Horror Game's First Display of Prowess

"Ten minutes? It's been more than ten minutes now, hasn't it?"

"I reported the situation here earlier. The Aberration Association should have sent the nearest Contract Anomalist without a current mission. Counting the time, they should have arrived long ago."

Yet, even as Bai Zuo unfolded his Ghost Domain and clashed head-on with that Weird, the Contract Anomalist who was supposed to provide backup still hadn't shown up.

Xu Zhou thought to himself, Are all the Contract Anomalists in the Aberration Association this unreliable?

Ji Wu, seeing through Xu Zhou's thoughts at a glance, twitched his mouth, opened it to defend himself, but ultimately shut it in silence.

Contract Anomalists had bizarre temperaments. It was already a miracle they even took on missions. Expecting them to obey orders and clock in on time? He might as well pray for world peace—at least that was easier to achieve.

"Can Brother Bai win?"

Xu Zhou looked up at the sky with concern. The duel between Ghost Domains seemed unremarkable on the surface, but it was fraught with deadly danger.

Ji Wu: "No need to worry about the Ghost Domain. He's an S-rank after all. He won't lose in a clash of this level. What you should worry about is what comes after. Once Bai Zuo successfully overwrites the other's Ghost Domain, that Weird will definitely jump out in a panic."

"This Weird also seems to be controlling many lower-level Weirds. Taking them all out will be quite troublesome."

Wandering Soul-level Weirds were manageable. Though numerous, Bai Zuo also controlled many people, enough to handle those. But a Ghost Domain couldn't possibly only contain Wandering Souls—there were bound to be other ranks.

Bai Zuo's control over people could temporarily boost their speed and strength, but it couldn't last too long. Otherwise, before the Weirds were killed, the controlled person's body would start breaking down first.

It was like making an untrained person suddenly exert far more than their body could handle. Sore muscles were the least of it; in severe cases, they'd be bedridden for a month or two to recover.

Xu Zhou tightened his grip on his blade. "This is my first time seeing so many Weirds gathered together. How do we contain them?"

Ji Wu: "These Weirds living in the Ghost Domain without being devoured are all subordinate to the domain's master, even part of that Weird's power. We only need to contain the domain master, and the rest will be contained along with it."

"Haven't you seen Bai Zuo's Ghost Domain? That giant spider is the Heart Gu, and the countless little spiders manifesting in the domain are also projections of the Heart Gu's power. In essence, they are one."

Xu Zhou suddenly understood: "No wonder they don't devour each other even in the same space."

Kong Yubo and a few teammates, covering each other, had finally approached the base of the Divine Altar when they overheard this conversation.

His teammate Tian Hua looked at Kong Yubo with agitation: "Our previous tactics were wrong!"

"If we had locked onto that Weird from the start and eliminated it, would our brothers have lost their lives there?"

As he spoke, his eyes grew moist.

Kong Yubo was silent for a moment before saying, "Even if we had found it, we couldn't have destroyed it."

After his outburst, Tian Hua realized his emotions were out of line. "Sorry, I lost my composure."

When Huayuan Ridge went down, Kong Yubo and his team had actually entered twice. The first time was to scout the situation inside. They found so many monsters that it threatened the safety of the entire city!

They withdrew and received orders from above: no matter what means were necessary, they had to annihilate these monsters within Huayuan Ridge. They absolutely could not let them leave the ridge and harm the ordinary people below.

At first, they planned to use missiles. But the White Mist shrouding Huayuan Ridge blocked all external attacks. No matter how many missiles they dropped, not a single explosion was heard.

So Kong Yubo was ordered to lead his team back into Huayuan Ridge with high-yield explosives for manual detonation.

Unfortunately, those Weirds couldn't be killed by explosives. Some were indeed blown apart, but they quickly reformed.

And all the Weirds went berserk, hunting them down.

Even giving their all, they were scattered in the pursuit. Only thirteen people walked out alive.

This was the deepest pain in every member of the Special Dispatch Team's heart.

"It's not your fault. No one knew back then that these things couldn't be destroyed physically."

Only a Weird could fight a Weird.

Who could have imagined that such illogical monsters would suddenly appear in the world?

Kong Yubo looked at the Contract Anomalist standing on the Divine Altar.

If I could become a Contract Anomalist too, maybe I could save those people crying for help from the Weirds.

The giant spider let out a screech. It stared at the other's Ghost Domain, now fully revealed, and lowered its head to bite at the domain's membrane bit by bit. Soon, it tore open an opening.

Countless little spiders surged through the tear, spitting silk that gradually wrapped and covered the opposing Ghost Domain.

Murky Yellow Spring water poured out from the breach.

A peculiar aura instantly enveloped everyone present.

Ding! Bai Zuo, Xu Zhou, Ji Wu, Kong Yubo, Tian Hua... have triggered the multiplayer instance—Lamp Mansion Festival.

Rank: B.

Instance Hint: Your longing for departed loved ones has led you across the Bridge of Kin to the world where the dead reside. O great Yama, if I offer you a satisfactory sacrifice, may I reunite with my family and stay together forever?

Clear Conditions: 1. Participate in the Lamp Mansion Festival and escort the sacrifice safely to the Divine Altar. Difficulty: Normal.

2. Become a resident of the afterlife. Difficulty: Hard.

"Three: Kill Yama. Difficulty: Nightmare."

"Completing any one of the above will clear the instance. Once cleared, the instance will temporarily close for a period of time. During the closure, the Weirds inside cannot leave. Only by killing the instance's final boss will the instance be permanently closed."

"Based on the difficulty of the conditions the conqueror fulfills to clear the instance, the conqueror will receive rewards of corresponding value."

The moment that familiar yet unfamiliar mechanical voice rang out, Shen Yu curled a faint smile. "The Horror Game [Eerie Era] has turned Blue Star into a massive playground. Conquerors need to clear these instances, or else the Weirds inside will walk out and erode the entire Blue Star."

And the special nature of Weirds meant humans simply couldn't harm them. They could only obey the instance's rules. To clear an instance, countless people would lose their lives in the process.

But as long as humans hadn't mastered a way to exterminate Weirds, instances could never truly be conquered.

To prevent the Weirds inside from escaping, they had no choice but to send people in to continuously clear instances, shutting them down—day after day, year after year.

It seemed to give humanity hope, but in the end, all it brought was the deepest despair.