June 10, 2023 by Wyrd
Between several large buildings in the hospital, there were various pathways. Some floors were not interconnected, while others were. The design was somewhat complex.
If you’re not familiar with the hospital, you would likely get lost.
However, Ruan Qing took note of the general structure of the buildings during the last visit, so it didn’t pose much of an obstacle for him.
The group of players and Wen Li should be somewhere inside the hospital buildings, but it’s hard to pinpoint their exact location.
Ruan Qing checked the time: 11:47, thirteen minutes away from the agreed-upon time.
Thirteen minutes, it’s really too little...
Ruan Qing took a deep breath. He should find the group of players first.
The hospital buildings seemed to be quiet, indicating that no fight had broken out. The players must be hiding in some corner of the hospital.
He wanted to find the players first, ensuring that he wouldn’t encounter Wen Li and the group of hunters.
But Wen Li could see the live broadcast; he must know that Ruan Qing had already arrived at the hospital.
Ruan Qing reached into his slanted bag, took out his phone, and without even looking, he quickly typed a few words and sent them.
[Delay the doctor, I’ll come find you.]
***
On the other side, someone hiding in a corner of the stairs saw his phone light up. Concealing it with their clothes, he glanced at the message.
Delay the doctor?
Have them delayed that monster?
Damn, the boy sure think highly of themselves. He should know that the doctor was stronger than the other hunters.
The person looked at the other three, gesturing discreetly and conveying the message. Then, in a low voice, he asked, “What should we do?”
Another person chuckled bitterly, “What else can we do? Do you have the ability to kill a hunter?”
They knew they were done for when they drew this scenario. They were undoubtedly doomed.
In the horror game, there were numerous instances or scenarios. Most players found it difficult to encounter instances with information they were aware of. However, the instance called “Horror Livestream Room” was quite well known, and many players had knowledge about this particular instance.
Usually, on the second day of entering this instance, the players would be selected as the target for the hunters. The hunters could only see the livestream during the last two days.
It’s not particularly difficult to clear this instance, but it’s also not easy. As long as your strength was greater than that of the hunter targeting you, you could easily clear it.
The difficulty lay in having the strength to surpass the hunter. Hunters were typically in an invincible state unless you find their weakness.
Even if you discover the hunter’s weakness, it didn’t necessarily mean you have the strength to kill them.
Moreover, the hunters assigned to each player were random, and many hunters’ weaknesses were unknown.
Most of the people who knew their weaknesses had already died.
Although the survival rate in this instance seemed relatively high, in reality, it’s a genuine intermediate advancement instance, meaning it was about to become an advanced instance.
Instances like this were extremely rare, with a difficulty level between intermediate and advanced. Most players who entered were intermediate-level players, while there were hardly any beginners or newcomers.
Intermediate-level players had experienced at least five games and had a considerable number of items.
Yet, even under these circumstances, the survival rate was only about 15%.
And they were still just a group of beginner players.
Clearly, according to their level, they shouldn’t have drawn such a difficult instance, but unfortunately, they did.
They didn’t possess as many items as intermediate-level players, nor did they have a strong power. It was nothing but wishful thinking to survive and leave this instance.
Apart from trying their best, as suggested by the information they possessed, they had no other options.
At least, because of that young boy, they learned for the first time that the hospital was the key to this instance.
Initially, they didn’t think much of the paper they received from the young boy, believing he was genuinely reminding them of Su Xiaozhen’s situation.
They accidentally discovered astonishing hidden information.
The information indicated that the hospital was the key to the instance, prompting them to find an opportunity to blow up the fourth floor of the hospital.
Initially, they didn’t believe it, considering it was just something an NPC said. However, when they attempted to reach the hospital and tried to blow up the fourth floor as a last-ditch effort, the hunters... arrived.
They no longer followed the rule of only killing their designated targets; instead, they directly attacked anyone they encountered, regardless of whose target they were.
It became apparent that they couldn’t allow the hospital to be destroyed, which indirectly confirmed that the hospital was indeed the key to this instance.
Under the assault of this group of hunters, they suffered heavy losses. In less than an hour, their group of eight was reduced to just four.
It was impossible for them to survive by engaging in a direct confrontation with this group of hunters, so they had no choice but to utilize the hospital’s layout to hide.
The explosives were already in place.
The hospital consisted of several buildings, and they didn’t know which building the boy was referring to as the fourth floor—whether it was a specific building or all of them.
Furthermore, the hunters were constantly pursuing them, making it impossible for them to install the bombs smoothly.
Therefore, they discreetly planted explosives in all locations near the fourth floor or where explosives could be placed.
However, they themselves were trapped in the building, so once the explosion was triggered, they might not escape unscathed.
Moreover, no one could guarantee that blowing up the hospital would lead to successfully clearing the game, and no one dared to take that risk.
The only option now was to meet the boy and try to obtain more information.
Because they suspected that the boy... was highly likely to be a player as well.
When they initially entered the instance, they were puzzled because there should have been ten players, but there were only nine.
Now it seemed that the boy was probably the tenth player.
Having come this far, the four players gritted their teeth and finally decided to follow the boy’s instructions.
They knew that one person alone wouldn’t be able to hold the doctor back, as there were not only doctors but also several hunters on the hospital’s side. Therefore, they decided that the three of them would work together to find a way to stall this group of people.
Only one person was left to meet the young boy.
But the speed had to be faster, otherwise it wouldn’t be a matter of delaying someone, but a matter of dying.
***
Ruan Qing also knew that it was difficult to ask the players to hold back Wen Li, but once he was taken away by Wen Li, it would be difficult for him to contact the players.
Wen Li might not kill him, but he didn’t want to become a puppet confined by the master, assuming the postures the master liked.
Even if he could survive until the end of the game, he didn’t think it was any better than death.
He didn’t like anyone, and he didn’t belong to anyone.
He only belonged to himself.
However, his body and mind were overloaded, and he was almost unable to hold on. Success or failure would be decided tonight.
So, he would do his best to cause a big commotion.
Ruan Qing rushed directly to the location mentioned in the message he had just received.
However, after he took a few steps, all the lights in the building suddenly went out, plunging into darkness in an instant.
Ruan Qing didn’t panic. This was probably done by the players, most likely to delay Wen Li.
He had to find the players quickly because no matter who was sent to delay, it would probably be difficult to hold on for too long against Wen Li.
Five minutes was probably the limit.
However, just as Ruan Qing took his first step, someone grabbed his hand from behind. He turned around to see Su Xiaozhen holding his hand.
Su Xiaozhen bit her lip, tears in her eyes, and hesitantly and softly spoke, “I... I can’t see very well. Can you hold my hand and lead me?”
Perhaps Su Xiaozhen also knew that she was slowing them down, so she immediately let go of Ruan Qing’s hand and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just useless. Maybe... I’ll wait for you here...”
If at the beginning Su Xiaozhen hadn’t entered the hospital building, the level of safety would probably be much higher. But now that she’s already inside, leaving her alone here, if she encountered a hunter, there’s no doubt she would be doomed.
Ruan Qing didn’t say anything, directly taking Su Xiaozhen’s hand and quickly moving forward in the darkness.
During the day, the hospital building was filled with many patients, but at night, it was eerily silent. There were no doctors, nurses, or patients in sight.
It’s as if it was an abandoned medical building, yet strangely, no one seemed to notice anything amiss.
Just like this world, it’s eerie and filled with pathology.
It’s pathological to the point that even livestreaming murders didn’t strike anyone as odd.
Originally, Ruan Qing thought that the audience in the livestream room were not ordinary people or perhaps not even from this world. However, during the completion of a side quest earlier, he realized he was wrong.
Whether it’s the chosen prey in the livestream room or the audience themselves, they were all humans from this world. Yet, they seemed unaware of how shocking and perverse livestreamed murders were, and they even became obsessed with them.
Indeed, if one owed a debt, it should be repaid, but it should be determined by the law, not by someone’s personal will, secretly sentencing others to death.
No one had the right to arbitrarily deprive others of their lives.
If one callously trampled upon life under the guise of justice, it would eventually evolve into the greatest evil.
This world had long been distorted.
And the main cause of all this was most likely that eerie, giant eye.
That eye released black mist, and the mist seemed to corrupt the entire world or hypnotize the entire world.
It’s just like how Wen Li hypnotized him, making it impossible to resist.
Ruan Qing had two main reasons for thinking this way.
Firstly, due to his physical constitution, he had always been highly sensitive to things like camera lenses. This instance was called the “Horror Livestream Room,” so it was bound to involve filming.
But he didn’t notice any cameras from start to finish, as if there were no recordings at all.
However, in the first two clips that played, it was obvious that the footage was captured by following the subject from various angles.
Therefore, the filming method was likely not scientific but supernatural in nature.
Disregarding any hiding or interference in the filming process, Ruan Qing couldn’t imagine it, nor could he fathom it.
But when Ruan Qing saw that enormous eye, he felt that they were too fitting.
When he intruded into the laboratory, even if the eye was closed, Ruan Qing could still sense the intense gaze, as if the gigantic eye could see through everything in the world, leaving nothing hidden in its presence.
Of course, it would be too hasty to conclude that this was the key to the horror livestream solely based on this point. Ruan Qing actually believed it because of the black mist.
The black mist appeared not only around the enormous eye but also at the beginning of the first video, at Jiang Sinian’s wound, and even on Wen Li’s body.
Ruan Qing speculated that the reason they suffered severe injuries but didn’t die was due to the black mist.
Or perhaps their peculiar powers originated from the black mist itself.
That’s why he determined that the enormous eye was the key to this instance.
Maybe destroying that eye could destroy this instance and restore this abnormal world to normalcy.
That’s why he subtly hinted to the player to detonate the fourth floor, in order to destroy the enormous eye.
Darkness didn’t affect Ruan Qing’s speed as he quickly approached the destination in the hospital with Su Xiaozhen.
Ruan Qing’s speed wasn’t particularly fast, considering he still needed to be wary of Wen Li and the group of hunters.
Fortunately, they encountered no obstacles along the way and didn’t come across anyone.
However, when Ruan Qing reached the location mentioned in the information, there was no one there anymore.
Perhaps they had already been forced to leave.
Ruan Qing’s heart sank slightly. The hospital building was huge, and without a specific location, it would be difficult to find someone.
And the worst part was...
“Are you looking for him?” A gentle voice sounded from above Ruan Qing’s head on the staircase, appearing quite abrupt in this dark corner.
Ruan Qing’s body stiffened as he heard the voice slowly lifting his head.
This was the dim corner of the staircase, a perfect hiding place.
And there, standing on the stairs, was Doctor Wen Li. He had a person’s hair gripped in his hand, looking at Ruan Qing with a gentle smile, his expression still tender.
However, the man in his hand was covered in blood, his right arm already broken. Wen Li was dragging him by the hair. Whether he was dead or alive was uncertain. Coupled with Wen Li’s gentle smile, it sent shivers down one’s spine.
June 10, 2023 by Wyrd
Between several large buildings in the hospital, there were various pathways. Some floors were not interconnected, while others were. The design was somewhat complex.
If you’re not familiar with the hospital, you would likely get lost.
However, Ruan Qing took note of the general structure of the buildings during the last visit, so it didn’t pose much of an obstacle for him.
The group of players and Wen Li should be somewhere inside the hospital buildings, but it’s hard to pinpoint their exact location.
Ruan Qing checked the time: 11:47, thirteen minutes away from the agreed-upon time.
Thirteen minutes, it’s really too little...
Ruan Qing took a deep breath. He should find the group of players first.
The hospital buildings seemed to be quiet, indicating that no fight had broken out. The players must be hiding in some corner of the hospital.
He wanted to find the players first, ensuring that he wouldn’t encounter Wen Li and the group of hunters.
But Wen Li could see the live broadcast; he must know that Ruan Qing had already arrived at the hospital.
Ruan Qing reached into his slanted bag, took out his phone, and without even looking, he quickly typed a few words and sent them.
[Delay the doctor, I’ll come find you.]
***
On the other side, someone hiding in a corner of the stairs saw his phone light up. Concealing it with their clothes, he glanced at the message.
Delay the doctor?
Have them delayed that monster?
Damn, the boy sure think highly of themselves. He should know that the doctor was stronger than the other hunters.
The person looked at the other three, gesturing discreetly and conveying the message. Then, in a low voice, he asked, “What should we do?”
Another person chuckled bitterly, “What else can we do? Do you have the ability to kill a hunter?”
They knew they were done for when they drew this scenario. They were undoubtedly doomed.
In the horror game, there were numerous instances or scenarios. Most players found it difficult to encounter instances with information they were aware of. However, the instance called “Horror Livestream Room” was quite well known, and many players had knowledge about this particular instance.
Usually, on the second day of entering this instance, the players would be selected as the target for the hunters. The hunters could only see the livestream during the last two days.
It’s not particularly difficult to clear this instance, but it’s also not easy. As long as your strength was greater than that of the hunter targeting you, you could easily clear it.
The difficulty lay in having the strength to surpass the hunter. Hunters were typically in an invincible state unless you find their weakness.
Even if you discover the hunter’s weakness, it didn’t necessarily mean you have the strength to kill them.
Moreover, the hunters assigned to each player were random, and many hunters’ weaknesses were unknown.
Most of the people who knew their weaknesses had already died.
Although the survival rate in this instance seemed relatively high, in reality, it’s a genuine intermediate advancement instance, meaning it was about to become an advanced instance.
Instances like this were extremely rare, with a difficulty level between intermediate and advanced. Most players who entered were intermediate-level players, while there were hardly any beginners or newcomers.
Intermediate-level players had experienced at least five games and had a considerable number of items.
Yet, even under these circumstances, the survival rate was only about 15%.
And they were still just a group of beginner players.
Clearly, according to their level, they shouldn’t have drawn such a difficult instance, but unfortunately, they did.
They didn’t possess as many items as intermediate-level players, nor did they have a strong power. It was nothing but wishful thinking to survive and leave this instance.
Apart from trying their best, as suggested by the information they possessed, they had no other options.
At least, because of that young boy, they learned for the first time that the hospital was the key to this instance.
Initially, they didn’t think much of the paper they received from the young boy, believing he was genuinely reminding them of Su Xiaozhen’s situation.
They accidentally discovered astonishing hidden information.
The information indicated that the hospital was the key to the instance, prompting them to find an opportunity to blow up the fourth floor of the hospital.
Initially, they didn’t believe it, considering it was just something an NPC said. However, when they attempted to reach the hospital and tried to blow up the fourth floor as a last-ditch effort, the hunters... arrived.
They no longer followed the rule of only killing their designated targets; instead, they directly attacked anyone they encountered, regardless of whose target they were.
It became apparent that they couldn’t allow the hospital to be destroyed, which indirectly confirmed that the hospital was indeed the key to this instance.
Under the assault of this group of hunters, they suffered heavy losses. In less than an hour, their group of eight was reduced to just four.
It was impossible for them to survive by engaging in a direct confrontation with this group of hunters, so they had no choice but to utilize the hospital’s layout to hide.
The explosives were already in place.
The hospital consisted of several buildings, and they didn’t know which building the boy was referring to as the fourth floor—whether it was a specific building or all of them.
Furthermore, the hunters were constantly pursuing them, making it impossible for them to install the bombs smoothly.
Therefore, they discreetly planted explosives in all locations near the fourth floor or where explosives could be placed.
However, they themselves were trapped in the building, so once the explosion was triggered, they might not escape unscathed.
Moreover, no one could guarantee that blowing up the hospital would lead to successfully clearing the game, and no one dared to take that risk.
The only option now was to meet the boy and try to obtain more information.
Because they suspected that the boy... was highly likely to be a player as well.
When they initially entered the instance, they were puzzled because there should have been ten players, but there were only nine.
Now it seemed that the boy was probably the tenth player.
Having come this far, the four players gritted their teeth and finally decided to follow the boy’s instructions.
They knew that one person alone wouldn’t be able to hold the doctor back, as there were not only doctors but also several hunters on the hospital’s side. Therefore, they decided that the three of them would work together to find a way to stall this group of people.
Only one person was left to meet the young boy.
But the speed had to be faster, otherwise it wouldn’t be a matter of delaying someone, but a matter of dying.
***
Ruan Qing also knew that it was difficult to ask the players to hold back Wen Li, but once he was taken away by Wen Li, it would be difficult for him to contact the players.
Wen Li might not kill him, but he didn’t want to become a puppet confined by the master, assuming the postures the master liked.
Even if he could survive until the end of the game, he didn’t think it was any better than death.
He didn’t like anyone, and he didn’t belong to anyone.
He only belonged to himself.
However, his body and mind were overloaded, and he was almost unable to hold on. Success or failure would be decided tonight.
So, he would do his best to cause a big commotion.
Ruan Qing rushed directly to the location mentioned in the message he had just received.
However, after he took a few steps, all the lights in the building suddenly went out, plunging into darkness in an instant.
Ruan Qing didn’t panic. This was probably done by the players, most likely to delay Wen Li.
He had to find the players quickly because no matter who was sent to delay, it would probably be difficult to hold on for too long against Wen Li.
Five minutes was probably the limit.
However, just as Ruan Qing took his first step, someone grabbed his hand from behind. He turned around to see Su Xiaozhen holding his hand.
Su Xiaozhen bit her lip, tears in her eyes, and hesitantly and softly spoke, “I... I can’t see very well. Can you hold my hand and lead me?”
Perhaps Su Xiaozhen also knew that she was slowing them down, so she immediately let go of Ruan Qing’s hand and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just useless. Maybe... I’ll wait for you here...”
If at the beginning Su Xiaozhen hadn’t entered the hospital building, the level of safety would probably be much higher. But now that she’s already inside, leaving her alone here, if she encountered a hunter, there’s no doubt she would be doomed.
Ruan Qing didn’t say anything, directly taking Su Xiaozhen’s hand and quickly moving forward in the darkness.
During the day, the hospital building was filled with many patients, but at night, it was eerily silent. There were no doctors, nurses, or patients in sight.
It’s as if it was an abandoned medical building, yet strangely, no one seemed to notice anything amiss.
Just like this world, it’s eerie and filled with pathology.
It’s pathological to the point that even livestreaming murders didn’t strike anyone as odd.
Originally, Ruan Qing thought that the audience in the livestream room were not ordinary people or perhaps not even from this world. However, during the completion of a side quest earlier, he realized he was wrong.
Whether it’s the chosen prey in the livestream room or the audience themselves, they were all humans from this world. Yet, they seemed unaware of how shocking and perverse livestreamed murders were, and they even became obsessed with them.
Indeed, if one owed a debt, it should be repaid, but it should be determined by the law, not by someone’s personal will, secretly sentencing others to death.
No one had the right to arbitrarily deprive others of their lives.
If one callously trampled upon life under the guise of justice, it would eventually evolve into the greatest evil.
This world had long been distorted.
And the main cause of all this was most likely that eerie, giant eye.
That eye released black mist, and the mist seemed to corrupt the entire world or hypnotize the entire world.
It’s just like how Wen Li hypnotized him, making it impossible to resist.
Ruan Qing had two main reasons for thinking this way.
Firstly, due to his physical constitution, he had always been highly sensitive to things like camera lenses. This instance was called the “Horror Livestream Room,” so it was bound to involve filming.
But he didn’t notice any cameras from start to finish, as if there were no recordings at all.
However, in the first two clips that played, it was obvious that the footage was captured by following the subject from various angles.
Therefore, the filming method was likely not scientific but supernatural in nature.
Disregarding any hiding or interference in the filming process, Ruan Qing couldn’t imagine it, nor could he fathom it.
But when Ruan Qing saw that enormous eye, he felt that they were too fitting.
When he intruded into the laboratory, even if the eye was closed, Ruan Qing could still sense the intense gaze, as if the gigantic eye could see through everything in the world, leaving nothing hidden in its presence.
Of course, it would be too hasty to conclude that this was the key to the horror livestream solely based on this point. Ruan Qing actually believed it because of the black mist.
The black mist appeared not only around the enormous eye but also at the beginning of the first video, at Jiang Sinian’s wound, and even on Wen Li’s body.
Ruan Qing speculated that the reason they suffered severe injuries but didn’t die was due to the black mist.
Or perhaps their peculiar powers originated from the black mist itself.
That’s why he determined that the enormous eye was the key to this instance.
Maybe destroying that eye could destroy this instance and restore this abnormal world to normalcy.
That’s why he subtly hinted to the player to detonate the fourth floor, in order to destroy the enormous eye.
Darkness didn’t affect Ruan Qing’s speed as he quickly approached the destination in the hospital with Su Xiaozhen.
Ruan Qing’s speed wasn’t particularly fast, considering he still needed to be wary of Wen Li and the group of hunters.
Fortunately, they encountered no obstacles along the way and didn’t come across anyone.
However, when Ruan Qing reached the location mentioned in the information, there was no one there anymore.
Perhaps they had already been forced to leave.
Ruan Qing’s heart sank slightly. The hospital building was huge, and without a specific location, it would be difficult to find someone.
And the worst part was...
“Are you looking for him?” A gentle voice sounded from above Ruan Qing’s head on the staircase, appearing quite abrupt in this dark corner.
Ruan Qing’s body stiffened as he heard the voice slowly lifting his head.
This was the dim corner of the staircase, a perfect hiding place.
And there, standing on the stairs, was Doctor Wen Li. He had a person’s hair gripped in his hand, looking at Ruan Qing with a gentle smile, his expression still tender.
However, the man in his hand was covered in blood, his right arm already broken. Wen Li was dragging him by the hair. Whether he was dead or alive was uncertain. Coupled with Wen Li’s gentle smile, it sent shivers down one’s spine.
