Chapter 164.1 Frank Hospital
The archives room was quiet.
In Wen Shi’s smooth-sailing life, he experienced a brief three-second fit of impotent rage.
“Let’s figure out how to get out of here first,” Seventh Commandment Guild Leader muttered, cursing his unlucky day. Stuck in one place, who knew who would come looking for trouble next.
He got curious about the third option Wen Shi had mentioned earlier. “What’s the other way?”
“Fix the problem from the root,” Wen Shi said plainly. “The nurse operated the switch in front of us, and just before leaving, she didn’t tie us up again. She’s not worried about us using this door.”
And yet, there was clearly nothing outside the door.
Wen Shi’s analysis was so detailed that Seventh Commandment Guild Leader thought compared to being stuck in the archives room, this person in front of him was the real trouble.
Why would a regular player provide so much information?
But Wen Shi continued to speak, and Seventh Commandment Guild Leader couldn’t stop him.
“When I tried to use my identity as a doctor to explain the situation, the nurse responded by throwing an electric baton at me. It proved that what I was explaining had nothing to do with her reasons for punishing me.”
Indeed, it made sense.
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader felt an even stronger sense of foreboding.
“On this basis, we can explain something that feels very out of place,” Wen Shi smiled. “In a hospital that abuses patients and uses a crucifix as a mechanism, what exactly are they praying for?”
Song Yan had mentioned that A’Ao had a slight favorability towards him, stemming from the misunderstanding that he was praying.
As soon as the last sentence fell, Seventh Commandment Guild Leader’s pupils suddenly contracted. When players were taken to the prayer room for admonishment, the plump nurse’s first action was to pray under the crucifix. One player even received praise from the director for this.
He carefully recalled the appearance of the crucifix and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it, just some black, oil-like rust marks, likely due to its age.
“The crucifix must be a host for some form of existential consciousness. People inside the hospital often pray to it and are allowed to touch it. We turned it without doing anything directly, which is extremely disrespectful.”
Leaving directly might very well lead to being killed by this unknown entity.
Who would have thought that overlooking the detail of the nurse’s prayer would lead to such a minefield ahead? Seventh Commandment Guild Leader felt a twitch in his temple.
He still underestimated the cunning of the 3S instance.
“If you want to leave here as soon as possible, there’s only one way,” Wen Shi said seriously. “Apologize.”
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader snapped back, “Apologize?”
“Yes, apologize to the cross when we get out, and pretend to have faith in it.”
This idea was so absurd that calling it absurd was an understatement. Seventh Commandment Guild Leader was an experienced player. If an unspeakable creature truly dwelled inside the pitch-black crucifix, then this creature was undoubtedly incredibly twisted, with a blasphemous nature at its core.
If it was a demon, they would have to offer a strand of their soul. If it was another type of monster, it would likely involve a powerful mental assault. Being called a believer wasn’t just a formality. Once their consciousness was invaded, things would get even more complicated.
As if knowing what he was thinking, Wen Shi not only analyzed the information but also revealed his own secret. “Ji Yuanzhi’s codename is Apostle because he had foresight and believed in me.”
When the leaderboard revealed Wen Shi’s title as【King】, it sparked discussions in the virtual world. Now, Seventh Commandment Guild Leader delved deeper into the meaning behind the title, his brow furrowing.
Wen Shi fully exposed his true nature. “The codename King helps me absorb faith. Hypnotize yourself into believing in King Asa, and you won’t have to worry about the mental contamination from other filthy things.”
“……”
The ominous premonition had become a reality!
“We can sign a contract item in advance, during which I, including the people around me, won’t maliciously send you to your death.”
Wen Shi’s lowered voice carried inherent credibility. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, silently waiting for the other party to make a decision.
Seventh Commandment Guild Leader was highly likely to agree. Hypnosis items had a limited duration and couldn’t cause significant harm. When players were ordered to do something too extreme, their subconscious would awaken, causing them to break free from the hypnotic state prematurely.
They could gain some virtual faith without worrying about mental contamination. Why not take advantage of it?
“What’s your purpose in doing this?” Seventh Commandment Guild Leader pondered while taking out both the contract item and the lie detector item.
Wen Shi willingly cooperated with the lie detector, “I need a lackey to run errands.”
The lie-detecor item showed that it was 100% true.
“……”
Advanced players couldn’t be fooled easily for long. The hypnosis item could keep Seventh Commandment Guild Leader quiet for a couple of days, at least toning down his attacks against Wen Shi. Later, Wen Shi still needed to rescue Ji Yuanzhi, and if he happened to run into some quest, he could have the lackey handle part of it
In short, Seventh Commandment Guild Leader’s reuse rate was quite high, serving as a temporary garbage collector.
Both sides got what they needed, reaching a trade agreement as quickly as possible.
When everything was ready, Wen Shi walked to the switch and pressed the button directly.
As the hidden room’s door opened, a cold breeze swept in. Wen Shi and Seventh Commandment Guild Leader exchanged a glance. Instead of immediately leaving the treatment room, they paused beneath the crucifix.
“Please forgive our offense,” Wen Shi said with a devout expression. “As members of Frank Hospital, we also share your faith.”
The slightly tilted crucifix automatically straightened. The imperceptible adjustment gave them a strange sensation, as if they had been forgiven.
The hospital was mostly shadowed, with little sunlight. However, the crucifix suddenly glinted at one end, causing Wen Shi to squint.
When he opened his eyes again, two small booklets had appeared on the ground. Wen Shi casually flipped through one, only to find that he and Seventh Commandment Guild Leader had turned to the same page, which was filled with prayers.
They understood the crucifix’ implication and reluctantly began reciting. With the foundation of faith already in their minds, aside from feeling a bit lightheaded, they didn’t experience any significant side effects during the recitation.
After finishing an entire chapter, Seventh Commandment Guild Leader exchanged a glance and gestured to hurry.
Finally, the two of them left the treatment room.
“Side quest — Escape from the archives room is complete.”
【Quest reward: You’ve prayed beneath the crucifix and gained the status of a believer. You can use the crucifix as a shortcut for thirty minutes.】
Shortcut?
While Wen Shi was still analyzing the meaning behind these two words, a protective iron door appeared ahead. These doors were meant to prevent patients from escaping at night, and there were many of them in the corridor. He noticed that Seventh Commandment Guild Leader slowed down his pace.
After leaving the treatment room, Seventh Commandment Guild Leader consistently kept half a shoulder’s lead, walking slightly ahead of Wen Shi.
Wen Shi narrowed his eyes. The faith within the instance didn’t emphasize equality among all beings. Instead, it seemed to establish a hierarchical relationship. After Seventh Commandment Guild Leader hypnotized himself, a temporary master-subordinate relationship had formed between them. Yet, the man walked ahead of Wen Shi, and when they encountered obstacles, he slowed down, waiting for someone else to open the door. This body language suggested he still saw himself as the superior.
Something was off.
Wen Shi cleared his throat and checked the status of Seventh Commandment Guild Leader through the【Kingdom】interface. In the list of believers from Mingzhu Academy students, there was an additional believer with a questionable real name, undoubtedly Seventh Commandment Guild Leader.
The name was not grayed out, indicating that the person was still alive. So when had the switch occurred?
Or was it on his side that something had gone wrong?
He had learned from past mistakes. If only he had used the cloak with the【Grand Sealing Art】to completely seal his presence before entering the archives room, he wouldn’t have been detected by the thin nurse. This time, Wen Shi didn’t hesitate to spend points and use his skills.
“Do you want to spend 16,000 points to use【Sage’s Indifference】?”
The mechanical voice sounded bright and cheerful, always welcoming big deals in the game.
“Yes.”
After activation, Wen Shi possessed the ability to dispel illusions.
“Why aren’t you moving?” Seventh Commandment Guild Leader asked.
Wen Shi glanced at him, his expression unchanged, but his fingers on the doorknob curled slightly.
Under his gaze, this face was slowly transforming. The eyes widened, and the fairly handsome features shifted into a more sinister form. Wheat-colored skin turned pale as paper.
The dilapidated corridor vanished, and what Wen Shi was pushing was not a door but a traffic light. Among the lights, the red one was made of a bloody severed head. His hand was pressed against the swollen face of a dead person, and his palm was covered in sticky blood.
Because his fingertip had just poked into the eye socket of the corpse, the eyeball inside fell out and rolled down his hand like a slippery slide.
“!”
The scene shifted too quickly, nearly causing Wen Shi to gasp in shock.
He quickly regained his composure, pretending to walk forward casually while constantly scanning the surroundings, attempting to find an escape route.
The heartbeat, like a drumbeat, couldn’t be concealed.
After a few steps, he realized that “Seventh Commandment Guild Leader” hadn’t followed. Wen Shi turned around, and the face behind him had completely changed.
“Seventh Commandment Guild Leader” gazed at him for a moment and spoke during their eye contact, “It seems you’ve noticed.”
Wen Shi cleared his throat. “Noticed what?”
After his words, a piano melody began to play.
Before Wen Shi had crossed the intersection, one path was brilliantly lit, while the other was engulfed in darkness. The path with light had the piano music. When he followed the sound, his expression shifted slightly. Playing the piano was a blood-soaked severed hand.
“Do you like it?” The man, now in his true form, held a philosophy book and appeared next to Wen Shi in the next second. “This is one of my favorite collectibles.”
Wen Shi recoiled in shock, taking a few steps back. He then noticed a nearby stone table with a fish tank on it. Inside, there was not a jellyfish, as it seemed, but a small piece of folded skin.
Based on his knowledge within the instance, Wen Shi deduced that it wasn’t a jellyfish but a small piece of wrinkled skin.
The man voluntarily introduced, “I call it the human-skin jellyfish. I have a collection obsession. I love collecting perfect things.”
Wen Shi gazed at the fish tank, but his thoughts were fixated on that severed hand, which he found increasingly familiar. The severed hand was much larger than that of an average adult man, and maggots were crawling out of its blood vessels. He blurted out, “A’Ao?”
A’Ao had one hand completely severed, replaced with an iron hook.
“He was originally a renowned pianist worldwide, but he later willingly became my believer.” The man savored the music. “Because I adored this hand so much, I granted his wish to become the temporary hospital director.”
Surprisingly, it was even cheaper than a demon’s fee, Wen Shi thought.
“I’m not a demon,” the man, as if he could read Wen Shi’s thoughts, said, “true spirits can communicate with gods.”
After saying that, he teleported to the center of the intersection, where there were stone tables and chairs, with the fish tank placed on top. He opened the philosophy book in his hand and began reading it earnestly.
True spirit?
Wen Shi stared at this true spirit, who lacked any sense of majesty, standing silently on the side. He realized that, no matter how intensely he gazed at the man’s face, he couldn’t remember its features.
The only thing that left an impression was that mouth. The man’s lips were remarkably soft, like a limited edition tulip in spring.
After reading roughly one chapter, the true spirit’s eyeballs became one black and one white, much like the intersecting paths of black and white.
“The Mirror God once gave you a choice between knowing the source of danger and the key. You chose the key, but you’re clever. You’ve already realized that the source of danger comes from the Wandering Corpse beside you.” [T/N: wandering corpse — 游尸 (yóu shī)]
He emphasized one thing, “Only the character ‘yóu’ can match him.” [T/N: 游戏 (yóu xì) — game]
Wen Shi had long suspected a connection between the Wandering Corpse and the game, but he didn’t understand why the true spirit had deliberately brought it up.
“One bad news is that two people you care deeply about will stay in the hospital forever this time,” the true spirit began, then shifted his tone, and a seemingly casual sentence caused Wen Shi’s expression to change.
“If the Wandering Corpse dies, the people you care about can live,” the true spirit continued, calmly turning a page. “I can even help you kill A’Ao.”
To him, stepping on a believer was easier than squashing an ant.
Before Wen Shi could voice his doubts, the true spirit calmly explained the reason behind this, “The Supreme Will had the Wandering Corpse stay by your side with its own calculations. Killing him would disrupt those calculations, and I enjoy seeing the Supreme Will’s disappointment.”
“It deceived us,” he continued. “The Supreme Will promised to let your foster father live, so we agreed to help manage the hospital. But shortly after that, your foster father died.”
A hint of hostility flickered in the man’s black eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
Wen Shi remained an attentive listener, never taking sides.
“I never lie,” the true spirit asserted as his hostility faded. He continued slowly, “This can be verified with the Supreme Will.”
Wen Shi frowned. “You want to strike back, yet you want me to seek verification?”
The true spirit smiled. “The choice is in your hands. Even if it disagrees, it has no choice but to endure it.”
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