They didn’t know who had planted it, but Dong Zi was sure of one thing—it hadn’t been there before they left the room.
Fu Changxun pondered—could it be that every room had one?
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the right time to disturb any NPCs. Waking them up in the middle of the night would be a terrible idea.
“How should we handle it?”
He pointed at the wiretap, not even daring to mouth the words. Instead, he made a hand signal.
Dong Zi smiled faintly, gave a soft cough, then casually tossed the tiny device to the ground and crushed it underfoot.
“No big deal. He installs one, I break one. That’s fair.”
Fu Changxun frowned. “…You sure that’s okay?”
Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, Dong Zi explained, “It’s fine. Whoever planted the bug already knew we left the room last night. So breaking one little mic isn’t going to make a difference.”
The old man had warned them not to go out at night. But clearly, leaving after dark wasn’t an automatic death condition.
So destroying something that hadn’t even been there before? Definitely not one either.
They were lucky—no one had triggered a death flag tonight. But that was also part of the problem.
Without that feedback, they had no way of knowing what other traps might lie ahead. Like the person who had planted this bug—what role were they playing in this instance? Why hadn’t they made a move? And more importantly…
“Wiretaps. Drugs. The broadcast system,” Fu Changxun said. “Put those together, and someone could practically control the entire hospital. All the patients are under their surveillance.”
Dong Zi nodded. “Which is why we got caught the moment we stepped out last night. Someone followed up and installed this thing right after.”
Fu Changxun started scanning the room. “You’re sure this was the only bug? No others?”
“Positive.”
Dong Zi’s voice was certain. “I’ve had stuff like this planted on me before—by a rival company. I’ve gotten really sensitive to them.”
Fu Changxun blinked. “Oh? What happened? Can you talk about it?”
Seeing he was curious, Dong Zi was about to elaborate—
“Wait.” Fu Changxun stopped him, grinning as he kicked off his shoes and hopped into bed. He patted the space beside him. “Tell me like it’s a bedtime story.”
Dong Zi stared at him, torn between laughter and exasperation. “…You really know how to enjoy yourself. Fine. I’ll tell you.”
“It was back when I was still in college, during an internship. The company thought I had potential, so they handed me a project. Later, a rival firm…”
His steady, deep voice flowed into Fu Changxun’s ears like a lullaby. The latter slowly drifted off to sleep in the warm, quiet atmosphere.
Lu Qi had been completely ignored by the two of them the entire time. But he didn’t dare protest.
Ever since watching those two kill the white monster together on the fifth floor, Lu Qi had realized they were far from ordinary. Their strength wasn’t at all what they had shown before.
He was scared. Scared of dying. Scared of being left behind. That fear made him timid, unwilling to approach the two of them anymore.
The night passed.
At five in the morning, some still lay awake in fear, unable to sleep. Others had already fallen into deep slumber. And still others…
…shook with rage in the darkness.
One man swept everything off the table in front of him in a fit of fury. With a crash, objects scattered across the floor. Veins bulging, he kicked the old wooden table hard.
The worn-down legs couldn’t withstand the blow. The whole thing wobbled violently before finally collapsing into pieces.
“Room 319. Those three bastards in 319—You’re dead! You hear me? You’re fucking dead!”
His impotent rage echoed through the cramped room, but not a single sound leaked out.
Outside, the silence remained absolute.
***
Fu Changxun woke to voices outside the room. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and stretched.
But when he extended his leg, instead of hitting a blanket, his foot landed on something warm—and alive. The person beside him jolted like he’d been scalded, flinching hard away.
Fu Changxun snapped fully awake.
Right—this was an instance. And next to him was… Dong Zi.
“Hiss—sorry, my bad! I didn’t kick anything important, did I?” He scrambled upright in a panic.
“I’m fine,” came the reply, though the tone sounded a little strained.
Fu Changxun looked more worried. “Really? We’re in a game. Don’t try to tough it out—if something’s wrong, we need to know.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Dong Zi shook his head, clearly uncomfortable. He pulled the blanket over his lap, then quickly changed the subject.
“There were always people around before, so it wasn’t convenient,” Dong Zi said quietly. “Just now in the bathroom, I checked my flyer. It only had one word on it—‘Friend.’”
Friend?
Fu Changxun immediately thought of the boy on the fifth floor. He glanced over at Dong Zi.
Their wavelengths were completely in sync.
“We’re probably thinking of the same person,” he said. “Let’s talk to Lulu once we’re out. We’ll split up and search. If this person really exists, he’s likely looking for that boy too.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”
At that moment, Lu Qi stepped out of the bathroom, his gaze flickering. “You guys…”
Fu Changxun straightened his clothes and flashed a smile. “What? Got something to say?”
Lu Qi instantly shut his mouth.
He wasn’t stupid. Faced with the options of “yelling at his ex and getting abandoned entirely” versus “swallowing his pride to survive the instance,” he chose the latter without hesitation.
For the first time, regret crept into his heart—for having pushed Fu Changxun away, for giving him up to someone else.
At some point, the already dazzling Dr. Fu had become even more radiant after leaving him. Like a completely different person.
Dong Zi asked, “It’s past seven. We only got a little over three hours of sleep—still holding up?”
Fu Changxun nodded. “No problem. Back in college, I used to pull 48-hour all-nighters writing papers. This is nothing.”
The two of them chatted as they stepped out to survey the situation outside.
Patients were starting to wake up, crowding the corridors of the hospital with noise and commotion.
The nurses stayed on the second floor. The four players who had chosen to be nurses woke up completely unaware of what had happened the night before, and were soon called to deliver breakfast to the patients.
There was no separate cafeteria for patients—only a small staff canteen.
To feed the patients, nurses had to collect the food from the serving window and bring it room by room.
Li-ge ordered some fried chicken bites, took a seat at a table, and instinctively started a livestream.
“Morning, chat! It’s breakfast time! Let’s see what kind of food this instance is servin’… Mmm! Not bad—the chicken’s actually pretty good!”
Mr. Zeng and Mrs. Hu both looked uneasy. Neither had slept well, and both now sported dark circles under their eyes. Seeing how cheerfully Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang were eating, Mrs. Hu couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you two scared?”
Xiao Li had just started praising the chicken to his viewers outside the instance when the tactless couple interrupted him. He replied impatiently, “What’s the use of being scared? Fear won’t get us through this.”
He scowled. “You two scare easy, huh? This early and you’re already losing it?”
Zeng didn’t take kindly to someone speaking to his wife like that. He shot back, “Then do you have any idea how to clear this instance? We can’t just sit around here doing nothing, can we?”
Xiao Zhang slammed his bowl on the table. “What’s the rush? The instance said it’s not time-limited. You’re in such a hurry to clear it, what if you rush yourself to death?”
That was downright nasty. The couple’s expressions immediately darkened.
“Enough, Xiao Zhang,” Xiao Li said lazily, still munching. “Since they’re so eager, let them handle the work. Delivering meals to patients—yeah, that’s your job now. Just make sure you go room by room. No slacking off.”
Mrs. Hu’s chest heaved with fury. “You—”
Zeng quickly held her back. “Alright, alright. Don’t get worked up. We’ll do it.”
Xiao Li grinned. “See? All settled.”
Newbies just needed a little discipline.
What he didn’t see was the steely resolve hardening in Zeng’s eyes.
***
Elsewhere.
Fu Changxun and Dong Zi were heading upstairs when they brushed past a doctor in the hallway.
It was the same one who had led the nurse players away yesterday. A red mark stretched clearly across his neck.
It looked… strangely familiar.
Dong Zi stared, still trying to place it—when the doctor suddenly jerked back two big steps like he’d seen a ghost and hurried to cover his neck in a poor attempt to act casual.
But that movement was exactly what triggered Dong Zi’s memory—his eyes lit up.
The doctor, unaware of his blunder, shoved through the crowd and hurried back to his office.
But the gaze behind him never wavered.
Fu Changxun waved a hand in front of Dong Zi’s face. He blinked and came back to himself.
“What are you staring at?”
“That red mark on his neck… it’s identical to the cut I made last night when I severed the monster’s throat.”
Dong Zi’s voice was cool and steady. “It might be a coincidence. I need to find a way to strip off his clothes and see if he’s got the rest of the injuries from being hacked to pieces.”
Fu Changxun burst out laughing. “Alright then. Strip him down. But first, let’s find that ‘friend’ NPC—then you can get to the undressing.”
He was still grinning when he looked up—and saw two other players walking toward them.
Mr. Zeng was pushing a food cart, with Mrs. Hu trailing behind him, fuming.
“They’re so goddamn full of themselves,” she snapped. “Always taking the easiest jobs for themselves and dumping all the hard, time-consuming ones on us! These so-called ‘veterans’ think they can do whatever they want. Don’t they realize if the livestream sees this, it could—”
She cut off abruptly.
The two veteran players they’d been talking about had turned to look right at them.
Mrs. Hu flushed in embarrassment. “Sorry, I wasn’t talking about you.”
Fu Changxun simply said, “I know. You’re delivering meals, right? Let’s go together.”
Mrs. Hu was about to refuse, but her husband said, “Sure. Thanks.”
She looked at him, confused.
“To be honest,” Mr. Zeng said seriously, “my wife and I just want to get through this instance. But those two… they’ve already started treating this like a game to enjoy. We don’t want that.”
Fu Changxun studied the couple for a moment. “So you want to team up? Your side—the nurses—working together with the patients, with the goal of clearing the instance.”
Mr. Zeng nodded. “My wife and I are in. As for those other two…”
Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang were too obsessed with their livestreams. They’d probably just laugh at any talk of cooperation.
Fu Changxun nodded. “Let’s meet in the fourth-floor ward once you’ve finished delivering meals.”
“Perfect,” he added with a smile. “We need to go over what happened last night anyway.”
“You probably don’t know yet—we went on a little adventure.”
Mrs. Hu was stunned. “An adventure?” She looked shocked. “Didn’t they say it’s forbidden to go out at night? How did you dare?”
Dong Zi chimed in to explain, “It’s dangerous, yes. There are monsters that will hunt you. But it’s not an automatic death condition. As long as you either escape or kill the monster, you’re fine.”
