Chapter 79: Night wardens

Rover walked up to the corner of the corridor. There was a small sign there, and beneath it, a metal box embedded into the wall.

Beside the sign was a hand-drawn map showing the positions and paths on the first floor.

Nanoe frowned. “On this map, there’s only the left-side route. There’s no middle route and no right-side route. Could it be…”

Rover and the others immediately understood what Nanoe meant.

Leng Yan frowned. “There are two possibilities. First, each corridor has a map like this, and this map only shows the information for the corridor where it’s placed. Second… the other two corridors don’t exist, or it could also be… only this corridor is the one facing danger.”

After hearing that, everyone fell into confusion, because no matter which case it was, it would put enormous pressure on them.

If the other two corridors didn’t exist or contained lethal danger, then once the Survivors in those two corridors died, all the monsters would swarm toward their corridor.

But if only this corridor was dangerous, then the pressure they had to face would be even greater.

Rover frowned and pulled out the [Survival Guide] from his backpack.

Just as Rover expected, all the old content in the [Survival Guide] had vanished. In its place was a new title and new lines of text.

[Asylum No. 02]

[Description: This is a place that imprisons fear and lies. The truth has been buried deep within those corridors of pain.]

[Hints:

Don’t trust the words of those who live here. All fear is false, but you must seek the truth. Staying in one place will only make you sink deeper and deeper into fear. Dawn will only appear when fear disappears. The church is where prayers are heard, but it is also the final stop of this journey.]

Seeing these hints, everyone fell silent. Nanoe, Morie, and Leng Yan were all thinking about what the [Survival Guide] had given them.

In truth, these hints were hard to understand, but if they analyzed them carefully, they might be able to figure something out.

Morie spoke up. “The first point says not to trust the words of those who live here. That means the patients or staff here can’t be trusted. The strange part is… are there even people living here?”

Leng Yan frowned. “It seems there are still people alive. That voice from the broadcast speaker might also be coming from someone.”

Nanoe and Morie were startled.

Nanoe thought of something and quickly said, “That means the words from the broadcast speaker aren’t accurate either, right?”

“Maybe.” Leng Yan said. “In that case, we can rule out following the broadcast speaker’s instructions. After all, the [Survival Guide] is more reliable than a bizarre voice when we don’t even know who it belongs to.”

“The second point…” Morie said. “It looks like we can’t just stay in our rooms. We have to go find what it calls ’the truth.’”

Nanoe spoke up. “I can connect all four hints from the [Survival Guide] like this. We shouldn’t trust anyone here. We have to find the truth to complete this mission. The endpoint of the mission is the church, but… the problem is hint three. ’Dawn will only appear when fear disappears.’ What does that mean? And where is the church?”

Everyone’s attention returned to the map mounted on the wall. On it, a square area had been shaded black, with a cross drawn inside.

“That’s… the church, right?” Nanoe asked with a frown.

Morie nodded. “Probably, but… it seems completely separated from this building. If what John said is true, then the areas around here are all covered in fog. That means we have to find a way to reach the church. That’s the prerequisite.”

Everyone fell into deep thought. Right now, everything looked like it had been arranged clearly, but inside, they felt tangled up, like a ball of yarn a cat had pawed into a hopeless mess.

Leng Yan smiled. “Then we can try this… split into two groups. One group defends inside a room. The other group goes looking for information.”

Nanoe and Morie nodded slightly, but Nanoe thought of something and frowned. “But… if monsters appear during that time, and we’re in the rooms, we’ll be attacked.”

Leng Yan shook her head. “You shouldn’t trust the words of those who live here. Did you forget the first hint?”

Even though they understood that, everyone still felt uneasy.

Rover spoke up. “Let’s do this. We split up, one person per room. If everything is fine, we follow Leng Yan’s plan. One group stays in the rooms, the other goes searching for information.”

Everyone nodded. Rover asked softly, “Should we tell the others about this?”

Morie nodded. “I think we should. This mission isn’t simple. Just the few of us won’t be able to finish it. If more people cooperate, the chances of success will be higher.”

Rover immediately opened the chat window, but in the next moment, his eyes widened, his gaze filled with disbelief.

Nanoe asked anxiously, “What is it, Rover?”

Rover let out a breath, then said, “Try opening the chat window.”

Nanoe and Morie did the same, but the moment they opened it, a gray notification appeared in front of them.

[Notice: During mission participation, this function cannot be used.]

Silence…

No one spoke. The atmosphere grew even more stifling and heavy. After all, the chat function was the one thing that let them communicate and share information in this insane world.

Losing it meant…

Leng Yan spoke up. “Alright. We’ll do what we planned. Live or die, it’s on us. If they die, it’s because they’re weak, that’s all.”

Everyone nodded, but Rover’s attention shifted to the small metal box beneath the map.

He opened the lid. Inside was a rusty key, stamped with the number 0.

Leng Yan said, “For now, you keep that key.”

Rover nodded. He had a feeling this key would play a crucial role later.

After they split up, Rover took the room closest to the corner. He didn’t know which direction the monsters would come from, but he had a strong feeling that the monsters, or something truly horrifying, would emerge from the corner area.

Rover had already checked. At the corner was a locked iron door. The key he’d just found couldn’t open it, and he couldn’t see anything beyond the door because it was nothing but darkness.

The room wasn’t big, only about ten square meters. Inside was a bed, and a window that had been boarded up with wooden planks nailed on in a messy, uneven pattern.

The floor was fairly clean, with no dust at all. The thin mattress on the iron bed was also very new, without a single stain.

However, the walls were covered in strange scribbles, like someone had been trying to depict something.

Rover didn’t understand them, so he ignored them. After all, according to the first hint, the [Survival Guide] had already told him he didn’t need to trust the words of those living in this asylum.

He lay on the bed for a while when the broadcast speaker’s voice rang out again, harsh and grating.

[The trial is about to begin. Please lock your door tightly. The night wardens of the asylum are coming. Remember… upgrade your door and your defense tower. Do not go outside while the monsters are active.]

[Hint: While lying on the bed, you can earn silver coins every second, hehehe…]

[Ding! You have received a rusty iron door.]

[Durability: 15/15]

[Defense: 5]

[Description: A rusted iron door. Though it’s made of iron, it can be easily broken by the night wardens of the asylum.]

[Ding! You have received a defense tower: Marble Shooter.]

[Fire Rate: Very fast]

[Attack: 2]

[Durability: Infinite]

[Ammo: Infinite]

[Description: Continuously fires marbles to attack enemies within a two-meter radius.]

[Ding! You have received a newbie gift pack. Would you like to open it?]

Rover thought for a moment and decided to open the newbie gift pack.

[Ding! You have received a Mini Silver Mine.]

[Production: 4 silver coins / second]

[Upgrade Requirement: 128 silver coins]

[Special Upgrade Requirement: 100 Omni Points]

Rover frowned at the notifications, feeling even more confused.

He looked at the bed. Sure enough, there was another info panel beside it.

[Asylum Bed]

[Durability: Infinite]

[Production: 1 silver coin / second]

[Upgrade Requirement: 8 silver coins]

[Special Upgrade Requirement: 50 Omni Points]

“Strange,” Rover muttered. “This game is forcing me to lie on the bed, but according to the [Survival Guide], I can’t stay in one place. What am I supposed to do?”

[Game Start!]

KENG!

“Heh?!” Rover flinched and turned around, only to see that an extra lock had appeared on the door latch at some point without him noticing.

He rushed to the door, but the moment he reached out to touch the lock, the symbols on the wall seemed to move.

“What the hell?!” Rover turned to look around. The symbols were still, as if what he’d seen was only an illusion.

KLENG!

KRIT!!!

At that moment, a heavy impact and a scraping sound rang out, as if something metal had been thrown down and dragged across the floor.

Rover jolted, sprinted back to the bed, and threw himself onto it.

[Silver coins + 1]

[Silver coins + 1]

Second by second, the info panel kept popping up in front of him, notifying him that he’d gained silver coins.

BANG!

Something heavy slammed into the iron door, making it shake violently.

[Durability: -1]

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