Xu Shuo walked to the bathroom and tidied up his hair and clothes in the mirror. Then, he opened the cabinet under the washstand, reached up with his palm, and pulled out a fruit knife from the compartment.
The young man looked at the sharp blade and smiled with satisfaction before slipping it into his pocket and walking out.
He left the office, taking relaxed and comfortable steps towards the ward at the end of the corridor. Passing by a certain room, Xu Shuo suddenly stopped and listened intently.
The room's door was closed, and although the hospital had good soundproofing, it didn't stop the young man from hearing voices inside.
"Director, I think Doctor Chen's condition seems to be getting more serious. Do you think maybe we should..." This was a timid female voice.
Immediately after, someone else spoke; it appeared to be the director mentioned by the woman, his voice steady and deep: "I'm aware. I will keep an eye on it. It's just that Doctor Chen has worked at our hospital for so long. Let me think about it some more."
"Okay..." The woman's voice carried a hint of disappointment.
Then, the two of them quietly discussed other patients in the hospital, noting that many patients' mental states had become increasingly unstable for some unknown reason recently.
After hearing those initial words, Xu Shuo shrugged his shoulders, his face still wearing a gentle smile, and continued toward Ward 13.
The white door of the ward was closed tight. Xu Shuo grasped the doorknob, feeling a trace of chill.
Hospitals, even without air conditioning, tend to feel cool, let alone this deep area of the hospital, where the corridor had no windows facing outside—just wards and offices on both sides.
The young man pressed down on the door handle and pushed the door open.
He stood in the doorway, scanning the ward, and saw the bed's blanket thrown back, but spotted no one in the dark room.
But then, as the young man stepped into the ward, he turned to look behind the door only to find a teenager in the corner, staring intently at him with a radiant smile slowly spreading across his face.
In the dark setting, the unnaturally bright eyes would catch anyone off guard behind the door. A normal person would probably get scared.
But Xu Shuo simply looked at him expressionlessly and reached into his pocket.
The next moment, the teenager shoved him hard, flung open the ajar door, and bolted out crazily.
He vanished in an instant, and as Xu Shuo, who staggered momentarily, steadied himself, he watched the teenager flee with a gentle smile on his expressionless face.
Xu Shuo stepped out of the ward, following calmly behind. The corridor was quiet, strangely devoid of patrolling nurses at the moment.
The long corridor had the elevator of the hospital building situated in the center.
After running out, the teenager chose to open the fire door at the end of the corridor, trying to escape down the stairs. However, Luo Kun, perhaps too nervous, tripped while descending and fell hard onto the staircase below.
The girl couldn't help but blurt out a curse, and the next moment, the irritation rising in her mind made her continue to swear, "Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it..."
This place was still the ward, this was still The Fifth Hospital!
Clutching her head, the girl paced back and forth in the ward, trying to take deep breaths, repeatedly, until the agitation in her chest eased.
Once calm, she looked towards the midair, where the Player's Handbook opened like a book, and the main quest "Escape The Fifth Hospital" had reverted to an uncompleted status.
Seeing the quest, she immediately lost her calm again, "Damn it! I've escaped twice now! Twice!"
And now, inexplicably, she was back in the hospital again!
The hospital's time had looped twice!
After furiously kicking the hospital bed several times and feeling the rage about to burst from her chest, the girl quickly took the medicine from the bedside table, poured out two pills, and swallowed them.
If you're sick, you take medicine.
Though she wasn't ill, this character, this body was.
When players entered the game, they essentially became the character itself.
Once again slightly calmed, the girl set her face in thought, "This won't do, it seems I must find the cause of this time loop here, or I'll never complete the task!"
"So annoying, in the end, I still have to recreate the storyline of the script!"
The girl, angered, threw her medicine bottle in her hand, and it hit the bedside table with a clatter, knocking over a cup on top, which made a crisp sound as it fell to the ground.
Soon, the noise in the room attracted a nurse to come and check.
The closed door of the hospital ward opened, and a nurse dressed in stark white walked in, asking with concern, "Tao, what's wrong, are you not feeling well?"
While speaking, the nurse surveyed the room and then went to pick up the cup and medicine bottle from the ground, looking at the girl's gloomy and pale face, then approached and said softly, "Let me know if you need anything."
The girl maintained her character's persona and shouted discontentedly, "I'm hungry!"
Upon hearing this, the nurse smiled gently and said, "Okay, I'll get you some dessert. You wait here for me to come back."
The girl snorted and nodded.
Patients are actually quite easy to appease; as long as you indulge them, it's simple. After the nurse left, she also conveniently hung the chain lock outside the room door.