『Filth Room, Floor 422』
『Current instance name: “Becky Mountain Psychiatric Hospital,” instance difficulty: A-rank』
『Instance progress: 80%, remaining survivors: 1』
『Please note: the current livestream room is set to private mode. Only high-permission users may enter. Please adjust promptly.』
『Current online viewers: 1』
“Screech… screech… screech…”
In the narrow, cramped corridor of the psychiatric hospital, a heavy chainsaw splattered with blood and minced flesh was dragged across the floor, scraping with every step and making a teeth-grating sound.
“Little bunny, be good, open the door…”
A man nearly 1.9 meters tall dragged the chainsaw along, softly humming a slightly off-key nursery rhyme, wandering leisurely through the wards and carefully checking every corner within sight, as if searching for something.
His physique was extremely robust, his features deep and striking, his muscles sculpted to perfection. Even from a distance, he gave off an intense oppressive aura.
Through a pair of gray-black eyes, the man surveyed the world with casual indifference. Deep in his pupils, a point of crimson, dark and dim like ghostly fire, flickered leisurely, carrying an indescribable eerie gloom.
“Where are you, little bunny who loves hide-and-seek…”
His fingers tapped rhythmically on the chainsaw a few times. The man tilted his head, putting on a troubled expression, but the smile on his face grew more and more frenzied.
“If you come out and apologize now, I might even let you choose where to start cutting.”
Lu Chuan looked around with pleasure. A trace of deep crimson bloodlust flowed through his pitch-black pupils. The dust and the scent of blood filling the air kept stimulating his brain, sending him into extreme excitement.
“Otherwise…”
The chainsaw roared to life like a madman, its buzzing noise echoing through the entire corridor.
“I might have to give you a little extra punishment…”
Just a few steps behind him, in a corner, Qin Guan was curled up there with clenched teeth, breathing rapidly. His fresh-looking face had gone deathly pale from blood loss, as if covered with a layer of fine starlight.
“Damn that lunatic…”
Only after confirming that the other person had truly gone far away did Qin Guan finally stagger to his feet from a pile of cabinets, medicine boxes, abandoned IV poles, and other clutter.
The white custom luxury trench coat he had originally been wearing was now soaked through with blood, filthy and stained, while his slender shoulders still trembled faintly.
Three months ago, Qin Guan had been driving home from a brand launch event when he suddenly got into a car accident. By the time he woke up, everything around him had changed beyond recognition.
He discovered that he had been pulled into an independent space people called the Filth Room, made up of countless horror instances. Only by clearing the games could one find even the faintest hope of survival within it.
Recalling the bizarre experience before the car accident, Qin Guan was almost certain that his fiancé, just like him, had also been trapped in the Filth Room.
That phone call was perhaps the last thing left behind to warn him to stay away from the Filth Room.
But Qin Guan could not be bothered to listen.
He never listened to anyone, anyway.
What a joke. A man as perfect and outstanding as himself, deigning to get engaged to that guy… wasn’t that a blessing the other man would need ten lifetimes to earn? And now, after sleeping with him, he wanted to run?
An invincible cosmic scumbag.
Did he really think that hiding in some Filth Room would mean Qin Guan couldn’t find him?
For someone like that, he had to personally drag him back to the real world and hang him outside the company wall for three days and three nights.
Qin Guan took a deep breath and lifted the hem of his coat. Beneath the jacket, his entire abdomen was already covered in blood.
A bloody, arc-shaped wound lay across his pale stomach, looking like a cruel smile.
Buried inside were all shattered blade fragments, each one punched in by the lunatic outside, one fist at a time, all so that he would feel the slicing of the shards with every step he took.
He had to get them out quickly.
Otherwise, they would tear up his intestines sooner or later.
The excruciating pain made him arch his waist tightly. Sweat slid down his pale, lustrous neck, mingling with blood and making him look like a drowned swan.
While that lunatic hadn’t returned yet…
He balled up his shirt and bit down on it, closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and cut open the wound with a scalpel.
Because he was worried that the guy might quietly die somewhere before he could find him, Qin Guan pushed through instances at breakneck speed. Gradually, he even earned the title of Rookie King.
But that wasn’t what he truly cared about.
What he cared about was that his memory seemed to have developed some problems.
Just as those friends had shown before he entered the instance, he found that his memories of his boyfriend were fading at an alarming rate.
First he forgot his appearance, then his voice, his build, his age… and even the various experiences they had shared together. Qin Guan could not remember any of it.
He had also tried using things like writing and recordings to preserve his memories, but without exception, those things would all disappear completely afterward.
In the end, even Qin Guan’s own impression of his boyfriend had blurred. He only vaguely knew that such a person existed.
Time passed in silence. The entire world seemed to be denying the other person’s existence. Only the ring on his hand, covered in burn scars, remained silent, quietly waiting for someone to uncover its story.
If one day the two of them truly had the chance to meet again, would he still be able to recognize him?
Qin Guan did not want to think about the answer to that question. He simply stubbornly broke through one instance after another, searching on and on in this blind, relentless way.
He had originally thought that this floor was just a normal game… that as long as he dealt with the boss, he could get out smoothly.
But just as the plot was about to reach its end, a sudden change occurred.
A teammate inadvertently found a deeply locked compartment in the psychiatric hospital and accidentally released the hidden boss.
『System Announcement: Temporary quest added. Hidden boss discovered on Floor 422. Instance difficulty temporarily adjusted to S-rank. Please spare no effort to kill it.』
『Failure penalty: Death』
That monster slowly stepped out of the shadows. Its appearance was no different from that of a normal adult male, and in terms of looks, it was even handsome enough to rival a celebrity.
The teammates hesitated, looking at one another. For a moment, they were unsure whether the hidden boss in the system announcement was really the person before them.
Qin Guan was the first to move.
While everyone else was frozen in place, only he shot forward like lightning, thrusting a flash of cold steel before that thing’s eyes and, without hesitation, slashing open its throat. Then he drove the blade straight into its heart!
But it did no good at all.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the corpse that should have been dead stood back up in a twisted posture, all the wounds on its body healing at an astonishing rate.
Immediately after, the man burst into laughter, as if a child had finally found his beloved toy, and tore off the head of the nearest teammate with his bare hands.
The man pulled the knife from his chest as if he felt no pain at all. With a five-fingered grip, he casually crushed that peerless divine artifact into a pile of ashen fragments, then pressed them back into Qin Guan’s abdomen.
One companion after another died, until only Qin Guan remained, forced to play this game of cat and mouse with him.
With a soft sound, the last blade fragment was dug out of the flesh. Qin Guan leaned against the wall, panting deeply as though drained of all strength. His swan-like neck lifted as if in its death throes, his ink-black long hair already soaked with sweat and hanging limply over his shoulders. An indescribable exhaustion rose in his heart.
Beside his ear, three jet-black cartilage earrings clinked together, making a crisp sound.
If he were here…
Qin Guan thought to himself for no reason.
On the other side, without warning, the ward door was kicked open.
He propped himself up and hid under the hospital bed, trying not to make a single sound.
The man stood at the doorway holding a heavy chainsaw. His tall figure blocked the corridor light, casting a massive shadow on the floor.
“Ah,” the man tilted his head and revealed a subtle smile, “it smells so good in here.”
Qin Guan quietly gripped the scalpel, suppressing his heartbeat to the lowest possible level, his breathing so faint it was almost inaudible.
Black leather boots stepped into the room with light, rhythmic strides, the chainsaw dragging behind them and leaving a trail of brilliant sparks.
Lu Chuan stopped, looked around, and immediately spotted the several blade fragments discarded on the floor beside the bed.
The bloodstains on them were fresh and bright red, carrying a sweet warmth that had not yet faded.
The smile on Lu Chuan’s face deepened. Yet as if he had noticed nothing, he continued searching the room at an unhurried pace.
“Let me guess. Where would the little bunny hide?”
Clatter…
The curtains on one side were yanked open. Lu Chuan leaned out and looked left and right; there was no one behind them, and he clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“Not here.”
He reached for the cabinet and pulled it open. Inside hung a few white lab coats, carrying a stale, moldy smell.
“Looks like you’re not here either.”
Lu Chuan brushed his fringe back, looking very troubled. His neck cracked as he rotated it a few times, and his dark eyes slowly turned before finally looking toward the bloodstains beside the bed.
“Could it be… hiding under the bed?”
The man grinned, revealing several snow-white teeth.
“How about this? I’ll give you five seconds. As long as you come out on your own within five seconds, no matter what happened before, I can let it all go. How about that?”
The room was silent.
Lu Chuan did not care. He smiled carelessly, lifted the chainsaw, and slowly walked toward the bed.
“Five.”
His chest rose and fell slightly. His steps were both excited and restrained, almost like a large beast preparing to hunt.
“Four.”
Lu Chuan came step by step to the bed and looked down. There seemed to be wrinkles left from the person who had sat there just moments ago.
“Three.”
Like a big cat, the man slowly crouched down and peered little by little under the bed.
“Two.”
But when he finally saw the scene before him clearly, Lu Chuan’s pupils contracted slightly and his voice cut off abruptly.
Under the bed, there was no sign of any person at all. Only a dirty rabbit doll stared up at him with two eyes, looking at him innocently.
At the same time, a lasso fell from above and tightly wrapped around Lu Chuan’s neck from behind!
A cold male voice brushed against his ear and rang out, its tone icy and fragrant, like a fresh jasmine blossom still beaded with dew.
“One.”