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

Dean's Office.

"This is what you meant by 'fully prepared for the Hundred Ghosts' Night Parade'?!"

Dean Lei Hong's face was gloomy. He was so angry that he was almost going crazy and could no longer maintain his calm and composed facade.

An unseen force grabbed Sun Ping by the collar, slamming him against the wall. He fell, knocking over a wine bottle, the bright red liquid gushing out. "The players have all left the instance! Not a single one of them died!"

Sun Ping coughed up blood, but an invisible rage forced him to straighten his back. He glared at Lei Hong with almost venomous anger: "Haven't I told you time and time again! Tang Li isn't your adult! Tang Li is just a complete, utter newbie player!"

"Your bunch of idiots are still believing in her!"

Sun Ping had never imagined he could hate someone so much. Tang Li, Tang Li, why are you always ruining my plans!

Lei Hong suddenly calmed down. He glanced at Sun Ping and said in a strange tone, "You mean... Tang Li isn't an adult, she's just a player."

"I don't know what scared you all so much," Sun Ping sneered, revealing bloodstained teeth, "but remember, those two veteran players next to her are both quite wealthy. If Tang Li displays any unusual abilities, it's just a tool they gave her!"

Lei Hong stood in the center of the dean's office, muttering, "If she's a player... she's clearly already explored all the rules, yet she won't leave the instance... is she trying to completely clear it?"

"The path to victory for the human faction," Sun Ping slowly read out the conditions for clearing the game from the medical manual, "to decipher the worldview of the Mysterious Private Hospital and fulfill the wishes of the dungeon boss."

The dungeon boss's...wish?

Lei Hong suddenly turned his head, his gloomy gaze falling on Liu Dan, the HR person, who was huddled in the corner, trembling.

"Where is Gu Xiaomei?"

at the same time.

Do you know where Gu Xiaomei is now?

A colossal machine sped past down the hospital corridor.

He was too big and too fast; even the eerie eyes couldn't keep up with him, only feeling that his legs were almost leaving afterimages.

But actually, it's because he has so many legs that it's impossible to count them with the naked eye.

On one of the legs covered in spikes, there was a bizarre figure with three noses, whose appearance could barely be described as that of a middle-aged man.

Tang Li, perched on the shoulders of the elevator repairman Spider, clutching his hair, peeked out despite the wind making it almost impossible for her to open her eyes, asking about the whereabouts of the strange Gu Xiaomei.

Three-Nosed gave a strange, cold laugh: "How would I know, sir?"

"What I mean is," Tang Li's tone turned serious, "you have so many noses, can't you smell your brother's scent?"

"Weren't you kneeling at my feet, tears streaming down your face, begging me to spare your brother's life?"

The three-nosed weirdo is Director Cao's younger brother. Tang Li doesn't know where Gu Xiaomei is, so she tries to find Gu Xiaomei indirectly by locating Director Cao, who has turned into a dried-up corpse doll and given to Gu Xiaomei.

"Don't mention my brother!" Three-Nosed roared eerily. It really was a deep brotherly bond. Tang Li had been pampered and coddled ever since entering the dungeon, and this was the first time she'd been yelled at by a weirdo; it felt rather novel.

"If you lead me to Gu Xiaomei," Tang Li said leisurely, patting Spider's head to stop him from stringing the three-nosed monster that offended "the adults" into candied hawthorns, "I will resurrect your brother."

The three-nosed creature suddenly looked up, its voice trembling, "R-really?"

"Of course it was just a pie in the sky," Tang Li chuckled. "Whether it's true or false, you don't have much of a choice, do you?"

"Lead the way," she ordered casually. "Spider, faster."

Tang Li felt a chill down her spine, and she had a feeling that the dean was about to catch up.

Without Jiang Hui by her side, she didn't have the ability to directly confront the dean.

Yes, at this moment, Tang Li was alone again.

Five minutes ago.

"We have detected signals from the original world of the instance at multiple locations." Nanjiang's youthful and clear voice rang out on the walkie-talkie, carrying an undisguised sense of unease.

"This is not a good thing," he added. "It means we have to make punctures at multiple points to completely open the path between the instance and the original world."

"What's the problem?" Jiang Hui asked. "After the players leave the instance, can you continue to defend against the monsters?"

"That's not a problem." Nanjiang patted Lu Qisheng, who was aiming precisely at his target, and gestured for him to change direction. He pursed his lips. "The problem is that we don't have enough strength and precision to pierce the weakest point of the dungeon."

"I'll handle this," Jiang Hui said succinctly. "Give me the coordinates."

"And, we lack reusable piercing items. The item tier requirements are extremely high... they need to be able to pierce through dungeons."

When he said this, Nanjiang could hardly suppress the despair in his voice: Most of these props are disposable, and it's good if you have one or two. How could there be special piercing props that can be reused multiple times?

"I have it," Qiu Wanting replied leisurely. "We'll come find you."

The curved surgical shears that Dr. Jiang lovingly provided, capable of cutting through the crickets' "fighting basin," are the core prop produced in this instance, and they are in his hands.

Therefore, Jiang Hui and Qiu Wanting went to the special coordinates to meet up with the Southern Frontier.

"I won't go," Tang Li said. "I have other things to do."

Qiu Wanting narrowed her eyes, as if she had guessed what Tang Li was going to do: "There's no need to do anything more."

"Gu Xiaoying's wish is clearly to get Nannan out of the hospital safely. If we can really open up the path between the instance and the original world, Gu Xiaoying, as the instance boss, will naturally be able to fulfill his wish."

"But," the words on the medical manual appeared before Tang Li's eyes, "the path to victory for the human faction includes fulfilling the wishes of the dungeon boss, and also deciphering the worldview of the mysterious private hospital."

"We now know the conspiracy behind the false advertising of the Ghostly Private Hospital, the operating mechanism of the 'Dream Come True' machine, and the children and 'Aquarium' on the second basement floor," Jiang Hui also said. "Having explored to this extent, the world-building is almost complete, and it's more than enough to pass the dungeon's judgment."

Tang Li pursed her lips and shook her head.

"No, there's still something I want to know." So what about Nannan? Where is Nannan hiding?

Tang Li thought, "Her phone is still with me. I have to see her eventually."

I want to tell her that she has done a great job and that she is the bravest person I have ever met.

And Gu Xiaoying, where is Gu Xiaoying hiding in some dark corner again?

After we clear the dungeon, we probably won't be able to meet again.

Ultimately, Tang Li thought to herself, I want to accompany them through this darkest part of the journey before dawn arrives.

"Okay," Jiang Hui said, without showing any surprise. "But Tang Li, even if we can handle the strange employees, the dean and Sun Ping, who are desperate, are still not to be trifled with."

"—Be prepared. Let's see if they're here to stop us, or to chase after you."

Tang Li cautiously leaped off the spider's back, which was trying its best to keep its body low.

The corridor was surprisingly empty, with no water or bloodstains.

In the middle of the empty corridor, a person sat.

She sat on the ground with her legs curled up, her arms wrapped around her calves, and her head buried in her knees, so her face was not visible.

"If this were a horror movie, I'd probably see something really terrifying when she looks up," Tang Li thought absentmindedly.

So, are you... Gu Xiaomei?

Tang Li tentatively approached.