Ember Corridor

Just like Nurse Lin earlier. Xu Kai didn't know whether Nurse Lin was dead now, but judging from the previous Save-Load, she was probably insane if she wasn't dead. During that previous Save-Load, Xu Kai was certain he had seen Leng Chong and Nurse Lin in the Arena.

Earlier, Nurse Lin had walked past the Elevator without even daring to look at Xu Kai, intent on moving forward. The nurses' tasks had to be quite strict. And when Nurse Lin was carrying out her task, it had also been around ten minutes after lunch.

If the same applied to Nurse Kana, she had almost no time left. She had to get out immediately and find her task.

Xu Kai explained the situation to Kana, then pointed at the cloth in her hand and said:

"You'd better keep biting down on that. Being too loud is dangerous."

Kana didn't argue this time. Her face was a little flushed, because she had just patted her chest and assured Xu Kai that nurses like them had seen all kinds of storms, only to start singing rock the next second.

This time, Kana said nothing. She bit down on the cloth and followed close behind Xu Kai.

Xu Kai reached out and opened the door again, only to suddenly find the lines of his view outside shifting.

The distortion felt the same as when he had pushed open the door to Patient Room Nine.

Xu Kai's heart sank. He had never encountered anything like this when opening the door before. This change very likely meant that his perception was becoming disordered again.

As soon as Xu Kai stepped out, he was surprised to feel a scorching heat beneath his feet. Only when his vision finally cleared did he realize that the entire corridor had changed again.

The floor was covered in cracks and black scorch marks left by a great fire. Faint residual heat rose beneath his feet, and with every step Xu Kai took, he could hear a faint rustling sound: chunks of ash being crushed.

The sound wasn't loud and didn't trigger the corridor's rules, but running would be another matter.

Xu Kai took a deep breath and led Kana all the way into the corridor. He saw that her teeth were clenched tight and her pupils were wide. Clearly, she was experiencing disordered perception again.

In this respect, Xu Kai and Kana's perceptions seemed to differ.

Xu Kai felt a wave of heat. The floor beneath his feet was cracked like a spiderweb, and wisps of heat rose from every fissure from time to time.

The entire corridor looked as though it had been thoroughly burned, with faint residual heat lingering. The walls were pitch-black, and he couldn't make anything out.

Xu Kai looked carefully around but didn't find what he wanted. Just as I thought, he said to himself.

He was looking for a clock, but in this world of perception, everything had been burned to nothing, including the clock. His plan had come to nothing. He couldn't see the time at all. All he could do was get out, find the pills as quickly as possible, and then come back.

Clang, clang, clang.

As Xu Kai was looking around, the doors to the neighboring patient rooms opened, and two monsters crawled out. They wore patients' clothes and had completely mutated.

They emerged from the rooms with light steps, but they weren't slow. Their red pupils were fixed on Xu Kai and Kana.

Xu Kai believed these patients wouldn't care about any of those messy rules. There was no intelligence left in their heads, only a craving for food.

The only reason they were moving quietly through the corridor was beastly instinct, which told them it was safest to do so.

Gulp.

Kana swallowed nervously and tugged at Xu Kai's patient gown. Xu Kai waved a hand, signaling her to move as quietly as possible. The monsters weren't moving fast, and being attacked might not kill them, but if the two of them ran, the rules would wipe them out on the spot.

Xu Kai spared a glance to the side. The Elevator was to their left, but the two monsters were blocking the way.

To the right of Patient Room Nine was a corner Xu Kai had never explored, but for now, they had no choice but to go around it.

Time waited for no one, but Xu Kai and Kana couldn't hurry. After all, if the noise they made exceeded 55 decibels, the punishment was death.

The same went for the two monsters. Like large predators such as tigers and lions, they kept their bodies low and crawled toward Xu Kai and Kana bit by bit.

It was a silent chase. Xu Kai watched the corner while occasionally looking back at the two monsters. Their speed wasn't much different from that of Xu Kai and Kana, but they were noticeably faster.

Right now, the two monsters were still about ten meters away.

Xu Kai continued forward with quiet steps. Even though he did his utmost to set his feet down gently, they still made a distinct "crunch" whenever he stepped on the ash. Nurse Kana's palms were sweating. She was small to begin with, and her stride was short; she had to take several steps to match one of Xu Kai's. She had to be careful with every step to avoid making a loud noise.

But the two monsters behind them had no such concerns. Their feet were not only webbed but had grown thick pads, and their bodies were pressed against the floor. They made no sound at all as they moved.

"W-what do we do? It looks like we can't outrun them."

Nurse Kana kept her voice down and strained to stand on tiptoe, leaning close to whisper in Xu Kai's ear.

Xu Kai paused in his stride and replied in a low voice:

"Keep going for now. I can see the nurses' station. Do you remember it?"

"Y-yes, a little."

"Then let's go to the nurses' station first, then to the staff lounge beside it. We'll deal with those two monsters there."

"Deal with them? Me? You mean me?"

"Right. Have you forgotten? When you saw I hadn't taken my medicine at noon, you pounced on me. Those two monsters can't compare to how fierce you were. You can do it!"

"...I can my ass... Patient Number Nine, your name is Xu Kai, right? Xu Kai, you're so good at comforting people. Don't ever do it again."

Kana's two cat ears pricked up. She had a jie ma mai pi in her heart that she badly wanted to say to Xu Kai.

Xu Kai didn't answer. He looked back and estimated the distance. The two monsters were already about seven meters away.

From what he had observed before, the maximum distance monsters transformed from people could leap was four meters. They were still a long way from the nurses' station, so he had to find a way to delay the two monsters.

Xu Kai had too many wounds, almost no Weird Energy left, and no weapon in hand.

He looked around as he went. There was nothing but drifting ash, and even the corridor lights were out. Only the light from outside the windows allowed him to make out part of the corridor. Unfortunately, it was nearly seven in the evening, and even in summer, the sky had grown dim.

So Xu Kai stopped and let Kana go ahead.

"Xu Kai, what are you doing? Those two monsters are about to bite us!"

"Listen to me calmly. We're too slow. One of us has to cover the rear, and you have an important task. First, you have about five minutes left to start your nurse task. The nurses' station is right ahead. You have to get there and, while completing the task, remember where you got the medicine. Only then do we have a chance of surviving."

Xu Kai spoke at length in a low voice, but after Kana's ears had mutated, she could hear even more clearly. She reacted quickly, setting aside her doubts for the moment and doing as Xu Kai said.

So Nurse Kana went on ahead, while Xu Kai held the corner, blocking the monsters' path.

Just as they made that decision, the monsters arrived. Xu Kai could hear their heavy breathing just around the corner.

Xu Kai prepared himself. He looked over his body and found he had almost nothing, only a pair of fists.