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

The archives room, which was not originally very large, had its ceiling raised to almost twice its normal height, the walls receded rapidly, and the floor extended accordingly.

Bookshelves holding archives rise up from the ground, almost touching the high ceiling, like a city wall that blocks out the sky.

Players are like insects trapped in an ecological observation box under a glass plate, looking around in panic in the dark. Cheap flashlights are completely useless; only the eerie side-lighting items purchased from the store can be of some use.

Unfortunately, most players who enter beginner-level dungeons like [The Ghostly Private Hospital] are newbies, and they don't have enough points to exchange for items.

"Don't panic! Don't panic! You bunch of idiots, there's no danger now, come closer to me!" Someone raised their hand high and shouted at the top of their lungs.

With someone directing, the newlyweds finally felt a little more at ease, and they unconsciously moved closer to the sound. But the next moment—

"ah--"

The command he had just given turned into a scream.

The commander raised his hand high as if holding a torch, and blood gushed from it, like torchlight or a dazzling red flower. Starting from his raised fingertips, he split in two, all the way to his feet. Then he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The players screamed wildly, fleeing aimlessly through the dark maze. Even the veterans who had been calmly waiting for the newcomers to die first changed their expressions. In the narrow and chaotic space, the ignorant newcomers running around not only posed a risk of stampedes but also awakened more and more eerie phenomena.

No, they have to get out. If this continues, it will trigger the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts!

The veteran players, after much effort, finally found the door they had entered through.

The door was locked.

"The door is locked." Jiang Hui clicked her tongue and said, "Did that Dr. Jiang rip us off?"

"Not necessarily. Sun Ping and the others are already gone." Qiu Wanting placed his hand flat on the door, feeling the constant vibrations coming from the other side of the door, and gave a mocking smile. "The one who locks the door isn't necessarily a doctor; it could also be a patient."

Inside the door.

The desperate player repeatedly pounded on the door, which seemed as solid as a fortress.

"We're doomed, we're doomed! They were afraid Jiang Hui and the others would follow, so they locked the door after they came in!"

Outside.

Tang Li tilted her head: "It's alright, it wasn't a wasted trip. Come with me."

So Jiang Hui and Qiu Wanting followed Tang Li up and down different staircases and corridors until they bent down and passed through a narrow door, above them a tightly closed wooden skylight embedded in the ceiling.

"We're below the archives," Tang Li pointed to the window, "that's another door leading to the archives."

She didn't explain further, and the other two didn't suspect much either. Jiang Hui's keen ears had already heard the screams and wails coming from the ceiling.

Qiu Wanting pulled out a pair of binoculars from somewhere and looked up at the wooden skylight: "There's a combination lock on the door."

"Let's check if there are any fingerprints left on the buttons." He squatted down and pulled out a bunch of random gadgets from his pocket and lined them up, from a magnifying glass to developing solution.

Tang Li stepped on his back with one foot and his shoulder with the other: "Excuse me."

Having been elevated considerably by the stepping stone, Tang Li stretched out her arm and confidently pressed the button four times in a row.

"Beep—" The lock opened.

Tang Li proudly received the astonished looks of her companions.

She worked tirelessly all day, controlling Nannan to die hundreds of times, her hands burning red from the heat of her phone, all to find the most hidden route to the archives.

This combination lock is also a level in the game. Tang Li didn't have time to collect clues, so she simply chose to pass the level using a makeshift method, starting from 0000 and trying for a full three hours.

Tang Li got off Qiu Wanting's back, and the next moment, Jiang Hui stood on it.

"...I beg you to respect an innocent life," Qiu Wanting said through gritted teeth.

"I'll go take a look first," Jiang Hui said, ignoring him.

She looked up, staring at the skylight that was slightly ajar, her brown eyes almost cold. "Boss Qiu, I'll send you a message later. Follow me as needed—"

"Or we could just retreat."

The next moment, without Qiu Wanting standing up to lift her up, Jiang Hui had already leaped onto the skylight.

The wooden planks opened for a few moments, then slammed shut again.

Tang Li's face darkened as she looked up at the two wooden planks that had swallowed her friend's window. She said, "Jiang Hui closed the window herself."

"Yes." Qiu Wanting raised her hand and glanced at her watch. The space where the text message should have refreshed was empty. "It seems she doesn't want us to catch up."

Tang Li and Qiu Wanting's eyes met briefly before shifting away. Jiang Hui had always been the mediator between them. Now that Jiang Hui was gone, the two remaining had to admit that they still couldn't fully trust each other.

When faced with life and death, would you back down?

"Since Jiang Hui has made the choice for us, we should retreat," Qiu Wanting said.

"Yes," Tang Li agreed, "It's too late, let's go back to the ward and rest."

The two went their separate ways.

Ten minutes later.

Qiu Wanting stood in ward 801. He took off the thin man's headphones, carefully disinfected them, and put them into his own ears.

"Hello? Is this Dr. Jiang?" he asked in a friendly tone. "You've gone too far, do you realize it?"

"Sun Ping has completely gone mad. He ordered the players to rush into the archives not to take the bait you laid, but to summon the [Hundred Ghosts Night Parade] in the archives."

"Compared to fulfilling the Dean's wish to 'kill Gu Xiaoying,' this is the most thorough surrender. If he succeeds, with the accumulation of player lives, the Dean's combat power will increase three to five times, and the dungeon character's weight will also reach the top."

"By then, no matter what wicked schemes you have in mind, you will become the dean's complete puppet."

Fifteen minutes later.

Tang Li walked briskly down the corridor while fiddling with her phone.

She changed her route, trying to see if she could sneak into the archives that way.

At the same time, her mind raced: the key now was not finding the way into the archives, but what to do once inside.

As Jiang Hui flipped into the skylight, a flash of light appeared in her palm. Judging from her actions, it seemed like a large-scale brawl had broken out in the archives. Therefore, not bringing the two of them along was the right choice.

Jiang Hui is not a reckless person, and Tang Li would not overestimate her abilities and immediately join the group.

Therefore, she was responsible for solving a different problem.

Do you remember why they went to so much trouble to get into the archives?

Of course, it's not for fighting.

So, where is Gu Xiaoying's file?

Twenty minutes later.

Sun Ping was all smiles, dressed in ordinary, clean and tidy sportswear, without a trace of blood.

He calmly pushed open a door, and inside, the radio was playing traditional opera tunes.

"...I was admiring the mountain scenery from the city tower when I heard a commotion outside the city. Banners were waving and casting empty shadows, but it turned out to be..."

The rocking chair creaked and groaned, and an old man was dozing off.

Old Yan, who was in charge of the archives, was lying in a rocking chair with his eyes closed.