Abandoned Hospital

Ward 301 was filled with the distinctive scent of decay emanating from the elderly, mixed with the smell of disinfectant.

The patient, named Mr. Chen, was emaciated, staring blankly at the ceiling with cloudy eyes. He was confused and unable to communicate effectively.

Shi Mo briefly checked the room and found only a few torn pieces of old medical records in the gap of the bedside table, with the words "exorbitant treatment costs" heavily smeared in black ink.

The daytime routine proceeded smoothly.

At six in the morning and noon, Shi Mo went to the nurses' station on time to collect the pills, which were pre-packaged in small white paper packets, and fed them to the elderly man who was unable to swallow on his own. The nurse on duty at the nurses' station also had a stiff face and mechanical movements, and did not say a word when handing over the medicine.

The atmosphere was even more eerie during the afternoon activities.

The activity room was filled with a variety of "patients" and their "medical staff." The candidates carefully looked after their patients, exchanging limited information with each other through glances and whispers.

"My patient keeps pointing at the wall and saying there's someone there..."

"It's quiet here, but the gazes are terrifying."

"What about rules three and four at night?"

"I don't know, let's just take it one step at a time..."

No one dared to easily trust others; the brutality of the B-level dungeon kept everyone on edge.

Night fell as expected.

After administering the last medication at 6 PM, the candidates returned to their patients' wards. As the clock struck 10 PM, an invisible pressure enveloped the entire hospital.

"Click".

"Click".

The continuous clicking of doors locking echoed clearly in the hallway. Rule Three came into effect.

Shi Mo locked the door to room 301, leaving only him and the elderly man on the bed with weak breathing inside.

Outside the window, it was pitch black; there was no chirping of insects or birds, only a deathly silence, and... a faint sound coming from the depths of the corridor, like something scraping against the ground.

Time passed slowly and oppressively, gradually approaching midnight.

As midnight approached, slight noises began to rise in the corridor. These were from the candidates who had chosen to follow Rule Four and risk going out to retrieve their medication.

Shi Mo could hear the door to the next ward, 302, opening and closing softly, as well as the faint, suppressed footsteps coming from afar.

"Damn it, let's go for it!" a rough male voice roared, accompanied by hurried footsteps fading into the distance.

"Be careful..." another female voice warned, trembling.

Clearly, not everyone dared to take the risk. Shi Mo could sense that at least five or six ward doors remained tightly closed, and the candidates inside had chosen to adhere to Rule Three.

As the clock hands struck twelve, Shi Mo opened the door to room 301 without hesitation.

Outside the door, the scene had changed.

A thick, chilling black fog permeated the corridor, reducing visibility to less than five meters. The already dim lights became even more bleak and flickering in the fog. A strange stench of rust and decay filled the air.

As Shi Mo stepped into the corridor, he heard a piercing cry, as if countless wronged souls were wailing. At the same time, the scenery before him began to distort, the corridor seemed to stretch endlessly, and the room numbers on both sides became blurred.

A ghost wall? A low-level illusion.

A hint of disdain flashed in Shi Mo's eyes. His above-average mental strength was as solid as a rock, and these mental disturbances were like a gentle breeze across a hill, having no effect on him. He ignored the auditory hallucinations and distorted visions, and relying on his memory and sense of direction, he walked straight towards the nurses' station.

"Doctor...Doctor...Save me..." A dark figure dressed in a hospital gown, whose face was obscured, suddenly rushed out of the mist and reached out a withered hand to grab Shi Mo.

This wasn't one of his patients. Rule Six required fulfilling the patient's requests as much as possible, but at this moment... Shi Mo didn't even lift an eyelid, easily dodging to the side. The dark figure missed its target, letting out a frustrated roar before dissipating into the mist.

"Ah—!" A short scream came from not far away, accompanied by the sound of something being dragged. It seemed that a candidate had failed to resist the temptation of the auditory hallucination or the shadowy figure, violated the unknown rules, and was instantly swallowed up.

Shi Mo remained unfazed and continued walking. Soon, the outline of the nurses' station appeared in the mist. The night shift nurse, her face stiff, still stood there, like a statue. In front of her were several glass bottles filled with a dark red, viscous liquid.

Shi Mo stepped forward and announced the ward number: "301, to collect the nutritional supplements."

The nurse mechanically picked up a bottle of "nutrient solution" and handed it over. The bottle was cold to the touch, and the liquid inside swayed slightly, like congealed blood.

Having obtained the item, Shi Mo turned and returned.

On the way back, he clearly sensed that the doors of the closed wards of the candidates who hadn't left were being repeatedly struck by some invisible, immense force, emitting dull "thump-thump" sounds, and the doors were shaking violently, as if they would be broken open at any moment. However, when Shi Mo returned to the door of ward 301, those doors remained intact.

He quickly slipped into room 301 and locked the door again.

Almost the instant he locked the door, the invisible impact and the pervasive black mist outside receded like a tide, and the corridor quickly returned to (relative) calm, leaving only his own steady breathing and the faint snoring of the old man on the bed.

The first midnight test is over.

Of those who choose to venture out, some succeed, while others disappear forever.

Those who chose to stay inside, despite experiencing a terrifying impact, seemed to find that the door did indeed provide a degree of "absolute security."

The contradiction between Rule 3 and Rule 4, in their first clash, seems to subtly point to the fact that Rule 3 (locking the door at night and not going out) may be the real protection, while Rule 4 (getting medicine at midnight) is more like a deadly trap to screen participants.

Surviving candidates: 19.

Shi Mo stared intently at the viscous, dark red "nutrient solution" in his hand.

Is this stuff really for patients to drink?

He casually placed the bottle on the bedside table, not intending to feed it to the old man immediately. He needed more information to unravel the many mysteries surrounding the hospital.