Chapter 3: Dr. Xie's Twisted Sense of Humor

After seeing her reflection return to a human appearance, Xie Yunxuan’s reddened pupils gradually faded back to a normal brown.

“Now, it’s time for the ward rounds.”

Grasping the form in her hand, she tidied her appearance in the mirror before stepping out. Moments later, the sharp clicking of high heels echoed through the silent corridor.

Suddenly, the sound ceased.

Facing a man who looked terrified, Xie Yunxuan offered a professional, practiced smile.

Hearing the steadily rising fear within her mind, her smile grew even brighter.

Yet, to this ordinary player, the sight of Xie Yunxuan—dressed in a blood-stained white coat with ashen skin and a strange smile—was anything but normal.

Although her appearance was that of an ordinary human, the uncanny valley effect weighed heavily on him.

With the man’s terrified gaze fixed on her, Xie Yunxuan approached step by step, stopping about a meter away.

Then she changed her mind.

Since these ordinary players could provide her with fear energy, she decided to keep them around a few days longer and deal with them once they lost all value.

Having made up her mind, her smile softened.

“Are you a patient’s relative?”

“Ah? Y-yes, I am…”

“Visiting hours are over. Patient relatives are not allowed to stay in the hospital.”

“If you are a patient’s relative, please leave the hospital immediately.”

“I... I’m not a relative.”

“Then what is your purpose here?”

Under Xie Yunxuan’s oppressive aura, Chen Rong wanted to flee but his trembling legs and the last shred of his reason held him back. His mind blank, he had no idea what to do.

His eyes subconsciously darted down the corridor, placing his hopes on the players accompanying him.

Seeing Xie Yunxuan’s growing anger, another ordinary player suddenly rushed out from the corridor.

Zhang Yurou had originally intended to run, but her eerie intuition told her the strange doctor had already fixated on her.

So even if she ran now, as long as she remained in this hospital, the doctor would find her.

Rather than wait for the doctor’s wrath to fall on some unlucky soul and then turn on her, she decided to take the initiative.

After all, fortune favors the bold; who knew what else she might gain from this?

“Doctor Xie, we’re the new nurses here.”

“Are you?” Xie Yunxuan raised her eyelids and looked toward Zhang Yurou, who had just rushed over.

“If you’re new, why are you so secretive? And why didn’t you speak up earlier?”

Hearing Xie Yunxuan redirect her scrutiny at him, Chen Rong’s nerves tightened again, and he sought Zhang Yurou’s help with pleading eyes.

Cursing his uselessness silently, Zhang Yurou stepped in to save him.

“Doctor Xie, he’s timid and afraid you’ll catch him slacking off, so he’s reluctant to speak.”

Hearing this, Xie Yunxuan’s expression returned to normal.

“Since you two are on duty as nurses, come with me for rounds. Remember, wear your nurse uniforms from now on, understood?”

“Yes, Doctor Xie.”

With that, Xie Yunxuan passed by them and headed downstairs, prompting Zhang Yurou to breathe a sigh of relief.

She patted Chen Rong on the shoulder, gesturing for him to follow, and the two trailed behind Xie Yunxuan.

The sharp clicks of high heels striking the steps sounded jarringly loud in the dim, silent corridor.

Many players, hearing the noise, hid themselves, aware that a strange entity had spawned in the hospital just half an hour earlier.

Starting from ward 101, Xie Yunxuan inspected each room one by one.

During this, Zhang Yurou glanced into the rooms and saw them empty, with only bed frames inside.

Though unoccupied, Xie Yunxuan dutifully recorded everything as if she were a quest NPC.

Chen Rong ignored these trivial details, standing fearfully about a meter away, too scared to approach, let alone inspect the rooms like Zhang Yurou.

When Xie Yunxuan passed rooms 108, 109, and 116 without entering, Zhang Yurou, though puzzled, memorized them.

Upon reaching ward 115, Xie Yunxuan paused at the door instead of recording directly.

“A ward may not contain more than two patients. Excess patients must return to their own rooms immediately.”

“Doctor Xie, I’ll take the extra patients to other vacant wards,” Zhang Yurou said, stepping past Xie Yunxuan into the room.

She smiled at Xie Yunxuan, then turned to the surplus players, waving them along.

“Follow me, all of you.”

One new player opened his mouth, lip-reading suggesting he wanted to protest, but an older player quickly covered his mouth.

“Doctor Xie, we’ll leave immediately, we’ll leave right away.”

Xie Yunxuan said nothing, stepping back slightly to signal Zhang Yurou to lead them away.

“Names…”

Xie Yunxuan began recording expressionlessly.

The two players inside tried to appear calm, racking their brains to fabricate identities.

“Why did you cover my mouth just now? It’s only an NPC. What’s there to worry about? Just kill it, right?”

The veteran player who had silenced him rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Don’t know if you’re genuinely stupid or just pretending. The Chongshan Psychiatric Hospital isn’t an ordinary dungeon. There are no normal NPCs here—only strange entities.”

“Do you think the entities inside your own dungeon are that easy to kill? Besides, they respawn.”

“Kill one, who knows what the next will be? If you want to die, don’t drag us down.”

“Who wants to stay in a ward with this idiot? Not me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even know how I died.”

The veteran sneered mockingly.

Zhang Yurou, exasperated, regarded the farce unfolding before her. Group dungeons were the worst for dealing with foolish teammates.

Liu Xinyang was provoked but knew he couldn’t defeat the veteran.

Looking around, he saw no one willing to back him up.

Furious, he blurted out, “If you won’t help me, then I’ll expose all our identities! None of us will survive then!”

“Enough. The strange doctor is coming. Everyone pair up and stay in the wards. As for him… I’ll handle it.”

Hearing Zhang Yurou, the others relaxed and dispersed to nearby wards.

They knew she was a veteran player capable of handling a newbie.

Liu Xinyang’s threat jeopardized the group’s interests—it had to be dealt with.

But before they reached their chosen rooms, the familiar clicking of high heels echoed once more.