Heeding the warning from the Mage's fate, Wu Chang didn't even have the desire to open the door and honestly lay down on the bed to fall asleep.
Being in a dangerous, unfamiliar environment, he slept unusually soundly, only being woken up by a knock on the door when it was bright daylight.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw a Nurse standing inside the room, knocking on the open door with her hand.
"Mr. Sean, it's time for your consultation."
Wu Chang sat up from the bed, taking the opportunity while rubbing his eyes to size up the Nurse.
His gaze swept over the Nurse, finally stopping at her prominent chest, where a Name Tag was hanging.
"Julie Smith"
Perhaps due to fate with the name, Nurse Julie’s severe appearance, which carried an Aggressiveness, combined with an aura that was both sexy and cold, bore an eight-tenths resemblance to a certain female celebrity he knew in Reality.
Julie tossed a set of blue and white plaid Patient gown onto the bed and said expressionlessly, "Change into this."
Wu Chang picked up the Patient gown and glanced hesitantly at Julie. Seeing that she had no intention of leaving, he asked:
"Aren't you going to step out?"
"Observing the patient is part of the Examination."
Julie had no objection, so Wu Chang naturally wasn't going to be prudish and started changing his clothes.
Watching Wu Chang take off his top, revealing a well-defined, sturdy Body, Julie's eyebrows twitched, and she stared intently.
If looking was part of the Examination, then the sharpness of Julie's Gaze meant she was giving Wu Chang an X-ray.
Wu Chang struck a one-handed-on-hip pose typical of a bodybuilding competition, displaying his muscles head-on, and teased, "Want me to give a score?"
"Perfect score," Julie replied curtly.
"Really?"
"Of course. Those folks in town who eat Potato, they don't have such good figures."
Whether it was an illusion or not, Julie’s tone had no inflection throughout, yet Wu Chang heard an extra meaning.
Julie seemed to be reminding him that his physique might expose his identity as an Outsider.
He quickly put his clothes back on. Whether it was an illusion or not, being cautious was never wrong.
What was that saying? Vile foreigner.
In the settings of many games, the natives are always very "hospitable."
Seeing Wu Chang dressed, Julie withdrew her Gaze and led him out of the room.
The Sanatorium had a unified interior design style; the area outside the rooms was also purely minimalist prison style, prioritizing practicality over any superfluous decoration.
Along the gray-white corridors, heavy Iron doors were set into the walls. Nurses in White uniform patrolled back and forth, vigilantly watching every Iron door.
The patients residing in the Moonlight Sanatorium were not all as Healthy as Wu Chang.
From the moment he left the room, the Wailing, Weeping, and Screaming in his ears never stopped, clearly audible even through the heavy Iron doors.
"What illness do they have?" Wu Chang asked quietly.
Julie replied, "The same as you, Delusion Syndrome."
Wu Chang: "..."
If Julie hadn't said anything, he would have thought someone was harvesting Kidneys behind the doors.
The Delusion Syndrome in the Instance Plane seemed to deviate slightly from the Delusion Syndrome he understood.
The Sanatorium was a four layers building overall, and the consultation area for patient Examination was on the third floor.
After a brief wait, Wu Chang followed Julie into the mild-symptom consultation room.
Sitting in the consultation room was a Middle-aged Man, ordinary in appearance, with noticeable eye bags, looking somewhat haggard. The Name Tag on his chest read "Charles."
Wu Chang only glanced at him once before feeling the man was unreliable.
A doctor of this age still had thick, lush Hair; he probably wasn't very skilled in medicine.
Doctor Charles asked with his head down, "Name?"
"Wu... Sean."
Charles pulled out a Medical record from beside him, glanced at it, and then tossed out a packet of medicine.
"Three times a day. Effective half an hour after taking it. The last dose is before sleep."
Wu Chang opened the waterproof paper packet, which contained three capsules.
《Item Name: Special medicine. 」
《Type: Consumable. 」
《Item Description: During the period the medicine is effective, it isolates the Spirit from external influence and grants Immunity to low-level Mental Attack. Side effect: Hallucinations will randomly Appear before the eyes while the Medicine efficacy lasts. After the Medicine efficacy ends, the Willpower Cap decreases by 0.1, lasting until the Instance end. 」
《Remark: As long as I go crazy first, nothing can make me go mad. 」
Wu Chang calmly put away the Special medicine, his eyes taking on a strange look.
Taking this Special medicine, would it really cure the patients?
After prescribing the medicine, Charles rang the bell on the desk and ushered him out:
"Next."
Throughout the entire consultation, Charles hadn't even clearly seen Wu Chang's face.
Tsk, truly a quack Doctor.
Leaving the consultation room, Wu Chang asked quietly, "Is this kind of questioning really okay?"
Julie turned her head away and replied in a voice devoid of any Emotion: "Doctor Charles is very experienced; there's no need to worry."
Wu Chang: "Miss Julie, turn and look at me, then say that again."
Julie quickened her pace, walking towards the first floor without looking back, saying stiffly, "Hurry up, or we'll miss Breakfast."
Descending to the Sanatorium's first-floor Hall, the first thing that entered his Line of Sight was an open Wooden sign door.
Outside the Wooden sign door was the front yard of the Sanatorium. A ring of Iron fence separated the inside and outside of the Sanatorium, and the Gate of the Iron fence had a symbolic Iron chain lock hanging on it.
Next to the Gate stood a Wooden sign.
"During the control period, Passage requires the Director's written order. Private entry or exit is prohibited."
Neither the Sanatorium's Wooden door nor the Iron fence Gate was guarded; they could be smashed open with just a paperclip, an Iron hammer, or even a brick.
The Main Quest of the Instance is to leave the Moonlight Sanatorium. If it were anyone else, even knowing that a B-rank Instance couldn't be this simple, they would still try it out without giving up.
But Wu Chang wouldn't.
The artistic, spray-like Bloodstains all over the Gate were telling him not to court death.
Every Bloodstain was a mass of Grudge.
A few masses of Grudge sprayed into the air, causing an Air wall to manifest. The Air wall overlapped with the Iron fence, enveloping the entire Sanatorium.
He casually checked a few Grudges and found that the Master of Resentment included both Players and Natives of the Instance Plane.
Regardless of identity, the moment they touched the Gate, they would instantly drop dead, their Bodies twisting and dissipating, as if swallowed by something unknown, without any Struggle or resistance.
In the Cafeteria on the left side of the Hall, Wu Chang received his Breakfast.
Two unpeeled Potatoes and a small bowl of stewed beans.
The beans were completely stewed soft; combined with an unknown sauce, both the taste and texture resembled vomit that had been digested several times.
Julie was right; eating this kind of food certainly wouldn't help one gain weight.
He carried his Breakfast and followed Julie to the Activity room on the first floor.
Entertaining in the Activity room was like having yard time in a Prison—one of the few times the patients could move freely.
When they arrived, nearly thirty patients were scattered throughout the Activity room. They were in small groups, either back-to-back as if plotting a jailbreak loudly, or gathered around a Vase earnestly asking for advice on footwork changes during a soccer game.
Looking at the actions that made his head full of question marks, Wu Chang was certain this was genuinely a mental hospital.
Before entering the Activity room, Julie said quietly:
"I have two pieces of advice for you: One, don't cause trouble here, especially under the eyes of the medical staff. Two, if you want to leave intact, it's best not to provoke Jinton."
"Why?"
"That guy is too skilled at Manipulate people. Many who gambled with him accelerated the worsening of their illness and became Idiots early."
"I'll be careful."
Watching Julie's retreating back, Wu Chang was sure his previous feeling wasn't an illusion; Julie was helping him.
Whatever her motive, she was at least half an Ally.
As he walked into the Activity room, before he could even take in the internal layout, his Gaze was drawn like a magnet to a Fatty sitting alone at a table, shuffling cards.
Wu Chang was certain this was the Fatty who appeared in the Mage's Grudge.
Only someone with a powerful stomach that could handle the limited supply of Potato and stewed beans could grow over 300 jin. Not everyone had that.
This guy either got extra rations or truly gained weight just by drinking Cold water.
The Fatty's conspicuousness wasn't just due to his size, but even more so because of the dense mass of Grudges behind him.
A quick glance showed no less than twenty Grudges, two of which were particularly striking: one bright red, one deep red.
Compared to him, the Blood Thorn that attacked on the Bus could be considered Well-behaved.
Wu Chang found a Corner to sit down, stuffing stewed beans into his mouth while examining the Grudges on the Fatty.
This action reminded him of the fourth roommate back in the Dormitory who enjoyed eating while watching the daily compilation of traffic accidents.
It really wasn't bad; this method was quite Appetizing. After reviewing all the Grudges, he actually managed to eat the entire bowl of vomit-like stewed beans.
Questioning the fourth roommate, understanding the fourth roommate, becoming the fourth roommate, surpassing the fourth roommate!
Most of the scenes in the Grudges behind the Fatty were related to gambling.
《All in, must go All in! 」
...
《I have four Kings, I don't believe you can have a Straight Flush! 」
...
《The Goddess of luck is smiling, I have Great luck today! 」
...
Among the many Faint red resentments, the last recorded scenes mostly involved grabbing a big hand of cards, shouting for the reveal with red eyes, allowing the frenzy of the Grudge owner before death to be felt even through their Last words.
Cherish Life, stay away from gambling.
Wu Chang shook his head, placed the bowl on the table beside him, pocketed the two Potatoes, and walked up to the card-shuffling Fatty.
"Playing cards alone is so boring. Want to play a couple of rounds with me?"
The Fatty looked up at Wu Chang, like a child who had found a new toy, smiling exceptionally cheerfully.
"Sure, if you're willing to play with me, then we're friends. I haven't seen you before, are you new?"
Wu Chang sat down opposite the Fatty and said, "Yeah, my name is Sean, and yours?"
The Fatty smiled and said, "My name is Jinton, everyone calls me 《Lucky Jinton」."