A few people were just hanged, and the suspense disappeared. Han Qianqiu said regretfully, “How could such an important matter be forgotten… according to what you said, the impression should be deep!”
“I forgot, that’s it,” Xia He said helplessly, “I can’t help it. Human memory is like this, sometimes the more important things are, the faster they are forgotten. And there are so many rooms here, so many players, coming and going, how can it be so clear? My first-time team members have become blurry NPCs.”
“Did the big shots you mentioned gather six gold coins and leave here?”
“I don’t know,” both Xia He and Zheng De shook their heads, “haven’t heard of anyone leaving here.”
Xia He added, “It’s precisely because we haven’t heard that we are becoming more and more lax.”
Han Qianqiu sighed, “Isn’t this hopeless?”
“Yes,” the KP’s voice sounded, “to prevent the three newcomers from being disappointed in our game, I can reveal some information to you. Since the game room was opened until now, a total of fifteen players have successfully left. When you gather six gold coins, you can see the throne standing at the end of the corridor.”
As if the KP was particularly gracious, the illusion of a vast and vague shadow appeared before them.
Large stone doors were arranged on both sides, and in the middle, it seemed as if a deep canyon split open, straight to the limit of the sky and earth. At the farthest point, there were several towering and deep blue thrones, occasionally flashing indistinct golden patterns, splendid and mysterious.
“This is your goal,” the KP said, “if you can become the one whose name is engraved on the Giant’s Throne, the Arbiter will grant you the highest reward.”
“The Arbiter?” Han Qianqiu asked, “What is that?”
“The leader of the Game Masters, who seems to have created this world. You can understand it as the supreme god here,” Zheng De finished the last bite of bread and said, “Well, don’t waste time here. I regret to say that I am not like those who enjoy the game. I insist on returning to the real world. Hopefully, there won’t be any selfish people in this game this time.” He glanced at Xia He with a fierce look.
Xia He raised his eyebrows and said, “Although I enjoy the game, I never lag behind and always cooperate actively.”
At this point, Han Qianqiu realized that the game players in this world, like online game players, can be classified.
Thinking of the big shots mentioned by the two, he couldn’t help but feel envious. Han Qianqiu sighed and said, “If we could encounter such big shots, it would be great, clearing the game in one day… I dare not even think about it. But it’s also good to explore the entire story! Oh, careful thought, these are two contradictory ways of playing. If these two players join forces, won’t they fight? Where are they?” Muttering halfway, he found that Shen Lin sitting next to him was gone. Carefully searching, he found Shen Lin, dressed in a white coat, standing at the front desk.
Shen Lin was talking to the nurse at the front desk with a gentle smile. The nurse blushed and dared not lift her head to speak with Shen Lin.
After a while, she handed a document to Shen Lin.
When Shen Lin got up this morning, he had already checked the next room. It was empty, with no patients, but the sheets and beddings were newly replaced, indicating that someone had just left.
After inquiring with the on-duty nurse, he learned that the original occupant was a patient with a phobia of circles. Due to improvement, he was transferred from the third floor to the second floor. Shen Lin wanted to see the detailed information of this person and found out that the front desk had just registered.
“Dr. Shen,” the front desk nurse cautiously spoke to Shen Lin, “What happened to this patient?”
“It’s okay, I’m just observing,” Shen Lin said casually.
The nurse had an impression of the patient and talked to Shen Lin, “Jiang Yiming, he has a phobia of circles, feeling uncomfortable and itchy all over when he sees circles. Last time I saw him, he was covered in blood, which scared me. But thanks to proper treatment, he has improved a lot. This morning, the hospital director personally checked him and approved a reduction in the level of danger.”
Jiang Yiming, a phobia of circles…
Shen Lin suddenly reacted!
The iron plate!
The phobia written on the iron plate matched!
But why did it match? This matter was too mysterious. Shen Lin originally thought that the world he saw last night was a world of unknown origin, perhaps a state of this hospital in a certain year, or maybe it existed in the imaginative world of someone.
But Shen Lin brought the iron plate back from that world and found a person in the real world corresponding to each mark on the iron plate.
This was too strange, as if the two worlds were connected.
The KP suddenly said, “Let’s have an inspiration check.”
Shen Lin rolled the dice, checked 75/65, succeeded.
A pitch-black scene appeared before him, and Shen Lin seemed to fall into the thick fog he saw last night. He saw a thin and withered man lying on the bed, curled up hiding under the quilt. The world was surrounded by dense circles, and the person scratched his body, skin cracked and bleeding, constantly muttering something.
The KP said again, “Let’s have an extremely difficult listening check.”
The difficulty of listening checks was half of the normal value, and extremely difficult listening was 1/4 of the normal value. Shen Lin’s listening skill was only 40, so to pass the extremely difficult listening, he had to roll below 10.
A black and white dice appeared in front of him. Shen Lin flicked the surface of the dice. Black and white almost merged into one, alternately colliding, and finally stopped—
6 points.
Shen Lin said, “Oh, almost a critical success.”
The KP said, “… You’re too terrifying.” But he quickly found a psychological balance, “However, sometimes, an inspiration-related check being too easy is not a good thing.”
After leaving this meaningful remark, Shen Lin’s ears were filled with scattered and chaotic murmurs, as if a person in despair was constantly begging for the blessing of the gods, speaking at a rapid pace, making it difficult to form complete sentences.
“Twins… too… Black Star…”
“Strange, lost…”
“Ignorance, dawn…”
“Law, singing…”
Shen Lin: “???”
The KP, an emotionless reasoning check machine, said, “SAN check, success, subtract 1; failure, subtract 1d6.”
“Subtract 1d6 without hearing anything clearly?” Shen Lin asked.
The KP replied, “Yes.”
“Oh.” Shen Lin quickly muttered a paragraph, every word and tone were unreadable garbled characters. After finishing, he said to the KP without expression, “SAN check, success, subtract 1; failure, subtract 1d6.”
kp: “……”
Shen Lin: “I’m not foolish.”
kp: “Then deduct 1d3 for the failure……”
Shen Lin throws the dice, fails the sanity check, loses another three-sided die, and deducts 2 sanity points.
Pulled out from the fantasy world, Shen Lin’s head is pounding, filled with fragments of incomprehensible words and vocabulary. He presses his temple, and the eyes under the lenses are dark and profound.
Shen Lin asks, “Who is Jiang Yiming’s attending doctor?”
“Doctor Zhao Li Zhao.”
Shen Lin nods, suddenly remembering something, and asks, “What patients does Dr. Wang Jingan handle?”
“Dr. Wang used to be in charge of a patient with delusional wings, but now he only takes care of Liu Xiaotao. That child’s condition is special, and also the most stubborn case, but it has improved a lot now. The child is so cute, hoping for an early recovery and discharge.”
“Do you have information on Liu Xiaotao?”
“Yes.”
A nurse brings over a file. Shen Lin doesn’t have high expectations for such information, and apart from the record of “transferred three years ago,” there is little useful information.
If he asks for more, he can only get miscellaneous gossip clues. Shen Lin politely says, “Thank you.”
Zheng De on the side sarcastically says, “The nurses here are pouring their hearts out to you. Even my son, who is the son of the director, doesn’t get this treatment. It’s sour.”
Shen Lin smiles politely, says nothing, and brushes past Zheng De.
Zheng De is stunned for a moment, his mind blank. After reacting, he wipes his face and curses, “Damn, appearance matters so much.”
Han Qianqiu asks Shen Lin, “How is it? Any clues?”
Shen Lin says, “Not yet.”
This game has brought them to a point where Han Qianqiu can’t figure things out. Trying to understand the situation here, his mind crashes as soon as he attempts to process the information. He can’t help but ask Shen Lin for help, “Lin Mei, you’re smart, explain the situation to me.”
Shen Lin glances at him and calmly says, “This hospital received a commendation award at the city level for its high discharge and transfer rates. However, through our investigation, we found that this is actually a shell hospital, with very few capable doctors. So, why is there such a high cure rate? That’s what we need to understand. Also, the situation we encountered last night, what was that thing wrapped in black mist? What does it want to do? Why does the hospital exist in two states? What was the hospital we saw last night? Understanding these things might provide answers to how the hospital achieves such a high cure rate.”
Han Qianqiu looks desperate, grits his teeth, and repeats, “Only if.”
“It’s essentially one question.” Thinking about the investigation they missed last night, Shen Lin says unpleasantly, “We missed a crucial clue last night. I don’t know if I can encounter it again now.”
kp says, “Everyone, make an investigation roll.”
They roll one by one, and this time, surprisingly, everyone fails their investigation rolls.
kp: “…………”
kp, feeling a bit frustrated, says, “Okay, now make a listen roll.”
However, once again, all four people fail their listen rolls.
kp: “…………”
kp, feeling a bit exasperated, says, “Well, you guys are quite adept at being blind and deaf.”
“Lin Mei hasn’t rolled yet, right?” Han Qianqiu hastily says, “The hope of the whole village!”
Shen Lin was lost in thought, almost subconsciously rolling the dice.
Rolling a 40/4, a critical success!
After that, before he fully withdrew from his thoughts, Shen Lin heard laughter from outside the room. The sound was faint, as if coming from a distant place.
Shen Lin paused for a moment, identifying a slightly different madness in the faint sound.
Shen Lin’s face suddenly darkened, rushing out quickly. The electronic door opened before him, taking a few steps, looking up, a woman was sitting on the edge of the balcony, feet hanging, looking up at the sky with a smile.
She had long flowing hair, slowly standing up.
“What’s happening here?!” Han Qianqiu widened his eyes, “Isn’t she going to jump off?”
She flipped over the railing, standing on the edge of the fourth-floor balcony, barefoot, half of her sole supporting, and the remaining half dangling dangerously outside.
“I’m going to fly!” She wore a long white dress, arms spread open, and when she raised her arms, the sleeves billowed in the wind, resembling wings.
“I want to fly! Flying!”
Yan Xiu hurriedly ran into the hospital and quickly went upstairs.
Zheng De said anxiously, “Something’s wrong with that girl. Isn’t she really going to jump off?”
Xia He turned back and shouted, “Is anyone there! Someone is going to jump! Help—”
The girl took a step forward.
Xia He screamed in horror.
Shen Lin said, “I’ll roll a persuade check.”
“She is a patient with delusional wings syndrome, and she is standing high. You need to pass a difficult luck roll to ensure she can hear your voice.”
Shen Lin gritted his teeth and coldly said, “Pass.”
He rolled the dice: 85/38, success.
“Roll another difficult persuade.”
Shen Lin didn’t push his luck much, only rolling a 40. To succeed, he needed to roll 20 or less.
Taking a deep breath, he rolled the dice.
Rolling a 40/18.
Success!
A fleeting excitement flashed in Shen Lin’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it, focusing on the patient’s condition. Shen Lin shouted, “Xu Lu!”
Xu Lu stopped, looking at Shen Lin with confusion, “Doctor Shen…?”
Shen Lin said, “Your wings look beautiful. Can you stand there and let me appreciate them carefully?”
Xu Lu stepped back, opened her arms, and smiled, “Of course!”
Shen Lin said, “Enter the railing, Xu Lu. It’s too windy there, and the feathers on your wings are too messy. They don’t look as good as the last time you showed me.”
“Really?” Xu Lu turned her head, and this small movement made her sway dangerously, almost falling.
Xia He was afraid, covering her eyes and not daring to look.
Shen Lin said, “Don’t move for now—right there. I see it! There’s something in your wings. Take a step back, grab the railing. This way, I can see more clearly.”
While Shen Lin bought time, Yan Xiu quickly intercepted Xu Lu from behind, lifting her waist and pulling her inside.
Shen Lin heaved a sigh of relief.
But time was of the essence. They rushed to the fourth floor, checking Xu Lu’s condition.
Shen Lin conducted a medical examination on Xu Lu, ensuring she had no external injuries, just extremely unstable emotions, currently in an abnormally excited state.
On the side, Yan Xiu held onto Xu Lu’s arm.
Xu Lu looked at Shen Lin, displaying her wings, “Doctor Shen, look at my wings. Are they beautiful?”
Shen Lin nodded, “Beautiful, they match you very well.”
Xu Lu proudly raised her head, “I knew I have wings. When Jianjian comes, I want to show him my wings.”
“Who is Jianjian?”
“Jianjian is my boyfriend, Dr. Shen. Next time, I’ll introduce you two. He’s very good, and I love him very much.”
kp says, “Make a listen roll.”
After they all made their rolls, they clearly heard the nurses discussing quietly nearby. “It’s miserable. I heard that Xu Lu was about to be discharged. How did she suddenly become like this? She even fantasizes about having a boyfriend… I’ve never seen her boyfriend.”
“It was revealed in the early morning. The director foresaw it and had the caregivers transfer her to the fourth floor and lock her up. Who could have expected her to jump directly!”
“So scary. What’s wrong with Xu Lu?”
“She has delusional wings syndrome. She always thinks she has wings and can fly. Luckily, nothing happened. If something had happened, our hospital would have been finished!”
Seeing this, Han Qianqiu concluded, “Your dad definitely has a problem. Your family’s hospital definitely has a problem.”
“Damn,” Zheng De looked bitter, “It’s my fault for being so talkative and poking fun.”
At this moment, the hospital’s caregivers arrived, and a middle-aged man with black-framed glasses walked up to check Xu Lu’s condition. Shen Lin stopped them.
The middle-aged man, wearing a nameplate that read “Dr. Zhao Li,” looked at Shen Lin coldly, “Dr. Shen, I am Xu Lu’s attending physician now. Please step aside and let me treat her.”
Shen Lin said, “Sorry, she is my patient now.”
“Sorry, I haven’t heard about this,” Dr. Zhao Li said stubbornly. “The director just called me to come over! I have never heard about this! If it’s true, please show written proof.”
“No written proof, but is this face enough?” Shen Lin raised his chin towards Zheng De.
Zheng De: “……”
Dr. Zhao looked over.
“Are you acknowledging your family ties?” kp happily said, “Then roll… let me think, what should you roll to prove that you are father and son?”
Han Qianqiu: “How to prove that my dad is my dad.”
kp: “Roll a luck check, see if you can be recognized by him.”
Zheng De rubbed his hands, eager to take advantage, but before he could make use of it, Shen Lin excitedly rolled the dice.
Luck check: 60/65, failure.
Dr. Zhao looked at Zheng De, unimpressed, “I don’t know him.”
Zheng De: “…………”
Han Qianqiu muttered, “Are you possibly an illegitimate child?”
“It’s okay, not recognizing is fine,” Shen Lin said. “Intimidation, persuasion, rhetoric… which one should we use? Or should we just resort to violence?”
kp: “……What are you planning to do to my NPC?”
“Nothing.” Shen Lin said casually, but his face clearly indicated that he intended to let this doctor experience the darkness of the medical world.
