Chapter 338
Chapter 338
Outside the patient room lay a long Corridor.
Patient rooms lined both sides. An electronic screen hung on the wall beside each door, and at a glance, every screen was flickering with an eerie red light.
Everything around them was pitch-black.
Mu Xin might have been truly afraid, or she might only have been acting nervous.
She did not dare approach Jian Fan, so in the end, she could only press close to Qin Nan.
According to the Script they had received, following this Corridor would bring them to the elevators.
Strangely, although the entire hospital had lost power, the elevators still worked.
The Stairs were beside the elevators, but they had been sealed off. If the group wanted to leave this floor, their only option was the elevator.
According to the plot in that Script, as soon as they called an elevator and its doors opened, they would find it packed with ghosts. Upon seeing the group, the ghosts would even beckon to them.
“Come on. Join us.”
The elevator was unavoidable, so despite knowing there was something wrong with it, Qin Nan could only steel himself and move forward.
This was a Script for a variety show, so the ghosts here ought to be fake. Yet everything was taking place in the Realm of Death, and Qin Nan felt there was still a chance that these ghosts might be real.
He was now fully alert as he pressed the down button.
The ghost in the mirror had gone beyond the Script, which meant the Script’s contents were very likely wrong. In that case, there was a good chance the elevator would contain no ghosts. Even so, Qin Nan did not dare lower his guard.
He was not the only one. Mu Xin was nervous too.
The display showed the elevator ascending.
The numbers changed, and soon the elevator gave a ding.
Qin Nan and Mu Xin immediately tensed.
The elevator stopped on their floor. Under everyone’s expectant gaze, its doors slowly opened, revealing the interior.
Their tension vanished abruptly.
Qin Nan had already guessed this was possible, but actually discovering that he had been played still left him with an indescribably complicated feeling.
The elevator was empty, without a single person inside.
As expected, the Script could not be trusted at all!
The tension on everyone’s faces, followed by their expressions when they saw the result, earned Lu Jing another substantial surge of Popularity.
Lu Jing was utterly confused.
What had happened?
Why had his Popularity increased again?
Before Lu Jing could figure anything out, Qin Nan’s group entered the elevator. Yet it did not move.
No matter how many times Qin Nan pressed the button for the first floor, the elevator showed no response. He tried the other floors, but every attempt failed. Finally, his gaze settled on a panel beside the buttons that resembled a card reader.
So, even a hospital elevator required a key card?
That had not been in the Script, either… Right. The Script was useless.
“We need to find an elevator key card,” Qin Nan said. His mind was full of complaints, but he had to remember his assigned persona, so this was the only sentence he managed to squeeze out.
“We can look at the nurses’ station or in the doctors’ offices,” Mu Xin suggested.
This part of the plot had not appeared in the Script, but they were Old Players of the Realm of Death, after all. They had some idea of what to do.
“All right,” Qin Nan agreed readily.
“Let’s split up and search,” Mu Xin suggested.
Naturally, she wanted to send the other four NPCs away.
Unfortunately, Mu Xin’s plan failed.
The moment she made the suggestion, all four NPCs objected.
“No, no, no. I think we should stay together. It’s too scary. There’s strength in numbers, at least.”
“I agree. It’ll be safer if we stay together.”
Mu Xin listened to them, numb.
Fortunately, she had not expected much, so she did not insist.
Jian Fan, meanwhile, studied the four NPCs as his mind began racing.
Since his role was to drag the team down, it would hardly be strange if he caused some commotion and ended up separated from his teammates, would it?
Jian Fan quickly began devising a workable plan.
As he plotted, the group started toward the nurses’ station.
Qin Nan walked in front.
The four NPC cast members assigned to them appeared quite timid. At the moment, all four were huddled together and holding hands. They moved forward cautiously while still glancing curiously to either side.
If they were going to look around, that made things easy.
Jian Fan spotted a flashlight beside the nurses’ station and picked it up.
Then he turned it on, shone it up at his own face, and faced the four NPCs. “I died such a horrible death.”
The four NPCs turned and saw his strangely lit face. Combined with his voice, it made them immediately scream that there was a ghost, spin around, and flee.
Each ran faster than the last.
Before long, only Jian Fan and the other two remained before the nurses’ station.
Qin Nan was baffled.
Mu Xin’s feelings were similarly hard to put into words.
Jian Fan moved the flashlight away and aimed it at the nurses’ station. Feigning apology, he said, “Sorry. I only meant to play a joke. I didn’t expect them to scare so easily.”
He had frightened them as a joke and caused the team to split up. His second plan to drag everyone down was a success.
Of course, even Jian Fan had not expected it to be so easy.
At the same time, Jian Fan gained another wave of Popularity.
“Fuck, he scared me too.”
“This handsome guy is awful.”
“He’s awful, but I like him.”
“I’m a sucker for a handsome face, so I have no choice but to forgive you.”
“…”
The viewers had been frightened by Jian Fan, but the sight of the fleeing NPCs filled the comments with laughter. In any case, his Popularity rose again.
“Tsk.” Qin Nan made a sound of rueful appreciation.
Mu Xin went behind the nurses’ station. As she searched for the elevator key card, she asked, “What do we do next?”
With the NPCs gone, Qin Nan felt much freer. He immediately answered Mu Xin, “Earning Popularity isn’t difficult. The question is, do we really want to follow the Script? Even if we take first place, knowing the Realm of Death and the crap it pulls, I don’t think we can trust it. There should be another way to clear this, right?”
The instant he finished speaking, Qin Nan abruptly went rigid.
He still looked like himself, but smoke rose from the top of his head while his entire body shook as if stricken with Parkinson’s.
Mu Xin and Jian Fan both froze for a moment.
They quickly understood and looked at Qin Nan with considerable sympathy.
Qin Nan himself felt it far more keenly.
He heard that familiar, cold electronic voice.
“Information unrelated to this variety show has been disclosed. For egregious speech and conduct, punishment by lightning will be administered.”
Then Qin Nan was struck by lightning.
If their variety show had not still been in progress, Qin Nan would have suspected that the lightning might roast him to a crisp.
However, to keep the entire System operating logically, the viewers posting bullet comments would not see this scene. From their perspective, the camera had probably panned across the surroundings. By the time it cut back, Mu Xin was already searching for the elevator key card with her head lowered, Jian Fan was busy as well, and only Qin Nan stood there looking foolish.
It was not that Qin Nan had failed to recover. His entire body was in agony, and he simply could not move.
Miserable did not begin to describe it.