"Ava, is it okay to leave that case out here?" Mia asked, knowing all too well John's habit of fiddling with things. She was worried he might damage something so important.

"It's fine, the case has a combination lock, and it's very sturdy," Ava reassured her.

"Mia, are you really going to do this for me? I always feel a bit guilty. After all, it's my trouble, yet you're the one taking it on!"

"We've been friends for so many years, you've helped me so much, what's there to feel guilty about? You've never been to Thriller World. If you died in there, I'd never forgive myself.

I've been in four times. I'm much more familiar with the rules of Thriller World than you are, don't worry," Ava said.

"But I've heard it's dangerous..."

"There are dangers, yes, but don't forget the protection mechanism. As long as we adhere to it, even if the mission fails, I can still come back alive. Don't overthink it. When I come back, you owe me a meal!"

Inside the room, Ava was comforting Mia.

Outside the room, John had already taken the black case into his own room and locked the door behind him.

"Is there a way to open this case?" John stared at the combination lock.

"You're going to take your sister's place?" Although Blood-Eye Ghost asked this, he seemed to have anticipated it.

"Ava may be experienced, but there are too many variables in Thriller World."

"Besides, Mia is my sister. It's not right to let an outsider take care of her problems!" John declared.

"You've only been in once, don't be too arrogant. Thriller World is far more complex than you imagine," Blood-Eye Ghost said coolly.

"That's what I have you for, bro!" John chuckled. "We better hurry up, my sister and Ava will be out soon."

No sooner had John finished speaking than his right hand suddenly lifted, a red light flashed, and the numbers on the combination lock began to tumble automatically.

With a click, the case popped open.

Inside, there weren't many items, just a device resembling a pocket watch.

"How does it work?" John picked up the device.

"There should be your sister's information on it. Delete it, then enter your own information. After confirmation, press the red button to enter the instance," Blood-Eye Ghost explained very clearly.

"You're quite familiar with this, huh?" John was quite surprised.

Blood-Eye Ghost spoke, "I once encountered a human whose profession was to enter Thriller World on behalf of others. He ended up trapped forever in a room. He had this device, and out of boredom, I thoroughly studied it."

Following Blood-Eye Ghost's instructions, John indeed found Mia's information on the device, deleted it, and then entered his own.

After confirmation, his gaze focused on the red button at the top!

John licked his dry lips. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the button decisively.

Immediately, a white light appeared out of nowhere, enveloping John.

The next instant, John vanished from the room...

At that moment.

Ava and Mia came out of their room to find the black case, along with John, had disappeared from the table.

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"That guy, didn't I tell him not to mess with the case?" Mia said through gritted teeth, visibly upset.

Saying so, she stormed off towards John's room in a huff.

"Don't worry, it has a combination lock. He couldn't have pried it open!" Ava wasn't concerned.

After knocking on the door several times with no response, Mia turned to fetch the spare key from the living room.

The moment she opened the door, Mia found the room empty.

"He's not here?"

Ava, however, immediately noticed the opened black case on the desk. Her face went blank for a few seconds before she quickly stepped forward.

"How did he open the case?!" Ava exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise.

Mia was just as baffled and even checked under the bed, thinking to drag John out from there.

Ava, looking at the missing device, suddenly asked, "Mia, did you tell John about your situation?"

"No, I didn't mention a word of it to him," Mia replied.

Then, something dawned on her, her pupils contracted, and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"You mean..."

Ava nodded, "He's entered Thriller World in your place..."

At the same time.

The scenery before John's eyes changed rapidly like a slideshow. After a few seconds, a blinding white light appeared before him.

Then, that familiar voice echoed in his ears.

"Welcome to Thriller World!"

John felt the sensation of solid ground beneath his feet as he materialized in a void space.

Looking around, John found himself alone in this space. Or rather, other participants had been placed in different spaces.

"Welcome back to Thriller World. The current instance is—Blood Garment Apartments."

"Number of participants: 7."

"Participants will reside in the apartments as tenants. The duration of your stay will directly affect your score upon exiting the instance."

"Instance task: As a member of the tenants, politeness is key. Establish good relationships with your neighbors to earn fondness points, which can provide additional scoring!"

"Note: Within the apartment, there lurks a serial killer who has claimed the lives of 23 people. Identify the murderer before the instance ends to receive the highest reward!"

"Note: Even though you're renting, rent must be paid. If you don't have ghost coins, you can earn tips by fulfilling other tenants' needs!"

"Of course, if you mess things up, tenants might take something from you, such as limbs, a heart, eyeballs, and so on..."

"Protection mechanism: Each participant in the instance will receive an additional Resurrection Cross. Die once, and you'll be revived; die a second time, and you'll truly lose your life~"

"Note: After dying once, participants can choose to continue the instance or exit. Once the choice is made, it cannot be changed."

"Instance duration: 10 days."

"Note: The ratio of instance time to real-world time is 10:1."

This instance seems much more complex than the last one.

However, this protection mechanism is quite nice, effectively giving each person a second life, greatly reducing the mortality rate of the instance.

But John thought carefully; he seemed to have been rewarded with two life-saving items after completing the last set of instances. He wondered if they could be stacked with the protection mechanism's death exemption token.

If they could be stacked, that would mean John has four lives!

The full score for the task is to find the serial killer in the apartment within 10 days. Even if the serial killer isn't found, it's still possible to exit the instance.

However, there's no guarantee that the serial killer won't make a move against them.

As John was pondering the rules of this instance, a dashboard materialized before his eyes.

"Preparation time is over, participant has not set a alias, please set one before confirming entry into the instance."

"Alias..." John thought for a moment and typed two words.

"Let's go with 'demon angel'."

"'demon angel' registered successfully, preparing to enter the instance!"

As the voice faded, a strong suction force enveloped him, and the scenery before his eyes blurred rapidly.

The next second, John found himself in a dimly lit hall.

Boom!

Outside, thunder roared and the rain poured down furiously!

Combined with the atmosphere inside the hall, it seemed sinister and terrifying.

In addition to this, the other six participants were also successively transported in.

There was one with glasses, looking refined; another in a tank top, muscles bulging; each had a distinctive appearance.

However, John noticed that their faces all had a certain blurriness.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, John saw that his own face had also changed.

Identity anonymous.

Features obscured.

"Perhaps this is also a kind of protection mechanism, to increase the secrecy of the participants," John thought to himself.

After all, if conflicts arose between participants within the instance, there would be inevitable trouble back in the real world.

The other participants were clearly not novices. After familiarizing themselves with their surroundings, the man with glasses, who went by the alias "Cobra," said, "I assume everyone here is no rookie, and there's no need for me to elaborate on the instance information or the game rules we should follow."

"Good luck to all, and let's hope there won't be any conflicts between us participants. Of course, if our interests clash, then it's down to each one's own abilities!"

"You're mistaken, there's actually a newbie among us."

The burly man known as "Black Bear" spoke up, then turned to look at John in the corner.

John suddenly noticed that above their heads, there was an information bar indicating their level.

Of these six, the highest was level 6, and the lowest was level 2.

And John, his level was only 1.