The "mutated version" of Wan You, dark and brawny, noticed Qi Shi secretly whispering with Xiaojuan and You Jiu: "Are you guys talking smack about me?"
What’s up with You Jiu? Why hasn’t he asked yet what Jinghua University is?
If he doesn’t ask, how can Wan You make them understand just how great Jinghua University really is?
You Jiu: "..."
Just who turned Wan You into this?
The old Wan You used to speak softly, with fair skin, and even when wronged, he’d just wait tearfully for someone to stand up for him.
Now, Wan You opens with "What’re you lookin’ at?" and closes with "Are you guys talkin’ smack about me?"—not a trace of his former self remains.
"You..." You Jiu hesitated, unsure how to broach the subject.
"Are you trying to ask me what Jinghua University is?" Wan You wasn’t in a hurry to leave. He crossed his arms, leaned against the wall, and began listing Jinghua University’s illustrious history and its prestigious standing among top-tier institutions.
For the first time, unmistakable confusion flashed in You Jiu’s eyes.
Huh?
What is he even talking about?
But at least one thing was certain—this Wan You in front of them definitely wasn’t some replica created by the dungeon to mess with players.
Because no replica would pull such baffling stunts.
What bothered You Jiu more was Xiaojuan’s attitude toward Wan You. She didn’t seem the least bit surprised that Wan You was alive, nor did she react to the drastic changes in him.
Did she already know Wan You was alive?
But she entered the dungeon with them and never left the hospital. How could she have known beforehand?
Recalling how the NPCs from the previous Chenyuan dungeon had collectively appeared in this hospital dungeon, a bold suspicion formed in his mind.
Could Chenyuan and this hospital exist in the same world?
Just because something hadn’t happened before didn’t mean it couldn’t happen now.
"We’ll be off duty in an hour. Can you wait for us? There’s something I want to ask you." You Jiu’s gut told him Wan You held the answers he sought.
"Nope." Wan You refused outright. He glanced at the cleaning gloves on You Jiu’s hands. "You guys don’t need to worry about work, but I’ve got a job to do. I need to earn money for Jinghua University."
Jinghua University, Jinghua University—couldn’t he talk about anything else?
You Jiu took a deep breath. "What work do you have at night?"
"Didn’t I just tell you? I run a barbecue stall on the pedestrian street across from Kunlun Plaza." Wan You looked puzzled. "I remember you used to be sharp. How’d your memory get so bad?"
"Selling barbecue doesn’t count as a real job," You Jiu couldn’t help retorting. "Can’t you go later?"
"How is barbecue not a real job?" Wan You clicked his tongue. "You’ve got no idea how much I make. The past few months’ earnings are enough to cover my tuition at Jinghua."
"I’m setting up my stall in an hour. If you want answers, come find me during the day." Out of respect for Xiaojuan, Wan You didn’t shut them down completely. "Xiaojuan has my contact info and knows where to find me."
"What does he mean by that?"
After Wan You left, You Jiu took the initiative to toss Xiaojuan’s trash. "Sis Juan, be a dear and fill us in, won’t you?"
Even the usually quiet and reserved Qi Shi picked up a mop to help her clean.
"Tomorrow morning, I’ll take you to see Wan You. Then you’ll understand." Xiaojuan sighed. "I just hope you can accept the truth calmly."
"Sis Juan, this is a hospital dungeon." You Jiu sensed something unusual in her tone. After a pause, he said, "Players can’t leave the dungeon’s boundaries."
Qi Shi’s grip on the mop tightened, veins bulging, but he stayed silent.
"I have a way to get you out."
"What way?"
Both You Jiu and Qi Shi stared at her in shock.
If even the dungeon can’t contain you, Wang Xiaojuan, are you trying to stage a rebellion?!
Chao Musheng’s dinner that evening had changed from pumpkin porridge to lean meat porridge, accompanied by a few light side dishes.
He ate half-heartedly, but when he looked up and saw Su Chenzhu across the table also having porridge, he felt a little guilty. "Mr. Su, you don’t have to eat hospital food with me."
"A light dinner is good for your health." Su Chenzhu used serving chopsticks to place vegetables on Chao Musheng’s plate. "The doctor said if your fever doesn’t return tonight, you can have other foods tomorrow."
"Should I have the chef prepare chicken soup for you tomorrow?"
Chao Musheng nibbled on some spinach leaves, feeling like Mr. Su was treating him like a child. "I’m fine with anything. Not picky."
"Mm." Su Chenzhu smiled. Chao probably didn’t even realize he was wrinkling his nose at the spinach. His chopsticks veered toward the carrots instead. "We’ll also make fish soup. Mo Tuan likes it too."
Glancing at the carrots now in his bowl, Chao Musheng grimaced. "Mr. Su, wait till I’m done eating before telling me stuff like that, or I won’t have an appetite."
"Alright, no more talk." Su Chenzhu set down his chopsticks and stood to retrieve his sunscreen jacket from the sofa. Two red strings fell out of it.
"What’s this?" Su Chenzhu picked them up.
"It’s..." Chao Musheng hesitated, unsure how to explain.
Zeng Ning had meant well with the red strings, but her intentions had been slightly off the mark.
"These are red strings Zeng Ning gave us." Chao Musheng sighed. "The kid misunderstood our relationship, so she asked someone to get us these ‘love knots.’"
At the end of each string dangled a tiny, peachwood-carved heart.
"This heart is well-carved." Su Chenzhu took one and handed the other to Chao Musheng. "It’s a child’s kind gesture. Let’s keep them."
Chao Musheng studied the red string in his palm. He had to admire Mr. Su’s ability to compliment it.
The heart was crudely made, likely a mass-produced trinket.
But Mr. Su was right—it was the thought that counted.
After dinner, a technical issue arose at a branch office. The programmers couldn’t fix it, so Chao Musheng remotely accessed the system and resolved it in minutes.
Secretary Liu: "Xiao Chao, you’re a genius."
A problem that had the branch manager sweating bullets was solved by Xiao Chao in under twenty minutes. No wonder the R&D team treasured him so much.
He glanced at the boss, suddenly worried.
If the boss failed in his pursuit, would Xiao Chao quit to avoid awkwardness?
No, absolutely not.
The company couldn’t afford to lose a talent like Xiao Chao!
Boss, you’ve got to step up your game!
After two days working on the 9th floor, Qi Shi noticed the nurses here were unusually composed—none had ever exceeded 50% on the anger meter.
But that changed when players tried to curry favor by bringing them drinks at night.
"Ladies, you’ve worked hard. Let me treat you to some drinks." A male player placed several cans on the nurse station counter. "Wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I got three flavors."
Wahaha milk, mango-flavored soda, and dragon fruit-flavored soda.
The nurses who had been buried in their nursing logs looked up to see several beverages placed on the desk, their heads buzzing in irritation.
With so many drinks available at the hospital convenience store, it was almost impressive how he managed to pick out these specific ones.
"No thanks, take them away!" The nurse closest to the bottles flung them back into the male player's arms. "Who wants your stupid drinks? Get lost!"
Writing nursing logs was frustrating enough without someone deliberately causing trouble.
The male player clutched his chest where the bottles had struck him—how could a woman hit so hard?
If they didn’t want the drinks, fine, but why the outburst?
Just then, the call bells on the wall chimed.
"Ding-ding-ding—"
"Room 11 calling."
"Room 8 calling."
"Room 14 calling."
As if synchronized, the bells rang almost simultaneously. The nurses scrambled to their feet, rushing toward the respective wards.
The sound of frantic footsteps in the hallway startled the other players dozing in the janitor’s break room. They stared at the chaotic corridor, bewildered—what was happening?
Qi Shi observed the data floating above the nurses’ heads: Anger Level 95, Exhaustion Level 75.
He silently took a few steps back, putting as much distance between himself and them as possible.
Xiaojuan noticed the male player returning with a dark expression, arms full of rejected drinks, and ignored him.
"Once I clear this dungeon, I’ll make those ungrateful women pay," the male player muttered, his chest throbbing. It felt less like he’d been hit by a drink bottle and more like a sledgehammer.
"What happened?" Another male player, his closest ally, asked with concern. "They giving you trouble?"
"I was just trying to be nice, offering them drinks, and they treated me like trash." As a top-200 player in the Infinite Space, he was used to beautiful men and women throwing themselves at him.
If NPCs in a dungeon dared to humiliate him, he’d make sure they regretted it before the main quest ended and he was forced to leave.
Xiaojuan glanced at the drinks in his arms, then at the busy nurses in the hallway, and quietly edged further away.
In this world, giving nurses Wangzai milk, mango-flavored drinks, and dragonfruit beverages all at once? Only a sworn enemy would do something like that.
This guy was a lost cause—might as well wait for death to claim him.
Beep-beep-beep.
The call bells at the nurses’ station rang nonstop. Qi Shi watched as their Anger Level climbed from 95 to 99. Then, just as the shift change arrived at dawn and the bells finally fell silent, it suddenly maxed out at 100.
Maxed out?!
Run. These nurses were about to turn into vengeful spirits and start slaughtering everyone.
"You’ve all worked hard overnight. Here’s breakfast for you." Several neatly packed breakfast bags were placed in front of the nurses. "Mr. Chao and CEO Su were concerned you might be too exhausted to get home safely, so they arranged drivers for you."
The commotion on the 9th floor last night had echoed through the entire building. Anyone who saw these nurses, barely able to straighten their backs from exhaustion, would’ve pitied them.
Dazed from fatigue, the nurses slowly processed the bodyguards’ words.
"Thank you, Mr. Chao."
"So when rich people give you breakfast, you’re all grateful, but when I offer drinks—"
"Shut up!" Qi Shi suddenly cut him off, his voice icy.
The male player swallowed his words, scrambling for a way to save face—when his system notification chimed.
[Ding. Player has angered one NPC. HP -10.]
[Ding. Player has angered two NPCs. HP -20.]
[Player HP has reached zero. Unfortunately, you have failed the dungeon. Countdown to system erasure has begun.]
[If a substitute is found within 5 minutes, erasure can be avoided. Only patients in the wards qualify as substitutes. Life or death—choose according to your conscience.]
Use a patient as a substitute?
The male player snapped out of his panic. He had 4 minutes and 30 seconds left.
Room 7 housed an elderly woman—weak, defenseless, and unguarded. The easiest target.
"Stop him!" You Jiu and Xiaojuan immediately noticed his shift in demeanor and moved to intercept.
But another player blocked their path. "We’re all players here. What are you two trying to do?"
"You Jiu, he’s heading for Room 7," Xiaojuan said. "Go after him. I’ll handle this idiot."
Fear of death granted inhuman strength. Desperate to avoid erasure, the male player activated every speed and evasion item he had. You Jiu couldn’t even graze his sleeve.
"Devouring Tiger!"
The male player summoned his life-stealing item—a seemingly harmless plush tiger that devoured everything in its path.
Anyone bitten by its fangs would have their soul consumed.
The moment the plush tiger was about to be tossed into Room 7, You Jiu instinctively lunged forward, trying to shield the door.
The second he moved, regret hit him.
Had sleep deprivation fried his brain? Since when did he play the self-sacrificing hero?
"What a cute little tiger." A slender, well-groomed hand picked up the palm-sized plush and placed it back into the male player’s stiff, frozen grip. "Be careful not to lose it."
You Jiu, still braced for impact, stared at the scene before him—was he dreaming?
