Chapter 3021: Or Maybe It's a Conscience
However, aside from dizziness and nosebleeds, Zhuang He and the other two did not experience hallucinations like in typical mental-type instances. They remained clear-headed throughout, only suddenly suffering a headache as if a hammer had struck their brains.
"Really no other sensations?" Xiao Yue asked repeatedly. After receiving a confirmed negative response, he grew even more puzzled. This instance was vastly different from the mental-type instances they had encountered before—it didn't even have a gradual progression, which defied common sense!
But since things had already come to this, they had no other choice but to try sending a distress signal to the First Inpatient Building.
Yet an even more perplexing event occurred. Zong Lanzhi and the others, who had previously been as blind as if they couldn't see them no matter how they called for help, suddenly seemed to have grown eyes and could spot them immediately. Their personal panels and items also became usable again—the Third Inpatient Building, which had been utterly impossible to leave, was now easily exited!
The four of them used items to teleport back to the First Inpatient Building. Zong Lanzhi and the others quickly came over to ask what had happened.
There wasn't much that had occurred inside the Third Inpatient Building. Xiao Yue recounted the events in detail, and Zong Lanzhi and the others were equally baffled. It seemed as if the instance had suddenly launched an attack on the players without any apparent reason.
"None of us others experienced this. Could it be limited to the Third Inpatient Building?" Xie Xiao'an said.
"How are you two?" Jiang Ke helped his two companions to the side. They had recovered somewhat and appeared clear-headed.
"An invisible prison. Could it be that a building is randomly refreshed as the venue?" Xiang Min looked at Xiao Yue. "After you were attacked, your personal panels suddenly became accessible. Does that count as escaping the invisible prison?"
"What do you think?" Xiao Yue shot her a glance. If it were that simple, could it still be a C-rank random instance?
"We've already found the morgue." Zong Lanzhi shared their findings with them.
After listening, Xiao Yue said, "It seems that no matter how we want to clear this, we'll have to act at night."
"Since we've found the morgue first, let's tackle the morgue first."
She paused for a moment, then added, "Everyone should put on their helmets now. It's best not to take them off."
The game sold mental-type devices that could block mental interference, and there were quite a few styles. However, given what had happened before, ordinary ones probably wouldn't be effective—helmets were necessary.
So, under the watchful eyes of many patients, the players all donned their helmets.
The hospital nurses turned a blind eye to this, as if as long as they didn't cause trouble, everything was fine.
But at this point, the other patients began to stir. They seemed very curious about these "newcomers," and many came over to strike up conversations.
Of course, the ways in which mental patients struck up conversations were varied. They ranged from invitations to become flying birds together, to rearranging room numbers in sequence to mess up the nurses' medication distribution, to hanging themselves on the fence like dried cured meat—the patients eagerly shared their mental worlds. Initially, the players found it boring, but as they listened, something felt off.
Because the things the patients talked about seemed to be gradually becoming reality.
For example, the patient who wanted to be a flying bird invited three companions. Somehow, they got to the rooftop, lined up, and flew down from above, becoming dead birds.
The room numbers suddenly changed as well, and the nurses seemed completely unaware.
Two dried corpses actually appeared on the fence. When the nurses discovered them, they calmly called security to remove them, openly carrying them across the lake and straight to the main building.
Besides that, there was someone cutting meat in the corridor and distributing it to fellow patients...
In short, all sorts of bizarre things were happening.
"I feel like I'm missing something." During the players' gathering, a patient in the third-floor activity area rested his chin on his hand gloomily, speaking to an empty chair opposite him.
There was no one in the chair, but the conversation proceeded smoothly.
"You ask me what I'm missing? I don't know either. It's just that after seeing the doctor, I suddenly realized I'm incomplete."
"Incomplete in which part?"
"I'm not really sure. Maybe it's benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust... or maybe it's a conscience."
The players, who had hoped to hear some details, couldn't help but silently curse him as a lunatic.
The sky had grown completely dark. The nurses gradually left, and the effects of the earlier medication seemed to have worn off. Now was the perfect time for action.
The players exchanged glances: time to move.
So, a group of several dozen people split in half, with one half heading to the main building.
Familiar with the route, they arrived at the basement level. The morgue door indeed opened easily.
Zong Lanzhi exchanged a look with her companion beside her. Xie Xiao'an led six people in first. They set a one-hour time limit. If Xie Xiao'an and the others could send a signal, they would consider whether and how to enter.
For fairness, Xiao Yue's side also sent six people, led by the capable Xiang Min and Zhao Ze.
They didn't just wait idly during that time. Instead, they explored whether the hospital had any special features at night. The "monster that devours people by night" was active after dark, so they might encounter it.
However, the hospital at night seemed like a different place. Everywhere was filled with oppressive darkness, and their perception was suppressed. While they didn't revert to ordinary people, they were indeed less sharp than before, especially some super evolvers.
This forced them to split into groups.
For safety, even when splitting up, they formed groups of at least six, with groups moving in coordination so that at least one group was always within another group's line of sight.
But before they could reach the third floor of the main building, a problem arose from behind: someone had suddenly disappeared!
Zong Lanzhi and Xiao Yue immediately turned back to confirm the situation.
One person from Zong Lanzhi's team suddenly vanished while passing through a security door. The player walking behind him clearly saw him enter the door, but when they followed two steps later, the teammate ahead had been replaced by someone else!
"Could the main building be a horror theme?" Meng Junyan couldn't help but speak up again.
Xiao Yue shot him a fierce glare. Meng Junyan shrugged and closed his mouth.
Zong Lanzhi frowned and took out an instrument to check the spatial fluctuations in the area. Unfortunately, the person had been missing for a while, and checking now yielded nothing.
"The monster that devours people by night—what exactly is it?" Jiang Ke asked. "No matter how you look at it, the configuration of the Seventeenth Hospital is a normal psychiatric hospital. There shouldn't be supernatural entities."
That's hard to say...
"That's hard to say!" Meng Junyan reflexively voiced everyone's thoughts.
"Shut up," Xiao Yue warned him.
But Meng Junyan said, "I don't believe I'm the only one thinking this. So why hide it? Saying it out loud is better than letting it run wild in your head."
Zong Lanzhi closed her eyes briefly, then checked the time. "The night security guards should be patrolling the main building at this hour. Has anyone seen them?"