Chapter 340 Monster Hospital (Thirty-nine)

After entering the house, Nan Huan discovered that the locked door had neither a combination lock nor a lock that required a key, which did not conform to the general rules of escape rooms.

After all, there was no clue to indicate that the clue to open the door was inside the house. The system didn't even give any clues to mislead them. It was just short of clearly writing "The door cannot be opened from inside the room" on the wall.

However, the task given by the system is to let them leave this room. The system will not directly give a dead end. This is what Nan Huan and Bei Xi have already determined in previous games and tasks.

Coupled with the hint 'the person who tied the bell must untie it', it is not particularly difficult to understand. They entered the acting dean's office, which triggered the punishment and confined them to the room, so if the room cannot be opened from the inside, it means that it can only be opened from the outside.

After all, this is the office of the acting dean. The other party has the ability to lock it, and of course the ability to open it, so the task has evolved into this: the two of them are now in the room and are still under punishment. How can they let the acting dean ignore the punishment period and open the door directly?

There aren't actually many clues in the room. Apart from the very eye-catching bookshelf and the points file the two had just seen, there is only this safe against the wall.

After Nan Huan and Bei Xi entered the room, they both deliberately ignored the existence of the safe. It was not because they thought the clue was unimportant, but because the clue was too obvious and not concealed at all.

The system even hid those files a little bit, placing them on the top of the bookshelf, where they were not noticeable, but this safe was placed so carelessly in the corner, with "Come and open me" written all over it, as if it was afraid that others would not notice it.

"So the important things in the office are not just the few documents we just saw," Nan Huan took over Bei Xi's words, looking at the increasingly narrow room with a calm face, "Why doesn't the acting dean like others to enter his office without permission? Why did we trigger the punishment as soon as we entered this room? Why is it just a random intrusion into the office? The purpose of this punishment seems to be that they don't want to leave any survivors. All kinds of signs prove that there are more important things in the room. The existence and status of several other infection sources have been studied and recorded, but there is not a single word about the last one left, which means that no one knows the location and status of this last infection source better than him. Seeing that this box is so covert, it is probably inside."

Nan Huan reached out and tapped the safe twice, then slowly stated their speculations. At the same time, he looked around the four corners of the room, as if observing something.

It was just because the entire room had shrunk more than once, the four original corners of the room had disappeared, and now nothing could be seen. A hint of displeasure finally flashed across Nan Huan's face. He withdrew his hand and looked at Bei Xi.

"No reaction. I don't know whether they think we don't dare to open the box, or think we can't open it, or maybe it's because of the task setting. The acting dean can't see the situation in this room in real time. Everything needs to be triggered."

There were no other players in the room except the two of them. They could communicate freely with just a glance, and there was no need to explain so much. Therefore, the explanations just now, as well as the explanation of having just discovered the purpose of the mission, were all tests from the two of them, and the last bit of hope they held on to.

After all, as part of the mission, judging from this setting, the acting dean doesn't want anyone to get close to his office. Whether it's the recorded documents or the existence and condition of the possible fifth source of infection, he doesn't want others to know about them, so the punishment is so severe. He doesn't want anyone who has come into contact with these to come out of the room.

But compared to those documents, Nan Huan felt that the other party definitely didn't want anyone to come into contact with the source of infection. The two of them first subdued Butterfly. Although the shrinking of the house could not be completely solved, it did not really threaten the two of them. In other words, it was possible for them to come into contact with the source of infection before they died. According to records, the source of infection in the office showed no signs of awakening or activity, so Nan Huan decided to put on a show with Bei Xi first.

If the Acting Dean was observing the two people's situation in real time and heard what they said just now, he should have stepped forward to stop them. In this way, Nan Huan and Bei Xi would not have to choose between the two situations of possibly waking up the source of infection and dying here if they did not take action.

But unfortunately, the system seemed to have anticipated such a situation, or the system was set up from the beginning and did not want Nan Huan and others to find loopholes. Although the Acting Dean was a part of this mission, all situations involving the other party needed to be triggered before the Acting Dean would be aware of them.

For example, only the two of them entered the room and recognized it as the acting dean's room, which triggered the dean's punishment.

Similarly, it is impossible for the Acting Dean to know the existence of the source of infection just by analyzing it in the room. The Acting Dean will only know it unless they actually open the safe and trigger the source of infection.

Between choosing between Nanhuan and the others doing something about the source of infection and preventing this situation from happening in time, Nanhuan tends to think that they will choose the latter.

The safe doesn't look big, but the two rows of overly long buttons in the middle fully demonstrate that it is impossible to open it using the exhaustive method, at least when the room is completely flattened.

Nan Huan took two steps back with a lack of interest, and finally made up his mind. He pouted at Bei Xi and said, "Go ahead. There's no other way. It seems that the system doesn't give us the best of both worlds. We can only open the box. Besides, this instance is closely related to the source of infection. If we are not designed here, the next mission will also be designed. If we open it earlier, we may be free earlier."

Bei Xi saw her impatient look and knew that Nan Huan was in a bad mood. She teased her on purpose with a confused look on her face, "What's the password? I don't know how to open it?"

Nan Huan was furious, and it took him a long time to process what he heard. He suddenly turned around and looked at Bei Xi in surprise. He wanted to ask how it was possible, but when he saw the other party's fake expression, he laughed instantly, "If you don't know, we can only wait here to be sandwiched into meat patties."

Bei Xi took two steps forward, took Nan Huan's hand, and walked back to the desk. "I really don't remember. Besides, the acting dean didn't want anyone to open this thing. When the punishment was triggered, the first thing to be destroyed was the bookshelf and the photo frame."

She picked up the photo frame on the table with one hand and continued, "They have all been moved. How can you think I still remember the exact location of each password?"

There are not many clues in this room. If it is a normal escape room, the more clues the better. But in this situation, there are not many clues, which gives the two of them a lot of convenience. Just like the password of the safe, it must be in this room.

There weren't many clues related to letters and numbers. Apart from the books on the bookshelf facing the desk, there were no additional clues. Moreover, Nan Huan discovered as soon as he entered the house that there were not many books on the bookshelf, but they were arranged in a library style, with irregular numbers and letters marked on the edges of each book.

But even if the number of books is not large, all the letters and numbers combined are enough for the safe, and this is without considering the order. So the difficulty does not lie in the origin of the password, but in the order of the numbers.

Nan Huan was almost amused by Bei Xi. She pinched her chin in thought. She didn't know what she was thinking about. She looked up and asked Bei Xi something completely unrelated, "When I was a child, the bookshelves in my study were changed several times. Later, my favorite story book seemed to be missing. I hadn't found it before I entered the game?"

Bei Xi didn't react for a moment, and thought that this incident had some kind of impact on Nan Huan, reminding him of the time before he entered the game. Without hesitation, she said, "How could you not find it? The bookshelf in the study has been changed five times. The first two times, the story books were placed in the eighth column of the second row. The next three times, the bookshelf was made bigger, so it was moved to the ninth column of the third row. But every time you finished reading, you would habitually put it back to the original position..."

Before she could finish her words, she saw Nan Huan looking at her with a wicked smile on his face, like a cat that had stolen some fish. Bei Xi then realized that she had been fooled by Nan Huan.

After so many years, not only did she remember the location of a storybook that Nan Huan used when he was a child, she even remembered the arrangement of the books on Nan Huan's entire bookshelf, let alone this tiny code.

She scratched Nan Huan's nose with a smile, then put the photo frame back on the table. "You're saying it as if you didn't see it?"

Nan Huan smiled without saying anything, watching Bei Xi walk to the safe with a helpless look on his face, ready to press a number.

The position of the photo frame was wrong from the beginning. It was not facing the desk, but facing the bookshelf, which meant nothing.

If you look closely, you will find that the photo frame is not placed directly in front of the bookshelf, but at a clever angle. The photo was revealed after they confirmed that this was the acting dean's office. In addition to the somewhat strange butterfly, both of them noticed the light spots on the butterfly's wings.

Because the number of light spots is exactly the same as the number of the password on the safe, and according to a special angle, those light spots are just facing some numbers and letters on the edge of the book, so the password is self-evident.

"Come here," Bei Xi had already pressed all the codes, and when she was only one button away from opening, she stretched out her hand towards Nan Huan, and when he took two steps closer, she hugged him in her arms, "Are you scared?"

Even though they knew that the source of infection was in the safe, neither of them had any idea what the source was like, what state it was in, or whether there would be any changes due to their actions.

But Nan Huan's heart was calm. She knew Bei Xi felt the same as herself. She shook her head at her and grabbed Nishen's tail with her other hand, reminding her to be ready.

Snap——

The moment the safe was opened, there was no horrifying scene, because Bei Xi had immediately blocked the entire door of the safe with the jellyfish's transparent, extended body.

Originally, through the transparent body of the jellyfish, even if the things inside could not escape, the two should be able to see the situation inside. However, it is not known whether it is the setting of the system or the existence of the infection source itself. Bei Xi and Nan Huan only saw a ball of black mist inside the safe.

At the same time, Nan Huan's mind seemed to be suddenly flooded with a lot of noisy sounds and some chaotic images, as if something suppressed was gradually awakening. Then Nan Huan heard the sound of her chest vibrating. After a moment, she realized that the beating sound did not come from her heart, but as if it was trying to struggle out of some abyss, beating very hard.

There was a dull pain in her heart, which became more and more obvious as it beat.

However, this process did not last long, only a few seconds, because soon a strong alarm sounded, filling the entire room, as if it was prompting something.

After a few seconds, the alarm suddenly stopped. Outside the originally quiet room, there was a burst of hurried footsteps, and then the door was opened.

Before Nan Huan and Bei Xi could see clearly who was outside the door, their consciousness was instantly pulled away and they left the original room.

【bite--

Congratulations to the player for completing the two-player side quest - escape from the secret room. 】

The familiar mission-completed prompt sounded, but the two did not feel relieved.

The moment they opened their eyes, they were back in the hypnosis therapy room. The white wall opposite the door had returned to its original appearance, and the light spots were no longer visible.

The second half of the system's notification sounded in the minds of the two people.

The reintegration of consciousness and body, and the stimulating feeling just now, made Nan Huan feel very uncomfortable.

[There are extremely important things hidden in the acting dean's office. Compared with it, punishing you is not a big deal. You made full use of this and asked the acting dean to open the door of the office personally. But at the same time, opening the safe also stimulated the awakening of some things.

Mission Reward: Free from infection from the source of infection during the mission. 】

Nan Huan didn't care much about anything else, but when he heard "stimulated the awakening of some things", Nan Huan frowned. He had anticipated this situation, but in the acting dean's room, nothing happened the moment the safe was opened, which made Nan Huan hold some expectations, but now everything was reset to zero because of a word from the system.

"How is it?" Bei Xi's body was fine. Compared with the system's prompts, she was more concerned about Nan Huan's physical condition. Before Nan Huan could react, she had already untied her own restraints and then tried to untie Nan Huan's. As a result, the other party pinched her wrist and asked, "Did you notice anything unusual just now?"

Bei Xi soothed her hand, then undid the restraints neatly, letting Nan Huan lean back in the chair to rest for a while before answering, "No, there is nothing wrong, and the system also said that it is stimulated to wake up, not already awake. I am more inclined to believe that the source of infection in the acting dean's office is still in a state of not awakening, but was stimulated by us today, which is likely to speed up the process."

"We are in this instance, and you know that the awakening and activities of the infection source are unavoidable. It's just a matter of sooner or later. Besides, we have more important things to do right now."

Bei Xi noticed that Nan Huan was feeling a little down and deliberately tried to divert his attention.

Nan Huan was not entirely worried because of the source of infection, but more because of the voices that suddenly popped into her mind and her own physical condition. So her question was not simply about Bei Xi's source of infection. However, judging from the other party's answer, Bei Xi did not have those conditions, which made her feel a little relieved.

Fortunately, because her consciousness was separated from her body, she felt a little uncomfortable, so she could hide it for the time being. In order to prevent the other party from noticing that something was wrong, she hurriedly asked, "What's the more important thing?"

"The mechanical spider didn't lose contact because we entered the mission, but it just happened to choose that time. Now I can no longer see the condition of Patient 151."

Although Bei Xi had guessed this situation immediately after entering the mission, he still felt uneasy at the moment.

Just at this moment, there was a knock on the door of the treatment room.

"I think the treatment time is over. Can you come out now?" It was the voice of Patient No. 111. He seemed to have been waiting at the door since early morning. Seeing that there was no movement in the room, he could not help but knock on the door. "The matter you asked me to pay attention to has a result."

The voices of other patients could be heard outside, and Patient 111 could only lower his voice, sounding a little anxious.

Bei Xi did not dare to delay and immediately opened the door and let someone in. "What has he done since we entered the treatment room? Don't miss a single detail."

After what happened just now, patient No. 111 also realized that something was wrong, and quickly told the truth about what happened just now, "I watched him return to the room, and he seemed to have recovered. I also asked several patients to talk to him, but they didn't find anything wrong. He stayed in the room for a while, and then went out to chat with other patients. I asked someone to follow him, but they didn't find anything abnormal for the time being."

"How long has he been in the activity room?"

Nan Huan and Bei Xi were not surprised that Patient No. 151 was able to enter the activity room freely. After all, the information taken out from the acting dean's office was still on Nan Huan, which indicated that there was a source of infection in the activity room. The golden light on Patient No. 151's body was destroyed, and he was already infected. No one knew what method the evil god used to let the other party enter the source of infection, but it was definitely not a good thing.

"About fifteen minutes, not a long time," Patient 111 explained truthfully, "I just tried it, and after he came in, I couldn't open the door."

"When the activity time comes later, can you ask other patients not to go to the activity room for the time being?"

Seeing that the activity time was almost up, they had no time to check and could only ask all the patients to stay away from here temporarily.

But patient No. 111 looked embarrassed and said, "It might be a little difficult."