Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Lucky Jinton

With the precedent set by the mage, Wu Chang had no desire to even open the door; he lay obediently on the bed and drifted into dreamland.

In this dangerous and unfamiliar environment, he slept surprisingly well, until a knock on the door woke him at dawn.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a nurse standing in the room, knocking on the open door with her hand.

”Mr. Sean, it’s time for your examination.”

Wu Chang sat up from the bed, using the pretense of rubbing his eyes to size up the nurse.

His gaze swept over the nurse, finally resting on the name tag hanging from her prominent chest.

”Julie Smith”

Perhaps it was fate with this name, Nurse Julie had an aggressively stern visage combined with a sexy yet cold demeanor, bearing an eighty-percent resemblance to a certain female celebrity he knew in real life.

Julie tossed a set of blue and white checkered hospital clothes onto the bed, saying expressionlessly, ”Put them on.”

Wu Chang picked up the hospital clothes and hesitated, glancing at Julie, seeing no intent of her leaving, he asked:

”Aren’t you going to look away?”

”Observing patients is part of the examination process.”

Julie had no objections, and Wu Chang certainly wasn’t going to be squeamish, so he began changing immediately.

As Wu Chang removed his shirt, revealing his angular and sturdy physique, Julie raised her eyebrow, watching intently.

If her gaze was an examination, the sharpness of it was definitely giving Wu Chang an X-ray.

Wu Chang struck a one-arm-on-hip pose, showcasing his muscles, and joked, ”Care to give me a score?”

”Full marks,” Julie said straightforwardly.

”Really?”

”Of course, folks in this town who eat potatoes don’t have such a good figure.”

Whether it was an illusion or not, Julie’s tone remained flat throughout, yet Wu Chang sensed an added meaning.

Julie seemed to be hinting that his physique might expose his status as an outsider.

He quickly got dressed, regardless of whether it was an illusion or not, it’s always better to be cautious.

What’s that saying, a despicable outsider.

In many games, locals are depicted as very ”warm and hospitable.”

Seeing Wu Chang fully dressed, Julie withdrew her gaze and led him out of the room.

The interior design of the sanatorium was consistent; outside the room, it was purely minimalist, with everything for practicality, with no superfluous decoration in sight.

On both sides of the gray and white corridor, there were embedded heavy iron doors, with nurses in white uniforms patrolling back and forth, vigilantly watching each iron door.

Not every patient residing in Moonlight Sanatorium was as healthy as Wu Chang.

From the moment he left the room, the wailing, crying, and screaming never ceased in his ear, clearly audible even through the thick iron doors.

”What illness do they have?” Wu Chang asked softly.

Julie said, ”Same as you, delusion.”

Wu Chang: ”...”

If Julie hadn’t said anything, he would have thought there was some organ removal operation behind the door.

The delusion in this instance seemed slightly different than his understanding of it.

The sanatorium as a whole was a four-story building, with the examination area for patients on the third floor.

After a brief wait, Wu Chang followed Julie into the minor illness consultation room.

A middle-aged man sat in the consultation room, of ordinary appearance, with obvious bags under his eyes, looking somewhat haggard. The name tag on his chest read ”Charles.”

Wu Chang took one look and felt this person was unreliable.

For a doctor of this age to still have thick and lush hair, his medical skills likely wouldn’t be that advanced.

Charles asked with his head down, ”Name?”

”Wu... Sean.”

Charles pulled out a medical record from beside him, glanced at it, then threw out a package of medicine.

”Three times a day, effects start half an hour after ingestion, take the last dose before bed.”

Wu Chang opened the waterproof package to find three capsules inside.

”Item Name: Special Medicine.”

”Type: Consumables.”

”Item Description: During the effective period of the medicine, it isolates the mind from external influences, immunizing against minor spiritual attacks. Side Effects: During the effective period, hallucinations will randomly appear before the eyes. After the drug’s effects wear off, Willpower Limit decreases by 0.1, lasting until the instance ends.”

”Note: As long as I go mad first, nothing can drive me crazy.”

Wu Chang calmly put away the Special Medicine, his gaze becoming peculiar.

Can such Special Medicine really cure patients?

Having completed the prescription, Charles pressed the bell on the table, signaling a farewell:

”Next.”

Throughout the consultation, Charles never even got a good look at Wu Chang’s face.

Tsk, truly an inept doctor.

Leaving the consultation room, Wu Chang asked quietly, ”Is this kind of consultation really fine?”

Julie turned her head, answering with an emotionless tone, ”Doctor Charles is experienced, there’s no need to worry.”

```

Wu Chang: ”Miss Julie, turn your head and look at me, then say it again.”

Julie quickened her pace, heading towards the first floor without looking back, stiffly saying: ”Hurry up, or we’ll miss breakfast.”

Descending to the main hall of the sanatorium on the first floor, the first thing that came into view was an open wooden door.

Outside the wooden door was the front yard of the sanatorium, surrounded by an iron fence that separated the inside and outside, with a symbolic chain lock hanging on the gate of the iron fence.

Beside the gate stood a wooden token.

”During the control period, passage requires the director’s hand order, unauthorized entry and exit is prohibited.”

Whether it was the wooden door of the sanatorium or the iron gate, neither was fortified. They could be smashed open with just a paper clip, a hammer, or even a brick.

The main task of the instance is to leave Moonlight Sanatorium. If it were anyone else, even knowing a B-Level instance couldn’t be this simple, they would still stubbornly give it a try.

But Wu Chang wouldn’t.

The artistic splatters of blood on the gate were all warning him not to get himself killed.

Each bloodstain was a cluster of grievances.

Some grievances splashed into the air, revealing the form of an air wall. The air wall merged with the iron fence, enveloping the entire sanatorium.

He randomly chose a few grievances to inspect; the owners of the grievances included both players and natives of the instance plane.

No matter their identity, anyone who touched the gate instantly dropped dead, bodies twisted and vanished as if devoured by something unknown, without struggle or resistance.

In the cafeteria on the left side of the hall, Wu Chang received his breakfast.

Two unpeeled potatoes and a small bowl of stewed beans.

The beans were completely simmered down, mixed with some unknown sauce, resembling vomit both in taste and texture after being digested several times.

Julie was right, eating this stuff doesn’t help one grow meat.

Holding his breakfast, he followed Julie to the activity room on the first floor.

Entertainment in the activity room was like time in the exercise yard of a prison—it was one of the few times patients had any freedom of activity.

By the time they arrived, almost thirty patients were scattered in the activity room, gathering in groups of three to five, loudly plotting escape plans back to back or seriously discussing footwork changes when kicking a ball around a vase.

Watching these actions that filled his mind with questions, Wu Chang confirmed that this was indeed a bona fide psychiatric hospital.

Before entering the activity room, Julie whispered:

”Two pieces of advice for you: One, don’t cause trouble here, especially under the eyes of the medical staff. Two, if you want to leave intact, best not to provoke Kinton.”

”Why?”

”That guy is very good at toying with people’s minds. Many who have gambled with him have accelerated the deterioration of their condition, becoming idiots ahead of schedule.”

”I’ll be careful.”

Watching Julie’s departing back, Wu Chang could confirm his previous feeling wasn’t a delusion; Julie was helping him.

Whatever her intentions, she could count as half an ally.

Walking into the activity room, before he could get a clear view of the room’s layout, his eyes were drawn, like a magnet, to a fat man shuffling cards alone at a table.

Wu Chang was sure; he was the fat man who appeared in the Mage’s grievances.

To grow into over three hundred pounds just by eating limited supplies of potatoes and stewed beans requires a strong stomach not everyone has.

This fellow either had a private stash or could gain weight even drinking cold water.

The noticeable aspect of the fat man was not just his physique but also the dense grievances behind him.

With a rough glance, there were no fewer than twenty grievances, with two particularly striking ones: one bright red, one dark red.

Compared to him, even Bloodthorn, who committed his grisly acts on a bus, seemed well-behaved.

Wu Chang found a spot in the corner to sit, stuffing stewed beans into his mouth while examining the grievances on the fat man.

This act reminded him of the fourth roommate who watched daily traffic accident compilations while eating in their dorm.

It must be said, this method was quite appetizing; after reviewing all the grievances, he managed to finish off those vomit-like stewed beans.

Questioning the fourth roommate, understanding the fourth roommate, becoming the fourth roommate, surpassing the fourth roommate!

The scenes from the grievances behind the fat man mostly revolved around gambling.

”All in, must go all in!”

...

”I’ve got four Kings, I can’t believe you have a Royal Flush!”

...

”Goddess of Fortune is smiling, I’m hitting the jackpot today!”

...

Among the numerous faint red grievances, the last recorded scenes mostly captured grabbing a big hand, shouting to reveal cards with red eyes, feelings of mania from the owners of grievances could be felt across their dying words.

Treasuring Life, keeping away from gambling.

Wu Chang shook his head, placed the bowl on the table beside him, pocketed the two potatoes, and walked over to the card-shuffling fat man.

”Playing cards alone is so dull, how about playing a few rounds with me?”

The fat man looked up at Wu Chang, expressing joy like a child discovering a new toy.

”Sure, if you’re willing to play with me, we’re friends. I haven’t seen you before, are you new?”

Wu Chang sat down heavily across from the fat man, saying: ”Yeah, my name’s Sean, what’s yours?”

The fat man smiled and said, ”I’m Kinton, everyone calls me ’Kinton the Lucky.’”