Breakfast Is Over, and No One in the Entire Ward Took Their Medicine!

The patient stared at the broken chain as if he had been hit with a paralysis spell, completely motionless.

His back no longer ached, his legs no longer hurt, and even his insanity seemed to have been cured. It was as if the person who had desperately wanted to kill Lu Ce just moments ago had never been him.

Bro, I was just messing around with you earlier. Please don't hold it against me!

:Holy shit! What happened?

:There it is, there it is! Top-tier brute strength. That big shot's last game already blew my mind.

:He could have just hacked his way through, but he insisted on perfectly blending in with the psychiatric patients.

:Honestly, I'd heard about this big shot's condition during the last game. Coming to a mental hospital probably feels like going home to him.

The skinny patient stood there awkwardly, his entire body somewhat stiff, as though he had no idea what to do next.

He had lost one chain, yet something far sturdier than any chain still bound him—the hand Lu Ce had wrapped around his wrist.

In those few short seconds, it felt as though his nerves had gone numb. He could no longer even feel his arm.

Lu Ce slowly exhaled. The violent force within him eased slightly, and he felt a little more comfortable.

He released the other man's hand.

"Who... are you?" Perhaps the tremendous external shock had briefly pulled the patient out of his mental chaos, allowing him to regain a sliver of clarity.

"I'm your fellow patient." Yet Lu Ce was no more lucid than he was, and their conversation remained utterly incoherent.

"...What's your name?"

"My name is Guo Degang."

Patient:?

It was a perfectly normal name, but for some reason, it just felt terribly wrong to him.

"My name is Long Wu! My name is Long Wu!"

Lu Ce had not even asked, but Long Wu volunteered the answer himself, even shouting it, as though he had finally awakened from a dream and remembered his own name.

But the clarity in his eyes quickly faded, replaced once more by confusion and madness. His newly freed hand began to twist and writhe.

Yet for some reason, he did not attack Lu Ce, who stood right in front of him. Instead, he began swinging the chain at the walls and floor.

From the outside, he looked a little like he was throwing a helpless tantrum.

Breakfast time has ended. All players, please return to your designated correction areas.

Breakfast time has ended...

The game's announcement suddenly blared out, echoing through the prison-like hospital.

"Oh, the bell rang. Looks like it's time to go back."

Lu Ce muttered to himself. He ignored the guy behind him, who had begun having another episode, and casually walked outside.

But just as Lu Ce was about to step out, a loud bang suddenly came from behind him.

"Go..."

Slowly turning around, Lu Ce saw Long Wu face-down on the floor.

His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulged across his face, and his complexion had turned purple. He had slammed his head into the ground, and blood was slowly flowing from the corner of his brow.

Together with his ragged clothes and the bloodstains covering his body, he looked exactly like someone who had been imprisoned and tortured every day for ten years.

Seeing Lu Ce turn around, he stared with reddened eyes and forced out a few more words through clenched teeth.

"Go... leave this place!"

"If you don't leave, you'll become like me!"

Lu Ce fell silent for several seconds. He bent down slightly and looked at Long Wu. A strange smile gradually appeared on the mask covering his face. (￣??)

In a teasing voice, he said:

"Sir, how are we... any different now?"

"You'll still entertain me at lunch, right?"

His voice was like an icy spring poured down from above, inexplicably making Long Wu feel a chill run through his entire body.

After saying that, Lu Ce straightened up and walked out of the ward.

Bang!

With a loud crash, the door shut, and everyone returned to that initial room. There were still five of them, no more and no less.

However, none of them looked particularly well. It seemed that no one had made much progress on this game's task.

The only female player was pale, clearly frightened, while the muscular man from before had actually been injured!

His entire right arm was dripping with blood. He had crudely wrapped it with his shirt, but blood could still be seen seeping through!

All right, players. The first game period has ended. Are you adapting well so far?

The mechanical voice sounded out. It was Tom speaking, and he was in the room as well.

You may exchange information and summarize your experiences while waiting for the next meal to begin.

Of course, if any of you believe you have found the sickest patient, you may tell me at any time.

You may now act freely.

After speaking, Tom rolled his tracks to a corner and stopped moving, as though he had powered down into standby mode.

"Fuck! What kind of goddamn game is this?!" The muscular man suddenly roared. Cold sweat covered his forehead as he clutched his bloody arm tightly.

"What kind of place is this? They call this a hospital? Those things aren't human at all!"

He continued cursing nonstop. It was obvious from his words that everyone could hear the fear in his voice.

As it turned out, after entering the ward, the muscular man had focused solely on completing the task. He had wanted to force the patient to take medicine as quickly as possible and advance his progress.

He had not taken these tortured patients seriously at all. When the patient refused to take the medicine, he had actually tried to pry open his mouth and force-feed him!

Only at that moment did he realize what he was facing. It was as though every one of those pitiful-looking patients had a tiger or leopard living inside them. They erupted in an instant, and the muscular man had been utterly unable to fight back.

If not for his decent physical condition and regular exercise allowing him to escape in the end, he would have nearly lost his life this time.

"Yes, in terms of physical ability, they can barely be measured by human standards." Jiu Tian chimed in from the side.

"This is a hell game. Difficulty like this is to be expected. Be more careful. At least they still have chains, while we have medicine. I suggest everyone share the information they have so far."

"I'll go first. I noticed something strange. My patient was initially very resistant to the medicine, but after I persuaded him for a while, he suddenly went crazy and demanded to take it."

The woman's face was pale as well. Following Jiu Tian's lead, she said:

"Yes. The patient I encountered also seemed to have some kind of manic disorder at first. He refused to eat or take medicine, but after a while, he suddenly began roaring that he wanted medicine and swallowed it all himself. It was very strange."

"Moreover, after taking the medicine, that manic feeling disappeared, but I still couldn't get any answers from him. His mind was completely chaotic..."

At that moment, Kolk suddenly stood up.

"I have nothing to say, I just have a question."

Then he looked at Lu Ce, who was lying flat on the ground, and said:

"Do you know that, aside from your patients, no one in the entire hospital took their medicine this time!"

"Did you eat all of it, Mr. Red Mask!?"

Kolk spoke the final two sentences directly in Chinese. Everyone froze upon hearing him, then turned their heads in shock, unable to understand what had happened between those two.