Looking at the bright sunlight streaming through the window, Xiao Cheng was momentarily lost in thought. She got out of bed and walked towards the small bathroom.

The faucet was dripping water, making a very faint dripping sound. It must have been because she hadn't turned it off tightly last night. Now it had dripped almost halfway down the basin.

Xiao Cheng scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on her face, which made her a little more awake.

The digital clock showed it was already 8:30. Xiao Cheng had slept much longer last night than she had imagined.

The bone comb was still nailed there, the blood that had seeped out last night had all disappeared, and a few slightly larger pieces of mirror shards were teetering on the edge.

Xiao Cheng thought for a moment, picked out a piece with a sharp edge, pulled it off, and stuffed it into his pants pocket.

"Knock knock knock!"

A heavy, urgent knocking interrupted Xiao Cheng's thoughts. A gruff-voiced man shouted from the doorway, "Number 8?! Number 8, are you in there?!"

He knocked on the door so hard that Xiao Cheng felt the door and the wall tremble.

"Someone's here! Stop knocking!" she replied, turning and walking towards the door.

The man seemed not to hear her and continued to bang on the door.

Xiao Cheng, unable to bear it any longer, pressed the doorknob and peeked half her head out from the crack in the door with a cold face: "Hey, did you hear me? I said don't knock..."

Then, right in front of me was a man with no facial features, his face marked with a bold, black number 7.

The words she was about to say were cut off. Xiao Cheng pressed the doorknob, her arm stiff and trembling slightly.

The man's hand, which was knocking on the door, froze in mid-air.

He withdrew his hand and took a half step back, scratching his buzz cut nervously: "Sorry, I thought you weren't here."

"I'm sorry, I was grumpy when I woke up, and I was rude." Xiao Cheng apologized three times with a smile. "Brother Number 7, you don't mind, do you?"

Not only did the older brother not mind, but he also politely offered to go downstairs with Xiao Cheng: "They've probably arrived already, let's hurry up and get together."

Outside the room was a very narrow, U-shaped corridor, with room number 7 right across from it. The only staircase was completely blocked off; the only way down was by elevator.

But the elevator here looked quite flimsy; it took almost five minutes just to get up from the first floor. The elevator doors creaked open, and the walls of the car were covered with heavy wooden boards. The floor buttons, numbered one to five, looked like they hadn't been used in a long time, covered in a thick layer of dust.

Brother No. 7 pressed the button for the first floor without any sign of disgust: "Was last night exciting?" He turned to face Xiao Cheng.

"To be honest, it's not as exciting as it is now." Xiao Cheng stared at his flat face and answered very frankly.

The first floor is a large hall with a steel main entrance that is tightly closed. Next to it is a small, closed cubicle with a metal plaque on the door that reads: Guard Room.

There were already five people standing in the lobby, three men and two women. Hearing the elevator, they all turned their heads to look.

The same face without facial features, the same bold numbers, lined up neatly from 1 to 5.

Perhaps because he had spent so much time with Number 7, Xiao Cheng no longer found the row of digital figures so strange.

"You're late," Number 1 said in a serious tone, sporting a head of flamboyant yellow hair.

"Don't say that, it's not too late..." Number 5, a girl in a white dress, spoke softly in their defense.

"That's still better than number 6. We haven't seen a trace of number 6 yet." Number 2 was a tall, thin woman with short hair. She spoke somewhat unclearly, as if she was chewing something.

Then Xiao Cheng saw her mouth area gradually bulge out, like a bubble gum being blown open, the skin on the surface swelling into a thin layer, and then popping open with a "pop," revealing a black hole.

A blood-red tongue emerged from the black hole, curled back the skin that had been dangling there, and then the black hole was filled back in, and everything returned to normal.

The others ignored this and continued discussing number 6, who had not yet arrived at the assembly.

"Is he dead?" Number 3 let out a strange chuckle. "Let's go up and admire him, pay our respects, observe him... no, let's go and collect his body."

"Wait a little longer." Number 4 paced back and forth anxiously. "Wait a little longer. He'll be here soon... soon."

As if to confirm his words, the elevator slowly rose upwards with a ding.

Xiao Cheng watched as the elevator floor numbers kept changing, from the first floor to the fourth floor, and then back to the first floor.

The elevator doors slowly opened, and a young man in a black shirt stepped out. He was tall, slender, and refined. Xiao Cheng thought he should be sitting in his office, not hanging out with monsters in a dungeon.

That's not the point.

The key point is that this man has a nose and eyes; he's a player.

Xiao Cheng was so moved she almost cried; this was truly meeting an old friend in a foreign land!

The young man truly lived up to his boss-like demeanor, remaining unfazed even as he stared at a row of digital figures.

He walked slowly into the crowd with one hand in his pocket, and nodded to everyone with a reserved and modest manner: "Good morning, everyone."

"I thought you weren't coming down," Number 3 sneered maliciously.

“Number 3, don’t say that,” Number 5 retorted urgently. “He didn’t mean to make us wait. He actually…”

"What, feeling sorry for your man?" Number 3's tone became increasingly harsh. "A man who only hides behind a woman, I spit on him!"

Xiao Cheng watched the show with great interest, and thought to himself, "Wow, no wonder he's a big shot! There's even a romance storyline in the dungeon!"

"It's certainly not very gentlemanly to do this, but it seems you've misunderstood me."

The man seemed completely oblivious, nodding earnestly before taking two steps toward Xiao Cheng and putting his arm around her shoulder.

Xiao Cheng: "?"

The young man maintained his smile and continued in a matter-of-fact tone, "Let me introduce you. This is my girlfriend. As for Miss Number 5, I'm sorry, I don't recall accepting your confession yesterday."

The digital figures fell silent. Even though they had no faces, Xiao Cheng could imagine their expressions of utter shock.

After all, I am one too!

Before she could retort, the young man turned his head intimately and whispered in her ear, "Cooperate with me, let's work together."

The warm breath fell on her cheek, and Xiao Cheng felt dizzy and her ears were burning. Fortunately, she was still rational and quickly realized that he probably had other plans. So she silently nodded slightly, agreeing with his suggestion.

To the digital human, this scene appears as intimate whispers and ambiguous displays of affection.

“You…you…” Number 5’s frail body swayed precariously. She pointed at Xiao Cheng in disbelief, staggered a couple of steps, and then suddenly broke down, covering her face and running into the elevator.