[Alert! Alert! Black Fog incoming. Streamer, proceed to the lower third floor immediately!] [Repeat: only the cafeteria on the lower third floor is safe!] [Streamer, proceed to the lower third floor immediately!]
At the same time, Yu Qing saw his hundred health points plummeting on the system panel.
System notification:
[Entity name: Black Fog (boss-type NPC)] [Entity level: 7 (maximum level: 10)] [Special warning: all entities above level 5 are highly dangerous. Avoid them whenever possible.] [Livestream system's calculated estimate: Black Fog is toxic and rapidly depletes health points (your health bar). If you remain in the fog, your estimated survival time will not exceed 3 minutes.]
Then all the data vanished, and the countdown turned red, its relentless beeping ringing in his ears and fraying his nerves.
Yet the livestream chat seemed even more terrifying than the Black Fog.
The viewer count surged, and wildly taunting strings of [Hahahaha] flooded his vision.
[Holy shiiiiit! This is only a level-one instance, and there's a level-seven entity hidden in it? Things are getting interesting~]
[Three minutes? Less than three minutes, hahahaha! Little beauty, get on your knees and bark twice, and I'll tip you. Maybe you'll get to die a little later~]
[Special reminder: 1,000 points can refill your health completely~]
The Black Fog spread rapidly. Yu Qing backed up two steps and slowly steadied his breathing. A moment later, he turned around and ran straight for the elevator.
[Hahahahaha!]
The laughter in the chat grew even more vicious: [I remember there's a trick to this elevator~ (rubs hands in anticipation)]
[Think taking the elevator will get you to the third floor faster? This newbie has a brain, just not much of one. Boring. Nothing to see here.]
[No, entities above level five are rare even in instances. That's a level seven! Level seven!!!]
[Watching a level-seven entity kill a little newbie-how fun is that? (´∀｀)♡]
Yu Qing hurried into the elevator and checked the buttons immediately. Six buttons!
The floor plan said the sanatorium had nine floors. With the underground parking garage on basement level one, there should have been ten buttons.
But the elevator only had six. The number was wrong!
There was no time to hesitate!
Yu Qing stepped inside, and the Black Fog spread in after him. He did his best to calm himself, gritted his teeth, and held his breath.
Sure enough, as long as he did not inhale the Black Fog, his health dropped more slowly.
Somewhat reassured, he carefully examined the elevator buttons.
There was a third-floor button. He should have been able to press it.
Taking the elevator to the third floor was clearly the fastest option.
Even people in the livestream chat kept repeating: [Press it! There's a third-floor button, so why aren't you pressing it? Are you just standing there waiting to die?]
But...
The lower third floor didn't mean the third floor, did it?
Yu Qing's finger hovered without pressing a button for a long time. Then, instead, he pressed the button for basement level one.
The livestream chat:
[???]
[What is the streamer doing? The system said the Black Fog starts spreading from the top floor and basement level one. By the time he gets there, it'll already be swallowed up!]
[Does he have a death wish???]
The elevator descended at high speed, creaking and swaying enough to make Yu Qing feel sick.
He struggled to hold it down. Before long, ding-
The elevator reached basement level one.
As soon as the doors opened, thick Black Fog surged into his face. It swallowed every trace of the faint lighting, leaving him unable to see his hand in front of him.
Yu Qing had no way to tell where he was. The instant he touched the Black Fog, his initial 100 health points plunged to 88!
88?
Yu Qing gave the number a quick glance. It seemed pretty lucky, which lifted his spirits a little.
The Black Fog here was gradually taking shape, like countless shards of ice sweeping in from every direction and stinging his vulnerable neck.
Yu Qing clenched his teeth hard, but lost control for a moment. "Cough, cough, cough, cough!"
He coughed violently in the Black Fog.
Immediately afterward, [Beep, beep, beep-]
[Health critically low. Livestream system's calculated estimate: if you remain in the fog, your estimated survival time will not exceed 60 seconds!]
Three minutes had dropped straight to sixty seconds!
At that point, even the chat turned serious.
Among the gloating comments, there were even a few that read: [Aaaah! Get back in the elevator! Any middle floor that hasn't been overrun would be better than this!]
[Exactly! It's pitch-black, your health is dropping ridiculously fast, and we can't even see anything. Why are you staying here?]
Yet Yu Qing held his breath and took another step forward, resolutely entering the darkness.
Unable to see, he tentatively felt around the structures nearby.
There were large pillars, cool to the touch.
Then he felt one car after another. A parking garage. It really was a parking garage!
As though he had confirmed something wonderful, Yu Qing hurried to find an emergency exit.
He climbed the stairs and raced upward, his footsteps swift.
The lower third floor! He had to reach the lower third floor!
The elevator only had buttons for six floors, which proved something was wrong. Pressing the third-floor button would not necessarily take him to the third floor.
He had bad luck. He always ended up with the worst possible outcome.
But... while he was on the top floor earlier, he had looked out the window and seen cars driving along the road.
That proved cars could not fly even in this instance, so basement level one was the underground parking garage. That location would always be fixed!
Once he established a floor, he could take the stairs and reach the correct lower third floor!
As Yu Qing ran, he discovered that there were indeed many small mezzanine floors the elevator could not reach.
If those mezzanines counted too, then the so-called lower third floor should have been... the cafeteria!
Yu Qing saw light ahead, and his dark eyes finally lit up too.
Meanwhile, the livestream chat erupted again. The viewer count shot past 1,000 from its original 378.
All kinds of [Aaaaaah] comments kept flooding the screen.
[How did he know there were mezzanines in the stairwell? Huh? Tell me, why does he know everything???]
[Weren't you watching? He found the sanatorium's floor plan right at the start. With such huge gaps between floors, how could there not be mezzanines? Fuck, most newbies have to survive several escapes before they understand how important maps are!]
[This streamer is badass! He's completely changed my impression of newbies. I'm sticking around! (Tip: +1,000 points)]
[Hahahahaha, that guy who wanted him to bark-the streamer doesn't need you at all! With moves this good, plenty of other people will tip him, hahahaha!]
[Congratulations to the streamer for reaching 1,000 concurrent viewers. Points +100.]
His health plummeted as Yu Qing desperately raced upstairs. His gaze shifted several times, and when his health approached 10, he immediately raised his hand and tapped the [Health +] button!
Thus, as he stepped onto the final stair, Yu Qing spent 1,000 points, and his health bar filled completely.
The sprint had left him covered in a sheen of sweat, his chest heaving and his breathing ragged.
As his health dropped, Yu Qing had distinctly felt his movements grow sluggish and all his senses dull. From now on, he could never let his health-"Ah!"
Suddenly, Yu Qing cried out.
The entire livestream chat erupted in shock!
[Holy shit! Holy shit! The level-seven entity has grabbed him!]
[Well, he's still doomed in the end. The difference in strength is just too huge.]
But... why?
Yu Qing did not understand. He had clearly reached the lower third floor, yet the mass of Black Fog that had chased him all the way had still breached the safe zone and wrapped around his foot.
And this time, it had a physical form!
The Black Fog around his ankle condensed into the shape of a human hand. It gripped him hard, then slowly began dragging him into the darkness.
"Fuck!" Yu Qing frowned, barely suppressing the urge to curse the entity. He braced one hand against the wall and desperately tried to step forward.
Yu Qing struggled against the ghostly hand, each pulling in the opposite direction.
Before long, the sheer force of that tug-of-war left red marks on the young man's once-pale ankle.
But... the hand formed from Black Fog kept pulling at him.
His snow-white shirt rode up slightly as he struggled, revealing his slender, pale waist.
Soon, another hand took shape, reached out of the Black Fog, and clamped around his waist.
"Ah!" It hurt so much!
Yu Qing's hand tightened against the wall as he was forced to tip his vulnerable neck back. The bright-red heart-shaped earring on his left ear swayed incessantly.
A sheen of cold sweat covered his forehead. His lips parted involuntarily, and a muffled groan escaped him.
Then a black hand closed around his neck. Yu Qing froze, and the rims of his eyes instantly reddened.
The crushing sensation of suffocation struck. Tears gathered in the corners of the young man's eyes as he struggled desperately.
But before long, yet another black hand appeared and slowly covered his mouth.
The pitch-black fingers formed from the fog were vicious. As though seeking to hear more agonized moans, they slowly pressed against his lips, teasing them apart.
"Mmph..."
The broken whimper carried a faint trace of tears.
Slowly, more hands reached out to drag Yu Qing away.
Four, eight, twelve...
Gradually, the hands formed from the Black Fog caressed every part of his body.
Before you continue