1 p.m.
Having just had lunch, Director Zhang sat in his office, idly rocking his chair back and forth and, leaning his head against the backrest, stared at the pale ceiling above.
There was no trace of any burning marks to be seen at all.
Though The Fifth Hospital had fallen into disrepair, most areas were still kept very clean, and the walls were painted a pristine white.
Director Zhang looked very intently; in his white line of vision, the Player's Handbook was counting down the time.
...
The entire hospital was shrouded in a layer of misty black fog. Under the grey overcast sky, the surrounding abandoned shopping district told a tale of desolation, leaving the cold blue-and-white hospital as the only color in this area.
But under the gloomy sky, the building seemed to have also been covered with a layer of melancholy.
Ward No. 8.
The girl who had been sleeping on the bed suddenly opened her eyes and then sat up, looking up at the sky guard panel as well, exhaling gently as if sighing to the heavens.
This time she had run until the hospital building was out of sight, and even though her feet hurt so much that she was sweating profusely, she did not stop, yet she ended up back here.
But this time... Tao Tao looked at the countdown on the Player's Handbook.
Thirty minutes until the game ends, and this judgement did not reset with the commencement of time, meaning she just needed to run one more time before the countdown ended to successfully complete the task!
Tao Tao excitedly popped two pills.
She couldn't afford to make any mistakes at this critical moment.
The outside of the ward was still eerily silent. Tao Tao got out of bed, tiptoed over, and stood at the door for a while before pressing down the door handle.
The corridor was dim and lightless, and in the air mixed with the smell of disinfectant, there seemed to be a faint smell of gunpowder.
Tao Tao remembered the fire she had seen when she left last time, but that was probably part of another player's task or the game's crazed NPCs; she had no desire to investigate it.
She only wanted to complete her task.
Tao Tao walked out of the ward toward the staircase at the end of the corridor, deliberately choosing the direction opposite to Ward 13.
However, the girl lunged at her again, anxiously grabbing her and shouting, "Don't go out! It's really dangerous outside! Let's... let's escape this place together, shall we?"
Tao Tao ignored her, nonchalantly nodding, "Hmm, escape."
The various shouts that had just come through seemed to have subsided somewhat, and the smell of gunpowder in the air had become even stronger, as if the scene from before was replaying.
Tao Tao cautiously pressed down the door handle and quietly opened a crack in the door to look outside.
The pungent smell of gunpowder grew stronger, light smoke floated in the corridor, and the blood splattered on the walls made the clash of pallid and crimson especially striking.
Hiss... Are those people fighting again?
The big shots sure fight fiercely!
Tao Tao poked her head out, and after not seeing anyone around, she quickly slipped out of the door, but then her hem was suddenly pulled.
She turned her head and saw that the paranoia sufferer had followed her.
"Hey, aren't you afraid that I'll take you out and then kill you!" Tao Tao threatened fiercely, her fierce and angry look somewhat scary.
"But but but it's more, more dangerous here..." the girl stammered with fright.
"Don't get in my way!"
Tao Tao narrowed her eyes and indifferently pushed her hand away, she had only twenty-five minutes left to complete the mission, and she didn't want any complications before she got out of the hospital.
Leaving the girl behind, Tao Tao turned and ran toward the route she had previously planned. She had thought she might encounter patrolling nurses along the way, but instead...
She encountered nurses lying on the ground in pools of blood.
Until she reached the stairwell, and with no one else coming out to stop her, Tao Tao, pulling open the fire door, stared somewhat stunned at the unidentified nurse lying on the ground with wide-open eyes.
It was a sharp weapon injury, and it looked like a cut to the throat at that.
Thinking of a throat cut, Tao Tao couldn't help touching her own throat and then remembered the man who had cruelly cut her throat in the past.
Tsk, just thinking about it made her throat hurt even more.
She looked away and quickly ran down the stairs, only to unexpectedly collide with another nurse at the corner.
A nurse holding a gun, with a cold and somber expression.