Rhodes Island does not exist.

“The video you just replayed.” The doctor raised his arm and pointed weakly at the screen suspended by the drone. “Play that video again, the one played at 512x speed.”

"Hmm? Ah, okay, okay." The locked circuit immediately did as the doctor instructed.

The image reappeared on the screen.

“But this time, not 512 times.” After catching his breath, the doctor immediately spoke to the locked circuit, “This time, we don’t need it.”

"Don't you want it?" The locking circuit tilted its head. "Then how many times?"

"No matter how many times... I don't want it." The doctor closed his eyes and gently shook his head. "One or two times is enough."

"Why did it suddenly stop accelerating?" The locked circuit was curious about the doctor's changes, and at the same time, she was also curious about what the doctor had just experienced. She couldn't wait to hear the doctor tell the truth himself.

“Because I saw the key parts of that video…or rather, heard them,” the doctor said. “Just as Skadi and I were about to turn around and leave for the supermarket, that 512x speed audio reached my ears.”

"You mean, that sound was the main reason you fainted?" Skadi asked.

"Fainting...is that how you see it?" The doctor gave a wry smile.

"So what's actually the case?" the locked circuit inquired with concern.

“Actually, it’s much more serious than fainting.” The doctor’s eyes lost their light, like a dead fish thrown on the beach, and he murmured, “You know what? I saw my former self.”

Skadi and the locking loop both fell silent.

Their silence stemmed from not knowing how to respond to the doctor's question.

"I saw myself arrive at Rhodes Island, see and learn about everything from the very beginning, and even participate in the bizarre massacre on the fourth floor."

Seeing that the two of them remained silent, the doctor continued speaking on his own.

“Those scenes seemed so real to me, it was as if I were doing them myself.” The doctor’s gaze drifted through the air, as if he had not yet recovered from the shock he had just experienced. “In that scene, I reached my hand into a strange body and crushed its heart, and I could feel it the whole time… Even now, I can still feel that strange slime on my fingers.”

"So, what exactly did you hear in that 512x speed video?" Skadi asked.

“I…” The doctor took a deep breath and then looked at the hanging display screen. “I heard my own voice.”

"Even with the sound compressed at that speed, you still managed to distinguish it?" The closed circuit was quite surprised.

She hadn't expected that the doctor could actually get the information he wanted from that accelerated playback.

“Because it was my own voice, it felt especially intimate.” The doctor slowly lowered his head, gazing at the floor hidden by the tablecloth, and murmured, “And after hearing that incredibly familiar voice, I was immediately drawn into that experience of the past.”

"Wait, let me see, where am I..."

Listening to the doctor's words, Skadi turned her gaze to the display screen.

On the screen, which was divided into six sections, everything was as silent as a tomb.

"What are you looking for?" the locked circuit asked.

“Details of these six exits,” Skadi replied. “If someone had ever been here, one of these six locations would certainly have been altered, but there are no signs of alteration yet, which means no one has been here.”

"Why do you see it that way?" the locked circuit asked again.

“Since the Doctor only heard the sound but didn’t see the screen, I thought maybe he had already been here before the sound was made, but it doesn’t seem so at the moment,” Skadi said, staring at the screen.

“No need to keep an eye on him.” The doctor shook his head. “Footsteps make noise too. In this almost absolutely quiet environment, I can hear even the slightest rustling sound, so there’s no need to keep an eye on him.”

“Alright then,” Skadi conceded to the Doctor. “But what if you hear that sound again and find yourself in the same situation as before?”

"It shouldn't happen again." The doctor shook his head. "Although I don't know why, I have a feeling that the same thing will only happen once."

"Once?" Skadi asked.

“Yes, the same sound or scene can only trigger a memory once,” the doctor replied. “Although I don’t know where the basis for this comes from, I always have this feeling.”

“Then I think it’s probably not a feeling,” Skadi said, looking at the doctor, “but rather information from your memories.”

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you dchy沐恩之魇sptzer for the monthly pass, thank you.

Chapter 243, Part 241: Awakening from a Fleeting Dream

The doctor's figure first appeared in the upper right corner of the screen.

He carried a bloodstained pickaxe, strolled leisurely from the edge of the screen to the center, then looked up and glanced in the direction of the camera.

That's the connection point between the sixth and seventh floors.

And it was only his first time there that he saw the eyes lurking in the corner of the sixth floor.

No, that's probably not surprising.

After all, even the current PhD can do this, and he is only a degraded version of himself compared to the original.

But this is not important.

Whether the doctor could see the camera or not was irrelevant; what mattered was that after he looked up and saw it, he slowly opened his mouth, which had been hidden in the shadow of his hood.

"See no evil."

The four characters slowly traveled through the camera's audio feed to the ears of the viewer on the other side of the screen.

And that voice was all too familiar to them.

—What reason would they have not to be familiar with it?

Staring at himself on the screen, the doctor's cheeks were covered in cold sweat.

"So you really have been here before." The locked loop compared the two doctors on and off the screen, its expression showing nothing but surprise. "But what did you do here? Why do I have absolutely no recollection of you?"

“No, I don’t know either.” The doctor shook his head, his eyes glued to the screen as if nailed to it. “But when I woke up, there was leftover food and water in the room, and that food and water clearly came from somewhere.”

"Ah, then perhaps he came here to retrieve supplies." The closed circuit murmured thoughtfully.

“But I couldn’t find the same brand of goods as the compressed biscuits he… no, the same brand as the ones he left behind in the supermarket here.” The doctor shook his head. “However, Skadi said there are other small shops around here. Do you know where they are?”

“Ah, I know that.” The closed loop answered seriously, not with a joking smile. “There are indeed one or two old convenience stores in the outermost area on the sixth floor, but has she been here before? Maybe I was distracted by the Reaper when she came.”

“Furthermore,” the voice of the locked circuit suddenly deepened.

This is a sign that she has switched personalities.

“You just said you couldn’t find the same brand of compressed biscuits as the ones you left behind.” She stared at the doctor and slowly said, “So you brought those leftover biscuits with you? Can I take a look? Maybe I can give you the answer.”

"it is good."

The doctor nodded and reached into his coat pocket.

The sudden personality shift of the locked-loop system drew his attention away from the screen.

"rustle--"

The sound of the plastic sheeting was like flames crackling and scattering in a pile of firewood, and the remaining half of the compressed biscuit was the food scraps lying in the firewood, burned to charcoal.

"This brand...?" Closed Circuit took the food from the Doctor's hand, then slightly curled the corners of its mouth.

It was a slightly unusual expression, making it impossible to discern whether it was joy or sorrow.

"What's wrong?" Upon hearing the question from the resident on the sixth floor, the doctor immediately followed, afraid of missing any important information.

"It's strange, but there really isn't this brand of compressed biscuits on the sixth floor." Closed Circuit shook its head, its eyeless face filled with confusion.

It even gives people the feeling of "How could she have such an expression?"

"So you mean that the food I'm holding now, and the food I received at the beginning, didn't come from here?" The doctor himself found this answer unbelievable.

“Hmm.” Locked Circuit nodded. “However, my knowledge of Rhodes Island is limited to the sixth floor, so I’m not very clear about the situation in other places, and I can’t guarantee whether there are shops-like places in other places as well.”

"You...you're right." Since the woman in front of him had said so, the doctor naturally had no room to say anything and could only agree.

After all, these supplies can't just appear out of thin air, can they?

"However, if you didn't come here for supplies, then what were you here for? Or let me ask you another question—what exactly did you do when you came to the sixth floor?"

Skadi glanced at the Doctor, who was gradually disappearing at the edge of the screen, and asked.

"Regarding this issue, we can only continue to investigate." The doctor's gaze turned to the locked circuit. "Could you please try to find recordings from other perspectives?"

“It’s found.” The locked circuit nodded. “I’ll switch the view directly.”

"gratitude."

-

The next scene shows the former PhD student constantly moving through the streets on the sixth floor.

As an observer, the doctor noticed that the scene on the screen was still completely empty. The streetscapes lining both sides of the road were almost identical to those he had seen when he first arrived, except that they were newer.

However, as mentioned in the closed circuit, the former six floors were filled with many strange things.

And those strange people were all her friends.

Could it be that the timing is wrong? When the Doctor was wandering around here, none of her friends had come out yet?

"no."

At this moment, the interlocking circuit next to him seemed to understand the doctor's thoughts and answered directly before he could even ask the question.

“I could feel the information coming from the screen… those strange things were already there back then.”

"They already exist, does that mean they're right here on this street?" the doctor asked.

He still couldn't see any figure.

“Yes, but you can’t see them.” The closed loop’s tone became complicated. “Because they are all desperately hiding, trying not to be discovered by the visitor in the coat.”

"So, because the Doctor came, they all hid their bodies?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"Hmm, look at the bloodstained pickaxe in your hand on the screen and the murderous aura emanating from you." The corners of Locked Circuit's mouth gradually turned from an upturned crescent to a downturned crescent. "In that intense atmosphere, those harmless monsters on the sixth floor could barely breathe, so they had no choice but to escape or stay away."

"In short, they just can't come face to face with me," the doctor thought for a moment and said.

"That's right. To use an analogy that a normal person can understand—when you go out for a walk and suddenly see a huge man with a sharp knife, covered in blood, and with a fierce expression walking towards you, what would you do?" Closed Circuit asked.

"I imagine there are very few options suitable for this situation," the doctor said with a wry smile. "It's either run away, fight, or hide."

“That’s right, so they made the same choice as you just said.” The locked loop sat upright in its chair, its smile as usual.

Chapter 244, Part 242: Calmly Leaping Through the Waves

The monsters' bodies trembled.

They huddled together, seemingly seeking warmth despite the normal temperature.

Looking back now, this method of keeping warm was indeed a way to keep warm.

After all, body temperature can be regulated, but if the temperature of the heart cools down, it is difficult to warm it up again.

"puff."

However, even when people band together for mutual support, mistakes can happen.

As the doctor prepared to leave, a bizarrely shaped creature that walked on tentacles that grew from its feet fell from above, clutching a piece of white paper covered in graffiti in its hand.

"Oh?"

Its movements clearly startled the doctor who was walking ahead, causing him to turn around and take a look.

"Puff puff puff puff—"

That single glance almost instantly triggered all of its strange nerves, which were designed to sense danger, causing it to frantically retreat to safety as if it were seeing a hunter pouncing on it.

However, its legs are not good at running. Its slimy limbs with suckers are too slow in this situation. Not only can it not retreat, but its numerous limbs also become its weakness at this time.

So it could only watch helplessly as the doctor turned around and slowly walked toward it, like an executioner on an execution ground.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The rhythmic thud of heels against the ground signaled the Doctor's advance toward the lone oddity.

“Gululululu——”

The chaotic tentacles pounded the ground; the monster was losing control of its body and only wanted to escape the doctor's sight.

"No, no, no! My friend, my friend is going to be killed by you—!"

Outside the screen, the closed loop, which had been observing, suddenly reverted to its original form and protested to the doctor in front of it with an unreasonable, tearful voice.

However, anyone with a modicum of common sense can probably see that her accusations are completely unfounded.

But now is not the time to dwell on off-screen opinions. On the screen, the Doctor, radiating an overwhelming aura of murderous intent, is gradually approaching the lone, strange creature. Even the Doctor himself now feels a touch of fear for his former self.

Unexpectedly, the long-lost sense of fear actually originated from himself. Thinking of this, the doctor couldn't help but shake his head.