23. Sanatorium
Thanks to the game's player protection mechanism, the world instantly fell silent as soon as the lights were turned off.
It wasn't the first time Pi Min had killed someone, and the person he killed was a beast who indiscriminately slaughtered innocent people. Pi Min had no psychological burden about it, so how could he possibly be unable to sleep because of it?
I slept soundly through the night without any dreams, and only woke up lazily from the bed after I had slept enough.
Egg was indeed an overpowered cheat code, able to automatically capture supply pods. When Pimin opened her eyes, she was pleasantly surprised to find that there were already two supply pods in the room; all she had to do was enter the password to open them.
[Strawberry-flavored nutrient solution *10 (your favorite flavor), PSR laser gun *1 (kills without bloodshed, cleaner than a machete), dwelling repair card *1 (when you're in space, you're bound to get hurt), Endless Deep Sea dungeon card *1 (the deep sea, a realm humans cannot set foot in, how long can you survive?)]
[Baroque Court Dress *1 (You'll need it), Crystal Shoes *1 (Who says crystal shoes are uncomfortable? These not only aren't uncomfortable, but they also hit vital points every time), Gold Lace Half-Face Mask *1 (No one will know who you are, not even your ex-boyfriend), Dark Castle Dungeon Card *1 (Welcome to the world of vampires!)]
Sure enough, the man wasn't there, and the results were, as always, indescribable.
To Pi Min's surprise, both supply compartments contained dungeon cards without exception.
Including the "Golden Wheat Field Dungeon Card" she had previously obtained and the "Eternal Night Dungeon Card" she had seized from the crocodile, she now has four dungeon cards in her possession.
Is the drop rate for dungeon cards in this game really that high?
Driven by sheer curiosity, she couldn't resist taking a peek at the forum.
It's been quite a while since the game launched its dungeon system, and as expected, many people have already entered the dungeons. There's been a lot of discussion about dungeons on the forums, with a few people showing off their huge loot, but most people complaining about the difficulty.
Some data analysts even compiled a table based on publicly available data from various instances, concluding that the mortality rate was 50%. On average, out of every 100 people who went in, only about 50 would return alive.
Looking at the grayed-out avatars on the forum, Pi Min no longer sees the dungeon card as a gift of fate, but as an invitation from the Grim Reaper.
She could even picture the Grim Reaper, wielding a scythe, beckoning her with an enthusiastic whisper: "Come on, come on, let's court death!"
Thanks to the forum for pouring cold water on her enthusiasm, she timidly suppressed her urge to enter the dungeon.
Putting aside the question of whether or not to enter the dungeon for the time being, after washing up and having breakfast, she decided to first explore the sanatorium she had just acquired the night before.
Opening the door that appeared out of thin air because of the residence fusion card, the entrance hall of the sanatorium came into view.
The bustling scene I had seen in Crocodile's live stream was now a thing of the past. The hall in front of me was empty and quiet, giving me the illusion that I had accidentally fallen into another dimension.
The lobby was empty, the corridors were empty, the wards were empty, and the garden was empty...
Pimin and Dandan proceeded cautiously and with full vigilance, ready for anyone to jump out and attack at any moment. However, to their surprise, even after they had searched the entire sanatorium, they still hadn't found a single living person.
The sanatorium in front of me was like a scene from a horror novel. Although there were still traces of countless people who had been there, it was empty, desolate, and without a sound of human voices.
Based on what he had seen in Crocodile's live stream a while ago, an unbelievable thought suddenly flashed through Pi Min's mind.
The people were all killed by crocodiles!
In just a few days, the crocodile had emptied the entire sanatorium.
Having killed so many people, it's no wonder he was so confident and careless. The ease with which he manipulated so many lives certainly gave him the illusion of being omnipotent.
He must have been overjoyed to discover that the top hunter was a defenseless lop-eared rabbit, thinking it was a feast deliberately prepared for him by God. Little did he know that the best hunters often appear as the prey.
As Pi Min's mind raced, she suddenly heard a soft thud coming from a cabinet in the corner of the hall. The sound was as if someone inside the cabinet had lost their balance and accidentally bumped into the cabinet wall.
Are there survivors?
Pi Min was initially pleasantly surprised, but then became wary.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
The two, one big and one small, quickly locked their gazes on the cabinet from which the sound had come.
"Come out now, or I'll shoot!" Seeing that there was still no movement from the cabinet, Pi Min cleanly and decisively raised the laser gun and fired a shot at the bottom of the cabinet.
The high-energy beam burned a crater the size of a bowl into the bottom of the cabinet, and even vaporized part of the cabinet material, instantly filling the air with a strong burnt smell.
The person inside the cabinet was clearly startled; with a thud, they crashed open the cabinet door and tumbled out.
The woman who fell to the ground was an elderly woman who looked to be in her sixties. She had a kind face, but to Pi Min's surprise, the animal form of the old woman in the live broadcast room was actually a hyena.
Hyenas, speculators on the grasslands.
Pi Min's nerves, which had relaxed upon seeing the old lady, tensed up again in an instant.
If she's been in this game for so long and still doesn't understand that the animal forms in the live stream are closely related to people's personalities and ways of doing things, then she's lived in vain.
What kind of person, in animal form, would be a hyena?
Just as Pi Min frowned in thought, the old woman on the ground had huddled up in a ball, her face filled with terror: "Don't kill me, don't kill me, please don't kill me, I didn't do anything, I just hid because I was scared."
The old woman trembled as she looked around in terror, her eyes filled with fear that someone might suddenly jump out.
"Girl, you'd better hide quickly! That man, he'll kill you, you'd better hide!"
Pi Min put away the laser gun and gently comforted her, "Grandma, don't be afraid, it's alright now, that man is dead."
"Dead?" The old woman's expression suddenly froze, and after a moment of petrified stiffness, she suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahahaha... Good riddance! That beast who indiscriminately killed innocent people is finally dead! The innocent souls who died in the sanatorium can finally rest in peace."
"Girl, you killed that man, didn't you? You came to save us, right? You're a good person, you would never hurt an innocent person."
Pi Min smiled and nodded: "Of course I wouldn't hurt the innocent."
The old lady breathed a sigh of relief, put on a fawning expression, and said with a beaming smile, "That's good, that's good! I'm not useless, I'm very useful! I worked at the physics institute before I retired, and I can clean rooms and cook! You definitely won't regret keeping me..."
Unfortunately, before she could finish speaking, a dagger cleanly and swiftly severed her carotid artery.
As expected of a murder weapon capable of emptying an entire sanatorium, this dagger is far more effective at slitting a person's throat than a machete.
Seeing the old lady clutching her neck with an incredulous look on her face, Pi Min kindly gave her a quick death: "Grandma, do you think I'm stupid, just like that crocodile?"
"Why did he kill everyone but spare you? You look a lot like him, you must be his relative."
"Don't blame me, blame yourself for raising a murderer. He won't let the innocent elderly people in the nursing home go, so naturally I won't let you go either."
Fortunately, before disposing of the body, she took a peek at the demon mask out of curiosity, which allowed her to notice the old woman's abnormality.
Who would have thought that the crocodile's family member, whose animal form is not a crocodile, but a hyena.
As the old woman collapsed to the ground and died, a system message suddenly rang in Pi Min's ears.
[Sanatorium exploration complete, sanatorium dwelling holders reduced to zero, dwelling integration rate 100%, number of supply compartments required for dwelling upgrade adjusted to 130, dwelling upgrade progress bar currently at 2%]
Upon hearing the system message, Pimin subconsciously frowned. She originally had 51 supply bays, and had seized 48 from Crocodile, leaving her 31 bays short of the upgrade requirement.
With less than 24 hours left before the seven-day newbie protection period expires, even if Egg doesn't miss any of the next supply crates, it's impossible to gather 31 supply crates in the remaining time.
Pi Min was frustrated to discover that unless she abandoned her moral principles and actively robbed other top players on the leaderboard like a crocodile, she only had one option: to enter a dungeon and take a gamble.
Seeing that she was in dire straits, the viewers in the live stream immediately got excited and began to urge her to enter the dungeon.
[Bunny, stop running away! You absolutely have to enter this dungeon!]
[Rabbit, go into the golden wheat field! Whether it's dangerous or not is another matter, but there's plenty of food!]
No, go into the endless deep sea, there are mermaids!
[I choose the Dark Castle; vampires are the epitome of Dior!]
...
The audience erupted in excited chatter, and Pi Min finally made up his mind.
"Fine, let's go into the dungeon then. Since we'll have to go in sooner or later anyway, we might as well go in and try it out while we're still in the newbie protection period."
Just as she took out four dungeon cards, laid them out on the table, and hesitated about which dungeon to enter, the game system notified her that someone had sent her a private message.
Since she rose to the top of the rankings, her inbox has been flooded with private messages. Some people are trying to curry favor, some are flattering her, and some shamelessly beg from her right off the bat, which annoyed her so much that she simply activated a filtering system. Strangers need to verify their identity before sending her messages. Currently, only people who have traded with her and her friends can directly reach her with messages.
Theoretically speaking, the only person who can send her a private message without any obstacles is Ms. Tyrannosaurus Rex, so she opened the private message without hesitation.
However, the news that came into view surprised her greatly.
"I hate bugs the most": "Don't go into dungeons, whatever you do, don't go into dungeons! I can't enter dungeons below Lv3, so I can't guarantee your safety. I'll help you find a supply pod!"
The nickname in front of him looked familiar. Pi Min stared at the nickname for a moment before remembering that it was the alternate account that the man had used to send the supply pod code.
When did she add him as a friend?
He'll help her figure out a solution in the supply depot? How? Like with that exit card before, will he pull another stunt?
Since he's said so, she has no choice but to enter this instance.
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