Passing through the shimmering doorway, the weightlessness lasted only a moment.
A solid sensation returned to the soles of their feet, and the sight before them surprised both of them.
The bizarre world of mirrors had been replaced by a brightly lit, modern lobby.
The marble floor was polished to a mirror-like shine, but the atmosphere was somewhat strange.
Qi Zhimu looked at the electronic directory in the center of the lobby; it listed various corporate departments, reaching up to the 60th floor.
"Hey, it's actually an office building."
Herta fell into thought. "A corporation that owns a 60-story office building is quite rare..."
Qi Zhimu had a look of disgust on his face. "This kind of indoor environment is really annoying for me. High-power magic can't be unleashed at all."
"If I accidentally collapse the building and bury you inside, what would I eat? Who would I go crying to?"
He looked at Herta and found her staring at the electronic directory, lost in thought.
"What are you dazing out for?"
Qi Zhimu waved his hand in front of her eyes.
"Don't tell me you've been scared silly by this crappy building."
Herta snapped out of it, her gaze somewhat strange.
"I already know the conditions for passing this stage."
"Hmm?" Qi Zhimu raised an eyebrow. "How do you know? Didn't you only see the plot for the first four stages?"
Herta replied, "Information just automatically surfaced in my mind, as if... someone directly stuffed this Remembrance into my head."
"The ghost's true body is hidden in this building. As for its fake body..."
At this point, Herta's tone became somewhat grave.
"Initially, there's only one, but as soon as it's killed, it will rapidly respawn and split, and so on, without limit."
"So the more we kill, the higher the danger?" Qi Zhimu stroked his chin. "This setting is a bit disgusting."
"The condition to pass is simple but dangerous: go upstairs, find the true body within the 60 floors, and kill it. The time limit is twelve hours."
Twelve hours.
Sixty floors.
And while evading pursuit from an infinitely splitting hunter, they had to root out its true body from this massive building.
"Interesting." Qi Zhimu chuckled.
Though he said it was interesting, a cold glint flashed in his eyes as he picked Herta up onto his back without a word.
"Let's begin. Don't waste time."
Herta obediently leaned against his back, her arms circling his neck.
Through the black robe, she could feel the taut muscles beneath and a faint scent of blood.
"Taking the stairs?"
She glanced at the closed elevator doors nearby.
"Duh. Taking an elevator on a horror movie set is just asking for a quick death. If those abominations manage to squeeze through the elevator gaps, it'll be a real mess."
The two of them headed up via the fire escape.
Strangely, although the stairwell was quiet, it didn't feel desolate; faint voices and the sound of typing on keyboards could be heard.
Pushing open the second-floor security door, the sight before them surprised them once again.
In a spacious office area, men and women in professional attire were busy with their own tasks.
The hum of printers, the ringing of telephones, and the sound of conversation intertwined, forming a perfectly normal scene of office life.
"These humans are Virtual Substance Lifeforms, right?" Herta asked in a low voice.
The extra information in her head hadn't told her what the nature of these people was.
"If this were my territory, I could tell, but on someone else's turf, one must follow their rules."
Qi Zhimu narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the busy figures nearby.
"Maybe they're NPCs created by the ghost. Don't forget we're deep in the Labyrinth Zone; we can basically rule out them being normal humans."
He didn't plan to just barge in and go on a killing spree.
In this situation where the enemy was hidden and they were exposed, acting rashly would only put them in danger.
Even in a bad movie, if NPCs are arranged, the ghost won't immediately kill the protagonist; that's the basic logic most films of this genre follow.
"There's only one fake body ghost at the moment, right?" Qi Zhimu confirmed for the second time.
"Yeah."
"That makes it easy. Let's blend in first and look for clues."
The corner of Qi Zhimu's mouth curled into a playful smile. His fingers brushed past Herta's face, and a cloud of black mist enveloped them.
When the mist dissipated, his tattered black robe was gone, replaced by a well-tailored dark suit.
His long hair was tied back casually, making him look capable and cold.
As for Herta, she was wearing an exquisite Lolita dress, looking like a well-behaved younger sister who had come to the company to play with her older brother.
"How is it? Disguise Magic is practical, isn't it? It just needs the original clothes as a magical medium."
Qi Zhimu straightened his tie, fairly satisfied with this outfit.
Herta looked down at her brand-new self and adjusted the hem of her skirt, adapting well enough.
"Let's see what this group of corporate drones is actually busy with."
Qi Zhimu took Herta's hand and walked openly into the office area.
Although he had deliberately restrained his aura, his outstanding appearance still attracted many gazes.
A few passing female employees couldn't help but stop and whisper, and some even wanted to come over and strike up a conversation.
"Um... handsome, are you new here?"
A bold woman with wavy hair approached.
"I haven't seen you before..."
Qi Zhimu gave her a cold glance, his eyes devoid of any warmth.
The woman trembled at his gaze, swallowing her unfinished words and scurrying away dejectedly.
"Don't alert the enemy," Herta whispered.
"Not directly twisting her head off to check if she's a ghost is already my greatest kindness," Qi Zhimu said without stopping.
His hearing was excellent; even in a noisy environment, he could accurately capture nearby conversation.
"I'm telling you, that... what's-his-name... Xiao Liu seems to have disappeared on the fourth floor."
"Which Xiao Liu?"
"The newcomer from the HR Department. I heard he went into the restroom just now and never came out."
"No way? Is he just hiding and slacking off?"
"How is that possible! They checked the surveillance; that corridor only leads to the restroom, but he hasn't come out."
"Don't scare me. If it's really that weird, should we call the police?"
"Shh! Keep it down! The manager just said we can't let this get out. If calling the police leads to the company being shut down, who can afford the loss? Better keep your mouth shut."
Qi Zhimu paused his steps.
"What's wrong?" Herta noticed his abnormality.
Qi Zhimu lowered his voice. "Someone went missing in the restroom. Surveillance showed him going in but not coming out."
"Which floor?"
"It should be the fourth floor above."
"Let's go see." Herta wasn't surprised by Qi Zhimu's powerful hearing.
Qi Zhimu brought Herta to the fourth floor, cast a small spell to block the surveillance, and walked toward the end of the designated corridor.
The sign clearly showed a small figure in a skirt: the women's restroom.
Qi Zhimu's mouth couldn't help but twitch.