The wound was large and deep, with irregular edges… clearly from a bite. It looked red and swollen, thoroughly alarming.
Sure enough, the idea that he could simply wrap himself in a coat and come out of a pile of rats unscathed had been far too naive.
Qin Guan gave a self-mocking smile, tore off a strip of shirt, and roughly bound up the wound… out of sight, out of mind.
From Wang Ze’s reaction after being infected earlier, contact with the rats would not cause immediate death. Instead, symptoms such as mania and irritability would appear first, and only then would the condition worsen further.
But exactly how much time passed between the first symptoms and the full onset of the illness, Qin Guan could not say.
And compared with the burly man’s contact infection, he had been directly bitten by the human-faced mouse under the premise of an S-rank instance. It might deteriorate even faster.
Qin Guan pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.
“191,” he called.
At once, little octopus dumpling popped out in response: “What’s up, host? What do you need to summon the great, adorable, handsome, dashing me for, meow?”
“I need a medical kit.”
“Ohohoho, I understand how you feel, host. But unfortunately, since the current instance has already been upgraded to S-rank, the shop function has been shut off as well. Please understand, meow.”
That was possible too??
Did that count as him digging his own grave?
Qin Guan covered his forehead.
191 probably saw that Qin Guan’s expression was off, and quickly added, “Although medical services can’t be provided inside the instance, once the instance ends, I will absolutely be the first to bring a full set of medical equipment to save you, boss!”
“So in theory, as long as you clear the instance fast enough, boss, you can still hang on for a bit, meow!”
…Where did it learn words like that?
Not wanting to listen to this octopus dumpling chattering beside him any longer, Qin Guan flicked it away with a single bend of his finger, sending it back into system space.
The situation might be even worse than he had thought. He had to get out of the instance as quickly as possible before the virus flared up.
After making up his mind, Qin Guan searched the room from top to bottom, hoping to find some other clue.
Unlike the first floor of the small building, which was filled with frightening decorations made of pelt specimens, the guest room on the second floor was unexpectedly clean and tidy. It contained two beds and even had its own bathroom, looking just like an ordinary twin room in a real-world hotel.
Under the bedside table, Qin Guan found another note that had been torn in half.
As before, neat handwriting covered it.
“Touch it and fall into madness; dwell on it and your heart will break; peer through your south window; knock on your chamber door.”
Qin Guan took out the other half of the note Fang Yuan had given him, pieced them together, and they fit perfectly.
…If the first note described the rats with women’s faces and warned people not to touch them, then what did this one mean? The consequences of contact?
“Touch it and fall into madness” was easy enough to understand: touching it would drive you insane.
But the three lines that followed… were a bit chilling.
“…Dwell on it and your heart will break; peer through your south window; knock on your chamber door.”
Qin Guan murmured the words, thoughtfully looking toward the window.
And then he met a pair of pale eyes.
What the hell?!
In an instant, his temperature, which had been a little high just moments ago, plunged to the bottom, and the blood in his body went cold from head to toe.
Outside the window, in the pitch-black night, a deathly pale-faced person was hanging upside down at some point, staring fixedly at him.
But what truly made Qin Guan uncomfortable was… that face was not unfamiliar to him.
It was… Liu Yang.
Five minutes earlier.
Liu Yang and Fang Yuan entered the assigned room one after the other. Fang Yuan had just closed the door, her mind heavy with worry, when she turned around and took a merciless slap across the face.
“Smack!”
The slap came so suddenly that it knocked Fang Yuan’s entire body sideways, nearly crashing her into the corner of the table.
Liu Yang’s face was dark, completely stripped of the gentlemanly look he had shown outside just moments before.
He looked gloomy and ferocious, his brows deeply furrowed as he glared at Fang Yuan.
“Why did you give him that note just now?”
He was, of course, referring to handing Qin Guan the first note during the group split.
Fang Yuan covered her burning cheek, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
“He seemed like a good person, and he’s very strong… I didn’t want anything to happen to him.”
“You didn’t want anything to happen to him?” Liu Yang repeated in a strange tone, his expression bizarre.
“Do you even know what situation we’re in right now?! We’re all trapped in this inexplicable instance. Before you figure out what’s going on, helping other people just means hurting yourself!”
“Do you know what those people are? Can you use that brain of yours for once and think?!”
Fang Yuan suddenly looked up. “But I think… !”
“Smack!”
An even harsher slap came down, smashing her head hard against the corner of the table.
For a moment, Fang Yuan only felt the room spin. Something wet slid down her cheek.
On the other side, the man paid no attention to her condition at all. He paced anxiously back and forth in the room, muttering as he went.
“Crazy, this whole world is crazy… If I’d known, I should have listened to my mother and broken up with you sooner… A woman should stay home and be obedient! Going out and showing her face everywhere only ruins a man’s career and fortune! Exactly right… so very right!”
Liu Yang turned back and seized Fang Yuan by the collar, his face twisted in a grotesque expression.
“It’s all your fault, isn’t it! It’s all because of you, because you ruined my luck…! I got fired from the company, my mother got sick… and now I’m dragged into a place like this! It must all be because of you, you woman…!”
Fang Yuan only looked at his face, calm.
“It wasn’t me. It was because of you.”
“…What?”
“You got fired because you have a bad temper and can’t get along with your coworkers. Your mother got sick because you bought her counterfeit medicine to save money, didn’t you?”
“You’ve tried again and again to dump all these problems on me, but you’re just trying to hide your own cowardice and uselessness.”
Fang Yuan brushed back her hair, revealing a smile that was almost relaxed.
“I’ve decided, Liu Yang. Let’s break up.”
“Once we leave this instance, we won’t have anything to do with each other anymore.”
“What… what?” The man froze for a moment, then his expression gradually turned vicious.
“You’re telling me you want to break up? You stupid woman, do you even understand what breaking up means…”
“I won’t let you leave. Even if I die, I’ll die together with you…”
He strangled Fang Yuan’s neck relentlessly until she began to have trouble breathing, then let go and violently hurled her to the floor. After that, he began searching the room frantically, apparently looking for something usable as a weapon.
However, when he rummaged near the bedside table, his frantic movements suddenly stopped. Then, with astonishing speed, he crouched down, as if picking something up from the floor.
Fang Yuan was half-collapsed on the ground, coughing uncontrollably.
From her angle, she couldn’t see what the man had picked up… only a vague white shape.
Liu Yang clenched that thing in his hand and stared at it for a very long time.
Seizing the chance, Fang Yuan staggered to her feet and pressed herself into the corner of the room, warily watching the man in case he suddenly lashed out and hurt someone again.
But just then, someone gently knocked on their door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Very light, very rhythmic.
After a long time, perhaps seeing that no one in the room was responding, the other side very patiently knocked three more times.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Having someone knock on your door in a horror instance did not sound like a good sign. Fang Yuan stared warily at the door and asked loudly,
“Who’s out there?”
“Knock, knock, knock.”
The only answer she got was still that knocking.
A bad feeling rose in her chest, but the man suddenly spoke.
“Go open the door.”
Fang Yuan turned her head and saw the man gripping that note tightly in his palm, his knuckles turning white, yet on his face he wore a smile as warm as spring wind… bright, gentle, as though the raging madman from moments ago had never been him at all.
“Go open the door, Fang Yuan.”
The man’s voice was warm, his tone calm, as if he were only discussing something as trivial as what to eat for dinner.
“What if something’s happened.”