Ch. 57 - New Dungeon: Nightmare Haunted Campus

“Let me make a call, then we’ll begin the third test. Just a moment.” Luo Yimeng thought for a second and gave Bai Wan a heads-up before dialing logistics. 

“Lil’ Qin, we’ve run into a bit of trouble here. Can you come help us clean up?”

“Yes, Big Sis Luo. Go ahead.” A young male voice replied from the other end of the line.

Luo Yimeng organized her thoughts and summarized: “The Knock-Knock Ghost’s left hand was taken away… by a cabbage. The right hand might have a hairline fracture—please have the medicals take a look. The custom door from the first test accidentally got smashed, so we’ll need someone to clean up and replace it.

“As for the second test… the Drowned Ghost’s body is now half gold. Not sure if it’s actual gold —please have someone identify it. Oh, and our artificial river spontaneously sprouted an inflow and an outflow pipe. See if you can patch those up. That’s about it.”

Silence lingered on the other end.

Seeing no response, Luo Yimeng frowned. “Hello… Lil’ Qin? Are you still there? Did you catch all that?”

After several seconds of shell-shocked silence, a hesitant voice came through: “...Sis, did an all-out war break out between humanity and the paranormal?”

Luo Yimeng gave a tired chuckle. “No, nothing like that. Just running an evaluation for a new hunter…”

The person on the other end was speechless.

You sure we’re the ones testing him? Sounds more like he’s the one testing our facilities.

Three test stages… and two already trashed? This’s ridiculous. What is this, a one-time-use escape room?

Blow up a test, move to the next, repeat? Easy for you—you’re not the ones dealing with the aftermath!

The logistics guy fell into despair.

Great. Guess I’m working the weekend again.

“Really sorry about this,” Luo Yimeng said sincerely. “We didn’t expect things to go this way...”

While she coordinated with the cleanup team, a new system prompt popped up in Bai Wan’s mind.

[Paranormal Game Announcement]

[Urban Legend Dungeon: Nightmare Haunted Campus]

Type: Good vs Evil PvP

Team matchmaking in progress…

Match complete.

Team Good: Family, LittleStrawberry, I’mNotSleepy, General, AlwaysLast

Team Evil: Blank, I’mTheOneeSan, DownWithTheSystem, MissZombie, Liar

Match details synced to the forum. Players, prepare accordingly.

Game begins in: 72:00:00

Seeing this, Bai Wan instinctively greeted the system with a few choice words.

Screw you, system… I just cleared a dungeon yesterday and now you’re throwing me back in? 

After venting a little, he turned his focus back to the dungeon details.

Nightmare Haunted Campus—a confrontation-style dungeon? PvP?

He recalled from Liu Tong’s materials that paranormal game dungeons came in many types, most commonly “urban legend co-op,” like The Ghost Cruise and The Letter. But there was also a rarer format: PvP dungeons.

Two teams enter, fighting each other within the dungeon. Usually, the Good side is composed of law-abiding official hunters. The Evil side? Criminals and fugitives wanted for murder, sabotage, and worse.

Good vs Evil matchups always drew huge attention on the forums—especially now, with Family squaring off against Blank.

Sure enough, once the announcement dropped, the forums exploded.

“Another PvP match, and it’s a big one! Family versus Blank? Hype!”

“Poor Family… This is only his third dungeon. The Evil team members have all cleared at least six! Blank has eight under his belt, I'mTheOneeSan has seven… this might be a massacre.”

“Look at the bounty board, guys — Family’s ranking shot up again!”

“Damn, you’re right. He was 48th before, now he’s 30th? A jump of 18 ranks?? That’s wild.”

“Well, he did just clear an unsolvable-level dungeon. No wonder the bounty went up. For Evil players, Family is basically a walking wallet now.”

Bai Wan logged onto the forums and saw the chatter—his expression darkened.

Great. Every opponent looks more terrifying than the last. The system really is trying to screw me…

Then a new alert popped up.

“Hey! Evil faction players are already @-mentioning Family… Poor guy’s getting farmed.”

“Really? Let me take a look.”

Bai Wan clicked the alert. Sure enough, several messages were tagged with his name.

I'mTheOneeSan: “Hey lil bro~ You better be loaded. @Family”

DownWithTheSystem: “Thank you, Mother Nature, for this delicious loot drop. @Family”

MissZombie: “See you next dungeon, Mr. ATM~ @Family”

…

…They really were treating him like an ATM. Unbelievable.

Speechless, Bai Wan silently committed every gamertag to memory, one by one.

After memorizing the whole list, he smiled.

“Tsk. You’ve got some rotten luck,” Luo Yimeng said, having caught a glimpse of the forum posts. “You know who this ‘Blank’ is?”

“Not really,” Bai Wan replied. “But everyone keeps mentioning him in the comments.”

Luo Yimeng’s tone turned serious. “Blank is a hot topic among fugitives right now. He’s killed a lot of official talents—one of the standout rookie villains. But I’m talking about this Blank… not the real one.”

“…Huh?”

She explained, “Over the past month, many top-ranking official players have died mysteriously. It’s like someone’s hunting our elites. The most shocking was two months ago—a captain candidate died.”

Bai Wan’s eyes widened in disbelief. The Four S-Rank Captains were the pinnacle of all hunters. A captain candidate was just one step below—and even he died?

Luo Yimeng continued, “Even we don’t fully understand what happened. That dungeon was a ‘veteran leads rookie’ scenario—the rookie players had only done two or three runs on average. So, for a candidate-level player, it should’ve been a cakewalk. And yet…”

“Ever since then, rumors have spread. Some think the dungeon itself was bugged. Others believe a terrifying new Evil player emerged—one powerful enough to assassinate a captain candidate from the shadows. We haven’t found conclusive proof yet. But the fugitives?”

She narrowed her eyes. “They’re convinced a monster was born, and they’ve given him a name: Blank.”

“No one knows if he’s real. The ‘Blank’ you’re up against? Just a wannabe. A rabid fanboy, trying to imitate the real deal.”

Bai Wan nodded slowly. He understood now.

It all started with that mysterious death. The rumor mill took over. A legend was born: the one who kills from the shadows. Blank.

“But even if this guy’s just a copycat,” Luo Yimeng warned, “don’t underestimate him. He’s got way more dungeon experience than you.”

“…Got it.”

“Alright then,” she said. “Let’s take you to the third and final test.”

She led Bai Wan to a room even fancier than the last. At the center sat a crystal ball, faintly glowing.

“Place your hand on the crystal,” she instructed, smiling.

Bai Wan placed his hand on top. A chill seeped into his skin, surprisingly refreshing. He grinned.

“Wow. What does this thing test?”

Luo Yimeng replied, “Awakened Skills. That crystal can forcibly trigger them early for a while—lets us see what’s hidden in your potential.”

The moment she said that… Bai Wan’s smile disappeared.

“…Wait, awakened what now???”

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