The players emergency repair squad worked with astonishing efficiency. In the face of life threatening danger, even girls who had never touched tools before suddenly transformed into renovation masters, swinging hammers with fierce momentum and energy that could shake the air itself.
Tang Yu even contributed one of his precious supplies, a talisman card with sealing power. Afraid that something terrifying would burst out from inside, the group sealed the staircase entrance as tightly as human strength allowed.
They tore apart tables until only metal frames were left and piled the wreckage high at the entrance like a small barricade mountain.
Compared to those fragile wooden planks they depended on earlier, this makeshift barricade was several leagues stronger.
Yet despite all that, everyone still looked grim. They gathered in a circle, staring at one another with worry carved into every expression.
Wang Yicheng fixed his eyes on the staircase, brows furrowed so tightly they looked welded together. “Tonight we will take turns standing guard here. With the sealing item holding up, nothing should break through. But what about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow we can only deal with it when it comes,” someone sighed, “We cannot just ignore those two floors upstairs.”
That was the root of everyone’s distress.
Tonight they could seal the staircase and finally sleep without fear of being chased across the hospital by spirits. But come tomorrow, they still had to find a way up to the second floor.
Meaning the barricade they painstakingly built with their own hands would very likely need to be torn down by those same hands.
If not, they would fail the dungeon. And no points meant death.
The older players still had a bit of point savings, enough to survive for a short while. But clearing failures deducted points. If their years of hoarded points disappeared, and the next dungeon went badly too, then death would be just as certain.
No one was willing to give up the mission.
Those two upper floors had to be explored. There was no other choice.
“I will count again,” Wang Yicheng rubbed his face, looking tired and heavy with the pressure of responsibility. “Did anyone discover any clues? Anything at all. Even if it is just a strange feeling or a suspicious detail. Say it.”
“We need as much information as possible to analyze.”
Because their lives were literally hanging in the balance, no one played smart or hid anything. They spoke in turn from left to right.
Big discoveries like seeing a ghost in a room, small discoveries like feeling a chill while going to the bathroom. Anything that could be shared was said.
Qi Yu listened to all of them. And his only thought was that they were talking nonsense.
He looked at his teammates, silently hoping they were not all really as silly as they sounded. Then he turned to Tang Yu.
Tang Yu did not disappoint.
He pulled out a massive welding torch like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“I found this in the tool room earlier. Miraculously it still works. With my treasured bottle of holy water from the temple, tomorrow we can bless the torch and charge in swinging.”
Everyone: “……”
Qi Yu: “……”
Who even was this man? Was this really his teammate? Could he immediately cancel his temporary party with him? Surely that was allowed?
“Ahem, do not look at me like that,” Tang Yu coughed, embarrassed. “The atmosphere was too heavy. I was just joking to lighten the mood.”
He handed the welding torch to Qi Wenyu behind him. “Seriously though, I have one thing. Not really a discovery, but something I suddenly thought of. We have been searching the whole day for newspapers. But has anyone remembered that when we came in, there was a huge stack of newspapers in the security room at the entrance?”
Silence.
Then realization hit everyone like a hammer.
Right! Why had none of them thought of that?
They did flip through that stack earlier, but it was rushed. They barely glanced at the pages, just checking if anything was hidden between them. With everything that happened today, they had completely forgotten about it.
If something inside those newspapers recorded the hospital’s past, then they would be one giant leap closer to clearing the mission.
The more they thought about it, the more excited they became. Several players nearly sprinted toward the entrance, desperate to dig through those papers again from first to last page.
Qi Yu quickly stopped them.
“I would love it if the newspapers had our answers too. But I have bad news.”
“We cannot reach the security room right now.”
He opened his phone and showed them the picture he took earlier. Outside the main entrance, between the lobby and the security room, a patch of open ground was now completely smothered in dark grey fog.
Thick, choking mist shrouded everything, and as they stared, a chill crept up everyone’s spine like icy fingers.
Trapped. They could not go up, and now they could not go back either.
The game really wanted to kill them here.
Someone tried opening the door and checking in person. But the sky had darkened further, and the fog outside was even more terrifying in person than in the photo. After one look, they hurried back inside, pale and silent.
There was nothing left to say. Everyone was exhausted after a full day of tension. Better to rest. Even if the bed was just a wooden door with a torn curtain as a blanket, it was still better than the cold floor.
Qi Yu used his backpack as a pillow on the hard door. He did consider taking out his luxurious bedding set from his inventory, but if he did that, he would immediately become a shining target of envy and attention.
For dignity’s sake, he chose to wrap himself in the ragged curtain instead.
Most of the clinic lights no longer worked. They lit a few candles, bathing the room in dim flickering light. Somewhere in the dark, a soft sobbing sound appeared briefly before fading away.
Qi Yu closed his eyes and forced himself not to think. Soon, sleep overtook him.
They had agreed to switch shifts at three. But no one came to wake him. Instead, he woke on his own.
In the haze between dreaming and waking, a strange sensation crept over him. Someone was staring at him. Watching with a chilling, hostile intent that prickled his skin.
He thought he must be dreaming. Rubbing his face, he opened his eyes.
And froze.
“Song Qing?!”
The person standing in front of him was Song Qing. The same Song Qing they had tied up and personally delivered to this hospital in the previous dungeon.
He looked different now. Wearing striped hospital clothes, his skin had turned unnaturally pale, as if sealed away from sunlight for too long.
Aside from the scar still trailing across his face, he actually looked better than before. One shade of pale could hide many flaws, after all.
And the food here must be pretty good. Last time he had seen him, Song Qing was a dangerous starving wolf, all fierce glare but skinny frame. Now his stomach had a soft roundness to it.
Qi Yu’s gaze drifted over that small belly, impressed. So spirits could get chubby too.
Song Qing followed his gaze down, instinctively sucked in his stomach, then suddenly looked furious.
“What are you staring at? There is nothing to stare at.”
Qi Yu looked away calmly. “Long time no see. Seems you are doing well here.”
More than well. He had gotten fat.
Thinking about his time trapped in the hospital before, unable to escape, Song Qing gritted his teeth. Rage seethed in his eyes. He wanted to drag Qi Yu to a laboratory and experiment on him until he cried.
But then he remembered Qi Yu’s terrifying companion. He hesitated. After a moment he snapped forward with hostility. “Hey. Pick your nose for me.”
Qi Yu: “???”
What?
He blinked in disbelief. Song Qing went to all the trouble of knocking everyone unconscious, sneaking here, confronting him in the dead of night… to ask him to pick his nose?
Was he still dreaming?
He pinched his thigh. It hurt. So sadly, this was real.
With a sigh he said seriously, “You should know, someone as ethereal and elegant as me does not do things like picking his nose.”
Song Qing’s expression twisted violently in a way that was almost painful to look at. Without a word he whipped out a syringe and pointed it straight at Qi Yu.
“I said pick your nose. If you refuse, I will let you experience my newest drug right now.”
“Fine, fine!” Qi Yu sat up and casually rubbed his nose. “There. Done. As you can see, it is perfectly clean. Nothing to pick.”
“Are you satisfied now?”
Song Qing ignored his question. He frowned in confusion and muttered, “Where is the cute part? He looks like a completely normal person. That idiot Xie Shao, his brain must have been smashed in.”
“Hold on,” Qi Yu massaged his forehead. “Cute? What cute? What did Xie Shao say to you? And why on earth would you believe anything he says?”
There was one thing he did not say out loud.
Qi Yu: “…..” You came here because of something Xie Shao said… and forced me to pick my nose? Do you not realize how bizarre that is, and how it almost… kind of sounds a little gay?
Song Qing did not think so at all. He even replied righteously, “Xie Shao is my lifelong rival. To defeat him, of course I must study his habits and behavior meticulously. Even if he has been acting like a fool recently, I will not give up.”
Qi Yu stared at him with pity. “You like him.”
Song Qing exploded instantly. “Do not talk nonsense!”
“You like him,” Qi Yu repeated calmly.
“You are seeking death!” Song Qing roared.
Just when the confrontation was about to escalate into a reckless fight between a very annoyed little boss spirit and a human with no regard for his own survival, a knocking sound echoed from the door.
Both turned sharply.
And there he was. The center of their argument. Xie Shao stood at the doorway with a blanket slung casually over his shoulder.
He smiled lazily and waved at Qi Yu. Then his gaze shifted to Song Qing, who immediately stiffened and stepped back with visible panic.
Xie Shao sighed dramatically.
“Old Song, I did not expect you to harbor such feelings for me but it is impossible between us. You are too ugly. And I already have someone in my heart. Right, darling?”
With natural ease, he winked at Qi Yu.
Qi Yu was speechless. For many reasons.
But more urgently, Song Qing looked like he was about to explode. Literally explode. Qi Yu could swear his stomach was swelling like a balloon in real time.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
This chapter was powered by questionable decisions. The next one may require coffee.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Enter the GameChapter 2 · Pick a roomChapter 3 · DeadChapter 4 · AtticChapter 5 · ResponsibleChapter 6 · A bamboo BasketChapter 7 · DiaryChapter 8 · Song QingChapter 9 · Sent to HospitalChapter 10 · Second CopyChapter 11 · Leaking InformationChapter 12 · Special Prop!Chapter 13 · Doctor GhostChapter 14 · Store RoomChapter 15 · Psychiatry HospitalChapter 16 · Things of PastChapter 17 · Second FloorChapter 18 · He’s adorableChapter 19 · You Like Him?Chapter 20 · Kiss meChapter 21 · Group women’s clothing PlayChapter 22 · Where’s my Skirt?Chapter 23 · Wife of Murder Doctor….Chapter 24 · Go to Third floorChapter 25 · You must find me!Chapter 26 · See you in the next dungeonChapter 27 · VideoChapter 28 · Player ForumChapter 29 · Two women vying for one manChapter 30 · The Giant WolfChapter 31 · A Kind and Benevolent FatherChapter 32 · Preparing the change clothesChapter 33 · Red Heart FruitChapter 34 · In what ways do I fall short of him?Chapter 35 · KissChapter 36 · Bald performanceChapter 37 · The Prince Has ArrivedChapter 38 · Prince Song QingChapter 39 · Should we…Chapter 40 · A Kiss of True LoveChapter 41 · BanquetChapter 42 · Snow White KingChapter 43 · KingChapter 44 · I miss you so much!Chapter 45 · LeavingChapter 46 · Wanting to See HimChapter 47 · Resource Type InstanceChapter 48 · The Banquet BeginsChapter 49 · KissChapter 50 · Full-Dive Virtual RealityChapter 51 · Everyone Is a LiarChapter 52 · MegaphoneChapter 53 · Dragon???Chapter 54 · Fire DragonChapter 55 · A powerful Fire DragonChapter 56 · Want Some Barbecue?Chapter 57 · The Characteristics of the GameChapter 58 · A little DragonChapter 59 · Searching for her sonChapter 60 · We’re Going to Tear Up the HostageChapter 61 · Mountain CollapseChapter 62 · DiscussionChapter 63 · Digging for Crystals?Chapter 64 · Making Money Selling LiquorChapter 65 · A KissChapter 66 · I’m the Best LookingChapter 67 · Ghost Ship 101Chapter 68 · Has the Competition Begun Yet?Chapter 69 · LotteryChapter 70 · First PlaceChapter 71 · The Sea Monster ArrivesChapter 72 · CooperationChapter 73 · The Man in the MaskChapter 74 · WarChapter 75 · The Players’ RevengeChapter 76 · ReturningChapter 77 · The End