Chapter 505: The Cursed Hospital (Part Three)
Chapter 505: The Cursed Hospital (Part Three)
Ominous premonitions often become reality…
As Feng Bu Jue approached the wall with hopeful anticipation, his eyes fixed on the plastic map board affixed to it—the first "devious puzzle" revealed itself.
The "map" on the board was anything but orderly. Aside from the title at the very top reading "Cedar County General Hospital 2nd Floor Blueprint", the rest was chaos. The lines didn’t align with the drawings, the text didn’t match the symbols. It looked like… a jigsaw puzzle shattered and reassembled incorrectly.
"Ah, so they’re testing the player’s visual memory skills", Feng Bu Jue muttered, staring at the bewildering blueprint. "Jigsaw puzzles are totally my specialty…" He planted his feet firmly, propped his right elbow with his left hand, and cupped his chin with his right, his gaze sharpening as he began his mental jigsaw-solving method.
Time slipped by unnoticed—five minutes, gone.
Feng Bu Jue still stood in the exact same posture, murmuring, "Hmm… More complex than I imagined…"
After careful observation, he realized the "jigsaw fragments" on the map were all irregular shapes, roughly twenty or more interwoven, misaligned pieces forming the chaotic "map."
This was far harder than standard rectangular or jagged-edged puzzles. Memorizing so many intricate shapes in a short time was already a feat for the human brain, let alone mentally rearranging and combining them. The difficulty was self-evident.
"Looks like this’ll take some time…" Feng Bu Jue muttered.
Boom. Boom.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from behind—steady, forceful, and rapidly approaching.
"Huh? Is that bandage-guy again?" Feng Bu Jue grumbled, slowly turning around while reaching into his pocket for his sunglasses.
But this time, what approached wasn’t the creature he expected.
A hulking figure lumbered forward. The monster’s head resembled a grotesque tumor, standing nearly three meters tall—its head nearly scraping the ceiling. Its bulging muscles tore through its clothing, twisting and writhing.
"Damn it all…" Feng Bu Jue gasped, startled.
"Lester! You bastard!" The tumor-like head split open, revealing a mouth-like slit lined with two rows of razor-sharp beastly teeth. The monster roared, "I’ll kill you!"
"Hmm…" Feng Bu Jue slipped on his sunglasses for a moment, then quickly removed them. Even with his naked eye, the monster was perfectly visible. "What’s going on? I didn’t even raise a flag this time…" The creature’s movement speed wasn’t overwhelming, and the distance was still safe. No need to flee immediately. "Oh… I get it now." A realization struck him. "I’ve stayed in one place too long, haven’t I?"
This theory had merit. After all, the scenario’s main quest was: [Hold Your Post Until Dawn]. Theoretically speaking, as long as the player didn’t leave the hospital and survived until dawn, they’d pass—regardless of inaction. Even if Feng Bu Jue hid in a monster-free corner doing nothing, the system wouldn’t penalize him for "passive play."
[System Prompt: Lingering too long in the corridor will provoke the angry nurse Chad. The powerful Chad can tear you apart effortlessly. You must flee immediately. Hide in a room to escape Chad’s pursuit. He will loiter outside the room for one minute before leaving.]
The system’s timely reminder corroborated his deduction.
"But wait… This 'blueprint' puzzle isn’t something I can solve in a few minutes, right?" Feng Bu Jue mused as he turned and headed left down the T-junction. "Could I really need to find a disposable camera or something first? Take a photo of the board, rip it up, and solve the puzzle that way?"
Feng Bu Jue suffered mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Walking away from an unsolved puzzle made him physically uneasy… But with an instant-kill monster closing in, priorities demanded immediate flight.
"Hey! Chad!" As he ran, Feng Bu Jue glanced back, shouting at the pursuer—whose pace remained frustratingly average. "What deep grudge do we have? Why must you do this?"
"You slept with my sister!" Chad bellowed.
"…So bluntly delivering an utterly irrefutable reason", Feng Bu Jue muttered sarcastically. He turned again, shouting, "I believe there’s a terrible misunderstanding! Maybe we’re actually soulmates!"
Before the words faded, a bulging muscle on Chad’s neck erupted in a spray of pus. From the wound sprouted a second head—a blurred, tumor-like face emitting a woman’s voice. "Lester! You bastard! You promised to call me!"
[System Prompt: You have provoked Chad and awakened his sister’s vengeful spirit. From this moment, his abilities will grow stronger.]
Before the system’s message ended, Chad’s pace quickened by a third.
This time, Feng Bu Jue couldn’t afford leisurely jogging. He sprinted full-force, frantically scanning for the nearest door.
"This flag makes absolutely no sense!" Feng Bu Jue shouted. "Singing Huo Yuanjia chases monsters away, but trying peaceful dialogue just makes things worse!"
Moments later, he neared a Consultation Room door. With no time for strategy, he slid in a baseball-style dive, grabbed the doorknob, and twisted—only for the most iconic system prompt to appear: [Unopenable].
"Are you kidding me?!" Feng Bu Jue yelled, springing back into a full sprint.
The brief delay brought Chad dangerously close. Feng Bu Jue could no longer risk stopping to test other doors—he needed to widen the gap first. Halting to open a door would invite instant attack.
"Not a single bit of arrogance allowed…" Feng Bu Jue mused. "If I’d known this, I should’ve bolted the moment I saw him."
Surprisingly, his recent real-world physical training proved useful. As he focused, Feng Bu Jue regulated his breathing, adjusted his stride, and re-optimized his running posture—once again pulling ahead.
But at this critical moment, an absurd sight emerged ahead.
At the corridor’s end stood a staircase—not ascending or descending, but jutting sideways from the right wall, extending outward at a sharp angle…
"What the heck…" Feng Bu Jue muttered, eyes wide.
With death guaranteed by hesitation, he had no choice but to charge forward.
And charge he did—his feet carried him up the sideways stairs.
The moment his foot touched the staircase, Feng Bu Jue felt gravity shift ahead… A sudden realization struck his mind like a thunderclap: "So the map was correct after all!"
(End of Chapter)
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