Chapter 163.3 Frank Hospital
Ji Yuanzhi, left alone, quietly observed everything before him.
A mirage.
Having a similar skill, Ji Yuanzhi was well aware that the ward he saw wasn’t its true appearance.
Six patients, seven beds. Ji Yuanzhi walked over to the only unoccupied bed. A strong, bloody odor seeped from the pristine bedding as he nonchalantly lay down.
All pairs of eyes were fixed on him. Shortly after Ji Yuanzhi lay down, he suddenly sat up and asked, “Where’s the restroom?”
One of the fellow patients took the initiative to show him the way.
The environment in the dim corridor was much worse than in the ward. Everything was barely visible, and cobwebs on the ceiling seemed almost ready to fall on their faces. The patient who guided him had his eyes nearly glued to Ji Yuanzhi, and his deep red tongue extended—
What fresh meat!
Just as the patient was about to drool, the melodious and delightful singing suddenly filled the air. He was bewildered, where was this singing coming from?
The singing seemed to come from all directions. The muscles on Ji Yuanzhi’s taut back would occasionally relax and then tense again, indicating that he was the one singing.
The melody that came from his mouth was much more pleasant than the ethereal songs in the ward.
“Do you like it?”
The patient was lost in thought for a moment, nodding dazedly. But the next moment, he discovered with horror that there was a bloody hole in his chest, and the man in front of him had grown long hair, initially appearing silver but actually a very pale shade of blue. Those long strands of hair were burrowing into the wound, greedily devouring the monster’s flesh and blood.
Ji Yuanzhi maintained a mild smile as he said, “Now, we are of the same kind.”
To avoid being eliminated by the monster patients, he had to become like the monsters themselves. On his way upstairs, he took out half of the Merfolk King’s heart and accelerated its absorption and fusion.
The patient’s body below his neck disappeared, leaving only his head able to move. He tried to speak, but no words came out.
After dealing with one monster with his own hands, Ji Yuanzhi returned to the ward.
He came back alone, still carrying the lingering scent of blood that couldn’t be washed away. The polite smiles of the other five patients in the room vanished. Instead, they stared at him with cold, coffin-like expressions, but none of them made a move.
The hospital assessed patients based on their symptoms, but in the deep zones of Frank Hospital, they only admitted true monsters.
His previous fusion was not thorough enough. After devouring the flesh and blood, the Merfolk King’s heart was almost completely fused with Ji Yuanzhi’s chest. The transformation process turned his eyes a bright crimson. Ji Yuanzhi removed his glasses and leaned against the wall, reading the Treatment Guidelines.
【7:00-8:00: Nurses recite prayers and perform exorcism rituals for patients.
9:00-9:30: Bloodletting therapy.
12:00-13:00: Hydrotherapy.
19:00: Rotation therapy.】
For ordinary people, this series of treatments would be torturous and highly lethal. But for monsters, it might not be as effective.
Ji Yuanzhi’s gaze shifted slightly. In instances, there was always a way out. These terrifying treatments were likely to be effective when applied to monsters.
It could slow down the process of transformation.
Interesting.
After achieving a common species alignment, monsters had no reason to actively attack him unless he initiated it himself. There had to be more than one ward in this area, so he could go hunting at any time. Merfolk, in their nature, thrived by devouring flesh and blood. What could be more nourishing than monster flesh?
During the daytime, he could “enjoy treatment” for free, restraining his own transformation. He believed that after consuming a certain number of patients, his strength would overpower this area.
He was busy all night.
When the nurse appeared the next day, Ji Yuanzhi’s hair had grown wildly, one of his eyeballs had changed color entirely, making him look like a severely ill patient in the eyes of medical staff.
The nurse took him to the treatment room, where he was restrained on an iron bed, surrounded by colorful glass. Scalding incense ashes were sprinkled on Ji Yuanzhi’s chest. As the hot incense made contact, it felt like his organs were burning.
Ji Yuanzhi convulsed all over but kept his composure under extreme torment, meticulously memorizing the nurse’s exorcism process.
After leaving the instance, he needed to continue using this method to delay his transformation.
If he successfully obtained the key in the instance, he would only be missing one key. Once he gathered all three keys, he would completely leave the game, and by then, the transformation could be paused.
Before this…
The nurse who was sprinkling “holy water” noticed the sudden smile on the patient’s face during treatment, causing her hand movements to pause for a moment.
Ji Yuanzhi, disheveled, with no hint of color in his face, gently reminded the nurse to continue her duties, “Please continue with your work.”
Before all this, he wanted to see how far he could evolve through the process of devouring.
During the mid-session break after treatment, Ji Yuanzhi roamed the area like a wandering ghost, once again venturing into other wards to fish for patients. Compared to the monsters, his blood was still flowing, making it easy for him to lure patients. After hunting down four patients, Ji Yuanzhi clearly felt that he had the ability to surpass ordinary patients.
【Warning】
【Warning】
The game finally issued warnings to the player who was straddling the gray areas of the rules. As the hospital’s alarms blared, the thin nurse from downstairs rushed up.
Ji Yuanzhi remained unmoved. He hadn’t triggered the rules completely. He wanted to see how the game would compromise to maintain balance.
Pei Wenwei’s determination to confront the game regardless of life or death during his time in the instance was something Ji Yuanzhi occasionally needed to “put into practice.”
……
Wen Shi had no knowledge of what was happening in the deep zone. He was still in the archives room.
The shaking ceased, and the thin nurse didn’t seem like she would return anytime soon.
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader showed no intention of leaving either. The game offered two ways to exit, but a direct departure might lead to unfavorable consequences.
“It seems like the ghost who can untie your ropes can sense something. Why not ask it?”
Wen Shi agreed. With the nurse gone, their only alternative was to eliminate the monster. It might not yield useful information, but it came with lower risks.
He attempted to release the Old Man Ghost from the Ghost Box, but he adamantly refused.
“This thing devours everything. I sense its appetite is continually growing. Beware of shadows,” the Old Man Ghost warned.
Having gone through trials with the teenager, Wen Shi instinctively glanced at his own shadow but found no issues. However, when he looked up again, he noticed that the shadow of the filing cabinet had inexplicably grown several times larger than its source, nearly extending to his feet.
In an almost instantaneous move, Wen Shi retreated to the triangular area near the room’s door.
The shadow followed him.
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader produced an item and stared intently at the shadow. He wasn’t here to help Wen Shi. Killing the monster was the only way out, and this was the perfect opportunity.
The ice-like object was about to strike—
Beep-beep—
The urgent, sharp alarm sounded a second time. The front half of the shadow chasing Wen Shi rose up. It had no defined body, let alone a face.
However, judging by its movements, it seemed like a gourmet who had finally caught a whiff of an irresistible delicacy.
The monster couldn’t resist. Its paper-thin body ascended through the ceiling gaps, following the path up.
The archives room reverted to its initial state, with just the two detainees and a few filing cabinets. Nothing else remained.
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader: “……”
Wen Shi: “……”
The two escape routes offered by the game were now unavailable. They had to find another way out.
After a long silence, Wen Shi’s mouth slightly opened, a gloomy expression on his face.
“Who is it? Just when I had finally stabilized, who wants to harm me?!”
……
Deep Zone, Split Zone.
In the most distinctive area, patients collectively ‘split apart.’ Here, it was a gathering place for patients with schizophrenia.
The difference was that nearly all patients here had mentally fractured, except for Jian Qingrong, who was the latest addition and specialized in physical slicing.
He was still slicing away.
Constantly slicing, joyously slicing, just slicing, slicing, slicing!
After slicing quite a bit, the man drenched in blood placed the flesh into an iron basin. The smell of blood attracted the surrounding patients like sharks swarming in.
Jian Qingrong calmly showcased his terrifying regenerative ability. The previously sliced parts had already stopped bleeding, and the wounds were visibly healing at an eye-catching speed.
His forehead’s hair concealed his true expression. Jian Qingrong’s deep voice was mesmerizing. “As long as I’m alive, you’ll have a constant supply of fresh flesh to eat. I’ll feed you three meals a day, punctually.”
Just like feeding a dog on schedule.
Unlike before, aside from the eyes stranded in the Intellectual Disability Zone, Jian Qingrong’s body was now more intensely contaminated. Once the monsters consumed it, the contaminants would enter the bodies of these patients through their throats and divide like cells, much like feeding an eagle with meat. Jian Qingrong followed the path of a beast, using flesh and blood to control the monsters.
Jian Qingrong’s flesh and blood were highly potent. Every particle was brimming with energy.
Patients from deeper zones were drawn, eager to compete for the delicious food. More rational patients were already prepared to keep Jian Qingrong as livestock.
Chaos, fierce fighting.
Jian Qingrong looked on indifferently at the struggle among the patients.
After feeding the dogs, it was time to walk them. This brawl was just right, and those who survived would become his best assets in the deep layer zone.
【Warning】
【Warning】
【Warning!】
In the Split Zone, red lights flickered, and alarms blared.
As the mastermind, Jian Qingrong squinted his eyes, savoring the alarm echoing through the building.
He believed that Wen Shi must have heard it too right now. He had heard the same alarms before, and somehow, it felt like the distance between them had shortened. If the intellectually disabled mini octopus were here, it would surely exclaim how romantic this was.
Jian Qingrong used this method to send a signal to Wen Shi, conveying his firm belief that he would accompany him through the final instance of madness.
If you enjoy this novel, support the Translator ginevre on her ko-fi account :))
