Chapter 5: The Doctor
"I..." The man in the white coat appeared calmer than the others, not even the corpse on the table affecting him. "My name is Zhao Haibo. I'm a doctor. You should be able to tell from my attire."
He reached down and tugged at his dirty white coat, then continued, "Before I came here, I was performing surgery on a woman. She had an intraventricular brain tumor that was growing rapidly—it had been expanding continuously for the past six months and had already caused mild hydrocephalus. If I didn't open her skull soon, her life would be in danger."
"I chose the frontal lobe surgical approach, using CT guidance to puncture directly into the ventricle. In truth, every time this kind of surgery is performed, it carries considerable risk. But that woman chose to take the risk so she could be with her young son for a long time."
"Normally, in an operating room, to maintain a stable environment, not even a breeze is allowed. But no one expected something worse than wind to come."
"When the earthquake hit, I had just removed the woman's skull flap and was about to cut the dura. If something went wrong at this step, it could easily cause brain contusions, leaving devastating permanent damage."
"I made an immediate decision to abort the surgery and temporarily put the skull flap back in place. Otherwise, in that dusty, chaotic environment, the woman's life would be in grave danger."
"But I didn't expect this step to be much harder than I thought. I couldn't even stand steadily, so how could I accurately place a small piece of skull back?"
"The nurse beside me kept bumping into me, throwing me off balance. No one could keep steady. In the panic, I could only cover the woman's head with a sterile sheet, then immediately turned around to organize the evacuation. But right then, a medical cart hit my leg, and I crashed to the floor."
"Before I could get up, the ceiling of the operating room cracked open directly, and I lost consciousness."
After hearing the doctor's story, everyone's expressions turned uneasy.
Throughout his account, he had used many medical terms.
If even one of those terms was made up, no one would be able to tell.
"Doctor Zhao, where are you from?" the burly man asked casually.
"I don't think I'm obligated to answer your question," Dr. Zhao replied. "My story is finished."
The burly man opened his mouth but said nothing.
"Is it... is it my turn?" a bespectacled young man asked, his eyes flickering for a moment. "My name is Han Yimo. I'm a..."
"Hold on." The goat head suddenly interrupted Han Yimo's speech.
This startled Han Yimo, who turned back in confusion.
"What... what's wrong?"
"It's 'intermission time,'" the goat head said with a smirk. "We'll take a twenty-minute break now."
Everyone seemed at a loss.
An intermission at a time like this?
Qi Xia glanced at the clock in the center of the table. Half an hour had passed since they woke up.
It was now twelve thirty.
"So this 'break' is mandatory," Qi Xia thought to himself. "When it hits twelve thirty, no matter who's speaking, we're forced to rest for twenty minutes..."
But the game had only been going on for thirty minutes, and now they were taking a twenty-minute break?
Qi Xia frowned. He knew this wasn't something he needed to worry about.
The game's organizer was clearly insane. There was no point in trying to apply common sense.
So all he could do was repeat the mantra in his head over and over again.
"My name is Li Ming. I'm from Shandong."
Only by drilling this phrasing into himself countless times could he blurt it out when his turn came.
Everyone waited in awkward silence.
Though it was called an "intermission," the atmosphere grew even more oppressive.
"Excuse me... can we talk?" the burly man asked the goat head.
"Oh, of course. You're in free time now. I have no authority to interfere."
The burly man nodded and turned back to Dr. Zhao. "Doctor Zhao, where are you really from?"
Dr. Zhao's face darkened. "I said, it seems you've had a problem with me from the start. Why must I tell you where I'm from?"
"Don't misunderstand. I mean no harm," the burly man said in a steady voice. "The more you say, the more credible your story becomes. Since everyone else has stated their hometown, there's no reason for you to hide it, is there?"
"The more I say, the more credible?" The doctor shook his head dismissively. "All I know is that 'the more you talk, the more mistakes you make.' If the rules are absolute, there's nothing wrong with my account. Besides, I don't trust any of you anyway."
"That's a bit biased," the burly man said. "There are nine of us here, and only one is our enemy. If you're willing to cooperate with everyone, we can work together to root out the liar. The more you hide, the more suspicious you become. I've asked you twice now. Are you still going to hide it?"
The burly man seemed very skilled at interrogation. With just a few sentences, he had backed Dr. Zhao into a logical corner.
His meaning was clear.
Only a "liar" wouldn't need to trust others, because they already know who they are.
If the doctor kept hiding now, he would become the target of everyone's suspicion.
But someone who could become a brain surgeon was no ordinary person. With a cold snort, Dr. Zhao asked, "Then you answer me first: who are you, and what do you do?"
"Me?" The burly man hadn't expected to be put on the spot. His expression turned slightly unnatural.
"That's right. Since you're grilling me relentlessly after my story, it's only fair that I ask you before yours." Dr. Zhao smirked. "Very fair, don't you think?"
The burly man thought for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I have nothing to hide. My name is Li Shangwu. I'm a criminal police officer."
The moment those words were spoken, everyone turned to look at him.
At this moment, the words "criminal police officer" gave everyone an unexpected sense of security.
"You're a cop?!" The doctor was taken aback.
No wonder this man had been probing from the very beginning. He was also the first to propose that "everyone should survive." Maybe he really wanted to save everyone.
The doctor's attitude visibly softened. "If that's the case, then I apologize for my earlier attitude. I'm from Jiangsu."
At this point, the tattooed man, Qiao Jiajin, wore an uncomfortable expression. "Hey, Dr. Zhao, are you really going to trust Officer Li?"
"Huh?" Dr. Zhao looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Qiao Jiajin tapped the table with his finger and said flatly, "This isn't 'story time' now... In other words, right now, anyone can lie."