After listening to Ruan Ping's account, Shen Ru realized the hierarchy here was unmistakable, much like the strong preying on the weak under the law of the jungle.
That was why a level 3 Name Badge was useless on the Fourth Floor.
But Liang Yu was different. She was on the Fifth Floor, so her Name Badge naturally put her at the top of the food chain.
Shen Ru had also considered taking his own Name Badge down to the Fourth Floor, but then he remembered what he had done on their turf, and the fact that NPCs held grudges.
Suddenly, he wasn't so confident.
If the Name Badge failed to work for someone like him, going down there would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog-he would never come back.
So the safest plan was to have Liang Yu go downstairs with him.
As it happened, Shen Ru thought Liang Yu was very interested in the Fourth Floor, too.
Inside the elevator.
As Liang Yu felt the elevator descend steadily, the last flicker of hope in her heart finally died.
All she had done was try to be a little clever and pretend to be an NPC in front of Shen Ru. Surely that didn't warrant a death sentence???
The young man's words still echoed clearly in her ears.
"Can you act haughty? When we see the monsters, look down your nose at them and take me straight to the Treatment Room like you own the place."
Shen Ru even seemed worried that she might be scared, solemnly assuring her, "Don't worry. It's absolutely safe!"
Liang Yu's entire worldview had collapsed the moment the young man said he wanted to go to the Fourth Floor, so she had only nodded numbly at the time.
Now that she thought it over...
Act haughty... toward whom???
I've spent my whole life walking on thin ice... and ever since I met Shen Ru, it's only gotten harder...
Creeeeak-
A filthy, chaotic scene burst into their view.
Scarlet blood and disgusting slime spattered the yellowed walls. Small Pythons were scattered throughout the corridor, and the Octopus was thoroughly dead. They could even make out a snake's head bulging faintly from the back of its head.
Liang Yu glanced at the Octopus in confusion. She remembered that it hadn't had blue spots when she first saw it.
But instinctive panic soon pushed her confusion aside.
Besides the rank, bloody stench filling the air, intermittent hissing echoed throughout the corridor.
Shen Ru raised his eyebrows, his eyes gleaming with interest. The horrifying scene before him sent a thrill through every pore of his body.
Beside him, Liang Yu stood rigid, her gaze sweeping rapidly over their surroundings. For the moment, she couldn't tell which creature was the doctor on the Fourth Floor.
Just as she was agonizing over how to find the monster they needed without disturbing the pythons covering the floor, a series of loud coughs suddenly sounded beside her.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem..."
The young man's voice was deliberate and clear, echoing over and over through the empty corridor.
The intermittent hissing paused briefly. Then spine-chilling scraping noises and wet squelches of bodies tangling together surged toward them like a tide.
Liang Yu whipped her head around and stared at him in horror, her pupils trembling violently with panic.
*????*
Who just said this was absolutely safe???
This was a fucking disaster right out of the gate!!!
In the livestream chat:
[Hahahaha, I'm dying. I knew my darling would say something shocking, but I didn't expect it this soon!!!]
[Hahahahaha, damn. Well, now they don't have to worry about finding the attending doctor. They're all coming straight for them.]
[Third time's the charm. That expression on her face looks awfully familiar...]
Liang Yu turned to him, her face full of terror.
The beautiful young man narrowed his eyes and smiled as he mouthed to her: This is faster.
Liang Yu: "..."
Sure enough, amid the eerie, terrifying hisses, the wooden door on the left, with a huge hole smashed through it, opened. A Giant Python slowly slithered out.
Despite her shock at the Giant Python's size, Liang Yu hadn't forgotten the task the young man had given her.
All she could do now was project as much authority as possible, without letting a single crack show in her performance.
Liang Yu quickly adjusted her expression, scrutinizing the Giant Python before her with displeasure and even contempt:
"What exactly is the Fourth Floor's Treatment Room good for? You can't even treat such a minor problem, and you have to send him to the Fifth Floor?"
The Giant Python paused briefly, apparently noticing the emblem on her chest, then abruptly lowered its head. The Small Pythons around it followed suit. The scalp-prickling hisses vanished in an instant, leaving the entire corridor deathly silent.
The smell of blood grew even stronger. Just as Liang Yu thought it wasn't buying her act, a horrifying voice emerged from the enormous snake's head:
"This was all the Octopus's fault. It prevented the patient... from receiving timely treatment."
As it spoke, the python's green, slit-pupiled eyes flickered in the dim light. Shen Ru wasn't sure whether he was imagining it, but he actually saw danger and malice in the monster's gaze.
Liang Yu seemed dissatisfied with that answer and continued sternly, "I'll take him there myself this time. You don't need to follow."
The Giant Python lowered its head even further. After a brief pause, it replied in an eerie voice, "As you wish."
With the Giant Python's verbal assurance, the two proceeded unhindered along the corridor to the right. Every Small Python along the way respectfully made room, retreating into the corners on either side.
They walked slowly toward the end of the corridor. All along the way, Shen Ru carefully watched for any movement in the patient rooms on either side.
He had deliberately made that noise for two reasons: first, to lure out the Giant Python, and second, to see whether there were any other Players on this floor.
In an environment where death could strike at any moment, anyone who heard another human's voice would surely try everything possible to contact them.
But everything remained quiet as they walked, and he discovered nothing.
Just as Shen Ru was beginning to feel disappointed, a faint cough suddenly came from one of the patient rooms.
Though quiet, the sound was keenly picked up by both of them.
They kept walking as usual, both understanding that this was no time to rescue another Player. They could only go to the Treatment Room first and work out a plan afterward.
There were no surveillance cameras in the corridor, either. The corners near the ceiling were pitch-black.
Shen Ru glanced down at the floor, then raised his eyebrows slightly.
The Octopus tentacle with the eyeballs attached had changed position. Perhaps because of the snakes' earlier commotion, it had moved roughly five meters from its original spot toward the end of the corridor.
As Shen Ru pondered this oddity, the lifeless eyeballs suddenly began swiveling violently. It was precisely this movement that allowed him to see what they really looked like.
The round eyeballs actually had slit pupils.
*"! "*
Shen Ru stared at them warily. Ahead of him, Liang Yu seemed to notice something wrong as well, and her body gave a violent jerk.
Before either of them could react, a system notification rang in their ears:
"Ding! Players Shen Ru and Liang Yu have been detected discovering an illogical anomaly: Strange Eyeball." "My condition seems to have worsened again. Why are the eyeballs swiveling back and forth on the Octopus tentacle? I'm beginning to doubt myself. Are those really eyeballs I'm seeing? Does the Octopus really exist?"
Noticing Liang Yu's steps falter, Shen Ru hurriedly reminded her, "Don't stop. Keep walking."
The python was still watching them intently from behind. Shen Ru kept feeling that there was something wrong with its gaze. If Liang Yu's act fell apart, their lives could very well be in danger.
Only after they entered the Treatment Room and escaped that eerie gaze did Liang Yu let out a heavy sigh of relief.
The shattered doorframe, the glass shards scattered across the floor, and the slimy, wet trails left by the python crawling over the walls-all of it proclaimed that something terrible had happened in this room.
The first time Shen Ru had come here, he had been tense and overwhelmed. With Mo Yu deliberately interrupting him as well, he hadn't had any time to examine the room's details.
So he wasn't sure whether the Employee Rules had been on the wall last time.
If the rules Ruan Ping had seen concerned supervising the Octopus, these must have been the corresponding rules for supervising the pythons.
1. Snakes hold deep grudges and can mimic human speech. If you discover that they can talk, do not respond to them.
2. Pythons cannot kill the Octopus, but humans can.
3. Remember, there are exactly two employees on this floor.
4. If reality contradicts any of the three rules above, this floor is no longer safe. Evacuate immediately.
"Liang Yu, which floor did you start on?"
Shen Ru's voice was perfectly calm, without a trace of panic, giving the impression that he had everything under control.
Liang Yu's face was deathly pale. Understanding the implication of his question, she gave a despair-inducing answer in a trembling, breathy voice:
"The Fifth Floor."
Shen Ru stood where he was, his eyes fixed on the employee regulations.
Then, abruptly, he laughed.
The young man's shoulders trembled slightly. His delighted laughter sounded especially chilling in the empty, deathly silent room.
Well, this was just great.
They had managed to run afoul of every single rule with flawless precision.
Before you continue