[System Warning: Room 404 Has Entered an Unstable Materialization State]
At 3:15 a.m., the seven of them gathered in the open space outside the dormitory, gazing upward at the fourth floor that by all logic should not exist. Within the window of Room 404, candlelight flickered unsteadily, and the two silhouettes still stood behind the glass, their fingers unwaveringly pointing toward the laboratory building.
"They're urging us forward," Shen Qingdai murmured.
The pocket watch in Lu Xingliao's coat had grown so scalding that he was forced to set it upon the ground. Beneath the crystal face, the hands spun madly in reverse until, with a sharp click, they halted. A thin fracture split the dial, and a faint wisp of black mist seeped outward.
"What is it releasing…?" Li Ninghao had only just raised his spiritual detector when the mist coalesced into a suspended line of words:
Three years ago, we were the sacrifices. Now, you are the same.
The moment the sentence dissolved, the watch shattered completely. Amid the fragments lay a tiny folded slip of paper. Lu Xingliao unfolded it with utmost care. Delicate handwriting flowed across its surface:
If you are reading this, it means you too have uncovered the school's secret. Three years ago, the mentors Zhang Mingyuan, Li Jing, and Wang Haishan conducted a "Ley Line Resonance Experiment" on B3, attempting to harness the spiritual vein beneath the campus for their own power. The experiment spiraled out of control. The Ley Line rampaged, and we students were the first to suffer.
My roommate Xiaoya and I were chosen as "stabilizing anchors." They used our souls to quell the violent surge. Xiaoya's spirit was torn apart; my body was devoured. What remains of us is imprisoned within 404, forever unable to depart.
The pocket watch was my only keepsake. Now it guides you. Beware the cheongsam-clad woman in the shop—she is no mere program. Beware Qin Chuan—he knows everything. If you wish to survive, you must locate the experiment's core data from three years ago and destroy it.
— Lin Xiaoxue, Seventh Cohort Student of Shanhai University
When the final line was read, the paper ignited of its own accord, its ashes scattering into the night air.
"The seventh cohort…" Lu Xingliao repeated softly. "We should be the eighth—or later. Yet Director Qin claimed we were the 'first batch of students.'"
Shen Qingdai's gaze sharpened. "He was lying. This school has existed for years. Every three years they recruit a new group—and most of them… vanish."
Their student cards suddenly vibrated in unison, forcibly projecting a new notification:
[Hidden Mission Update: Proceed to the Campus Shop to Obtain a 'B3 Access Pass']
[Hint: The shop will open a 'Hidden Procurement Hour' from 03:00–04:00, accessible only to holders of C-Rank missions]
[Countdown: 00:39:27]
"Hidden procurement hour?" Wang Pang frowned. "A game easter egg?"
Li Ninghao analyzed swiftly. "Most likely only those who triggered a C-Rank mission can even see this prompt. The shop must contain items—or NPCs—we failed to notice before."
"Then we move," Lu Xingliao said, casting one last glance at the window of 404. The two silhouettes had vanished, yet the candlelight still burned. "We don't have much time."
---
Campus Shop: The Secret of Three in the Morning
When they arrived at the shop once more, its facade had transformed entirely. The quaint wooden door of daytime had become a rust-stained iron gate, from which a swaying kerosene lamp dangled. The signboard no longer read Campus Shop—instead, in faded lettering, it declared Midnight Exchange.
Pushing the door open revealed an even more astonishing sight. The bright, orderly shelves of the day had vanished, replaced by dim candlelight, towering piles of battered crates, and the heavy, suffocating scent of mildew. The cheongsam-clad clerk still stood behind the counter, yet she appeared… more real now—skin textured, eyes vivid with life.
"Oh? You've triggered the hidden purchase already?" she smiled, the curve of her lips faintly eerie beneath the flickering candles. "The Seventh Cohort needed half a month to reach this point. You managed it in barely a day and a half."
Lu Xingliao's gaze sharpened. "You know us?"
"I know every cohort," the woman replied, leaning lazily against the counter as her fingers tapped the wood. "My name is Su Wan'er—once a student of the Sixth Cohort, now the… shopkeeper. Or rather, a ghost imprisoned within this place."
The candlelight leapt, casting her shadow upon the wall behind her—yet it was not the silhouette of a single woman, but a knot of distorted human forms entwined together.
"Relax," Su Wan'er waved a hand lightly. "I mean you no harm. In truth, I am a 'system glitch,' a fragment of erroneous data those mentors failed to erase completely. I retained my memories—and with them, certain… truths they would prefer you never learn."
She produced seven small black boxes from beneath the counter. "B3 passes. One for each of you. Wear them, and you may withstand the Ley Line's corrosive energy on B3 for one hour. After that, you must leave—otherwise your souls will slowly dissolve."
Inside each box lay a black wristband engraved with intricate runes.
"The price?" Shen Qingdai asked.
Su Wan'er smiled. "Free—but I require a promise. If you survive to the end and locate the school's core control system, set me free. I do not wish to remain here forever, trapped as an NPC within this shop."
"The core control system?" Li Ninghao adjusted his glasses.
"Shanhai University is not a real school," Su Wan'er's voice dropped to a hush. "It is a vast psionic training ground, established by an organization to identify and cultivate individuals of extraordinary potential. But three years ago, a faction of mentors rebelled, attempting to seize control—and that rebellion birthed the catastrophe."
She gestured toward the shelves behind her. "Now, you may purchase certain hidden items. With points… or with memories."
The shelves shimmered to life, revealing a row of objects none of them had seen before:
Ley Line Stabilizer (Single-Use): 300 points — protects the user for ten minutes within a Ley Line surge zone
Reality Anchor (Minor): 500 points — resists spatial distortion
Memory Fragment Reader: 800 points — extracts residual memories embedded in the environment
Mentor Authority Forgery Card (Single-Use): 1000 points — temporarily grants D-rank mentor privileges
…
The final item stole the breath from every chest:
Relic Set of the Seventh Cohort: 2000 points — contains three artifacts, possibly bearing crucial clues
"We can't afford that," Li Xiang said with a bitter smile. After completing two missions, each of them possessed barely two hundred points.
Su Wan'er blinked slowly. "You may trade memories instead. Offer one 'important but non-essential' memory, and it will offset five hundred points. But once surrendered, that memory—and the emotions bound to it—will be lost forever."
Silence fell over the seven of them.
"I'll do it," Lu Xingliao spoke first. "I'll trade… the memory of the first time I saw a spirit. I was five. I saw my grandfather standing beside my bed after he had passed away, and I cried the entire night."
Su Wan'er nodded and lightly touched his forehead, drawing out a slender filament of silver light. Lu Xingliao felt a hollow open within his heart; the memory blurred, leaving behind only a cold, factual residue devoid of emotion.
The others followed in turn. Shen Qingdai surrendered the memory of her father encouraging her on the eve of the college entrance exam; Li Ninghao relinquished the exhilaration of solving his first complex mathematical problem; Wang Pang parted with the cherished taste of his grandmother's braised pork…
With 3,500 points amassed, they purchased the "Relics of the Seventh Cohort" set along with two "Ley Line Stabilizers."
Inside the relic set lay three items:
A diary half-charred by fire. A jade pendant split down the middle. A group photograph—seven young figures smiling before the gates of Shanhai University. Among them were Lin Xiaoxue and her roommate Xiaoya… and Su Wan'er herself.
On the back of the photograph were the words: "Seventh Cohort—may we survive to graduate."
When Su Wan'er saw the picture, her gaze trembled. "They were my companions… seven of us. In the end, only I 'survived' in this form. The others all…"
She did not finish, yet everyone understood.
"Time's up," Su Wan'er suddenly glanced toward the depths of the shop. "The hidden purchasing window is closing. You must go. Remember—the entrance to B3 lies behind the mirror on the second floor of the laboratory building. It requires three people activating spiritual sight simultaneously. And… beware the reflections within the mirror. Not all of them are truly yours."
The iron door began to shut. At the final moment, Su Wan'er called out, "If you see a ghost in a white lab coat with a red emblem on the chest—run immediately! That is one of the mentors who participated in the experiment. They have long since lost their sanity!"
The door sealed completely. When it opened again, it had reverted to the ordinary campus shop of daylight.
The time was 3:58 a.m.
---
Laboratory Building: The Mirror Gate
At 4:10 a.m., the seven stood before the great mirror at the end of the second-floor corridor of the laboratory building. It was an antique standing mirror, its ornate frame carved with intricate patterns, the glass dulled by age.
"Su Wan'er said three people must activate spiritual sight at once," Shen Qingdai looked to Lu Xingliao. "You, me, and who else?"
Chen Xiaowei raised her hand. "I have a faint spiritual sight as well—it awakened only recently."
The three positioned themselves before the mirror and focused their minds. Lu Xingliao's vision responded first; the mirror ceased to reflect reality and instead became a translucent doorway, beyond which spiraled a staircase descending into darkness.
"I see it!" Shen Qingdai exclaimed.
Chen Xiaowei nodded. "So do I."
Their student cards simultaneously emitted beams of light that struck the mirror's surface. The glass rippled like water, revealing the hidden entrance behind it. A frigid, ancient breath of air rushed forth, tinged with the faint scent of blood and something scorched.
Li Ninghao scanned with his spiritual sensor. "The energy readings are off the charts. The concentration below is more than a hundred times that of the upper floors. Keep the access bands on at all times."
The seven fastened the black wristbands; the engraved runes shimmered softly, forming a thin veil of protection.
"Let's go," Lu Xingliao inhaled deeply. "Remember—we have only one hour."
The spiral staircase seemed endless, each step etched with dense runic markings, many already fractured. On the walls appeared occasional claw marks—deep gouges, as though someone had scraped desperately with their fingernails.
"These marks…" Zhao Yan illuminated them with his flashlight. "Were they made by a person?"
"Or by something else," Wang Pang's voice quivered.
After roughly five minutes of descent, the staircase finally ended. Before them stood a massive metal door layered with seals, each inscribed with different sigils. Yet at its center yawned a jagged hole, the edges twisted outward as if something had violently burst from within.
"Warning," Li Ninghao murmured, watching his sensor. "Multiple high-energy signatures inside—at least five, all in motion."
Lu Xingliao's spiritual sight revealed even more: beyond the door, the space churned with distorted streams of Ley Line energy, like rivers of color surging through the air. Within those currents wandered several blurred humanoid forms, their spirits partially fused with the Ley Line itself—grotesque and formidable.
"Prepare yourselves," Shen Qingdai tightened her grip on the newly purchased peach-wood sword. "Once we enter, follow the plan: Wang Pang, Li Xiang, Zhao Yan—set up the protective talisman array. Li Ninghao and I will collect data. Lu Xingliao and Chen Xiaowei—locate the core data repository."
They pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Level B3 was far larger than they had imagined — a vast underground laboratory sprawled out before them. Workbenches lay overturned in chaotic disarray, shattered glassware littered the floor, and various instruments flickered with eerie residual glimmers. Most striking of all was the center of the lab: a colossal circular depression more than ten meters in diameter, plunging into unfathomable darkness, from which multicolored streams of spiritual energy surged ceaselessly upward.
Circling the pit drifted five specters clad in white lab coats. Crimson badges were affixed to their chests — warped and distorted, fused grotesquely into their very spiritual forms.
One of the apparitions suddenly turned its head, revealing a face half-melted and half intact. Its eyes had been wholly replaced by blazing spiritual radiance. Fixing its gaze upon the intruders, it opened its mouth and rasped,
"New… test… subjects…"
"Run!" Lu Xingliao shouted.
All five mentor-wraiths lunged at once, their speed terrifying. Wang Pang and the other two hastily scattered protective talismans, erecting a wall of light — yet the barrier began to fracture the instant it met the spirits' assault.
"Their energy is overwhelming!" Wang Pang gritted out through clenched teeth.
Li Ninghao had already dashed toward a still-functioning computer, attempting to gain access, while Shen Qingdai parried a ghost's strike with her newly purchased peach-wood sword. The blade shrieked with a piercing wail the moment it touched the spirit's form.
Lu Xingliao and Chen Xiaowei sprinted deeper into the laboratory, where a row of archival cabinets stood. When they pressed the jade pendant — one of Group Seven's relics — against a drawer, it slid open of its own accord.
Inside lay a thick experimental logbook. Across its cover were inscribed the words: "Spirit Meridian Resonance Experiment Records — Group Seven Observation Period."
The very first page bore chilling entries:
"Group Seven participants exhibit exceptional adaptability to spiritual energy, particularly Lin Xiaoxue and Su Wan'er. Plan to designate them as primary anchors for deep resonance…"
"Day 7: Spirit-meridian energy has begun to destabilize. Participants report hallucinations and distortions of reality perception."
"Day 15: Xiaoya, Lin Xiaoxue's roommate, shows signs of spiritual disintegration. She wept and begged us to stop, but the experiment had already passed the point of cessation…"
"Day 21: The spirit meridian went berserk. Energy breached the safeguards, engulfing everyone present. Mentor Zhang Mingyuan attempted to regain control, only to suffer severe backlash…"
What followed consisted largely of dense charts and data, yet the most critical pages had been torn away.
"The core data isn't here," Chen Xiaowei said anxiously.
Scanning the room through Spirit Sight, Lu Xingliao noticed an area of the wall where the energy currents flowed with unnatural regularity. He stepped closer and reached out — his hand passed straight through.
"A hidden chamber!"
The two slipped inside. The space was cramped, containing nothing but a single safe. It required a password — yet the shape of the keyhole…
"The jade pendant!" Chen Xiaowei realized.
They inserted the pendant. With a crisp click, the safe sprang open. Inside rested only one object: a fist-sized black crystal, luminous currents swirling within like a captive fragment of the star-strewn cosmos.
The instant Lu Xingliao lifted the crystal, the entire B3 level convulsed violently.
The spiritual torrents erupting from the depression surged into frenzy. The five mentor-specters screamed in agony as their bodies disintegrated, dissolving into pure energy and being drawn into the abyss.
"The spirit meridian is about to erupt ahead of schedule!" Li Ninghao shouted from afar. "We have to leave — now!"
The seven bolted toward the exit, but the spiral staircase had begun to collapse. Runes along the walls winked out one after another, and without their suppressive power, spiritual energy flooded outward like a bursting dam.
"Use the stabilizers!" Shen Qingdai cried.
Two Spirit-Meridian Stabilizers were activated, forming twin domes of light around them, yet the shields thinned rapidly beneath the relentless onslaught.
Above, the mirror marking the entrance began to splinter with spreading cracks.
"We have to get out before it shatters!" Lu Xingliao clutched the black crystal and raced upward with desperate urgency.
Just as they reached the midpoint of the stairs, a voice rose from below — clear, composed, utterly incongruous with the surrounding chaos:
"Leave the core data behind."
They turned. At the edge of the depression stood a middle-aged man in an immaculate white lab coat. His body was half-transparent, yet his gaze was sharp as a blade. Upon his chest was not a crimson badge, but a golden one.
"Mentor Zhang Mingyuan…" Li Ninghao recognized the face at once — the very one from the experimental logs.
"That crystal is the culmination of my life's work," Zhang Mingyuan's specter said calmly. "Return it to me, and I will permit your safe departure. Refuse… and you shall become part of the spirit meridian, just like Group Seven."
Lu Xingliao tightened his grip on the crystal. "You're the one who killed those students!"
Zhang Mingyuan smiled — a smile that chilled the marrow. "Killed? No. They evolved. Their souls merged with the spirit meridian and attained eternity. Look at Su Wan'er — is she not still 'alive'? Though admittedly… in a less than perfect form."
He raised a hand, and the currents of spiritual energy throughout the chamber bent to his will, coalescing into a colossal spectral hand that lunged toward the seven.
The stabilizers' luminous shield shattered completely.
At the very brink of disaster, the black crystal in Lu Xingliao's hands ignited of its own accord. A holographic vision unfurled — Lin Xiaoxue and Xiaoya, standing hand in hand within Room 404.
"Mentor, your sins end here," Lin Xiaoxue's projection declared.
The two girls dissolved into radiant light and surged into the enormous spiritual hand. It disintegrated instantly, and Zhang Mingyuan's specter roared in furious anguish.
"Move!" Shen Qingdai seized Lu Xingliao's arm.
The seven finally burst up the staircase and leapt through the mirror. The instant the last of them escaped, the glass shattered into fragments, the hidden entrance vanishing and leaving behind nothing but an unbroken wall.
Collapsed upon the floor, gasping for breath, they stared at the black crystal in their hands. Its brilliance had faded to dull obscurity, as though its energy had been utterly spent.
Their student cards vibrated:
[C-Rank Mission — Phase One Complete]
[Reward: All members promoted to D-Rank Folklore Investigators; +1000 points; Random D-Rank Skill Tome ×1 distributed]
[Unlocked: Mentor Guidance Privilege (one-on-one consultation available)]
[Warning: Black Crystal — "Spirit Meridian Core Data Carrier" — in dormant state. Safeguard with utmost care.]
[New Clue: Mentor Zhang Mingyuan's specter not eliminated; remains on B3. He mentioned "Su Wan'er's form is imperfect." Suspicion +1]
[Countdown Updated: Time until next Spirit Meridian Rampage — 86 Days 23 Hours 47 Minutes]
Utterly exhausted, the seven supported one another as they departed the laboratory building. Dawn's first pale light was already unfurling along the horizon; a new day had begun.
What they did not know was that within the principal's office, Qin Chuan had observed everything through a crystal orb. Two figures stood beside him — one in a white lab coat adorned with a golden badge upon his chest, the other clad in a qipao, her face identical to Su Wan'er's, yet her eyes cold and devoid of mercy.
"They have obtained the core data," said the man in the lab coat. "The plan may proceed to its next phase."
The woman in the cheongsam smiled faintly. "That 'glitch' Su Wan'er should be purged as well. She has given them far too many hints."
Qin Chuan inclined his head. "Arrange for Group Eight to undertake the 'Shop Purge Mission.' As for these seven… let them grow a little longer. That boy Lu Xingliao's Spirit Sight is already approaching her former level."
Within the crystal sphere, Lu Xingliao was staring absently at the black crystal in his palm. Deep within its darkness, it seemed as though a pair of eyes gazed back at him.
Meanwhile, inside the campus shop, Su Wan'er was seized by a sudden tremor of unease. She looked out the window — the sky was still shrouded in night, four in the morning, more than an hour before sunrise.
Yet outside, seven students in antiquated school uniforms were approaching the shop. Upon their student cards was inscribed: Group Eight.
Su Wan'er's face drained of all color.
A knock sounded at the door — polite, measured, unwavering.
"Senior Su, we're the newly arrived Group Eight students. Director Qin asked us to come… and learn shop management."
The voice beyond the door was youthful and gentle, yet beneath its softness she discerned unmistakable killing intent.
Her gaze fell to the hidden compartment beneath the counter, where an old key lay concealed — the one Lin Xiaoxue had once entrusted to her, saying that if danger ever came, she must go to Room 404.
The question was, Room 404 had now manifested physically… but were the ones residing within truly Lin Xiaoxue and Xiaoya as they once were?
The knocking came again, sharper, more insistent.
Su Wan'er tightened her grip on the key — and made her decision.