CHAPTER 3: X City First People’s Hospital (III)

The drawer slid open, but Qi Leren didn’t even glance at the Killer’s face. He raised his hand and punched him squarely in the groin. The blow came so unexpectedly that the Killer groaned, lost his balance, and crashed to the ground. The chainsaw clattered to the floor.

 

*This is my chance!*

 

Qi Leren immediately scrambled out from under the counter, but a wave of numbness washed over his left leg. His heart sank. Though he hadn’t been hiding for long, the intense tension had made him forget to adjust his position. Only after emerging did he realize his leg had gone numb from being pinned.

 

In those fleeting seconds, Qi Leren caught a glimpse of the Killer writhing on the floor in agony. As expected, the man was dressed in a prison uniform and had his hair cropped short. Surprisingly, he was young and handsome, but his pained expression and the fresh scars crisscrossing half his face twisted his features into a terrifying mask of rage.

 

Still reeling from the blow to his groin, the Killer couldn’t stand, but his right hand groped for the chainsaw. He roared and swung it wildly at Qi Leren. His pupils dilating, Qi Leren spun around the counter and sprinted down the hallway, ignoring the throbbing numbness in his leg.

 

The glass door of the Infusion Hall was smeared with bloody, chaotic handprints left by the victims in their death throes. The body of a man, brutally bisected, lay on the floor, his intestines spilling out and dragged a full meter as he crawled in his final moments.

 

Qi Leren didn’t look back as he sprinted out of the Infusion Hall, immediately turning to climb the stairs. He realized this was no longer the normal world. Judging by the sealed Infusion Hall, the hospital’s main entrance was almost certainly locked. It was better to hide in the outpatient building and look for a chance to escape later.

 

[Player Qi Leren has completed the second step of the Newbie Village Mission: Leave the Infusion Hall.]

 

[Newbie Village Mission: Survive until dawn.]

 

The moment he burst out of the Infusion Hall, the Mission Prompt flashed in his mind again.

 

This escape went surprisingly smoothly. By the time Qi Leren regained his senses, he had already reached the fourth floor of Building B in the outpatient building. The Infusion Hall was far away on the first floor of Building A. If he hid well, the Killer wouldn’t find him even if he searched for three days and three nights. Qi Leren finally relaxed, collapsing onto the floor with a sigh of relief.

 

His heart was still pounding, but the joy of surviving the ordeal surged through him. He covered his forehead with one hand and couldn’t help but laugh.

 

*I survived. I actually survived.*

 

After resting for about ten minutes, Qi Leren regained some strength and got up to find water.

 

Though the immediate crisis had passed, many questions and mysteries still needed solving. He hadn’t forgotten the sudden Mission Prompt, which all but confirmed he was no longer in the Real World.

 

*Card Slot… Skill Card…* These words resurfaced in his mind. He instinctively touched his waist, where a thick belt was now fastened. It had two slots, each about half the size of a playing card.

 

He remembered seeing the familiar term “SL Great Art” earlier…

 

As this thought crossed his mind, an inventory—familiar to any gamer—materialized in his Sea of Consciousness. In the first slot lay a small card, which appeared in his hand with a mere thought.

 

# SL Great Art (Bound Skill Card):

 

The holder can set a save point at their current location. If they die or suffer fatal damage within 10 seconds of saving, their body will automatically return to the state and position they were in when the save point was set, immediately triggering a second use. After 10 seconds, the save point automatically expires. A save point can be used up to three times consecutively, with a 1-hour cooldown.

 

In short, to use this skill, you must die.

 

“…” Even Qi Leren, who had played countless games, was stunned by this Skill Card that seemed like a cheat but was actually more like a useless gimmick.

 

It was called the “SL Great Art,” but this “load game” skill had nothing to do with time travel! The description made it clear that this “load” wouldn’t rewind time at all. It would simply return his body to the save point, but the catch was that the trigger condition was death within 10 seconds!

 

Death!

 

How was he supposed to know if he would die within 10 seconds? What if he didn’t die? Would he have to stab himself? Was this skill encouraging him to commit suicide in creative ways?

 

And what if he saved, didn’t die within 10 seconds, but then tragically died in the 11th second? The save point would have already expired, and he would still be dead!

 

So this is a completely useless skill… Well, not entirely useless. It could still be used for suicide, like saving on a rooftop and then jumping off to experience the thrill of jumping to one’s death, Qi Leren thought wryly. But as a meticulous person, how could he possibly do something so stupid? …Damn, he actually kind of wanted to try it. It wasn’t that he liked courting death; he was just testing the skill.

 

Qi Leren inserted the Skill Card into the Card Slot, officially activating it.

 

Nothing seemed to change at first. He only vaguely sensed that he could now mentally set a save point at his current location, visible only to him and valid for just ten seconds.

 

Never mind. Let’s organize my thoughts first.

 

Qi Leren entered an ENT clinic room and found a notebook and pen on the doctor’s desk, preparing to jot down clues. The blank notebook looked ancient, like something from a decade or two ago. It had a yellowish-brown cover and the pages inside were also yellowed, lined but otherwise blank, with no name on it. Qi Leren closed the door and began sketching a rough map of the hospital’s outpatient building from memory.

 

Thanks to his Interior Design Major, Qi Leren was particularly sensitive to the layout of buildings. Although he worked as a freelance interior designer after graduation, he lived comfortably.

 

He had visited First People’s Hospital several times before. The outpatient department consisted of two buildings, A and B, which, when viewed from above, resembled two hyperbolas. The main sections of both buildings had six floors. There were only two ways to travel between them: leave Building A and walk to Building B on the ground, or use the third-floor skywalk that connected the two buildings at their closest point, like a line connecting the vertices of the hyperbolas. Qi Leren had used the skywalk to reach Building B that day. He vaguely remembered the thick fog outside the skywalk, which made even the sunlight feel cold.

 

The cryptic mission prompt required him to survive until dawn, likely the final objective. He decided to treat his situation as if he were a player in a horror game. In this type of timed survival horror game, danger was inevitable.

 

So far, the hospital seemed to have both ghosts and a killer. Ghosts could be killed, as the killer had used a chainsaw to kill one. This suggested that physical attacks were effective… or perhaps the chainsaw was special?

 

Qi Leren circled the entry for “Methods to Kill Ghosts” in his notebook, planning to test it later. He didn’t believe he’d be lucky enough to survive until dawn without encountering another Ghost.

 

He glanced at his watch. It was 4:15 PM. In November, the sun set early, leaving him less than an hour and a half before nightfall.

 

Nightfall in a horror game meant even greater danger. If Ghosts were already appearing during the day, they’d only become more dangerous after dark. He had little time left to prepare.

 

Food, water, weapons, first aid supplies, methods to kill Ghosts, a detailed hospital map, the mist… Qi Leren wrote down a list in his notebook. Then he suddenly remembered he hadn’t tried contacting the outside world yet.

 

His laptop was missing, likely left behind on the bus or in the ambulance. His phone was still with him, but it had no signal.

 

Having anticipated this, Qi Leren wasn’t too disappointed. He closed his notebook and tried to put it in his inventory. It worked.

 

Looks like the weight limit issue was solved.

 

Qi Leren steadied himself and opened the clinic door.

 

Someone was cautiously walking along the wall, peering around nervously. The moment the door opened, their eyes met:

 

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”