Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital 21

To keep the newcomers from picking up bad habits, Qi Chanyang hurriedly explained why they couldn't kill NPCs.

"Of course," Qi Chanyang paused, "the more important reason is... ordinary players generally can't kill NPCs."

Qi Chanyang had cleared so many instances, yet he had always avoided fighting NPCs whenever possible. This was the first time he'd entered an instance and, on the very first day, fought an NPC to the death and watched an NPC get beaten half to death.

Even if this was only a Level-One Instance, he'd never heard of any player starting out by beating up NPCs!

Qi Chanyang couldn't help glancing again at the person beside him... no, Jie Fangcheng was sitting down now, once more in that old-man-with-a-cane pose, his eyes half open and half shut.

This was the guy who had chased an NPC all over the room?

Even though he'd seen it with his own eyes, Qi Chanyang still couldn't suppress the surreal feeling rising in his heart.

Seeing Jie Fangcheng yawn again, Qi Chanyang said, "Why don't you go get some sleep?"

Jie Fangcheng made a token protest. "Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

Even as he said it, his body was already getting to its feet.

Qi Chanyang: "..."

He sighed. "Go on."

Without another word, Jie Fangcheng took two steps back to the bed, lay down on it, and pulled the covers over himself.

It had been such a terrifying instance, yet the moment he went to sleep, everyone around him somehow felt as peaceful as if they were camping.

Xue Kai stared blankly.

The kid was a little slow on the uptake, and he was still mulling it over. "Could it be that the way to play this game is... as long as your will is strong enough, you can overcome every demon and monster?"

The other players all wore expressions of sudden enlightenment as well.

Qi Chanyang stopped him. "That's not how it works!"

Then Qi Chanyang began telling them just how terrifying ordinary instances were, how vicious NPCs were, and how unusual this instance was.

Qi Chanyang talked until his mouth was dry, and everyone once again realized just how very, very terrifying this game was.

Only when he saw them return to that state of tension tinged with fear did Qi Chanyang finally relax.

The moment he relaxed, though, he froze again.

Qi Chanyang had only ever reassured players that there was nothing to be afraid of. This was the first time he'd been terrified the players wouldn't be afraid at all, would follow Jie Fangcheng's example, and go beat NPCs senseless.

What kind of situation was this?

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The group continued searching the reading room for clues. The morning passed in a flash, and before long, He Xin's face appeared at the doorway again.

He poked his head in and looked over the reading room first.

The bookshelves blocked his view, so He Xin didn't see the bed.

He let out a sigh of relief. Then his eyes rolled as he swept his gaze over every player's face, returning to the look he'd once had when regarding prey.

But this time, the little chicks who ought to have been trembling in fear were all standing where they were, some of them even whispering among themselves.

"I've been meaning to ask, why are their eyes all so big?"

"No idea. If they were human experiments, do you think their eyes might have been put in afterward too?"

"Do you think he'd hit me if I went and asked him?"

"Don't! Let Brother Jie ask! He's really good at communicating!"

"Heh heh heh..."

He Xin roared, "What are you talking about?!"

He had never seen players this arrogant before!!

These little chicks!! They were dead meat today!!!

Just then, a familiar voice, heavy with sleepy confusion, drifted over.

"Hm? What's going on?"

Then a head with wildly mussed sleep hair poked out from behind the bookcase.

Jie Fangcheng squinted. "Oh, Xiao He. Is something wrong?"

He Xin stumbled a full step back in fright.

During the examination just now, He Xin had been guarding the door. The instant he heard a sound behind him, he'd been sent flying by a blow from a cane.

The person who'd struck him had used this exact tone!! Like they were close!! Calling him Xiao He, telling him to bring all the patients from the reading room upstairs!!

"Xiao He, bring them upstairs, all right?"

He'd even said it like he was asking! If that blow hadn't knocked one of He Xin's eyeballs right out, this scene would have looked no worse than a rotten boss asking an employee to work overtime.

But what the hell kind of capitalist hit people too???

From the doorway, He Xin said, "It's time for lunch," then turned and hurried away, his retreating figure utterly miserable.

Even Lu Xiaoqin, who had always been so soft and timid, leaned over at the door to watch the NPC flee in panic, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Qi Chanyang felt that all the terrifying examples he'd given had been for nothing.

This batch of newcomers was done for. In their first instance, they hadn't seen the game's cruelty; they'd seen the cruelty of a special player first.

At that moment, Jie Fangcheng, finally awake, asked curiously from behind them, "What are you all looking at?"

Qi Chanyang looked at him resentfully. "At the havoc you've wrought..."

......

At noon, there really was an extra basin of meatballs.

No. 9 happily twisted his neck back and forth, looking as though he was about to twist his head right off.

Jie Fangcheng stood to one side. "Hey, hey, hey, enough already. You're acting like you've never seen anything before. From now on, if there's something you want to eat, just say so. We'll go discuss it with them. They're all very easy to talk to, right?"

No. 9 nodded nonstop, his neck bobbing like a spring. "Mm... mm..."

"Eat, eat."

No. 9 lowered his head and began eating.

But these patient NPCs seemed to have fixed appetites. The other NPCs barely touched the meatballs, and the players themselves were somewhat wary of instance food. Only Jie Fangcheng took a few.

After the meal, there were still some meatballs left in the basin, and No. 9 was so anxious he was nearly in tears.

"Eat... finish..."

"It's fine. If you can't finish them, have the cook save them for you. They'll heat them up tonight, and you can keep eating them, okay?"

No. 9 shook his head. "No... if I don't finish... they'll put me in solitary..."

"They won't."

As he spoke, the kitchen NPC came to collect the dishes and saw the remaining meatballs.

The NPC raised his head to look at the people gathered around the table. The mouth beneath his mask seemed to curl into a grin. "Food mustn't be wasted..."

Jie Fangcheng said, "It won't be. Heat them up tonight. We're still going to eat them."

"No..."

Before he could finish, Jie Fangcheng pulled out his cane and set it on the table. "What did you say?"

The NPC shuddered, silently collected the unfinished basin of meatballs, and left.

As he left, Qi Chanyang noticed something in his pocket, its wings fluttering in small movements.

After a moment's thought, Qi Chanyang understood.

The day he'd hidden in the kitchen, he'd seen many bats on the ceiling, and one of them had even dropped an eyeball.

It now seemed that the kitchen NPCs were made of bats.

As for why they had turned into bats and hidden on the ceiling that day...

Qi Chanyang's gaze landed on Jie Fangcheng's cane once more.

...What a sin.

After lunch came the midday break.

Han Qi appeared again.

He had changed into a clean white coat and stood some distance away at the cafeteria entrance, his eyes sweeping over the players' faces.

For some reason, he seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.

"It's time for the midday break," Han Qi said. The mouths on his body couldn't help but curve into faint smiles as well. "Everyone should attend their examinations properly every day. If certain patients make trouble and you don't receive treatment or take your medicine, your delusions may worsen."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jie Fangcheng sprang to his feet with a rustle, grabbed his cane, and charged to the cafeteria entrance in a few strides.

It was like a drop of water hitting a pan of hot oil. In an instant, every NPC that could run fled. Han Qi ran fastest of all, even looking back in terror as he fled, while He Xin ran off and lost one of his shoes.

The ones that couldn't run, such as the kitchen NPCs, turned into little bats and shot up to cling to the ceiling.

Qi Chanyang hurriedly stood up too. "What is it? Did you find a problem?"

Jie Fangcheng shook his head. "No."

"? Then why did you suddenly charge over there?"

Jie Fangcheng said, "I didn't like the look of him, so I wanted to scare him."

Qi Chanyang: "..."

Jie Fangcheng slung his cane over his shoulder. "Come on, time for a nap!"

Only after the midday break ended did Qi Chanyang understand what Han Qi had meant.

"You three... can't see this line of bloody writing?" Lu Xiaoqin held a newspaper and pointed to its last page. "It says here, 'Don't trust anyone.'"