Chapter 10: The Fourth Floor of the Sanatorium

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The resentment clinging to Wolf was very well concealed. Wu Chang had noticed nothing when he first entered the office. It was only after the two of them entered the pharmaceutical cavern, when Wolf revealed his true form, that the resentment around him became visible.

Its presence was exceedingly subtle, hovering between pale red and crimson. This indicated that its owner harbored an obsession, though not a particularly strong one.

The blood-red final words within the resentment flickered in and out of sight. Wu Chang spent considerable effort before he could finally make out their contents.

The owner of the resentment surrounding Wolf had been a Stalker. Not only had he located the pharmacy, he had also used some sort of skill to pass directly through the door and enter it.

Perhaps because he had skipped the step of “opening the door,” the danger Doctor Charles had sensed never appeared.

The Stalker hid in the shadows, silently observing Wolf.

After witnessing Wolf finish processing all the medical records in the office, then send them to the surface through the doctor on underground duty, he watched as Wolf changed into a special robe and entered the office’s hidden door.

Beyond the door stood an altar. Upon it was a stone idol bearing a symbol: a crescent-shaped eye, identical to the design carved into the Wayfarer’s Talisman.

Wolf prostrated himself before it, worshiping the symbol with devout reverence.

Upon discovering all this, the Stalker excitedly broke out of stealth, evidently wishing to say something. But before he could open his mouth, Wolf—having realized that his secret had been exposed—transformed into a monster and drove a sharp, insect-like limb into the Stalker’s mouth.

A single, lethal strike.

Wu Chang watched this scene over and over again.

Putting himself in the Stalker’s place, he realized that even if he knew Wolf was about to attack—and knew exactly when the attack would come—he still would not have been able to see it clearly, much less evade it.

Damn. Within seven steps, the fist really was faster.

Just from Wolf’s transformed physique, it was obvious that his health bar would be anything but short.

He had both overwhelming attack power and immense vitality. With Wu Chang’s current attributes, even with Silver Dawn in hand, defeating Wolf through brute force was unrealistic.

He would have to find another way.

As he pondered, the blood-red final words within the resentment stabilized.

[The Prophet has received a divine revelation: the Gold of Curses lies on the second underground level of Moonlight Sanatorium! For the return of the Lord, it must be found.]

A player actually worshiped the same god as the dungeon’s villain. Things were becoming more and more interesting.

Wu Chang had no idea what the Gold of Curses was, so he did not rush to complete the blood-red final words. Instead, he concealed the information.

Wolf saw that Wu Chang was distracted. He did not attempt much conversation, merely offering him a few suggestions before allowing him to leave.

After Wu Chang departed the pharmacy, Wolf returned to human form and went back to the office, where he opened the hidden door the Stalker had previously discovered.

Kneeling before the altar, he devoutly recited:

“The sacrifice is about to begin. The descent of the god is ordained. This is Heaven’s will, and nothing can stop it.”

Wu Chang left the pharmacy without continuing his exploration of the sanatorium. He chose to return to his room.

Lying on the bed, he organized the clues he had uncovered that night.

The highest form of lying was to mix nine truths with one falsehood: selectively reveal certain truths, then insert a lie at the most crucial point.

The story Wolf had told about White Stone Town was probably genuine. The mastermind behind everything being the Church of Serenity was likely true as well.

But the truth behind the delusional disorder—and Wolf’s request that he “awaken” Dean Randy—must conceal another purpose.

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His suspicion of Wolf stemmed not only from the Stalker’s resentment. As the story drew to a close, Wolf had used the act of scratching himself as cover to “accidentally” tear the white coat he was wearing.

The Admission Guidelines had stated that patients could trust what the medical staff said within the sanatorium—but only those wearing white uniforms were medical personnel.

Assuming that medical personnel were bound by some rule forbidding them from saying anything that might harm or deceive patients, then Wolf’s tearing of his white coat was a signal that he was about to lie.

Reasoning backward from that, Wolf could not “awaken” Dean Randy—or at least, he could not do so easily.

There was one thing Wu Chang still could not understand. Patients disappeared from the sanatorium every few days. An entire group of rotting, mutated humanoids was confined to the underground wards. Simply stepping outside one’s room for a stroll at night could result in being reduced to minced meat.

The sanatorium had already become this horrifying, yet their dean still had not discovered the existence of supernatural forces. Was his faith in materialism not a little too firm?

Gazing at the half-bright sky outside the window, he yawned. He had done more than enough for one day. Everything else could wait until he woke up.

Wu Chang opened his eyes again to the sound of knocking at the door.

He stretched and felt refreshed from head to toe.

With physical attributes nearly twice those of an ordinary person, his sleep quality was absurdly good. Just one or two hours of sleep were enough to ease an entire day’s fatigue.

A beautiful day began with Nurse Julie standing outside his door the moment he opened it.

“Good morning, Miss Julie.”

Julie entered the room and looked around. Surprise and unease surfaced in her eyes, as if she had discovered something.

“What is it?” Wu Chang asked tentatively. When it came to mystery, this beautiful “friendly NPC” was inferior to no one.

“Nothing. Hurry up, or you’ll be late for your consultation.” Julie hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said nothing.

As was customary, before taking part in any activities, patients had to visit the examination room to have their condition checked and receive that day’s special medication.

Dr. Charles, who was responsible for patients with mild symptoms, looked even more haggard than he had the previous night.

His eye sockets were deeply sunken, his dark circles even heavier than before, and his eyeballs were webbed with blood vessels. Near his pupils were even patches of blood, making him look as though he—not Wu Chang—had spent the entire night investigating.

Mentally exhausted and exceptionally irritable, Dr. Charles snatched up a packet of special medication and slapped it down in front of Wu Chang. As Wu Chang reached for it, Charles seized him by the collar. Staring at his radiant face, he asked jealously:

“Sleep well last night?”

When Charles grabbed him by the collar, Wu Chang pretended to panic. He braced one hand against the table and slapped its surface, creating a conspicuous noise.

“Thanks to the special medication, I had a wonderful dream.”

“A wonderful dream?” Charles repeated strangely. Then he asked, “What did you dream about?”

“Huh?” Wu Chang pretended not to understand.

“I asked what you—” Dr. Charles was about to continue questioning him when Julie, having heard the noise, entered the examination room.

Charles seemed wary of Julie’s presence. He released Wu Chang’s collar and snorted.

“Get lost!”

Wu Chang straightened his collar and followed Julie out of the examination room.

Standing at the doorway, Julie asked meaningfully, “Do you still remember the Admission Guidelines?”

“Of course.”

“Then is there anything you want to tell me?”

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“Not for now.”

“Oh.”

Because Jindun had disappeared, Wu Chang was temporarily out of danger and could move freely around the activity room.

As the man who had exposed Jindun’s cheating tricks and avenged everyone, he was welcomed by the other patients.

With that foundation of goodwill, he quickly blended into their group.

Blending in was easy. Extracting information was not.

Under the influence of the delusional disorder, every patient was unnaturally agitated, as though fleeing from something. They would often be speaking halfway through a sentence when they suddenly began to tremble and crawled beneath a table. Others clutched their heads and wept, or even searched for sharp objects with which to harm themselves.

Only the special medication could relieve their symptoms.

But after taking it, they transformed into addicts high out of their minds. Their eyes grew hazy, their speech became incoherent, and from time to time they muttered to themselves while staring into empty air.

By the end of the day, Wu Chang had obtained almost no useful information and had nearly been driven insane himself.

He did not know whether the delusional disorder was truly contagious or whether he had inhaled the powder from the special medication clinging to the other patients. But sometime near dusk, he turned his head toward the setting sun—and, at the corner of his eye, caught a fleeting glimpse of a white angel.

No. He had to speed up his progress through the dungeon.

That night, carrying the Wayfarer’s Talisman, he headed toward the sanatorium’s fourth floor.

His daytime efforts had not been entirely fruitless. Combining the patients’ fragmented descriptions with Wolf’s story, he had roughly pieced together the plot surrounding White Stone Town.

The Vino family that had come to invest in White Stone Town truly existed, as did the Church of Serenity. The church really was recognized by the kingdom as a dangerous organization, and many of the townspeople had indeed joined it.

Of the fewer than twenty people in the activity room, seven patients had become so high after taking their medication that they draped their arms around Wu Chang’s shoulders and loudly preached to him:

“Brother Sean, don’t worry about the delusional disorder. As long as you join the church, the god will grant us eternal serenity. If you’re interested, come find me tomorrow. I’ll take you to meet the priest.”

After every bout of preaching, the patients never failed to shout:

“We’re a secret church, so don’t tell anyone! If the kingdom finds out, we’ll be nailed to the stake and burned alive!”

The Church of Serenity had infiltrated the sanatorium with such intensity that, just as Wolf had said, the entire institution had fallen under its control.

Therefore, Wu Chang had to ascertain the dean’s condition. Whatever Wolf was plotting, the dean was the key to clearing the dungeon.

He made his way to the fourth floor and used the red key to open the heavy iron door leading there. The moment he entered the corridor, the sight before him made his brows knit tightly.

Unlike the patients, the medical staff were not quietly remaining in their rooms. Eight or nine people in white uniforms wandered through the corridor like sleepwalkers.

While sleepwalking, they frantically tore at their white uniforms, trying to escape from them. But the uniforms had come alive, tightening and wrapping around them like pythons as they resisted the medical staff’s struggles.

Just as Wu Chang was wondering what kind of performance this was supposed to be, a sinister voice sounded behind him.

“Sean, tell me—what are you dreaming about now?”

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