036
After Jiang Huali and her group successfully met with Xin Mingqing, they decided to go to the laboratory.
"According to the instructions, the core should be in the laboratory."
Xin Mingqing said, holding a compass in his hand.
The hospital has three underground floors. The first basement level contains a performance hall and some entertainment venues for "VIPs".
The second basement level is the office area.
The laboratory is located on the third basement level.
Mo Ci stayed by Jiang Huali's side the whole time, holding her hand tightly, and didn't react much when he heard the word "core".
Zhou Cui seemed to be deep in thought.
Xin Mingqing didn't comment on the two people who suddenly appeared in the group. He turned to Qi Man and said, "Most of the people who stayed in the community are dead. We didn't see what the murderer looked like. Everyone who saw him is dead."
"It should be the boss of this instance."
“…Zero,” Zhou Cui said softly from the side.
“Number Zero?” Qi Man looked at her.
“Yes.” Zhou Cui repeated her role in this instance, “Zero was the first test subject, but she was destroyed three years ago.”
"It was transformed into a highly dangerous monster due to an experimental accident, so it was reportedly destroyed."
"I heard?" Jiang Huali asked.
“Because the destruction process was kept completely secret, and most of the people involved are dead, naturally no one knows the truth.” Zhou Cui said with a cold expression, “However, it is clear that the destruction was unsuccessful.”
"Anyway, let's go first," Qi Man said.
The group arrived at the laboratory area with extreme caution. They could clearly feel the heavy security along the way, with guards standing watch every short distance.
The underground area was larger than they had imagined, and they successfully entered the laboratory after knocking out the last guard.
Meanwhile, a performance was still taking place in the performance hall on the basement level.
The performance was nothing more than bloody and grotesque, and the audience members were clearly enjoying it. However, when the performance reached another climax, amidst the bloodshed and cheers, a guest suddenly felt a chill on his neck. The next second, his eyes widened, and he died silently in his seat.
Blood trickled down his seat like a blooming flower.
The people around them were so engrossed in the performance that they didn't notice anything amiss for a moment.
A viewer wanted to leave to go to the restroom halfway through the show, but when he turned around, he saw the gruesome and horrific death of the person next to him. In an instant, he let out a terrified scream—
"Ah! Someone's dead! Someone's dead!"
But the next second, his body was split in two and he fell to the ground like a lump of mud.
...
Quite unexpectedly, apart from some initial difficulties in infiltrating the laboratory, the subsequent operations went surprisingly smoothly, and this smoothness continued until Jiang Huali and her group obtained the core.
The core was sealed in a specially made box as usual. Jiang Huali suddenly spoke up: "Let me keep it safe?"
This was a bit abrupt. The box was originally meant for Qi Man, but Qi Man looked at the smile on Jiang Huali's face and handed the box over.
"Don't lose it."
Jiang Huali carefully put the box away. "Don't worry," she blinked, "it won't get lost."
Just as they were retracing their steps, alarms suddenly went off around them, and a male voice came over the loudspeaker: "Intruders have broken in. Level 1 alert! Level 1 alert!"
The surrounding walls suddenly activated their mechanisms, launching an attack on Jiang Huali and her companions.
The sound of footsteps getting closer and closer came from nearby, and soon Jiang Huali and her group ran into a group of guards.
The scene descended into chaos.
Jiang Huali noticed that the clown leading the group seemed to be the one who originally hosted the performances in the performance hall.
The group escaped the melee, and on their way out, they encountered an unexpected person.
Number 354, that's the little girl.
"Aren't you staying in the storeroom?"
Yin Mengshu frowned.
The little girl nervously twisted her fingers, not answering the question. She simply said, "I know there's another exit here. I'll take you there."
Upon hearing this, the group exchanged glances discreetly, and Jiang Huali said, "Okay, let's go quickly then."
The little girl nodded and led them through surveillance cameras and guards until they arrived at a laboratory.
The little girl entered the password on the keypad lock, and after the door opened, she turned around and said to everyone, "The exit is inside, let's go in."
They entered the laboratory, with Jiang Huali walking at the back. The moment she stepped into the laboratory, the door closed without warning.
The group quickly spread out in a defensive stance. Qi Man said coldly, "Speak, what do you want to do by bringing us here?"
The little girl tilted her head, looking puzzled, and said, "I brought you here to find the exit, sister. What are you talking about?"
As she spoke, a look of fear appeared on her face. She moved closer to Jiang Huali and asked, "Sister, don't you recognize me?"
Before the little girl could grab Jiang Huali's clothes, a powerful force stopped her, rendering her unable to move.
The little girl paused for a moment, her eyes instantly becoming alert and sharp as she looked at the ink shrine next to Jiang Huali.
Jiang Huali pushed the little girl's hand away and said, "You are not number 354."
"You are Zero, right?"
Upon hearing this, the little girl's fearful expression vanished, replaced by a coldness. She whispered, "You were discovered so quickly."
"In that case, you can only die here."
Zero chuckled twice, and the little girl's figure began to change, eventually revealing a woman in white with long hair.
"Hand over the core before you die, and I might make your death easier," Zero said to Jiang Huali.
Jiang Huali nodded upon hearing this. "Really?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Feng shouted, "What do you mean 'really'? You're not really planning to give it to her, are you?!"
Ignoring Qi Feng's shouts, Jiang Huali took out the box containing the core and tossed it up and down, "You want this, right?"
Zero squinted, sensing the aura emanating from the box. "Yes, this is it. Give it to me!"
Jiang Huali handed the box to Zero, "Here, for you."
The people around frowned.
Xin Mingqing asked Qi Man, "What does she want to do?"
Qi Man shook her head, staring only at Zero.
Zero, holding the box, threw her head back and laughed loudly, a tear of blood falling from her eye. "Since that's how it is, then I'll let you die a little easier—"
Suddenly, Jiang Huali threw out a prop, and a cloud of smoke exploded between them. Through the smoke, Jiang Huali shouted, "Qi Feng—Arrow!"
A rocket streaked through the air and exploded the moment it touched the smoke. As the laboratory was engulfed in the explosion, Jiang Huali and the others had already rushed out.
They stopped to rest after reaching a temporarily hidden and safe place.
Jiang Huali dusted herself off, pulled out a box from somewhere, and handed it to Qi Man, saying, "Here you go."
Qi Man took the box without any surprise.
Qi Feng saw it and said, "Wait—didn't you give it to the Boss?"
Jiang Huali looked at him and said in confusion, "Huh—I thought you figured out that one was fake."
Qi Feng: "..."
He didn't realize it.
After Jiang Huali gave the fake core to Zero, she could clearly feel that the power that had been vaguely restricting her had disappeared.
It seems that, as the system said, the limitations of the "plot" will be reduced for her, to the point that she can get away with using a fake core.
Jiang Huali sat down on the ground. "What time is it now?"
"12:30 at night."
Yin Mengshu, who was standing to the side, replied.
Xin Mingqing was setting up concealment props on the side, and Qi Man said, "Let's take a break first."
With just over a day left until the mission ends, and having already obtained the core, their next task is simply to survive the remaining time.
"This core isn't that hard to obtain."
Qi Feng said from the side.
Qi Man asked Jiang Huali, "Why didn't Zero realize that the core you gave her was fake?"
Jiang Huali rested her chin on one hand, while Mo Ci held her other hand tightly. She said, "My...boyfriend's talent."
This is just a brief mention. In the game, everyone's talent is a secret, and this talent is often manifested in their weapons, but there are some exceptions.
Qi Man didn't ask any further questions.
Qi Feng muttered, "Is this really your boyfriend?"
He clearly didn't quite believe it.
Jiang Huali started making things up, "I've known him for a long time. We got separated before, and then I had a little accident in the last dungeon. He saved me, and then we got together."
Qi Feng's lips twitched. "What a perfunctory love story."
Jiang Huali didn't really care whether they believed her or not; after all, everyone has secrets in the game.
Not to mention her, everyone in the main group has secrets, but not all secrets need to be revealed. They understand each other implicitly, always trust each other, and are each other's strongest support.
In Jiang Huali's view, this trait of the main characters was clearly influenced by Qi Man.
Xin Mingqing, standing to the side, took out a prop. The prop fell to the ground and turned into a paper doll, which secretly slipped out from where they were hiding.
“Investigation tools,” he explained.
The Boss probably won't come looking for them anytime soon, unless she discovers immediately after their escape that the core she had is fake.
However, this is less likely, because the box was forged by Mo Ci at Jiang Huali's behest.
The real big boss in the game is here; Zero won't discover the forgery anytime soon.
Zero is eager to obtain the core, so he must be planning to do something. He certainly won't care too much about the few little bugs that escaped.
Jiang Huali could vaguely guess Mo Ci's identity. In addition, based on the information Mo Ci and Jiang Huali revealed at the bottom of the abyss, he was very likely to be closely related to the core of the dungeon.
However, Mo Ci seemed reluctant to reveal relevant information to Jiang Huali.
In this mission world, the original owner's final fate was to be dragged into the abyss and disappear without a trace, which also means that the original owner's ending was not necessarily death.
Jiang Huali wondered if she could leave Moci after escaping the game.
Or will he be destroyed along with the game?
Although the system was able to collect Mo Ci's soul before he dissipated, Jiang Huali still didn't really want Mo Ci to "die."
They were in a data room, which was very dusty and looked like it hadn't been there for a long time.
Because they needed to rest, everyone found a place to sit down or searched the surroundings for other clues.
Jiang Huali and Mo Ci sat next to a bookshelf, leaning against each other, disappearing into the darkness.
"Hmm..."
A faint sound came from the darkness, but it was completely blocked by the black mist surrounding the two of them. To others, it appeared that Jiang Huali had simply fallen asleep with her head on Mo Ci's shoulder.
Mo Ci gently pinched Jiang Huali's waist. The coldness of his body mingled with hers as their lips and teeth intertwined. Jiang Huali suddenly remembered the previous world.
Who are you thinking about?
A sudden stinging sensation came from my lips, and I heard Mo Ci's slightly displeased voice in my ear.
"No... I wasn't thinking about you..."
Upon hearing this answer, Mo Ci turned to gently kiss the small wound on Jiang Huali's lips that he had bitten. After an unknown amount of time, Mo Ci finally loosened his grip on Jiang Huali.
Jiang Huali leaned against him, trying to calm her breathing.
Can a ghost kiss for this long without breathing?
"Don't kiss me in front of others next time." Jiang Huali poked Mo Ci's chest.
Mo Ci grasped her hand, interlocking their fingers, and whispered, "They can't see."
"That won't do either." Jiang Huali tilted her head slightly and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
...
They rested for a while until the little paper figure that Xin Mingqing had released crawled back through the crack in the door.
Xin Mingqing placed the paper figure in his palm, and the paper figure spontaneously combusted without any wind.
He looked up at Qi Man and said, "The Boss might have gone berserk."
“We don’t think we can stay here for long,” Xin Mingqing stood up. “The Boss in her berserk state attacks indiscriminately. Most of the audience in the performance hall, the hospital staff, and the guards are dead. She will come for us sooner or later.”
The only way to defeat a berserk boss is to find its weakness and then kill it in one blow.
The weaknesses of a boss in a dungeon are usually revealed in the storyline, so their main task now is to understand the boss's past and uncover her weaknesses.
“I think I’ve found something,” said Yin Mengshu, who had been searching through documents from the beginning.
She waved the file records in her hand.
Several people gathered around.
The photo in the file shows a very pretty woman with gentle features.
Her number is... zero.
Ten years ago, Zero became the laboratory's first test subject. Inhuman genetic experiments tortured her for seven years until three years ago, when she went mad and killed three doctors.
This shocked the hospital's leadership. They isolated Patient Zero, assigned guards to monitor her, and temporarily suspended the experiments on her.
But from that day on, one of the guards who were monitoring Zero died every night.
This is very strange. The surveillance footage showed nothing unusual, yet the guards were dying one by one.
These guards were hired by the hospital at great expense. At this rate, the hospital would suffer huge losses. Therefore, they made a decision—
Destroy Zero.
Simply put, it's about killing Zero.
Before killing Zero, they conducted one last experiment on him.
The newly developed gene-editing agent was injected into Zero's body, promoting her mutation.
That night, none of the people who participated in the experiment survived, and Zero disappeared without a trace.
The higher-ups sealed off the laboratory, pretending it had never happened, and their horrific experiments continued.
Most of these test subjects were born from human trafficking, while a small portion were children born to these test subjects.
During the experiment, many of the test subjects underwent abnormal mutations. Many of the drugs sold by this hospital were extracted from these test subjects, packaged as normal drugs, and then entered the market before finally returning to the hospital.
Some experimental subjects of little value, like the child in the room on the second floor, would become playthings or meals for the so-called "distinguished guests."
Zero is the daughter of the founder of this laboratory.
"The data shows that Zero is extremely afraid of water."
Even after the mutation, Zero's fear of water remained very evident.
The laboratory's original plan for disposal was to immerse No. 0 in a tank containing poison.
...
When Jiang Huali and the others came out of the archives, almost everyone outside was dead.
What was supposed to be a night of revelry for those "distinguished guests" turned into a night of death for them.
It's clear that Zero's goal is to take revenge on everyone involved.
Finding number zero is also a difficult problem.
Although Zero would probably find them eventually if they waited in place, they didn't have that much time to wait for Zero to appear, since the longer it took, the more unpredictable things would become.
“I can find her,” Mo Ci said.
He is essentially a character from the same source as the game and the instance itself, so finding the boss is a piece of cake for him.
They eventually found Zero in that abandoned laboratory, and when they found her, there was someone kneeling next to her.
It's the clown who hosts the performances at that theater.
The clown's legs were a bloody mess, as if they had been brutally crushed.
There was a corpse on the ground, a man in a suit.
His death was gruesome.
Noticing someone had broken in, Zero turned to look at them.
When she saw Jiang Huali, her expression clearly distorted.
"Where's the thing? Give it to me now!"
Jiang Huali: "Didn't I already give it to you?"
"It's fake!" Zero glared fiercely at Jiang Huali. "You lied to me!"
Jiang Huali looked at Zero's somewhat blurred figure, "You want to take it..."
"Prolonging life?"
Thanks to the connection established with the Ink Shrine, Jiang Huali could vaguely sense that the power on Zero, which was exactly the same as the core, was gradually weakening.
Jiang Huali wasn't surprised that dungeon bosses were all more or less related to the core gameplay.
Zero suddenly burst into laughter, "I've killed everyone here, and by consuming that thing, won't I have eternal power?"
Her expression was frantic, completely different from the photo in the file.
Jiang Huali gave a slight smirk. "Really? You think this is your first time consuming it?"
The dungeon is an infinite loop. It's obvious that Zero's awakening level is not as high as Zhao Yu's in the previous dungeon. Every time Zero devours a core, it provides energy for the next dungeon restart.
What the core gave her was not the power to escape nightmares and achieve immortality, but the repeated recurrence of tragedy.
Zero was silent for a moment, then she rushed towards Jiang Huali like a madwoman.
Just then, Qi Man raised the gun in her hand and fired a shot at Zero's heart. This gun was a high-level item, and its bullets were made of water.
Zero's movements visibly froze when she was hit, but she quickly resumed her actions.
But just as Zero was about to grab Jiang Huali by the neck, she could not move forward an inch further.
Zero looked at the black aura surrounding Jiang Huali, sensing the familiar presence within it, and gave a pale smile. "You... hehe... we are the same kind."
Jiang Huali looked at her and said, "You're wrong. We're not the same kind of people."
Jiang Huali raised the prop in her hand and fired a shot at Zero. A huge water sphere enveloped Zero. It would have been easy for Zero to struggle free, but when she looked at the black mist binding her body, she revealed an ambiguous smile.
"No, we are the same."
Her eyes gradually turned pure black, and countless black cracks appeared on her face, but she could only be bound in the water sphere, feeling her power disappear.
Just as Zero's figure became increasingly transparent, the Joker, who had been kneeling to the side on the verge of death, slowly moved over from a short distance away, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.
He crawled to Zero's side, merged into the water sphere, and quietly embraced Zero with his bloodied and mangled hands.
The black mist in Zero's eyes seemed to dissipate somewhat, and the black cracks on his face also faded a little.
In her boundless fear of water and the loss of life, she vaguely recalled a long, long time ago...
When she was a young child, her father pushed her into the water and she was about to suffocate when a figure grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the suffocating water.
He was the gloomy son of her father's friend, who was staying at her house.
“…Brother…I, my name is…Bai Yue.”
"...the 'joy' in 'delight'."
Instead of number zero.
Blood tears streamed from Number One's eyes. He held her tightly, and with his last breath, he said:
"……I know."
...
[The main quest – Survive in the instance for 48 hours – has been completed by a survivor. Congratulations on your successful escape!]
[Due to an unknown error, the dungeon boss has been defeated, and this dungeon will no longer be available.]
[Dungeon exit open; dungeon closing time remaining: 3 minutes.]
After Zero died, Jiang Huali and the others returned to the data room and stayed in the instance for another forty-eight hours until the system notification sounded.
After they left, the file on the table was gently turned by the wind. On the lower right corner of the page numbered "zero," there were three bright red characters—
"Help me."
The three words slowly faded in color and finally disappeared, as if they had never existed.
Next to the photo in the file, there is a name written on it.
"Bai Yue".
This underground carnival will be buried underground forever.
but……
The revelry of human nature will never cease.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com