Chapter 19

“Are you… possessing Meng Hu’s body?”

Luo Li felt terribly awkward and tried to pull his hand away, but the moment he shifted it slightly, Wado rubbed his head right back against it.

With no other choice, he gave it a couple of symbolic pats. The man’s lips pressed into a tight line, radiating that same fierce, oppressive presence, but the spark of delight in his eyes was impossible to conceal.

“Face,” he said. “Used, face.”

After some arduous back-and-forth, Luo Li finally grasped what Wado meant.

He wanted to appear before Luo Li in a form he could accept, but his options for bodies were severely limited, so he had chosen the deceased Meng Hu.

The technique was still clumsy, though, which was why—even in Meng Hu’s form—there were noticeable differences.

“So, did you kill Meng Hu?”

Wado froze for a moment, loosening his loose embrace around Luo Li’s waist before nodding. “He had, dirty, thoughts about you.”

Luo Li felt deeply uncomfortable. “Even so, you didn’t have to kill him! Besides, you yourself are…”

This guy’s intentions weren’t exactly pure either.

“This place, full of… dead people already.” Wado grew flustered at Luo Li’s sharp tone and hurried to defend himself. “Dying… leaving, normal.”

007 had said something along those lines too.

People from different parallel universes ended up in this game after dying, earning points to qualify for rebirth. Dying inside the game simply reverted them to their real-world state of death.

Wado was in the same boat as him, aligned against the players with no say in the matter.

The man cradled Luo Li’s soft, pale cheek in his palm. “Don’t be angry with me. Okay?”

That came out surprisingly fluent. Luo Li’s voice softened. “Fine, but you’re not allowed to do that sort of thing again. You have to obey me from now on.”

Wado nodded vigorously.

Emboldened by the sight, Luo Li pressed further. “Since you’re going to listen to me, could you give me the key?”

“You know, the one for the top floor gate.”

Wado hesitated. “You want to go back? Find… the Dean?”

Luo Li wasn’t sure what he meant but followed the thread. “Yeah, hasn’t he been gone for ages? I want to check out the top floor—there might be some clues.”

“Not gone!” Wado’s voice spiked with sudden agitation. “He’s… a demon. Don’t go. He…”

He struggled to tamp down a surging wave of emotion. “He’ll lock you up.”

Wado’s limited vocabulary couldn’t convey more, leaving him to repeat the warning over and over.

Luo Li just found it baffling. Aren’t you a demon yourself? It felt so strange hearing him say that.

“Not the same!” Wado blurted, frantic. “He wants you there forever. No one else allowed near.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a new prompt box popped up in front of Luo Li.

【Current Identity Exploration Progress: 80%】

【New Clue: Dean’s Possessiveness】

【The hospital’s top floor was once your paradise, shared with Mr. Agamemnon. In your presence, he was restrained and indulgent, honoring your every wish.】

【Of course, it all seemed merely skin-deep.】

007 chimed in: “You’ve got new points now—you can buy storage props.”

Luo Li replied eagerly in his mind: “Yes, buy them!”

Snapping back to reality, he found Wado still staring at him.

Summoning his courage, Luo Li glared and huffed. “You said you’d listen to me, but you won’t even hand over the key?”

He stood and made a show of storming off. “Fine then—I’m done with you.”

“No!”

Wado lunged after him and seized his hand. The little beauty looked up with unhappy eyes, his cheeks puffed out indignantly and his soft pink lips pursed in a pout as he glared with all the ferocity he could muster.

Wado melted instantly from the sheer adorableness, his voice going faint and unsteady. “All right, here, for you. Don’t be mad.”

Luo Li jerked his chin toward the inner hall, planting his hands on his hips to signal that Wado should lead the way.

Wado perked right up, tail wagging like an eager puppy’s as he strode ahead and flung open the door to the deepest part of the hall.

In his mind, Luo Li told 007, “Pfft, he really does look like a puppy leading the way.”

007 stayed quiet for a long moment before responding. “A spineless boss acting like a total pushover—what’s so special about that?”

This system was getting cheekier by the minute. Luo Li huffed. “Whatever—he’s still way better than you, Little Seven.”

The hall lay silent, and at its far end sat an exquisite gift box.

Wado handed it to Luo Li. When he opened it, the little beauty’s eyes lit up.

“Wow, a bunny!”

Nestled inside was a black rabbit plushie, spotlessly clean and carrying a faint fragrance. Luo Li immediately buried his face in its plush chest, nuzzling it affectionately—until he brushed against something cool.

Dangling from the plushie’s neck was the gleaming golden key.

Got it!

【Task Four, Completed】

【Settling points…】

Before the mechanical voice could finish, Wado tensed, his expression turning wary as if he’d sensed something.

Black mist suddenly engulfed Luo Li, plunging his vision into darkness. Still dazed, he clutched the plushie tight and heard Wado say, “Players… coming.”

The mist whisked him away, leaving him disoriented with no sense of direction. In his panic, he grabbed at the hem of Wado’s clothes.

They had to hide before the players arrived, but as the boss confined to specific spots in the instance, Wado’s movements were restricted. Their best bet was one of the nearby wards.

Wado was mulling over their options when the sound of footsteps approached—nurses on their shift, heading into the rooms. It looked like rounds were starting again tonight.

“Um…” Luo Li ventured hesitantly, “what if we blend in? Think we could avoid detection?”

Wado echoed, puzzled. “Blend in?”

“Yeah! You pretend to be a patient, and I’ll slip into the nurse rotation.”

He recalled his own rounds the other day—no other patients were allowed to wander in during checks.

With all these nurse NPCs around, the other players would have to tread carefully under so many watchful eyes.

A good disguise should get them through.

Wado deemed it workable.

“Fine.”

With some sleight-of-hand illusion, they shifted in an instant from the hall to the front of a ward.

Wado first dispelled his surrounding mist and shed his monstrous form, pushing open the door to a room and stepping inside.

Meanwhile, Luo Li donned his mask, tugged his nurse cap low over his brow, and trailed at the end of the nurse procession, checking each door in turn.

Only then did he notice the sign on the wall—this was the Psychiatry Department ward.

One nurse paused at a doorway. “Huh? Didn’t they transfer the patient from this room to the second floor? So why’s there someone inside now?”

Uh-oh—they were about to spot the anomaly.

Luo Li scrambled for an excuse, but another nurse cut in. “What’s odd about that? These mental cases will dart room to room if you’re not vigilant. Just peek in quick—if he’s fine, on to the next.”

Luo Li jumped at the chance. “I’ll handle it.”

It went smoother than expected. He eased the door open and crept inside on tiptoe.

The patient lay on his side on the bed, the room pitch-black with no lights on. Luo Li’s heart pounded as he sidled up to the bedside and whispered, “I’m here. You okay?”

He couldn’t linger, or the others would get suspicious.

Still, he worried. Wado seemed immature, impulsive and reckless at times—like a child.

“I’ll have to leave with the nurses soon, so you stay put here. Once I deal with Kang Xun and the rest, I’ll come back for you.”

To soothe him further, he added, “And if I take too long, don’t come looking. I’m always thinking of you—I’d never abandon you.”

Only after these repeated reassurances did Wado seem somewhat settled.

Luo Li lifted his hand to pat Wado’s head. “I’m off.”

But before his palm could make contact, Wado seized his slender wrist and yanked him into his arms.

A wave of intense masculine scent enveloped the little nurse, his soft cheek pressing against the man’s firm, solid chest amid the steady thump of a powerful heartbeat.

Hmm…

Wado really was like a little kid.

Was this a parting hug he was angling for?

Luo Li lifted his pale arms and looped them around the man’s neck, rising onto his toes to nestle deeper into the embrace.

Fine—one quick hug it was.

In the pitch-black ward where he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, all Luo Li could hear was the thick, lingering rhythm of breathing near his ear.

A warm, large hand settled on his lower back, its fingers lightly tracing the shallow curve of his spine.

The pad of a fingertip circled now and then, almost like it was… toying with him.

Lips brushed his neck, and Luo Li heard a deep inhalation, as if savoring his scent.

Shame washed over him, and he tried to push away. Yet his body was pinned securely in those strong arms; his fingers braced against the man’s chest, shoving lightly but ineffectually.

Only then did something feel off.

Wado had been wearing work clothes earlier—but this figure was bare-chested.

Even for hiding out here, was there really any need to strip off his shirt?

Luo Li’s heart skipped a beat, his mind blanking out for a moment.

Then the other man turned his head, his steaming-hot lips brushing against the corner of Luo Li’s mouth.

If it had just been a brush, Luo Li could have chalked it up to an accident.

But he could clearly feel something moist, sticky, and scorching slide across his lips—wet with intent.

This guy… had stuck out his tongue.

Not just the tip, either. Like some kind of animal, he had extended it fully, teasingly licking at Luo Li’s tense mouth corner.

A chill ran down Luo Li’s spine, his hairs standing on end.

Was the person on the bed really Wado?

If not, then it was some deranged stranger embracing him and licking him like this.

And most likely naked, too.

In the midst of his chaotic thoughts, a low chuckle—somewhat familiar—rumbled right by his ear.

“Is this tonight’s special treatment, Nurse Miss?”

That wasn’t Wado’s voice.

Luo Li frantically tried to wrench himself free, only to hear a sharp click—the bedside lamp flicking on.

A rugged, handsome foreign face that he recognized from before appeared in the light, reflected crystal-clear in Luo Li’s round, pitch-black pupils.

Luo Li felt himself turn to stone from head to toe.

“…Andrei?!”