Rhodes Island does not exist.

He thought to himself as he stepped onto the stairs leading to the fifth floor.

However, just as he was trying to calm himself down by thinking about the stale air he had just inhaled, he suddenly felt a small and inexplicable vibration in his ear.

Undoubtedly, the tremors originated from the staircase, from this vertical space that connects the upper and lower floors, and even the entire building.

There is only one source of this tremor—someone is running up the stairs.

Moreover, the direction of the sound and vibration was directly below his location.

"This is……?"

The sound, like rushing waves, approached from afar at a speed perceptible to both ears.

As if the stairwell were a creature that would devour anyone inside, it began to feed as soon as it sensed the doctor's entry.

And what came from afar was its mouth.

So the doctor picked up his legs and started running up to the upper level.

Perhaps the true nature of what is attacking is just irresponsible speculation, but the impending danger is certainly real.

So no matter what, we have to leave this place first.

"In short, we have to get to the top first." He established the course of action.

The doctor felt that if one were to think about going back to the fourth floor to hide in this situation, it would be as if one had done nothing at all.

Moreover, when faced with danger coming from behind, it's probably common sense not to run back.

Although he is not actually far from the fourth floor.

Even so, his physical instincts still drove him to run upwards.

"I need to get to at least the fifth floor," the doctor thought to himself.

However, just as he reached the fifth floor, his eyes became a pair of dull, matte glass beads.

Because the so-called fifth floor does not exist.

The fifth-floor door he imagined in his mind was, in reality, just an ordinary wall with a huge number "5" graffiti.

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you to "Living Towards Death" for the razor blade, and to Li Zheng for the monthly pass. Thank you.

Chapter 4, Part 4: Stepping Alone into the Lost City

It wasn't just the fifth floor that disappeared.

The sixth and seventh floors look the same as the fifth floor.

However, the pursuers behind him were obviously much faster than the Doctor could run, so every time the Doctor reached a new floor, the dense and chaotic footsteps behind him drew ever closer.

The doctor didn't know what was chasing him, nor did he want to know.

But it is ignorance that brings fear.

Fear itself, in turn, hinders the desire for knowledge.

This is an endless loop.

Fortunately, the exit on the eighth floor ended this vicious cycle.

When the doctor saw a tightly closed fire door in front of him, he immediately pushed it open and went inside without hesitation.

Then, he used his back as a latch, pressed himself against the two gray door panels, panting heavily.

"boom--"

A chaotic and disorderly throng of footsteps arrived a moment later, sweeping across the stairwell that was just one door away from the doctor's, like thousands of bulls trampling at the same time, then spiraling upwards and gradually disappearing at the other end of the upper level.

ended.

temporary.

"what--"

The weight in my heart came crashing down.

The doctor's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

The cold sweat seeping from his right hand, which was gripping the pickaxe tightly, had soaked the wooden handle, making it almost impossible for him to hold onto the tool he depended on for survival.

But this easing of tensions didn't last long.

Because of the calmness that had always been buried deep within him, he realized that he was now in a completely unfamiliar environment.

In other words, he may have simply moved from one desperate situation to another, and we should not let our guard down.

So the doctor looked up, preparing to take a closer look at the environment on the eighth floor.

However, all he saw was an endless expanse.

"This……"

The so-called eighth floor is probably closer to a "region" than a "floor".

The familiar view of the fourth floor, which resembled an apartment corridor, was not present here.

Because there isn't even a single room here.

What appeared before him was a vast hall that resembled an underground parking garage.

The part he was leaning against was a small, flat corner embedded in the wall within this vast expanse of space.

Compared to this space, my own size is really pitiful.

Mount Sumeru can be contained in a mustard seed, and a mustard seed can contain Mount Sumeru.

But vast does not equal empty.

"all these are……"

Like a neatly planned neighborhood, this huge underground space is divided into grids by countless white hospital beds.

In the center of those countless hospital beds, which is also the center of the entire floor, stands a square pillar connecting the top and bottom.

However, the doctor is currently too far away from the pillar to see the details on it clearly.

"They are all..."

"Supplies."

While expressing surprise at this unusual space, the doctor also revealed his true feelings.

Indeed, all the sheets and quilts laid on the bed were supplies that could be used as first aid supplies during wartime.

But being cautious, the doctor did not touch the beds closest to him.

After all, no matter how you look at it, the situation here is far from normal, and it's not impossible that a deadly trap might have been set on one of the beds.

Moreover, the sense of purity in this space is almost too obvious.

The hospital bed was spread out in a pure white expanse, and there was nothing else on it, not even the slightest sound; there was only endless silence.

The Lüshi Chunqiu states: "When things are complete, they will inevitably be incomplete; when things reach their extreme, they will inevitably reverse."

Beneath absolute calm, there is bound to be a deadly threat.

No matter how you look at it, all the white hospital beds in front of you are perfectly flat and smooth, as if they were just manufactured.

Therefore, the doctor will not lift any of the sheets on the bed in front of him.

He simply gripped his pickaxe and cautiously made his way slowly along the central axis leading to the central pillar. On either side lay the white sea.

A walkway resembling a wedding procession.

The only problem is that the doctor is all alone now, without anyone to walk with him.

Thinking about this, the doctor suddenly began to ponder.

What kind of life did I lead before I came here?

Are you married? Do you have children? Do you have friends?

Am I happy?

If he were to escape from here, what would he do?

the answer is negative.

Because he no longer has those past memories.

Everything from the past was used as a bargaining chip by the previous him to exchange for the life of the present him.

However, he knew very well that even if he had forgotten who he was, he could not live here forever.

After all, life here can't really be considered living.

As his thoughts drifted to this point, the professor realized that he had unknowingly walked quite a distance while thinking and moving forward.

The white ocean ahead continued to spread lifelessly, just as he had seen at the beginning.

As for what's behind...

behind...

The doctor's body suddenly froze.

A strong sense of crisis was doing everything in its power to prevent him from turning back.

No matter how much he wanted to turn around and look, his body couldn't react accordingly.

Even so, out of the corner of his eye, he could still sense the growing sense of unease in the hall.

"what is that?"

Language arose silently from within.

Countless writhing, twisting, meandering, and intertwined monstrosities seemed to be dancing in the corner of his eye.

From the moment he took his first step into the ocean current of this white hospital bed, the things he had left behind began to change one after another.

Those mutated creatures coveted everything of this uninvited guest, but perhaps the Doctor had been killed by these spreading things before, which is why he subconsciously sensed the danger in advance.

There is no turning back.

At that moment, only one sentence occupied his mind.

If you keep moving forward and reach that pillar, you will survive.

But if he were to turn around even once and make eye contact with those indescribable creatures crawling behind him, he would undoubtedly be preyed upon.

The overwhelming rationality in his brain fueled his fear at that moment.

This is the first time the Doctor has directly confronted the strange phenomena lurking within Rhodes Island.

Feeling the strange, oppressive atmosphere behind him, his steps began to slow, and his hands started to tremble.

The clearer one's mind, the more one will be concerned about the alienation that expands behind one's back as one moves forward, and the more one is concerned, the more fearful one becomes.

The more rational humans are, the more they are eroded by fear.

Reason is like a taut string, while fear is the hand that keeps plucking it.

Excessive rationality only increases the stiffness of the string, ultimately causing it to snap at the slightest touch of fear.

Therefore, in order to overcome fear, one must first immerse oneself in fear and manually loosen that string.

To merge with darkness, to live in harmony with fear, and to drink and sing with madness.

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you Blade and Mad King Cú Chulainn for the monthly pass, thank you.

Chapter 5, Part 5: My First Close Encounter with Madness

The doctor took the glass bottle out of his pocket and uncorked it.

He is decisive.

Because Ghost Shark had told him that he would need this bottle of seawater if mental damage were to affect his brain.

So, realizing that what was behind him might become a huge threat to his exploration, he made a decision.