Players, Please Board the Train

Lu Yun recognized that all the doctors on the bulletin board were Red Wristbands, which made the players present couldn’t help but turn grim-faced. ”If all the doctors are Red Wristbands, then to complete the second task, the only option is to go kill Red Wristbands.”

To ensure the safety of the Red and Black Wristbands, the White Wristbands allowed on board had been meticulously selected. Regardless of background, they were basically players with not very high levels. Even though some of those Red Wristbands might not have much practical combat experience, the quantity and grade of items they possessed absolutely far surpassed those of the White Wristbands. The two sides were simply incomparable. Otherwise, so many White Wristbands wouldn’t have been killed at the start of the hunting.

Now, the dungeon was clearly labeling Red Wristbands as doctors, obviously intending for them to go fight Red Wristbands to the death.

”I think this dungeon isn’t trying to make us go kill Red Wristbands, but rather to have the Red Wristbands come kill us,” a player said. ”The first task is to complete one psychological treatment. Only doctors can treat patients. Do you think Red Wristbands would cooperate to let us clear the dungeon?”

”Then why don’t we go do the third task? Isn’t the hospital’s main gate right over there?”

Following the direction pointed by the speaker, everyone turned around. The hospital’s main gate was conspicuously placed directly in front of the reception desk. There was no issue of not finding it.

”But is this the hospital’s main gate?” Serin walked over and tried pushing the gate. It didn’t open, and he didn’t clear the dungeon either.

Several more players went up to try one after another, all returning without success.

”Even though it’s an E-grade dungeon, it doesn’t mean the clearance method is just sitting right in front of you,” Lu Yun said. ”Did you notice the dungeon’s final reminder? This dungeon might cause hallucinations. That is to say, the gate we see is not the gate. The real gate is somewhere else in the hospital, we just haven’t discovered it yet.”

”Then let’s go find it,” a player hesitantly suggested. ”But there are still Red and Black Wristbands in the dungeon.””I have a detection item I can use,” said the spirited female player who had spoken several times before, Chen Zi. ”It can detect the number of people within a certain range. I think the Red and Black Wristbands probably don’t dare to move around freely right now either.”

”That makes sense,” Xu Huo spoke up. ”Many Black Wristbands have no experience cracking dungeons at all. They might be hiding like startled birds right now.”

Thinking this way was also reasonable. The opportunity was right in front of them. Even with danger, they had to take the risk.

So, everyone first searched the entire first floor, then went upstairs according to the nurse’s instructions to look for the wards.

The staircase had an access control gate. After Serin used a card to open it, he didn’t leave the card behind. Instead, he said to the group, ”What if returning it really locks us in?”

Players found it hard to trust each other. Everyone was afraid of being locked in, but also unwilling to trust him. A player stepped forward and attached a small item to the electronic lock, removing it a few seconds later. ”This door lock can’t be locked now.”

With the electronic lock broken, even if it latched, it could be easily pushed open.

Everyone was satisfied with this arrangement and stepped onto the stairs to the hospital’s second floor.

Exiting the stairs led to a large nurses’ station, currently unmanned. To the left, right, and directly ahead of the station were corridors. Both left and right sides were lined with wards. Only at the end of the corridor directly ahead was there a doctor’s office.

After walking a loop around the corridor, the players actually discovered their own names.

”That’s strange, how could the dungeon possibly know our names?”

”Didn’t you hear Lu Yun say this might be an illusion? Who besides yourself would know your name?”

”Then how are we supposed to rest tonight? We’ve checked every room on this floor, the windows, the walls. There are no doors, and we can’t go up to the third floor.”

”Just make do in any room. I have a bad feeling. Entering a room might turn us into real mental patients.”

”Idiot.”

”Don’t be so skeptical. Do you understand what psychological suggestion is?”

”I don’t understand, and I don’t believe it. You’re holding items, can’t you tell reality from illusion?”

...

The players argued noisily, but that was all they could do. Temporarily unable to clear the dungeon, they simply rested near the nurses’ station.

As time passed, some players felt tired and started dozing off against the walls. Those with better stamina forced themselves to stay awake. But right then, a player suddenly stared into the deep corridor and shouted, ”Who’s there!”

Everyone was startled awake and quickly entered combat readiness. However, when illumination items were shone over, there was nothing in the corridor.

”Are you seeing things?” Chen Zi said.

The player with a gaunt face and dark eye bags said with a grim expression, ”I clearly saw someone walk past.”

”There’s no one over there,” Xu Huo said. ”Didn’t we all check just now?”

”Could it be a Red Wristband who climbed in from an outside window?” another player tried to offer a reasonable explanation.

”Over there!” the gaunt player suddenly pointed down the corridor directly ahead. This time, several people shone their lights over and indeed caught the tail end of a human figure.

”Fuck it, let’s do this!” Chen Zi threw her light forward and charged directly. ”There are so many of us, are we afraid of just one?”

She was clearly not the only one with this thought. At least six or seven players rushed out simultaneously. But when they chased to the ward door, the figure had vanished again, leaving only the curtains at the window fluttering.

”Lucky he ran fast!” the few said somewhat unwillingly as they left the room.

After resting in place for a while longer, another player saw a figure in the corridor. This time, more people gave chase, but they still didn’t catch the other party.

”What does this mean? Toying with us?” Chen Zi was puzzled. ”What’s the point?”

”We might be hallucinating,” Lu Yun frowned. ”Everyone, don’t run around. Don’t think about the figure...”

Before he finished speaking, he also saw a person standing at the end of the corridor, a red wristband reflecting a faint glimmer in the darkness.

Others followed his gaze and once again chose to swarm forward. This time was slightly better. When the vanguard squeezed into the room, they happened to see the other party climbing out the window to escape. Two players rushed to the window in one breath and were about to jump down after them, but were stopped in time by Lu Yun.

”Wait! First look at what’s down below!”

The two players snapped back to their senses, squeezing their eyes hard. After a moment, they came to their senses and retreated in shock. Outside the window wasn’t anything else, but a sea filled with a corrosive aura!

”The situation is quite clear now. Even though we feel like we’re on the second floor, we’re actually right next to the sea surface,” Serin said. ”If we had forcibly broken the main gate on the first floor earlier, we might have let seawater pour in.”

Everyone felt somewhat troubled. Xu Huo asked at the right moment, ”Then how do we determine what’s real and what’s false in this building?”

”We are within the dungeon’s venue. At the very least, we are isolated from the outside world. As long as we don’t try to break through the hospital’s boundaries, we should be fine for now,” Lu Yun said after a moment’s thought.

”Then tell me, are the figures we saw hallucinations or a setup by the Red Wristbands?” the gaunt player asked.