After being poisoned by mushrooms, all the strange creatures became fascinated by me.

Nannan was dismembered by the doctor.

A line of emotionless text appeared in the dialog box.

Tang Li stared at her phone in silence, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.

After a chilling and bloody animation, the game rewinds to the starting option.

What happened inside? Pushing open the door/peeking through the crack in the door.

Even though she knew it might just be the same game company using the same IP to design games for two different age groups, she still felt a little sad watching her once beloved pixelated character being brutally murdered in a fit of rage.

From then on, Tang Li dared not let her guard down. She took every option seriously and tried her best to solve the puzzles, but the game became more and more difficult.

Nannan was burned to death from head to toe.

[Nannan was poisoned, there was no antidote, and she died coughing up blood.]

Nannan was cut in half by a chainsaw.

A variety of styles.

Tang Li gradually got used to the screams coming from the phone, and Nannan also seemed to get used to his own death, with the time it took to reload back to the point before his death becoming shorter and shorter.

The longer Tang Li played along, the more she realized that Nannan's actions were purposeful. Tang Li realized that Nannan seemed to be searching for something as she entered the hospital; she went into every room because she was trying to see the face of each patient clearly.

Tang Li manipulated the pixelated girl to move between the hospital floors. When she arrived at the fifth floor and saw the familiar door sign in a familiar location, Tang Li suddenly stopped.

[Door sign: Dr. Jerry's Clinic]

Tang Li finally realized the reason for the unease that had been lingering in her heart.

The hospital in the game, and the hospital she's in right now...

They have the exact same layout.

Evening, at the restaurant.

Jiang Hui frowned as she looked at Tang Li: "What's wrong with you?"

It's rare to see her looking so listless.

"I'm wondering, is what I perceive as reality necessarily reality?"

Tang Li said quietly, "Is it possible that our real lives are just a game, and the NPCs in the game are the real, living people?"

Jiang Hui almost choked to death on the soy milk.

My dear, obsessive little devil, don't let your imagination run wild! Stop thinking, don't open your eyes that you're pretending to be blind, don't commit suicide, Tang Li!

She cupped Tang Li's face in her hands, staring intently into her eyes, her tone already laced with murderous intent: "Where did you go today? What did you do? Which bastard told you those ridiculous things?"

"Look, it's like this," Tang Li said tentatively, "What if one day I suddenly realize that the scenes in reality are the same as those in the game... Don't some movies have plots like this? The game and the real world gradually merge, and the ghosts and monsters in the game come out... a strange resurgence or something..."

Jiang Hui's heart was on high alert: Could it be because of the morning's debriefing? Or the hospital secrets she told yesterday? She was only trying to make Tang Li more vigilant about hospitals and not be fooled by the strange things; she didn't intend for her to suddenly have a complete epiphany and see the truth of the world!

"That only proves that the game was designed based on real-world landmarks; this kind of borrowing happens everywhere," Jiang Hui said decisively. "Tang Li, there are no ghosts in this world, no eerie phenomena, no rule-based supernatural tales, and no damned eerie dungeon livestreams!"

"As a college student in this new era, can you please stop being so superstitious?"

Tang Li thought about it for a moment, feeling a little ashamed, and realized that Jiang Hui was right.

The game designer might have been hospitalized here; let's not overthink it.

But all of this cast a shadow over her heart.

Tang Li returned to her ward, took out her phone, and wanted to play games for a while longer before turning off the lights.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Tang Li opened the door and found the skinny man standing outside, looking anxious, like a skinny mole peering out with his small eyes wide open.

"What's wrong?" Tang Li asked, somewhat puzzled.

The skinny guy looked at Tang Li with an undisguised longing in his eyes. He thought he would be safe once he acknowledged the boss, but the boss only gave him a few candies yesterday morning and hadn't paid him any attention since.

Later, he learned from the mocking comments that the leader had also given candy to many other people.

The skinny guy panicked completely. He didn't want his boss to take on other underlings. He knew that if things continued like this, his boss would abandon him sooner or later. Besides, the one getting closer and closer to the boss was Jiang Hui.

The skinny man made up his mind and reluctantly stuffed something into Tang Li's hand.

"This, this, is for you," he stammered. He also wanted to tell Tang Li that this was a clue to the dungeon he had obtained at the cost of his life during treatment, and it was the only thing he had gained from entering the dungeon.

But in the end, he only opened his mouth timidly, bowed, and ran away.

Tang Li lay on the hospital bed, squinting slightly as she examined the sparkling little thing under the light.

This is a key.

It's clear that this key has been used for a while; there are some wear and scratches on it, but due to frequent use, it has become increasingly shiny and bright. There's a white label with a red bar on the key head, which is wrapped with transparent tape. The label has a short bar drawn on it, and then "104" is written on the back.

Tang Li stared at the key, bewildered, feeling her eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

Tang Li fell asleep before the lights were turned off.

Ward 801.

"Got to pay protection money again. The streamer's born to be a lackey." "This key seems to be a crucial clue in the dungeon, right? Free?" "Yeah, a red clue." "Red? A high-risk clue? This is going to be interesting." "Let's see what the new boss is capable of."

Seeing the following comments, the skinny guy panicked and asked, "What? Isn't the key a clue? Isn't it a dungeon reward? How can it be dangerous?"

"You're dreaming. That's why I hate mentoring newbies." "A key only opens the door with clues. Once you're inside, you're not guaranteed to get the clues." "So it's actually a good thing you gave her the key. You're so useless; using the key would just be giving it away."

The skinny man sat dejectedly on the edge of the bed: "How could this happen..."

"Breaking news! That streamer used a key, pointing to 1414174, this is so exciting! (This comment has been blocked from other streamers due to privacy concerns)" "??? I'm leaving!" "Come on, let's watch together!" "Let's go!"...

Seeing the viewers about to leave his live stream, the skinny guy pleaded uncontrollably, "Don't go! Don't go! Too few viewers will trigger weird content, please, at least leave a few people here with me..."

"No time, off to watch some weird, brutal killing of a pretty girl~" "That spineless streamer should just die already, hahahahahahaha"...

Ward 803.

Tang Li, who was lying quietly on the bed, suddenly sat up.

The key gleamed around her neck, and Tang Li got out of bed.

She was wearing a hospital gown, barefoot, and left the ward, walking down the corridor. She went down the stairs, one floor after another. She reached the first floor, but continued downwards.

The girl's delicate footprints were imprinted on the dusty steps of the basement. She walked on until she came to a rusty iron gate.

The faded sign on the door reads: Ward 4.