A phantom of a Clown Dwarf appeared in the middle of the corridor and grinned.
"Players, please read the game rules and prepare within one minute."
A translucent rules panel unfolded before the six men.
The panel read:
Game name: Haunted Dormitory. Difficulty: Five stars (maximum difficulty). Clear reward: None (trap penalty triggered). Failure penalty: Soul Master level -1 (effective below level 99).
The six men stared at the panel, each wearing a different expression.
Tang Xiao spoke first. "What is this thing? Clear reward: none?"
Dugu Bo stared at the words "failure penalty," a muscle twitching in his face.
One level lost.
He was level 92 this year. If he failed, he would drop to level 91. It had taken him twelve years to cultivate his way to level 92. Would twelve years of painstaking effort go down the drain over a single game?
"Only children play games like this! Let me out!" Yu Yuanzhen slammed his fist into the wall. The concrete shuddered, showering his face with dust, but the pain in his fist made him bare his teeth.
Without Soul Power reinforcing it, his fist was nothing more than an ordinary old man's fist.
The Clown Dwarf tilted his head at him. "Your attack is ineffective. The game has begun. You may only leave once it ends."
Chen Xin gripped his iron sword, now devoid of Soul Power, his brows knotted tightly. He turned to glance at Tang Hao.
Tang Hao's face looked even grimmer than the wall.
"What are we supposed to do?!" Dugu Bo asked.
Tang Xiao finished scanning every word on the rules panel, his face deathly pale. He glanced at the countdown.
Forty seconds remained.
"Find a room. Find a bed. Hurry!" Tang Xiao's voice suddenly rose to a shrill pitch. "The Soul Beast is coming out! We have no fighting power right now!"
The corridor descended into chaos.
The six Titled Douluos crowded together, all talking over one another as they faced the rules panel.
Tang Xiao's voice drowned out the others. "Stop standing around! The rules spell it out clearly-we have to get into bed within thirty seconds! If we don't, we'll be exposed outside, and the Soul Beast will grab us the moment it comes out!"
"What bed? I can't make sense of this damned thing!" Yu Yuanzhen roared.
Tang Xiao pointed at the doors on either side of the corridor. "The rooms! Push the doors open and go inside! There are beds in there! Hurry!"
The six men started running.
Tang Hao charged ahead and kicked open the door to Room 101.
The room was small, with a single bed against the corner. He ducked inside and slammed the door shut.
Tang Xiao pushed open the door to Room 102. It also had a single bed, and he ducked inside as well.
Dugu Bo was old and slow. He finally reached the handle of Room 105 and pushed, but the door did not budge. It was locked.
"This door's locked!" Dugu Bo's voice cracked.
He ran to Room 106 and pushed it open. He ducked inside and shut the door.
Yu Yuanzhen and Chen Xin entered Rooms 107 and 108 respectively.
Gu Rong was last. He tried three doors, all locked, and sweat beaded on his forehead in his panic. At last, he found an unlocked door at Room 111 and plunged inside.
The six men were scattered across separate rooms.
Once the doors shut, the corridor fell silent.
Standing in Room 101, Tang Hao looked around. Grayish-white walls, a single bed, and a battered turret base. Only a slender barrel sat atop the turret, looking like something made for a toy.
The quilt on the bed was dingy, and the pillow smelled sour.
Tang Hao cursed inwardly, then lay down on it.
The rules said lying in bed would produce gold coins. He glanced at the number that appeared on the wall.
[Gold coins: 0]
A few breaths later, the number became 1. After another few breaths, it became 2.
One coin per second.
Tang Hao stared at the number, his mind racing. Gold coins could upgrade the door, the bed, and the turret. He scanned the control panel.
Upgrade door: 10 gold coins. Upgrade bed: 15 gold coins. Upgrade turret: 20 gold coins. Build repair station: 30 gold coins.
His door had only 100 HP.
According to the rules panel, a Nightmare Demon on "maximum difficulty" would be at least a hundred-thousand-year beast. With the attack power of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, a wooden door with 100 HP would shatter in one hit.
Tang Hao was frantic.
The instant he saved up 10 gold coins, he clicked to upgrade the door. Its HP rose from 100 to 150.
He waited another fifteen seconds, saved up 15 coins, and upgraded the bed. Gold production increased from one coin per second to two.
That was a little better. But still not enough.
A sound came from the corridor.
Heavy footsteps.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
With every step, the entire corridor shook.
Tang Hao's heart leaped into his throat.
Through the small screen on the wall, he saw the corridor. An enormous mass of black mist surged from its far end, two blood-red lights flickering deep within it. The thing stood at least forty feet tall, its head nearly brushing the ceiling.
A hundred-thousand-year Nightmare Demon.
The Clown Dwarf's voice echoed down the corridor. "The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Nightmare Demon, has begun roaming. All players, please prepare your defenses."
Tang Hao clenched the corner of his quilt.
His door had only 150 HP now.
How much damage could a hundred-thousand-year Nightmare Demon deal in one hit?
He soon learned the answer.
The Nightmare Demon stopped outside Room 102.
That was Tang Xiao's room.
Boom!
One hit.
On the small screen, Tang Hao saw the HP of Room 102's door drop straight to zero.
One hit.
The door shattered.
The Nightmare Demon bent down and slipped into the room.
Three breaths later, a surge of black mist swept Tang Xiao out of the room and flung him onto the corridor floor. His body twitched twice, then a white light enveloped him, and he vanished.
The Clown Dwarf's voice rang out. "Sorry, player Tang Xiao has been killed and eliminated. Level reduced by one."
Tang Hao slammed his fist against the bed frame.
One hit. A door with 100 HP shattered in one hit. Even with his upgraded to 150 HP, the difference was merely lasting one more blow.
He frantically clicked the upgrades.
Once he saved 20 coins, he upgraded the turret.
Once he saved 30, he built a repair station.
Then he saved another 10 and upgraded the door again.
It was too late.
The Nightmare Demon emerged from Room 102, circled the corridor, and stopped outside Room 105.
That was Dugu Bo's room.
Dugu Bo's door also had 100 HP. He had no idea he needed to upgrade the door first, and had hoarded all his coins without spending any.
Boom!
The door shattered.
A piercing, miserable howl came from the room.
"Sorry, player Dugu Bo has been killed and eliminated. Level reduced by one."
Dugu Bo vanished.
Tang Hao clicked the upgrades like a madman. His door's HP rose to 250. His turret reached level 2.
But the coins came far too slowly. A single bed producing two coins per second could not come close to keeping up with the cost of upgrades.
The Nightmare Demon continued roaming.
Room 107.
Boom!
"Sorry, player Chen Xin has been killed and eliminated. Level reduced by one."
Room 108.
Boom!
"Sorry, player Yu Yuanzhen has been killed and eliminated. Level reduced by one."
Room 111.
Boom!
"Sorry, player Gu Rong has been killed and eliminated. Level reduced by one."
All five men had fallen in less than two minutes.
Tang Hao was the only one left in the corridor.
The Nightmare Demon paced up and down the corridor twice before finally locking onto Room 101.
It stood before the door. Two blood-red lights shone through the crack and fell across Tang Hao's face.
Tang Hao lay on the bed, staring at the shifting HP number on the door.
250.
The turret fired automatically. Every few breaths, the level 2 turret fired a shot, taking a single point of HP off the Nightmare Demon. But the hundred-thousand-year Nightmare Demon's HP and his turret's damage were on entirely different scales.
Boom!
250 dropped to 50.
One hit took off 200 HP.
Tang Hao frantically repaired the door. 50 jumped back to 100.
Boom!
100 dropped to 0.
The door shattered.
The Nightmare Demon charged inside.
Tang Hao stared at the black mist that filled the entire room, at those two blood-red lights, at that twisted face with no features.
There was nothing he could do.
The black mist swallowed him.
"Sorry, player Tang Hao has been killed and eliminated. Level reduced by one."
A total wipeout.
Before you continue