Chapter 9

A hoarse, low voice echoed through the narrow changing room, every word strikingly clear.

The Employee Dormitory’s changing room was isolated from the outside world. Even if something really happened, the sounds would be hard for anyone outside to hear.

Especially since it was so late now.

From behind came the urgent rustling of clothes being undone, as if trying desperately to prove something.

But they weren’t Luo Li’s clothes—they were his own.

Was he trying to—

“Push him away!”

007 suddenly barked in a sharp voice, cold in a way Luo Li had never heard before.

Luo Li snapped back to his senses and struggled fiercely to break free.

But his strength was too meager. He’d barely separated from the man when he was pulled back into those arms.

What should he do…

Just then, the sound of several nurses walking came from outside the door.

It seemed someone was about to enter the changing room.

The man clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and finally released Luo Li.

Luo Li stood there dazed, only now lifting his eyes.

The man wore a medical mask, and in the dim light, Luo Li could only vaguely make out the outline of his brows and eyes.

He pushed open the stall door, planting a lingering kiss on the boy’s long hair before slowly leaving the changing room.

What remained in Luo Li’s hand was a thick wad of cash.

Still shaken, Luo Li only then remembered the changing room’s main door.

It had clearly been locked earlier, but somehow it was open now.

Had he remembered wrong?

Lost in a daze, he completely failed to notice the gaze Kang Xun cast from the shadows.

The pretty, petite little nurse stood at the stall door, his skirt so short that great swaths of his pale thighs were exposed. Only one white silk stocking remained on his legs, and the top two buttons of his blouse were undone, nearly revealing his tender little breasts.

He clutched a thick wad of cash tightly in his hand.

A inexplicable rage coursed through Kang Xun’s body.

He didn’t even know what had possessed him to open the changing room door just now.

He kept telling himself it was mere gentlemanly conduct—he hadn’t wanted to see the girl witness assaulted right in front of him.

But…

What if he had been hoping that man would do something to him?

With that innocent, pitifully fragile face, he’d easily conned the money out of him. And he’d actually been fooled by the facade, even feeling guilty for making him cry earlier…

He really must be out of his mind.

Kang Xun gave a self-mocking laugh and slipped away down the pitch-black corridor, leaving the Employee Dormitory behind.

Only after he’d gone quite a distance did he belatedly unclench his fist.

His palm was slick with sweat, and the thing he’d been unconsciously gripping finally came into focus. This white silk stocking—snatched on a whim, as if possessed by a ghost—was now damp with sweat, turned half-transparent.

Why had he pocketed that guy’s stocking?

The thought of returning it flashed through his mind, but Kang Xun quickly dismissed it.

Return it? In a fit of self-abandonment, he thought plenty of men would buy the pretty little nurse a new pair. Besides, it was covered in his sweat—no doubt Luo Li would find it repulsive.

So what if he just took the stocking?

With that in mind, Kang Xun folded it neatly and stuffed it into his pants pocket.

But the hand he’d shoved in lingered there, unwilling to withdraw. His fingers curled, brushing the edge of the stocking only to jerk away each time.

As if he’d done something guilty.

…

Back in his dorm, Luo Li was still somewhat out of sorts.

He hadn’t understood a word that strange man had said, and even after he’d made things so clear and straightforward, the man’s delusional disorder hadn’t shattered.

If the changing room door hadn’t opened at just the right moment, who knew what might have happened.

But… who exactly was he?

Full of doubts, Luo Li failed to notice anything amiss in the room.

After a long silence, 007 said, “Tomorrow, the patients will gather on the Third Floor for mental treatment. You can use the opportunity to search for clues.”

“Mental… treatment?”

“It’s a battle royale event in this instance. During the treatment, players will be chased by monsters in the hospital, and their illness value will keep rising. If the illness value gets too high, or if they’re badly injured by a monster, the player gets eliminated.”

For once, 007 softened his words, calling “death” by the gentler term “elimination” to spare Luo Li’s feelings.

“Also, do you have any guesses about your identity so far?”

Luo Li pulled out the lace panties he’d brought back from Ling Yu.

He noticed the embroidery on them too and strained to make out the characters.

Luo Li pieced it together with effort: “Agamemnon. It feels like a person’s name.”

Wait a second.

Wasn’t the Dean of this hospital named Agamemnon?!

Why was this name on both the pajamas and the panties?

“Could it be… he gave me this underwear?”

For him to give something like this…

It probably meant his relationship with the Dean was anything but ordinary.

No sooner had he spoken than a new progress notification appeared.

[Current Identity Exploration Progress: 30%]

[Progress Reward: One Small Leather Whip]

The whip dropped into his hand, with an eye-catching note beside it.

[A soft leather whip that can be used as an attack item. The pain it inflicts depends on your strength—get lucky, and it might even hurt a player.]

Wh-what did “get lucky” mean!

Other monsters could bite someone dead in one go, but for him, whether it even hurt depended on luck?

Luo Li squeezed the whip’s soft tip, feeling utterly frustrated!

Couldn’t they give him a knife or a gun as an item?!

007 sounded a bit gleeful: “Looks like your luck isn’t great.”

Luo Li stubbornly shot back, “It is too! I hit hard! Just you wait and see!”

“Heh, maybe.”

Whether it hurt or not was one thing.

He just hoped no one in the battle royale would eagerly line up to take a lashing.

…

The next day, a torrential downpour lashed the mountains.

Outside the hospital, lightning flashed and thunder roared, layer upon layer of dark clouds pressing down. The air hung heavy and humid, stifling to the point one could scarcely breathe.

Aside from Lu Yanyan, who had drawn the nurse identity, Kang Xun, Ling Yu, and Andrei all had to join the upcoming battle royale.

Before the three of them lay the staircase leading to the Third Floor.

They needed to search the long-sealed Third Floor for medicine to inject and lower their illness value, while watching for monsters lurking in the shadows and hunting clues to advance the main quest of rescuing the Dean.

Lu Yanyan, meanwhile, would follow the nurse NPCs onto the Third Floor first, secretly marking escape routes for them.

[Damn, as expected of the infamous disgusting instance—this chase battle is starting so soon.]

[Right? They say the deduction difficulty here is basically zero, pure kiddie plot where you just follow the clues. The nasty part’s all in the chase.]

[I remember now—it’s the one where nurses hide the real medicine and hand out fakes, yeah? Bust your ass finding meds and you still can’t use ’em. What a hassle.]

Ling Yu handed walkie-talkies to Kang Xun and Andrei.

“The Third Floor splits into three forks right away. We’ll split up and keep in touch via walkie-talkie en route. Barring surprises, we can rendezvous in the Central Hall after an hour, then take out the pollution source together.”

It was the standard clear strategy most players followed—nothing to question. Kang Xun and Andrei both nodded.

A thick fog blanketed the Third Floor, lit only by the flickering glow of ancient incandescent bulbs. In the decaying Gynecology Ward, light footsteps quietly echoed.

Luo Li followed the glow of [Tracking], searching room by room.

To lower their illness value, players needed to find suppressing medicine. Naturally, such medicine counted as a clue and could be tracked.

Luo Li grinned with delight, grabbing an old pill box from nearby and hiding the tablets inside one by one.

If the players couldn’t find the medicine, wouldn’t their illness value just keep climbing?

He just didn’t get why these meds were mixed in with candy-coated pills for kids, all stashed in those colorful jars by the bedsides.

Luo Li was familiar with the tactic. Kids hated medicine, so doctors and nurses disguised pills as candy for maximum trickery.

And with players’ suppressing medicine hidden among them, it was a nightmare to find.

“You could just destroy all these drugs,” 007 reminded him.

Luo Li hesitated. “Mm… better not.”

He only wanted the players trapped in the hospital, unable to clear the instance. He had no desire to ruin their health.

After all, he knew better than anyone how miserable illness could be.

As long as the players behaved and stayed in the hospital, Luo Li wouldn’t deny them medicine for treatment.

So he carefully collected every pill and stored them safely in the little pill box.

Just then, a flashlight beam swept over, and footsteps drew nearer.

007 said, “It’s Ling Yu. He’s found this place.”

So soon?!

It had been less than ten minutes since the start!

007 analyzed calmly, “No hiding spots here. Stash the pill box with the medicine first.”

Luo Li quickly scanned around, uneasy about any spot. Meanwhile, Ling Yu was nearly at the door.

In a panic, he shoved the pill box into the side pocket of his short skirt.

He could clearly see Ling Yu’s illness value—it had skyrocketed to 70 in just a few days’ absence and was still rising.

Remembering that man’s expression from that night still sent a shiver down Luo Li’s spine.

The way Ling Yu had held him so tightly left his body aching even now.

Surely today it wouldn’t happen again…

With a creak, the door to Ward 202 swung open.

Ling Yu stood there in a deep gray dress shirt, the beam of his flashlight illuminating his chiseled jawline. He looked strikingly handsome and icy calm, utterly unshaken.

Not a trace of the breakdown from that night remained.

When his gaze landed on Luo Li, those deep, piercing eyes narrowed. “You?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Luo Li instinctively took half a step back.

Ling Yu seemed hesitant to speak, leaving the air thick with awkward tension.

Luo Li racked his brain for an excuse to slip away, but then a sharp shout cut through the silence. “Watch out!”

A deafening crash exploded right beside them. Something massive smashed through the wall, a scarlet giant tongue dripping with saliva whipping out from the gaping hole!

Luo Li froze in place, dumbstruck. The enormous, pus-covered monster loomed mere inches away. But in that split second, with a sickening squelch, half a steel pipe pierced straight through its throat, slamming it to the floor.

Dark red blood sprayed out, yet not a single drop splattered onto Luo Li.

Ling Yu stood protectively in front of him, his shirt stained crimson. He stared unblinkingly at the writhing abomination, driving the steel pipe even deeper.

Only when the monster’s roars faded to silence and it slumped lifeless to the ground did he straighten up. Ling Yu pulled the pipe free and kicked the corpse aside. Without a word, he strode to the nearby cabinet and rummaged through it for medicine.

…But the real medicine was on Luo Li.

007: “Take this chance and get out of here, quick.”

But Luo Li… couldn’t move.

Blood pooled at his feet, mingled with the reeking monster carcass. The shattered wall gaped into pitch blackness—who knew if another one lurked inside?

Terror had wiped his mind blank. He’d completely forgotten he was a Boss. His legs felt like jelly.

No way he could walk.

“What’s wrong? Too scared to move?” Ling Yu continued searching the cabinet without looking up. “The monster’s dead. Do I need to carry you out myself?”

He glanced over. “Weren’t you pretty unwilling when I held you that night?”

His voice was casual, but the fingers toying with the medicine bottle betrayed a hint of malice.

“Or… why don’t you beg me?”