Translator: CinderTL
"Some people have reported that when they change the medicine at night, the door behind them suddenly closes and can't be opened no matter how hard they try."
After a pause, the man looked up, his face pale, and said, "But that door doesn't even have a lock."
After a moment of hesitation, the expressions of those present became quite interesting. If the door had no lock but couldn't be opened, did that mean there was some force outside pulling it shut?
It certainly couldn't be a person.
Hearing the man's words, Yu Yu instinctively hugged herself tightly. She wasn't particularly timid among the girls and usually enjoyed reading horror novels.
But now the situation had completely changed. This was no longer a story; it was reality.
She had been dragged into a real supernatural event.
Moreover, according to the young man named Wu, people could die here.
A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, silently, startling her. When she turned around, she saw a reliable face.
"Don't be nervous," Jiang Cheng said with utmost sincerity. "If you're really scared, you can hug me. I don't mind."
Seeing this, Du Feng's opinion of Jiang Cheng rose even higher.
The stunning woman who had come with him was still here, and he was being so unguarded? What kind of people were they? Wait, Du Feng paused. What was he thinking? This was a horror event, the kind where people could die.
And could their arrival here be related to Director Nan's mysterious disappearance? After all, they had taken the elevator and it had conveniently stopped on the 17th floor, where Director Nan had disappeared. It would be too much of a stretch to say there was no connection between the two.
Just as Du Feng was organizing his thoughts and preparing to speak, someone suddenly poked him in the side. He immediately looked and saw that it was Weiwei, who was standing beside him.
Weiwei gave him a meaningful look, then very naturally shifted her gaze away.
The words on the tip of Du Feng's tongue were swallowed back.
"So, what do you want us to do?" Wu asked directly after realizing the man had no more clues to offer.
The timeline here was different from their world. The sun outside the window was already setting, probably close to 5 PM, and nightfall was approaching.
After the man left, they would need time to discuss.
More importantly, how to get through tonight.
"Like I said, I hope you can help me get rid of the unclean things in the hospital," said the man referred to as Director Qi.
The moment Jiang Cheng heard the word "get rid of," his expression changed, and the way he looked at Director Qi became more intriguing.
Logically, shouldn't the other party first entrust them to investigate the ins and outs of the matter?
Even if they used the word "get rid of," they should have said "resolve this matter as soon as possible."
"Getting rid of things" sounded ruthless, like silencing someone.
But Wu acted as if he hadn't noticed anything and nodded, saying, "That's our responsibility, but please understand, these things take time."
"As soon as possible," the man urged.
Wu looked around, then signaled with his eyes, "It's almost dark. Where will we rest tonight?"
This office clearly wasn't suitable for resting. In fact, Wu thought it would be best to leave the hospital and stay outside while it was still daylight.
"I've already arranged your rooms," the man said quickly. "They've been cleaned and prepared for you."
At present, it seemed that this man in front of them had secretly invited them here with the purpose of dealing with the unclean things that had appeared in the hospital.
Their identities had not been disclosed within the hospital.
The man had fabricated their identities as patients transferred from another hospital, along with their accompanying family members.
At that moment, the phone in the room rang.
The man walked over to the phone, listened for a while, then angrily slammed it back down. He told everyone that he still had matters to attend to.
He arranged for a duty nurse to come and take everyone to their wards shortly.
He also reminded them not to speak carelessly, as their current identities were patients, and talking too much could easily arouse suspicion.
After saying this, the man left.
After the sound of the man's footsteps faded, Jiang Cheng's gaze, which had been fixed on the direction of the Gate, gradually shifted back. He let out a sigh and said, "There are very few trustworthy people in this world. Everyone who appears needs to be judged by us—their intentions and the authenticity of the clues they provide."
Cao Yang slowly widened his eyes. "Are you saying that the NPCs in this world can also deceive people?"
He enjoyed playing online games in his spare time, and the NPCs in games were all rigid characters.
Moreover, this man who called himself Director Qi seemed exactly like an NPC from the main storyline, the kind responsible for issuing tasks.
Could his words really not be trusted?
"Not necessarily deception, but possibly misdirection," Jiang Cheng explained, seemingly sensing everyone's confusion.
"Brother, what have you noticed?" Jiang Cheng looked at him with admiration, as if he had already taken the other as his spiritual anchor for survival.
Glancing once more at the position of the Gate, Jiang Cheng cautiously lowered his voice and said, "I think this Director Qi... has issues."
"He's just a director in the hospital. Is it really necessary for him to go to such lengths?" Jiang Cheng asked skeptically. "The cost of inviting us here must be considerable."
"If I were him, if I couldn't bear it, I would choose to leave directly, rather than insisting on staying to resolve this matter thoroughly."
Jiang Cheng's words were clear; he didn't think Director Qi had any obligation to spend a fortune and take risks to solve this matter.
Moreover, from any perspective, this shouldn't be his responsibility alone.
But since they had just arrived in this world and had too few clues, further discussion wouldn't yield any results. After the nurse knocked and entered, everyone followed her to the wards.
To everyone's surprise, they were not staying in the same ward.
Weiwei patiently explained to the nurse that they wanted to stay together, but the nurse shut her down with a single sentence, saying that the wards were very tight, and this was only possible because Director Qi had arranged it for them.
Otherwise, some of them would have had to stay outside.
Looking at the night that had quietly fallen outside the window, everyone wisely kept their mouths shut.
Since Jiang Cheng and the others knew each other, they proactively requested to stay together.
There was also a small incident where the nurse suggested taking the elevator up, but unexpectedly, three out of the nine people said they got dizzy in elevators.
Compared to them, Jiang Cheng's excuse was much more reasonable. He said he had claustrophobia because he had been bitten by a dog when he was young.
The nurse pondered for a while but couldn't see any connection between the two matters.
However, she also noticed that these people seemed a bit unusual, and she was worried that taking them in the elevator might cause trouble.
So, she followed their suggestion and led them up the stairs.
(End of the Chapter)
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