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Xu Yu decided to trust Gu Zhan’s judgment.

"Let’s treat it like a desperate measure," he muttered.

He quickly aimed at the base where the wings connected to Qin Yue’s body and slashed with his blades.

The newly-formed wings, unprepared for the attack, were cleanly severed.

Just like the monsters Xu Yu had dealt with before, once detached from Qin Yue’s body, the wings dissipated into a cloud of black smoke, vanishing without a trace.

But Qin Yue’s back now had two gaping, bloody holes, and blood poured out relentlessly.

Qin Yue couldn’t bear the pain and fainted.

Xu Yu panicked. "What now? I didn’t kill him, did I?"

Gu Zhan shook his head and stepped forward to check on Qin Yue.

Although he was unconscious, his breathing was steady, so he seemed to be fine.

"He’ll be okay. Let’s get him out of here. With such advanced facilities, there should be medical equipment, right?" Gu Zhan suggested.

Xu Yu finally remembered that they were in a dungeon, and in such a setting, there were bound to be medical tools.

He quickly turned and found a medical pod.

Although he wasn’t sure how this round, capsule-shaped device would treat human injuries, it was a dungeon—whatever the setting required, that’s what they had.

Together, they carefully placed Qin Yue into the pod. After about ten minutes, the pod's green light flashed, and the door opened.

Inside, Qin Yue had fully recovered. His back was smooth, and there were no signs of the injuries. However, he remained unconscious.

The two of them moved him to a nearby bed.

Watching Qin Yue sleep, Xu Yu hesitated. "What do we do now?"

"Let’s wait," Gu Zhan replied. "He’s a survivor of the previous dungeon. He definitely knows more than we do. Rather than searching blindly, we should wait for him to wake up and ask."

"Alright," Xu Yu agreed. He rarely voiced opinions on decisions like this, instead preferring to act as a weapon. He just needed to make sure he stayed sharp, ready for whatever his companion needed.

Thanks to Gu Zhan's decision, they were able to rest. They didn’t go anywhere else and simply sat down where they were.

About half an hour later, Qin Yue stirred and groggily turned over. He blinked his eyes and, upon seeing the white ceiling, suddenly jumped up, exclaiming, "Oh damn!" He bolted upright from the bed.

Gu Zhan and Xu Yu looked up at the sudden movement.

Qin Yue was equally startled, staring at them in disbelief. "I’m not dreaming, am I? Brothers! Brothers!!"

Saying that, he lunged toward them.

But still lying on the bed, Xu Yu’s expression shifted. "Be careful!"

He quickly reached out and supported Qin Yue.

Qin Yue fell into Xu Yu’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh no! Brothers!!! I thought I was going to die before I could see you again! Is this a dream? This dream is too beautiful! Sniff, sniff, brothers, you’re not going to turn into monsters, right?"

He clutched at Xu Yu’s chest, seemingly comforted by the feel of his muscles, and continued crying while, to Xu Yu’s shock, fondling his chest a couple of times.

With a choked sob, Qin Yue added, "Ugh, brother, your physique is really something."

Xu Yu’s face darkened as he shoved Qin Yue away, wiping his chest as though he had just touched something filthy.

"Huh?" Qin Yue, still dazed, asked, "What’s wrong? It’s just a dream. Is it that strange to cry in my brother’s arms for a moment?"

Xu Yu was furious, shouting, "You're crazy!"

Gu Zhan, standing by with his arms crossed, added, "Is it possible this isn't a dream?"

"What?" Qin Yue was dumbfounded.

Not a dream?

His brothers were really standing before him?

Qin Yue looked closely at the two of them. Gu Zhan's face remained as cold and indifferent as always, while Xu Yu had an unmistakable expression of disdain—likely due to the chest incident.

"Is this really not a dream?" Qin Yue thought, his nose tingling with emotion. "Wuwuwu, you guys turned into monsters too!"

Gu Zhan simply remained silent.

Xu Yu couldn't take it any longer, covering his face in frustration. "You explain it to him," he said to Gu Zhan.

Without waiting for a response, Xu Yu hurriedly walked off to the side.

Gu Zhan spent the next five minutes explaining the situation to Qin Yue.

Qin Yue, sitting on the bed with a dazed expression, asked in disbelief, "Did you all really come to the same dungeon? To rescue me?"

Gu Zhan nodded for the umpteenth time. "Check your system. See how much SAN value you have left?"

Qin Yue, still in a state of shock, tried to open his system, but his face quickly fell. "I... I don't have a system anymore!"

Gu Zhan groaned, rubbing his forehead, unsure of how to comfort him. He just watched as Qin Yue cried.

After a while, Qin Yue snapped out of it, his eyes widening in realization. "Wait, if I don’t have a system, my SAN value should be at rock bottom. But why am I still so rational?"

He glanced over his shoulder. Though Xu Yu had severed the wings, they had once been there—he had physically changed. "And... I’ve even changed in appearance. Isn’t that the final step of a player turning into a monster?"

"Yes," Gu Zhan confirmed. "Logically, it seems that way."

Qin Yue frowned, confused. "Then what’s going on?"

Just then, Xu Yu returned, joining the conversation.

"We've encountered a lot of people from the Hai Chao guild here. Why don’t you tell us what happened to you before?"

Qin Yue, now recalling his experience, hurriedly shared what had happened to him.

Everything seemed normal at first—just like Gu Zhan and Xu Yu, he woke up on the third floor of the dormitory, surrounded by monsters, and ran for his life.

However, unlike them, he hadn’t encountered any players on the first floor. Instead, he faced a group of monsters similar to those on the second and third floors.

"I ran out, and when I got to this side, I discovered I could activate a toxic gas to kill the monsters," Qin Yue explained. "But after I did, while the monsters died, I started feeling terrible. I couldn’t stand it, so I locked myself in a room."

Gu Zhan and Xu Yu exchanged a look of understanding.

They both realized the problem now, but neither knew how to explain it to Qin Yue without making things worse.

Gu Zhan thought for a moment, then decided to withhold the truth for now, waiting until they were out of immediate danger.

"It’s okay," Gu Zhan said. "Something unexpected must have happened. Fortunately, you left your subtag in the guild, so we were able to find you and come to your rescue."

Qin Yue blinked, perhaps sensing something was off, but his survival instinct made him push that aside. He looked at Gu Zhan in admiration. "Really? Thank you guys so much! If you hadn’t come, I don’t know what I would have done!"

Gu Zhan turned to Xu Yu. "This dungeon is simple. We just need to get the others here, activate the toxic gas, and we’ll be done."

Xu Yu’s expression was a mixture of disbelief and concern. "Are you really going to use that device again?"

Gu Zhan nodded. "The dungeon provided it, so we have to use it."

Xu Yu shook his head, wondering how Gu Zhan could so casually treat the toxic gas as just another tool, despite knowing it might have killed many players like Qin Yue.

"Fine, I’ll go to the dormitory and get them," Xu Yu said.

The two of them split up. Not long after, Xu Yu's figure appeared on the surveillance screen in the main laboratory.

He communicated with players from the neighboring building, and they quickly followed him.

Soon, over a dozen players crowded into the main laboratory, asking questions about what to do next.

Gu Zhan surveyed the monster-filled building across the way. "If I press this button, everyone’s task is complete. Are you all ready?"

The players looked at him with admiration. "So the Hai Chao guild wasn’t lying to us! This dungeon is so easy."

"Living in this world isn’t so bad after all."

Gu Zhan frowned at their comments.

Not only was he uncomfortable with what they were saying, but those outside the screen also felt uneasy.

[Is Hai Chao really just sending these people to their deaths?]

[But the one pressing the gas button isn’t from Hai Chao, right?]

[He’s turned into a monster, so he definitely isn’t an insider. He doesn’t know anything, and his teammates didn’t tell him anything.]

[What’s really going on? Can people really turn into monsters?]

Meanwhile, Yu Ye Zhou had figured out the situation.

Hai Chao Guild’s talk of becoming monsters was really a cover for sacrificing players!

"They must be conducting some sort of experiment, trying to see if normal people, after killing players, could transform into monsters without losing their sanity," Yang Lin whispered.

Sang Yue, angered, said, "How can they still call themselves human? Killing their own teammates!"

Yu Ye Zhou, resigned, said, "Their goal is to turn into monsters. This B-grade dungeon is definitely problematic. Maybe some of them have already turned into monsters… We need to stop this."

Without hesitation, Yu Ye Zhou sprang into action, arranging a way to prevent Hai Chao from carrying out their plan.

Yang Lin followed him, saying, "If we do this, Hai Chao will surely come after us."

Yu Ye Zhou said, "Even if they come after us, we have to do it. I don't want to wait for some day in the future when I encounter a member of Hai Chao turned into a monster in the dungeon."

Yang Lin slightly imagined the situation at that time and felt a bit terrified.

Monsters kill people, yet they are still bound by the rules. So if a human turns into a rational monster, one who can switch between the Chun Bai Cheng and the dungeon, it would be beyond the rules and unrestrained. Wouldn't that mean they can do whatever they want?

Yu Ye Zhou furrowed his brows, faintly sensing that this situation might not be good for the system.

—

In the dungeon, Gu Zhan counted the number of people and confirmed that no one was left in the dormitory building before walking over to the toxic gas release button.

Just as he was about to press the button, Xu Yu reached out and stopped his hand, saying, "Let me do it."

"No need," Gu Zhan refused the offer and pressed the confirmation button himself.

There was no immediate change in the surveillance screen, and after a brief pause, cheers erupted from the people around: "It’s coming out!"

Gu Zhan turned to look at the screen, only to see that the previously clear image was now becoming blurry.

The dormitory building seemed to be filled with mist, and the monsters that had been resting quietly in their cells were now disturbed, running wildly through the corridors.

They seemed to be in pain, and their cries echoed through the screen.

This scene made Gu Zhan frown.

These monsters had been players in the last dungeon.

Was becoming a monster really a good thing?

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