In Chapter 1, Xincheng Hospital's gaze met Shi Yu's.
When Shi Yu woke up, she found herself sitting on a waiting chair in the hospital's outpatient lobby.
The dizziness that jolted him awake caused a strong nausea in his stomach, and Shi Yu rushed to the wall and dry heaved in front of the trash can. He had low blood sugar, and lately he had been working overtime on a new company project, often forgetting to eat, which had flared up his stomach problems.
Although Shi Yu has some minor health issues, she doesn't like going to the hospital, getting injections, or taking medicine.
Why is he in the hospital?
Shi Yu looked around. The waiting area was to his left. Across from him, a patient was helping an elderly person register at the self-service registration machine. A pregnant woman was waiting for the elevator, carrying a bag in one hand and holding her son's hand in the other. A young woman was pushing her father in a wheelchair past them. A nurse at the information desk had a bright smile. Medical staff and patients' families moved around in the lobby. The incandescent lights made the marble floor look snow-white and bright.
Shi Yu withdrew her gaze, which inadvertently fell on his hand—the fingers were thin and long, the skin on the back of the hand was so white that it looked sickly, with only the joints showing a faint red.
Because of his gagging, his right hand was still resting on the black stone pillar next to the trash can, causing his loose sleeve to slip down slightly, revealing his well-shaped wrist bone.
The sleeves are blue and white striped, the fabric is of poor quality, the workmanship is rough, and the size of the clothes is obviously not right.
He was wearing a hospital gown.
Shi Yu: "..."
He wouldn't wear a hospital gown for no reason; he doesn't have that kind of quirk.
Shi Yu was about to call his secretary to ask why he was in the hospital and why he was wearing a hospital gown.
However, after searching all his pockets, he couldn't find his phone, and his other personal belongings were also missing.
However, Shi Yu found something else in the breast pocket of her hospital gown.
This is a rectangular black magnetic card, about the same size as a hotel key card, but as thick as a one-yuan coin. There are no words on the card, only some incomprehensible patterns.
Before Shi Yu could examine the magnetic card in detail, a voice interrupted his train of thought.
"I told you not to wander around!" The nurse stormed in, pointing at Shi Yu. "What's wrong with you? What are you doing running around in your hospital gown? Get back here right now..."
The nurse, who had initially looked impatient, suddenly softened her tone as she approached Shi Yu. She winked at Shi Yu and said, "Were you bored in the ward and came out for a walk? It's not that you can't walk, but you have to follow the doctor's instructions. The doctor gets very anxious when they can't find you, you know? You can't just run around like that in the future."
The nurse's tone was like coaxing a kindergarten child, and Shi Yu didn't know what to say for a moment. He nodded and said, "Okay."
The nurse smiled with relief and her tone became even gentler: "Shall we go back to the ward now?"
Shi Yu: "Mm."
Shi Yu followed the nurse for a few steps and then politely asked, "Excuse me, could I borrow your phone for a moment? I need to make a call."
The nurse hesitated for a moment, seemingly troubled by the request, but finally handed over the phone.
Shi Yu dialed his secretary's number, and a mechanical, emotionless female voice sounded: "Sorry, the number you dialed is not in service. Please check and dial again..."
The phone was ringing a bit loud, and the nurse standing next to me heard it and asked, "Did you dial the wrong number?"
Shi Yu glanced at the number on her phone.
The number is correct.
He didn't show any emotion, gave a vague "hmm," and subtly took a few steps to the side before dialing again.
Half a minute later, Shi Yu returned the phone.
"Thanks."
Shi Yu smiled at the nurse, but the smile disappeared from his lips after she turned away.
The second call he made was to his father's private number, a number that would never be deactivated or canceled.
It's still an invalid number.
.
Game Lobby Sub-section - Appearance Section
Mu Zhuo, who had consistently held the top spot on the charts, suddenly dropped to second place, and the public chat was flooded with comments questioning her position.
[How did my handsome Mu Zhuo get dethroned as the number one face in the nine regions? What's going on? Shi Yu? Who's that? Did he pay for the game??]
[He's a new streamer, probably hasn't spent any money. The system rankings are objective and fair; the fact that he managed to surpass Mu Zhuo means he's probably really good-looking. I'll go check it out.]
[I went to see it! Holy crap! This person's looks are beyond just good! This person is fucking gorgeous!]
[This new streamer is kind of funny; he actually borrowed a phone from an NPC?! I'm impressed! An NPC actually lent him their phone! I'm even more impressed!!!]
I've also tried to borrow a phone from this NPC, but they ignored me completely. And I'm not bad-looking, am I?
[It turns out that being good-looking really does have its advantages! Of course, if you don't think it matters, maybe you're not good-looking enough.]
[...]
.
Realizing the strangeness of her surroundings, Shi Yu deliberately lagged behind the nurse by two steps, observing as she walked.
The "ward" the nurse mentioned wasn't in this building. After leaving the outpatient building, the nurse led him to a tall building on the right. The building was over thirty stories high, and a sign on the roof read "Inpatient Building No. 1." Shi Yu noticed another identical building on the left, labeled "Inpatient Building No. 2." The outpatient building was located between the two inpatient buildings.
There is a fountain pool in front of the outpatient building, and beyond the fountain pool is the hospital gate. Security guards sit in front of their booths, basking in the sun.
Further away, the sun hangs high in the sky.
It was afternoon.
Shi Yu's ward is room 305 on the 30th floor of Building 1.
While outside the outpatient building, Shi Yu could still see medical staff and their families moving around, but once inside the inpatient building, she didn't see a single patient or family member, and even nurses were rarely seen.
Every room door here was closed. Shi Yu didn't know what the other rooms were like, but room 305 was very large. The room was rectangular, with six beds arranged in parallel inside, and a bathroom near the door.
Four patients, two men and two women, had already moved into room 305. They were each sitting on their own beds. When Shi Yu entered, they looked up at her.
Aside from necessary social interactions, Shi Yu is not very talkative. He didn't greet anyone and went straight to bed number 5 to sit down.
The four patients simply glanced at the "new patient" out of habit, then each went their own way, lost in thought, and no one spoke.
The ward was quiet.
Shi Yu sat on the hospital bed and began to recall.
He remembered that he went to Lotus Lake to see Shen Su today. After they met, he returned his things and Shen Su took his things. Neither of them said much and the two of them were very efficient.
After returning the items, Yu was about to leave when he heard Chen Su say behind him:
"Thank you for your help. Please don't contact me unless it's absolutely necessary."
"If something happens, then definitely don't."
Actually, this is unnecessary.
Shi Yu would never have had any further contact with Shen Su anyway.
The Shi and Shen families are old friends, and their old houses are in the same villa area. Shi Yu and Shen Su were born in the same year and attended the same kindergarten. It sounds like they should be childhood sweethearts, but in reality, they disliked each other from kindergarten onwards, and their relationship did not improve as they grew older.
On the surface, they were like brothers, but in private, they ignored each other.
If it weren't for the long-standing friendship between the two families...
Shi Yu won't be coming out today.
He didn't want to waste any more words with Shen Su.
But since Shen Su has said that, it would be very impolite of him not to respond in kind.
So Shi Yu went back and, in front of Shen Su, blocked Shen Su's WeChat and phone number.
He had previously added Shen Su's contact information out of necessity, but now he has cut ties with him in front of Shen Su, demonstrating his determination.
The behavior may be somewhat childish.
But over the years, they've done some incredibly childish things just to annoy the other party.
This time, however, he seemed somewhat unhappy.
But that's understandable.
Shen Su is a man who holds grudges and will retaliate even for the smallest wrong. They've been like this for years, always giving and taking revenge.
It's understandable that Shen Su might not have figured out a way to retaliate yet, and he might be in a bad mood.
He seemed to have fainted when he left.
Otherwise, he couldn't explain why he didn't have the later memories.
But to say he fainted and was taken to the hospital by a kind person doesn't make sense. Would a kind person really steal his phone just to take him to the hospital? And would they really be so kind as to help him with the hospital admission process?
Moreover, the hospital was strange in every way, and in an instant, many words that only appeared in social news flashed through his mind.
Before Shi Yu's thoughts could wander, the ward door opened again.
"Bed number 6, your bed." The nurse stood at the door and spoke to the person behind her, "Go in and change your clothes first."
The corridor lights were a little dim.
A tall figure appeared at the door of the ward.
He was a young man around twenty-five years old, tall with long legs and striking features. He had neat short black hair, wore a light brown knee-length trench coat, and had a hospital gown draped over his arm. The door to the ward was rather low, and he ducked slightly as he entered.
He looked up and his gaze met Shi Yu's.
Shi Yu: "..."
The person who had just decided to never see him again was now standing just a few meters away from Shi Yu.
.
The moment Chen Su appeared, the rankings in the game lobby's appearance section changed once again.
[How come another newcomer has surpassed my Mu Zhuo? How did Mu Zhuo get to third place??? Doesn't my reputation as the number one beauty in the nine regions have any dignity?!]
Are all the new brides these days so curly-faced?
[The second-ranked guy is so handsome! One is fucking good-looking! The other is incredibly handsome! Most importantly, they're in the same dungeon! The same dungeon! I'm going to go!!!]
Although I'm afraid of hospital-themed dungeons, I'm really impressed by the two handsome guys!
[Sorry, Mu Zhuo, I'm switching allegiances.]
...
.
The ward door was closed.
Shi Yu looked away, pretending not to recognize the person.
"Hi."
This "Hi" was definitely not a greeting to Shi Yu.
The following words were not spoken to Shi Yu.
"Hello everyone." Shen Su waved to everyone, his face beaming with a bright smile, his voice as clear and sunny as his laughter. "My name is Shen Su, the 'Su' in 'sleeping in the open'."
The girl in bed number 4 raised her hand and replied, "Hello, hello! My name is Xia Wanwan."
"I don't know what happened. I woke up here, but I don't remember being in a hospital, and I don't feel unwell." Shen Su sat down on his hospital bed, putting on his hospital gown as he spoke. After changing, he looked up at everyone and gave them a helpless yet innocent smile. "The nurses forced me to be admitted to the hospital. I don't know what they're going to do..."
Shen Su was born with good features, and he didn't grow up to be unattractive. He has deep-set eyebrows and eyes, a high nose bridge, a clear jawline, and a cool-toned white complexion. He has a cold appearance, but because Shen Su loves to smile, his eyes crinkle when he laughs, and two small tiger teeth are revealed at the corners of his lips. His smile softens his coldness and gives him a youthful look.
Shen Su has a very likable appearance.
They are especially popular with elders.
Shi Yu remembered that whenever Shen Su came to his house when he was little, his mother would make all sorts of desserts for him and pack a lot for him to take back with him when he left. Afterwards, she would tell Shi Yu that he should learn from Shen Su, smile more, talk more, and not stay silent all the time. "Look how lovable Shen Su is!" she said.
From childhood to adulthood, elders have always liked Shen Su's sweet talk and obedience, while outsiders also appreciate his sunny and energetic personality. Everyone who has met Shen Su feels that he is a sincere, enthusiastic, kind, and friendly person.
Only Shi Yu knew the hypocrisy, indifference, selfishness, and egoism hidden beneath this person's perfect mask.
This is also why the two have never found each other agreeable in the more than 20 years they have known each other.
However, the four people here did not know Shen Su's true identity.
At this moment, Shen Su is like a naive male college student who hasn't been through the harsh realities of society and is easily fooled, making it easy for people to lower their guard.
After Shen Su started talking, everyone began to share their stories. It turned out that all four of them were from Anshi, and they had all inexplicably fainted by Lotus Lake and ended up here after waking up.
With the connection of being "fellow villagers," everyone started talking more. From their conversation, Shi Yu learned that Cheng Jianshu, the middle-aged man in bed number 1, and Lin Yarong, the woman in bed number 2, were a couple and both worked in the government system. Liu Yang, the man in bed number 3, and Xia Wanwan, the woman in bed number 4, were a couple and both were juniors in college. The man in bed number 5 and Shen Su, the woman in bed number 6... something felt off.
Before this strange feeling could dissipate from Shi Yu's heart, Chen Su spoke again.
“We were at Lotus Lake before we came here.” Shen Su had unwrapped a lollipop and put it in his mouth at some point, his cheeks puffing out as he spoke. “Looks like the thugs are arresting people based on their locations.”
"Us?" Xia Wanwan keenly caught the key word and couldn't help but say, "Lotus Lake is a famous Lover's Lake in Anshi. Couples can row boats to the center of the lake to make wishes. My boyfriend and I went there for that reason, so why are you going to Lotus Lake too..."
Shi Yu: "Just passing by."
Chen Su: "Just passing by."
The two spoke in unison.
"You..." Xia Wanwan asked hesitantly, "You know each other, right?"
"I don't know him."
"I don't know him."
They spoke in unison once again.
It's even neater than before.
Xia Wanwan: "..."
Okay, baa.
Shi Yu didn't know that Lotus Lake was Lover's Lake, nor did he know if Shen Su knew.
The reason they chose to meet at Lotus Lake was because it was about the same distance from their current residences.
Yes, their relationship was so bad that neither of them wanted to suffer any loss.
There was a slight awkwardness in the air. Lin Yarong broke the silence by asking, "My husband and I woke up and our phones were gone. Do you still have your phones? Were we kidnapped?"
Liu Yang shook his head and said, "Our phones are gone too, but it shouldn't be a kidnapping. It seems like we've entered some kind of real-life adventure game. Check yourselves to see if you each have a black card."
Shi Yu was fiddling with the black magnetic card in his pocket with his right hand. He touched something on the card and suddenly a semi-transparent blue screen appeared in front of him.
Text scrolling in the middle of the screen—
[Streamer signed successfully, game begins...]
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