Players, Please Board the Train

Chen Zi’s method seemed absurd, but it couldn’t be said she was completely unreasonable. At the very least, they were now clear about one situation: the chaotic mess in this building mostly stemmed from their own imaginations, even though Lu Yun and the others kept reminding everyone not to think about those terrifying things.

”Even if you’re going to imagine something, don’t imagine yourself as a doctor,” Xu Huo said. ”One of the game tasks is to kill the doctor...”

Before he could finish speaking, he paused, pointing ahead and saying, ”Doctors have appeared!”

Everyone turned to look and saw several red wristband-wearing figures in white coats being chased by monsters as they ran past from the corridor.

”What are you waiting for, chase them!” Chen Zi shouted and charged forward, cleaving through the monsters crowding the corridor with a single knife strike as she pursued those doctors.

”Let’s go too!” Xu Huo also called for Lu Yun and the others to follow. However, the moment the group stepped out of this corridor, a pile of meatballs surged from behind, instantly scattering them!

Lu Yun and the others were swept into another illusory corridor. Two seconds later, the meatball encasing Xu Huo stopped wriggling and slowly split open from the middle. He stepped out, lifted his leg, and stairs appeared beneath his feet, leading straight up to the next floor.

This was the real staircase.

Reaching the second floor, it was daytime here just like the first floor. However, while the first floor was just at dawn, the second floor had already reached dusk.

The second floor was much cleaner. Apart from the increasing number of medical staff, there were no fantasy creatures like ghosts or monsters appearing for now.Xu Huo stopped a passing nurse and asked, ”Are there any patients sent to individual treatment rooms?”

”Yes, Doctor Xu,” the nurse walked ahead to lead the way, complaining as she did, ”Two patients are very stubborn. Our medical staff went through great effort to tie them up. You wouldn’t believe what they did—they actually planned to set the hospital on fire and even injured Sister Zhang and the others. To calm them down, we had to double their medication dosage.”

Arriving in front of the treatment room, Xu Huo saw that the two players who had blown up the building were already bound to their beds in specialized restraint suits, their mouths gagged. However, they were still conscious, glaring fiercely at him outside the door.

Xu Huo opened the door and walked in, picking up the medical records beside him to flip through. ”These two patients not only suffer from severe persecution delusions but also have manic episodes. Keep them confined here for a few days first. Increase their daily medication dosage by 1.5 times, and administer sedative injections morning and evening.”

”By the way, has the hospital’s latest order of electroconvulsive therapy machines arrived?”

”They have,” the nurse glanced at the people on the beds and lowered her voice, ”But the Director said that kind of equipment severely damages the brain and doesn’t align with our Seventeenth Hospital’s treatment philosophy.”

Xu Huo didn’t even look up. ”As long as the frequency is properly adjusted, it won’t cause permanent trauma to brain tissue. It can also alleviate their suffering and make them cooperate with treatment. Patients who don’t cooperate can never be cured. We’re doing this for the sake of the patients’ health.”

”I’ll speak to the Director later. First, bring the machine over. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

The nurse nodded and followed him outside the door. As she was closing it, Xu Huo added, ”If he still refuses to cooperate with treatment, there’s no need to wait for me to return.”

The bound red player, hearing this, struggled even more violently. Xu Huo glanced at him but didn’t say anything more, simply nodding to the nurse.

”Mmgh! Mmmgh!” The person in the ward was still struggling, but Xu Huo had already moved to the next ward, repeating the same instructions. Compared to the first female player, this male player appeared more terrified and immediately became docile.

Exiting the ”treatment room,” Xu Huo happened to hear a tremendous boom from upstairs, shaking the entire hospital building.

”Upstairs renovations aren’t finished yet. Later, have someone remind them that it’s almost time to get off work and not to disturb the patients’ rest,” he said to the startled nurse.

The nurse immediately accepted this explanation and promised to have security go up to communicate with them.

In reality, the dungeon had only been going on for about four hours, barely reaching dawn. But for that group upstairs, it had already been plenty of time.

Although Xu Huo had used the dungeon to kill quite a few red and black wristband players, this E-rank dungeon couldn’t truly trap A-rank players. He was just buying himself a way out while stalling for time. It was very likely that those high-level players would destroy this dungeon before it even ended.

Of course, the Dungeon Authorization Document was on him, and he could tear it up and leave at any time.

It just wasn’t time to leave yet.

Letting the white wristband players and that bunch of red and black wristband players fight each other, he altered the hospital’s structure, casually opened a door, and found Bai Kou.

Everyone else was trapped on the first and second floors of the hospital. Xu Huo had tried not to involve himself with the floors above, which were now dominated by Bai Kou’s Mental World. Although the hospital corridors and wards maintained their original layout, the interior and exterior were occupied by massive mechanical turning wheels. The sounds of interlocking gears rose and fell, segmenting this small hospital dungeon into a vast world.

Bai Kou herself held a floating globe-like sphere in her hands, the map on it constantly shifting.

”This dungeon is yours?” she turned around to ask.

”You’re injured,” Xu Huo glanced at the bloodstain on her chest.

”That Whale guy is a bit tough to deal with,” Bai Kou said indifferently. ”His profession is Train Conductor, and his characteristics lean toward manipulating metal objects, which clashes a bit with mine.”

”Can you handle this many players alone?” Xu Huo asked. ”What’s the situation with the nobles from District 011?”

Mentioning this put Bai Kou in a good mood. ”They started fighting among themselves. That female player named Mona Doug ambushed and injured Ahsis Vilner. The two sides are going at it happily.”

”What for? Surely not over the arms shipment.”

”Just power struggles,” Bai Kou wasn’t concerned about that. She tapped the sphere with her finger. Small black fragments, like metal grains, surged up from the sphere and retracted, instantly changing the pattern on it.

”My target is only those two from the Phantom Sound Knights.”

Xu Huo now confirmed that Bai Kou had a grudge with the Phantom Sound Knights members. ”You want to retrieve that batch of arms?”

Bai Kou glanced at him but didn’t deny it, instead saying, ”I don’t care about that little bit of arms, but I can’t let them off without a lesson.”

She paused, then added, ”If you can kill Hugo, all the arms he’s carrying will be yours. How about that?”

Xu Huo smiled slightly. ”You think too highly of me. I’m actually planning to make a run for it. I just came to say goodbye.”

”How boring,” Bai Kou said flatly. ”You don’t want to leave empty-handed, so don’t talk about conditions now. Spacetime Items are being suppressed, and I’ve already worn down quite a few of their items and characteristics. The timing is perfect. There’s just one thing to note: that tattoo-like pattern on Hugo’s wrist is an item. To prevent losing it, he directly sewed the item under his skin. You’ve seen its effect—it can destroy metal objects and lower-rank items without limit.”