In the crimson sky, a giant eyeball hangs high, beating like a heart, with countless optic nerves extending from it and disappearing into the endless sky at the other end.
Around the eyeball, countless tiny squares gather like stars surrounding the moon, each square shimmering with a pale blue glow—this is where players rest outside the dungeon.
Each lit square represents a player. Squares constantly go out and light up again; players die in the instance, but new players are quickly drawn in to take their places.
Xiao Cheng didn't know how long she had been unconscious. As her consciousness gradually returned, she found herself lying on a soft, large bed. An electronic screen hung from the ceiling, displaying her personal information.
[Player: Xiao Cheng]
Number of dungeons cleared: 1
[Points Balance: 0]
You have new points that you haven't reached. Would you like to view the details?
"Yes," Xiao Cheng confirmed.
The page suddenly redirected, and a blood-red eyeball bounced around on the screen for a moment before loading new information.
[Survival Dungeon: Seven Nights of Ghost Stories]
[Number of players / Number of survivors: 2/2]
Basic score: 2 points
[Hidden Points: 1 point]
[System Evaluation: A promising new player, keep up the good work!]
After all the information was loaded, it paused for about five or six seconds and then jumped back to the initial screen. This time, Xiao Cheng's points balance became 3 points.
In the upper right corner of the screen, a 24-hour countdown appeared, indicating the time until her next entry into the dungeon.
Besides, there was a large gray area at the bottom of the interface that wasn't open yet. Xiao Cheng guessed that this was because she didn't have enough points. However, she wasn't in a hurry, after all, there was plenty of time.
The break time flew by, and as the countdown was about to reach zero, she suppressed her inner restlessness and waited for the white mist to appear. She couldn't quite explain what she was looking forward to, but there was no doubt that the perilous dungeon filled her with immense excitement.
It's as if she was born to belong here.
A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, but before she could delve deeper, a sharp pain began to shoot through her head again. At that moment, a white mist appeared silently, enveloping her and plunging her into chaos.
"Ding-dong."
An electronic notification sounded in my ear: "Attention players, the puzzle dungeon 'Mental Illness Ward' has been loaded. Game rules are being imported. We wish you a pleasant gaming experience."
As the mist gradually dissipated, the dungeon began, and several lines of blood-red text slowly appeared on the wall.
[Attention players, the game has begun.]
Rule 1: Strictly abide by the game rules.
Rule 2: Fighting among oneself is strictly prohibited.
Rule 3: Hello, mental patient
[Rule 4: Complete the puzzle]
The blood-red words disappeared quickly, and before Xiao Cheng could fully react, a loud shout suddenly rang out from behind: "Bed number 5! Where do you think you're going!"
She reflexively turned her head and realized that she was in a hospital corridor. At the other end of the corridor, a burly, bearded man was running towards her.
The burly man was nearly two meters tall. His blue and white nurse's uniform accentuated his muscular physique. Most importantly, he had no facial features; his face, paler than a corpse, bore the words: "Patient No. 5's Exclusive Nurse."
"Holy crap!" Xiao Cheng's mind went blank, and without thinking, he took off running.
The burly nurse followed closely behind. As the two drew closer, Xiao Cheng's heart pounded. When she looked up again, she had already reached the end of the corridor, where a hospital room with its door tightly closed stood before her.
This is a dead end.
No way, a kill at the start?
Xiao Cheng was utterly devastated. The burly nurse seemed to have figured out that she had nowhere to escape, so he increased his speed and approached her step by step with great pressure.
"Run? Bed number 5, you really think you can escape my grasp?"
"Big brother, no, nurse brother, let's talk this out, we're beautiful and kind-hearted..." Xiao Cheng turned to face him with a wry smile, taking small steps back, trying to find an opportunity to get around him when he wasn't paying attention.
However, the burly nurse stood there like a wall, completely blocking the corridor and giving her no chance to escape.
With nowhere to retreat, Xiao Cheng leaned against the door of the ward, gathering her strength to deliver a fatal blow before she died.
Suddenly, there was no space behind her. A hand reached out from the half-open door, grabbed the back of her collar, and pulled her inside like a little chick.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Xiao Cheng had no time to react. In the blink of an eye, the ward door was already closed and locked in front of her.
The burly nurse outside was furious, pounding on the door loudly: "Number 5! Come out! Do you think you can avoid treatment like this?"
However, after smashing it for a long time, there was no result.
He stopped, panting heavily, as if he had finally given up. He muttered a few foul words under his breath and turned to leave through the door.
Having escaped danger for the time being, Xiao Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned to look at the person who had pulled her in.
It's Fang He.
He was wearing an ill-fitting white lab coat, frameless glasses, and a mask, with his hands in his pockets, looking quite refined.
Xiao Cheng subconsciously looked at his left arm. Fang He noticed her gaze and chuckled, "The game is always generous in this regard; it was healed after the dungeon ended."
“…Thank you.” Xiao Cheng said to him somewhat awkwardly, then looked away uncomfortably under the guise of observing the ward.
The ward was completely sealed off, with the windows nailed shut with thick wooden boards, completely blocking the light. The lights were off, but it was daytime, and the corridor lights were on, so the light from the ventilation window above the door wasn't too dim.
There wasn't much dust here, but it was clearly an old building, with cracked and peeling paint, especially at the corners where there were irregular yellow stains, like deep urine stains.
An empty hospital bed stood against the wall, without any bedding. The bed frame was attached to restraints, which were stained with large patches of dried blood. Next to the bed, a rusty IV stand was fixed in place, with an empty IV bottle hanging on it.
"This is a mental hospital. Judging from your appearance, you are a patient here. I heard the nurse call you bed number 5." Fang He noticed her slight embarrassment and took the initiative to change the subject.
"You're dressed like...a doctor?"
“Obviously.” Fang He nodded, as if he had thought of some clue. He took out a stack of rolled-up medical records from his white coat pocket and began to search through them.
Xiao Cheng was quite moved. He could only say that the big shot was indeed a big shot, even having a status in the dungeon.
Fang He searched silently for a long time before finally finding Xiao Cheng's medical record. He pulled the report out and shook it open forcefully: "Found it, bed number 5, let me see what's wrong with you... haha."
Xiao Cheng: "???" What does that awkward, cold laugh mean?
Then Fang He began to read the report with great emotion: "Bed number 5, female, severe delusions. Specific symptoms..." He paused slightly, his gaze shifting to Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze: "What is that?"
"That's right, you're a mushroom, and you can grow taller and bigger when you get water."
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