Yin Xiu remained silent.
The voice continued, "Humans have accepted its existence, but you haven't. Are you even human?"
Are you more like a monster than it is?
Yin Xiu silently raised his knife, his voice still echoing.
"You've never been happy, so you want to destroy other people's happiness. You're like a monster."
Yin Xiu ignored the sound and thrust forward. In that instant, the beautiful head above the eyeballs, which had been closed, suddenly opened its eyes.
Its eyes revealed sharp teeth, and it uttered a low, sinister voice, "You are the monster! You are the monster among them!"
The enormous and beautiful entity burst as suddenly as a balloon being punctured the moment it met Yin Xiu's blade.
The entire snow-capped mountain vanished along with its existence, and everyone was instantly transported back to the mental hospital, back to that blood-soaked corridor.
At the same time, the dungeon's audio began to play.
[Congratulations to the player for clearing the dungeon: Anshi Mental Hospital]
[Dungeon completion rating: 5 stars.]
[Rating Analysis:]
Escape from the Hospital: Three Stars
Passing the game without medication: One star
Understanding Mental Hospitals: One Star
Five-star first clear player: Yin Xiu.
[Completion condition: Escape from the mental hospital.]
Hidden condition: Maintain mental stability and do not become engrossed in the dungeon.
As the dungeon notification sounded, a group of players gradually snapped out of their reverie. They remained stunned for a while, still caught up in the snowy mountain they had just left. Even though the exit from the dungeon was right next to them, their faces showed little joy, but rather regret and sorrow.
"We'll never see each other again..."
"Ah, I really want to go back to the snow-capped mountains."
"If I go back to this instance, will I see it again?"
Several people sat there sighing and looking worried. Ling Feng, who had come to his senses, said anxiously, "The snow mountain and all that was just an illusion. We've been stuck in the mental hospital the whole time, that's why we can't get out. Now that we've cleared the dungeon, let's hurry up and leave!"
But the players ignored them, just sitting there with their heads drooping, black bubbles gradually appearing on their skin and spreading all over their bodies.
"Wake up!" Ling Feng slapped them across the face in anger, but it was no use. He watched helplessly as the players gradually transformed from human figures into the black, twisted monsters they had initially seen in the hospital.
Zhong Mu murmured, "They didn't come to their senses, so they didn't clear the level and have turned into monsters."
The monsters in the snow mountain are the final influence of the entire mental hospital. Those who could not resist the influence all turned into monsters. What can truly kill players are those silent and invisible things.
Zhong Mu rubbed his head, realizing he had almost fallen for it too, but thankfully he ultimately chose to believe Brother Xiu.
Yin Xiu silently sheathed his sword, not saying much. In a normal dungeon, if you kill the dungeon boss, the other players can leave with you. But in this kind of dungeon, even if he kills the dungeon boss, some people will still be left inside. You can save the body, but you can't save the spirit.
"Boyfriend, are you leaving already?" Looking at the open dungeon gate next to him, Li Mo stood there steadily and said gently, "You should come in and find me quickly. I will wait for you."
Yin Xiu turned to look at him, thinking that Li Mo would be even more reluctant to part and would definitely cling to him for a while before letting him leave.
"Brother, you should come in and find me too!" Ya Ya immediately grabbed Yin Xiu's hand.
Yin Xiu nodded, then patted Ya Ya's head, turned to look at Li Mo, and waved to him.
Li Mo walked over quickly, and as he got closer, he was still sticky. The two of them lingered around Yin Xiu, reluctant to leave.
"I'll come in and find you as soon as possible." Yin Xiu recalled his memories, and now the desire to enter the instance was more urgent than ever before.
Staying in the town, he idly fished by himself, but when he entered the instance, someone would be waiting for him.
His entire life has gone completely against the norm, but he doesn't care.
"Actually, there's no need to come in so quickly. Your boyfriend can rest for a bit," Li Mo said with a smile.
"Don't you want me to come in and find you?" Yin Xiu was a little confused, thinking that Li Mo wanted to see him more eagerly than he did.
"Yes!" Li Mo answered without hesitation, but beneath her burning gaze lay rational clarity. "But my boyfriend can't see me so often right now; he needs to rest."
His fixed gaze on Yin Xiu made Yin Xiu understand something.
As expected, Li Mo noticed the abnormality in himself and was afraid that he might exacerbate Yin Xiu's transformation.
"It's okay, I'll recover once I leave the instance." Yin Xiu patted his hair reassuringly, "and then I'll come see you soon."
Before leaving, Li Mo took out the bouquet of flowers he had brought when he came in from his mouth and handed it to Yin Xiu, saying, "Remember to miss me, boyfriend."
Yin Xiu held the flowers and remained silent for a moment. Standing in front of the gate to leave the dungeon, he looked at the two non-humans standing there holding hands. He seemed to want to stay in the dungeon so that they wouldn't have to keep parting and meeting again.
"Brother Xiu is leaving." Zhong Mu pulled Yin Xiu along as they stepped through the gate to leave the instance.
This time, Night Goddess forcibly dragged Brother Xiu into the instance. In addition, he couldn't see the comments along the way and didn't know the situation in the town. He was always uneasy and wanted to go back as soon as possible.
The two of them passed through the gate leading out of the instance and entered the white mist.
Normally, they would eventually make it back to town by walking, but today the white mist dissipated as they walked, and what appeared before them was not town, but a pitch-black door.
"Brother Xiu... what... what's going on?" Zhong Mu stared at the unfamiliar door in front of him, somewhat nervous.
"I don't know either." Yin Xiu was unfamiliar with this door; it was a door he had never seen before. As expected, Lady Ye wouldn't give up easily.
But now they had no choice but to go in, so they pushed open the door in front of them.
Zhong Mu dared not move, so Yin Xiu went up and pushed the door open.
Surprisingly, what lay behind the door wasn't some strange place, but the small town they were heading to. Yin Xiu and Zhong Mu returned to the alleyway they had entered the dungeon from.
Just as Zhong Mu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly realized that the town was slightly different from before.
The sky over the town was pitch black at that moment, and there wasn't a single light in the entire alley. It was quiet and gloomy, making people feel uneasy.
According to Ye Tianxuan's plan for the town, even at night, there will still be people in the town responsible for recording the dungeon runs, so there will definitely be people awake.
The town is now eerily silent, without a sound, which is somewhat unsettling.
It's as if no one lives here.
Zhong Mu looked around with some alarm, not daring to make a sound. The place he knew well now felt strangely unfamiliar. He carefully took a small step and groped his way to the wall in the darkness.
A viscous liquid stuck to Zhong Mu's palm, startling him. But almost simultaneously, a voice rang in their minds.
[Welcome to the instance: Rules Town.]