Players, Please Board the Train

After leaving his hand, the metal cube shot forward at an extremely high speed, piercing through all obstacles in its path—which, to Ahsis and the others, were the hospital’s doors and walls—before crashing into something hard with a loud bang and flying back.

Retrieving his item, Ahsis said, ”This location is enclosed. Unless we completely destroy the dungeon space, we cannot get out.”

Under the circumstance where Spacetime Items cannot be used, forcibly dismantling a dungeon location is extremely difficult. Not to mention, while inside, it’s unclear where the boundaries of this dungeon actually lie. Raze the hospital to the ground? What if the dungeon’s boundary is in a zone of spatial chaos?

”This mutated ocean itself is quite unstable and lacks the value to become a Game Partition, which is why it could become an annual travel route. Who would have thought we’d end up lifting a rock only to drop it on our own feet this time,” Captain Matt shook his head, looking in the direction where Bai Kou had just disappeared. ”I have now lost control over the vessel, and my five senses are somewhat dulled. Perhaps we are currently sailing towards a spatial convergence zone.”

Leaving aside Ahsis and the others’ hesitation in facing the ”Seventeenth Hospital” dungeon, for Xu Huo’s side, it was truly a dramatic turn of events. The players thought all hope was lost, but who could have imagined a Random Dungeon would suddenly appear, instantly pointing them to a clear path.

”This is great! An E-rank dungeon, three tasks to choose from, we can pass it easily!” Some clapped their hands in celebration.

”One psychological treatment session, kill one doctor, find the hospital’s main gate. The most difficult of these three tasks is probably the last one,” other players began analyzing the dungeon. ”The first two both involve doctors. We should go look for doctors now.”

Although the Seventeenth Hospital was looming over them, the environment on the three lower decks of the ship had also partially changed. For example, the several elevators that should have been there were gone, replaced by staircases. The corridors no longer had the strange ocean grass patterns, turning into somewhat worn white walls with room numbers and emergency exit signs.

Of course, some of the ship’s original features remained.

The dungeon location was not completely severed from its generation point; there were signs of fusion.”To find doctors, we have to go up, right?” someone hesitated. ”I wonder what the situation is like up there?”

”They’re probably also busy trying to complete the dungeon tasks,” Xu Huo interjected at this moment. As the dungeon’s holder, while the game had placed many restrictions on his actions, his grasp of the dungeon location was undiluted. Especially since this was a dungeon intrinsically linked to mental evolution, he could fully overlay his Mental World onto this dungeon. Therefore, he was aware of every change occurring anywhere within the dungeon.

Of course, that bunch of nobles included quite a few high-level players. Using an E-rank dungeon and his Mental World might not be enough to trap them. But fortunately, there was Bai Kou. As a high-level player, her mental evolution far surpassed his. This dungeon was like a fish in water for her as well.

Earlier, she had been in direct confrontation with Hugo and Whale, but now she had already distanced herself from that group.

However, the other players all took his words as a joke, believing high-level players wouldn’t waste time in an E-rank dungeon. Captain Matt might even use the vessel to counterattack any moment now.

A counterattack was probably hopeless. If there was no reaction when the dungeon appeared, it proved the vessel had been rendered ineffective under the influence of ”Three Seconds of a Life.”

Touching the stopwatch in his pocket, he was the first to step out. ”Rather than waiting for them to dismantle the dungeon and then come kill us, we might as well go out and take a chance. If we can clear the dungeon, we can leave this hellhole immediately.”

”Mr. Xu makes a good point,” Serin also stepped out, smiling as he said, ”I told you before, God will protect us.”

The desire to survive overcame their fear of the red and black wristbands. The white wristband wearers filed out of the underground third floor, ascending to the fourth floor via the staircase at the center.

The fourth and fifth floors were originally staggered, with only a small intersection at the center. However, when the players walked up, they found the area above had transformed into the hospital’s outpatient building.

”Not even a single nurse. Where are we supposed to find doctors?” a player said, looking at the empty space.

”Isn’t that a nurse over there?” a female player pointed towards the depths of the corridor.

The others immediately looked over but saw nothing there.

”She just walked past,” the female player hurried after her. ”I’ll go ask where we can find doctors.”

Besides her, a few other players followed. The remaining people began looking around the building.

”Aren’t we patients? Why aren’t there any doctors coming to receive us?” another person said. ”Are mental patients left unsupervised?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a nurse appeared at the reception desk, expressionlessly pulling out a stack of wristbands. ”Put these on yourselves, go upstairs and find a place to stay. The room doors have names on them.”

The players exchanged glances; for the moment, no one dared to reach out.

Serin stepped forward, smiling as he asked, ”This beautiful lady, may I ask when we can see a doctor?”

The nurse showed a slight smile. ”All the doctors are off duty now. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning.”

”Outside is broad daylight! What do you mean off duty?” a player shouted.

The nurse’s face fell again. ”If your mind isn’t clear, go to sleep early. It’s already one o’clock in the morning.”

The shocked player turned to look towards the front of the outpatient hall—there should have been the main entrance there, and it indeed looked like the main entrance earlier. But now, looking over, the bright light outside the door had turned into the overly bright glow of fluorescent lights.

Remembering it was indeed night before entering the dungeon, this player didn’t say anything more.

The nurse then snorted, handing Serin an Access Card. ”Swipe the card and hang it on the door. I’ll come collect it later. Don’t take it away.”

”What happens if we take it away?” Serin asked with a smile.

”Not following medical advice is a common problem among patients. Usually, in such cases, medication treatment is intensified,” the nurse patiently explained after glancing at his face. ”Our Seventeenth Hospital has never liked treating patients this way, so you’d better not cause trouble for the medical staff.”

At that moment, the few players who had left earlier returned. The female player said, ”There’s information about the hospital’s doctors posted in the corridor. Here are the photos.”

A group of players broke into smiles, scrambling to crowd around and look.

”Truly a worrisome doctor-patient relationship,” Xu Huo sighed, then turned to ask the nurse, ”Are there surveillance cameras in the corridors and wards?”

The ”nurses” that some players had imagined and confirmed, he could also see. Just like when he was trapped in this hospital before, imagined things would gradually become real in others’ perceptions over time, and the more they believed, the more real they became.

”Of course there are,” the nurse seemed unconcerned about why they were so interested in the doctors, sitting back down to play a game.

”These people... I think I’ve seen them before,” a player said after looking at the photos. ”One of them seems to be a noble from District 011.”

”More than one. Everyone in these photos is wearing a red wristband,” Lu Yun said.