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

A slight sheen of sweat appeared on Jiang Hui's back.

"Old Ding," or rather, Meng Wanwan inside Old Ding's body, is dead. She died in front of everyone, on the very night she recounted her "dream come true" experience at the restaurant.

No one found it strange; usually, players who have been modified like this by the supernatural have already been affected, and it would be an anomaly if they survived.

Tang Li once said that she left the ward in her dream and went to another place. Jiang Hui and Qiu Wanting firmly believed her statement because they were certain of one thing:

That night, Tang Li was not in her hospital room.

At night, everyone's door was tightly closed. Suddenly, the door to room 820 opened, and "Old Ding" staggered out in the darkness.

His tall frame squeezed into a woman's nightgown, his footsteps light because he was barefoot, his steps small and almost delicate. It should have been a comical scene, but coupled with his naturally feminine movements and postures, it appeared extremely bizarre.

"Old Ding" arrived at the door of the nearest ward and began to knock.

He tapped with extreme care, the sound was soft, but he was very persistent.

"Tap tap tap tap, tap tap tap tap, tap tap tap tap..."

"Old Ding" patiently kept typing.

"Is anyone there?" he asked in a high-pitched voice, as if a woman were speaking through his throat.

By this time, all the players on the floor were awake. But given how obvious the anomaly was, of course no one opened the door for him.

Undeterred, "Old Ding" continued knocking on the next door. His polite inquiries echoed repeatedly in the gloomy corridor as he knocked from one end to the other.

"There's nobody here," Old Ding said disappointedly, followed by an unprecedented silence.

Many players breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that "Old Ding" would calm down and go back to his room after his crazy outburst.

Just then, Jiang Hui suddenly realized something was wrong. Her superhuman sense of smell and hearing were warning her that something was happening.

She pushed open the door and rushed out.

In the middle of the corridor, flames had already engulfed the tall man.

For some reason, the fire burned extremely fast. In the short time it took Jiang Hui to walk a few steps, the flames had already spread, and thick smoke billowed in, entering the wards on both sides through the cracks in the door.

One door after another opened, and the players realized the danger and rushed out to put out the fire.

"Old Ding" forced the players to open the door for him in his own way. At that time, Qiu Wanting specifically looked at the players present and found that only Tang Li from 802 and the skinny guy from 801 were missing.

In the end, the ward nurse rushed over, but "Old Ding," like a fireball, laughed loudly and jumped out of the window at the end of the corridor before the nurse could catch him.

The next day, both the corridor and the place downstairs where "Old Ding" jumped to his death returned to their previous state, as if all of this was just a shared nightmare for all the players.

Old Ding's death was bizarre, yet so commonplace in the eerie game. Of course, no one ever saw him again after that.

Besides Tang Li.

Jiang Hui frowned involuntarily: the scene of players dying and coming back to life is actually quite common in dungeons, but [Tales of Private Hospital] is only a low-level one-star dungeon, and it shouldn't be this complicated in the first place.

Jiang Hui was suddenly taken aback.

—Unless, the "Dream-Making Machine" that Lao Ding and Meng Wanwan encountered was not just a minor side quest, but was actually involved in the main storyline.

"Tang Li," Jiang Hui turned her head and glanced at the tightly closed clinic door. The players inside could come out at any time after their "examination." "Old Ding does have a mental illness. He may very well be like the story he told, mistakenly believing that a woman's soul lives in his body."

"But the strange thing is that we did see him 'discharged' from the hospital before, and we don't know why he's still in the hospital." — He's still alive.

Tang Li pursed her lips, a bad feeling rising in her heart, and the bracelet with the number 3 written on it that she had put in her pocket appeared before her eyes.

Her voice was so low it was almost a whisper: "Is it possible... that he, like Gu Xiaoying, was also secretly detained by the hospital and used as a subject for human experimentation?"

Jiang Hui thought to herself that, based on the plot development of the beginner one-star dungeon "Every Clue Leads to the Main Story," this was probably the case.

With her right hand still in her pocket, out of Tang Li's sight, Jiang Hui had already silently made five or six hand seals towards Tang Li.

The points in the background dropped rapidly, but in return, Tang Li was wrapped in layers of protective spells, making her completely protected.

Jiang Hui said, "Qiu Wanting and I still need to deal with inspections. Could you go check on things at 820?"

Without realizing it, she no longer saw Tang Li as a "paranoid" whose mental world needed careful protection. She saw her as a teammate fighting alongside them.

"820?" Tang Li tilted her head.

"Ward 820," Jiang Hui said, "is Lao Ding's previous ward, which has been vacant since he was 'discharged' that day."

Tang Li nodded and naturally accepted the task.

Before leaving Jiang Hui, she hesitated for a moment, then finally asked, "Jiang Hui..."

"Tell me, when I'm alone, how can I tell if it's a hallucination or reality?"

If what seems illogical is an illusion, then where does the illusion begin when I encounter a complete madman like Lao Ding?

Jiang Hui's name had already appeared on the call screen outside the clinic. She had already stood up, ready to face the next danger, but upon hearing this, she stopped and turned around.

A vague premonition lingered in her heart.

If the "paranoiac" tries to open her eyes again and again, who can stop her from waking up?

Besides, she is Tang Li.

Tang Li. Jiang Hui silently recited this name in her heart: brave Tang Li, fearless Tang Li, kind-hearted yet ruthless Tang Li.

Could she be the vulnerable one? Jiang Hui thought, "I was so worried, so glossed over."

I hesitated, I spoke carelessly, and I told my friend—I told a soldier—one lie after another, a lie I racked my brains to tell.

But now, I don't think she will be defeated by reality, and I don't think she will be a coward who has lost all her armor.

Jiang Hui said, "Then come and ask me. I'll tell you whether it's an illusion or reality."

In that case, next time, I will tell the truth.

Whether you die because of this or not, I will bear your fate; whether you die because of this or not, I will feel guilty for the rest of my life.

Ward 802.

The room was unlocked, and Tang Li pushed the door open and entered.

As soon as Tang Li entered the room, she sensed that something was wrong.

Generally, patients take all their personal belongings with them before being discharged from the hospital. Any items left behind will be cleaned up and removed by the hospital staff.

However, 802 still appears to be inhabited.

Tang Li stood in the center of the room, looking around.

My heart skipped a beat.

That's not right.