The Weird Tree's barrier vanished, leaving every player present exposed within Hospital No. 666.
There were no more entwined branches, no more screens of light shielding them. A nerve-racking deathly silence hung over their surroundings. The scorched smell left by the Weird Tree's burning lingered in the air, mixed with a stench of rust so strong it was repulsive.
Whatever else it might have been, the Newborn Ward was part of Hospital No. 666. With the Weird Tree's demise, however, its Hospital Ward Building had become a barren stretch of ground within Hospital No. 666.
The Red Moon hung overhead like a red eye gazing down upon a nightmarish world. Once the barrier dissipated, the chill of the Nightmare World flooded back into their bodies. That cold did not come from outside; it seeped from deep within their marrow, making them shudder involuntarily.
Little Fire, A Yao, and the others all returned to the Puzzle Piece. After Su Bai nodded, Blood Epiphyllum also lowered her head and gently took the sapling back into the Puzzle Piece. Her movements were unexpectedly tender. Perhaps she was doting on a fragile little life, or perhaps... she was cherishing a new toy.
In his previous life, countless companions had told Su Bai to "stay alive" as he pressed onward.
This time, it was Su Bai's turn to hope that a sapling that had never seen the outside world could keep living.
"What happened?"
After A Yao and the others left, Chi Yan and the others, who had been drugged, finally regained consciousness. Confusion lingered on their faces, as though they had just startled awake from a dream. They stood where they were, looking around hesitantly, only to discover that their surroundings were completely different from before they had lost consciousness.
The screens of light