"Ahem! Do you recognize this head?" 663's voice echoed in his ear, sounding slightly awkward.
But at this moment, Jiang Yan didn’t pay attention. His focus was completely on the head in front of him.
Do I recognize it?
Not just recognize it!
This head used to love rubbing against his hairline, whispering sweet and embarrassing things as it did.
Seeing that Jiang Yan didn’t respond for a long time, 663 spoke up again, "It seems, this hospital is far more complicated than we imagined."
The system sounded nervous, its words becoming a bit jumbled, with no clear structure.
"Oh, is that so?" Jiang Yan replied in a flat tone.
He lowered his head, the bangs of his hair covering his eyes, making it impossible to tell his mood.
Perhaps it was because the hospital was near the sea, but the air in the warehouse felt damp and salty, like the ocean’s humidity.
The faint green glow from the liquid in the glass tanks was the only source of light in the vast, empty warehouse. Jiang Yan stood across from the tank, staring at the figure inside—the head of his... no, his ex-husband.
It was the person who once swore eternal love to him, the one who would whisper sweet things to him. Now, that very head was floating in an unknown liquid.
To be honest, Jiang Yan felt quite calm.
He was never someone full of emotions, perhaps because his life had been too smooth.
Loving parents, a wealthy family, kind teachers, friendly classmates, friends, and an almost perfect lover...
He didn’t possess an overly competitive spirit, nor was he melancholic. He had no ambitions, no dreams, nothing he urgently wanted to achieve. He lived his life with the attitude of just getting by.
His friends often thought of him as gentle and lazy, but in reality, his calm exterior hid a cold indifference to everything.
He grew up in the natural course of things, graduated, and married. He didn’t have survival pressure or work-related worries. He and his spouse lived an ordinary, peaceful life, day after day, year after year.
The only thing he thought about was what delicious food his spouse, Yu Xiu, would make for him each day. The only slight worry was how to persuade Yu Xiu to make love with him fewer times every night.
Perhaps, when they turned thirty, they might consider adopting a child to make their little family bigger. But that possibility was very slim. He had discussed it with Yu Xiu before, and Yu Xiu had replied, "I don’t want to share you with anyone."
In the event of an accident, Jiang Yan had always imagined that he and Yu Xiu would live together like two cats, cuddling for life. One of them would leave first, and the other would guard their tomb, waiting for life to end.
But the accident came suddenly, and they divorced.
After that, Yu Xiu disappeared.
Jiang Yan reported it to the police. Since Yu Xiu owned several properties abroad, Jiang Yan reported him missing both domestically and internationally, hoping the police would find him.
Not for any other reason, but to know he was safe.
After all, Yu Xiu was an even more solitary person than he was—he had no friends, no social circle. Even in their third year of university, Yu Xiu lost his parents. In this world, the only person Yu Xiu was truly connected to was Jiang Yan.
Although they were divorced, Yu Xiu still held a "responsibility" to Jiang Yan and his parents.
Moreover, because of Yu Xiu’s unusual "hobbies," like creating a specimen room at home and his intense interest in the bodies of all kinds of creatures, Jiang Yan genuinely worried that Yu Xiu might have gotten involved with the wrong people and met with an unfortunate fate.
He had wondered if one day he would hear in the news about an unidentified male body being found in some place, and then the police would contact him to confirm if it was his ex-husband.
He even thought about the potential way Yu Xiu might have died—maybe being robbed and killed in the middle of the night, thrown into a sewer. After all, Yu Xiu never knew how to keep a low profile, always liking to wear flashy things.
For instance, did he meet someone even more twisted than him because of his unusual hobbies, and that person turned out to be a psychopath killer, using Yu Xiu’s body as a "specimen"?
Or perhaps Yu Xiu was walking alone on the street, got hit by a car, and the police couldn’t find his family. Now, Yu Xiu was miserably lying in the morgue’s freezer, waiting for Jiang Yan to come identify him...
Jiang Yan had thought about many possibilities, but never imagined that he would encounter Yu Xiu in such a ridiculous way in this absurd game.
The head floating in the unknown liquid in front of him made Jiang Yan feel that Yu Xiu was already dead. According to the basic introduction of the game, all the items in the game exist within the game itself.
663 had also mentioned that the game’s item models were based on real people, though it wasn’t stated outright whether they were made from dead players or NPCs, even though the main system often did such things.
But Yu Xiu was the smartest and most resourceful person Jiang Yan had ever known. He was so smart, so how could this person be dead?
Jiang Yan didn’t understand why Yu Xiu would appear in this game.
Had he been dragged in just like him? Or was it like most people, drawn in by some obsession?
What was Yu Xiu's obsession? Perhaps it was to resurrect his parents?
After all, after their divorce, Yu Xiu had no family left...
Thinking of this, Jiang Yan looked at the green-eyed, lifeless stare in the broken glass tank. A strange emotion stirred inside him.
Guilt? Sympathy? Heartache? — None of those!
A slight smile tugged at his lips. How interesting!
After being in this boring game for so long, this was the first time Jiang Yan felt the game was somewhat interesting.
Yu Xiu... If I catch you, you’re in trouble!
Jiang Yan looked too delicate. Even though he smiled, showing his teeth, others would only see it as a pale, fragile expression.
How could a normal person smile at a severed head like that?
Therefore, 663 attributed Jiang Yan’s expression to being a little off, likely due to the shock.
"Are you... okay?" 663 asked with concern.
Jiang Yan didn’t respond.
In the silence, a sudden, immense, ethereal scream pierced through the air.
ROAR
The wind carried the smell of blood and decaying flesh, and as Jiang Yan stood before the shimmering green liquid and glowing glass tanks, he turned his head slightly. A white, sharp gust of wind sliced across his cheek.
BOOM!
A glass tank exploded. The entire wall of glass tanks collapsed instantly.
The glowing green liquid splashed in all directions along with the broken shards of glass, and human organs fell like rain, dazzling and brilliant, like fireworks set off for the dead.
Jiang Yan stood in the center, oddly appreciating the broken beauty of the scene.
He didn’t move, unsure if it was because he hadn’t reacted to the sudden explosion or if he was still recovering from the shock of seeing his ex-husband’s head.
At that moment, as he gazed at the scattered human organs on the ground, only one thought ran through Jiang Yan’s mind—
This is definitely something he would have liked.
“Jiang Yan!!” 663 cried out urgently.
Seeing that the topmost glass tank was about to fall directly onto Jiang Yan’s head—
“AH!”
At that critical moment, a white bandage wrapped around Jiang Yan’s waist and pulled him backward with a swift motion!
Crash!
A tongue-like appendage, dripping with foul-smelling, sticky mucus, swept past Jiang Yan’s cheek and slammed into the cement wall behind the glass tank, leaving a massive deep crater.
The shattered glass shards, mixed with the eerie green liquid, rained down, leaving trails on the ground like wriggling worms.
The beautiful head rolled across the floor, its pale, almost translucent skin now tinged with gray.
Only then did Jiang Yan snap back to reality. He quickly grabbed the head from the ground and cradled it in his arms.
The "tongue" lunged at him again. The foul-smelling mucus was about to land on him, but the white bandage around his waist pulled him into the air, arching perfectly through the space. The "tongue" missed once more.
Then, the bandage recoiled, and Jiang Yan was yanked across the warehouse like a doll, crashing into a corner with a thud.
"Damn..." Jiang Yan groaned in pain.
In less than five minutes, he had fallen twice, and if he were older, he probably would have been finished in this instance.
"Does this game not have any protection for elderly players?" Jiang Yan said coldly.
"Players over the age of 55 make up less than one in a million among human players and real NPCs. Naturally, we cater to the majority. After all, we’re a horror-themed game, not a retirement activity center," 663 replied.
One in a million.
Jiang Yan looked at the beautiful, silent head in his arms and fell silent for a moment. It seemed that the scale of this game was much larger than he had imagined.
【Dungeon: "Private Hospital on Jianshe Road," Progress: 40%】
【Game Rules: Survive in the hospital for 7 days】
【Total Players: 14, Survivors: 9】
【Real NPCs: 3, Uncontaminated NPCs: 3】
"Jiang Yan, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Seeing that Jiang Yan hadn’t responded, Cao Youfeng asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Jiang Yan replied, shaking his head, though his words were casual, his brows furrowed in pain, and his blue eyes were watery, looking quite pitiable.
[He must be in pain! After falling twice from such a height... whimpering...]
[Feeling sorry for him.]
[Poor Jiang Yan, an NPC of low rank is thrown into a high-level dungeon.]
[Getting to team up with the big shots—if he survives, he’ll have a story to tell!]
[He’s neither a key NPC nor a player. He’ll probably just lie down and survive to the end.]
[Sometimes, luck is more important than strength.]
At this moment, Jiang Yan and his group were hiding behind a glass wall in the corner.
The unidentified monster, which had just lost its prey, was still thrashing its "tongue," venting its anger.
Glass tanks shattered one after another, and the body parts inside fell out.
The pungent smell of formalin mixed with the stench of the insides, making the entire warehouse feel like a large human slaughterhouse.
Jiang Yan, having fallen hard, could no longer bear the overpowering, disgusting smell filling his nostrils. He started gagging uncontrollably, holding the head in his arms.
Seeing this, Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng hurriedly patted his back.
Jiang Yan continued to gag and cough, looking pitiful.
He strongly suspected that the game’s system master had some kind of human organ collection fetish!
The last dungeon had a human specimen room, and this one had an entire warehouse!
"Can you still stand up? This isn't a place for being spoiled, madam," Tao Shi asked with a hint of worry.
The others had seen Jiang Yan’s performance in the last dungeon. If it weren’t for the system pushing him to become a “key NPC,” he likely would have been able to breeze through the dungeon, just like in the previous ones, by lying down and completing the entire instance.
He was afraid that if Jiang Yan took another fall, it would bring out his delicate side, and he might curl up in his husband's arms until the game ended. That would be troublesome.
At this moment, neither Tao Shi nor Cao Youfeng had realized what Jiang Yan was holding in his arms.
Jiang Yan shook his head weakly and muttered that he was fine. Then, he stood up from the floor.
After all the commotion, his blue-and-white striped patient’s outfit had become wrinkled and damp. He tightly hugged the thing in his arms, and his water-blue eyes had a slight mist to them, looking truly pitiful.
Tao Shi paused for a moment, then turned his head and said, “Congratulations, we’ve entered a new map. This seems to be the hospital’s laboratory.”
At this point, Jiang Yan noticed the creature with the massive tongue. It was entirely red, as if the skin had been peeled off. It had no arms or legs, and the place where its head should have been was replaced by a huge tongue.
That enormous "tongue" was restlessly waving about, with tiny little tentacles growing along it. These tentacles swayed in the air, capturing the scent of the three intruders. From a distance, the large tongue seemed like a carpet of writhing worms driven by hundreds of tiny “bugs.”
If a normal person saw such a scene, they would probably be stunned or nauseated, unable to speak, their bodies trembling in fear.
However, the three people currently in the warehouse didn’t seem to be quite normal.
“The S-level dungeons are getting worse and worse,” Cao Youfeng complained. “It’s either broken rules or suddenly throwing some monster at you.”
“Fighting monsters again?” Tao Shi casually remarked, “This storyline is so awkward, it feels like it was written with the feet.”
[Wow! Is this the intimidating demeanor of a big shot?!]
[Facing an S-level dangerous NPC without even changing expression and still joking about the awkward plot—666!]
[Why do the big shots seem like they’re really here to play a game?]
Tao Shi turned his head and, seeing Jiang Yan, who looked delicate and frail, said teasingly, “Just stay where you are, understand, Madam?”
[Haha! Look at Jiang Yan’s face, so confused.]
[He’s definitely freaked out, I would be confused too.]
Jiang Yan nodded and took two steps back. Then, he casually let go of his hand— the beautiful head rolled to the floor, and its neck was so swollen that it looked almost white and was beginning to soften.
The comments and the two people in the room went silent.
Yet, Jiang Yan didn’t think tossing a human head so casually was all that strange.
He looked at the two young men in front of him—one with blue hair and the other wrapped in bandages—and calmly sighed, “Ah, youth is so nice.”
Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng: "...."
[What the hell!]
[Damn! He just tricked us!]
Tao Shi’s eyes darkened slightly: “Your psychological endurance is really impressive.”
After saying this, he dragged Cao Youfeng off to fight monsters, leaving Jiang Yan standing alone.
Ding!
[Item: Medical Bandage]
Ding!
[Item: Divine Staff]
Soon, the sounds of battle filled the air, and the grotesque noise of flesh being torn apart sent shivers down their spines.
The rusty smell of blood and decay, mixed with the pungent scent of formalin, flooded their nostrils, while the light from the items in the dark warehouse was bright enough to sting their eyes.
Jiang Yan frowned slightly: “Can you tell your main system to tone down the flashy effects of these items?”
“Why? Doesn’t it look cool?” 663 responded.
Then he changed the subject and asked Jiang Yan, “Didn’t you just pick it up and carry it? How come you just tossed it away?”
Jiang Yan looked at the head on the floor and nonchalantly said, “It’s a defective product.”
“When I saw it in the tank, the specimen looked pretty well done, and I was planning to take it home and hang it in the living room, but the neck wasn’t handled well,” Jiang Yan spoke as if he were discussing a bad snack.
663: “...Wow.”
“You guys...?” Jiang Yan was about to ask something, but was interrupted by Tao Shi.
“We’re good to go, Madam!” Tao Shi stood in front of the scattered remains of the “big tongue” monster, vainly adjusting his hair, which had gotten a little messy from the fight.
The battle ended very quickly. A low-tier S-level dangerous NPC didn’t stand a chance against two high-tier S-level players and was torn to pieces.
Jiang Yan snapped back to his senses. “It’s done.”
He then quickly turned to 663 and said, “Bring up the overall leaderboard for the game, I want to see it.”
663 pretended to be surprised. “Oh my! The sun must have risen from the west, or maybe it came out of formalin! Did I hear that right? Jiang Yan, you’re actually concerned about the game’s leaderboard?”
“Oh my God! My main system! My supreme god! My host actually cares about the game’s ranking now?!”
Jiang Yan: “... Shut up. I couldn’t care less about the ranking of your crappy game.”
He wasn’t concerned with that at all.
What he wanted was to catch that person. Catch him... for domestic violence!
---
Under the massive tree in the main god space, where countless small blue tributaries converged, the ghostly figure of a god lay half-reclined on a chair beneath it. His complexion was pale, nearly transparent.
A handsome man dressed in a Zhongshan suit stood by, covering him with a thin blanket, sighing deeply. “You shouldn’t have done this.”
The god half-opened his eyes, his breath weak. “I didn’t expect it. It was just a simple sentence, and now...”
The man in Zhongshan suit looked serious. “Real NPCs are not allowed to do anything that violates their character design. You’re in no condition to challenge the rules you set when you were at your peak.”
“No one can defy the god, and weaker god even less so.”
Yu Xiu’s eyes flashed with irritation. “Yan Yan will find me.”