Patient tranquilizer meal, you're eating it all?

"Hmm?"

Lu Ce instinctively flipped his wrist as the other person leaned in, hiding the card he was holding beneath his palm. He shot a cautious glance at the other man.

"Cut the nonsense, we're on the same side. Time's running out. Which department are you from?"

"Me?" Lu Ce raised his head slightly, thinking for a moment. "I'm from the third year department."

Jiu Tian: ?

What the hell, the high school department!

"What kind of nonsense is that? What are you talking about?"

Jiu Tian was taken aback, glancing at the timer showing only three minutes left, feeling increasingly uneasy.

How can this colleague still be like this? Do I really look that untrustworthy?

Although it's possible he's from a completely different place, we're part of an official organization—don't we have a bit of trust?

"Come on, I can see your name card. I'm Jiu Tian from K City, Jiang Hai Province, but I didn't bring a name card!"

"Besides, do we even need those? Look at my clothes!" He tugged at the fabric of his red outfit. "Why don't you have a matching outfit? Just a red mask? Your regulations are pretty special over there."

"By the way, you should have someone from our side in your livestream room. Just have them check me out."

Lu Ce sensed that the other man might have misunderstood something and continued to ramble, "You look like you're quite a bit older, yet you're in the same department as me? Still in high school?"

"Are you the director of the political education department?"

Jiu Tian: ?

It's getting serious!

His fists tightened!

What's with this guy? He's completely disorganized and undisciplined!

[: Jiu Tian, our organization has indeed recorded players who have perfectly cleared the game.]

[: However, it seems there's no record of anyone fitting the mask's description. You should communicate more.]

A staff member in Jiu Tian's livestream reminded him.

Jiu Tian suppressed his urge to punch someone, lowering his voice and saying coldly, "Comrade, I don't know what your intentions are."

"But you mentioned the color of my clothes and deliberately pulled out your name card. Clearly, you're trying to attract my attention."

"Do you... have something to say?"

Lu Ce scratched his head. "Now that you mention it, I think I'm a bit hungry. How strange."

Who asked you!?

Jiu Tian turned away, leaving behind a casual warning to watch his own safety, not wanting to engage further.

Goodbye!

He addressed the staff in the livestream, "Quickly find out where this guy belongs. What is he, crazy or something?"

"How can a hellishly difficult game be taken lightly?"

[Reminder to all players, you should quickly exit this room before time runs out.]

At this point, the countdown timer showed one minute left. The door to the room had opened, revealing a pitch-black corridor that seemed to lead into the abyss.

No one wanted to defy the announcement. In hell mode, you never know when something fatal might appear.

Kolk, the foreigner, boldly stepped out first, his silhouette exuding an air of aloofness.

The big guy looked at him with some irritation. "What a show-off," he muttered before following suit.

Jiu Tian and the woman also quickly left the room.

Lu Ce maintained his usual behavior, standing at the door until the very last second before stepping outside, then peering back in to see what would happen.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, pushing Lu Ce out, leaving an imprint of a mask on the door.

Jiu Tian, who had been keeping an eye on his "colleague," turned his head away helplessly.

He felt like he was reaching his limit.

Once the door closed, he was greeted by a long corridor that curved ahead. After about a hundred meters in the pitch-blackness, it was impossible to see anything, as it veered left.

On either side of the corridor, there were large iron doors spaced at intervals, dark and silent, as if they were holding fierce beasts inside.

There was no sound in the entire corridor.

Presumably, those doors housed the "patients."

Jiu Tian ran his hand along the curve of the wall, estimating the distance ahead, and took long strides forward.

Before getting down to business, he planned to clearly observe the terrain and the basic architectural structure in front of him.

"There are no stairs, so it should be a large flat building. Of course, I can't rule out the possibility of hidden doors."

"Based on this angle, it might be a circular structure…"

In the silent space, Jiu Tian's voice echoed. He didn't hold back, decisively sharing his thoughts with everyone.

At that moment, the game's sound reappeared.

[Breakfast time, 30 minutes.]

[Dining time counts as task time; during this period, players must enter the patient's room.]

[If you go out, you need to return to the room quickly. Staying too long in the hallway will lead to unfortunate events.]

Clang, clang.

After the sound appeared, a tray dropped from the hidden compartment beneath each room, seemingly delivered from nowhere.

Instantly, an unbearable, strange stench filled the space.

Under the dim strip lighting, the tray held a large jar of a viscous substance; without being told, it would be hard to convince oneself that it was food.

Inside, it was impossible to discern what it contained, and one could even vaguely see some broken bones and mucous.

Next to the jar was a small dish holding several white pills.

The tray read: "The patient is mentally unstable; mixing sedatives into the food may facilitate communication."

"Looking at this so-called hospital, it seems to focus on mental issues," Jiu Tian murmured.

"Damn!" the bulky man cursed. "This stuff is also food? Who wouldn't develop mental problems being fed this?"

Is it really that unappetizing?

Lu Ce glanced at the items on the floor.

Why did he feel like it looked somewhat delicious?

The Gluttony Mask maximizes the influence on appetite, completely suppressing all rational judgment.

The red warning lights were flashing, urging players to hurry into the patient rooms.

With no time to think, Lu Ce randomly selected a room, picked up the tray, and walked inside.

The environment inside the room was noticeably different from outside; it was not clean, with various dirty spots and even bloodstains on the walls.

However, the room was brightly lit! It was illuminated twenty-four hours a day.

In the corner, a gaunt man, resembling a ghoul, squatted with handcuffs and leg irons. The moment Lu Ce entered, he shot a hateful glare at the tray in Lu Ce's hands.

"Meal time! Looks like breakfast; I can't quite remember. A delicacy of the human world, my friend. You look so thin, you're almost dead from starvation."

"Do you want to eat?"

The entire room had no furniture. Lu Ce looked around, then walked into the room, setting the tray down and sitting on the floor.

"Want to eat?" a hoarse voice came from the patient, gritting his teeth.

"Of course not! New kid, delicacy? If it's so delicious, why don't you eat it? Let me tell you, don't get too proud…"

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Ce's eyes lit up.

"Really? Thanks!"

With that, he grabbed the jar of unknown contents and poured it directly into his mouth.

Patient: ?