Chapter 89

Chapter 89

She opened her eyes practicedly.

This time, Tu Nan was perfectly calm, even finding it a bit laughable.

She didn’t rush out of bed. Instead, she lay there, analyzing the current situation.

It was almost certain that she was still trapped in a dream. However, she didn’t know the cause of these dreams, nor did she know how to leave.

The dreams would loop infinitely, though she couldn’t yet be sure what caused them to shatter. She only knew that once a dream broke, she wouldn’t wake up in reality; she would simply descend into the next layer of the dreamscape.

According to her hypothesis, the deeper she fell, the greater the dream’s influence on her would become.

Sooner or later, this influence would make it impossible for her to distinguish reality from the dream.

She could no longer blindly allow the dreams to keep shattering. She had to find a way to break the cycle.

Tu Nan began to meticulously comb through her previous dreams.

The most glaring detail was undoubtedly He Ling’s missing eyes in the first two dreams.

Why had her eyes disappeared? Furthermore, what was the connection between He Ling and that mysterious woman in the third layer? Why had He Ling lost control of her emotions the moment she saw her?

Had He Ling not been affected by the Instance’s Contamination? Logically, someone who had suffered Contamination shouldn’t be capable of such intense emotional fluctuations.

From the current perspective, He Ling’s abnormality might be the key to escaping the dream.

Tu Nan lay in bed, replaying the details of the previous dream over and over. Once she was certain she hadn’t missed anything, she finally got up and climbed down from her bunk.

“You’re awake?” He Ling’s voice sounded from behind her.

Tu Nan startled and spun around, only to meet He Ling’s smiling eyes.

She dithered for a moment. This scene was wrong in every possible way, yet she felt as if it were perfectly natural.

Fortunately, this sense of trance only lasted a moment. She bit the tip of her tongue, and the sharp pain quickly cleared her head.

“I’ve already finished washing up. You should hurry,” He Ling said with a smile.

Only then did Tu Nan notice the towel in her hand.

“What are you dazing off for?” He Ling asked curiously. “Weichun will be over in a bit. Hurry up.”

Who was Weichun?

Tu Nan was full of questions, but looking at He Ling, she couldn’t bring herself to ask a single one.

She could only nod, grab the towel hanging by her bed, and enter the washroom.

The last time she had entered the washroom, it had caused the dream to shatter. Tu Nan felt a flicker of anxiety as she stepped inside, wondering if it would happen again. However, her fears were unfounded. The dream did not break; she remained standing there, perfectly fine.

The washroom was clean and bright, looking like a different world compared to the dark dormitory outside. Could He Ling really not sense anything wrong with such an extreme contrast?

Carrying her doubts, she finished washing up and stepped out. There was already another person in the dorm.

Hearing Tu Nan come out, the newcomer turned her head to look at her.

Tu Nan’s pupils constricted slightly.

It was the girl from the third layer of the dream.

“Finished?” Yi Weichun looked at her with a beaming smile. “Let’s go, then. The cafeteria is going to get crowded soon.”

Tu Nan could only nod.

The three of them headed downstairs together.

When they reached the first floor, the security guard she had seen last night greeted them with a smile. Yi Weichun and He Ling returned the greeting with warm smiles of their own.

Tu Nan felt that everything was bizarre.

After breakfast, they went to the nurse’s station together. However, just as Tu Nan had expected, the patient she was supposed to be responsible for did not exist in this dream. She sat down at the station, but she couldn’t find any files belonging to her.
He Ling didn’t find this strange at all. “You’re new here, so they just haven’t had time to assign you any yet.”

Tu Nan actually felt that what she said made sense. She accepted the explanation quickly and spent the entire morning working hard without complaint after the Head Nurse assigned her patients in two wards.

It wasn’t until the morning shift ended and Yi Weichun and He Ling came to find her for lunch that she suddenly realized with a start that she had spent the whole morning working like this. She hadn’t spared a single thought for the actual business she was supposed to be doing.

The dream’s influence on her didn’t seem significant on the surface, but thinking about it more deeply was terrifying.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, she headed to the cafeteria with Yi Weichun and He Ling.

“The patients are just so disobedient,” Yi Weichun sighed on the way, complaining as if making small talk.

“Yeah,” He Ling chimed in. “Each one is more difficult than the last. I really don’t know if we’ll ever be able to complete this mission.”

Tu Nan’s spirits lifted. How could she have forgotten? He Ling was a Player, so this Yi Weichun was most likely a Player as well.

And judging by how close they were, they were very likely Teammates who had entered this hospital Instance together.

“Tu Nan, how are your patients?” Yi Weichun suddenly turned her head to ask.

“They’re also quite difficult,” Tu Nan said casually.

“If only we could pass the assessment as soon as we wake up from a nap,” Yi Weichun sighed. “I really don’t know when these days will finally end.”

He Ling looked at her worried expression, her brow furrowing slightly.

“But then again, with you guys by my side, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Yi Weichun quickly broke into a smile again, boisterously throwing her arms around both of their shoulders. “We have to get out of here together.”

He Ling nodded vigorously at first, but when she saw Yi Weichun’s hand also resting on Tu Nan’s shoulder, her expression suddenly became a bit strange.

Her brow knitted slightly. She first pretended not to care and looked away, but after only a few seconds, her gaze drifted back again.

This series of micro-actions was all captured by Tu Nan, who had been observing her intently.

After their brief interaction, Yi Weichun gave Tu Nan the impression that she lived up to her name.

She was a cheerful, optimistic, and carefree girl, as warm and gentle as a spring day.

Because of this, she didn’t notice He Ling’s subtle movements at all.

Tu Nan felt a sudden, inexplicable chill. She exerted a bit of force and shook off Yi Weichun’s hand.

Yi Weichun didn’t mind the gesture, assuming Tu Nan simply didn’t like close physical contact.

Seeing her move away, He Ling blinked in surprise, looked up at her with a smile, and finally looked away for good.

Tu Nan intentionally lagged a step behind, watching the two in front of her.

At first, Yi Weichun specifically turned back to check her position, but seeing that she hadn’t fallen behind, she stopped worrying about it.

He Ling was talking and laughing with her, their every gesture showing intimacy; the two were undoubtedly very close.

So why was it that in the third level of the dream, He Ling had been so terrified upon seeing Yi Weichun that she even committed suicide on the spot?

Was it because the dream itself was baseless, or because something had happened between the two of them?

“Tu Nan,” Yi Weichun turned back and waved at her. “Hurry up! There won’t be any seats left in the cafeteria in a minute.”

Tu Nan smiled and nodded at her, quickening her pace to catch up.