Matryoshka Off-Limits Chapter 175

Chapter 175 Frank Hospital

It was unclear whether this was good or bad news. Although the last sentence of the quest prompt emphasized a failed outcome, there was a possibility that it could be a group quest.

Based on the Feeding Log’s information, anyone who heard the piano music would meet an unfortunate end three days later. It was almost the fourth day. Following Wen Shi’s seven-day main quest timeline, it was nearly time for players to exit the instance.

If the piano music was played publicly like the current broadcasts, all players couldn’t avoid suffering the same fate. Having them meet their end on the night before leaving the instance fit well with the game’s aesthetics.

The alarm blared continuously. A’Ao hurried to the deep zone to deal with the earliest group of patients at the hospital.

It didn’t take much time before Yu Xingzhou and the rest entered the hall, providing evidence for Wen Shi’s guess. They had all been given the quest.

Song Yan whispered softly, “From this perspective, the sheet music doesn’t seem that formidable.”

It was highly unlikely that all the patients who heard this tune were cursed to death. If it only affected humans, calling it super divine item was quite a stretch.

Wen Shi, with a lot of experience, said, “Killing A’Ao and taking it over should lead to a significant qualitative change, like turning into【Bloody Sonata】or【Resentful Sonata】, and so on.”

The Wandering Corpse’s harp and his blood-stained white coat, which represented his identity, were the best examples.

From Wen Shi’s confident tone, the others couldn’t help but think that this guy must have done a lot of wicked things in his daily life.

Ever since the black market player switched to being the gatekeeper, the players were divided into three groups: one with Wen Shi and the others, another led by Seventh Commandment Guild Leader, and a few who had previously been with Black Market Player, now operating as freelancers.

The three small groups each discussed matters in hushed tones, all while using anti-eavesdropping items.

Wen Shi looked at Song Yan and said, “Go change your profession.”

Song Yan nodded in confusion.

Turning the quest of killing the hospital director into a group quest was beneficial for Wen Shi. It became slightly easier, but the increased difficulty lay elsewhere.

The information on the quest details was unclear, with no clear instructions on how to kill A’Ao. Most importantly, it didn’t mention when A’Ao would play the piano.

Having an executioner standing right behind them, not knowing when he would strike, created significant mental pressure.

Wen Shi suddenly asked, “What do you need to play the piano?”

Song Yan: “A piano.”

“And hands,” Wen Shi said calmly, “A’Ao won’t just start playing the piano the next second. The mission has left us a time window, which is also for his benefit. If A’Ao didn’t play immediately, it means this piece can’t be played with just one hand.”

Song Yan immediately grasped it. “He might transplant someone else’s hand onto himself?”

“Exactly,” Wen Shi thought of A’Ao’s iron hook, his expression slightly cold. “Unless A’Ao is willing to let someone else play the piece for him.”

The quest prompt stressed the piano master himself, making it nearly impossible for someone else to play on his behalf.

Changing professions was certainly useful. A’Ao needed a fresh hand. Everything that had happened so far indicated that interns were the lowest in the hospital hierarchy. Compared to the full-fledged doctor and hospital nurses, the interns with the least freedom were likely to become the primary targets.

Not only did Song Yan need to change his profession, but Ji Yuanzhi as well.

But there was a somewhat troublesome issue. Song Yan didn’t have much to trade. Even if they gave him valuable items, considering the true spirit inside the crucifix, it might demand something else entirely.

Wen Shi had once belittled the Deception God by using the Mirror God. Song Yan, being the Mirror God’s incarnation, might bear the brunt of that grudge.

“Don’t worry about me,” Song Yan said, seeing Wen Shi’s furrowed brow. “If he proposes an unreasonable deal, I’ll cut my losses and severe my arm in advance.”

As long as it had no value, the director wouldn’t be interested.

Wen Shi shook his head in response. He had shown Song Yan a survival rule in Sunset Town: when life and death are at stake, be ruthless with others, but even more so with yourself. Song Yan had indeed followed it, choosing to gouge out his own eyes in the House of Mirrors to avoid being controlled by the NPC’s will and harming his teammates.

However, this path had become somewhat narrow. Whenever something came up, Song Yan’s first thought was personal sacrifice.

“Don’t always think about self-harm.” A hint of cunning flashed in Wen Shi’s round eyes. He pulled Song Yan aside and spoke in an extremely low voice, mentioning a few crucial keywords. Song Yan understood instantly, his mouth slightly agape.

After speaking, Wen Shi instructed Song Yan to pay attention to the messages he would send within the【Kingdom】function.

The Kingdom wasn’t fully developed yet, but the ability to check the status of followers and send remote messages to issue commands was still very practical.

Song Yan and Ji Yuanzhi left simultaneously, heading to the prayer room as quickly as possible. The path to changing careers was no longer a well-kept secret, but not all players had chosen to do so before. If they weren’t planning to explore the instance extensively, it wasn’t very cost-effective to exchange valuable items for relatively broader career freedom.

When others caught on later, the system would inevitably limit the number of nurse positions.

So, sooner rather than later was the best approach.

Wen Shi and the others didn’t linger by the main entrance. They walked in the same direction but turned into his office along the way.

Song Yan wasn’t much of a talker when he wasn’t with Wen Shi. On the first floor, the patients seemed even more agitated than before. In the corridor filled with strange sounds, Ji Yuanzhi casually asked, “What kind of evil trick has Pei Wenwei come up with this time?”

Song Yan: “He’s teaching me how to get something for free.”

“?”

The protective mesh further filtered the dwindling daylight. The crucifix in the prayer room hung high on the wall. Hints of rust marred the metallic surface, almost as if an eye was looming above, gazing down at them.

Song Yan took a deep breath, walked up to the crucifix, and with crossed fingers, he closed his eyes to begin his prayer. “Great divine spirit, I wish to change my profession and become a nurse.”

There was no response for a long time. Song Yan opened his eyes, feeling somewhat lost.

Why wasn’t there a reaction?

Just as he was filled with doubt, the blackened end of the cross unexpectedly emitted a strange glow in the dim, rainy weather. Song Yan and Ji Yuanzhi instinctively closed their eyes.

Due to his sensitivity to the intense glare, Song Yan almost shed reflex tears. When he opened his eyes again, the world before him had completely transformed.

The familiar prayer room had become a crossroads, where darkness and daylight alternated. It resembled the two different-colored irises of the Deception God seated at a stone table.

Having encountered true spirits in past instances before, Ji Yuanzhi showed no signs of excessive surprise. True spirits and demons were easily distinguishable. The former exuded an indescribable aura of majesty that even players could sense with their instinctive sixth sense.

Song Yan was different.

He had encountered the Mirror God, but at that time, the true spirit had possessed the tour guide, lacking this overwhelming presence. Song Yan was someone Wen Shi had mentored, but he hadn’t yet developed the mental fortitude to match his thoughts.

Summoning his courage, he raised his head, and in an instant, fear gave way to surprise. The turtleguy was here too!

The turtleguy looked quite aggrieved, with its front limbs resting on the stone table, appearing somewhat dejected.

Although his curiosity was nearly unbearable, Song Yan remained acutely aware of his place. He recognized that the powerful had no tolerance for answering insignificant questions from ants. He bit his tongue to resist any further inquiries

“Any trade requires a price,” came a leisurely voice from ahead.

Being an incarnation of the Mirror God allowed him to squeeze a bit more value within reasonable limits. Bullying the weak and tormenting the elite were equally amusing to the Deception God, who enjoyed seeing others lose what they cherished.

The true spirit was reading philosophical texts while considering what to take.

Such a weak incarnation would significantly reduce its chances of survival after the transaction. Later on, it might be better to reclaim the mirror transformation ability, so the incarnation wouldn’t possess any special abilities.

An invisible malice permeated the space. Song Yan’s keen senses made him shiver involuntarily.

Amidst these sensations, a trace of pressure was intentionally imposed by the true spirit, with the aim of making one’s psyche more susceptible to surrender

Following Wen Shi’s earlier instructions, Song Yan opened the【Kingdom】interface and found that a message had been sent not long ago.

The real god inside his heart had thoughtfully provided a script, including notes on when to speak.

Before the true spirit could make his demands, Song Yan humbly spoke first, “I choose to exchange a key.”

Key? The Deception God was puzzled. Where did this key come from? Shifting his gaze from the book, the Deception God had a moment of realization. The incarnation couldn’t leave the world controlled by the Supreme Will, so he wouldn’t be given keys at all.

Suddenly, the true spirit grasped what was happening. His sharp gaze locked onto Song Yan.

Song Yan’s voice was small but clear, “I voluntarily give up the right to obtain a key.”

Under normal circumstances, players entering a 3S instance had a chance to obtain keys, and true spirits were the ones who distributed them. However, they would never give keys to another true spirits’ incarnations.

As if sensing where the Deception God’s thoughts were heading, Wen Shi’s timing for each message was impeccable. Song Yan continued, “I am a player.”

Being a player meant having a chance to get keys. This was a fairness granted by the game.

Ji Yuanzhi watched silently as Song Yan, or rather, Pei Wenwei remotely controlled Song Yan, placing the true spirit into a logical bind.

Song Yan might not necessarily get a key. From this perspective, he was essentially engaging a consumption loan with the true spirit. But if, in the end, after completing all the quests, the true spirit refused to give Song Yan a key, it would mean that the true spirit had violated the game’s fairness.

The true spirit’s gaze was somewhat intimidating. Song Yan stared at the tip of his shoe with his head down.

“I can give you a key,” after a few seconds, the Deception God picked up the book again, speaking coldly, “so the item you’re offering has no value.”

Anyway, having just one key wouldn’t accomplish much.

Wen Shi seemed like a prophet. Song Yan looked at the latest message on the panel, his voice growing quieter, “Someone asked me to deliver a message to you. If you give me one key, he will use all his wealth to trade for two keys from someone else, and then send me away in one go.”

It appeared highly likely that Black Market Player possessed keys. This person appeared entirely uninterested in leaving the game. With millions of points and the godly weapon,【Super Abacus】, even Yu Xingzhou might consider such a deal, let alone Black Market Player.

As the guild leader, he also had to consider the future development of the guild.

Wen Shi himself hadn’t exploited this loophole. He wanted to see what would happen after inheriting the hospital. Frank Hospital was a legacy left by his foster father, and every matter should come to a proper conclusion.

The game, in a way, had also got a grip on Wen Shi, who had to consider his family members. For example, Xie Tangyan needed the “Grand Swordmanship,” and almost all his family members, to varying degrees, required the game’s assistance.

“…He also said,” Song Yan hesitated, fearing that Wen Shi might incur further anger, but he ultimately obeyed the command out of habit and repeated word for word, “When an incarnation collects three keys and qualifies to leave the game, he’ll pat his butt and walk away, leaving you behind to patch up the hole.”

No matter how one looked at it, this was a bad deal. After all, that was a Schrödinger’s key.

Bam!

The book came crashing down. It was just a gentle toss, yet the stone table shattered into pieces.

The turtleguy quietly crawled to the other side.

Song Yan, looking at the unmistakable displeasure of the true spirit, elevated his personal admiration to its peak: My King, Eternal God!

……

The office.

Wen Shi rummaged through a drawer and found a tea bag, sipping hot tea on this rainy day.

After dispelling the chill, he slowly explained the way to escape the exchange pit. He had previously worried about the true spirit eavesdropping on their conversation, but now he had no such concerns.

Finally, Wen Shi summarized, “Four sentences, and the true spirit gave away a profession for free.”

Back at the cosmetic surgery hospital, the Mirror God first gave everyone a choice and then provided Song Yan with a transformation ability.

They were aware of Song Yan’s identity and hadn’t made an issue out of it. The transformation ability personally given by the Mirror God held greater significance for Song Yan than keys, even if they couldn’t be bought with points. So, they all turned a blind eye to it.

But now, the Deception God in the hospital wanted something from Song Yan — a personal property belonging to a citizen of the【Kingdom】. He couldn’t allow the NPC to squeeze it out for free.

Yu Xingzhou and Li Nan both listened in silence.

After a while, Yu Xingzhou reminded expressionlessly, “Don’t forget that in your kingdom, there’s another citizen.”

That citizen even had an apostle codename but unfortunately didn’t receive the “rain and dew evenly distributed” treatment.

“Ahem…” Wen Shi, who was sipping tea, choked.

When it came to Ji Yuanzhi, there was no way he could help. Song Yan had managed to slip through the cracks solely by relying on his incarnation identity. Ji Yuanzhi couldn’t possibly exploit that. But the “Golden Title” title wasn’t just for show. The cost of a simple nurse job change was definitely within Ji Yuanzhi’s acceptable range.

“Let’s discuss something important,” Wen Shi put down his teacup. “Fourth floor, Patient 351, third floor, Patient 151…”

Those he mentioned were all patients he had seen in the archives room. Hailing from the underworld, these patients were among the first admitted to Frank Hospital. Although the game later turned this place into an instance, accommodating various monsters, its original purpose was for these underworld NPCs.

Based on A’Ao’s previous reactions and the nurse’s words, many of the patients who had long been in slumber had awakened.

Wen Shi didn’t need to deal with them right away. He needed to first deal with the obstacle, A’Ao.

“Fantasy Zone, Perverse Zone, Autism- Depression Zone…” Wen Shi nearly went through all the zones. “Each zone has an underworld patient, except for the Fairy Tale Zone.”

That meant the Fairy Tale Zone might have been established later. A’Ao was the only one with the qualifications and opportunities to create a zone.

This additional area seemed much like a secret base.

Yu Xingzhou: “We won’t know the specifics until we take a look.”

In truth, they had some speculations. There wouldn’t be a zone so closely related to A’Ao without a reason. From the quest perspective, it was likely a place for surgical procedures or where the piano might be hidden.

After discussing for a while, they heard distinct footsteps.

Wen Shi looked up. It was Song Yan and Ji Yuanzhi returning.

Song Yan’s return unharmed indicated that his career change had gone quite well.

“He didn’t make things difficult for me, but I’m afraid this loophole will be sealed in the future,” Song Yan expressed some concern. “The true spirit looked rather angry.”

In fact, he could have been more confident and skipped the “looked” part.

“No problem,” Wen Shi casually said. “Deep down, he’s just like the host, with a taste for masochism.”

Such creatures who considered themselves highly intelligent were easier to manipulate when they feel anger in response to being played with.

Song Yan: “I also saw the turtleguy.”

Upon hearing this, Wen Shi and Yu Xingzhou were momentarily surprised. Even for the seasoned Yu Xingzhou, among all the NPCs he had encountered, the turtleguy was the one who had left the most lasting impression. It had an uncanny ability to play pranks from a distance. Eeer since it told the tour guide her fortune at the train station, she had never been the same.

“No wonder,” Wen Shi recalled the turtleguy status bar in the【Kingdom】interface.

So, it was indeed online.

Upon second thought, with the Mirror God’s main body located in Frank Hospital and his control over Sunset Town, it made sense for him to bring his subject under his jurisdiction here. According to Wen Shi’s guess, the turtleguy’s arrival was likely not of its own will.

“It also asked me to deliver a message to you.”

Wen Shi waited for a while but didn’t hear Song Yan speak. He looked up, only to see Song Yan make a heart shape with his hand.

“Love you,” Song Yan relayed the exact words.

“……”

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