After drawing cards, the evil god became my source of吐槽 (tu cao, a form of humorous commentary/criti

Chapter 37 Bloodstained Hospital (16)

She instinctively glanced around.

It was still the same corridor, closed off, silent, and oppressive. There were no cracks, no gaps, no signs of any unusual activity that might give off an eerie atmosphere.

Very strange.

The "lamp bearer" remained in the distance, standing quietly without coming over.

Logically speaking, if this space is really related to Dr. Du, it shouldn't be so stable after Ruan Ruan's death.

Could it be that Dr. Du has nothing to do with it?
"An Jing!"

003's shout suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up abruptly and saw that Dr. Du had already stood up.

He picked up the device and began inserting one connector after another into his body.

Those faintly glowing connectors, which were originally designed for Ruan Ruan, were now being roughly inserted by him into his blood vessels, nerves, behind his ears—and even into the base of his spine.

His actions could no longer be described as "calm human operation," but rather as out-of-control madness.

"He wants to become a mystery!" 003 shouted. "That machine must be used to become a mystery!"

"Oh no!" An Jing said through gritted teeth.

She finally realized she had overlooked something.

This machine is not just an auxiliary device for pain relief.

It's a prop.

She should have realized it from the beginning, so why did it take her so long to realize it?
"System, what exactly is this machine?" she immediately asked in her mind.

But the surrounding area was completely empty.

There was no familiar electronic voice, and no response.

An Jing paused for a second.

She suddenly had a bad feeling.

Why isn't the system responding?

She tentatively asked again, "System? Did you hear me? What's the current status?"

Still no sound.

A chill ran down her spine.

This isn't right.

Something seems off...

Suddenly, she slapped herself hard.

Snapped!
The sound was crisp, yet there was no pain.

An Jing's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart skipped a beat.

She slapped herself again, harder than before.

It still doesn't hurt.

If hitting yourself doesn't hurt, what could be the reason?
An Jing's pupils suddenly contracted.

She looked down at her hands.

This is not reality!
She instantly realized the problem and, without hesitation, used all her strength to continue slapping her face, again and again, leaving 003 dumbfounded, who carefully took a step back.

The pain finally surged forth.

Tinnitus, headache, stinging, and a tearing sensation surged up like a tide, pulling her out of the last layer of her dream.

--boom!

She sat up abruptly from the ground, her chest heaving violently, cold sweat sliding down her forehead.

The surrounding corridors were still the same as before.

Beside him, 003 lay on the ground, pale-faced and breathing weakly, yet still alive. A few steps away, Dr. Du lay curled up, unconscious and twitching uncontrollably, his facial muscles twitching as if they had been cut, as if he had not yet fully emerged from the hallucination.

Ruan Ruan lay quietly, her face as white as snow, showing no signs of life.

This is still that same enclosed corridor.

But everything feels more real than before.

An Jing raised her hand and slapped herself across the cheek, feeling the pain.

They're really back.

"system."

She whispered.

You're finally awake!!

The system's alarm sounded like an explosion after a disconnection and reconnection, carrying a frightening mix of excitement and shrillness.

[You almost really died in that thing's dream! I was frantically sending signals, but they couldn't get into your brain. Luckily, you still had some self-preservation instinct!]

Listen up! The situation is extremely bad right now!

[I already know what you just encountered. That thing is a mysterious entity with all its attributes focused on mental pollution! It's essentially incredibly fragile, but its mental attacks are extremely powerful, even your 200 mental strength can't withstand it. It doesn't exist in a physical form, but rather as a mysterious entity that constructs dreams through media, thought, and consciousness pathways! You thought you were awake, but actually, you were in the third layer of a dream it created.]

Despite feeling nauseous, An Jing calmly asked, "Am I still contaminated now?"

No, you got rid of it yourself.

[An Jing, I already know what this mysterious creature is. Its only weakness is that it is too weak in combat. A little girl could beat it to death. However, it can bewitch people and possess human bodies, but the condition is that the person must be willing. Otherwise, it cannot do it!]
And it's already discovered I'm after you! Right now it might only be a B-rank, but if it finds a body willing to parasitize it, it'll definitely be an A-rank, and then we're all finished!

An Jing suddenly stood up, his eyes cold, his whole being like a string stretched to its limit.

"It's over."

She spoke in a low voice, as if uttering a death sentence.

[What?] The system paused for a moment.

“I understand.” An Jing clenched his fist. “This was all a trap set by it from the very beginning.”

She spoke rapidly, her eyes revealing a remarkably calm clarity:
"This creature is mysterious and has weak defenses, so it must find a human willing to let it in as a medium to parasitize."

“It initially chose Ruan Ruan.”

"After discovering Dr. Du and his daughter, it set its sights on this helpless, extremely distressed, and willing-to-do-anything-to-survive person... Dr. Du."

"Then it seduced him, telling him there was a way to keep his daughter alive. The way was to use this device—which it provided itself—to keep Ruan Ruan's vital signs, which was actually a way for it to prepare a body for parasitism."

"The life it 'maintained' for Ruan Ruan was actually a half-dead, controlled state. Dr. Du couldn't see it and only thought that Ruan Ruan was about to die and was only kept alive by the machine. And the Mysterious One was definitely constantly invading Ruan Ruan's mind, which is why she uncontrollably said in my arms, 'I don't want to become the Mysterious One.'"

"The mystery failed."

She took a breath, her eyes suddenly turning sorrowful and hard:
"Ruan Ruan is unwilling."

“She said, ‘I don’t want to become mysterious.’”

The system quieted down.

“She resisted,” An Jing continued, “so that mystery could never get into her body.”

“But it’s not in a hurry. It knows that as long as Dr. Du believes that there is still hope, he will do everything he can to save Ruan Ruan’s life.”

"So it waits."

"Once Dr. Du completely collapses, once I step into this space, once we are all pulled into the dream, once I am used as a sacrifice, once Ruan Ruan dies, it will shift its target and turn to Dr. Du."

"Because his daughter died, Dr. Du will break down, and once he breaks down, it will be very easy for Gumi to make his move."

An Jing gritted her teeth.

She looked up and saw that Dr. Du's body was convulsing, and the cables of the instruments were automatically attached to the nerve nodes on his body like leeches, one, two, three.

He kept making low, muffled murmurs, like crying or praying:

“…Don’t die…Don’t die…Don’t leave me…We still have a chance, Ruan Ruan…Don’t you want to live? Daddy can…”

(End of this chapter)