The other players didn't try to stop Yin Xiu from leaving, but just stared at his back thoughtfully. "That must be Yin Xiu. The one behind him is obviously a newbie."
"Yes, it's good that we know he's Yin Xiu. Let's not bother him for now."
When will we do what Lady Ye instructed us to do?
"We'll see how it goes. Just keep an eye on his movements."
Yin Xiu led Zhong Mu to the front desk of the mental area, where a smiling nurse was standing. Several players who had arrived earlier were standing at the front desk trying to talk to the nurse and get some information from her.
But no matter what they asked, the nurse smiled and replied, "I'm sorry, your question is outside my jurisdiction, and I cannot answer it."
Several players muttered amongst themselves when they couldn't get any information from the NPC. It was the first time they'd encountered an NPC they couldn't get any information out of. Something must be wrong.
After pondering for two seconds, Yin Xiu pulled Zhong Mu forward and immediately pushed the players standing there aside.
When the nurse saw them, she first glanced at the blue bands on their wrists, then smiled and asked, "Two patients from the psychiatric ward, is there anything I can help you with?"
Yin Xiu stood at the front desk, glancing at the items on the table as he said to the nurse, "I lost my medication. Could I come here to get a replacement?"
The nurse was stunned, and Zhong Mu was also stunned. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that the big boss was lying.
The nurse looked surprised. "You lost your medication? Are you feeling alright now?"
Yin Xiu frowned and shook his head. "I don't feel well."
The nurse became anxious and quickly opened the door to a consultation room next to the front desk. "Then come in with me right away and have a look."
When she opened the door, the players around her were all stunned.
That's true. They are patients, so they don't necessarily have to be so blatant in trying to extract information. They can just pretend to fit the background.
However, the dungeon has only just begun, and someone has already lost their medicine. Doesn't the nurse have any suspicions?
Judging from her anxious appearance, the medicine seemed to be very important to the patient.
Before entering the consultation room, Yin Xiu gestured to Zhong Mu at the front desk before going in with the nurse.
There was only one nurse at the front desk. She left with Yin Xiu, so the players can now properly search the table for any information.
Zhong Mu immediately nodded in understanding, revealing a knowing look in his eyes. The players who noticed the situation were also watching closely, as they could also take the opportunity to gather information.
Yin Xiu followed the nurse into the examination room. There were many medical instruments there, and the medicine cabinet was filled with white medicine bottles without any labels, densely packed throughout the cabinet.
There were some hospital beds in the corner, with some patients lying on them. They all had their eyes closed peacefully, seemingly asleep. Yin Xiu came in without making a sound.
Yin Xiu glanced at the hospital beds and noticed a form posted on the wall of the examination room. While the nurse went to get the medicine, he went over and took a look.
[Mental Illness Detection Level:]
Level 1 symptoms: The hospital appears clean, but occasionally distorted objects and blurry shadows appear in the field of vision.
Patients can take medication to alleviate symptoms.
Secondary symptoms: Seeing people around them as bloody corpses, red vision, headaches, tinnitus, and occasional dizziness.
The patient is still curable; attention should be paid to his mental state and the dosage of medication should be increased.
Level 3 symptoms: hallucinations may occur, and there may be an uncontrollable urge to attack those around the person.
—When a patient enters a critical period, they need to be handcuffed and gagged to ensure that they will not harm others during treatment, and medication will be administered by force.
Level 4 symptoms: Completely disobeying staff and attacking staff.
—The patient is in extremely dangerous condition. Stop medication and immediately transfer them to the mental health ward.
Yin Xiu silently memorized all of this. According to the rules and the description of mental states, the mental district seemed to be a very dangerous place, inhabited by extremely dangerous patients, and a place that ordinary players should try to avoid entering.
But under what circumstances would it become so severe that one needs to be admitted to the mental health ward, whether medication cannot alleviate the condition or if one continues to refuse medication?
Yin Xiu turned around thoughtfully. The moment his gaze shifted from the sheet on the wall, his heart suddenly pounded violently. The scene before him quickly turned crimson. The clean ground subtly changed, becoming bright red, as if blood clots and chunks of flesh were kneaded together, overflowing with red liquid.
Yin Xiu stared silently, the reddish image before him blurring his vision. He turned his head and saw that the patients who had been sleeping peacefully on the beds in the examination room had all changed.
They sat on the bed, incessantly dismembering their own bodies with knives, their expressions crazed, muttering in their sleep. Blood stained the entire bed, but they continued without expression, their eyes unfocused, as if they felt no pain, immersed in their own world.
"What's wrong?" The nurse asked, puzzled, when she saw Yin Xiu staring at the hospital bed.
Yin Xiu turned his head and his gaze fell on the nurse, a fleeting look of confusion in his eyes.
The nurse who had stood at the front desk with a straight face and a smile just moments before was now a changed woman, just like the patients. Her body was mangled, her nurse's uniform was stained with blood, her body was covered in cuts, her face was rotting, and chunks of flesh were hanging precariously, a horrifying sight.
This is... a level two symptom?
When the nurse asked him, Yin Xiu shook his head without flinching. "It's nothing."
"You don't look too well. May I ask what the hospital... or me, looks like to you right now?" The nurse tentatively took two steps closer to him, blood trickling from her empty eye sockets.
Faced with a bloodied and mangled face, Yin Xiu calmly replied, "An ordinary appearance."
The nurse let out a low, sinister laugh, as if the sound was leaking from her throat. "You can't lie to medical staff."
Yin Xiu's eyes were cold. "What else could it be?"
Rule 3: Our hospital has a different style than other hospitals. If you see blood clots, distorted staff members, or blurry patients in the hospital, please remain calm, do not shout or panic. This is all normal.
Since the rules say this is normal, then he will accept it as normal.
Rule 1 tells players how to suppress this state, while Rule 3 unintentionally tells players how to react when they encounter the situation.
The correct approach is to not be afraid when encountering mental instability and to take medication directly, but Yin Xiu doesn't want to take it right now.
"If the hospital you're visiting is just a regular one, then there's nothing to worry about. I'm just concerned about your condition." The nurse smiled and handed over a medicine bottle.
"Here, take your medicine. Don't lose it again. If you feel unwell, take two pills first."
The nurse placed the medicine bottle into Yin Xiu's hand, leaving no room for refusal.
The medicine bottle was open, and he could clearly see that it didn't contain white pills, but rather moving eyeballs squeezed into the small bottle.
This... is the medicine Zhong Mu took before?