Yuanhou clicked his tongue and said, "The contents of the envelope in this instance are so little, it seems difficult to pass. My letter says that the deceased should have been at peace, but a sudden change occurred. Please investigate the deceased's past and ensure they survive for seven days."
Ge Congze smiled and said, "It seems everyone's envelope contained the seven-day survival period, so there's no need to elaborate. My envelope said, 'Fate is unpredictable; people die unnatural deaths. Please avoid contact with the deceased's family.'"
Su Wei held the burning envelope in her hand, her face appearing eerily beautiful in the flames. "Please observe carefully inside the funeral home; you might find something unexpected."
Xie Fei toyed with the slowly burning envelope, her expression cold and her tone succinct. "Be careful of the curator."
Xu Qing said, word by word, "Ghosts have no intelligence and follow a pattern of killing, but humans are not like that. Please be careful of the patterns of killing, and also be wary of humans."
After saying that, she added, "It seems we need to be careful of the natives in this instance. They might pose a threat to us."
Xia Yuanhou chuckled softly, "As long as they don't have guns, just kill them as you please. Don't worry about the harm these natives pose. After these few instances of real combat, my skills have improved significantly, and with such favorable conditions outside, I haven't neglected my fitness regimen."
Qianjing Youhui held up the still-burnt envelope, a slight ripple crossing her brow. "My letter only contained one sentence: investigate the deceased's past and ensure their survival for seven days. The words are too brief. It seems that from the sixth instance onwards, no letter has ever been genuine."