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

"So that's how it is," Tang Li murmured.

The shock of realizing this too late overwhelmed her. Tang Li thought to herself, "So those players who were used as test subjects didn't leave the instance."

I'm afraid that after they leave the instance... Old Ding, who is already mentally unstable, will also be strangely captured by the hospital and, like Han Mengzhen, thrown into the "Aquarium" on the second basement floor.

"But..." Tang Li murmured to herself, "Why is the hospital keeping their...corpses like this?"

The construction of the second underground level was costly, and soaking the experimental subjects in water would not allow them to play any role.

Jiang Hui, however, had a different opinion. She shook her head and took a deep breath: "Tang Li, your thinking is still stuck in the old world."

"Of course I can't blame her," Jiang Hui thought absentmindedly, after all, Tang Li only discovered the existence of the strange copy this morning.

"—You just said that you and Han Mengzhen made eye contact?"

Tang Li nodded blankly, but when she met Jiang Hui's eyes, she suddenly shivered.

"You mean, you mean..."

No wonder she felt the "gaze".

"Yes," Jiang Hui corrected softly, "that probably can't be called a corpse..."

"I don't know how much rationality they have left, but their bodies should still be active."

"But," Tang Li asked, "isn't the condition for escaping the instance nine days? If they're still alive at the end of the ninth day, shouldn't that condition be met, and they automatically escape the instance?"

Jiang Hui shook her head: "Players must maintain a certain level of rationality when leaving a dungeon, at least enough to allow them to press the 'Leave' option."

She was trying to educate Tang Li, but it sounded more like she was telling a ghost story: "If players don't choose to leave, they will be left in the eerie dungeon, which we call 'dungeon survivors'."

"These dungeon survivors have coexisted with the eerie for a long time, and they will be infected by the eerie, becoming more and more like the eerie. In fact, because players have been tested by eerie games for a long time, their physical fitness and mental world are different from ordinary people. Coupled with such cruel torture, the eerie they transform into are often more ferocious than ordinary dungeon NPCs."

Jiang Hui smiled coldly, "It can be considered an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The bizarre is a product of the most extreme madness and obsession in the world. Instinct will drive them back to familiar places and attack those who have hurt them."

Tang Li understood.

Therefore, that "aquarium," with its deep blue water and thick glass walls, is most likely not meant to preserve the players' bodies.

—It was to stop them from seeking out the hospital for some kind of bizarre revenge.

Jiang Hui looked at Tang Li, waved her hand, and a small object appeared, shimmering with a captivating metallic luster: "I'm going to check out the second basement level. It might be dangerous; are you prepared?"

Tang Li looked at the prop that suddenly appeared in her hand... which resembled a bomb, and sincerely stood in front of her.

"Wait a minute, when I had the little man crawl down, I noticed the location of the hidden door."

Jiang Hui leaped down the rope ladder with ease in just a few quick movements. Then she reached up and grabbed Tang Li's trembling legs, lifting her up to safety.

Upon closer inspection, Jiang Hui noticed the weight was off and exclaimed helplessly, "When did you change into this down jacket?"

"I just bought this with points from the store," Tang Li said, waving away the white mist that had escaped from her lips, and handed another shorter one to Jiang Hui. "Aren't you cold?"

Jiang Hui was fully alert to the unknown environment, and only noticed the sudden drop in temperature when Tang Li spoke.

"This condensate... can reduce the aggressiveness of creatures that are submerged in it." Jiang Hui took the coat. "It seems our guess was correct."

They stood side by side, looking up at the bodies floating downstream behind the glass wall.

It's like being underwater, surrounded by deformed yet tranquil deep-sea monsters on all sides.

Speaking of deformities... these human bodies are no exception.

The Zhuge Jiajia that Tang Li had seen through the eyes of the children was now floating leisurely to the other side. Tang Li saw two crimson, wriggling fleshy wings growing on her back, with most of the coiled blood vessels protruding from her body, swaying gently with the water ripples, reminiscent of slender aquatic plants gradually unfurling while submerged in water.

The water before them was now occupied by another body. Already burly, it appeared even larger and more swollen under the current, a truly awe-inspiring sight. Its abdomen was exposed, surrounded by a ring of purplish-black flesh, clustering around the still-pulsating organs inside, like a blooming sea anemone. On its face, which vaguely resembled that of an adult male, its eyes were bloodshot and its mouth gaped open.

He seemed to be shouting something with all his might, yet silently, as if he were still in the last moment before his "death".

"Tell me," Tang Li couldn't help but ask quietly, "what is he shouting?"

"My God..." "You can still see the scar on his left cheek, it really is him." "A few years ago, I was a fan of this couple..." "What was his last sentence back then?" "I think it was... 'Leave?'"

"...Let's go, Jiajia, let's go."

Jiang Hui answered as if in a dream.

She gazed at the man before her, time seemed to stand still. He had cried out silently for so many years, until today, when he was discovered by them once again.

The voices from many years ago have finally reached their ears today.

"Let's go! Jiajia, let's go!"

the other side.

Qiu Wanting stared at the girl.

Zhuge Jiajia.

He had heard this name from many people, even though she had already perished in the dungeon before he was chosen by the eerie live stream.

They said, "Players shouldn't be foolish enough to look for their soulmate in dungeons; not everyone is Zhuge Jiajia or Liu Anbang."

Zhuge Jiajia and Liu Anbang.

This is a couple who vowed to be together in life and death. Zhuge Jiajia once lost half her face and three fingers to save Liu Anbang. Countless comments said that one would abandon the other sooner or later, until they calmly went to that machine that combines life and death together.

You're still alive, Zhuge Jiajia.

No wonder, you were holding hands with Liu Anbang at the critical moment of life and death, how could he bear to watch you walk towards death like that?

So...

Qiu Wanting looked again at the children singing the birthday song.

The list of experimental subjects stored on the USB drive, which I had seen from Tang Li and Jiang Hui, came to mind.

"Southern Xinjiang," he called out. His voice was soft, yet it could penetrate the children's singing.

The first baby who greeted them and guided them to hear the song raised his head.

"Zhuge Jiajia".

The girl, who had lost half her face and three fingers, gently closed her eyes.

"Liu Anbang." "Lu Qisheng." "Han Mengzhen." "Jiang Lin." "Chi Jiuting." "Song Chenyue." ...

One name after another was uttered clearly and gently from Qiu Wanting's lips, like awakening a long-forgotten dream.

The children's singing grew softer and softer, and their little faces turned to look at Qiu Wanting. The candlelight flickered gently, and their eyes reflected a gentle light.

Qiu Wanting read the list, following the one imprinted in her mind, over and over again.

He was born with a photographic memory, a tool he took for granted, yet he had never felt so fortunate about it.

Until this point.

Children of all ages stared at him, their faces a mixture of tears and laughter.

They raised their hands, one by one covering their mouths, tears welling in their eyes, and shook their heads at Qiu Wanting.

Stop talking. They told him not to utter that name again, not to disturb the old days.

But Qiu Wanting didn't care.

Until he called out the last name: Meng Wanwan.

A broken, furious voice abruptly interrupted everything.

"No, no! Where is Lu Qisheng?"

Lu Dapeng stood in the middle of the crowd, his bulging eyes frantically scanning the faces of all the children.

He strode toward the first infant leading the way—Nanjiang. Lu Dapeng, abandoning the gentleness of holding him in his arms when they fell, almost roughly grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air.

He shook him, his voice a mixture of anger and pleading.

"My brother isn't here! Didn't he go into the machine with you? You're still alive, so where is he? Where is he?!"