“May I ask something a little abrupt… were you suffering from amnesia inside the instance, or before entering the instance?”
“Instance…?”
You Li tried very hard to keep up with their line of thinking. “What is an instance?”
The twin tailed girl’s expression became indescribable. The girl with the bun leaned closer and whispered into her ear.
The two of them deliberately lowered their voices yet still spoke loudly enough for You Li to hear every word.
The twin tailed girl pointed at her own head. “Does something seem wrong with his brain?”
The girl with the bun looked completely unsurprised. “I genuinely can’t understand how someone like him managed to become a player.”
You Li was not angry.
Because in his eyes, he was not the only sick person here. Everyone gathered in this hospital room was ill in one way or another.
The way he looked at each of them carried an unusual amount of understanding and tolerance. He sat there quietly and whenever their gazes met, he would even smile faintly at them.
Both sides were speaking entirely different languages.
You Li did not agree with the strange nonsense they kept talking about but the idea of murdering people just to “leave the hospital” was far too dangerous. He could not simply pretend he had heard nothing.
Meanwhile, the bun haired girl and the others questioned how this person could possibly be a player while simultaneously finding it strange that he so obviously stood on the NPCs’ side.
The square faced man looked like a sharp, elite office professional. His gaze turned piercing as he questioned him directly.
“Exactly what day did you lose your memory?”
You Li thought for a moment. “Three days ago.”
“Isn’t that exactly when we entered the instance?”
“The psychiatric hospital we’re currently in is the instance.”
“Doesn’t your personal status panel explain it?”
“The clear condition for this instance is to be discharged from the hospital within seven days.”
“Have you ever read web novels?”
“Do you know what infinite flow is?”
“Have you played horror escape games before?”
“Have you ever gone to an escape room?”
The overwhelming enthusiasm nearly exhausted You Li. His eyes began drifting repeatedly toward the door. Only now did he finally realize how difficult doctors usually had it.
“I understand what you’re trying to say,” he replied at last. “You mean that we’re currently trapped inside some massive horror escape game. If we fail to clear it and leave the hospital, we’ll die here. Is that it?”
All six people nodded together.
The bun haired girl waved a hand through the air and tapped her fingertip against empty space.
“Look,” she said. “That’s how you summon it.”
You Li fell silent for a moment.
“…?”
The bun haired girl said, “You should try it too. Open your system panel.”
You Li’s expression stiffened slightly. “System?”
“You don’t know?” the girl replied. “That shouldn’t be possible. After you die, your system panel should automatically appear in front of you unless you manually close it.”
You Li repeated slowly, as though unable to process the words.
“After… I die?”
The twin tailed girl explained, “Only people on the verge of death can enter this game. Maybe suicide. Maybe murder. Maybe a major accident. Earthquakes, floods, car crashes… or terminal illness right before death. Any of those are possible.”
Car crash.
Car crash.
You Li’s pupils gradually lost focus.
He suffered from severe post traumatic stress disorder. The moment those two words connected together in his mind, the reaction began before he could stop it. His body started trembling uncontrollably.
He tried with all his strength to remain calm, forcing himself to breathe.
“My admission date was two months ago.”
He used every ounce of strength in his body to grip the wheelchair armrests. Color drained rapidly from his face. His brows twisted tightly together. As his breathing became heavier and heavier, even his trembling eyelashes carried an almost fragile kind of pain.
“Today is my sixty seventh day in this hospital.”
Yet in complete contrast, beneath all that disarray, his voice remained unexpectedly calm.
It sounded like someone desperately struggling to survive at the edge of a cliff.
Weak but stubbornly rational.
“The doctors already showed me my admission records,” he said softly. “It’s not the same as what you described about needing to leave the instance within seven days.”
It sounded less like he was explaining things to them and more like he was desperately trying to convince himself.
“Good afternoon.”
The consultation room door was suddenly pushed open.
The doctor stood outside the doorway.
A gentle smile rested on his face as he asked in a friendly tone,
“What are you all talking about?”
“May I join in too?”
The doctor swept his gaze around the room. He seemed slightly surprised yet the tone of his voice turned strangely cold.
“My poor little You Li… why are you sweating so much?”
“Were you bullied, Patient Thirteen?”
In an instant, all six people became tense.
Their eyes locked tightly onto You Li, who was still clutching at his chest while struggling to regulate his breathing. Every one of them felt their heart leap into their throat.
The twin tailed girl immediately activated a shielding item. Her gaze was full of warning.
“Don’t tell the NPCs about our plan.”
The bun haired girl looked frantic. “You have to believe us. We’re all players. The NPCs are the real enemies.” Her words came out rapidly, almost breathlessly.
“Don’t be fooled by how human he looks right now. Eight of our companions have already died because of the electroshock therapy he recommended!”
“No one knows what happens if you stay inside the instance without dying.”
“You Li… your name is You Li, right?”
“Are you absolutely sure this is your first time losing your memory?”
You Li’s breathing became harsher with every inhale.
The doctor was already striding toward them quickly.
“What are you all talking about? Why can’t I hear clearly?”
The bun haired girl hurriedly shouted, “Look, I activated a shielding item! He can’t hear what we’re saying!”
The doctor turned toward her with eerie precision.
“This patient,” he said mildly, “I am not deaf.”
A gentle smile appeared on his lips.
“Of course I can hear you.”
The bun haired girl nearly broke down. “There’s a distance limit! He just happened to walk into range!”
You Li, who was practically collapsing in the wheelchair, was finally supported upright by someone.
The doctor crouched halfway down in front of him.
“Deep breaths. Follow my rhythm. Inhale, ”
“Now breathe out.”
“Maintain this pace.”
“Hyperventilation can lead to respiratory alkalosis. If you go into shock and your heart stops, I will immediately push you into the operating room and use every possible method to resuscitate you.”
“Our hospital possesses the most advanced emergency medical equipment in the country. You will be very safe here.”
“I am the attending physician responsible for your treatment. I will not allow any patient under my care to suffer an accident.”
“So please trust me.”
“You’re indoors right now.”
“Good. Keep trying. Does the dizziness feel a little better now?”
“That’s right. Maintain this breathing rhythm. Good child.”
You Li’s patient uniform was nearly soaked through with cold sweat.
He clutched tightly onto the doctor’s arm and tilted his head back slightly, as though desperately yearning for something. His pale lips trembled faintly as they pressed against the rim of the paper cup the doctor held for him.
The exposed line of his neck was startlingly white. His slightly protruding Adam’s apple bobbed continuously as he swallowed the water the doctor carefully fed him.
The doctor maintained a perfectly steady pace while giving him water, neither too fast nor too slow, not a single drop more or less than necessary.
Only after You Li’s emotions had finally stabilized did the doctor stand up again. He walked to the corner and tossed the paper cup into the trash bin.
Weakly, You Li called out to stop him.
The doctor turned around with a smile.
“I’m listening,” he said gently. Then, with careful patience, he asked, “Is there something you need to tell me?”
You Li fell silent.
After a long while, he shut his eyes with visible struggle and pain before slowly shaking his head.
“…No. Nothing.”
His eyelids were very thin and his complexion was extremely pale. Under the light, even the delicate veins beneath his skin could be seen clearly.
The doctor seemed to notice his hesitation.
“You can tell me anything you want.”
“Could the nurses maybe do their nightly rounds in pairs?” You Li opened his eyes again, sounding slightly uncertain. “Last night, I thought Sister Yan Líming looked a little frightened.”
He lied.
Then lowered his gaze quietly, hiding everything behind lowered lashes.
“Girls probably feel safer walking together at night in pairs.” He hesitated briefly before continuing softly, “Doctor, could you help me pass this suggestion on to Head Nurse Li?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Everyone present finally released the breath they had been holding.
The doctor poured You Li another cup of water.
“If you’re feeling better now,” he said warmly, “then let’s begin today’s psychotherapy session.”
You Li carefully felt out the condition of his body for a moment before giving a small nod to indicate that he could still endure it.
“During the course of your daily psychiatric counseling sessions, the hospital discovered that all eight of you suffer from relatively severe persecutory delusions. Among you, six patients also display varying levels of fantasy disorder.”
The doctor’s tone remained calm and steady as he continued speaking.
“You frequently imagine things that are vague and unreal. You firmly believe in things that do not actually exist. If this continues to worsen, it may eventually develop into something even more severe, such as schizophrenia.”
The eighth person, the one who had remained silent the entire time, the boy with the bowl cut hair, suddenly spoke.
His bangs covered his eyes completely, making it impossible to see his expression.
“How could my parents possibly send me to a psychiatric hospital?” he muttered hoarsely. “It’s all because of you people. They were tricked by this fake hospital.”
“You definitely want to dig out my kidneys and sell my blood.”
“I’m going to call the police! I’m going to sue all of you! Let me out, let me out, let me out…”
He repeated the same sentence over and over again like a broken machine.
The doctor looked at him the same way one might look at a textbook case study.
“In your minds, hospitals, doctors and nurses have all become harmful entities that intend to hurt you,” he said patiently. “You desperately want to leave this place.”
“You view everything standing in your way as an enemy.”
The doctor’s gaze rested briefly on the bowl cut boy.
“He suffered a certain degree of bullying at school, which caused problems with his psychological condition. His parents worked very hard to bring him here for treatment because they hoped he could become a normal child again. A child capable of feeling happiness.”
Then the doctor turned toward the middle aged man and woman.
“You two are husband and wife. Unfortunately, you purchased an unfinished property project that collapsed midway through development. You began to feel that the world itself was unfortunate, unfair, hopeless. Repeatedly, you climbed to the rooftop intending to jump.”
“Your child ultimately sent you to our hospital to recuperate.”
Next came the buzz cut man and the twin tailed girl.
“You both display certain violent tendencies. After making mistakes, you became afraid of retaliation. Your mental states deteriorated significantly. Once the school discovered the incidents and expelled you, your mothers hoped you would use this place to sincerely repent and change yourselves.”
Then came the square faced man and the bun haired girl.
The doctor calmly recounted each of their pasts one after another.
Only at the very end did his attention settle upon You Li.
“I hope all of you can learn to trust our Ark Psychiatric Hospital,” the doctor said warmly, “just as you trust the parents, relatives and friends who brought you here.”
“I hope you stop viewing the doctors and nurses treating you as imaginary enemies.”
The bowl cut boy, who had been endlessly repeating the same words, abruptly fell silent.
The expressions on the other six people became indescribably strange.
Because everything the doctor described… were events that had truly happened in their real lives.
The bun haired girl shivered slightly before muttering under her breath, “I knew this instance mixing itself with reality wasn’t going to be a good thing. I’m seriously starting to believe it myself…”
The doctor continued speaking.
“We can create a false enemy inside our minds. That enemy can be anyone.”
He spoke slowly, almost like a teacher guiding children through a lesson.
“Anyone you believe poses danger to you. Anyone you think may harm you, kill you, or make you feel unsafe.”
“Close your eyes now.”
“And imagine freely.”
His voice was gentle.
Soft.
Filled with an almost hypnotic sense of guidance.
Without realizing it, everyone gradually closed their eyes.
“This place is real.”
“The hospital is kind.”
“That enemy is fictional.”
“In your imagination, you may become omnipotent. You may effortlessly destroy your imaginary enemy.”
“No one can hurt you anymore.”
“You are safe now.”
“There is no longer any need for any person, object, or thing to protect you.”
“So…”
“Who do you think that person is?”
The middle aged husband and wife almost answered in perfect unison.
“A man in a suit…”
The doctor patiently repeated, “A suit?”
“…We’ve never seen his face.”
“He doesn’t need to have one.”
The couple murmured quietly to themselves.
“He’s very rich…”
“He’s the boss of an investment company…”
“He wears a suit every single day…”
The bowl cut boy also spoke up.
“A scalpel…”
His body trembled violently.
“He’s holding a scalpel.”
The doctor asked calmly, “Do you think he’s a surgeon?”
The bowl cut boy answered with certainty.
“He definitely is.”
The twin tailed girl and the bun haired girl both kept their mouths tightly shut, refusing to say a single word.
Cold sweat formed on the square faced man and the buzz cut man as they hurriedly copied the others’ behavior and remained silent as well.
The doctor finally looked toward You Li.
“Patient Thirteen?”
You Li seemed somewhat dazed. Only after a moment did he realize the doctor was speaking to him.
“Who is he?”
The “man in the suit” clearly corresponded to the image of the real estate developer responsible for the unfinished building project bought by the middle aged couple, the target of their hatred.
And the “scalpel” represented the deepest fear hidden in the bowl cut boy’s heart:
The terror that some immoral surgeon would harvest and sell his organs.
Then what about him?
Who was the person hidden in the deepest part of his heart?
Who was it that he feared, dreaded and hated?
The doctor was asking him that question.
You Li’s mind was completely blank.
At the same time, he felt an indescribable sense of strangeness, as though the eight of them were currently being guided by the doctor into collectively creating a person who should never have existed in the first place.
Could a being born purely from gathered fear, hatred and negative emotion truly become nothing more than an imaginary enemy they could casually destroy?
Or would the opposite happen, would they instead become the ones controlled, manipulated and toyed with by that imagined enemy?
The doctor was still patiently waiting for his answer.
You Li’s lips had long since lost all color. Pale and bloodless, he slowly shook his head.
“I don’t know, Doctor…”
Deep within his heart, there was an overwhelming terror hidden so far beneath the surface that even he himself could not identify its source.
He had lost his memory.
He could remember nothing at all.
He had become someone without a past,
and without any visible future.
Was he afraid that he truly was mentally ill?
Was he afraid that the world itself was fake?
Was he afraid of the hospital’s methods of treatment?
Or perhaps…
was he afraid of the car accident that had led to his husband’s death, leaving him with severe post traumatic stress disorder and depression severe enough to require hospitalization?
No.
None of those were the answer.
You Li fell asleep.
Perhaps he truly was too exhausted.
Today’s relapse and emotional collapse had consumed far too much of his mental strength. The doctor still seemed to be speaking beside him, saying something softly, perhaps telling him that it was alright to rest now.
He could no longer hear clearly.
Slowly, his eyes drifted shut.
He leaned forward onto the small tabletop, curling instinctively into himself. His hunched shoulders and thin back looked unbearably fragile, almost pitifully so.
In his dream, You Li seemed to walk for a very, very long time.
The entire surrounding world carried a blurry kind of cold gray darkness, vague and indistinct, as though everything had been submerged beneath shadow.
It felt similar to the dark haze that clouded a person’s vision right after waking up, the brief moment of blackened dizziness during a blink before the world finally came back into focus.
✦ ✧ ✦
Nycreth
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Coffee is technically a form of emotional support.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · I have amnesia (1)Chapter 2 · I have amnesia (2)Chapter 3 · I have amnesia (3)Chapter 4 · I have amnesia (4)Chapter 5 · I have amnesia (5)Chapter 6 · I have amnesia (6)Chapter 7 · I have amnesia (7)Chapter 8 · I have amnesia (8)Chapter 9 · I have amnesia (9)Chapter 10 · I have amnesia (10)Chapter 11 · I have amnesia (11)Chapter 12 · I have amnesia (12)Chapter 13 · I have amnesia (14)Chapter 14 · I have amnesia (14)Chapter 15 · I have amnesia (15)Chapter 16 · I have amnesia (16)Chapter 17 · I have amnesia (17)Chapter 18 · I have amnesia (18)Chapter 19 · I have amnesia (19)Chapter 20 · I have amnesia (20)Chapter 21 · I have amnesia (21)Chapter 22 · I have amnesia (22)Chapter 23 · I have amnesia (23)Chapter 24 · I have amnesia (24)Chapter 25 · I have amnesia (25)Chapter 26 · I have amnesia (26)Chapter 27 · I have amnesia (27)Chapter 28 · I have amnesia (28)Chapter 29 · Desert Highway (1)Chapter 30 · Desert Highway (2)Chapter 31 · Desert Highway (3)Chapter 32 · Desert Highway (4)Chapter 33 · Desert Highway (5)Chapter 34 · Desert Highway (6)Chapter 35 · Desert Highway (7)Chapter 36 · Desert Highway (8)Chapter 37 · Desert Highway (9)Chapter 38 · Desert Highway (10)Chapter 39 · Desert Highway (11)Chapter 40 · Desert Highway (12)Chapter 41 · Desert Highway (13)Chapter 42 · Desert Highway (14)Chapter 43 · Desert Highway (15)