Chapter 42 Identification
Liang Dan was awakened by a piercing scream. The owner of the voice seemed to be right next door, sounding sharp and shrill, as if enduring excruciating agony.
Liang Dan looked to the side, and her two roommates had already vanished without a trace, leaving their beds empty.
Outside the ward door, it was a bustling scene, with many people gathered together and talking. Liang Dan pushed the door open, and a clear wave of human voices spilled in.
In the lobby, four people were sitting around each of the two tables—one group playing mahjong, the other playing poker.
The heavy iron door was tightly shut, and people were coming and going in the corridor, walking back and forth in groups.
Liang Dan walked toward the nurses' station, where a female nurse in her early thirties was sitting.
"Hello," Liang Dan asked, "I just heard a scream. What happened?"
The nurse looked up at her, "Oh, that's the patient next door. He's probably having a relapse and feeling uncomfortable."
Liang Dan asked again, "What time is it?"
"Seven-fifty-nine in the evening."
With that, the nurse picked up a large megaphone from the desk, "Medication time! Medication time! All patients bring your water cups to the nurses' station to take your medicine!"
Liang Dan returned to her ward, picked up the water cup from her bedside table, and filled a cup of water at the water dispenser.
The nurse shouted loudly, "503 Dash One!"
A woman in denim ran over holding a water bottle. The nurse poured the pills from a bottle into her palm and watched her swallow them.
"503 Dash Three!"
Liang Dan stepped forward, and a handful of colorful pills was dumped into her hand.
The nurse's gaze was burning and intense, fixed strictly on her lips. With no other choice, Liang Dan swallowed the large handful of pills.
She took a sip of water and turned to leave. The nurse continued calling out the next names.
Liang Dan hurried back to the room and spat the medicine she had been holding in her mouth into the bathroom sink.
At noon today, she had fallen asleep inexplicably and slept straight through until evening. It definitely had something to do with these pills.
After spitting out the medicine, Liang Dan looked up and met her own reflection in the bathroom mirror.
This face—she had never seen it before.
It was not her original face.
Liang Dan opened the screen interface to check her player information:
Player: Liang Dan
Player Level: Level 1
Player Skill: Infinite Rebirth
Player Weapons: None
Current Skin: Instance-provided
Current Instance Name: Health Hospital
Current Instance Level: Level 1
Current Instance Quest: Find all hidden players in the psychiatric hospital.
Liang Dan swiped gently, and a line of text flashed across the screen:
"Do you wish to accuse a player?"
"Yes."
"Which player would you like to accuse?"
Dozens of options popped up. Most of them were ward numbers, while a few were characteristics, descriptions, or job titles.
The female nurse at the nurses' station, the night-shift male nurse, the head nurse, the hospital director, the deputy director, and so on.
Liang Dan's finger tapped gently on "503-1", and a line of text popped up:
"Peerless benevolent saint Liang Dan failed to accuse the player. You are dead!"
*
Liang Dan reborn, and this time her choice was "503-2".
As soon as her finger touched the screen, the prompt appeared again:
"Peerless benevolent saint Liang Dan failed to accuse the player. You are dead!"
*
Liang Dan looked at the long list of options and suddenly had an idea.
Accusing incorrectly meant death, but since she could endlessly rebirth within the game, didn't that mean she could keep accusing endlessly without ever contacting other players?
The sound of the megaphone came through: "503 Dash Three, the director wants you to go to his office. 503 Dash Three, the director wants you in his office."
Liang Dan closed the screen and went out, seeing that the heavy iron door outside was now open, with the nurse standing by the side.
Liang Dan walked over, and the nurse said, "Remember to knock when you come back, and I'll open the door for you."
Liang Dan nodded, "Okay."
Liang Dan walked out, and the heavy iron door locked behind her.
Outside the iron door was the elevator, next to which hung a floor directory showing the purpose of each level.
Level 1: Outpatient Clinic
Level 2: Treatment Room
Level 3: Wards
Level 4: Wards
Level 5: Wards
Liang Dan stood by the entrance and waited, but the elevator remained stuck on the fourth floor, completely motionless.
With no other choice, Liang Dan had to take the nearby stairs. The staircase seemed exceptionally long, and it took her several minutes of climbing to reach the fourth floor.
Liang Dan stood in the fourth-floor corridor panting, feeling a sense of wrongness.
Given her physical condition, climbing stairs for a few minutes should not have left her this exhausted.
Of course, what was even stranger was: why had climbing a single flight of stairs taken several minutes?
Liang Dan muttered to herself, "Climbing these stairs is truly exhausting. I need to sit down and rest for a moment."
The moment Liang Dan sat down, a broadsword came slashing from behind her. She executed a forward roll, narrowly dodging the blade that almost took off her head.
The broadsword hovered horizontally in the air, with no one in front or behind it, looking utterly sci-fi.
"My, oh my," Liang Dan stood in place, "my mental illness is getting more and more severe; now I'm even seeing broadswords flying in the sky."
A young male voice came from behind the broadsword, "Stop acting. You've been exposed."
Liang Dan clenched her fists, "Invisible man, what do you want?"
The broadsword lunged at her. Liang Dan retreated step by step, turned around, and ran frantically downward.
The broadsword closely pursued her from behind, sending a tight, chilling sensation down Liang Dan's spine. Grabbing the stair handrail, she vaulted down to the lower floor in a single bound.
"Nice moves."
Before she knew it, Liang Dan had fled to the front entrance on the first floor. She rushed toward it, only to find the main door locked from the outside.
Liang Dan pressed her back against the door, staring straight at the broadsword that had closed in right in front of her face, not moving an inch.
The broadsword halted, and the voice coming from behind it sounded somewhat terrified, "I'm going to kill you. Why aren't you fighting back?"
Liang Dan found it odd, "You're scared? You're the one trying to kill me. I'm not even scared, so what are you afraid of?"
"I am terrified," the man laughed aloud. "You're a lamb waiting for slaughter right now. Why aren't you kneeling down to beg me for mercy?"
"No need for that."
Liang Dan said, "If you're going to kill me, do it quickly. If you don't kill me soon, I'm going to leave."
The man let out a shout, and the broadsword slashed directly down toward the top of Liang Dan's head.
Liang Dan said faintly, "Hold on a second."
The broadsword stopped, and the man laughed, "Are you finally ready to beg me for mercy?"
"No," Liang Dan said, "I have a question to ask you."
The man asked, "What makes you think I'll answer your question?"
"Oh, if you don't want to answer, never mind then. Go ahead and kill me."
The man took a deep breath, "Go ahead and ask. I want to see what kind of question you can possibly come up with!"
Liang Dan asked, "Your instance quest shouldn't be to kill players, right?"
"Of course not," the man said. "Everyone's instance quest is the same."
Liang Dan frowned, "How do you know everyone's instance quest is the same?"
The man yelled, "Mind your own business about how I know! I'm going to kill you!"
The broadsword lunged forward. Liang Dan sidestepped to dodge it, and the blade embedded itself deeply into the iron door.
Liang Dan raised her foot and kicked hard at the invisible arm. The man let out a miserable scream, and Liang Dan sensed the person in front of her take a step back.
She grabbed the hilt of the blade and pulled it out with force, leaving a gaping hole in the iron door.
Liang Dan stepped forward based on intuition and swung her arm in a powerful slash. The breath of the fleeing man rushed past her side, and Liang Dan lashed out with a kick, striking him squarely.