She became a heartthrob among internet celebrities.

A month has passed in the blink of an eye, and the start of the new school term is fast approaching.

During this period, Jiang Lai's life was still very regular. She went to class every day and then did a live broadcast at a fixed time in the evening.

As the number of fans gradually stabilized, the goodwill from netizens also gradually decreased.

This was actually within Jiang Lai's expectations. After all, there's a limit to how much you can like someone; you can't keep providing affection indefinitely.

What she needs to do now is to increase her fan base in order to regain public favor.

"Think about which targets to pursue?" 001 asked.

“Lin Yinchuan is really hard to meet, and Fu Changyuan is also very busy. Haven’t you noticed that he hasn’t appeared in my live stream for a long time?” Jiang Lai continued, “As for Fu An, he also has a job, as does Bai Luxi. As for Qu Su, the account I added last time wasn’t his real account, and I don’t think I’ve seen him log into that account since.”

The account owner was a girl, who later explained the situation to Jiang Lai, and the two even played games together.

"Also, I'm really busy." She really was busy; Jiang Lai later signed up for several more classes, filling her schedule to the brim.

"But school starts soon. I told Lu Jin we were going to the capital together, so I have to ask him what his plans are." Jiang Lai stroked her chin. "I'll go see him today and ask him out. I remember his favorability rating is pretty high, I guess you could say he likes me?"

"Yes." 001 replied.

Jiang Lai took out her phone, opened WeChat, and sent a message to Lu Jin.

Jiang Lai: (Are you there.jpg)

Lu Jin: Here!

Jiang Lai: Want to go for a walk? I just wanted to ask you about registration for the new semester.

Lu Jin: Sure!! A new escape room recently opened in the mall, are you interested? I have a discount coupon.

Jiang Lai: Please take me with you! (bows)

Lu Jin: (Laughing with hands on hips) See you on the fifth floor of the mall later?

Jiang Lai: No problem!

Jiang Lai got up and changed her clothes. If she was going to play an escape room game, it wouldn't be appropriate to wear a dress. She chose a knitted camisole, put on a sun-protective shirt, paired it with light blue jeans and white sneakers. She finished her makeup to her satisfaction, and then leisurely took her umbrella and went out.

-

Lu Jin, dressed in casual clothes, waited anxiously at the top of the stairs on the fifth floor. He looked forward to each person coming up the escalator, but Jiang Lai never came.

His expression showed a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

When he came out, his uncle jokingly asked if he had gone out with his girlfriend. He waved his hands repeatedly and said no, but his face turned red. He couldn't deny that he seemed to have a good impression of Jiang Lai, even though they didn't interact much.

The WeChat call rang; it was Jiang Lai.

Lu Jin gripped his phone tightly and tried to remain calm as he asked, "I've arrived. How about you?"

The voice coming from the other end was still soft and pleasant, and Lu Jin's ears felt a little hot.

"I'm on the fifth floor too, why don't I see you?"

"I'm here on the escalator."

"Oh, I'm here at the elevator. There are several elevators here. Let me send you a picture."

"it is good."

Lu Jin clicked on the photo; it turned out to be elevator C1. He quickly walked over.

"Jiang Lai?" Lu Jin asked.

Jiang Lai nodded. "Why can't you recognize me?"

Lu Jin shook his head: "No, no, it's just that I was a little hesitant to recognize you because you were wearing a mask."

Jiang Lai nodded, then took off her mask.

The face that appeared before Lu Jin's eyes momentarily stunned him.

This seems to be the first time I've seen her like this?

She wore a thin black coat over a tight-fitting top that accentuated her curves and slender waist. Her skin was fair and radiant, and her smooth black hair cascaded over her shoulders, making her face appear even smaller—Lu Jin finally understood what a palm-sized face truly meant.

Her eyes were excessively large and bright, as if they could see right through you at a glance, and they seemed to be brimming with affection, making it hard to look at her for long.

The moment Lu Jin saw her, he heard his heart pounding like a drum, and felt that everything around him was extremely quiet, as if the world had disappeared and only he and the girl in front of him remained.

Lu Jin had a crush on Jiang Lai before, and now he was even more smitten.

He thought he hadn't cared about her appearance before, but now he had some doubts about himself. He felt that he was just a superficial person who judged by looks. Undeniably, seeing her outstanding appearance confirmed his feelings for her.

001: "Lu Jin's favorability +1 +1 +1"

Jiang Lai subtly raised an eyebrow: "Shut up."

Then she said to Lu Jin, "Lu Jin??"

Lu Jin snapped out of his daze, touched his nose sheepishly, and said, "Shall we go straight to the escape room?" He then took a step to the side.

“Sure, lead the way. I don’t know where it is.” Jiang Lai followed him.

The escape room was newly opened, and Jiang Lai had never been there before, so Lu Jin took care of everything.

"What kind of background do you want to play?" Lu Jin asked. "The themes you can choose from are schools, hospitals, and traditional Chinese courtyards."

"So many?" "This floor and the upper floors are all their property." "That's quite a large place."

Jiang Lai chose a hospital-related job, and they shared a ride with four other people: a couple and two sisters.

Jiang Lai and Lu Jin are undercover reporters tasked with obtaining evidence of wrongdoing at the hospital and escaping safely.

The group of six entered the secret room and, after wandering around, finally saw the first NPC.

"Long hair, is it a girl?" the girl in the couple said.

The boy replied, "Probably, let's go take a look."

The six of them walked over carefully together.

"It's a bit scary that his eyes aren't open. What if he suddenly sits up and pounces on us?" one of the girls said.

"How could that be? You think it's a zombie setting?" another person laughed at her.

"Shall we wake her up first? Maybe she has some clues?" Jiang Lai suggested.

"Okay," the others agreed.

Jiang Lai was about to step forward when Lu Jin stopped her.

"?" Jiang Lai looked puzzled.

Lu Jin: "I'll do it, you step back a bit."

Jiang Lai smiled and obediently stood behind him.

The others, seeing this, jokingly remarked, "Your boyfriend is quite considerate!"

Jiang Lai didn't speak, she just smiled.

Lu Jin steadied himself and stepped forward: "Wake up?"

The girl seemed to hear someone waking her up. She slowly opened her eyes and saw six people standing around her. She was a little scared.

"Don't be afraid, we are new patients. Do you know what's going on here?"

The girl nodded, then shook her head: "You all need to leave! The doctors here are all devils!"

"What's going on?" everyone asked. Clearly, this was an NPC who provided background information and clues.

This hospital is a regular tertiary hospital, but in the past six months, there have been cases of patients mysteriously disappearing or dying. However, due to the operation of capital, the hospital has not stopped operating, but has continued to operate safely, only with far fewer patients.

In the past month, they have only had six new patients.

Jiang Lai didn't know if the others had identities, but she knew that she and Lu Jin were undercover reporters. It seemed the evidence they were looking for was actually the truth behind the mysterious disappearances and deaths of hospital patients. Because, according to rumors, those who disappeared or died were actually secretly taken away by the hospital, which seemed to be conducting some kind of unethical experiment…

Everyone surrounded the girl, asking her all sorts of questions, trying to get more information, while Jiang Lai quickly observed her surroundings.

The medical record hanging by the bed caught her attention. She learned from it that the girl's name was Lingling, but there seemed to be some marks left on it, probably because the person who wrote it pressed too hard.

Just as Jiang Lai was about to tell Lu Jin, she heard the bell suddenly ring.

"You all need to hide!" Zhao Zhao said anxiously, "The doctor is coming to check on us!"

Before Jiang Lai could react, Lu Jin pulled her to hide in a cabinet next to her, which was a wardrobe where patients' families kept their belongings.

The others also quickly found places to hide.

The cabinet was completely dark.

Lu Jin whispered, "Don't be afraid, I will protect you."

Although Jiang Lai wasn't afraid, she was still amused and a little touched by Lu Jin's words.

She whispered, "Then it's up to you!"

Through the gap, Jiang Lai saw several doctor NPCs in white coats come to Lingling's bedside. They took out needles to inject Lingling, recorded the data of the bedside instruments, and then left.

After waiting a few minutes and seeing that there was no movement outside, Jiang Lai and Lu Jin went out, and the others returned as well.

Jiang Lai picked up the pencil the doctor had forgotten on the table and started drawing on the medical record. Soon, a few words appeared on it.

"Antibody", "C404", "Dr. Hao"

The broadcast gave a hint, and Jiang Lai and Lu Jin found their side quest.

"Then we have to part ways!" the couple said. "You go do your quests, and we'll go see if we can trigger any other side quests."

"no problem."

Jiang Lai and Lu Jin parted ways with the others. They learned from Lingling that C404 was the name of a room, and the two planned to go to Section C.

The hospital lobby map does not show section C, but the entire second floor is blacked out and not marked.

“I think Section C should be on the second floor,” Jiang Lai said.

“Agreed, let’s go take a look on the second floor then,” Lu Jin agreed.

The two dodged the doctors and nurses coming and going, and then reached the dark second floor.

Lu Jin was about to check if there were any lights, but Jiang Lai stopped him, saying, "We might be discovered!"

The two walked in the dark for a while and found an office in a place with a faint light. Inside, there was a flashlight that wasn't very bright.

"We found the flashlight, so let's go take a look!" Lu Jin was quite happy. He picked up the flashlight and was about to go out when suddenly a strange piece of music started playing. Lu Jin was startled and took two steps back, bumping his back into Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai staggered backward from the impact, nearly hitting a vase in the office. Lu Jin quickly grabbed her, but unexpectedly pulled her too hard and ended up pulling her into his arms.

Jiang Lai thought Lu Jin was frightened, so she didn't think much of it and patted his back, "It's okay, don't be afraid."

Lu Jin: ...How can he salvage his image?

Jiang Lai took a flashlight and turned on the office light. It should be a doctor's office. Jiang Lai saw two white coats hanging on the coat rack.

Jiang Lai took off a piece of clothing and handed it to Lu Jin: "Change into this quickly."

Lu Jin obediently changed into his white coat, and Jiang Lai quickly put it on as well.

At the same time, the radio started playing again.

The couple also triggered their own side quest; they were police officers who had come in to find someone.

"Perhaps we'll have to cooperate with them to escape later," Lu Jin suggested. "I wonder if this computer will be of any use?"

"Open it and take a look!" Jiang Lai said.

The computer was useful. After turning it on, it required a password. Jiang Lai used the items on the desk to make a simple deduction and successfully opened the computer, where she found some experimental data and patient files.

"Should we make a note of this?" Lu Jin asked.

"Write this down? Aren't the couple looking for someone? I wonder if they're looking for a patient." Jiang Lai took out paper and pen and had Lu Jin write down the patient's information.

The two searched the office thoroughly again, and only left after confirming that there was no useful information.

Outside the office, it was still pitch black, with only the emergency escape sign emitting a faint green light.

Jiang Lai and Lu Jin leaned close to the wall, crouching low as they slowly walked forward.

“There’s a room here!” Lu Jin tugged at Jiang Lai’s hand.

Jiang Lai shook hands with him, and Lu Jin understood what she meant. The two of them tiptoed into the room.

It was still pitch black inside, but Lu Jin quickly found the light switch on the wall and turned it on.

When the lights came on, the two of them could finally see the entire room clearly.

This appeared to be a monitoring room, with many screens displayed together showing scenes from various areas. Jiang Lai even saw the couple running wildly down the corridor.

"Have they been discovered?" Lu Jin asked.

"Maybe." But there's nothing I can do to help them right now.

In another room, the two sisters were rummaging through drawers and cabinets, searching for something.

“This can talk!” Lu Jin pointed to the red button on the control panel. “There’s an instruction sheet here.”

"Enter the region number you want to communicate with, and you can communicate with people in that region."

After reading the note, Jiang Lai seemed to be deep in thought. She then entered the area code of the two sisters.

What are you looking for?

In another room, the two sisters were startled by the sound.

"Where did that sound come from?" one of the girls asked.

Another girl looked at the roof and said, "There are security cameras up there! It must be the people on the other end of the security cameras talking to us."

This monitoring system allows for real-time communication.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Jiang Lai replied, "I came in with you."

"Oh! One of those two couples?"

Jiang Lai: "No... never mind, what's going on with you guys?"

"We're locked in the room and need a password to get out. But decryption isn't our forte. So, do you have any spare keys or anything like that in the monitoring room?"

Jiang Lai hadn't noticed this, so she said, "Let me take a look."

"OK, no problem!"