“Tap, tap, tap.”
The footsteps of several people drew closer from the distance until they reached the corner.
Only then did Luo Li start to feel nervous.
If anyone saw Kang Xun doing something like this right now, there would be no way to explain it.
He had always been thin-skinned, and in this moment, a flush of red crept over his earlobes.
Yet he still forced a magnanimous tone. “Alright, alright. You… you can get up now.”
Without thinking, he glanced at Kang Xun’s Illness Value. It was nearly at 70 already.
It had risen so much. Maybe it was best to call it quits while they were ahead…
Afraid that Kang Xun might explode in rage if he didn’t get his medicine soon, Luo Li hurriedly pulled out a pill and offered it to him.
The young man’s canine tooth ground against his lower lip, but he made no move to take it.
Luo Li blinked in confusion. Could it be that Kang Xun didn’t believe it was real medicine?
“Have you never raised a dog before?” 007’s voice chimed in his ear. “People who keep dogs train them. They aren’t allowed to eat until they hear the command to do so.”
“And this is supposed to be a reward from you. You have to make him understand that rewards aren’t easy to come by.”
007 paused. “Throw the pill on the ground.”
That was going too far.
Luo Li didn’t truly think of Kang Xun as a dog, and he couldn’t bring himself to do something so humiliating.
Besides, for some reason, it felt like 007’s advice carried a hint of personal grudge.
No, no. Luo Li quickly dismissed the thought.
What personal grudge? They didn’t even know each other.
So instead, with trembling pink-tipped fingers—and feeling more than a little cowardly—he pushed the pill right up to Kang Xun’s lips.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out.
“What are you doing here?”
Ling Yu held a flashlight and swung it around, the beam hitting the wall at the corner.
Luo Li jumped in shock. His wrist jerked, and the pill tumbled to the floor.
Andrei and Lu Yanyan, arriving right behind him, climbed the final step. Under the glow of Ling Yu’s flashlight, they saw Kang Xun half-kneeling on the ground.
The fierce, unruly killer braced his veined hands against the floor, his back bowed low as he crawled.
His dry lips parted slightly, and he picked up the pill from the ground with his mouth.
But he still didn’t swallow it.
He was waiting for Luo Li’s permission to do so.
Luo Li, however, was completely stunned. He had already forgotten all about giving any commands.
Lu Yanyan let out a shriek. “Kang Xun! What… what on earth are you doing?”
With her cry, the alarm blared once more. The countdown hit zero, and the Battle Royale came to an end.
The pill that Kang Xun hadn’t managed to swallow vanished in an instant.
In the end, he never got to take it.
Ling Yu narrowed his sharp eyes. He had a vague idea of what Kang Xun had just been doing. His knuckles tightened around the flashlight as he sneered, “A killer with a truly unique style, as expected. We were out there hunting for clues, and here you were… playing the dog for someone else.”
Kang Xun rose slowly to his feet. With his superior height, when he lowered his wolfish gaze to look down at Luo Li, the sheer intimidation made it hard to breathe.
Luo Li shrank back immediately, forgetting all about the mission as he mumbled a weak defense. “I didn’t… I didn’t…”
He sneaked a timid glance at Kang Xun. The man’s defiant face was cold enough to form frost.
After what felt like an eternity, Kang Xun’s blade-like gaze finally shifted away from Luo Li. He turned, scanning the group. “Clues? If you’ve found clues, why are you wasting time here?”
In this instance, players had to verify their collected clues as quickly as possible once they had them.
Lu Yanyan whispered, “Y-yes. We shouldn’t linger here too long.”
Ling Yu slowly swept his gaze over Luo Li once more, arching a brow.
“Fine.”
“Then let’s not waste any more time.”
The group turned and left. Luo Li pressed his back against the icy wall, feeling a thin layer of cold sweat break out on the back of his neck, hidden beneath his long hair.
As for the clues, he—a fake NPC Boss—had no need to get involved.
So… he was in the clear?
“I wouldn’t let your guard down that easily if I were you.”
Once the others had gone, 007 spoke up. “They got a crucial clue this time. You’re really going to leave them alone?”
The more clues the players gathered, the greater the risk that Luo Li would be exposed.
“Then… what should I do?”
007 fell silent for a moment. “Go eavesdrop. They’re heading to the break room right now.”
…
In the empty break room, the group sat side by side.
The hospital’s furnishings were all terribly outdated, so even with the door closed, the soundproofing was poor. Luo Li hurried over and stopped stealthily outside, just in time to hear voices from within.
Peering through the door crack, he could see the players seated inside.
“I found some reports about Dean Agamemnon.”
The speaker was a blond, blue-eyed young man—someone Luo Li was seeing for the first time.
【Player: Andrei】
【Illness: Unknown (20)】
Such a low Illness Value!
Andrei did look far more normal than the other players. He wore an olive-green flight jacket, his shoulder-length golden curls tied back with a headband. He had the air of a sweet-talking American college kid from a wealthy family.
He pulled out several old newspapers, each headlined with striking news.
The first: Retired Major General Agamemnon attends gala; rumored to take over the Old Military Hospital in six months.
The second: Dean Agamemnon takes in war orphan, vows to raise him well.
“This hospital’s dean, Agamemnon, was once a renowned officer. But due to his ruthless actions in an early war, he’s long been mired in controversy.”
The paper continued: “After taking in the enemy nation’s orphan Lori, however, his reputation improved dramatically. Messiah Hospital was revitalized as a result.”
After reading these, Andrei set down the final newspaper. Its contents were shocking.
“Shocking Scandal! Agamemnon Exposed in Improper Relationship with Foster Son—’Good Deeds’ Hide a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing!”
Lu Yanyan pored over the reports but remained baffled. From this information, she could only piece together fragments: Agamemnon was a retired officer who’d adopted a war orphan as his foster son, only to become embroiled in a scandal with him later.
As for the foster son’s identity, it was unclear.
Next, Ling Yu produced the photo he’d found.
It was half of an old photograph, featuring a stern, upright officer.
Beside him—more precisely, in his lap—sat another figure.
A petite young man perched on the man’s knee, but the tension in his fingers gripping the officer’s shoulder revealed they were locked in a passionate kiss.
The officer was clearly Dean Agamemnon. The photo was only half intact, however—the part showing the boy’s face had been torn away, leaving his identity a mystery.
In the image, the man had shed all his public poise and restraint. He clutched the youth tightly against him, fingers digging into his neck as he kissed him desperately.
The boy’s soft, pale legs were spread wide, knees clamping the man’s waist. His toes barely scraped the floor, his entire body melting like a puddle of spring water.
Though his face was missing, that small, delicate frame immediately evoked one person for them.
The odd little nurse, Luo Li.
But Luo Li had always appeared as a girl, while both the photo and reports clearly identified Agamemnon’s foster son as a boy.
Ling Yu said, “Remember the erotic lingerie Andrei found at Luo Li’s? It had Dean Agamemnon’s name embroidered in gold on it.”
Combined with the backstory they’d learned before entering the game—that the foster son harbored a twisted love for the dean, even resorting to cross-dressing to seduce him—the pieces fit together easily.
It wasn’t hard to infer one possibility: Luo Li was Lori, the foster son who’d imprisoned his foster father out of unrequited love.
A chill crawled over Lu Yanyan’s scalp.
If that was true, it was utterly disgusting.
This psychologically warped foster son had even sewn his father’s name onto his own underwear…
What kind of perverted impulse drove that?
Her body trembled slightly as she ventured, “So… what if it was deliberate? What if he seduced the dean, provoked that forced kiss, and had someone snap the photo on purpose—just to ruin the dean’s reputation…”
Her tone lacked conviction.
After all, that little nurse had watery almond eyes, long straight black hair, and a shy smile. She seemed like a gentle, obedient good-girl student through and through.
Who could imagine her kissing a man so lasciviously in front of the media?
But soldiers prized their honor above all—especially someone of Agamemnon’s rank.
Would he really be so reckless as to throw caution to the wind and do something like that under the public eye?
Andrei frowned. “Isn’t it a bit premature to jump to conclusions? That nurse sister doesn’t strike me as the type.”
“Doesn’t she?”
Ling Yu held the photo, gazing intently at the boy astride the officer’s lap. A cryptic smile tugged at his lips.
“With his legs spread that wide… it hardly looks unwilling.”
Luo Li lingered just outside, his heart lodged firmly in his throat.
The others were only a few steps away from piercing his disguise. It felt like everything was on the verge of collapse.
What was he supposed to do now?
Just then, Andrei spoke up again. “We’re still missing one key piece of the puzzle. Kang, anything on your end?”
The clues scattered throughout the instance were tightly interlocked, demanding the group’s combined efforts to unravel the truth. If one decisive lead remained, it had to be the one in Kang Xun’s possession.
That crucial item was the other half of the torn photo.
“I found a medical record book,” Kang Xun said. “But I ran into a bit of trouble on the way back, and it got left outside. If you’re not in a rush, I can go fetch it.”
With him putting it like that, they had little choice but to let him retrieve it.
Kang Xun rose to his feet and yanked open the lounge door. He hadn’t gone more than a few paces before he spotted the eavesdropping little nurse around the corner.
Luo Li knew he’d been caught, but he didn’t flee.
He couldn’t allow Kang Xun to recover that vital clue.
He had to stop him somehow.
“You—you’re not going anywhere.”
Luo Li summoned every ounce of courage to block his path. Kang Xun’s gaze slid sideways, landing on him, and he came to a halt.
That same sharp, menacing aura clung to him as he advanced, one deliberate step at a time.
Luo Li had half a mind to summon the imperious demeanor from earlier, to bark some order at him. But one glance upward revealed the veins bulging along Kang Xun’s neck, his broad shoulders squared flat, muscles coiled tight, his face twisted in irritable malice.
There wasn’t a trace of the masochistic patient in him now, nor any hint that he’d meekly obey Luo Li’s commands.
Trying to dominate him like before would be as good as suicide.
Kang Xun stooped down, his stare unblinking. “Are you giving me orders?”
Luo Li pressed his flushed lips into a thin line, his long, curled lashes fluttering wildly. He didn’t dare utter a word.
“You skipped my medicine last time. You really think I’ll listen to you now?”
Any dog trainer worth their salt knew that getting a dog to perform meant offering rewards.
But Luo Li hadn’t delivered that pill. As a master, he was sorely lacking.
Luo Li shot back at once. “I did give it to you—you just didn’t swallow!”
He’d overlooked one crucial fact: dogs didn’t respond to reason. They only understood rewards they could taste.
Kang Xun wasn’t about to let it slide. He tugged at his collar with his fingers. “I don’t have time to debate this with you. If you don’t want me bringing back that medical record book, then make it up to me with a reward.”
The tip of his tongue flicked across the corner of his mouth. “Otherwise, don’t even dream of me obeying.”
Luo Li’s fingertips twisted together unconsciously, his fingers coiling around a stray lock of long hair dangling at his waist. Shame and fury dyed his pale pink earlobes a deep crimson, his delicate nose twitching as if he might burst into tears from the bullying.
“Wh-what… kind of reward do you want?”
Kang Xun scanned the surroundings and noticed an empty, abandoned ward not far off.
“Come with me.”
He shoved open the ward door. Luo Li had barely stepped inside when Kang Xun slammed it shut behind them.
The room was pitch-black. Flipping the switch brought only a single bulb to life.
Its stark white glow traced the contours of the young man’s powerful build. He dragged over a chair and sat, his dark, predatory eyes lifting in a razor-sharp glint.
A torrent of grim possibilities flooded Luo Li’s mind. Out here, no one would have any idea what Kang Xun might do to him…
“Take off your shoes,” the young man said abruptly. “And step on me.”
Luo Li: …?
Kang Xun folded his arms across his chest, a crimson gleam flickering in his eyes.
The Illness Value hovering above his head began its wild ascent once more.
His gaze burned with ravenous hunger, inching over the little nurse’s stunning legs, sheathed in those white silk stockings.
“Don’t know how to trample someone?” Kang Xun bit out, each word deliberate. “My foot, my leg, my face—anywhere works. We’ve still got time, so make it quick.”
Luo Li’s ankle quivered, nearly buckling beneath him.
After a fierce internal battle, he slowly bent down and unfastened the buckle on his little leather shoes.
Gritting his teeth against the humiliation, he lifted his calf just enough to tentatively press his foot down onto the toe of Kang Xun’s boot.
The young man wore hefty leather Doc Martens, their surface weathered and studded with blunt rivets and intricate buckles.
The boot dwarfed Luo Li’s dainty foot by two full sizes, the snow-white silk stocking pristine against the rough, dark brown leather.
The jarring clash of colors hit Kang Xun like a punch. His breath caught in his throat.
“Harder,” he rasped, voice rough and dry. “The way you’d kick a dog—that’s how you kick me.”
