Players, Please Board the Train

There was a feeling of restraint on all four limbs - his hands, feet, and body were tightly bound together by something, leaving no room for movement.

”Doctor Tang, his eyelids are moving, has the sedative worn off this quickly?” A familiar female voice echoed in the narrow space.

”Patients who frequently receive sedatives develop some resistance to the medication.” A male voice spoke up, accompanied by the sound of a pen scratching across paper. ”I’ve made the record. If he wakes up and still isn’t calm, give him another injection.”

”I understand, Doctor Tang.” The female voice moved further away, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing.

Only one person’s footsteps remained in the room. The woman walked back over, her voice now very close. ”Such a handsome face, what a pity.”

Xu Huo opened his eyes.

The woman was startled by him, quickly stepping back and smoothing her messy hair. Her arm brushed past the name ”Yu Qingqing” embroidered on her nurse’s uniform before she picked up a syringe from the operating table.

Xu Huo didn’t move, quickly scanning the room. His gaze paused when it reached the medical equipment nearby engraved with ”Seventeenth Hospital.”

Yu Qingqing held the syringe while observing his condition, then put it down after a moment and asked him, ”How do you feel?”

”My body hurts a bit.” Xu Huo’s throat felt dry and rough.Yu Qingqing wore an expression that said this was only to be expected. ”You were rampaging through the hospital earlier, of course you’d be in pain.”

”Can you untie me?” Xu Huo asked.

Yu Qingqing glanced at the time. ”Wait a bit, until other nurses come to help.”

After saying this, she sat down by the hospital bed and asked with keen interest, ”Continue telling your story. What new content do you have this time?”

”What story?” Xu Huo looked at her, then asked instead, ”How long have I been here?”

”Not too long.” Yu Qingqing clearly didn’t want to discuss this topic. After giving him some water, she said, ”I’ll go call someone.”

After speaking, she left. The moment she opened the door, the nameplate ”Tang Guangbo” posted on the opposite room door flashed by.

Two minutes later, Yu Qingqing returned, bringing along a male nurse. The two were talking outside the door.

The male nurse complained quietly, ”Why not just keep him in the treatment room? Why bring him back to the ward so quickly? When he goes berserk, several people can’t even hold him down. What a hassle.”

”Doctor Tang already said that as long as he wakes up calmly, he can be returned to the ward.” Yu Qingqing said displeased, ”Dai Wenqian, do you have a problem with me? Why do you complain so much every time I ask for your help!”

”Of course not,” Dai Wenqian said, ”I’m just worried he might hurt you. Schizophrenia - he can’t distinguish reality from delusion. And he’s always talking about players and games. What if one day he targets you as an enemy?”

”Don’t talk nonsense, he’s never attacked medical staff.” Yu Qingqing stopped him, then lowered her voice, ”Besides, don’t you think his delusions are quite interesting? We’re stuck in Seventeenth Hospital every day, how boring. It’s not bad to listen to them as adventure stories.”

”I think you just find him handsome.” Dai Wenqian said sourly, ”You young girls, your morals follow physical appearance. Don’t think I don’t know - Zhou Ning even secretly brings him snacks.”

”Hmph, as if you haven’t taken special care of pretty female patients.” Yu Qingqing spoke while pushing the door open, smiling and nodding at Xu Huo.

Xu Huo looked at the person behind her - it really was Dai Wenqian.

Dai Wenqian wasn’t as gentle as Yu Qingqing. He performed a simple check-up on Xu Huo in a businesslike manner, then untied the restraints on his body. ”Move your hands.”

Xu Huo complied, but his hand fell weakly back onto the hospital bed. He frowned and tried lifting it again, still unsuccessful.

”This is normal, it’ll get better after a while.” Dai Wenqian finished recording, gestured to Yu Qingqing, and the two of them pushed the hospital bed out together, one in front and one behind.

After passing several wards, they reached the floor’s rest area. Several people wearing patient gowns sat by the spacious, clean tables and chairs, mumbling words like ”players” and ”Special Defense Department.” The nurses standing nearby only responded to their words perfunctorily.

Xu Huo remained silent as he returned to his own ward. Only after lying down on the bed did he say to Yu Qingqing, ”Nurse Yu, can I have an apple?”

Yu Qingqing naturally had no objections and left with the stern-faced Dai Wenqian, but soon returned holding sliced apples.

”Why are they all talking about players?” Xu Huo asked.

Yu Qingqing looked at him in surprise. ”Don’t you remember? You asked Doctor Tang about this before. It’s a symptom of mental contamination. The original source was an online game called Dimensional Rift. You could call it human-to-human transmission.”

”But you don’t need to worry. Your condition has already improved. When you’re lucid, you’re no different from a normal person. As long as you keep trying and control your illness, you can be discharged soon.”

Xu Huo took the sliced apple pieces, ate two pieces, then smiled. ”Nurse Yu, you have some too.”

Yu Qingqing’s face slightly reddened under his gaze. ”We can’t eat things sent by patients’ families.”

Xu Huo swallowed the apple. ”These apples were sent by my... my brother?”

Yu Qingqing nodded.

”Can I see him?” Xu Huo asked after closing his eyes for a moment.

Yu Qingqing said with difficulty, ”Not for now, but when your condition becomes more stable, you can.”

”What about a phone call?”

”When he last delivered things, he said he was going abroad on business. It might be hard to contact him.” Yu Qingqing thought for a moment. ”How about this - next time he comes to deliver things, I’ll let you know, okay?”

Xu Huo fell silent.

Yu Qingqing stood up. ”I’ll get your medicine. Take it and rest early.”

After speaking, she left the room. At that moment, the person who had been covered by blankets on the opposite bed suddenly peeked out and quietly told him, ”Don’t take the medicine they give you! Whatever you do, don’t take it! If you take it, you’ll be stuck here forever!”

Yu Qingqing quickly returned, handing him a small transparent medicine case containing several capsules along with water, then picked up the medical record book, her eyes fixed intently on his hands.

Xu Huo brought the medicine to his mouth, glanced at the wide-eyed patient in the crack between the blankets, then drank several mouthfuls of water.

However, the person in the opposite bed suddenly began trembling, mumbling indistinctly, ”Can’t get out, can never get out now, everyone will die here! I don’t want to die! Don’t want to die!”

Yu Qingqing’s expression relaxed somewhat after seeing Xu Huo take the medicine, but darkened again upon hearing the voice behind her. She pressed the call button, and soon Dai Wenqian entered with two other nurses. They pulled the person out from under the blankets, gave him a sedative injection, and dragged him away while restraining him.

Yu Qingqing then turned back to Xu Huo with a gentle smile. ”He won’t be back tonight, so he won’t affect your sleep quality. You should be tired, right? Sleep now.”

As she turned, the medical record book showed clear writing: Patient 013, Xu Huo, admission time 4 months.