Chapter 172.1 Frank Hospital
The game allowing A’Ao to go out of hospital had its advantages and disadvantages. At the very least, no one had to worry about A’Ao intervening halfway.
However, this wasn’t a problem worth excessive concern. Unlike Jian Qingrong, A’Ao’s heart couldn’t possess personal will and split into separate entities. Even if he was at the hospital, according to the game’s balancing mechanism, he would at most sense something just before Jian Guangsi was completely taken down.
Releasing A’Ao didn’t have as significant an impact as taking Ji Yuanzhi and others away.
Wearing a forced smile, Wen Shi accompanied them to the entrance, where he saw rows of carriages outside.
Ji Yuanzhi wanted to speak his mind but ended up letting out a quiet sigh… Pei Wenwei had a rough time. This conclusion remained valid no matter when or where.
During team-building, side quests were inevitable, but they were certainly much easier than facing Jian Guangsi alone.
He became the last person to step onto the carriage. The ancient wheels cheerfully rolled over the muddy path, kicking up clouds of dust as they carried away a load of people.
Wen Shi looked at the black market player who hadn’t boarded the carriage and asked, “Aren’t you going?”
The black market player shook his head. “No, but I can’t help you much.”
Pei Wenwei being left alone definitely meant he had some troublesome personal quest.
“I discovered the career change path last night,” he pointed to the guard room, “and now I’ve become a gatekeeper.”
Today, even the guard had to attend the team-building event, so the black market player had to watch over the main gate.
“……” When Wen Shi had discussed possible career changes with the others earlier, the gatekeeper was mentioned, but no one took it seriously.
Leaving the hospital meant fewer chances of interacting with key NPCs, so the odds of getting the super divine item and key would be greatly reduced.
He couldn’t quite understand why someone would willingly choose this profession.
Ignoring Wen Shi’s puzzlement, the black market player entered the small guard room and promptly lay down on the table to catch some sleep.
Outside, Wen Shi gave him a deep look before turning back.
The sky was overcast with dense clouds, making it a gloomy day. Wen Shi paused for a moment in front of the hospital’s overgrown buildings before eventually walking in without glancing elsewhere.
The nurse’s station was empty. On team-building days, patients didn’t require treatment. The nurses left behind only needed to periodically check the wards.
After returning to his office, Wen Shi began to rethink his strategy.
“Jiang Guangsi…” he pondered to himself, feeling like he had overlooked something.
After an unknown amount of time, a gloomy wind blew through the window. In the dim, half-lit environment, Wen Shi suddenly sat up straight.
This time, the quest details were somewhat lengthy, emphasizing the reason he needed to kill Jian Guangsi: fear of being identified, hence deciding to strike first.
If the game wasn’t sarcastically mocking his stubbornness, then there was a possibility that the monster might have remembered his appearance and even his scent.
Now, he was the only living person left inside the building. Whether out of suspicion or the impulse to hunt, Jian Guangsi shouldn’t easily pass up such a good opportunity.
Besides, a player’s flesh and blood naturally attracted monsters.
“The pet description said it can kill upon seeing light…” Wen Shi’s body stiffened.
He had been influenced by his ingrained thinking. It didn’t necessarily require a shadow, but anywhere there was light, it could kill.
Whether it was a psychological effect or not, after forming this judgment, Wen Shi felt as if something were watching him in the office. The limited light on this overcast day streamed through the broken glass, making his nerves grew increasingly tense.
The monster could kill without a trace. He didn’t want to gamble on the possibility of it being a mere illusion.
Wen Shi decided to trust his sixth sense. Before that eerie feeling could spread through his entire body, he sprang up without warning and rushed to the door at top speed.
This monster wasn’t the kind to alert its enemy. Even if he tried to act composed, it wouldn’t delay Jian Guangsi from attacking.
The cool, damp air in the corridor brushed against his cheeks. The plump nurse, wherever she was hiding, didn’t appear even after hearing the loud footsteps.
Wen Shi cut his palm, and the bright red blood dripped onto the tiles. He glanced back, only to see the blood on the floor almost vanishing in an instant.
It wasn’t an illusion. Something was definitely following him!
The one who struck first wasn’t him. It was Jian Guangsi.
Wen Shi didn’t stop the bleeding. He gritted his teeth, and dashed forward. When he got close to the nurse’s station, the Greenword Sword appeared in his hand, its tip aimed at where the blood had been left behind.
“【One Strike Flattens All】failed.”
“Note: Unable to lock onto the target’s aura.”
Wen Shi’s expression turned grim. Jian Guangsi was like the legendary colorless and odorless poison. Although he possessed Xie Tangyan’s power, he lacked the latter’s terrifying sensory abilities. Faced with a monster that left no trace of its presence, his disadvantage was immediately apparent.
The blood spots on the tiles were rapidly disappearing. Now, it was less than a meter away from him. Wen Shi activated a speed-boosting item and, panting heavily, pondered his survival strategy.
Running outside wouldn’t help. At least inside the hospital, the buildings provided some partial shade from the light. Outside the hospital, there was nothing but overgrown grassy terrain, with only the guard room remaining. He couldn’t lead trouble away from himself in that direction. That would be harmful to both him and others.
Wen Shi had reached the nurse’s station. He quickly scanned the area and then turned into the stairwell.
While he couldn’t execute last night’s plan, the overall strategy remained the same: to pinpoint the monster’s location.
The doors to the wards on the first and second floors were tightly shut during the day. As Wen Shi passed the second floor, he continued to rush forward. The stairwell was chilly, and the cold air creeping up his spine made him shiver.
His clothes were soaked with sweat, and it clung tightly to his back, forming a thin layer of frost.
So cold.
The effects of the speed-boosting item were about to wear off, and the chilling atmosphere was affecting his basic running speed.
He quickly reached the third floor. Wen Shi turned into the hallway, glanced at the directional sign, and sprinted toward the direction of the Intellectual Disability Zone.
According to Ji Yuanzhi’s information, the doors to the wards on the deep zones weren’t locked during the day, and there was no need for restraints or binding straps except during treatment. Combined with the mini octopus’ words, the abilities of patients in the Intellectual Disability Zone weren’t very high. He didn’t need to worry too much about the crisis they might pose.
Wen Shi clutched the pendant hanging from his neck with one hand. Few monsters could resist the allure of Jian Qingrong’s flesh and blood, let alone his heart’s blood.
He needed to find a monster to use as bait, spill his blood on it, and then locate Jian Guangsi while the monsters fought.
In the memory fragments seen through his Extrasensory Perception, Jian Guangsi would show a more distinct black shadow when devouring a large amount of flesh and blood.
Wen Shi hoped to lure the patients from the fourth-floor area into the mix, but those patients weren’t easy to provoke, and he wasn’t confident about succeeding.
The Intellectual Disability Zone was the first ward on the right side. About ten seconds later, Wen Shi plunged headfirst into the area.
Almost the moment he entered, his consciousness began to produce a disorienting sensation beyond his control. Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?
It took him several seconds, but Wen Shi managed to recall his purpose for being here. His scattered gaze regained some brightness. “Very well, it’s this kind of feeling.”
He had recited the teenager’s real name multiple times back at the Big Factory. His willpower was surprisingly strong, but despite that, upon entering the Intellectual Disability Zone, he felt as though his brain had shut down.
Just a little dumber, just a little more dumber, that’s all I need.
In the previous instance settlement, he had earned the【Safety Helmet】by surviving the 3S bodyguard experience. Under this halo, it could give dementia-afflicted monsters seven seconds of a sense of safety.
As long as Jian Guangsi could be influenced more deeply by the Intellectual Disability Zone, during those seven seconds, its murderous intent toward him would significantly decrease.
Now, all he needed to do was seize an opportunity and find a target to divert Jian Guangsi’s aggression.
Kitty is fishing. Bait, come quickly!
Wen Shi deliberately made his footsteps even louder, not believing that low-intelligence patients wouldn’t come out to see what was happening. At the same time, his slender knuckles turned white with effort, and the pendant in his hand was on the verge of being crushed, just waiting for the first one to come to him.
“Darling!” A deep voice, every quiver filled with joy, reached his ears.
Frank Hospital had one or two books in many wards, especially in the Intellectual Disability Zone, where one of the treatment methods involved reading. Like in the Golden Tower Kingdom, the hospital’s books contained numerous internet slangs from over a decade ago.
On lonely midnight, besides making phone calls, the mini octopus was reading books and learning plenty of hot romantic phrases.
Carrying two telephone receivers, it had originally planned to sneak into another zone to continue its thieving activities. However, as soon as it stepped outside, it saw the familiar figure it had been yearning for. This person was even running toward it.
The mini octopus almost thought it was dreaming.
“You’ve finally come to pick me up—”
Its two tentacles were already eagerly dancing and fluttering, ready for a warm embrace.
Instead of hugging Wen Shi first, a pendant in a perfect parabolic arc replaced him.
With just one glance, the mini octopus recognized the pendant as the one its original self had given to him.
“Find a suitable target,” Wen Shi muttered softly.
When it saw Wen Shi’s bleeding palm and the evaporating bloodstains on the ground behind him, the mini octopus’s eyes instantly turned dark.
With its nine brains working, it roughly understood the current situation.
An invisible monster was chasing Wen Shi.
The mini octopus suddenly grew larger. One of its elongated tentacle extended through a partially open door of one of the wards.
The patient inside hastily pushed the door shut with all their strength.
The remarkably resilient tentacle wasn’t severed but instead found its target even faster.
The patient it had singled out had previously reported the mini octopus for escaping and even had the intention of offering it as a snack to patients in other zones.
This was the culprit behind the mini octopus’ two severed tentacles. It had been ambushed by patients who had hidden near the telephone receiver in advance.
The tentacle reached for the empty collar of the patient’s hospital gown.
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