[About to enter solo mode]
During live dungeons, when players engage in solo actions, corresponding personal live rooms will open.
Usually, viewers will only follow players they are familiar with or ones they think have potential.
[Why are so many people following him]
[This newcomer hasn’t answered a single question. Maybe he discovered a clue and is doing it on purpose? I think he has potential, so I came to check him out.]
[Pah! You’re just drooling over his looks, craving his body. You’re shameless.]
[Haha, since they all going to get wiped out anyway, there’s no harm in choosing someone easy on the eyes right?]
[No offense, I just can’t stand that Wen-ge’s fans. There shouldn’t be any here so it’s peaceful.]
“Hurry up.”
In the hallway, the head nurse urged him.
Gu Zhan had no choice but to move forward. As they rounded a corner, the head nurse suddenly said, “Go in.”
In front of him was a hospital room door. He barely had time to see what was inside before he was shoved from behind.
Caught off guard, he stumbled through the door and fell to the ground.
After falling, he realized the place looked familiar. In the middle was an operating table with a large shadowless lamp hanging above it.
Isn’t this the room where he first woke up?
Before he could get up, the head nurse grabbed his wrist, forcefully dragging him up and pinning him onto the operating table.
Gu Zhan had very fair skin, and the grip left red marks on him with just a little force. When he was pinned down, he kicked his legs a couple of times, prompting a flood of “???” in the live chat.
[??? This scene is kinda... suggestive.]
[It looks like he’s being forced... slurp]
[I get it now. This is the newbie’s strategy. He knows this will attract more attention.]
[Lol, so what if he attracts attention? This stream doesn’t have a tipping function. Popularity won’t earn him money.]
[You never know, maybe there’s a twisted boss who likes this sort of thing... Haven’t you heard that sucking up to the boss is the new trend?]
[Sucking up to the boss? Are you in the wrong stream?]
In the end, Gu Zhan couldn’t resist the NPC. The head nurse used restraint straps to bind him to the operating table.
She turned around, pulling out a syringe filled with a pale purple liquid. She slowly pushed out the air from the needle and walked towards Gu Zhan.
Strapped down on both sides of the table, his hands and feet bound, Gu Zhan struggled with all his might, but it was futile. He could only watch as the nurse approached.
The sharp needle pierced his skin, and the cold liquid flowed through his veins, spreading throughout his body.
Gu Zhan suddenly felt extremely cold, as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar, his entire body trembling slightly.
Everything around him suddenly stretched and distorted... The head nurse discarded the syringe with a satisfied smile on her lips, her high heels clicking as she walked out of the punishment room...
At the same time, an eerie voice echoed in Gu Zhan's ear.
[Warning! Warning! Player #707 has been injected with an unknown substance, SAN value is decreasing! SAN value is decreasing!]
What does that mean?
Before Gu Zhan could figure it out, the light above him began to flicker.
“Szzzz…”
An ominous electric sound crackled from all directions, followed by a loud bang from a nearby cabinet.
Then came more banging noises, from the cabinets, the walls... from all around the room.
“Bang!”
“Bang bang!”
It was as if something was trying to break free from the darkness where the light couldn’t reach.
[It’s happening, it’s happening!]
[It seems like he triggered double punishment. What’s going on?]
[Probably because he scored zero on the quiz. I’ve seen people fail, but never anyone with a zero.]
[He’s still tied to the bed, isn’t he? He might get eaten alive by a monster!]
As soon as that comment floated across the screen, Gu Zhan sat up from the bed.
[??? How did he get free?]
Looking closely, the restraint straps on the operating table hadn’t actually been undone. Gu Zhan was just too skinny. Even though the head nurse had tightened the straps to the last buckle, there was still slack for him. He simply clenched his hands and slipped them out of the restraints.
However, in his haste, his wrists were rubbed raw and turned red.
Without wasting any time, Gu Zhan quickly unfastened the straps on his legs and jumped off the operating table.
The next moment, a white object fell from above, crashing onto the operating table with a loud bang! The impact was so strong that it left a dent in the table.
The dent was right where Gu Zhan's head had been just moments ago.
No doubt, if Gu Zhan hadn’t escaped, his head would’ve been smashed!
The object that fell was a white human skull! Its jaw hadn’t fallen off yet, and when it realized it hadn’t hit its target, it clattered its teeth twice before flying toward Gu Zhan again!
Meanwhile, all the cabinets in the room flung open, releasing various human body parts.
Some were skeletal remains, while others were preserved specimens in jars, all mixed with documents that had been stored in the cabinets. In an instant, the room was filled with flying body parts and paper, as if a storm had hit.
Everything was flying toward Gu Zhan, surrounding him like a net. There was no escape!
[Oh my god, this setup…]
[Are the monsters in this dungeon really that strong?]
[It’s over, it’s over. My beautiful wife is really done for this time.]
Just as it seemed Gu Zhan would be overwhelmed by the human body parts, he suddenly reached out and pressed his hand down on the white skull.
The skull was instantly pinned down by him.
[?????]
[What just happened?]
[Wait a minute, everyone, look at his expression.]
Despite being surrounded by all these bizarre creatures, Gu Zhan’s expression remained calm, almost indifferent.
He seemed to treat the flying body parts like mere kittens or puppies. Whenever one got close, he swiftly grabbed it and calmly placed it back into the cabinet.
Strangely enough, once he touched them, the once-aggressive body parts became docile, allowing him to handle them and return them to their original places.
Soon, Gu Zhan’s eyes landed on the papers scattered on the floor.
There was writing on these papers.
He picked one up—it was a patient record.
The skull, undeterred, flew out of the cabinet again, trying to gnaw on Gu Zhan’s shoulder. Without even looking up, Gu Zhan casually swatted it away, sending the skull flying to the other side of the room.
The skull, apparently shocked by its lack of dignity in front of this man, ended up in the corner. Its jawbone clattered as it vividly demonstrated what it meant for a skull to grit its teeth.
【Ah! I know what's going on. After all, this is only a D-level instance. There won’t be any overly powerful monsters. Do you all remember the mechanics of this instance? As long as your sanity (san) value doesn't change, you're safe.】
【So his sanity value is still above the threshold?】
【Impossible! He was just injected with the drug, and that drug has hallucinogenic effects!】
【His sanity should have decreased. Otherwise, those monsters wouldn’t have appeared. But it doesn't seem like it dropped much.】
【How strange. This newbie's got something special, huh?】
Gu Zhan picked up all the patient files scattered on the floor and began comparing them one by one.
Each patient had a number before their name, ranging from the tens to the hundreds.
Gu Zhan recalled that when he first arrived, that unknown person had referred to him as “Patient 707.” The head nurse had also called out their numbers.
This meant that, from the beginning until now, this hospital had only housed 707 patients in total.
Even if it’s a mental hospital, that number was unusually low.
Eight people had come to their ward—so where were the other patients?
Just as Gu Zhan stood up, holding the files, there was a loud "bang" outside! Even the ceiling trembled slightly.
The disembodied human organs flying around the room seemed startled and zoomed back into their cabinets with a swoosh.
The head hiding in the corner was a bit slow to react. By the time it flew back, only one cabinet with a loose door was left.
After it squeezed inside, the room’s lighting still illuminated it. The head seemed terrified, its upper and lower jaw clattering together.
Gu Zhan frowned, bent down, picked up the fallen cabinet door, and placed it back over the cabinet.
The skull looked at Gu Zhan, both touched and ashamed—it was just a head, yet a player had helped it. How humiliating, how disgraceful.
Gu Zhan walked to the door and peered outside through the small window.
The door to the room diagonally across had opened at some point, and a player was being dragged out by a nurse, clutching his collar.
The player had a look of utter despair and was screaming like a banshee: “Help! There’s a ghost gnawing on my head! My head! My brain...”
Gu Zhan noticed that the player didn’t have any visible injuries, and his head was intact, but he acted as though he’d gone mad. He didn’t struggle at all as the nurse dragged him away, frantically clutching his head and trying to gouge out his own eyes.
By the time they reached the punishment room, his fingers had finally plunged into his eye sockets with a “squelch,” yet he seemed to feel no pain. He excitedly pulled out one of his eyeballs and shouted: “I caught the ghost! I caught it!”
Gu Zhan: "..." This person looks like they've lost it.
【This is the correct outcome for answering a question wrong!】
【Look at this newbie, something's off about this instance
Look at the others, okay this instance is actually normal.】
【But didn’t that player answer correctly? How could they still get dragged away?】
【His sanity must have hit zero. Scaring yourself can also drop your sanity. Remember the guy who was smothered by the nurse earlier? If his sanity hadn’t dropped to zero, how could he have died like that?】
After the player was dragged away, the door in front of Gu Zhan unlocked with a soft "click" and swung open.
Punishment time must have ended.
He pushed the door open and stepped out, just in time to see the door to another ward open, and a familiar face peeked out. Both were surprised to see each other.
Wen Ge hadn’t expected the newbie to still be alive, and raised an eyebrow, his thoughts taking a new turn.
But he said nothing, merely returning to the ward and telling the others, “That guy just got taken away. Looks like in this instance, hitting zero sanity will make you go crazy, and then the nurse will take you away.”
A boy next to him added, “Based on what we’ve seen so far, failing the quiz definitely lowers your sanity.”
Just as he finished speaking, Gu Zhan walked in.
Seeing Gu Zhan, everyone immediately went quiet, their expressions turning wary.
Gu Zhan had been the last to enter the room and had barely spoken with anyone. He’d failed the quiz and been taken away.
They knew his sanity must have decreased but didn’t know by how much.
He might look calm on the surface, but what if he’d already gone mad? None of them wanted to stay near someone who might be insane.
Sensing the awkward tension, Wen Ge broke the silence, “According to the schedule, it’s now the afternoon free activity time. Let’s split up and search for clues.”
Nobody wanted to stay near Gu Zhan. As soon as Wen Ge finished speaking, they hurried after him, leaving the room.
Gu Zhan was left alone in the ward.
He wasn’t in a rush to leave. Instead, he walked to the door and studied the schedule posted on the wall.
Besides the fixed meal times and the quiz every afternoon at 1:30 p.m., there were two free activity periods each day.
Lights out at 9:30 p.m... Room inspection at 10:00 p.m.?
His gaze deepened as he looked at the last line of the schedule.
What kind of room needed inspecting in the middle of the night?
The free activity periods in the morning and afternoon were the best opportunities to search for clues and understand the instance.
Before searching for clues, Gu Zhan went back to the punishment room. As expected, the door had locked again after he left.
It seemed that unless you failed the quiz, you wouldn’t have access to the information in the punishment room.
For now, it looked like this was a clue only he had.
【This newbie is pretty sharp—he actually thought to go back and check!】
【My new favorite! He has performed way beyond my expectations.】
Gu Zhan returned to the ward and began searching for clues.
He thoroughly examined the room. There were only three beds, standard hospital beds with adjustable headrests; the room also had a small, fully enclosed bathroom without windows.
Everything appeared normal, and nothing seemed out of place.
As Gu Zhan stepped out of the bathroom, the player’s body had disappeared, along with all traces of blood. There was no sign that anyone had died there.
It seemed this place didn’t entirely follow the rules of the real world.
He circled the ward again but found no useful information, likely because the room had already been searched.
Just as Gu Zhan was about to give up, he noticed something strange about a stain on the wall.
It looked like the wallpaper was slightly warped, maybe due to moisture… no, something wasn’t right. He walked over and placed his hand on the wall, carefully feeling it.
The surface under the wallpaper felt soft, like something was hidden behind it. The further down he pressed, the softer it became... Gu Zhan traced the edge of the wallpaper, feeling his way down.
Just as he was about to touch the edge of the wall, a hand suddenly shot out from the wall and grabbed him, pulling him forcefully!
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