Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Eight hours remained when they reached Jinyan Fifth Psychiatric Hospital.
Xiao Huai had carried Hanako on his back for four hours on foot.
Even he was beginning to tire.
A crimson moon hung high in the sky. Xiao Huai raised his head and studied the enormous, sinister building.
The hospital walls were mottled with age, and thick iron bars covered the windows, blocking all light from outside. A massive statue stood at the center of the grounds.
Xiao Huai pushed open the rusted iron gate. When he saw the statue, he could not help laughing.
How narcissistic.
The statue had been carved in He Lecheng’s likeness.
Vines smothered the courtyard walls, lending the place an air of desolation and horror.
“Big Brother, I hear someone crying.” Hanako looked up at Xiao Huai.
He stopped, the tips of his ears twitching.
A woman’s low sobs.
He heard them too.
“Is that my mother?” Hanako pointed toward the third floor, and Xiao Huai followed her gaze.
“We’ll know when we get there.”
Xiao Huai carried Hanako into the hospital. The corridors were dark and narrow, illuminated by dim yellow lights. Moans and roars rang out from time to time.
Inside the open wards, patients sat expressionlessly on their beds, their eyes vacant as though every trace of life and hope had been stripped away.
Xiao Huai could not shake the feeling that this place looked familiar. Something about it was strange in a way he could not explain.
He did his best to suppress his curiosity and made his way to the third floor.
It was darker and damper than the first, and the stench of rotting wood filled the air.
Hanako, however, grew more excited by the moment, murmuring “Mother” again and again.
Every door on the third floor was locked. This was clearly the high-security ward for severe patients.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The moment he entered the third-floor corridor, abnormal noises erupted from several wards.
Patients slammed themselves against the doors over and over. A few doors stood open, but iron bars had been installed across the entrances.
That allowed Xiao Huai to see exactly what kind of things were imprisoned inside.
He had prepared himself mentally, yet the sight still shocked him.
It was like looking at the creatures from the movie *Alien*.
They had no human skin, only blood-soaked muscle.
Thousands of razor-sharp fangs filled each mouth. They opened their bloody maws and roared at Xiao Huai.
Their bodies had suffered severe contamination. It would have been a lie to say he felt no fear.
But even more than fear, he was overwhelmed by sheer astonishment.
In one ward, Xiao Huai saw a familiar face.
The bald man.
More precisely, it was a monster bearing the bald man’s face, with an empty cavity where its heart should have been.
Seven or eight faces grew across the monster’s upper body, every one of them different.
Perhaps all the faces on these monsters had once belonged to players in the horror game.
For all he knew, the players’ corpses had become fodder for the contaminated world.
The sobbing drew closer and closer until it seemed to come from directly before them.
Ahead stood the only unlocked door on the third floor.
Xiao Huai stopped. In a low voice, he asked, “Hanako, what do you want to do after you see your mother?”
“Hmm…” Hanako touched her cheek and fell into thought.
When an answer occurred to her, her eyes lit up. “First, I’ll make Mother stop crying!”
Xiao Huai’s lips curved slightly. “Mm. That’s a good idea. Does that mean I’ve won this round?”
“Mm-hmm! What present do you want, Big Brother?” Hanako nodded.
Xiao Huai looked at her and asked softly, “Can you give me any reward I choose?”
“Mm-hmm! Hanako can do anything in this world. Hanako gave you all the previous rewards directly, but this time, Hanako wants Big Brother to choose his own reward! It’ll be Hanako’s present to you.”
Xiao Huai nodded, his eyes shimmering like sunlit water and his thin lips gently curved.
“Then can Hanako return to the way she looked before? If this dream must end, perhaps your mother would want it to have been a beautiful one.”
The moment he finished speaking, Hanako’s pupils contracted. Then she smiled.
As that smile blossomed, the scarred burns receded little by little. Light shimmered around her as though a butterfly were emerging from its chrysalis.
Joy spread from the corners of the girl’s eyes and across her radiant face.
Like flowers crowding a branch, like her own name, her smile bloomed as beautifully as a blossom.
A five-year-old girl in a pale blue dress stood before him.
“All right,” she whispered.
Xiao Huai exchanged a glance with her, then knocked on the ward door.
What followed was much like every reunion shown on television.
Mother and daughter embraced, weeping uncontrollably.
Xiao Huai merely stood to one side and watched them in silence. He was an outsider, completely and utterly removed from their joy.
When Hanako asked what reward he wanted, he realized he did not know.
He did not even know who he was. How could he know what he desired?
Perhaps what he wanted was simply a beautiful dream, one he could lose himself in completely.
[Ding! Congratulations to player Xiao Huai for completing the hidden mission and fulfilling Hanako’s wish.]
[Broadcasting rewards: Miss Hanako’s Affection ×80; Hanako’s Blessing; 5,000 Survival Coins.]
[Hanako’s Blessing]
[Detailed Description: The player may use the Ivy Girls’ School NPC Hanako’s skill, Hide-and-Seek. Upon activating the blessing, the player creates a new game space that the player may freely enter and leave, while gaining a 100% increase in attack power. The selected target cannot leave for one hour. Usage restriction: once per day.]
[Note: A message from Miss Hanako: Here, I’ll share a little of my power with you. Now no one will dare bully you.]
[Current Rank: No. 1 on the District 1 Popularity Ranking in the Newcomer Zone. You are a rising star! You are the newest dish served at the table! You top the Newcomer Zone’s must-eat list!]
Xiao Huai was somewhat speechless, but when he saw Survival Coins pouring into his balance, a faint smile touched his lips.
He checked the gods’ comments in the livestream.
[Chainsaw Killer: Hee-hee-hee! This little thing is adorable. I can’t wait to sign up to play an NPC in his next game!]
[Venus: Such a beautiful little thing. Locking him away would be delightful. What a pity that, for now, this god can only appear inside games and cannot meet you in person.]
[The Mad Hatter: My little white rabbit, keep playing hard. I look forward to the day you receive an invitation to the gods’ feast.]
…
Xiao Huai frowned, but his expression soon relaxed. He had no idea when he had suddenly become so appetizing in the eyes of these gods.
Still, having them like and follow him was hardly a bad thing.
The corners of Xiao Huai’s lips lifted into a dazzling smile, his eyes as deep and noble as red wine.
That smile was like a bottle of exquisite vintage, its flavor lingering between the lips and teeth, intoxicating anyone who tasted it.
He tilted his head slightly, as though gazing at the gods beyond the livestream.
Then he silently mouthed, “Come eat me.”
Of course, the instant he finished, Xiao Huai closed the livestream comments.
What he did not know was that his stream had erupted all over again.
The gods all voiced the same opinion: they were in love and more than a little excited.