There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

1 p.m.

Having just had lunch, Director Zhang sat in his office, idly rocking his chair back and forth and, leaning his head against the backrest, stared at the pale ceiling above.

There was no trace of any burning marks to be seen at all.

Though The Fifth Hospital had fallen into disrepair, most areas were still kept very clean, and the walls were painted a pristine white.

Director Zhang looked very intently; in his white line of vision, the Player's Handbook was counting down the time.

...

The entire hospital was shrouded in a layer of misty black fog. Under the grey overcast sky, the surrounding abandoned shopping district told a tale of desolation, leaving the cold blue-and-white hospital as the only color in this area.

But under the gloomy sky, the building seemed to have also been covered with a layer of melancholy.

Ward No. 8.

The girl who had been sleeping on the bed suddenly opened her eyes and then sat up, looking up at the sky guard panel as well, exhaling gently as if sighing to the heavens.

This time she had run until the hospital building was out of sight, and even though her feet hurt so much that she was sweating profusely, she did not stop, yet she ended up back here.
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But this time... Tao Tao looked at the countdown on the Player's Handbook.

Thirty minutes until the game ends, and this judgement did not reset with the commencement of time, meaning she just needed to run one more time before the countdown ended to successfully complete the task!

Tao Tao excitedly popped two pills.

She couldn't afford to make any mistakes at this critical moment.

The outside of the ward was still eerily silent. Tao Tao got out of bed, tiptoed over, and stood at the door for a while before pressing down the door handle.

The corridor was dim and lightless, and in the air mixed with the smell of disinfectant, there seemed to be a faint smell of gunpowder.

Tao Tao remembered the fire she had seen when she left last time, but that was probably part of another player's task or the game's crazed NPCs; she had no desire to investigate it.

She only wanted to complete her task.

Tao Tao walked out of the ward toward the staircase at the end of the corridor, deliberately choosing the direction opposite to Ward 13.

Suddenly, a nurse's figure turned the corner ahead. Tao Tao reacted swiftly, pulled open a room door next to her, and slipped inside.

There was a little girl in the ward who suddenly saw her run in. Panicked and trembling, she shrank to the foot of the bed and clutched her blanket tightly, her face very fearful.

Tao Tao gave her a warning glare, which made the little girl shrink back even further.

But as Tao Tao turned to lean against the door and listen, the girl's gaze suddenly became very strange. She quietly sized up the person who had burst into her room.

Just then, a piercing scream came from outside. Tao Tao hadn't reacted yet when another high-pitched scream came from right behind her.

The consecutive screams startled her, and she quickly realized what was happening and rushed over to cover the girl's mouth.

"What's your name?" Tao Tao said fiercely.

"Out... outside someone is screaming..." the little girl said in a voice as low as a mosquito's buzz. She was shivering and looked at Tao Tao with fear in her eyes.

After the scream came from outside, a chaos of footsteps ensued, followed by a cacophony of shouting voices filled with fear, panic, and a hint of despair.

It appeared serious chaos had erupted. Tao Tao frowned and glared at the girl under her grasp, "What does the screaming outside have to do with you? I'm going to let go now, but you better not scream, or if you attract people, you're as good as dead!"

The girl shrank back, nodding fearfully in agreement.

Tao Tao saw this and slowly moved her hand away, only fully lowering it when she saw that the girl indeed stopped yelling.

The chaos outside continued, and at this moment, the girl who had just been held hostage was now clinging tightly to Tao Tao's arm, shivering as she spoke, "This hospital, it's finally making its move, right...?"

"Huh?" Tao Tao had wanted to listen to the noise by the door, but instead found herself being pulled back as she uttered an impatient, rising tone of voice.

"Those doctors are planning to kill us, we're being domesticated here, just to be their provisions!" the girl muttered as if clutching at straws, desperately tugging at Tao Tao.

Tao Tao: "…What are you talking about?"

Domestication and provisions? What kind of psychopathy is this?

Seeing that Tao Tao didn't believe her, the girl quickly insisted with certainty, "Don't you think the nurses and doctors here are very strange? They go about with gloomy faces all day, they feed you a lot, don't communicate with you, won't let you go out, and keep you locked up here, they…"

Tao Tao listened silently, sizing up the girl with a face full of panic, and recalled the information she had seen in the archives.

Oh, a severe case of paranoia, then there's no problem.

She didn't have the heart to comfort the girl; she forcefully removed the girl's grasp on her hand and turned to go back to the door, listening to the noise outside.

However, the girl lunged at her again, anxiously grabbing her and shouting, "Don't go out! It's really dangerous outside! Let's… let's escape this place together, shall we?"

Tao Tao ignored her, nonchalantly nodding, "Hmm, escape."

The various shouts that had just come through seemed to have subsided somewhat, and the smell of gunpowder in the air had become even stronger, as if the scene from before was replaying.

Tao Tao cautiously pressed down the door handle and quietly opened a crack in the door to look outside.

The pungent smell of gunpowder grew stronger, light smoke floated in the corridor, and the blood splattered on the walls made the clash of pallid and crimson especially striking.

Hiss… Are those people fighting again?

The big shots sure fight fiercely!

Tao Tao poked her head out, and after not seeing anyone around, she quickly slipped out of the door, but then her hem was suddenly pulled.

She turned her head and saw that the paranoia sufferer had followed her.

"Hey, aren't you afraid that I'll take you out and then kill you!" Tao Tao threatened fiercely, her fierce and angry look somewhat scary.

"But but but it's more, more dangerous here…" the girl stammered with fright.

"Don't get in my way!"

Tao Tao narrowed her eyes and indifferently pushed her hand away, she had only twenty-five minutes left to complete the mission, and she didn't want any complications before she got out of the hospital.

Leaving the girl behind, Tao Tao turned and ran toward the route she had previously planned. She had thought she might encounter patrolling nurses along the way, but instead…

She encountered nurses lying on the ground in pools of blood.

Until she reached the stairwell, and with no one else coming out to stop her, Tao Tao, pulling open the fire door, stared somewhat stunned at the unidentified nurse lying on the ground with wide-open eyes.

It was a sharp weapon injury, and it looked like a cut to the throat at that.

Thinking of a throat cut, Tao Tao couldn't help touching her own throat and then remembered the man who had cruelly cut her throat in the past.

Tsk, just thinking about it made her throat hurt even more.

She looked away and quickly ran down the stairs, only to unexpectedly collide with another nurse at the corner.

A nurse holding a gun, with a cold and somber expression.