There were many shapes moving within the fog. They looked vaguely human. No one could tell whether they were people or ghosts but either way, they weren’t pleasant to look at.
The players had all gathered in the outpatient lobby, clutching whatever weapons they had scavenged from the hospital. Using the leftover planks and nails from when they had sealed off the stairway the previous night, they piled the materials against the main entrance to form a makeshift barricade.
Everyone looked grim and hopeless, faces twisted with despair. Though they didn’t dare to curse the game outright, knowing it would hold grudges, they were all silently thinking the same thing: screw this damn game.
“Brother Tang…”
Qi Wenyu hesitated, then asked, “You don’t happen to have any super-powerful items, do you? Maybe something that could blow up half the enemies over there in one shot?”
He had been about to make a joke of it but when he turned his head, he realized that Tang Yu, at such a critical moment, seemed… distracted.
His gaze wasn’t on the fog or the barricade but somewhere behind them, as though searching for something.
Qi Wenyu stared, speechless for a moment. “Brother Tang, what are you looking at?” he asked bitterly.
He honestly didn’t know how to describe his mood anymore. Death had arrived far too quickly.
He had thought that if he just clung tightly enough to Tang Yu’s thigh, he might last a while longer, maybe even make it to the end of the dungeon and become one of the lucky few who managed to return home alive.
But clearly, that hope had been too fragile. This second chance at life was turning out to be painfully short.
Maybe he was just too heavy a burden. Maybe Tang Yu couldn’t carry him after all.
He wasn’t alone in his despair. Many of the players were sitting against the walls, pens trembling in their hands as they scribbled out makeshift wills.
Even if their families would never see these letters, perhaps their fellow players would. At the very least, it would be proof, proof that they had been here.
Only Tang Yu remained completely calm. He lifted his head, gaze fixed toward the stairwell and spoke in a quiet, steady voice, “I think I just heard someone talking… from over there.”
Qi Wenyu froze……. “…Talking?”
His eyes went wide, disbelief and dread washing over him, “Please, don’t scare me like that. We already have monsters in front of us and ghosts upstairs, what’s next, a boss fight from the ceiling? Did we accidentally open a nightmare-level difficulty or something?”
“Brother Tang, this is really not the time for jokes!”
Tang Yu replied flatly, “Why would I lie to you?”
He wasn’t joking.
He really had heard something, though faintly. He’d need to get closer to be sure.
The others exchanged uneasy glances, faces growing even paler.
It was already hard enough trying to fend off whatever horrors were lurking in the fog outside. If they also had to deal with the vengeful ghosts upstairs, how were they supposed to survive that?
If someone had handed them a knife right then, a few of them might have just ended it themselves.
This wasn’t a fair setup. It was cruel. If the game had a complaint department, it would have been flooded with furious reports by now.
Even if it meant being punished later, none of them cared, because this level of difficulty was absurd. It felt like the game was deliberately pushing them into a dead end.
But among the group, a few seasoned players suddenly lit up with realization. Their expressions shifted, hope flickered faintly in their eyes.
“The game never sets up a complete dead end,” One of them rasped. It was an elderly man, quiet and unassuming until he spoke and then every word cut straight to the point.
“Doesn’t this scene look… familiar to you?”
Wang Yicheng’s eyes narrowed, “It’s like when a dungeon reaches its turning point and the monsters enter a rebound phase after the main story is triggered. But the question is, who triggered it this time?”
“Qi Yu!”
Tang Yu’s voice rang out before Wang Yicheng had even finished, “It has to be him. Everyone else stayed downstairs last night.”
“I searched the entire first floor multiple times. There was no way to trigger any main event there. He must have gone upstairs, either on purpose or because something forced him to.”
The “main story trigger” referred to a crucial plot event within each dungeon, the moment when players confronted the truth of the scenario.
Finding clues was one thing but triggering the main story meant coming face to face with the key figures or the boss itself.
In the last dungeon, Qi Yu had uncovered the orphanage’s hidden truth through an old diary, only to discover that the supposed savior, Song Qing, had actually captured all the players instead.
That had been the beginning of the rebound phase, the final, most dangerous stretch of the game.
There was another name for it: the climax.
Tang Yu’s eyes gleamed with determination, “Brother Wang, I suggest we remove the barricade on the stairway and move upstairs. We need to find Qi Yu as soon as possible and figure out what he discovered.”
His proposal made everyone freeze.
“Are you crazy?” someone blurted out immediately. “We still don’t know how dangerous the ghosts upstairs are! What if they’re the same as last night, bloodthirsty and aggressive? We’d just be walking straight into their jaws!”
He wasn’t wrong.
If they tore down the barricade only to have a ghostly woman pop her head out and greet them with a chilling smile and drooling mouth, that would be the end of them.
The players hesitated, torn between fear and hope. No one knew what to do but time was running out.
The fog had already begun seeping into the outpatient lobby, tendrils of pale mist curling past the barricade.
Any remaining hope that the creatures couldn’t enter the building was shattered. They could not only come inside, they were growing stronger.
Figures began emerging from the fog, shaking off its grip.
They wore patient gowns, white lab coats and ordinary clothes. They were the missing people, the ones who had vanished from the hospital.
“Captain! The defensive line’s completely gone!” A player stumbled back from the front, covered in dust and blood. “Those things coming out of the fog, they’re monsters!”
“They have bodies but they’re not human anymore!”
“They’re strong, too strong! They tore through the metal cabinets like they were made of paper! And the anti-ghost items we have? Completely useless!”
“They’re more like… zombies. The kind you see in horror movies.”
Most of the surviving veteran players were skilled and resourceful. They had built makeshift traps around the hall, ropes, wires, improvised barricades but against these creatures, none of it seemed to matter.
The monsters were advancing fast.
Their time was slipping away.
Wang Yicheng clenched his jaw. “Move! Take down the barricade, we’re retreating upstairs!”
Dismantling the barricade was far easier said than done. It was always easier to destroy something than to build it but in this case, that saying didn’t quite hold true.
Tang Yu swung his hammer furiously, each blow echoing through the hall, “Whose brilliant idea was it to hammer every single nail last night? Whoever it was, I swear I’ll flatten them!”
Qi Wenyu ducked his head guiltily. “Sorry, Brother Tang… that was me.”
Tang Yu stared at him, utterly defeated.
He wanted to cry but had no tears left.
While they struggled to tear down the barricade, the players keeping watch over the fog reported a stroke of luck.
Although most of their defensive traps had been destroyed, they’d noticed something strange: the monsters seemed to hate the examination rooms.
Every time they passed one, they’d charge inside and destroy everything in it.
That gave the players precious time.
They used the distraction to their advantage, luring the monsters away whenever they could. For the moment, no one had died. Everyone, barely, was still alive.
But only just.
There were too many monsters. Even with distractions, a few of them had already turned their hollow eyes toward the players hacking away at the barricade.
The boards weren’t fully cleared yet, two layers still remained.
The human players gripped their makeshift weapons tightly, palms slick with sweat, as the creatures shambled closer. Their shriveled skin clung to bone, faces pale and stiff, eyes a sickly yellow, the stench of rot rolling off their bodies in thick, nauseating waves.
Someone swallowed hard.
The monsters kept coming.
Everyone thought they were doomed.
Just as despair began to settle in, a slow, deliberate knocking sound came from the other side of the barricade.
“Stop hammering,” a familiar voice called out from behind the sealed door.
“Friends outside, mind telling me what’s going on out there? Why does it smell like a garbage dump?”
“Qi Yu!” Tang Yu leapt to his feet, eyes wide with disbelief. “You heartless bastard! You actually left me and Huang Mao behind! What good is a note? Hurry up and tell us what happened. Did you find anything useful? Do you have a way to deal with these monsters?”
For a few seconds, there was only silence on the other end. Then Qi Yu coughed lightly and replied in a mild tone, “Tang Yu, don’t talk nonsense. We just met, remember? We’re ordinary friends, nothing more, right?”
Tang Yu stared, momentarily speechless.
“What kind of nonsense is that?!” he shouted, almost tearing his hair out. “This is hardly the time to talk about that! If you don’t help us right now, we’ll be corpses in a few minutes! Brother, please, I’m calling you ‘Brother Qi’ now, can you or can you not save us?”
It was exactly at times like this that Qi Yu wanted to talk about it. He risked a side glance at the man standing beside him, Xie Shao, who was watching him with that same half-smile that always made his stomach twist.
Because the truth was, the one who could save them wasn’t him.
It was Xie Shao.
Qi Yu sneaked a cautious look at the man’s calm expression, trying to look as pitiful as possible. Xie Shao let out a soft breath, then lazily extended his hand. “Come here.”
The stairwell was pitch dark. The dim emergency lights had long since gone out, leaving only a faint glow seeping in from somewhere above. The air was cold, the silence oppressive.
Yet somehow, despite the darkness, Qi Yu could clearly see that hand reaching toward him.
Slender fingers, pale skin, long and elegant. Just like the man himself, cold, refined and impossibly beautiful.
Wait, what the hell was he thinking?
The realization made Qi Yu’s face burn. He wanted to slap himself but before he could overthink it, Xie Shao’s hand remained patiently outstretched. Refusing wasn’t an option.
He took a shaky breath, then reached forward. Their fingers met.
Xie Shao’s hand was cool, while Qi Yu’s was still warm with human heat. When they touched, the contrast of temperature was sharp yet strangely grounding.
Qi Yu could feel something faintly strange beneath the other man’s palm, like a thin, winding mark etched into his skin. He wanted to ask about it but before he could, Xie Shao’s grip tightened around his hand.
“Ready?” Xie Shao’s voice was calm and smooth, carrying a hint of a smile.
“Eh? Ready for what?”
Qi Yu didn’t even have time to finish the question. His entire body suddenly lifted off the ground, propelled by a force completely beyond his control.
There was a flash of motion, a sharp rush of air and then,
A deafening crash.
The wooden barricade that the players outside had been hammering at for what felt like forever, layer upon layer of nailed boards, exploded outward in an instant.
The planks shattered and flew across the room, several pieces of the doorframe collapsing along with them. They fell directly onto the monsters that had been charging forward, crushing several to the ground.
Qi Yu landed lightly at the top of the stairwell, his body perfectly balanced.
He stood there, back straight, aura radiating calm power. He looked like a martial arts master stepping straight out of a movie, majestic, unshaken and impossibly cool.
Every single player in the hall blurted out the same thing at once, “Holy crap!”
It was pure, unfiltered awe.
For a second, everyone forgot the fear and the fog and the monsters. Qi Yu’s entrance was simply too perfect, like the hero descending at the exact right moment to crush despair under his heel.
If this were a movie, there would have been slow motion, wind effects and a blinding halo behind him.
Thankfully, everyone still had enough sense to scramble into the stairwell behind him, one after another.
To their astonishment, the monsters didn’t follow.
The creatures lingered at the doorway, pacing and growling, their movements hesitant, as if something invisible barred their way. Their hoarse roars echoed faintly but none dared to step inside.
The players, panting and shaking, stared at Qi Yu with gratitude and curiosity.
Because standing beside him, still holding his hand, was a stranger.
He wasn’t one of them. They all knew exactly how many people had entered the dungeon together and this man definitely hadn’t been among them.
So who was he?
Guesses ran rampant but no one dared to speak first.
And Qi Yu, after his heroic, dazzling entrance, was suddenly standing there very quietly, looking oddly stiff.
Why?
‘You brought the guy yourself, everyone thought silently. Introduce him! Say something! You’re making this awkward for all of us!’ Everyone thought but couldn’t mutter a word.
Qi Yu didn’t say a word. He wanted to but he couldn’t because no matter how hard he tried to pull his hand back, Xie Shao didn’t let go.
And that made him feel unbearably self-conscious. Standing there, fingers still entwined with another man’s, while everyone stared, it felt… improper.
Xie Shao, of course, looked completely unbothered. His expression was calm, even amused, as if none of this were the least bit strange.
He raised an eyebrow, about to say something, perhaps to introduce himself, when Qi Wenyu, the blond-haired fool with the chainsaw, stepped forward.
“Hello, sister in law,” He said politely.
The entire hall went dead silent.
Everyone: “……???”
Qi Yu: “……!!!”
Qi Yu felt his brain go blank.
Heat shot straight to his ears as he glared daggers at Qi Wenyu. “What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t call him that! What if someone misunderstands? What if rumors spread? How are either of us supposed to find a partner then?”
The others exchanged silent looks.
You’re the one still holding hands, they thought. You’re not exactly helping your case.
No one dared to speak, of course. They didn’t know Qi Yu well enough to joke with him.
Only Qi Wenyu, the brave, foolish, painfully honest one, had the nerve to keep talking.
“But weren’t you two already together before?” he said innocently. “Didn’t Brother Xie call you.. ”
“Stop!” Qi Yu cut him off so fast his voice cracked. He slammed the brakes just before that humiliating term of endearment could escape.
Desperate to change the subject, he turned sharply to the others, “Enough chatter! There are monsters outside, remember? How can you still have time to gossip? Let’s exchange information and move. I’ll take you upstairs.”
The others looked at one another.
We weren’t the ones gossiping, their eyes seemed to say. It was that blond idiot running his mouth! Stop throwing blame so randomly!
After a few seconds of awkward silence, they all nodded and focused on the task at hand.
They quickly shared everything they had learned. Then Qi Yu took something out of his jacket, a sheet of paper so old it looked ready to crumble.
It was a newspaper, yellowed with age and creased from long storage. The surface was blotched with stains and smoke-like discoloration but the bold black headline on the front page still stood out clearly.
“Breaking News! A Shocking Secret Hidden Inside the Bain Psychiatric Hospital!”
Qi Yu began reading aloud.
“Recently, rumors have surfaced claiming that a man, covered in blood and dressed in a hospital gown, was found near Bain Psychiatric Hospital. The man identified himself as a patient of the hospital and begged for help, revealing horrifying truths about what goes on inside.”
“The hospital’s director and several doctors were allegedly conducting human experiments within the facility.”
“They used the patients as experimental subjects, locking them away and cutting them off from their families under the pretext of unstable mental conditions.”
“Behind the facade of a normal hospital, unspeakable horrors were taking place.”
“When this rumor spread, numerous family members rushed to the hospital, demanding to see their loved ones. Emotions ran high and the confrontation soon turned violent, resulting in extensive damage to the hospital.”
“The case is now under police investigation and details remain confidential. Our newspaper urges all citizens to stay calm and refrain from taking reckless actions. The truth will come to light eventually and we must trust that the authorities will handle the matter appropriately. Acts of vandalism could lead to devastating financial consequences.”
The players fell silent.
The report continued across multiple pages, going on and on about similar cases of illegal human experimentation throughout history. Most of it they skimmed over but the very last paragraph made everyone’s breath catch.
“As everyone knows, Bain Psychiatric Hospital is one of the most reputable mental health institutions in our city. Each year, it recruits many top graduates and outstanding psychiatrists from both domestic and international universities. Among them, the most renowned and widely admired is….”
“XIE SHAO”
The final two words echoed in the silent hall.
Every gaze slowly turned toward the man still standing beside Qi Yu.
And for the first time, a faint, knowing smile curved Xie Shao’s lips.
He had graduated from one of the top universities in the country, later pursuing both his master’s and doctoral degrees overseas.
During that time, he worked alongside a world-class medical research team, contributing to several groundbreaking studies and successfully treating numerous complex psychological disorders.
When word spread that he was planning to return to China, nearly every prestigious hospital in the country sent him an invitation, eager to have him join their ranks.
The question that puzzled everyone was, why would someone of his background and reputation choose to work at Bain Psychiatric Hospital of all places?
Was it possible that he had something to do with the rumored human experimentation case? The article teased the question dramatically before promising to analyze it in detail.
Below that headline followed a string of speculative, sensationalized paragraphs, typical tabloid nonsense meant to grab attention, startle readers and then fill the rest of the page with baseless theories.
Even so, the players couldn’t help but exchange nervous glances as they stared at the man standing before them.
Because right there on the front page was his name and his face.
The article had described him as strikingly handsome and had even printed a photo to appeal to readers who preferred stories with attractive faces.
And now, looking from the yellowed newspaper to the real man standing before them, everyone could only think that the photograph did him no justice. The actual person looked even better, too good, in fact.
A strange silence spread among the players.
So… were they just saved by an NPC from the dungeon? Or was he actually the boss of this game?
The idea alone sent a shiver of excitement down everyone’s spine.
The group stood in uneasy silence, no one daring to speak first. Finally, it was Qi Yu who broke the tension with a light cough.
“Let me introduce him properly,” he said. “This is my friend, Xie Shao.”
Xie Shao added casually, “Boyfriend.”
The crowd fell dead silent.
Their collective expression was difficult to describe, somewhere between confusion, disbelief and the dawning realization that perhaps the rules of the game weren’t what they thought they were.
If one had to put it into words, their faces said, Wait, you can do that?
Among the players was Wang Yicheng, a veteran gamer who prided himself on knowing the ins and outs of every dungeon mechanic. At that moment, he stood completely dumbfounded.
Everyone else had been grinding through missions, dutifully collecting clues and desperately trying to survive.
But somehow this guy had managed to charm an in-game character and not just any NPC but apparently the most dangerous and mysterious one in the scenario.
Was this even the same game they were playing?
Did he spawn with some hidden “flirt with the boss” ability while the rest of them were struggling just to stay alive?
Qi Yu, face expressionless, pretended not to notice the variety of looks being thrown his way. Calmly, he redirected the conversation.
“This stairwell won’t hold for long,” he said briskly. “I’ll take you upstairs first. Once we’re safe, I’ll explain the rest of the plot. For now, change into these.”
He tossed a bundle of clothes toward them.
When the players unfolded them, a stunned silence swept across the group.
Soft pink fabric. Slitted skirts. Short sleeves with lace trim. Matching caps.
They were… pink nurse uniforms.
Everyone froze.
“What, what is this?” Tang Yu stammered, taking two steps back in horror as he hugged his chest protectively. “Why do we have to wear these?!”
They were honest players, decent, hardworking, respectable. Why were they suddenly being asked to crossdress?
Every male player stared at Qi Yu as if he were the most corrupt existence in the game. Their expressions were filled with equal parts disbelief and moral outrage.
Their collective thought was simple: If you want to be weird, fine but don’t drag us into it!
They weren’t handsome enough, didn’t have the right figure and lacked the charm to pull off something like this anyway.
If anyone had to do it, maybe Tang Yu could. He was pretty enough, he could make it work!
Tang Yu, clutching the pink fabric in trembling hands, looked as if he were on the verge of tears. His voice quivered pitifully.
“No,” he said. “I refuse to sell my body for the sake of a mission!”
Qi Yu’s lips twitched.
‘I used to think that way too’ he thought bleakly. ‘But look at me now…’
He gave a low, knowing laugh, raising his chin with exaggerated pride while secretly tucking the only conservative white uniform, with long pants, no skirt, into his own backpack.
“The ghosts on the second floor won’t attack you if you wear these,” he said smoothly. “It’s your choice.”
“Are you going to wear them or not?”
Everyone stared at him in silence.
Then came a collective sigh, heavy and resigned.
“…We’ll wear them,” someone muttered weakly.
They looked at one another with watery eyes full of despair, as if marching to their doom.
And so, under Qi Yu’s calm and unyielding gaze, the brave band of players prepared to face the horrors of the second floor, dressed in frilly pink nurse uniforms.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(っ˘ڡ˘ς) ☕ please feed the translator
☕ 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