Chapter 30: A Reply from the Female Ghost

At this moment, all eyes were fixed on the envelope.

Previously, they had pretended that his right hand was injured to deceive the sinister entity about the inconsistency in handwriting. They had also refrained from using nicknames, fearing mistakes.

But no one knew whether Lin Yuan had other habits—perhaps calling every letter “darling” or something similar—which they could not anticipate. Lacking sufficient information, they could only respond as best as they could.

Sun Qian nervously opened the letter, slowly pulling it out and unfolding it.

The others gathered around, and upon seeing its contents, their expressions changed abruptly.

The letter read:

“Dear, is your hand injured? I’m very worried and want to come see you tonight. I believe our love will heal your hand; after all, love can dispel all misfortunes. Please wait for me at home tonight—Xinran.”

Damn!

After reading it, a chill ran down everyone’s spine.

T-This female specter is coming tonight?

If she found out that Lin Yuan had already been killed by them, and that they were pretending to be him in the replies, it could mean total annihilation for them.

There was already a ghostly Lin Yuan lurking at night; now his wife was coming. A duo of married specters would be the end of them.

“What do we do?” Wang Jian looked anxiously out the window, seemingly spotting a sinister figure setting off toward their cabin.

“We must reply immediately. We absolutely cannot let the female specter come here!” Sun Qian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, urgency etched in his voice.

…

Meanwhile, as Bai Wan and the others faced the unsolvable dungeon, the eerie game forum was bustling with activity.

Each player’s dungeon entry was displayed on the forum.

News of Bai Wan entering the unsolvable dungeon quickly caught the attention of onlookers.

“Huh… ‘Family’ entering an unsolvable-level dungeon as their second stage—what luck…”

“Such a shame. He’s currently the top newcomer with the most potential, but even the most prodigious talents falter if they encounter an unsolvable dungeon before they’ve fully developed.”

“It’s starting—the bet’s on whether ‘Family’ can clear the letter dungeon…”

Since Bai Wan was the first to receive a negative score and title, and as a newcomer had rushed into the top 48 on the bounty board, he was already under scrutiny. Now that he entered an equally captivating unsolvable dungeon, the hype only intensified.

Forum users included all kinds: spectators, schadenfreude seekers, gamblers, and even fortune tellers.

“Greetings, fellow disciples of the game forum. I am your old friend, the Yellow Eyebrow Taoist. Today, let us analyze the mysterious newcomer ‘Family.’ Using character analysis, the first character ‘home’ consists of a ‘roof’ radical above a ‘pig’ character, which originally meant ‘pig’ or ‘filth.’”

“The pig is considered unintelligent and unlucky. The ‘roof’ symbolizes confinement, trapping the pig inside a pen. An already unfortunate fate enclosed—how could it not bring misfortune?”

“That’s why ‘Family’ is so ill-fated. Would you want to enter an unsolvable dungeon like ‘Family’? Probably not. Message me on WeChat for an exclusive 18GB fortune analysis to improve your luck and avoid such dungeons!”

“Taoist, save me! I’ve messaged you.”

“I really don’t want to enter an unsolvable dungeon. Please accept my message.”

“Master, I’m willing to warm your bed!”

“But aren’t you a man?”

“Get lost, don’t meddle in my relationship with the master!”

“…”

In truth, many who messaged Yellow Eyebrow Taoist were only half-believers, but given the existence of supernatural elements in the game, high-level masters inheriting Taoist traditions were plausible.

…

Liu Tong, browsing the forum, couldn’t help but laugh.

Silly netizens were indeed entertaining.

At the same time, he felt a twinge of worry. Yue Ning had also entered the dungeon; he hoped she would be safe. As for Bai Wan, he was less concerned. That shameless bastard, even if the specter died, would probably survive.

Zhou Lu and others were also closely monitoring the latest forum updates.

Bai Wan and Su Yue Ning were two key members of Lancheng. Though acquaintances for only a short time, everyone sincerely hoped for their safety.

In the center of Longbei City, inside an inconspicuous building, a certain room was cloaked entirely in darkness.

A middle-aged man in a suit approached the darkness and said, “Captain, ‘Family’ has entered the unsolvable dungeon ‘Letter.’”

After a moment of silence, a voice emerged from the darkness.

“Hmm, I know.”

The voice was impossible to identify by age or gender—an exceedingly strange tone.

The suited man smiled and said, “It’s no small feat for a newcomer to break into the top fifty on the bounty board. ‘Family’ shows great potential. As you said before, since the game’s inception, geniuses abound, but few truly grow. Whether one has potential depends on survival. If he successfully clears the letter dungeon this time, should we focus on nurturing him? Our headquarters doesn’t have much fresh blood that can hunt specters.”

After a long pause, the voice replied, “Hmm, yes.”

The suited man bowed politely and closed the door. “Thank you for your time.”

…

Within the letter dungeon, Bai Wan was unaware of the heated discussion about him in the real world. His focus was entirely on the dungeon.

Reading Lin Yuan’s deceased wife’s letter, Bai Wan furrowed his brow.

Love…

That word seemed to appear quite frequently.

The first letter also mentioned love repeatedly...

Although Lin Yuan and his wife’s relationship appeared deep, Lin Yuan came from a poor rural background, and his wife’s identity was unknown, though certainly more privileged, or her parents wouldn’t have opposed the marriage.

Xinran disregarded her father’s objections, forcibly marrying Lin Yuan, even eloping.

For unknown reasons, they became separated by distance, and she ultimately died.

What secrets lay behind Lin Yuan and his wife’s love?

Where was the path to survival hidden in this so-called letter? And what truly lay within the mysterious warehouse?

Bai Wan fell into deep thought.

He seemed to grasp certain things but needed more contemplation to clarify them.

Sun Qian and the others began discussing how to reply.

They concluded that under no circumstances should Xinran be allowed to come.

After agreeing on the wording, Xu Bing was tasked with writing the reply.

Xu Bing picked up a pencil and began to write, but the pencil broke on the first stroke.

Snap.

“Be careful, don’t press too hard. We found this pencil inside the cabin,” Sun Qian warned.

Xu Bing paused, bewildered. He hadn’t applied much pressure.

After sharpening the pencil with a knife, he tried again more cautiously.

But snap—it broke again.

Xu Bing’s eyes widened.

I didn’t press that hard...

“Be more careful… not much pencil left,” Wang Jian advised.

“I’m already writing very lightly…” Xu Bing eyed the strangely fragile pencil and tried once more.

Bai Wan’s expression tightened as he instinctively leaned back, silently repeating, “Not my fault, not my fault…”

Xu Bing tried again.

Once more, the pencil fractured repeatedly.

Seeing this, usually composed Sun Qian wiped sweat from his brow and lit a cigarette, his hands trembling.

Damn it, is this unsolvable dungeon really going to end because the pencil kept breaking and they couldn’t write a reply?

Better to be devoured by the female specter than to lose over something so ridiculous!

Otherwise, how would forum players describe their dungeon experience?

“Sun Qian’s team wiped out because they kept breaking the pencil tip and couldn’t reply.”

That would be too embarrassing.

Sun Qian snatched the pencil away. “I’ll do it. Step back.”

With unreliable teammates, and to prevent a ridiculous wipeout, Sun Qian took matters into his own hands.

He refused to believe it was that unlucky.

Gently placing the pencil on the paper with his left hand, he began writing softly.

Snap.

This time the pencil didn’t break, but the neat letter suddenly bore a large tear.

Xu Bing: “…”

Sun Qian: “…”

Damn it!

Silence fell over the room.

Sun Qian’s face darkened and his body stiffened.

Staring at the letter torn wide open, countless curses raced through his mind.

Are you messing with me, letter?

Everyone stood dumbfounded, silently wondering if they were already doomed. Was there any hope?

Bai Wan’s face blackened too. Several novel titles flashed through his mind:

“An Interesting Tale of a Bug That Wiped Out Teammates”

“Clearing Unsolvable Dungeons by Starting with Team Wipes”

“Destroying Sinister Letters by Tearing Them at the Source”

After a few seconds, Wang Jian forced a smile.

“At least the pencil didn’t break this time, right?”

“Y-Yeah... maybe we can find some tape to fix it and still use it?”

“Ta-tape? Okay, okay, let’s find some…”

Meanwhile, Su Yue Ning eyed Bai Wan suspiciously.

This was too coincidental—eerily familiar.

She recalled Bai Wan’s arrival at Lancheng headquarters, the checkpoint on the stairs, the old tomb crushed by a meteor shower, and how she was inexplicably dragged into this cursed dungeon after shaking hands with him.

Bai Wan was a little suspect…

Su Yue Ning watched him warily.

Compared to entering an unsolvable dungeon, making friends with him seemed more dangerous.

Minutes later.

They taped the torn letter with whatever tape they could find.

The subsequent writing went smoothly, with no further pencil breaks.

The reply read:

“I miss you too, eager to see you, but now is not the time. Let’s wait a little longer. In the future, we will no longer be apart and will be together.”

This reply assumed Lin Yuan and the female specter were separated by distance.

There was always a reason for their separation.

Players didn’t need to know why; a clever excuse that now was not the time to meet would suffice.

Whether the specter accepted it was left to fate.

…

After finishing the letter, the group exchanged glances.

Because the pencil had broken so many times, the letter was wrinkled and had tape holding the middle together.

“This… should be fine, right?” Wang Jian doubted. Would the female specter really accept this shabby letter?

If he were her, he’d probably unleash a massacre.

Sun Qian hesitated. “I don’t know.”

He had never before broken a letter sent by a specter—or rather, a normal person shouldn’t have.

“There’s no choice—we just have to hope for the best,” Sun Qian sighed.

A minute later, the letter vanished from the table, signifying it had been sent to the female specter.

They could only hope she wasn’t so materialistic as to care about the letter’s condition.

“Let’s set out. We’ll explore Mingkou Town again today. We didn’t get much yesterday,” Sun Qian glanced at the time, feeling the pressure.

They had been in the dungeon two days but still knew nothing about Lin Yuan and Xinran. If things continued like this, replying to future letters over the next five days would be difficult.

Everyone supported exploring Mingkou Town, including Bai Wan.

His sister had also entered the dungeon. She should have taken on an NPC role, but they hadn’t found her yet. If he met his sister, he might learn more about the ‘Letter’ dungeon.

More importantly was the Skeleton Shop, a rare dark-blood colored shop.

According to Captain Zhou Lu, every unsolvable dungeon had one.

This was one of Bai Wan’s main goals.

To find the hidden dark-blood shop, buy the qualification to enter the desolate village dungeon, find the ghost craftsman, repair the ghost ship, and awaken the super special Captain class.

Bai Wan was eager, wondering what abilities the class might have—perhaps the power to pilot the ghost ship?

He looked forward to steering the ghost ship to ram the specters.

The dark-blood shop would refresh rare items.

He could bring them back for his navigator—no, for his chef, Granny Nami—to craft even more powerful special spectral feasts.

Where would the dark-blood shop be?

In Mingkou Town? Or in the mysterious warehouse?

Bai Wan frowned.

That place was heart-pounding, warning of dangers beyond the dungeon itself. The warehouse likely housed ferocious specters beyond imagination.

He wondered if he had the strength to confront them now.

Bai Wan possessed Abyss-grade spectral items and some powerful bugs. He might stand a chance.

In one day, his large Sunshine Mushroom would arrive—a powerful trump card.

Originally priced at 100 Mario Coins, he had gotten it for 30 as a newcomer discount. It was a rare item, capable of providing massive sunlight to his sunflower, enabling him to summon more powerful plants.

Just one more day to wait for the large Sunshine Mushroom.

Thinking this, Bai Wan touched the sunflower on his shoulder.

Instantly, he connected with it.

He had discovered last night that by touching the sunflower, he could actively release plants; otherwise, the sunflower released them randomly.

After two days in the dungeon, he had gathered enough sunlight to summon some plants.

However, the plants he had in mind were only the Peashooter and Wall-nut. Perhaps other plants required too much sunlight or weren’t unlocked yet, since his glowing sunflower was only level one and could still be upgraded.

He also noticed some plants had upgrade symbols; for example, the Peashooter could consume sunlight to become stronger.

Bai Wan looked forward to seeing the upgraded Peashooter.

Then, Bai Wan and the others set out to explore Mingkou Town.

They had to admit, the town was sparsely populated. They couldn’t find anyone to ask for directions. Some elderly men were hard of hearing and barely able to speak, making communication impossible.

As time passed, tension grew.

The female specter said she would come tonight. They had tried to stop her with their reply, but whether it worked was unknown. If not, tonight would be dangerous.

After all, the cabin already harbored the specter Lin Yuan.

After exploring for a while, night fell, and another fruitless day passed.

“This won’t do,” Luo Ya said, her face troubled. Without clues, how would they reply in the future?

“We should head back and think on the way,” Sun Qian said, glancing at the sky.

Nighttime in the dungeon was the most dangerous; they couldn’t linger.

They began walking toward Lin Yuan’s house.

At the entrance stood a large stone, a landmark.

When they neared the stone, the group suddenly stopped.

A pitch-black figure stood atop it, waving at them like a puppet.

Boom!

A shiver ran down their spines, and they scattered in all directions.

The specter had escaped from the cabin!

Run!

That was their only thought.

Bai Wan sprinted backward as well.

Suddenly, his body grew cold. The dark figure behind him flickered, moving swiftly closer.

The nightmare was closing in.