Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Rao Lin had actually prepared himself to be turned down.
Of course, it wasn’t as if every Player near the top of the Ranking List was dead.
In order to preserve each zone’s combat strength, combat-oriented Players who went to take part in the Star Zone Arena could choose whether to volunteer.
Zone F’s System was not at all willing to let Rao Lin go. If Rao Lin died, Zone F’s Player strength would take a devastating hit.
And yet Rao Lin refused to listen. He insisted on going.
He had gone for six years, and for six years he had watched people part in life and death.
Those who didn’t know him saw him through a Big Shot filter. Those who did know him were used to Rao Lin’s smiling, breezy face. Very few people truly knew what went on inside him when he sent his teammates off.
If there hadn’t been a limit on the number of participants, he would honestly have preferred to take part alone.
Every time Rao Lin invited someone to join his Team, he thought of all the teammates who had died in past years.
By the time he snapped back to himself, what he saw was the polite, declining smile across from him.
Rao Lin didn’t feel regret. He even felt relieved.
It was fine. At least they could live.
Song Zhu tugged at his hand. Rao Lin came back to his senses and saw Ning Shuo adjusting his glasses.
“We accept. Willow, you don’t seem very happy about that. Are you afraid we’ll die?”
He smiled, his words carrying another meaning. “We’ve been companions for two rounds, at least. Do you have that little faith in your partners?”
Ning Wang leaned off to the side and issued a cold command, absolutely brimming with style. “If we can’t get through, then we’ll just shatter, won’t we?”
The screens of all seven people in the room flashed red at the same time.
Though it was only for an instant.
Rao Lin couldn’t help laughing. “Good. That’s good.”
…
Rather than saying they rested for a while in the Rest Area, compared to the seven-day vacation they had spent in the previous Script, they had actually had more than enough rest already.
According to Rao Lin, the Script for the Star Zone Arena used a combined PvP and PvE mode. The number of people in the Script was based on whichever side of the arena had the smaller Team.
During the preparation period, it was recommended that teammates run a few more Scripts together.
This time, when they opened a room, Rao Lin and Song Zhu were swapped out for Qin Genan and Zhuang Yao.
They still chose a PvE Script this time.
Putting everything else aside, everyone on the Team had one thing in common: they disliked PvP Scripts.
The first time Ning Shuo played PvP, his method of clearing the stage had been so outrageous that it resulted in zero casualties.
In a PvP Advanced Script, never mind whether they could find someone as stupid as the Emperor of Li from the Novice Script again; even avoiding going OOC in front of the NPCs would be difficult.
In PvP, you not only had to guard against NPCs, but also against other Players.
Not to mention that the bug allowing NPCs to perform the Accusation had already been fixed.
[Player Ning Banxian, welcome to the Script Guardian Angel’s Game.]
[You are a patient suffering from a mental illness. During two days and three nights of treatment in the hospital, you must protect a little girl and satisfy all her requests within reasonable limits.]
[Remember: do not hurt her, and do not make her angry.]
Ning Shuo opened his eyes and found himself lying on a hospital bed.
The nurse beside the bed wore a nurse’s uniform, with Angel Hospital’s emblem pinned to her chest.
She handed Ning Shuo a handful of pills. “Ning Banxian, hurry and take them.”
The brightly colored pills were piled together, the pile as large as a child’s fist.
A mental patient…
Ning Shuo flipped the tray of medicine over. Before the nurse could get angry, he flew into a rage first. “Who are you? You dare force medicine down Our throat?! Where is Little Wangzi?!”
The nurse’s face twitched. She was clearly forcing down her anger.
She said to the doctor who had hurried over at the sound, “The patient seems to be exhibiting a new mental disorder…”
The doctor scribbled notes. Though Ning Shuo couldn’t read his handwriting, fortunately, he had researched mental illnesses in the modern world before. From the descriptions he heard during the examination, he guessed that this identity’s original mental illness was likely bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder… That would be even easier to act out.
Because a new condition had appeared-and even a tendency toward Harming Others-Ning Shuo was taken to a higher floor.
On the way, a patient roared and screamed at him.
Ning Shuo slapped a hand onto the doctor, and the doctor suspected his organs were about to be knocked out of his body. “Xiao Bai, this man dares show disrespect to Us! Behead him at once!”
The doctor’s features twitched. Silently, he noted: Great strength during episodes.
But just as the doctor was hesitating over whether to give Ning Shuo a sedative, Ning Shuo suddenly shrank his hands back to his chest. His expression visibly turned timid; he didn’t dare look at anyone and meekly followed the nurse’s instructions as he walked forward.
The doctor took a deep breath and continued upstairs with the nurse and Ning Shuo.
From the third floor to the fourth, Ning Shuo observed his surroundings the entire way.
Most of the ward doors were open. Ning Shuo didn’t see anyone familiar, nor did he spot any signs of other Players.
In other words, the Players’ identities weren’t limited to psychiatric patients. They might be patients in every department.
The fourth floor was different from the third. On the third floor, you could at least look at the scenery; on the fourth, every window was fitted with iron bars.
It had the flavor of prison tears already.
Ning Shuo hid himself under the blanket. No matter what the doctor said, he wouldn’t listen, speak, or give any reaction.
The doctor said to the nurse, “The patient is having a depressive episode. Don’t provoke him for now. Go get some fluoxetine later.”
Gradually, the sounds outside the blanket faded away. Ning Shuo lifted a tiny crack in the blanket, just about to check the situation, when he suddenly sensed something wrong.
There was the sound of breathing.
If he hadn’t still had that bit of inner strength left in him, Ning Shuo never would have heard it.
And the breathing was extremely close-right beside his bed.
Ning Shuo could even imagine the nurse crouched beside him with her head lowered, waiting for him to poke his head out from under the blanket.
Once bipolar disorder flared up, it wouldn’t improve that quickly. Ning Shuo kept his breathing normal and exposed only that tiny slit, still presenting a frightened, anxious appearance even while hiding under the blanket.
Only after quite a while did the sound of the door closing come from outside the blanket, as if the nurse had left.
Ning Shuo didn’t let down his guard. He remained hidden under the blanket.
A long while passed before footsteps finally sounded outside.
Ning Shuo poked his head out from under the blanket and began carefully examining the ward.
The ward was the same as one in the modern world. He couldn’t find anything especially strange about it.
If he had to name something odd, it would probably be the lilies placed at the head of the bed. Ning Shuo remembered that his first ward had these flowers too.
He got out of bed and walked to the door without putting on shoes.
The door was locked.
Judging from what the doctor had said, if he wanted to get out, he would have to wait until the nurse came to deliver his medicine.
This Script didn’t have tools like cell phones. With no information to collect for the time being, Ning Shuo waited patiently. About half an hour later, the nurse finally returned.
Seeing that his condition seemed to have improved a little, the nurse asked gently, without the slightest trace of the terrifying posture she’d had earlier when she was pressed against the door, staring fixedly at him. “Feeling better? Come take your medicine.”
Ning Shuo stayed silent and ignored her.
This counted as a normal reaction. The nurse placed the pills in the medicine tray and handed it to Ning Shuo. “Hurry and take your medicine.”
Ning Shuo reached out and took the medicine. The nurse handed him a cup of water. Only after confirming it was ordinary water did Ning Shuo drink it.
After the nurse left, Ning Shuo opened his hand.
Lying in his palm were the pills he should have swallowed just now.