Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo turned around and saw several medical staff members on the fourth floor dragging and pulling a red-haired man by the window. The man was shouting, ”I’m not mentally ill! I’m a Vanguard Players member from the Ting City branch of the Special Defense Department!”

”Hey, don’t jump down! This is the fourth floor - you’ll die or at least get crippled if you jump!” Dai Wenqian shouted from behind.

”I’m an Evolver! The fourth floor is nothing! Even jumping from the tenth floor wouldn’t hurt me! Stop holding me back!” The red-haired man’s clothes were already torn to shreds. ”You people pretending to be medical staff, watch out - I’ll investigate you thoroughly once I get out!”

Several medical staff members were so angry they laughed. Dai Wenqian said, ”Hold him steady, let’s give him an injection first.”

The redhead must have seen the syringe when he looked back, because he struggled even more violently. The several people holding him almost lost their grip, with half his body dangling outside the window, making direct eye contact with Xu Huo who was looking up from below.

”Xu Huo!” the redhead shouted excitedly. ”How did you get in here too? Come help quickly! These people want to give me an injection!”

Xu Huo turned and asked Yu Qingqing, ”Who is he?”

”Sima Xiao Er,” Yu Qingqing said. ”This isn’t his first time being admitted. Each time, he was brought in by different relatives.”

”Bullshit!” Sima Xiao Er yelled from upstairs. ”I’m a fucking orphan! Where would I get relatives from? You damn NPCs, let go of me... Don’t hit me! Don’t hit me! I don’t want the injection!”

As he spoke, his voice gradually faded, and Dai Wenqian pulled him back inside to deal with the situation.”Do you remember him?” Yu Qingqing asked quietly.

Xu Huo shook his head slightly. ”Generic face. Even with that dyed red hair thrown into a crowd, no one could distinguish his features. I generally don’t remember ugly people.”

Yu Qingqing pursed her lips to suppress a laugh upon hearing this. ”So you’re saying I’m beautiful then.”

Xu Huo nodded. Yu Qingqing could become a celebrity, so her looks certainly weren’t bad.

”It’s almost lunch time. Let’s go back to eat first. Today’s lunch dishes are quite good - I specifically asked the grocery-shopping aunt to buy what you like.” Yu Qingqing said with a smile. ”After lunch, take your medicine and take a nap. What would you like to do this afternoon? Writing or drawing are both fine.”

”Drawing,” Xu Huo responded casually.

Patients in the hospital spent most of their time idle. They could move around freely, but within limited areas and methods.

After the meal, Xu Huo collected some crayons and drawing paper and returned to his room. The patient from the other bed was missing again. When he took his medicine, he asked Yu Qingqing about it and was told the person had been transferred to the fourth floor.

He hadn’t been in his room long when the several people he encountered last night came sneaking in with books to find him.

”You didn’t take your medicine, right?” the tall dark man asked immediately upon seeing him.

”No,” Xu Huo looked at them. ”Who else do you know in the Special Defense Department? Do you know Nie Xuan?”

The tall dark man looked quite surprised. ”You know Captain Nie?”

”We’re old friends, you could say,” Xu Huo said. ”During this fog incident, he didn’t come in with you?”

The several people looked somewhat troubled. Xu Huo didn’t press further, instead asking, ”Do you know what type of patients are housed on the fourth floor?”

The tall dark man nodded. ”The more aggressive ones. If you know Captain Nie, you should know Sima Xiao Er.”

”The redhead?”

”That’s him. He’s on the fourth floor. He doesn’t understand - we’re all trapped here and have lost our abilities. We’re definitely no match for the hospital. To successfully escape, we must rely on strategy. Making noise and fighting will only get us sent for injections.” The tall dark man wore an expression of frustration, then paused and asked Xu Huo, ”Do you have any friends in the hospital?”

”No. Only me.” Xu Huo scanned these people. Tang Guangbo and Yu Qingqing naturally couldn’t be real, but these Special Defense Department members, along with Sima Xiao Er upstairs, should have entered Seventeenth Hospital from Ting City - they were real.

”Do you remember this hospital’s name?” he asked.

The tall dark man froze for a moment, his expression briefly blank, but quickly said, ”Seventeenth Hospital. It’s written at the duty office.”

Xu Huo frowned slightly. The appearance of Tang Guangbo, Dai Wenqian, and others indicated this place was clearly formed based on his consciousness, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many familiar people.

He didn’t know these Special Defense Department members, and they themselves had memories from before and after entering this place. Even with overlapping experiences, they shouldn’t think the hospital’s name was Seventeenth Hospital.

Was he influencing these people, or was he being influenced himself?

”Never mind that. Regarding how to escape, we’ve come up with a good plan,” the tall dark man said. ”Although there are security guards patrolling outside the hospital at night, the intervals are quite long. The more troublesome part is the electronic alarm on the perimeter wall. We need to go to the control room to turn that off, otherwise we’ll be exposed when we get within three meters of the wall.”

”The control room is on the first floor. The corridor doors on each floor are locked at night. To get from the third floor to the first floor, we need to open two doors and pass two duty offices. But that’s no problem for me - both those doors have ordinary locks. I made two master keys that can definitely open them.”

”Little Gao and I will go down first to open the doors. If there are no emergencies, the others can come down afterward, to avoid everyone being wiped out if something goes wrong. Once we reach the first floor, Little Yang will go to the control room to turn off the electronic alarm and the streetlights behind the hospital. We’ll synchronize our timing to avoid the security guards, which should buy us enough time to get far away. There’s also the duty doctor’s car outside - no problem.”

The plan was clear and straightforward. After listening, Xu Huo asked, ”What kind of lock is on the door by the third-floor duty office?”

”Password lock,” the tall dark man looked at him puzzled. ”Is there a problem?”

Xu Huo shook his head.

”Alright then. Now that you know the plan, how about you go find Sima Xiao Er?” the tall dark man said. ”I, Little Gao, and Little Yang all have tasks, but we can’t just abandon Sima Xiao Er either.”

As he spoke, he took out a key and gave it to Xu Huo.

Xu Huo didn’t object, but said, ”There are definitely more medical staff on the fourth floor than on the third. If we don’t come down after the lights are turned off, you should go first and find a way to rescue us later.”

The tall dark man and the others looked at him in surprise, unable to hide their admiration. ”Brother, that’s true loyalty! If we can get out, we’ll definitely find a way to rescue you!”

Everyone agreed on the operation time for that night, and the tall dark man and the others left as stealthily as they had come. The thin patient responsible for keeping watch outside glanced back at him and whispered, ”There are crazy people on the fourth floor. Be careful.”

Xu Huo watched them leave.

Time quickly passed until evening. To prevent himself from falling asleep, Xu Huo kept moving around in his room until it was about time, then opened his door and went out.

The nurse in the duty office was still sleeping. After exchanging glances with the tall dark man and the others, he opened the corridor door and headed to the fourth floor.

However, the tall dark man and the others hadn’t thoroughly investigated the hospital’s situation. The fourth-floor corridor had two doors - one requiring a key, the other a password lock.

He tried several passwords but couldn’t open it. The electronic sounds attracted others. Just as he saw shadows appearing in the corridor, someone suddenly poked their head out from beside the wall, grinning as they stared at him. ”Do you want to come in?”