585 Medicine

 

Boss stared at the notice board, his eyes fixated on the old picture. The background of the picture was one of the wards. It looked very familiar.

“Hmm?” Boss leaned closer and realized there were several bloody footprints inside the picture. They looked similar to the ones they found underneath the bandages.

“The bloody footprints on the corridor have gone into the picture?” Boss’ face was almost touching the board. He used his fingers to touch the bloody footprints. His fingertips felt sticky, like he was really touching blood. Boss jumped away from the board and rubbed his hands on his shirt. He turned to Da Yu.

The lights flickered. When the lights went out, Boss saw someone behind Da Yu. He was in a white coat, standing back to back with Da Yu.

“The fuck?” When the lights came back, the person behind Da Yu disappeared. Rubbing their eyes, Boss and Da Yu looked at each other.

“Boss, do you think this hidden map might be a horror one?” Da Yu’s voice was shaking. He knew he had bumped into someone earlier, but Boss was standing in front of him.

“Horror maps should have been deleted already.” Boss was shaken. He felt like he had forgotten something important, “We better don’t stay in open spaces. It feels too dangerous.”

“Okay.” Da Yu reached his hands behind him. He only dared to turn around when he was sure there was nothing behind him. However, as he turned back, the lights in the corridor dimmed again. This time, the lights went out longer. When the lights came back on, the frozen Da Yu looked at the end of the corridor dumbly. Da Yu realized something was attracting him in the dark. It was like someone was waving at him. The lights at the other end of the corridor never came back on. Darkness was slowly spreading towards them.

“Boss, didn't more lights come back on earlier?”

“I’m not sure.” The two players looked at the empty corridor, and the lights went out again. They leaned again each other with their limbs shaking. They could feel the other losing body temperature. Several seconds later, the lights came back on. Another light remained out near the end of the corridor. Darkness was encroaching.

“Should we go back to Building One? With Qiang Wei’s ability, he wouldn’t be in danger.” Da Yu pulled on Boss’ sleeve.

“I think so too.” Boss took out a fountain pen he stole and then wrote down a symbol used by Absolute Truth on the white wall beside the notice board. Before he could finish drawing, the lights in the corridor went out again. In the dark, a shadow was slowly moving towards them.

“St-Stop drawing!” Da Yu dragged Boss to go. The lights returned then. However, the lights around the two players remained closed. Darkness surrounded them.

“Run!” Boss abandoned the pen. He and Da Yu ran towards the entrance. The corridor was half-submerged in light and half-submerged in darkness. It was very strange.

The two rushed to the door. They didn’t dare stop. When they tried to open the door, they realized it was locked. A few bloody bandages were squeezed into the gap.

“Someone has been following us?” Da Yu shook the door. The lights went out again. The darkness rustled like a babbling brook or a critter.

“Ah, I can’t stand this anymore!” Da Yu was not that courageous. He raised his leg to kick at the door. The impact resounded throughout the building, but the thin door remained unmoved. “This shouldn’t be!” As Da Yu planned for the second kick, he felt something touch him on his back. The sudden contact made him jump out of his skin. He turned around, and there was a face in the dark looking at him. There was electricity static, and the light above Da Yu and Boss came on. Of the whole corridor, only the light above them was on.

“There’s another door outside this door. We’ll go upstairs and see if we can jump out of this building!” Boss hadn’t seen a ghost before, but he was frightened by this atmosphere. There was definitely something chasing after them in the dark!

They stumbled into the stairwell. Boss and Da Yu rushed into the first ward they saw on the second floor.

“Open the window! We’ll jump!” Boss couldn’t run as fast as Da Yu. He was behind Da Yu as he urged the man.

“Jump? How?” Da Yu looked at the enclosed ward. There was no window in the room. It felt so oppressive.

“There’s no window? We’ll go to another ward!” Boss turned to leave. His hand just grabbed the door handle when the lights on the second-floor corridor went out. Boss wanted to run out, but his hands pulled instead of pushed as the lights went out. He closed the door.

“Shh!” Holding their breaths, Boss and Da Yu slowly retreated. They bent low. They planned to rush out when the lights came back on. They waited without even daring to breathe, but the lights outside didn’t return.

The feeling of uneasiness spread through the room. Da Yu looked at Boss beside him, but he only saw a blurry shadow. He made a gesture at Boss. Before Boss replied, strange noises came from outside the door.

A trolley from the emergency department rolled by. The plastic wheels squeaked as if they would collapse at any moment. The sound was clear against the stillness. The trolley came closer until it stopped at the ward beside them. The door opened. A girl’s laughter echoed inside the room. She asked someone happily—Can I cry today?

There was whispering in the corridor. More than one person muttered coldly. They poked her body and marked her face. Soon, a heavy object was dropped on the trolley. The girl’s joyous voice echoed on the corridor. “Can I cry tonight? Doctor, I don’t want to keep on smiling anymore!” Another heavy object landed on the trolley. The girl’s voice disappeared. The trolley moved on.

About 10 seconds later, the lights in the corridor returned. The pale light slithered into the ward through the gap.

“Boss, we can go now.” Da Yu turned to look at Boss. The man was in pain, his hands scratching his face non-stop.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve heard that girl’s voice before, but I can’t remember where. She has saved us once.” Boss scratched his face so hard it was bleeding, “I really have forgotten something.”

“That doesn’t matter. We need to escape first!” Da Yu dragged Boss along. He planned to leave, but he was stunned as he left the ward. A giant bloody flower bloomed on the white wall. It was like someone was just murdered here. “This is more than a little gore.” Da Yu resisted the urge to vomit. He pushed the door of the next-door ward, and it was locked. Da Yu tried the other doors, and they were all locked. The front door was locked, and the wards were locked. They were trapped in Building Two.

“What should we do? Go back downstairs?” Da Yu turned to Boss. Ever since they heard the girl, Boss was not doing so well.

“We need to chase after the trolley and find the girl.” Boss patted Da Yu’s shoulder. “I’m afraid too, but think about it. This is just a game. At most, we’ll lose our account. I promise you that I’ll buy you a new account on the black market if we die.”

“This is not a matter of money. I really think something is not right.”

“I think so too.” Boss pointed at head. “When I met Han Fei this morning, he was acting strange. He was not acting, and he was like a real killer. He told me that we have been here a long time already, but we have lost that memory.”

“Amnesia? And you believe him?” Da Yu thought Boss was crazy.

“A normal map wouldn’t do that, but what if this is the map with the black box?” Boss narrowed his eyes which were glowing coolly. “The strange things we’ve encountered coincide with that supposition! The black box we’re looking for might be here!” Ever since Immortal Pharma’s CEO’s will was revealed, the black box became more than just a noun. It represented the stock of Immortal Pharma, endless wealth, and the power to decide humanity’s future.

“Boss, are you sure?”

“I’m not. But I know when I gain the stocks, the world will plunge into terror.” Boss resisted his fear and followed the trolley’s bloody trail. “Since this is a game, we might as well take a leap of faith.”

The lights went out. This time, Boss didn’t retreat. He and Da Yu walked slowly forward, back to back. The first floor was completely dark, and the second floor was shutting down too. Boss and Da Yu were chased by darkness to move forward.

Third floor and fourth floor… Boss and Da Yu followed the blood trail to the fourth floor. They stopped at the top of the staircase and looked down the corridor. The blood trail ended. There was no girl, but there was a caretaker cleaning the ground on the corridor.

“Where’s the girl? Has she been moved into one of the wards?” Boss stared at the caretaker. He slowly reached into his pocket to grab a scalpel.

“Boss, calm down.”

“This is just a precaution.” Holding the scalpel, Boss slowly approached the caretaker. He thought the man looked familiar. When he was 2 meters from the caretaker, he stopped. He recognized the man and called out, “Ah Chu?”

The caretaker was stunned and then stopped working.

“Is it really you? You’re one of the first batches of players who went missing in the maze. I didn’t expect to see you here.” The boss took another two steps forward. Ah Chu slowly turned around. His eyes were dull, and his skin was bloated. His face was twice as big. Da Yu walked over too. “We shouldn’t stay outside on the corridor.”

Da Yu wanted to leave, but Boss wanted to find the laughing girl. He believed she was important. “Ah Chu, did you see the doctors pass by with a girl?” Boss walked to Ah Chu. He grabbed Ah Chu’s arm when the man didn’t answer. When he touched Ah Chu, the caretaker’s eyes started to turn irregularly. There were incomplete bandages in his pupils. Ah Chu opened his mouth to speak, but the wound inside his mouth slit open. His face looked like it was about to shatter.

Da Yu and Boss were shocked. They retreated immediately. They didn’t care about Ah Chu anymore. His legs weakened. Ah Chu collapsed to the ground like his body had no bones. His face showed various exaggerated expressions. Shock, fear, anxiety, Ah Chu couldn’t control his face. He tried desperately to tell Boss something, but the more he struggled, the bigger the wounds on his face until his face started to crack.

The lights above them flickered. Boss heard one of the wards creak open. He pushed Da Yu back into the stairwell. The ward near Ah Chu opened. Two doctors in red coats walked out. They pushed a trolley. An old lady was lying on it.

“Doctor, can I cry now? I don’t want to smile anymore. I’m scared.” The young voice came from the old lady’s mouth. She was like a child, hanging onto the doctor’s sleeves.

“Du Zhu, be nice. It’ll be over soon.” The short doctor pulled off the black cloth on the trolley. They used scissors to cut off the bandage on the old woman’s back. Blood gushed out. After the blood finished flowing, one could see there was a blurry human face on the old lady’s back.

“There’s still no fruit after consuming so many personalities. It looks like this girl is another failure.” The tall doctor said coldly, “We need to get a new medicine.”

“Then, what about this one?” The short doctor rubbed the old lady’s head. He felt sorry for her.

“Expired medicine has to be destroyed.” The tall doctor glanced derisively at the short doctor. He took out a white towel to cover the old lady’s nose. Then, he pulled out a needle. “Help me press her down.”

“I’m sorry, Du Zhu. I don’t want to do this either.” The short doctor pressed on the girl who didn’t know how to cry. The tall doctor was going to inject her with something. As the needle approached the old lady’s neck, footsteps came from behind the tall doctor. He turned around and a scalpel plunged into his stomach. The doctor’s eyes widened and he glanced at the two caretakers. “You are…”

“Run!” Boss knocked the doctor away. Da Yu grabbed Ah Chu and placed him on the trolley. He almost crushed the old lady.

They saved the old lady and Ah Chu. After they grabbed the trolley, they started to run. The short doctor didn’t give chase. He helped the tall doctor get up from the ground. The two doctors looked quietly at the Da Yu and Boss. The scalpel dropped to the ground. The wound on the doctor didn’t bleed.

…

Han Fei had just reached Building Four when he noticed the lights at Building Two went out completely. The corridor that connected Building Two to other buildings flashed with moving figures. ‘The mutated monsters are hurrying to Building Two? Why?’

Han Fei had no idea who had helped him but he would make use of this opening.

Han Fei rushed to the corridor connecting Building Four and Five. He swiped the doctor’s work Id and sneaked into Building Five. He stood at the corner and took out his phone to call Octopus. After the phone rang a few times, it was connected. Han Fei said, “I wish to do one last thing for Fu Sheng. If I’m gone, please help me protect him. He can see you. Perhaps God pities him and gives him this present. You should appreciate it.”

The other end was silent.

“In his heart, you’re not the scariest ghost but the person he wants to meet the most.” Han Fei waited for a while before hanging up. Han Fei set Octopus’ phone as speed dial one. Even though he made it sound so heroic, at desperate moments, he might need help from Fu Sheng’s mother.

After he was ready, Han Fei took out the red paper doll from his chest. He had it sensed the curse’s location. “Is Worm still here?”

Soon the paper doll jumped down from Han Fei’s palm. The blood red eyes slowly opened. Before leading the way, it glared furiously at Han Fei.

“Why did you glare at me like that?”

The red paper doll couldn’t answer. It turned and walked towards the second floor.