Nurse Kana

When Xu Kai asked her that, Kana froze, standing there motionless, lost in thought.

"Yeah, where did my medicine come from?"

As if under a spell, Kana murmured to herself. Her gaze paused, and she looked at herself questioningly. She stared for a long time, and Xu Kai thought she was about to reach a dead end, but to his surprise, her expression finally relaxed.

Kana seemed to come to her senses. She shook her head and said to Xu Kai:

"I can't remember. You understand the feeling, right? You're just about to remember, but something is blocking it."

At the mention of something blocking it, Xu Kai remembered feeling the same way when he tried to recall his strength.

Something was blocking his memories.

So Xu Kai said nothing. He simply nodded in agreement, and then Kana continued:

"It seems your perception has been altered too. But I have to say, you really are strong. Even in my muddled state, I saw that you were still standing. After all these days, you're the only one I've seen standing..."

"All these days? Nurse Kana, I've been here less than a day. Am I remembering wrong, or are you?"

"What? It's only been a day? No, that can't be right, can it?"

Xu Kai's words left Kana stunned. She fell into deep thought, then raised her head again and spoke to him, her expression troubled:

"There must be something wrong with my perception. Anyway, you have to be careful of the cafeteria. If there's something wrong with your perception too, whatever you do, don't go to the cafeteria!"

"Don't go to the cafeteria?"

Xu Kai smiled, walked over to the ward wall, and pointed at one of the rules.

"Look. This rule says to go to the cafeteria for lunch and dinner. If I don't go, what am I supposed to do?"

Kana followed Xu Kai's gaze and saw what he was pointing at. Her eyes were tense at first, then her gaze fell. She gave up completely and slumped in her chair, with a sense of resignation in her despair.

"There's actually a rule like that? No wonder. No wonder so many people ended up like that."

"You didn't know? When exactly did you come to the hospital? Can you remember?"

Kana shook her head, her eyes slightly unfocused as she looked at the floor. It seemed that nothing happening around her had anything to do with her anymore.

Kana had been like this ever since she saw the rule Xu Kai had pointed out. She hadn't managed to pull herself together again.

Xu Kai knew this state well. He was like this every time he hit a dead save. That despair, the despair of being unable to find a way out—that was exactly what this was.

Xu Kai looked at Kana and put both hands on her shoulders. Fixing her with eyes that had witnessed death, he said:

"You're a nurse, right? Pull yourself together! You want to live, don't you? Otherwise, you couldn't have come to me. You're already doing so much better than before. How can you give up halfway?"

Xu Kai's words seemed to strike a nerve. Kana turned her wooden gaze toward him and froze.

She had never met anyone like him. He looked so young, yet it was as though he had seen far too much death. His eyes were always tired, but they never stopped shining. Even from a distance, she could feel his will to survive.

She raised her head involuntarily and said:

"You... I don't really understand you. Speaking of which, why did you trust me so much back then? You took whichever pill I told you to take."

"I didn't trust you. I trusted the game rules. There was another nurse before you who took a red pill in the morning."

"So that's why."

Kana took a deep breath. Her eyes managed to focus a little as she continued:

"I can't remember much, but I feel that if I retrace my steps, I'll be able to remember."

"Retrace your steps? What floor are you the nurse for? Do you nurses have some kind of duty roster that clearly lays out your tasks and route?"

Kana nodded, then shook her head and said:

"I can't remember clearly."

Xu Kai thought for a moment and checked the clock. Before he knew it, it was already around five in the afternoon. According to the rules, it would soon be time to eat.

It was a little too risky to go looking for Kana's duty roster in that short time.

And after what Kana had said, the cafeteria at night seemed a little more dangerous.

If there was something wrong with his perception, could he not enter the cafeteria?

Xu Kai had no way to tell whether there was something wrong with his perception. Besides, this was a dead end to begin with. Even if something was wrong with his perception, how could he get around the rules?

Xu Kai stood where he was and thought for a long time. Finally, with nothing else to try, he took half a bottle of milk from his pocket. It was the bottle from that morning, but he had fed a little to Patient Number Eight and sipped a little himself in the cafeteria, leaving half a bottle. He handed the milk to Kana and said:

"Since you say we can't go to the cafeteria, this is all I can do. Take this half bottle of milk as your dinner. Drink it in my ward at dinnertime and see if you can avoid the punishment for breaking the rules. Oh, you understand what I mean by punishment for breaking the rules, right?"

This was also a test on Xu Kai's part. He couldn't trust Kana completely. Since she herself had said they couldn't go to the cafeteria, it was reasonable for her to test the rules herself.

Kana nodded, took the milk, and said to Xu Kai:

"If you give me the milk, what will you do?"

"Me? I'll just have to go to the cafeteria."

"Your perception... Forget it. Don't die."

"Heh, that depends on fate."

Xu Kai shrugged and put his hand on the IV stand. With a gentle tug, he pulled it free, with Number Eight still attached. It was already five thirty. Xu Kai walked out of the ward, dragging the IV stand along the floor with his right hand, Patient Number Eight still skewered on it.

As soon as Patient Number Eight left the ward, he too became unusually quiet. Xu Kai dragged him along with ease, walking slowly toward the elevator.

This time, Xu Kai chose elevator one, the one closest to his ward. When he reached the door, he suddenly felt that it was much taller.

It was as if he needed to jump to reach the button. So Xu Kai jumped once and pressed it. The elevator opened instantly.

When the doors opened, the interior came into view.

Directly opposite the elevator entrance was a mirror, completely intact. Xu Kai felt something was wrong. He clearly remembered smashing the mirror when he killed He Yu, yet now it was as good as new.

As he was thinking, Xu Kai saw the person in the mirror, and his body went rigid.

His reflection had red eyes and was hunched over, nearly bent all the way to the floor.

Seeing this, Xu Kai remembered what Kana had said: if there was something wrong with his perception, he must not enter the cafeteria.

He instinctively took a step back, only to realize that the elevator doors had already closed. He hadn't even pressed a button, yet the elevator was moving on its own toward the cafeteria on the second floor.

Patient Number Eight was no longer on the IV stand either. He had broken free, but he hadn't left. He was in the elevator with Xu Kai, and a bloodthirsty gleam had even appeared in his eyes. He was no longer afraid of Xu Kai.

The moment Xu Kai looked at number eight, the patient lunged. Though number eight was much bolder now and had forgotten the shadow of Xu Kai's training in the ward, his movements were as straightforward as ever.

Holding the IV stand, Xu Kai sighed. He dodged in the same way, leaped high in the same way, and thrust downward in the same way, piercing number eight's back in a single strike. Number eight let out a mournful cry. This familiar set meal had finally awakened his fear.

Seeing that number eight couldn't move, Xu Kai didn't let him off this time. Flames poured from his eyes, burning number eight to nothing in an instant.

Looking at the ashes left behind, Xu Kai shook his head.

He hadn't killed number eight in the ward not because he couldn't beat him, but because the rules didn't allow it! Number eight had barely left the ward before trying to ambush him. He had far too little respect for the IV stand.

After killing number eight, Xu Kai felt a sense of relief. He focused on the mirror again and found that his condition had changed once more.

His reflection was now lying flat on the floor, and everywhere else in the mirror was covered in bloody handprints.

Xu Kai rubbed his eyes and looked at the mirror again. The scene was the same. His eye muscles tightened. He turned his head away and stopped looking at the mirror, instead trying to clear his mind and focus completely on sensing his own condition.

After feeling it out for a while, he was baffled. He couldn't quite understand it.

Going by his own senses, he was clearly still standing. Why, then, was he lying flat in the mirror?

No, that wasn't right. If he was standing, why had he needed to jump to reach the button?

Xu Kai finally remembered. The moment he did, his scalp went numb.

Someone standing wouldn't need to jump to reach the button. Only someone lying down would!

This! He was Evil, yet the power of this instance had made him fall victim without even noticing!

Compared to the Stone Statue Weird, this instance's boss was far, far stronger.

And the moment Xu Kai suddenly realized it, it was as though he had lifted a thin veil of mist. He could clearly feel both hands braced against the floor. Once he sensed his position, Xu Kai hurriedly stood up.

Then he looked at the mirror again. His reflection had indeed stood up too, and the bloody handprints behind him had disappeared, but the red in his eyes would not fade.

Xu Kai gazed at the mirror. He couldn't describe his current state. He was like a drunk gradually losing track of where he was.

Ding-dong. As Xu Kai looked at the mirror, the elevator doors opened.

They had reached the second floor.

He turned around, ready to walk to the second-floor cafeteria, only to discover that there was no cafeteria here at all. It was clearly a towering place resembling a Roman arena!

The elevator entrance was on a raised platform in the arena, with a wide-open view. Xu Kai could even see the other three elevators.

The tiered seating below the elevator formed the stands, where countless patients and nurses sat crouched, cheering and roaring.

A red carpet ran from the elevator entrance down like a smooth ramp, extending all the way into the arena. High partition walls stood on either side, with rules carved in bloody strokes into the panels above.

Arena rules:

There is no cafeteria here. This is a place of revelry for the Feeders. Please observe the following rules:

1. Upon entering this arena, even if you have only seen it, you must fight one duel, regardless of who your opponent is. Only after fighting a duel may you leave the arena.

2. Defeat your opponent, eat your opponent, and become the ultimate victor of a round to receive the Chief's Gift. Three gifts will earn you a Discharge Certificate.

3. Before completing your first duel, you are not permitted to flee or turn away from the arena. Dodging during combat does not count.

4. In a duel, the only possible outcome is for the victor to live and the loser to die.

After reading the rules, Xu Kai stared at the red carpet, a sudden realization dawning on him. So this was the cafeteria Kana had been talking about!