“Achoo!”
Inside the Instance, Wu Chang sneezed. He rubbed his nose to dispel the after-effects and muttered, "I wonder which little darling is talking about me."
After a brief adjustment, he began to examine the current situation.
Since he had been dragged into the Abyss Game, all he could do now was try his best to survive.
Although the system matching mechanism of the Abyss Game was terrible, the setup for entering the Instance was quite thoughtful, automatically changing him into clothing appropriate for the Plane.
Besides that, it also gifted him a Portable Space, essential for any Player.
However, as an initial inventory, the Abyss Game was stingy; the Portable Space was literally a backpack, with a space equivalent to a normal backpack.
Currently, the backpack only contained one Item: the Silver Revolver used by the camouflage man.
Wu Chang took out the Silver Revolver, and a sense of security immediately grew in his heart.
All fear stems from insufficient firepower.
With a weapon in hand, he at least possessed basic self-preservation capabilities.
As he fiddled with the handgun, a line of information popped up on it.
「Item Name: Silver Dawn.」
「Item Level: D.」
「Item Skill: Scorching Bullet.」
「Skill Description: Silver Dawn automatically generates special Silver Bullets over time. When a Silver Bullet hits a target, it causes burning and Explosive damage, dealing double damage to Spirits and Monsters.」
「Silver Bullet: One Silver Bullet is generated automatically every hour. Alternatively, one point of Energy can be consumed to instantly load one Silver Bullet. Current Silver Bullets: 6/6.」
Looking at the Silver Dawn in his hand, Wu Chang’s resentment toward the camouflage man lessened, and he began exploring the room.
According to the Mission Prompt, the Location he was currently in was called the Moonlight Sanatorium.
Though called a sanatorium, it actually resembled a Prison more.
The bare-bones interior decoration, the simple iron bed, the yellowed pure White bedsheets, the heavy Metal Door, and the small window sealed by a thick Metal Rod.
How desperate must someone be to choose to recuperate in a place like this.
It was Deep Night, and coupled with cloudy weather, the moonlight was almost completely obscured. All light sources in the room came from the small Kerosene Lamp on the desk not far away.
The Kerosene Lamp looked very old; the world where this Instance was located was far behind Reality's timeline, likely before the invention of electric lights.
If the timeline were even earlier, perhaps he could give the locals a little shock of firearms.
Wu Chang picked up the Kerosene Lamp and observed the details of the room.
With the light from the lamp, he saw a wooden board hanging on the wall, with his Medical record pinned to it.
「Room 207 Patient: Sean.」
「Condition: Delusion Syndrome （Early Stage）.」
「Treatment Method: Psychological counseling combined with medication.」
「Patient's current Mental State: Stable.」
This explained it; no wonder the room's decoration was so harsh—this Moonlight Sanatorium also functioned as a mental hospital.
The Sean on the Medical record must be him, early-stage Delusion Syndrome, which didn't seem too bad.
Below the Medical record was the Moonlight Sanatorium's Admission Notice, the text written in red ink, exceptionally conspicuous.
「1. This sanatorium operates under Seal management. Leaving the sanatorium without a Passage permit issued by the director is prohibited.」
「2. Within the sanatorium, only trust the words of medical staff. Do not trust any patients, even yourself.」
「3. All medical staff in the sanatorium will wear White uniforms. Do not trust suspicious individuals wearing plain clothes who claim to be medical staff, even if you are very familiar with him/her.」
「4. Do not leave your room after dark. If you leave due to sleepwalking, remain calm upon waking, cover your ears, close your eyes, lie on the floor, and wait for dawn.」
「5. If any medical staff or Doctor asks you about specific delusions, immediately inform other medical staff, and someone will come to handle it.」
The sanatorium's rules were not numerous, but every rule was bizarre, leaving Wu Chang momentarily confused.
There was a food slot at the level of the door, reaching the patient's abdomen. He pushed aside the baffle on the Inner Side of the room and looked out through the slot. As expected, there was a Faint red resentment on the door of the opposite room.
How do you create a button everyone wants to press? The answer is to add a warning in front of it: Do Not Press.
The Admission Notice strictly emphasized not leaving the room after dark, so naturally, some Players eager for Death would try to leave.
As the Ability activated, the Faint red resentment spread out like a curtain, showing the deceased Player's final moments.
The deceased was a Player wearing a Mage robe, and the reason he was identified as a Player was that he wore a pair of basketball shoes underneath the Mage robe.
The Mage stood in the room, chanting softly while waving his Staff. Magic power materialized into Starlight-like luminous particles, surrounding him and forming a transparent Barrier.
That person was likely a Veteran; he chanted continuously for five minutes, layering five different Shields before stopping.
He cautiously left the room protected by the five Shields. Everything seemed normal, with no accidents. This boosted the Mage's confidence, and he strode forward, preparing to explore the sanatorium at night.
But after walking only a short distance, his Body suddenly stopped, and he collapsed to the ground with a Wailing sound.
He seemed to have discovered something terrifying, turning back toward the room using his hands and feet.
The distance of ten meters felt like an impassable chasm. Just as the Mage was about to crawl back into the room, his expression twisted in Terror, he let out an unintelligible whimper, and then convulsed violently before dissolving into a puddle of sludge.
A puddle of sludge in the physical sense.
The state was very similar to handmade Chaoshan meat paste; without a thousand strikes, you couldn't achieve such a fine and smooth texture. Beaten vigorously, if you threw it on the ground after cooking, it should bounce at least half a meter high.
Even in Death, the Mage's five Shields had not broken.
Wu Chang frowned. An instant Death effect that ignores defense?
When things are abnormal, there must be a reason. The fact that a Veteran Player could die instantly without resistance told his years of game experience that the two Main Quest objectives related to the Instance must be connected to the sanatorium's nights.
To explore the secrets of the sanatorium at night, being able to move under the cover of darkness was the foundation for everything.
He repeatedly watched the Mage's Death Recording, trying to figure out the mechanism of the instant-death attack—whether the Mage triggered some Trap or mistakenly entered a certain Area.
The more he watched, the clearer his perception became of what the Mage experienced before death. During the fourth viewing, he almost completely adopted the Mage's perspective.
As he desperately crawled toward the room, he suddenly shuddered, feeling as if someone was watching him from behind.
He turned his head back from the Mage's perspective and saw a detail he had either ignored or missed in the previous three viewings.
At the end of the corridor behind the Mage, a Fatty wearing a Patient gown stood in the center of the hallway, coldly observing everything.
That Fatty was not a medical staff member, yet he could move freely at night.
Wu Chang’s Consciousness withdrew from the resentment. It seemed that to move at night, he first needed to find that Fatty wearing the Patient gown.