"Mm?"

Lu Ce watched as the other person leaned in, instinctively flipping his wrist to hide the card in his hand, casting a wary glance at the newcomer.

"Cut the crap, we're on the same side, time's running out. Which department are you from?"

"Me?" Lu Ce raised his head slightly, thinking for a moment, "I'm from the Senior Three Department."

Jiu Tian: ?

Fing hell, the high school department!

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Jiu Tian was dumbfounded, seeing only three minutes left, he was starting to feel uneasy.

Why is this colleague still acting like this? Do I look untrustworthy?

Even though we might be from different places, we're still part of an official organization, isn't there any trust?

"Buddy, hurry up, I saw your card. I'm Jiu Tian from K City, Jianghai Province, and I didn't bring my card!"

"Besides, do we still use these? Look at my clothes!" He tugged at the fabric of his red outfit. "Why aren't you in uniform? Did you turn it into a red mask? Your regulations are quite unique."

"By the way, your live stream should have our people, right? Let them check me out."

Lu Ce realized the other person had misunderstood something and continued to talk nonsense: "You look quite old, how can you be in the same department as me? Still in high school?"

"Are you the director of the political education office?"

Jiu Tian: ?

His fists clenched!

How can this person be so disorganized and undisciplined!

[: Jiu Tian, according to our organization's records, there are indeed players who have cleared the game perfectly.]

[: But there seems to be no record of such a mask situation, you should communicate more.]

In Jiu Tian's live stream, the staff reminded him.

Jiu Tian suppressed his urge to hit someone, lowered his voice, and said coldly:

"Comrade, I don't know what you're planning."

"But you mentioned my clothing color earlier and deliberately showed your card, clearly to attract me, right?"

"Do you... have something to say?"

Lu Ce scratched his head, "Speaking of which, I feel a bit hungry, strange."

Who asked you!?

Jiu Tian turned away, leaving a final word for Lu Ce to take care of himself, not wanting to engage further.

Goodbye!

He told the staff in the live stream, "Quickly find out which department this person belongs to, isn't this crazy!"

"A game on Hell Mode, how can it be a joke?"

[Reminder to all players, you should exit this room quickly before time runs out.]

At this point, there was only one minute left on the countdown. The room had already opened, leading to a dark corridor, seemingly descending into an abyss.

No one wanted to defy the voice broadcast, as in Hell Mode, instant death scenarios could appear at any moment.

Kirk, the foreigner, took the lead, walking out with a sense of solitary pride in his back.

Big Guy looked at his back with some displeasure, "What a show-off," and then followed him out.

Jiu Tian and a woman also left the room right after.

Lu Ce maintained his usual behavior, stepping out at the last second, then sticking his head back in to see what would happen.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, knocking Lu Ce out, leaving a mask imprint on the door.

Jiu Tian, who had been watching his "colleague" out of the corner of his eye, turned his head away, feeling overwhelmed.

Once the door closed, a long corridor came into view, curving into darkness about a hundred meters ahead, veering left.

On either side of the corridor, there were large iron doors at intervals, dark and silent, as if containing beasts.

No sound came from within the corridor.

Presumably, these doors housed the "patients."

Jiu Tian ran his hand along the curve of the wall, estimating the distance ahead, and strode forward.

Explore the extended edition on pawread dot com.

Before getting down to business, he planned to first understand the layout and basic structure of the building.

"No stairs, it should be a large flat structure, though hidden doors can't be ruled out."

"Given this curve, it might be a circular building...."

In the silent space, Jiu Tian's voice echoed, sharing his thoughts openly with everyone.

Just then, the game's voice appeared again.

[Breakfast Time, 30 minutes.]

[Meal Time is task time, during which players must enter the patient rooms.]

[If you leave, you must return to the room quickly, as staying in the corridor too long will lead to bad consequences.]

Clang, clang.

After the voice, a tray dropped from a hidden compartment below each room, its origin unknown.

Instantly, an unbearable stench filled the space.

Under the dim strip lighting, the tray held a large can of gooey substance, hard to convince yourself it was food.

Inside, nothing was discernible, with vague glimpses of bones and membranes.

Beside the can was a small dish with several white pills.

The tray read: "Patient mentally unstable, mix sedatives into food, perhaps try communicating."

"Judging by this so-called hospital, it's primarily mental issues," Jiu Tian muttered.

"Damn!" Big Guy cursed, "This stuff is food? No wonder the patients have mental issues eating this."

Is it really that bad?

Lu Ce looked at the stuff on the ground.

Why did he find it seemed delicious?

The Gluttony Mask maximizes the influence on appetite, completely suppressing all rational judgment.

Red warning lights flashed, urging players to enter the patient rooms quickly.

With no time to think, Lu Ce randomly chose a room, picked up a tray, and went in.

Inside, the environment was starkly different from outside, dirty walls with even bloodstains.

But the room was brightly lit, 24/7.

In the corner crouched a skeletal, ghost-like man, shackled, glaring hatefully at the tray in Lu Ce's hand as soon as he entered.

"Time to eat, seems like breakfast, I don't quite remember. A human delicacy, my friend, you're so skinny, almost starving."

"Do you want to eat?"

The room had no furniture. Lu Ce looked around, walked in, placed the tray down, and sat on the floor.

"Want to eat?" a raspy voice came from the patient, gritting his teeth.

"Of course not! New kid, delicacy? Why don't you eat it, don't get cocky..."

Before he finished, Lu Ce's eyes lit up:

"Really? Thanks!"

With that, he picked up the unknown substance and poured it into his mouth.

Patient: ?