[Must-read!] The truth revealed! The BOSS flirts back!

The Diary's remaining pages were thick with entries, filled with nothing but Mom, Mom, Mom...

The handwriting was scrawled, as though he had written it from childhood into adulthood. Every "Mom" was written in blood. Countless repetitions packed the thick book, making for a horrifying sight.

Yu Qing's mind raced. Only after a long while did he notice the sound beside him.

"Boohoo... boohoo..."

The blood-soaked woman was crying!

She buried her entire face in her arms, stripped of skin and flesh, and shed endless bloody tears. Her voice was hoarse, as though she were explaining herself to someone. "No..."

"It's not... like he wrote..."

"He was a... good... good boy." The woman sobbed. "I was... the one at fault! I was... the one at fault!"

Had the danger subsided?

Yu Qing let out a small breath of relief. As he used the Metal-Melting Water on the door lock, he pieced together the blood-soaked woman's account-

At around three years old, the director had been diagnosed with a mental disorder. He often spoke incoherently and severely harmed himself.

To save him, his mother had traveled far and wide, visiting every major hospital in the country. Only after exhausting her savings and selling her home had she managed to temporarily bring his condition under control.

But once the house was sold, his heartless father could no longer bear the pressures of their life and promptly demanded a divorce.

Afterward, his mother worked alone, supported the family alone, and took him to seek treatment, receive care, and attend school all on her own.

At school, however, the moment he showed even the slightest abnormality, the other children surrounded him and mocked him, saying, "Mentally ill people don't deserve to live," and, "Mentally ill people are better off dead. It'd take a burden off society."

This only grew worse during those immature middle and high school years. The director began to hate school, and his mental state deteriorated further and further.

Left with no other choice, his mother took him from place to place, moving repeatedly and seeking medical help wherever she could.

But... misfortune always preyed on those already suffering.

At twenty-five, with his mind already lost to extreme madness, the director's face began to age prematurely. His hair turned white, wrinkles appeared, and when he went outside, he looked no different from a man in his seventies or eighties.

The mockery around him kept growing, and his fragile mind, sustained by medication for years, finally collapsed completely.

Until one day, unable to restrain himself any longer, he stabbed a woman who kept mocking him to death. He tentatively cut off her skin and pressed it onto his own face, and everything began to change.

He became involved in cosmetic treatments and went out searching for targets like a madman. To stop him, his mother went so far as to cut off her own skin to keep her son at home.

She had considered calling the police countless times, but... her son had tied her up. All her hardships, all her efforts over the years, had ended in failure.

For a time afterward, the director kept taking skin from her body. She had... almost no intact skin left, yet she could not go to the hospital.

Eventually, she died without a sound in their shabby rented room.

Then, using the handsome face he had fashioned for himself, the director deceived a female Sanatorium owner.

Under the pretense of marriage, he killed her and took her place, becoming the psychiatric Sanatorium's new director.

He then sealed his mother inside the Angel Statue and placed it in the lobby to welcome new patients every day.

The blood-soaked woman had not clearly explained what happened after that, but Yu Qing could more or less guess.

At twenty-nine, the director developed stomach cancer.

Knowing he was going to die, he offered up his soul on his deathbed and wished to the Deity, saying that he "still wanted to stay in the Sanatorium" and "still wanted to stay by his mother's side."

But once he was dead, how could there still be a Sanatorium for him?

So the "Deity" set its sights on Xu Han's dream.

The "Deity," with its twisted sense of amusement, corrupted Xu Han's dream and let the director remain here forever. Then it turned that dream into a Dungeon, where all the challengers had to feel their way toward survival!

"Boohoo, boohoo..."

The muffled sobbing continued. Yu Qing looked at the blood-soaked woman, his gaze shifting slightly.

She had struggled all her life, pouring every ounce of energy and every penny of her savings into treating her son, only for him to slowly kill her and seal her inside a stone statue.

Even after all that, even in death, she still wanted to protect her son.

And in this grotesque, twisted story, how innocent were Xu Han and his family?

The night was retreating. The sun would soon rise.

But the blood-soaked woman only gazed at him, endlessly shedding bloody tears and sobbing to him about how hard her life had been, about how thoughtful her son had been as a child. She showed absolutely no intention of seeking shelter.

But... ghosts would die in the light, wouldn't they?

But... it seemed that it had been a very, very long time since anyone had listened to her, since anyone had heard her story.

Dawn broke.

Sunlight fell on the blood-soaked woman.

Yu Qing simply watched in a daze. He did not step forward to help, nor did he say anything.

He only asked the Livestream Room how he should see off the dead. Then he lowered his head, slowly pressed his palms together, and bowed deeply to the blood-soaked woman as she steadily faded away.

But the moment he straightened, he realized something was wrong!

No!

The story exploration rate was 99%. What about the remaining 1%?

Where was the key?!

Yu Qing hurried out the door. Seeing Qian Lai standing in the lobby and lazily greeting him, he immediately called him over to help dismantle the towering Angel Statue.

The director's mother was dead. The Angel Statue was empty. There was no key!

If it was not with his mother, then it had to be... in the director's hands.

So they had to find the director!

[Ding-dong-]

[Daily friendly reminder from the system: Five days remain until the Dungeon ends. Keep up the good work, streamer~]

As the Dungeon progressed, they had less and less time left to clear it.

No matter how often the story exploration rate updated, it was ultimately only a side objective. Even Yu Qing could not predict what would happen if they failed to find the key to escape in five days!

"Darling, you can't leave."

"You can't leave."

The BOSS's threat seemed to sound right beside his ear, echoing endlessly through his mind. Yu Qing had no time to investigate who had locked his door. He simply brought Qian Lai along and hurried to work out where the director might be hiding.

That useless wretch had been frightened so badly by him that he had not even dared to come out and see his own mother when she died.

The Diary said that ever since developing his premature aging condition, the director had been afraid of looking in mirrors, afraid of seeing his own appearance. Yet he could not resist looking, so he sat beside a mirror every day.

Could he now be... hiding inside a mirror?

Yu Qing and Qian Lai spent the entire day searching the Director's Office. Finally, crash-!

With a swing of his hammer, Qian Lai smashed through a hollow white wall. Bricks and rubble rained down, revealing another concealed wall behind it. A gleaming mirror stretched across its entire surface!

But... this Dungeon only became dangerous at night. They could not detect anything during the day. Even smashing the mirror would not help them find the director.

They could only wait until nightfall.

Once they found the key, they could leave.

After a long wait, the cold curtain of night descended silently.

To make escape easier, they left the Director's Office door wide open. Yu Qing stood in front of the mirror, with Qian Lai a little farther back, each holding their items.

To better restrain the director, Yu Qing even took out the Restraint Rope he had spent all his points buying for the BOSS.

It was a little excessive, but it was still better than coming up empty-handed.

Tap, tap, tap...

At midnight, a lingering sound came from deep within the mirror.

Tap, tap, tap...

It sounded like footsteps, steady, cold, drawing closer.

Before long, an oppressive chill rushed toward them. An icy pressure seeped out of the mirror, invading every part of his body.

My hands... won't move...?

Yu Qing clenched his teeth, his gaze abruptly sharpening. As though he had suddenly realized something, he said, "Run..."

He shouted, "Qian Lai, run!"

Then, the next instant, crash-

The mirror shattered, and the Restraint Rope in his hand snapped into several pieces along with it!

His wrists throbbed and his legs went weak. Yu Qing immediately turned around. Just as he neared the doorway, suddenly, bang-

The entire door slammed shut. An icy tentacle pressed against his shoulder, and then-

"Mmph..."