Learn one small skill every day

"boom!"

Bai Miao pressed his advantage, kneeing him in the side of the face and knocking him to the ground.

Then came two more sword strikes, and Bai Miao severed the black-clad security guard's legs at the root.

Seeing the gushing blood on the ground, Bai Miao threw out the bloodstone he had brought from Abyss Street, letting it absorb the blood and swell.

The black-clad security guard was incredibly resilient. Even after bleeding profusely, he still bared his teeth at Bai Miao, threatening, "You can't escape the cycle; you can't fight it at all!"

"I haven't asked you any questions yet, so you don't need to answer in a hurry."

Bai Miao took out a bandage and simply bandaged the black-clad security guard's wound to ensure he wouldn't die too quickly.

Next, Bai Miao took out the portable torture device bag from the Demon Suppression Division.

"I haven't used this much yet. Remember to tell me your experience. If possible, give me a five-star review."

Bai Miao grabbed the black-clad security guard's remaining hand and plunged an iron spike into his thumbnail.

"Aaaaaah!! Aaaaah!"

The psychological trauma combined with the doubled pain made the black-clad security guard feel like he was living a life worse than death.

"My first question is, are you also on patrol? Are there any rules for that?"

"..."

Bai Miao took out a small shovel from his torture device bag and gestured on the black security guard's intact fingernail: "The sight of a whole fingernail being ripped off must be very stress-relieving, right? You won't need to cut your nails anymore."

"I need to wait until you finish checking in, and then go to your previous check-in point to check in after triggering the next check-in point."

Bai Miao nodded, then pried hard, sending a piece of his index fingernail flying into the air.

"Aaaaaah!! You!! You fucking bastard!!"

"Why didn't you just answer earlier? If you hadn't been so assertive just now, you might not have had to suffer this pain. Let's move on to the next question."

"I'm not answering another single one of your questions!!"

Bai Miao then took out a small pair of pliers, the surface of which was covered with dark red bloodstains.

"This thing has a wide range of uses: pulling out fingernails, pulling out teeth, and... pulling out this thing."

Bai Miao gently tapped the crotch of the black security guard's pants.

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!!"

"Very well, the next question is, who exactly are you?"

"I'm a security guard at this hospital! My goal is to protect the hospital's safety!"

"You mean you're a security guard at this 'hospital,' and that a higher consciousness exists within this hospital than the director?"

"That's right!"

"That consciousness can't actively harm us, and neither can you, unless you enter a specific area?"

"……Yes."

"Just tell me everything you know, I'm too lazy to ask you one by one. But if I still have any questions after you've finished, I'll give you a small reward for each question you ask."

Under Bai Miao's threat, the black-clad security guard remained silent for a moment before saying, "I can only tell you what I can say... If you still have questions after I've said that, then that's what I can't say..."

"Do not talk nonsense."

"..."

The black-clad security guard took a deep breath: "This hospital used to be famous for its cosmetic surgery, and its ENT department was the most powerful department."

"One day, a fire broke out at a school, and many students were disfigured by the flames, which resulted in a significant increase in the hospital's revenue."

"However, in order to increase sales, the hospital director signed an agreement with Chengkang Pharmaceuticals to use Chengkang's specially developed sedatives in the treatment of patients, which could help reduce the pain during the recovery period after burns. These sedatives were cheaper to purchase, but sold at a higher price."

"The side effects of potent tranquilizers include hallucinations, which over time can lead to irritability, mental instability, and even self-harm."

"Later, a large number of patients vandalized the hospital. One patient even set himself on fire in an attempt to get rid of the hallucinations, burning down the entire third floor..."

"The hospital was forced to close, but the patients' resentment did not subside, eventually leading to this eerie location..."

"I was originally a member of the Ghost Stories Handling Bureau. When we entered this ghost story location, my teammates and I separated and worked together to increase revenue... But we found that increasing revenue made the patients in the hospital more irritable, while stopping revenue increase would make the other staff and doctors in the hospital dissatisfied and attack the director. We didn't want to abandon any of our teammates... But we couldn't find a way out of this predicament, so we were stuck here until we were all wiped out..."

"But I've been there for too long... I've gradually become a part of the hospital. Every time a new team comes in, I have to go through the cycle again... I can only remember how many times I've gone through it, it's already the 112th time. Under the constraints of the hospital's rules, I can't make any changes, I can only do what's required."

"The best way for you to resolve this strange phenomenon is to alleviate the patients' resentment while withstanding the pressure from hospital staff."

As Bai Miao listened to the end, he suddenly realized that the two seemed to be on completely different wavelengths.

"We only need to stay inside for thirty days, so why do we need to solve this strange tale?"

Bai Miao asked, "And what exactly is the Ghost Stories Handling Bureau? Is it a newly established organization?"

"What? We can leave after thirty days? Even if we can leave, this strange tale will still exist. It wouldn't be good if innocent people got involved. Didn't you come here to solve this problem?"

Are you the one knocking on the door?

Bai Miao simply asked directly.

Unexpectedly, the other party asked in confusion, "The knocker? What's that? Is it the organization you belong to?"

(6K) Chapter 82 Confronting Fear, Breaking the Cycle

It turned out to be an NPC.

How did you manage to make it look so professional...?

There's a smiley face in one of the rules of the instance, so it must have been created by someone who knocked on the door. Is there really such a rich storyline?

Is the cycle this guy is talking about the number of times the instance is reset?

Bai Miao then inquired about some details, such as the combat effectiveness of the other hospital staff.

Finally, I learned that the people you absolutely shouldn't mess with in the whole hospital are first the nurses on the fourth floor, and second the cooks on the first floor.

Bai Miao has already learned about the hospital's origins and precautions. The only pity is that there's no way to break through it by force at the moment.

Until the resentment of the patients in the ENT department is dispelled, they will continuously generate the same kind of black shadowy figures that Bai Miao saw last time, attacking anyone who intends to disrupt the operation of the hospital.

And the sound of the morgue opening that Bai Miao heard on the first day was a signal that the black-clad security guard had appeared.

Everything in the hospital operates within an internal logic, and every unusual detail has its meaning.

It's just a matter of whether we can capture it and analyze it.

Bai Miao didn't think he was cut out for that. He was only good at using his security guard identity to move around the hospital looking for rules and build relationships with hospital staff to facilitate subsequent actions.

The access card I found at the front desk was used to open the pharmacy, which contained many medicines.

The pharmacy also contains a large number of medical supplies.

Bai Miao thought about how he had ransacked the police station's armory last time, and his prop backpack was still full. Naturally, he wouldn't let the pharmacy go this time.

I just don't know if it will be big enough to fit everything.

Surely there's no limit to the number of items you can store in your inventory?

However, items not found in dungeons cannot be used in dungeons within the dungeon; how many items you have depends on your own abilities.

If you stole it by your own skill, why can't you take it with you?

This morgue is also magical. If you encounter a wronged soul in the hospital, bringing it to the morgue can dispel their resentment. If they are not quite dead yet, bringing them here can treat their injuries and restore their spirit.

It's fair to say that the existence of the entire basement level is something this hospital didn't want to see.

After taking the black-clad security guard away with a single slash, Bai Miao stood in front of the morgue bed, watching Zhao Wanyang's wounds begin to heal.

Meanwhile, the scene inside the morgue also changed.

The peeling paint began to recover, and the yellowed walls turned white again.

Of course, the biggest change is that in the morgue, which used to have only an iron bed, metal drawers have appeared on the walls.

Before Bai Miao could even ask questions, all the drawers made a crisp clicking sound as they slowly pulled out.

Bai Miao was a little nervous. Was this the sign of a zombie coming back to life?

But the bodies in the metal cabinet were not those of the patients.

Without exception, they were all security guards wearing blue uniforms.

It was as if the hospital was showing Bai Miao his future.

But the next moment, lines of bloody words appeared on the metal cabinet.

To those who came after, knocking on the door.

1. Our battle with the door has failed. The supernatural world that this door represents has infiltrated reality, and hospitals one after another are beginning to be affected.

In order to close the door, we sent many knockers into the door to solve this instance.

However, due to the interference of the ghost story world, we had no way to survive. But our cooperation with the ghost story world went relatively smoothly, and we successfully wrote down some rules that could save our lives.

(Left by the Indigo Sword in 2063)

2. Qingshan Hospital was originally a 4-player instance, and there was no security guard role.

Because of the power of the ghost story world itself, the attributes of the knockers were suppressed to 5 points, making them unable to use any items. They could only rely on human wisdom and determination.

We paid a price by modifying the rules of the door, adding a fifth person, and including security guards in this instance. The presence of security guards greatly increases the chances of clearing the instance.

Those who come later should trust the security guards and make good use of their unique status, making them part of the hospital's non-medical staff, doctors part of the medical staff, and patients part of the patients. Mutual trust and careful control of revenue growth are key to success. :-) (Left by Xia Hong Hu Tao, 2043)

3. The Qingshan Hospital instance has been modified; the security guards are untrustworthy, and we were driven to a dead end by them.

We can't rely on ourselves alone; we need to cooperate with the world of ghost stories. They, like us, want to solve these ghost stories. (2053, I've passed away without a trace)

4. After several security guards starved to death, we once again changed the rules of Qingshan Hospital through the gate, hoping that future generations would realize that security guards are also an indispensable part of the hospital :-). (2048, left by Brilliant Blade Light)

5. On my second playthrough, I found that the maximum progress to reach the revenue target was only 30%. It took 30 days to reach 100%, but even at 100%, the door couldn't be closed. It seems I'll have to completely sever ties with this hospital. As for the method, Xia Hong and Hu Tao have already written it down (I followed her on my first playthrough). I also want to thank everyone who revised the rules to provide this reminder and for their efforts in closing this door completely :-).

To be fair, the Ghost Story World is indeed the most challenging world we've encountered so far. The difficulty of the dungeons behind the doors is unknown, and it's only after so many knockers have come and gone that the difficulty has been reduced to its current state. But for the sake of the real world, we must close the door to the Ghost Story World :-).

You don't want to encounter all sorts of strange rules and supernatural tales every time you go to school, visit family, go hiking, or go to the zoo, right? If that's the case, how do people in the supernatural world survive? :-)

The final finishing touches are now in your hands :-). (2044, Pale Noise)

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