A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

"I'm sure. And her smile—how should I put it—seems practiced, so perfect it's unnatural."

As they were talking, footsteps came from the corridor. They were very light and rhythmic, as if they were following a certain melody.

There was a knock on the door three times.

"Ward 305, ward rounds this afternoon."

The voice was feminine, excessively gentle.

Zhou Lang glanced at the bottom of the door; the uniform was white, not red. He stood up and opened the door.

A young nurse with a round face and a ponytail stood outside the door, her name tag reading "Xiao Wang". She carried a tray with three glasses of water and three doses of medicine.

"Hello patients, it's time to take your medicine." Nurse Wang placed the tray on the table and looked at the three people with a smile.

Zhou Lang picked up a prescription containing two white capsules. He didn't take them immediately, but first asked, "Is my attending physician Liu Deming?"

"Yes, Dr. Liu will be making rounds this afternoon."

What time does he usually arrive?

Nurse Wang tilted her head and thought for a moment: "Not necessarily, Dr. Liu is very busy."

"What are you busy with?"

"Of course I'm busy treating patients." She smiled again, then looked at Zhao Qiang and Lin Chuan, "You two should take your medicine quickly, it won't be good if it gets cold."

Medicine isn't soup, so what does it matter if it's cold or not?

Zhao Qiang took the medicine, hesitated before putting it in his mouth, and glanced at Zhou Lang.

Zhou Lang put the capsule in his mouth and took a sip of water. Zhao Qiang followed suit. Lin Chuan was a step behind and ate it too.

As Nurse Wang collected the tray, she said before leaving, "By the way, today is the new patient's first day in the hospital. There will be a welcome ceremony tonight. There will be an announcement over the loudspeaker."

The door closed.

Zhao Qiang immediately leaned closer: "You really ate it?"

Zhou Lang opened his mouth, and under his tongue, two white capsules were intact.

Zhao Qiang: "..."

"The rules say to eat on time, but don't mention medication." Zhou Lang spat the capsule into his palm and looked at it against the light. "Besides, there's no reason to use a capsule for a headache medicine. Capsules are usually sustained-release formulations; you don't need to go to such lengths to treat intermittent headaches."

Lin Chuan, listening from the side, was stunned: "You even know about pharmacology?"

"I've read a few books." Zhou Lang put the capsule in his pocket. "Keep this medicine; it might come in handy."

Zhao Qiang quickly gagged, "I ate it! I really ate it! What do we do?"

"It's too late to vomit now, the capsule dissolves quickly." Zhou Lang glanced at him. "Observe first, and we'll talk if anything seems wrong."

Zhao Qiang squatted in the corner, his expression almost like he was about to be executed.

At 3:30 p.m., the loudspeaker came on.

"Attention patients, it is now afternoon rounds. Please return to your beds and wait for your attending physician."

The broadcast was delivered in a standard, mechanical female voice, the kind often heard in hospitals. But after the broadcast ended, there was a pause of about a fraction of a second, followed by an extremely soft, almost inaudible sound—

It sounds like someone is crying.

Zhou Lang looked up at the loudspeaker on the ceiling, but there was nothing there.

Ten minutes later, the door to room 305 was pushed open.

The man who entered was middle-aged, wearing a white coat, gold-rimmed glasses, and his hair was neatly combed. His name tag read "Attending Physician - Liu Deming".

Liu Deming walked to Zhou Lang's bedside and looked at his medical record.

"Lang Li Ge Lang." He uttered the name without any change in expression. "Intermittent headaches, accompanied by hallucinations. Have they been occurring more frequently lately?"

Zhou Lang recalled the seventh rule: Answer all the doctor's questions truthfully. Only answer the questions he asked.

"Not frequently," he said.

"What are the contents of hallucinations? What do you usually see?"

"I saw a ghost."

Liu Deming's pen paused for a moment. Just a moment, almost imperceptible. Then he continued writing: "Saw a ghost... Okay, I'll adjust your medication plan."

He asked a few more routine questions, such as body temperature, sleep quality, and appetite, which Zhou Lang answered truthfully one by one.

When it was Lin Chuan's turn, Liu Deming asked the same question. Lin Chuan made up a troublesome excuse and gave a standard answer.

After finishing his rounds, Liu Deming prepared to leave. He stopped at the door but didn't turn back.

"Don't attend the welcoming ceremony tonight."

The voice was so low that Zhou Lang almost thought it was his imagination. But he saw Liu Deming's back stiffen slightly before he pushed open the door and left.

The door closed.

The three people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Lin Chuan: "What did he say?"

Zhou Lang: "He said not to go to the welcoming ceremony that evening."

Zhao Qiang: "But the nurse said there would be an announcement over the loudspeaker... If I don't go, wouldn't that be breaking the rules?"

good question.

The rulebook didn't mention any "welcome ceremony," nor did it say that attendance was mandatory. But the nurse said "there will be an announcement"—if the announcement required attendance, not attending would be a violation of instructions.

But the attending physician said not to go.

The two pieces of information contradict each other.

Who to believe?

Zhou Lang mentally reviewed the rules. Rule 7 stated that he should answer the doctor's questions truthfully, using the word "please." Rule 4 stated that he should cooperate with all requests when encountering a nurse in a red uniform, using the word "immediately." The two sentences were completely different in intensity.

But Liu Deming said "don't go"—this wasn't within the scope of ward rounds, and it wasn't even a formal medical order. It was more like a private reminder.

Why would something strange remind him?

Unless, Liu Deming is not entirely strange.

Zhou Lang needs more information.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, while still within the consultation period, he left the ward. The corridor was quiet, the white tile floor was polished to a shine, reflecting people's images. Most of the ward doors on both sides were closed, and occasionally one could see the "patients" lying inside through the glass windows.

The patients remained motionless, as if they were truly asleep. But as Zhou Lang passed by, a patient in one of the wards suddenly sat up, stared at him for three seconds, and then lay back down.

The movement was mechanical, like someone had pressed a switch.

Zhou Lang didn't stop and walked along the corridor toward the nurses' station.

The nurse stood in the middle of the third-floor corridor, with two other nurses sitting behind a semi-circular counter. One was Xiao Wang, who had come to deliver medicine earlier, and the other was older, with a nameplate that read "Sister Sun".

"The patient from room 305? Why is he out here?" Sister Sun looked up at him.

"I'd like to ask, how many floors does the hospital have?"

"Five floors above ground, one floor below ground." Sister Sun picked up a sheet and handed it to him. "This is the hospital's floor plan. Every newly admitted patient gets a copy. Your room should have one."

Zhou Lang took it and looked at it.

First floor: outpatient hall, emergency department, pharmacy.

Second floor: Examination department, radiology department, operating room.

Third floor: General wards (301-310).

Fourth floor: General wards (401-410).

Fifth floor: Dean's office, meeting room, archives.

Basement level: Medicine storage room (entry prohibited).