Chapter 311 Monster Hospital (Ten)
The moment Bei Xi finished speaking, Nan Huan heard a rustling sound, a bit like the sound of wrapping paper being rubbed repeatedly. It was particularly obvious in a quiet environment.
Nan Huan then noticed that there was an L-shaped area divided by white walls just in front of them. However, because it was all white walls, it was not obvious, so she didn't realize that there could be something hidden inside that space.
In front of Bei Xi's murderous iron axe, the rustling sound continued for a while before stopping. Finally, Nan Huan and Bei Xi saw that a square box was slowly pushed out from the edge of the L-shaped wall. The man behind the wall moved very carefully, as if he was afraid of being scratched, and because of Bei Xi's murderous aura, he did not dare to show up for a while, so he had to push the thing out first.
Not until most of the thing was pushed out did Nan Huan see clearly that it was a square box wrapped in sky blue wrapping paper and tied with a pretty pink ribbon. In short, it looked quite nice, if one ignored the fact that it now appeared in this form in this place.
Nan Huan pursed his lips towards Bei Xi and whispered with his mouth, "There really is a gift? Do you think it was prepared on the spur of the moment because it heard what I said just now, or was it prepared a long time ago? And can you put away your weapons first? It's a bit rude to open the gift like this?"
Facing the threat, it was impossible for Bei Xi to lay down her weapon, especially since the other party had not shown up yet. She did not directly use air arrows to bombard the L-shaped wall. This was already a very depressing state, okay?
Nan Huan understood the meaning revealed in Bei Xi's determined eyes. He knew that he would not lay down his weapon unless the other party showed up. He immediately gave up the idea of persuading Bei Xi and turned his attention to another person.
"Um..." Nan Huan cleared her throat. She was assigned to this area because she was diagnosed with a certain disease. She knew it very well, so she tried to keep a gentle voice and didn't want to irritate the other party. "Generally speaking, it is better to give gifts in person, which shows more sincerity. Now that you are ready."
Besides Bei Xi, there was only herself here, so there was no need to doubt who the gift was for. However, she didn't quite understand which party's routine was this? Or was it a new way of playing?
Just when Bei Xi's patience was gradually running out and he wanted to blow up the wall directly, a figure finally slowly emerged from behind the wall. He was wearing the same pink hospital gown as Nan Huan and the others. He was a little short and his face was a little pale. However, after he showed his head, he was no longer timid, but seemed a little embarrassed.
"This is for you..." He was suddenly stuck here. Bei Xi was not sure whether the other party saw Nan Huan's face or the number on Nan Huan's chest. In any case, the pause was very obvious, and the surprise in the patient's eyes was not concealed. It was not until Nan Huan noticed his gaze and surprise that he continued to say the second half of the sentence, "A welcome gift."
At Nan Huan's suggestion, Bei Xi reluctantly put away the iron axe, but remained vigilant. After all, according to the mission description, they had no way of being 100% sure whether the person in front of them was a patient or a staff member pretending to be a patient.
Nan Huan did not reach out to take the box from the other party, but asked directly, "Are you surprised by my number? Why are you reacting so strongly?"
The man lowered his head immediately after seeing Nan Huan and her number. When he heard Nan Huan's question, he was still very shy, as if he was not used to people looking at him. But he answered Nan Huan's question very straightforwardly, "Because before you came, my number was the highest in the entire A area. I was number 111. The rest of the patients' numbers were after me. I had never seen anyone ahead of me, so I was a little surprised."
The other party said he was surprised, but his tone was calm. While he was speaking, he looked up at Nan Huan again, as if he didn't understand why the other party didn't accept his gift immediately.
Now it was Nan Huan and Bei Xi who were surprised. After all, this No. 111 was so easy to talk to that it made people a little suspicious. Was this a clue sent to them by the system? Or was it a smokescreen arranged by the system? Or maybe he was really No. 111, but why was his attitude so gentle towards the two of them? Was it because of his number 101, or did he really welcome them?
Nan Huan didn't figure it out for a while, but she had decided in an instant that she would temporarily build a good relationship with No. 111 and obtain more information. No matter whether the other party was a real patient or a staff member disguised as a patient, it would be a waste not to ask. And even if it was a staff member pretending to be a patient, it would be better to keep the person by her side than to look for a needle in a haystack later.
Nan Huan and Bei Xi exchanged glances several times, and the two sides immediately reached a certain strategic consensus.
This time, Nan Huan reached out to take the gift box, but did not open it immediately. Instead, he asked, "How long have you been here? How can you be sure that there are no numbers before 111? Am I not an example? Maybe you just didn't notice it, but it's not always the case."
This was a bit serious, but No. 111 was not annoyed, he just looked a little aggrieved, but because Nan Huan accepted his gift, he was a little happy. Under these two emotions, he could only explain to the other party, "I have been here for a long, long time. I am not lying to you. There really was no one before. I am more familiar with the patients in the entire A area than anyone else. Every time there are more people coming in, I am responsible for preparing the welcome party. How could I not know? For so many years, you are the only one."
As soon as Nan Huan and Bei Xi entered Area A, they triggered the side quest. They were still unclear about what death rules were hidden in this space. To be cautious, Nan Huan did not continue to ask questions, such as how long was "a long, long time" at No. 111, and how something like the welcome party had been passed down for such a long time.
"Okay," she agreed to No. 111's statement temporarily, as if in compromise. "Since you said you know all the patients in Area A, let me test you. How many patients are there here in total?"
Bei Xi originally saw that it was inconvenient for her to talk with the gift box in her hand, and was worried that there might be something dangerous hidden in it, so she wanted to take it. However, Nan Huan saw the look in No. 111's eyes and did not hand it to Bei Xi. Instead, he kept turning it around in his hand and did not open it.
"Of course I know. The patient with the highest number in Area A is No. 111, which is me. The last patient is No. 300. There were originally 190 people in total, and now with the two of you, there are 192 patients in total."
Except for some specific times that were difficult to confirm, his other logical thinking and even basic arithmetic skills were fine. When Nan Huan was making his judgment in his mind, he noticed that the other party glanced at Bei Xi and added a sentence.
"But she was a little confused. How come she was assigned here when her number was so low?"
His words sounded more like a complaint in a low voice. Nan Huan's mouth twitched, and he pretended not to hear and said nothing.
"Um?" Bei Xi hesitated for a moment and then joined the conversation. "How long will this party last? And didn't they say that there were other patients preparing for us? Why don't we see them?"
In addition to Nanhuan and Beixi, there are a total of 190 patients here, and the system's task description deliberately does not indicate the number of disguised staff members. This number may be 1 or some other number, but compared to 190, it must be much smaller. In this way, their workload will increase a lot, so Beixi needs to determine how long it will take for the party mentioned in the system's task description to end?
Compared to Bei Xi's soft talk, No. 111 seemed to be unaware that this empty white space and his shabby-looking gift did not look like a party at all. However, he did not mind the sudden change of the subject of the question. While answering, his eyes were fixed on the box in Nan Huan's hand, as if he wanted him to open it immediately.
"The party usually lasts until six in the morning. Don't worry, there are no nurses or doctors making rounds here, so no one will suddenly rush in and interrupt us." He waved his hand, signaling Bei Xi not to worry. "As for the other players, they are of course in the room. They want to give you a surprise."
Bei Xi was choked for a rare time. Was she sure it was a surprise and not a shock?
190 people, if they had to check the rooms one by one, wouldn't that be too inefficient? And since No. 11 knew all the patients and their numbers, it meant that it was impossible for the staff to impersonate an extra number. The most likely way was to impersonate a patient who already had a number. But after spending so much time together, No. 111 should have been able to recognize these people easily. So why did the system send him to take the lead and deliberately deliver messages to her and Nan Huan?
"So this is the surprise you prepared for me?"
Nan Huan knew that when Bei Xi didn't speak, she was probably thinking about something. She saw that No. 111's eyes were always fixed on the box in her hand with expectation, so she asked another question.
No. 111 was embarrassed by her question and nodded shyly, staring at his toes, "Open it and see if you like it?"
Nan Huan had actually shaken the box just now, but there was no sound inside. The box was large but light, and it didn't look like there was anything dangerous in it. She hesitated for two seconds, then reached out and opened the bow.
A furry thing that was several times the size of the box had already squeezed out of the gift box before the box was completely opened, and it was showing a tendency to get bigger.
Before Nan Huan could see clearly what it was, something furry covered his eyes. The thing had been hidden in the box for too long and was a little unstable, so it fell forward out of habit. Fortunately, Bei Xi was quick to act and pulled Nan Huan into her arms.
Two minutes later, Nan Huan looked up at the huge lop-eared rabbit doll that was almost as tall as the ceiling, and poked his cheek with his hand. He had to say that it finally felt like a party, but the direction seemed a little off.
As she was thinking, she was surprised to find that the furry ear of the lop-eared rabbit was hanging just on the side of her cheek and rubbed it gently. Before Nan Huan could move, Bei Xi reacted first and was about to chop down with the iron axe in her hand, but was narrowly blocked by Nan Huan and No. 111.
"This is a healing doll that carries a little bit of my consciousness. It's not something weird."
No. 111 looked even smaller when standing next to the doll, and the lop-eared rabbit's two ears gently stroked his head while he was talking. Nan Huan found that No. 111's shyness became less obvious because of the lop-eared rabbit's actions. Apparently, his symptoms improved with the rabbit's comfort.
Although Bei Xi took back the iron axe, his expression was still not very good because of the words "with a little bit of my consciousness".
To be honest, Nan Huan really liked this thing, a big fluffy rabbit. If she didn't have any tasks right now, she would have wanted to lie on the rabbit and take a nap. But she still expressed her gratitude politely.
"I like this gift very much, thank you, but after you give it to me, you won't have it anymore, is that okay?"
When No. 111 heard her say that she liked it very much, a big smile immediately appeared on his face, and then he waved his hand at her, "It's okay, I still have a lot, but when I gave them to other patients before, they all disliked them because they thought they took up space."
At this point, he seemed to have noticed something, and took out a palm-sized bunny doll from his pocket. "Here, this is for you. You will be its owner from now on. If you need to go somewhere else and it's inconvenient, you can shrink it and put it in here, and then enlarge it anytime you want."
This is quite convenient. After Nan Huan took the small rabbit doll, the system prompt sounded.
【bite--
Congratulations to the player for receiving the gift from the patient - the healing rabbit doll.
Function: When you are in a bad mood, the rabbit doll can take you to experience the beauty of a fairy tale and make you happy.
Tips: The lop-eared rabbit doll is unstable and may occasionally appear with powerful destructive power, so please use it with caution. 】
Well, she finally understood why the seemingly timid No. 111 was assigned to Area A. It was no wonder that he was assigned here since he could take out weapons with powerful destructive power at any time.
Although the prop obtained by Nan Huan seems to be of no use, it does verify from another perspective that No. 111 should be a real patient. After all, it should be difficult for the staff to have such ability.
While compressing the big doll into the small doll, Nan Huan told Bei Xi about his analysis and the system's prompts, and the other party had a similar attitude as himself.
Although it is still unclear why the system gave the two of them a big one right at the beginning, now that the identity of No. 111 has been temporarily confirmed, and he is the first patient to come into this area and is very familiar with all the subsequent patients, Nan Huan and Bei Xi immediately regard him as an important partner in completing this mission.
"So can you take us to find other players? I'm still looking forward to the party later?"
Nan Huan carefully put away the gift, asked politely, and had a very satisfied expression, which made No. 111 feel happy instinctively. Of course, he didn't take this little thing to heart. Instead, he felt a little shy because of Nan Huan's question.
190 patients and 190 gifts, it is definitely impossible to open all of them before daybreak, but too little information is known now, so they have to follow this model for the time being and make plans after meeting some of the patients. After all, they are no more than five meters away from the white wall behind them.
Following No. 111 further inside and around the L-shaped wall, they could vaguely see the rooms on both sides of the corridor behind them, but there was still no end in sight. Before entering the room area, they first arrived at the nurses' station.
To be precise, it should be an abandoned nurses' station. After all, there was only a long table like a bar counter. There was nothing on the table, except for something shining on the far right.
There were obvious signs of a sign posted on the blank wall behind them, but for some reason it was torn off later. The two tried to find any work flow or the patient's schedule, but unfortunately there was no information left.
Both of them felt a little strange. After all, as patients, they must abide by certain systems or times in the hospital. This makes sense. After all, the staff must have corresponding rules to abide by, and so should the patients. There may be death rules hidden in it, but there is nothing here. Even if the staff disguised themselves as patients, they shouldn't do it so thoroughly. Nan Huan always felt that something was wrong.
“When did the staff here leave?”
In such a short while, Nan Huan and No. 111 had become familiar with each other. She no longer needed to hide her purpose and asked very frankly.
No. 111, on the other hand, frowned, as if trying to find a confirmed time, but after half a minute, he gave up, "It's been a long time, right? There were a few nurses here at the beginning, but then they left, and no medical staff has ever set foot here since? But I forgot the exact time."
These words seemed to carry a chill that spread from No. 111's mouth to the backs of Nanhuan and Beixi, along the spine to the top of their heads, creating an illusion of winter in a warm place.
"You mean, there haven't been any medical staff in Area A for a long time?" Nan Huan steadied her voice, feeling that the system seemed to have inadvertently given her and Bei Xi a big surprise. "Then where do your daily treatments, medications, and meals come from?"
Although the types of patients are different, the basic treatment procedures should be similar. At the very least, they have to eat. Thinking of this corridor with no entrance or exit, Nan Huan became even more confused.
"Yes," No. 111 sat on the table, swinging his legs, seemingly not understanding why Nan Huan was so persistent about this question. He then thought that Nan Huan was afraid that the nurse would catch them partying all night, so he quickly explained, "Normally, the door of the room will be automatically locked at a certain time, and someone will leave the medicine at the door if you need to take it, but we have never seen a nurse. As for treatment? I think we are all healthy and don't need treatment."
"And don't worry, we're having a party today, so there's no curfew. It's always like this when new people come, so we can stay up all night."
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