Players, Please Board the Train

The bandaged monster that was sent flying knocked over another one in the process. Yan Jiayu rubbed her hands together, lifted the tabletop again, and asked Xu Huo, ”Are you okay? How do we get out of here?”

”Go downstairs.” Xu Huo turned and headed toward the stairwell. This hospital symbolized the intensity of mental pollution from the first floor to the sixth floor, with the sixth floor being the strongest, so he couldn’t successfully open a door on the sixth floor.

”Then let’s go downstairs!” Yan Jiayu said directly, ”You all go first, I’ll guard the rear.”

The ”security guards” on the sixth floor were increasing, and without further discussion, the others quickly and orderly descended the stairs.

By now, most of the walls on the fifth floor had peeled away, making all rooms completely visible. Those human-like yet non-human entities wandered the fifth floor, the black mist they carried polluting everywhere like a pathogen, turning most of the floor black. The rooms and floors became blurry.

”This floor looks like a 3D game...” Sima Xiao Er said instinctively, but when he looked down and saw his own feet covered with something resembling flying insects, he exclaimed in shock, ”I’m turning into a monster too!”

It wasn’t just him. After arriving on the fifth floor, only Xu Huo at the front and Yan Jiayu at the rear remained unpolluted.

They exchanged glances across the group, and Xu Huo said, ”Speed up! We need to get down before the entire building is polluted!”

As soon as he moved, Sima Xiao Er and the others naturally followed. Along the way, they found various tools and fought their way down to the third floor. During this time, two players were dragged away by hair that flew out from the shadows, but the others remained unharmed, though the shadow on their feet had spread up to their knees.

”Come in.” Xu Huo opened the ward he had previously occupied, but after entering, it was no longer a psychiatric hospital room—instead, it was a pure white space.”What is this place?” Sima Xiao Er and more than ten others all entered, but wherever they passed, they left trails of black smoke-like substance.

Xu Huo’s gaze darkened. A mental pollution area should be unconscious, but since he was trying to lead others out, his mental power was pulling multiple people’s mental energies. The collision of these forces caused backlash, and his originally stable mental world became polluted. If they didn’t hurry to escape, with the pollution density here increasing, he might become unable to open his door.

Taking two steps forward, a new door appeared before him. Turning the handle, he found the third floor still behind it.

He quickly walked to the opposite side, opened the door again, and entered.

Sima Xiao Er and the others didn’t understand what was happening but had no choice but to follow. After passing through three doors in succession, they were still on the third floor.

The Special Defense Department players were completely bewildered by everything happening before them. Whether due to mental influence or not, they showed no signs of impatience, instead becoming increasingly silent, their expressions filled with sorrow and despair.

Sima Xiao Er remained relatively clear-headed. He said to Xu Huo, ”Brother Xu, don’t rush, stay calm. Following your method will definitely get us out!”

”If it really doesn’t work, just go out by yourself.” Yan Jiayu stepped forward, her hands and legs now also wrapped in shadows. ”I roughly understand the current situation. We’re all trapped in our own consciousness. Only we can save ourselves. Bringing us along just holds you back. It’s better for you to go alone than for everyone to die here together!”

Sima Xiao Er gave her a startled look but quickly held back his words. Wiping his eyes, he said, ”Brother Xu, life and death are predetermined. You should leave quickly... Please tell Captain Nie to give me a grand funeral. After all, I died serving my country...”

Xu Huo glanced at the Special Defense Department players who were nearly submerged by the black mist, then turned and closed the door, returning everyone completely to the third floor.

He said to Sima Xiao Er, ”I’ll take Yan Jiayu out first. If successful, I’ll come back for the others. Wait for me on the first floor.”

After speaking, he directly opened a door in the wall behind him out of nowhere, pulled Yan Jiayu inside, and entered.

After the door closed and disappeared without reappearing, Sima Xiao Er stared without blinking for several seconds before hope reignited. ”Right! Right! If he can’t take everyone at once, he can take them one by one!”

He turned and rushed to the tall dark man and others, slapping each one across the face. ”Wake up quickly! We still have a way to escape! Hurry to the first floor! Xu Huo will come back for us later!”

Unfortunately, the players remained immersed in their own worlds, merely looking up briefly before sinking back into despondency.

Sima Xiao Er anxiously paced like an ant on a hot pan. After spinning in place twice, he suddenly declared, ”Captain Nie is calling you to assemble!”

The Special Defense Department players, who had looked somewhat numb, trembled and actually stood up instinctively!

”Captain Nie, I’ll never curse you behind your back again!” Sima Xiao Er said with tears in his eyes, then shouted, ”Run downstairs!”

Meanwhile, Xu Huo led Yan Jiayu down a flight of stairs and smoothly opened a door leading outside.

Regaining consciousness, Yan Jiayu flipped to her feet, flexed her hands, and said joyfully, ”We really made it out!”

Xu Huo nodded. ”I’m going back in to get the others. Please protect the outside.”

”Alright!” Yan Jiayu held the Demon-Subduing Pestle in one hand and large scissors in the other.

Xu Huo entered the psychiatric hospital again. By now, the entire hospital was enveloped in black mist, with faint roars echoing from within.

”Brother Xu!” Sima Xiao Er stood on the lawn calling him.

Xu Huo quickly walked over, pulled him and the nearest player through the door, brought them out, then repeatedly returned to retrieve more people.

The shadows within the psychiatric hospital gradually devoured the activity areas outside the hospital. At the same time, the mist outside the abandoned building was thinning.

”Is this place going to disappear?” Yan Jiayu glanced outside.

”I’m going out to find people. Team Leader Wu and the Ting City branch members should still be outside!” Sima Xiao Er said, preparing to leave.

”This isn’t Ting City. Xu Huo and I entered this place from an orphanage in Flower City.” Yan Jiayu said, ”When did you come in?”

After comparing times, Sima Xiao Er realized, ”In just a few hours, the Fog Zone moved from Ting City to Flower City?”

The two cities weren’t far apart, but the Fog Zone contained buildings—it was a physical location. How could it just move directly to Flower City like that?

”There’s no communication between inside and outside,” he quickly called to the tall dark man and several others. ”Let’s find a way out. Next time Brother Xu comes out, tell him not to go back in. We need to escape quickly!”

The Special Defense Department players, now equipped with their gear, finally became fully alert. Several of them tied prepared ropes around themselves and exited the building one by one.

After they left, Yan Jiayu pressed her lips together: Xu Huo had been inside for too long this time.

Everyone from the first floor had already been sent out. Xu Huo didn’t leave but instead opened a door from below and returned inside the hospital.

The interior of the hospital was filled with pitch-black shadows, with no trace of its original appearance remaining anywhere. The walls and floors were covered with pulsating pustules that throbbed like living things. With each step, his feet pulled up sticky, foul-smelling filaments.