A Survival Game Where You Have to Fall in Love with a Madman - Chapter 6

Scattered fragments of a diary left on the floor hinted: “Never trust a nurse wearing a crow-beaked plague mask; they have no backside.”

The wall clock inside the second-floor Pediatric Ward remained permanently frozen at 3:17. The faint noises You Yan had detected while on the first floor had originated from this exact room.

“Is that so? And how exactly did you deduce that?” He Yanqing asked, releasing his grip on the edge of the foul bedding with immense interest as his eyes scanned You Yan with unrestrained scrutiny.

“This entire instance shares an identical theme with our escape room back home, and the set designs are practically indistinguishable.”

You Yan tore a strip of fabric from the hem of his white lab coat, casually wrapping it around his bleeding forearm. “Furthermore, I’ve worked as an NPC in this exact setting for at least two years. What do you think?”

Without waiting for He Yanqing’s response, he snatched a baby bottle from the metal desk and hurled it violently against the wall of the Pediatric Ward. “To answer your previous question, Ciyu was never an actual player.”

The dark-red wall fractured into a massive cavity, exposing dozens of infant remains embedded deep within the plaster. The specimens were preserved in various states of developmental horror: some were hideously deformed, some consisted of mere torsos, others lacked limbs entirely, and a few had even grown two heads. Their residual nervous systems were actively writhing inside the wall, emitting a pungent, nauseating odor.

He Yanqing cast a single glance toward the wall, entirely unfazed. He had survived far too many instances to count. He had witnessed scenes infinitely more revolting than this; a few clusters of organic debris meant absolutely nothing to him.

“The Pediatric Ward we’re currently standing in is located on the west wing of the second floor,” He Yanqing noted, sliding a sheet of experimental data from beneath a bed frame and scanning it briefly. “Every single one of these children was a failed experiment.”

“Furthermore, I remain deeply curious how exactly did you spot that Ciyu wasn’t a genuine player?” He Yanqing asked, casually tossing the paper aside. A sharp smile tugged at the corners of his lips, yet his eyes remained entirely devoid of warmth.

His distinct, well-defined fingers drifted behind his back, slowly tracing the hilt of his weapon. His pale, slender phoenix eyes tracked You Yan’s facial expressions with absolute precision, the beauty mark beneath his eye gleaming with an exotic, lethal allure against the metallic reflection of the blade. It was perfectly clear that if You Yan failed to provide a satisfactory answer, He Yanqing would sever his head without a moment’s hesitation.

The necrosis across You Yan’s arm was actively migrating upward. Although the bleeding had been arrested, the area of decay continued to expand. He was well aware that without a proper dose of the curing agent, this issue was entirely terminal; given enough time, he would likely perish from systemic decomposition.

What a hideous way to die. Honestly, it would be far better to just…

You Yan lowered his gaze, staring at the steady pulse throbbing against his left wrist, weighing the presence of the scalpel resting inside his lab coat pocket. But with this unhinged lunatic standing right beside me…

“Allow me to reiterate—suicide is strictly prohibited.” He Yanqing read his intentions instantly. Reversing his grip on the short blade, he pressed it firmly against You Yan’s throat, using his forearm to pin the youth flat against the metal desk behind him.

Taking a decisive step forward, his heavy combat boot forced its way between You Yan’s leather shoes, instantly erasing the distance between them. “Answer my question, theoretician.”

Despite being held at knifepoint, You Yan didn’t display a fraction of irritation. He merely cast a cold, indifferent gaze past the man’s shoulder. “If I told you that the system never issued a notification stating the surviving player count had dropped to two, you certainly wouldn’t believe me based on that alone.”

His upper body leaned slightly forward, his warm breath fanning against He Yanqing’s ear. “You would simply counter that as long as Ciyu remains functional, the system wouldn’t trigger a death announcement.”

He Yanqing relaxed his physical restriction over the youth slightly, though the tip of his blade remained anchored precisely three centimeters away from You Yan’s carotid artery.

“Therefore, my definitive answer is this: she was corrupted and mutated into a monster while masquerading as an active player. Because the game has not reached its conclusion, the system naturally wouldn’t factor her out of the countdown yet,” You Yan explained. Simultaneously, he discreetly retracted the scalpel he had been holding firmly against He Yanqing’s waist.

He Yanqing caught the subtle motion out of the corner of his eye, his gaze narrowing slightly. He hadn’t expected that despite the absolute velocity of his own strike, the youth had still managed to draw a weapon and position it against his flank within a fraction of a second. More importantly, He Yanqing hadn’t detected the movement at all. Could a person like this truly be a common rookie?

“So, by your logic, you’re practically considered a monster yourself now?” He Yanqing asked, straightening his posture and releasing him completely as the blade vanished from You Yan’s throat. He cast a brief look at the festering wound on the youth’s arm.

You Yan calmly slipped his scalpel back into his pocket, his voice level and composed. “Theoretically speaking, that is correct. However…”

“Doesn’t that imply that within the context of this entire instance, you are now the sole remaining player left alive?”

He Yanqing froze mid-motion as the realization struck him. He lowered his head, suddenly bursting into a low, erratic sequence of laughter. “…Ha…… Hahaha… Ha…..” He raised a single eyelid to look at You Yan, an uncanny, volatile light flickering deep within his pupils. “Mr. NPC, did I happen to mention that I absolutely despise being utilized as someone else’s weapon?”

His words were abruptly cut short by the sharp, piercing wail of an infant.

He Yanqing flicked the tip of his blade, catching a baby bottle that had rolled to his feet. The thick, black flocculent substance caked against the glass interior exploded into a violent spray, instantly swallowing both men within a dense fog of sulfuric acid vapor.

“So you intentionally allowed yourself to get infected,” He Yanqing’s voice echoed through the dense mist. You Yan stood his ground with a perfectly stoic face, remaining entirely motionless.

Amidst the swirling sulfuric vapor, You Yan’s fingertips brushed across the ice-cold metallic surface of his scalpel. He could hear He Yanqing’s laughter originating precisely three meters to his left, sounding like a blunt blade scraping directly against his eardrums.

【BZZZT… Live stream feed for Rank-A Instance: St. Maria’s Charity Hospital is currently being restored.】

“The system broadcast is back online,” You Yan stated suddenly, his tone as entirely indifferent as if he were discussing the weather.

The fog dissolved as abruptly as it had formed, revealing He Yanqing’s silhouette standing beside the mound of infant remains. Tilting his head, his combat boot came down hard, grinding a severed phalange into dust. “And?”

A translucent system monitor materialized dead center within the ward, unleashing a torrential wave of real-time comments:

• [User ID: System Editor]: The stream is finally back! Now we can continue watching Grandmaster He speedrun this instance.
• [User ID: Harvesting Rookie Points]: What the hell? Isn’t that NPC’s capability rating an absolute zero? How is he not dead yet?
• [User ID: God He’s Loyal Fan]: God He’s counter-kill just now was so incredibly magnificent, ahhhhh!

【System Notice: Player He Yanqing has received a gift, acquiring 200 points.】

• [User ID: Li_Mo_0v0]: Eh? I distinctly remember Ciyu’s squad was inside this instance, but they aren’t showing up on the active player metrics anymore. Where did they go?
• [User ID: Nightmare Ward]: Pediatric wards will permanently remain my ultimate psychological trauma…

You Yan’s eyes swept across the chat overlay, the corners of his mouth twitching downward imperceptibly. He detested labor, and he detested being spectated while performing labor even more.

In the next fraction of a second, the scalpel inside his pocket vanished. A sharp metallic hiss tore through the air, grazing past He Yanqing’s ear before driving itself deeply into the frame of a door that had suddenly swung open.

“Ah!” Ciyu’s terrified shriek rang out.

She froze solid at the threshold, her pink nurse’s uniform thoroughly drenched in a thick, viscous slime, her once-sweet facial features completely distorted. The scalpel was embedded a mere half-inch away from her temple, pinning a stray lock of her ink-black hair to the wooden frame where it fluttered faintly.

He Yanqing let out a sharp whistle. “Magnificent.”

At some unknown point, his short cleaver had already found its way to Ciyu’s spine, though he had deliberately skewed the angle by half an inch, refraining from driving it home. Fresh blood seeped down the fuller of his blade, blooming into brilliant, crimson flowers against the white floor tiles.

“You intentionally lured us to the Pediatric Ward,” You Yan stated, treating the conclusion as a simple matter of fact while keeping his necrotic right hand stuffed deep inside his pocket. The decay had already migrated up to his shoulder, yet he hadn’t so much as knitted his brows. “Whatever it is you’re searching for, it’s hidden inside these infant remains.”

Ciyu’s pupils contracted violently. Her lips trembled as an invisible, ripples of psychological energy began to emanate outward from her body. He Yanqing’s blade suddenly wavered for a fraction of a second.

“Watch out for her charm attribute,” You Yan commanded coldly, simultaneously hurling a shard of broken glass from the desk.

The glass fragment sliced cleanly across the side of Ciyu’s neck, drawing a thin line of blood. The sudden spike of physical agony instantly shattered her concentration, breaking the skill activation. He Yanqing jerked his head violently, snapping back into full consciousness.

“Fascinating,” He Yanqing muttered, licking his canine tooth. With a sudden, explosive thrust, his blade impaled Ciyu’s shoulder, pinning her securely against the wall. Pungent blood splattered across his pale face, his smile radiant like a child who had just been handed a pristine new toy. “Where is the Intensive Care Unit?”

The live chat detonated instantly:

• God, He looks so breathtakingly magnificent when he goes completely feral!
• Is that guy seriously a level zero capability rating? The system is bugged beyond belief!
• How the hell did that NPC pull off that throw just now?!
• Ciyu’s charm skill being entirely useless against an absolute psychopath is hilarious, I’m dying.

Ciyu convulsed in sheer agony, yet a grotesque, unnatural smile broke across her lips. “Every single one of you… will end up as experimental specimens…” Her physical form suddenly began to expand, tearing the fabric of her uniform apart to expose a writhing mass of mutated tumors underneath.

“Tsk. Her mutation acceleration has bypassed normal parameters,” You Yan observed, finally drawing his right hand out from his pocket. The rot had already claimed his fingertips, yet he simply reached out with total composure and slammed his palm into the fire alarm mounted on the wall.

Amidst the deafening blare of the siren, every infant remain embedded in the wall began to twitch violently as a thick, black liquid started to weep from the plaster.

“Time to start running, little crow!” He Yanqing laughed wildly, executing a clean, horizontal sweep that severed Ciyu’s mutated head from her shoulders, drenching himself in foul, rancid fluids.

As he spun around, he noted that You Yan was already positioned beside the ventilation shaft, his necrotic fingers rapidly dismantling the filtration grate.

“Theoretician, your hand…”

“I’m not dead yet,” You Yan replied without bothering to look back as he slithered into the narrow shaft. “The Intensive Care Unit is located on the lower floor. If you don’t feel like being dissolved alive, I suggest you keep pace.”