The surrounding wilderness seemed endless, even more unsettling than the distant building. In its desolation, it inevitably gave people the illusion of having nowhere to escape.
A fragrance.
Zhou Q’ian was certain he smelled a very faint, clean scent, and couldn’t help but think of what Ying Yu had said about the fragrance spreading for ten miles.
It wasn’t too far. In the midst of their brief conversation, the players had almost arrived.
As a cold wind blew past, the group stood under the massive building.
Every window of the dozen-story-high building was tightly shut. The gaps in the yellowish brick walls were like hidden pores, from which a mixture of disinfectant and the smell of corpses constantly seeped out.
It was very quiet all around. Only the night wind occasionally brought some strange groans. Other than that, nothing could be heard. The cicada chirps from before had also disappeared into the fog.
In previous instances, there were at least some concealments, but this time, whether it was the geographical location or the smell, it was as good as explicitly writing “there’s a problem here” on the surface.
“Cyclamen… Cyclamen Hospital.”
A player had some difficulty identifying the broken sign on the roof. “I remember there’s a flower called cyclamen.”
A-Ling nodded, indicating that he was not mistaken.
As the name suggests, the flower language is “welcoming guests,” symbolizing good fortune and enthusiasm.
It is generally a fitting name for a business, but when used for a hospital, it is very strange. No hospital would say “welcome” to its patients.
As the group frowned at the broken hospital sign, an exceptionally cold mechanical voice descended:
[Instance: Cyclamen]
[Instance Difficulty: Two Stars (Current)]
[Main Mission: A journey of mountains, a journey of water, mountains and waters repeat, doubting there is a road; a moment of wind, a moment of rain, a friend comes from afar in the wind and rain.]
[You have traveled over mountains and rivers to come here. Please successfully pass the selection within three days and be transferred to the special inpatient department (current)]
[Instance Time: Between life and death]
[Number of Participating Players: ?? (Are you even human?)]
For a full half-minute after the prompt ended, no one spoke.
The “current” status meant that the difficulty would rise again, and the main missions were also being issued in batches.
The group looked at each other, seeing the confusion in each other’s expressions. No one had ever been in an instance where the difficulty level could change.
A voice as soft as a cloud suddenly sounded. After Zhou Q’ian used a voice changer, the tone and emphasis of his voice were also different from his usual:
“I don’t care about forever, I only care about what I once had.”
He was also a player who had participated in a two-star instance!
Life… was complete!
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Zhou Q’ian said with an unchanged expression, “I was talking about the flower language of the cyclamen.”
It did indeed correspond to the meaning of the flower language.
The crowd didn’t think much of it. After their gazes dispersed, A-Ling frowned and said, “It seems there are no staff this time.”
Zhou Q’ian did not refute.
He knew in his heart that they were not the first batch of players to enter this instance. The players who had come in before might have been guided by staff.
Perhaps Mr. Si was hiding in some corner.
“You’re already here, what are you standing outside for?” At the entrance of the outpatient department, a rather plump woman had appeared at some point. “It’s about to rain, hurry up and come in!”
As the piercing female voice fell, lightning rolled in the clouds, and a downpour started without warning.
Before they were drenched, the players couldn’t be bothered with much else and quickly ran towards the only place that could provide shelter from the rain.
They also approached to further observe the NPC.
The plump woman was not a medical staff member; she was dressed in everyday clothes. While the players were still guessing her identity, the woman continued to speak, “How is it? We didn’t lie, did we? Where can you find such a kind-hearted agency like us now, giving you a certificate and introducing you to a job for just two thousand yuan.”
Glancing at Mu Ge, who was tidying her bangs, the woman said with dissatisfaction, “As a caregiver, don’t pay too much attention to your appearance. In the future, when you’re carrying feces and urine, are you going to spare a hand to fix your hair?”
Mu Ge was not annoyed and smiled in agreement.
It seemed that “caregiver” was their identity in this instance.
The plump woman’s next words also corresponded to the main mission:
“If you want to earn a high salary, you have to go to the special inpatient department. There are a lot of rich people there. Of course, not just anyone can go. You’ll work in the general inpatient department for a few days first. Only those who do well can be transferred.”
With that, she took out a piece of paper. “Come, each of you choose a patient to take care of.”
The group immediately gathered around.
The number of patients available for selection was exactly the same as the current number of players.
Dementia, post-surgery, hearing and vision impairment, mental illness, etc.—in short, each was different.
The post-surgery and hearing-and-vision-impaired patients became “hot commodities.” Everyone knew that a patient with limited mobility was much safer.
The plump woman did not forcibly assign them, but just stood on the side with a smile, watching the invisible competition among the players.
After a moment, she leisurely recommended, “The patient in room 4 is the easiest to take care of.”
The players sneered inwardly.
According to the notes, room 4 housed a patient with a mental illness. An NPC with sound limbs and an unsound mind—no fool would choose that.
“Easiest to take care of? I’ll go then.”
The plump woman, who was still making ill-intentioned recommendations, lost control of her expression for a moment upon hearing this.
Including her, everyone looked at Zhou Q’ian, who had volunteered. The hospital gate was not closed, and the strong wind on a rainy day blew his blue hair, making him look like he was from a different dimension.
Things didn’t go as expected. The plump woman frowned and asked, “Are you sure?”
Zhou Q’ian: “Since you’ve recommended it so enthusiastically, I certainly can’t miss it.”
“Room 3,” after Zhou Q’ian, Shen Zhiyi also made a decision. “I’m very good at dealing with people who act their age.”
With the high-risk patients with sound limbs all taken, the other players had nothing to fight over.
While everyone was choosing their patients, Zhou Q’ian stood there with his hands in his pockets, his posture casual, patiently waiting for the plump woman to further explain the requirements for a caregiver.
The few players who were secretly watching him were full of suspicion, not knowing what he was up to.
“Follow me.”
You could go directly from the back of the outpatient department to the inpatient building.
There were umbrellas in the hospital. Each person held one and followed behind the plump woman.
In the wind and rain, the woman’s ruthless work arrangements could be heard:
“Just like during the training. you need to wake up at 5:40 every day, help the patient with washing up, then have breakfast. If you find the bedsheets are dirty, you must change them immediately. Do a basic massage at 6:30, try to take the patient’s temperature at 7:00, then assist the patient with physiological excretion. It’s best to take the patient out for a walk at 8:00…”
“From 9:00 to 10:00, accompany the patient and talk to them, provide lunch…”
“11:00 is the scheduled medication time. You must cooperate with the nurse to make sure the patient takes their medicine.”
“17:00 is for preparing dinner…”
“At 18:00, you can take the patient out for another walk.”
“At 19:00, help the patient wash up…”
“22:00 is also medication time. From 23:00 to 5:40 in the morning, try to check the patient’s condition every forty minutes and measure their pulse to make sure they are still alive.”
Twenty-four hours a day, it could be said that the players had something to do at every moment.
The plump woman was wearing a strong perfume. The smell was infinitely amplified in the rain, making one’s head dizzy.
The players following behind her listened carefully to the woman’s arrangements and took notes.
Shen Zhiyi glanced at the side.
Sure enough, Zhou Q’ian’s face was as black as the umbrella.
“The patient has a bad temper, especially when taking medicine. They will have all kinds of stress reactions,” the plump woman said with a smile. “Please remember that in our service industry, we absolutely cannot be complained about. Once we are complained about…”
The plump woman’s smile gradually turned sinister. “The punishment will be very severe.”
The fog outside had dissipated, but not inside the hospital.
The players all observed their surroundings.
Besides inside the buildings, between the hospital buildings, there was a very exaggerated amount of fog, making it impossible to see the function of each building.
This wasn’t the most outrageous part. The strangest thing was that from the moment they entered the hospital until now, besides the plump woman, they had not seen any medical staff or patients.
After a full ten minutes of walking, the group finally arrived at their destination.
The inpatient department was exceptionally deserted compared to the outpatient building. The old elevator ascended slowly, and the car was covered with all kinds of small advertisements.
The elevator stopped on the third floor. The plump woman had no intention of getting out. She casually said, “The patient is on this floor.”
Then, using her size to her advantage, she forcefully pushed forward, pushing the players out. One fat hand nimbly pressed the close-door button.
The plump woman was not willing to stay at all, and the way she hurried away was as if there was some virus in the air.
In the car, which still had the lingering scent of the woman’s perfume, the young man who called himself Zhang Zhuzi cursed, “Damn it.”
However, they had no choice. Even though they knew something was wrong, they could only bite the bullet and move forward.
Usually, room numbers were the floor number plus the sequence, but not here.
The numbers, in black on white paper, were pasted on the rusty iron doors. The edges of the numbers were printed with a cyclamen pattern.
The combination of black, white, and flowers looked more and more unlucky.
“I’m going to the bathroom. Anyone want to come with me?” a man in his early thirties said. “It’s best to take care of our physiological needs before midnight.”
About half of the players followed.
When these few people gathered around, the man, under the cover of the other players’ bodies, his hand hidden in his sleeve moved slightly, then he nonchalantly walked forward.
Zhou Q’ian was still standing there, staring at the door number. The information Yu Tong had given him appeared in his mind.
The man who had previously suggested going to the bathroom was named Zhao Sanxun. He was not good-looking, but his abilities were outstanding.
Zhao Sanxun’s initial species evolution direction was the stonefish. He was not only a dual-skill user, but both of his skills were quite powerful.
“Super strong poison and a camouflage ability no less than that of a chameleon,” Zhou Q’ian was secretly on guard.
Zhao Sanxun’s poison could be released through fog, or it could be condensed into poisonous thorns and shot out. His camouflage ability even allowed him to avoid the eyes and ears of NPCs with the same ability, making him a master of assassination.
The other two were nicknamed “Poison Dragon” and “Kerr.”
Poison Dragon’s nickname had nothing to do with poison. Buddhism uses this term to describe evil thoughts and delusions. His skill was in creating illusions.
Of course, it couldn’t be compared to Liu Ye’s illusion ability.
As for Kerr, this was someone to be especially careful of.
He had a certain probability of being able to briefly copy the abilities of other players. The laboratory had not given accurate data on how long each copy could be used, the skill cooldown period, etc.
…He couldn’t let them get this strong.
Zhou Q’ian was silent, his mind working on some plan.
Behind him, Han Li noticed the faint curl of his lips and inexplicably shivered. She had a feeling someone was about to be schemed against.
“The instance has just started. Who pissed him off?”
Han Li was completely baffled.
Zhou Q’ian’s hand was already on the door of room 4. His gaze inadvertently swept over Shen Zhiyi, and he nodded slightly, hinting that he didn’t need to be taken care of tonight.
————
Bathroom.
Among the five people who came to the bathroom, two were female players. The men’s and women’s bathrooms were separate. The other three, led by Zhao Sanxun, were standing by the urinals.
Zhao Sanxun had put on a headset at some point. The light shone on his brow, giving him a menacing and oppressive look.
“Zzz—”
Amidst the sharp static, Zhao Sanxun temporarily took off his headset and put it away.
Before leaving, he had released a high-quality, small listening device, intending to further observe Zhou Q’ian. Now, the device had a problem.
“Was it discovered?” Poison Dragon was surprised.
“Not necessarily.” This was a precious item, almost five-star. It was enough to detect a normal boss.
Zhao Sanxun said expressionlessly, “Maybe Zhou Q’ian went into the hospital room.”
It was normal for communication-type items to be temporarily disabled in a specific space.
“Go find some nurse uniforms. We’ll make a move tonight.”
These words made Poison Dragon and Kerr look over in surprise at the same time.
Poison Dragon spoke first, “Big brother, to have the Whaler’s Association come out to hunt him, Zhou Q’ian must have some unexpected secrets. If we can get them out of him…”
Not to mention the one-on-three numbers.
Although the Whaler’s Association had mentioned that the holy artifact was most likely in Zhou Q’ian’s hands, no matter how strong the holy artifact was, it was only effective against ghosts. They were different. all their skills could work on humans.
Zhao Sanxun ignored him completely and continued, “At ten o’clock at night, we need to cooperate with the nurse to make the patient take their medicine. This means the nurse will definitely appear. At 9:50, Poison Dragon will be responsible for using his illusion ability to make Zhou Q’ian misread the time. I will disguise myself as a nurse and go in, and Kerr will be the backup.”
He always felt that there was a calculated element to this instance. If they still couldn’t kill him with such thorough preparation, it meant that the other party had been on guard against them all along.
…
Room 4.
A very auspicious number.
To prevent their relationship from being seen through, Zhou Q’ian did not have much eye contact with Shen Zhiyi throughout the entire process. After confirming that there were no clues at the empty nurse’s station, he was the first to knock on the door and go in.
When Zhou Q’ian pushed open the door, the other players couldn’t help but stop and take a look.
The setting of having sound limbs but a mental problem meant that the patient in this room should be the “ceiling” among the patients.
However, Zhou Q’ian ruthlessly blocked their prying gazes and directly closed the door. “My patient, no one else can look.”
“…” This domineering tone would not be out of place in an idol drama.
The light was not on in the hospital room.
A narrow bed stood alone by the side, with a small wardrobe next to it. The entire space seemed very empty.
The tightly closed window blocked out the sound of the wind and rain. Correspondingly, the room was much more humid. The wall clock ticked away, the second hand seeming to move a little faster than normal.
The patient in the blue and white striped clothes was lying flat on the bed. She slowly turned her neck. She had a gentle appearance, but because the muscles on her left cheek twitched from time to time, it gave her a painful and ferocious look.
The woman’s limbs were all tied down with restraints, but the corners of her mouth were wide open.
“You smell better than a corpse,” she giggled, her throat constantly rolling. “Your flesh also looks very fresh.”
Zhou Q’ian just calmly walked over. Amidst the eerie laughter, he bent down to study the restraints. The tightness was less than the standard two fingers. It must have been very uncomfortable to be tied up like this.
Click.
The next second, the tightly tied dead knot of the restraint was suddenly untied.
The woman’s eyes widened, and she forgot to giggle.
She seemed to have been in a state of glaring with rage often in the past. Her eyeballs and the whites of her eyes had a strange, separated look.
As she stared, Zhou Q’ian untied another restraint for her.
“…”
In the dim room, the woman stared straight at Zhou Q’ian, her hair disheveled, her face as pale as a ghost. Anyone who saw her would feel their scalp tingle.
The person in question was unmoved. After untying the upper body restraints, Zhou Q’ian’s fingers nimbly began to untie the ones on her legs.
After a series of operations, the woman’s eyeballs were almost falling to the ground.
Zhou Q’ian tilted his head. “What are you looking at?”
Just as the plump woman had said, the patient here indeed had a very bad temper.
Just a casual question, and the woman’s face immediately changed. The twitching flesh on her left cheek suddenly bulged out. A hard lump was growing inside, and the flesh bag continued to expand.
Zhou Q’ian felt a physiological revulsion. Although the woman had not made any big movements, he inexplicably felt a strong sense of crisis.
His skin felt a little itchy and numb.
Zhou Q’ian thought of the patient who had brought the sculpture out of the instance at Heshengkang Hospital. She liked to self-harm. Could it be related to this itchiness?
A shadow loomed over his head. The woman sat up with a menacing look.
As she got closer, Zhou Q’ian only said one sentence, “It’s almost ten o’clock.”
At ten o’clock at night, the patient needed to take their medicine.
The plump woman had said a lot about the caregiver’s work process. She had used words like “try to” for some of them, but she had specifically emphasized this one point—
“You must cooperate with the nurse to make the patient take their medicine.”
This was very easy to understand.
First, it implied that the patient was unwilling to cooperate with taking the medicine. Second, if they forcibly made the patient take the medicine, there might be danger in the process.
Sure enough, as soon as Zhou Q’ian’s voice fell, the anger in the woman’s expression could no longer be concealed.
“Go to hell!”
She’s not sick. Everyone who forced her to take medicine deserved to die!
Before this anger could explode like the flesh on her face, Zhou Q’ian suddenly smiled at the woman’s twisted face, his tone full of bewitchment:
“How about I take the medicine for you, Da Lang?”
The woman’s pouncing body stiffened. What Da Lang?
Before her brain could process it, Zhou Q’ian’s next sentence made her pupils shrink suddenly.
His lips opened and closed. Every word Zhou Q’ian uttered was like a carefully designed trap. “I’ll play you, you play me. We can shine in each other’s positions…”
“What do you say?”
__
Author’s note:
Zhou Q’ian: Refusing to work overtime in an instance starts with you and me.
