Chapter 1648: Doctor Xu's Psychotherapy
Previously, there had been players who entered instances and imagined xenomorphs, but ordinary players' understanding of xenomorphs was only superficial. Those lucky enough might have only heard that xenomorphs eat people, while those unlucky might have fallen into a xenomorph swarm and witnessed them devouring humans firsthand. However, none of that constituted a deep understanding. Human imagination of unknown things is limited, so what they thought of were mostly scenes of being chased by xenomorphs or watching them swallow others.
But the cannibal players who came today were different. Not only did they eat people, but they seemed to have turned it into an art form. On the upper floor, in the locked wards, nearly a third of the rooms had become dining areas for the "medical staff." Those fake patients would suffer all kinds of horrific tortures in these wards. For example, to ensure the "ingredients" remained fresh, they would use special potions to keep people barely alive. Or to make the "ingredients" tender and smooth without being tense, they would inject muscle relaxants. Alternatively, they would let them bleed out while drifting between sleep and wakefulness.
Some preferred their food cooked, while others naturally preferred it raw. The scenes were brutal and bloody, unbearable to look at for long.
The ridiculous part was that the first reaction these players had upon seeing these scenes was excitement, which only then turned into fear. Because they quickly realized that they were not the ones holding the knives in this game—they were the ones tied to the hospital beds.
"Fake... it's all fake..." one player refused to believe his eyes, constantly adjusting the power of his mental interference prevention helmet, trying to wake himself from the hallucination.
Some of the other players had bought helmets, some hadn't. Those without couldn't find a suitable one for the moment, so they could only shout at their companions to stop thinking nonsense.
Unfortunately, the human brain is such a strange thing. When someone tells you not to think about something, you end up thinking about it first. So the next second, a ward door opened. A nurse with bloodstains on her chest walked out, wiping her mouth, and glared sternly at them. "Who told you to leave the wards? Security! Where is security! These patients are trying to escape. Tie them all up!"
The players wanted to run, but where could they go? Those seemingly flimsy iron grilles and railings now felt like the expensive, hard-to-get high-grade metals in the game. No matter what items or instruments they used, nothing worked. And besides, even if they managed to escape this floor, they'd still be in the hospital. The sealed-off areas behind might even contain deadly pathogens...
Rather than becoming the target of the instance's attacks right now, it was better to go along with the instance and conserve their strength.
So immediately, four players voluntarily entered their wards and closed the doors.
The security guards who had stormed in aggressively didn't bother with those who had already entered the wards. They turned their attention to those still standing in the hallway. Seeing this, the other players naturally followed suit, scrambling into the wards. But there were still two unlucky ones who were too slow and got caught.
The two were dragged by the security guards into an empty ward nearby. The nurse who had just come out went back inside, picked up a large bloodstained box, and followed them in.
What followed was left to everyone's imagination. Some kept hearing screams, while others suddenly went deaf, unable to hear a single sound for a moment. Either way, their mental pressure kept climbing. Some even began to suspect that the nurse was the instance boss.
Although the imagined people and things also had attack power, Xu Huo didn't actually let the nurse slice those two into pieces. Instead, he gave them a chance to commit suicide.
One of them had poor psychological resilience and didn't last long before begging for a quick death. The other bled to death after having his legs sawed off.
Liao Jie obediently stayed in his ward, waiting for his chance at psychotherapy. The other patients also behaved themselves, not daring to wander around. So in the hours until dawn, the hospital remained relatively peaceful. That was until eight o'clock the next morning, when the nurse went door to door waking up the patients to take their medicine.
The medicine could be real or fake. Some players pretended to take it but actually hid it, while others genuinely took it. Regardless of whether the medicine was real or fake, those who took it were more likely to accept the fact that they were patients. Even if they still gathered with their companions to discuss how to clear the instance, some had already started paying attention to the nurses' and security guards' expressions, beginning to imagine what the medical staff were saying to each other.
Oh, and a D-level player who had gone snooping early in the morning had fallen into the "well that one person shouldn't look into."
Ignoring that person, Xu Huo had the head nurse arrange the schedule for psychotherapy.
There were three doctors in the hospital, and all three only did psychotherapy in the morning, two patients per morning. On one hand, they conducted the therapy; on the other, they assessed the patients' psychological states and adjusted their treatment plans accordingly.
The hospital had posted a schedule and also notified those who would be receiving psychotherapy today. The first to be treated would naturally be the E-level and D-level players. The C-level players and Liao Jie would have to wait.
Liao Jie was still locked up and hadn't come out yet. Several C-level players were dissatisfied and went to argue with the medical staff. But no matter how much they beat or killed the nurses and security guards, it didn't change their situation. Instead, they were punished for their violent resistance—with anesthesia, electric shocks, and so on. One C-level player in particular, who had killed the nurse from the previous night, was caught and dragged directly upstairs.
C-level players weren't so easy to control. On the way, he not only killed two more security guards but also jumped from the upper floor, heading straight for the hospital exit.
Xu Huo stood by the window, watching his retreating figure. He thought this was a good sign—at least they were starting to think that outside the hospital might be safe.
With the ringleader taken down, the rest became much more docile. Three E-level players began their psychotherapy.
There were no real doctors in the hospital, so Xu Huo had to fill in. He first arrived at the first ward, ignoring the patient's wary expression, and matter-of-factly took out a notebook before gesturing for the person across from him to sit down.
"How have you been feeling these past few days?" Xu Huo asked, looking at him.
"Take a guess. Aren't you the doctor? Can't you tell?" the other man said provocatively.
Xu Huo silently stared at him for two seconds, then drew an "X" on the paper filled with writing, making sure the other man could see it clearly.
"I think you're in a pretty good mood today," Xu Huo said with a slight smile. "Did you have any dreams last night?"
"What dreams? I never dream!" the player said with a dark face.
"It seems the new medicine is quite effective," Xu Huo said, scribbling on the paper again. "Do you remember why you were admitted to the hospital?"
"Bad luck, what else could it be?" the player said deliberately.
Xu Huo didn't stop writing as he continued, "You're a bit resistant to treatment. Today's session isn't going as smoothly as last time. But don't worry—your parents contacted the hospital this morning. They said you don't need to rush home. Stay for another month, and once you're fully recovered, you can reunite with them."
(Chapter End)