15: Chapter 15 The Head Nurse Arrives, New Employee Assessment

"Finally found you."

"The new Round Checker."

The woman's voice came from the end of the corridor, so faint it was as if she were whispering right against their ears.

Yet, every light in the ward began to flicker at that very moment.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The sound of high heels clicking against the floor grew closer.

Chen Ye gripped his shield tight, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Brother Jin."

"This thing doesn't sound... like a pushover."

Lin Jin didn't answer because the Hand of Rules was already sounding an alarm frantically.

[High-risk rule unit detected]

[Target: Head Nurse]

[Danger Level: C]

[Current Status: Inspection Supervision]

[Affiliated Rule: Inpatient Department Night Shift Management System]

[Warning: She possesses the ability to verify the authority of a Round Checker]

Verifying the Round Checker's authority.

In other words, he had just put on the white coat, and The Hospital had already sent a "superior" to verify his identity.

This damn hospital really did take him for a new employee.

Lin Jin looked down at the white coat he was wearing.

The black bloodstains on the hem were slowly wriggling, like tiny insects or ink that hadn't yet dried.

[Pollution Erosion: 14%]

[Current Position: Temporary Round Checker]

[Current Task: Night Patrol]

[Task Countdown: 8 minutes 34 seconds]

There wasn't much time.

The Head Nurse's footsteps had already stopped at the corner of the corridor.

Under the dim yellow lights, a long, thin shadow slowly stretched out.

Then, a woman wearing an old nurse's uniform stepped out from the darkness.

She was tall—unnaturally so.

Her body was thin and elongated, and her neck was nearly twice the length of an ordinary person's.

Her nurse's cap was perched askew, and her face was covered by a white mask, with large, dark red stains seeping through it.

Most eerie of all were her eyes: a pair of pitch-black orbs that seemed to have no whites.

She was pushing a metal medical cart.

On the cart were syringes, a medical record clipboard, IV bags, and a pair of rusty surgical scissors.

The cart's wheels rolled over the floor.

Squeak.

Squeak.

The sound set one's teeth on edge.

Shen Tingxue took a half-step forward, ice-blue light gathering in her palm.

However, the Head Nurse acted as if she didn't see her.

Those pitch-black eyes landed directly on Lin Jin.

"Newcomer."

"Where is your ID badge?"

The air went silent instantly.

Chen Ye instinctively looked at Lin Jin's chest.

Nothing.

The white coat was clean; aside from the bloodstains, there was nothing there.

The corner of Lin Jin's eye twitched slightly.

The Hand of Rules popped up a notification at this moment.

[Head Nurse is verifying identity]

[Currently missing: Employee ID badge]

[Current risk: Identity anomaly]

[Suggestion: Complete the Round Checker's information]

Complete it?

How?

Lin Jin's gaze swept quickly across the corridor.

The Head Nurse stood three meters away.

The Faceless Dean was nowhere to be seen.

In Ward 104 behind him, the Bandaged Man was still lying on the bed.

That white coat had originally belonged to him.

If the ID badge still existed, the most likely location was Ward 104.

But the problem was, the Head Nurse was already standing right in front of him.

There was simply no time to go back and search for it.

"I'm asking you."

The Head Nurse tilted her head slowly, her neck making a clicking sound.

"Where is your ID badge?"

Sweat beaded on Chen Ye's forehead.

"What time is it, and you're still checking for ID badges?"

"Your hospital really has strict regulations, huh..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Head Nurse's eyes swiveled.

Her pitch-black gaze landed on Chen Ye.

Chen Ye shut his mouth instantly.

The next second, a rule notification exploded before Lin Jin's eyes.

[Warning]

[Head Nurse is recording accompanying personnel]

[Target: Chen Ye]

[Current status: Unregistered escort]

[Method of handling: Transfer to ward for observation]

Lin Jin's expression darkened.

"He is my assistant."

The Head Nurse froze.

The corridor was quiet for two seconds.

Then, she slowly turned her head back.

"Assistant?"

"New Round Checker."

"How many assistants do you have?"

Lin Jin's mind raced.

This wasn't a normal conversation.

This was a rule-based interrogation.

If he answered wrong, The Hospital would find a loophole.

He glanced behind him.

Chen Ye, Shen Tingxue, that girl who had been registered as polluted, and the two remaining candidates from Zhao Qi's team.

There were five living people in total.

But if he said five, The Hospital would definitely require registration.

Once registered, they would become internal staff of The Hospital.

The risk would be even greater.

If he said none, Chen Ye had already been locked onto by the Head Nurse.

The rules would deal with him immediately.

Lin Jin was silent for half a second, then spoke.

"Two."

Chen Ye was stunned.

Shen Tingxue also glanced over slightly.

The Head Nurse slowly narrowed her eyes.

"Two?"

"Which two?"

Lin Jin pointed at Chen Ye.

"Shield."

Then he pointed at Shen Tingxue.

"Cooling."

The air went eerily quiet for a moment.

Chen Ye's expression stiffened.

Shield?

Cooling?

Could you be a little more normal when introducing people?

Shen Tingxue was silent for a moment, but she didn't refute it either.

The Head Nurse tilted her head, as if trying to understand these two positions.

A moment later, the medical record clipboard in her hand flipped pages automatically.

The paper rustled as it turned.

Finally, a line of text slowly emerged.

[Round Checker: Lin Jin]

[Assistant: One Security]

[Assistant: One Low-Temperature Processing]

[Temporary registration approved]

Lin Jin breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He had bet correctly.

The Hospital accepted the functional description.

In other words, as long as he could explain the people as "functional personnel" needed for The Hospital's operation, he could temporarily bypass patient registration.

But the next second, the Head Nurse spoke again.

"What about the other three?"

The three candidates behind him turned pale instantly.

One of the boys couldn't help but step back.

"Don't... don't leave us behind..."

The Head Nurse's eyes moved.

Lin Jin spoke immediately.

"Patients pending treatment."

The air grew cold.

The expressions of those three candidates changed instantly.

"Lin Jin, what do you mean?"

"Are you going to hand us over?"

Chen Ye was also anxious.

"Brother Jin?"

Lin Jin didn't look at them.

He just stared at the Head Nurse.

"Ward 105 is abnormal, Ward 107 has unauthorized personnel, and Ward 104 has just finished patient counting."

"These three are of unknown status, temporarily designated as pending treatment."

"Before the round is completed, they are under my supervision."

The Head Nurse was silent.

The medical record clipboard flipped pages again.

[Patients pending treatment: 3]

[Supervisor: Round Checker Lin Jin]

[Responsibility: Lin Jin]

The moment the last line appeared, the black text on the back of Lin Jin's hand grew slightly hot.

[Pollution Erosion: 18%]

Chen Ye finally realized what was happening.

Lin Jin wasn't selling them out.

He was seizing the "right to process" those three people for himself.

If he hadn't said that, the Head Nurse would have registered them as patients directly.

Now, at least they were still under Lin Jin's supervision.

The three candidates clearly realized this slowly as well; their faces were ugly, but they didn't make another sound.

The Head Nurse pushed the medical cart, slowly approaching Lin Jin.

As the distance closed, Lin Jin finally saw the things on the cart clearly.

Those weren't IV bags at all.

The bags were filled with blackened blood.

The syringes didn't contain medicine, but a kind of black, wriggling thread.

Like pollution.

The Head Nurse stopped in front of him.

Suddenly, she extended a pale, slender hand.

"New employee."

"Undergo pre-job inspection."

Chen Ye immediately raised his shield.

"Inspect your ass!"

But as soon as he moved, Lin Jin raised his hand and pressed down on the shield.

"Don't move."

The Head Nurse's fingers were already touching Lin Jin's chest.

Cold.

No temperature.

Like a corpse.

The next second, the Hand of Rules vibrated frantically.

[Head Nurse is verifying Round Checker identity]

[Inspection Item 1: Uniform matching]

[Passed]

[Inspection Item 2: Round Checker authority]

[Passed]

[Inspection Item 3: Pollution adaptation]

[Anomaly]

[Reason: Target not fully assimilated]

Lin Jin's heart sank abruptly.

As expected.

He was a living person.

The Hospital could temporarily acknowledge his position, but it was impossible for it not to discover the anomaly.

The Head Nurse's eyes slowly widened.

Beneath her mask, something seemed to be wriggling.

"You aren't sick yet."

"You shouldn't be wearing this clothes."

The moment her voice fell, the corridor lights suddenly turned red.

The syringes on the medical cart began to tremble simultaneously.

[Warning]

[Head Nurse is beginning to doubt identity]

[Current suspicion: 62%]

[If it exceeds 80%, forced treatment will be triggered]

Cold sweat seeped from Lin Jin's forehead.

Forced treatment.

He didn't need to think to know that it was definitely not a good thing.

He had to lower the suspicion immediately.

How to lower it?

Prove he was a Round Checker?

Or prove that he was "sick"?

Sickness.

The core logic of The Hospital was patients, rounds, and treatment.

And just now, the Head Nurse had said—you aren't sick yet.

So you shouldn't be wearing the clothes.

Lin Jin suddenly laughed.

"Who said I'm not sick?"

The Head Nurse paused.

Chen Ye's eyes widened.

"Huh?"

Lin Jin raised his hand.

Black text emerged on his palm.

[Night Patrol]

He looked directly at the Head Nurse.

"I am very sick."

"What others see are monsters."

"What I see are malfunctions."

The air was eerily quiet.

The Head Nurse stared at him.

Lin Jin continued:

"The Inpatient Department registration system's death information is chaotic."

"Ward 104 has an abnormal number of people."

"The Dean's round-checking identity judgment is wrong."

"The elevator floor rules are misaligned."

"From top to bottom, there isn't a single place in your hospital that is normal."

He paused, his tone calm.

"Someone like me, in your hospital, should count as a severe case, right?"

Chen Ye was dumbfounded.

Shen Tingxue's eyes, however, flickered slightly.

She understood.

Lin Jin wasn't spouting nonsense.

He was using the rule language of The Hospital to create an identity for himself.

An identity that The Hospital could not immediately deny.

The Head Nurse tilted her head.

The medical record clipboard flipped pages automatically again.

This time, the paper turned very slowly.

It was like the system was struggling to make a judgment.

[Target: Lin Jin]

[Symptom: Abnormal perception]

[Manifestation: Observable rule malfunction]

[Determining condition...]

Lin Jin held his breath.

The next second, new text appeared on the medical record clipboard.

[Suspected condition: Rule cognitive disorder]

[Severity: Severe]

[Suggestion: Priority observation]

The killing intent on the Head Nurse finally receded a little.

[Suspicion decreased: 62% → 39%]

Lin Jin felt a slight sense of relief.

He had bet correctly.

But it wasn't over yet.

The Head Nurse slowly withdrew her hand.

"Severe patients serving as Round Checkers."

"Require assessment."

Lin Jin's eyes darkened slightly.

"What kind of assessment?"

The Head Nurse pushed the medical cart.

The wheels made a squeaking sound.

She raised her hand and pointed to the corridor ahead.

"Ward 105."

"There is a patient inside who refuses treatment."

"Bring it out."

"Or..."

Her pitch-black eyes turned toward Chen Ye and Shen Tingxue.

"Prove that your assistants can accept treatment on your behalf."

Chen Ye's face turned black.

"What does she mean?"

Lin Jin's voice was very cold.

"It means if I fail the task, she'll take it out on you."

The Head Nurse laughed softly.

The bloodstains under her mask grew deeper.

"New employee assessment."

"Starting now."

The broadcast sounded at the same time.

[Night Patrol task update]

[Current target: Ward 105]

[Task requirement: Handle patient refusing treatment]

[Remaining time: 7 minutes 01 seconds]

[Failure penalty: Randomly contain one assistant]

Chen Ye gasped.

"Randomly contain?"

"Doesn't that just mean snatching people?"

Lin Jin didn't speak.

He looked toward the other end of the corridor.

At the door of Ward 105, he didn't know when, a puddle of black liquid had appeared.

From the crack in the door, blood was slowly flowing out.

And from inside the door, the sound of a little girl crying came.

"Don't give me an injection..."

"I'm not sick..."

"I'm really not sick..."

The voice was very faint, yet it made one's scalp tingle.

Shen Tingxue spoke in a low voice.

"Be careful."

"This sound is like an inducement."

Lin Jin nodded.

The Hand of Rules had also popped up a notification.

[Target: Ward 105]

[Status: Patient out of control]

[Danger Level: C-]

[Current malfunction: Treatment rule executing in reverse]

[Explanation: The more the patient resists treatment, the stronger the pollution]

[Suggestion: Do not use the medicine provided by The Hospital]

Lin Jin glanced at the syringes on the Head Nurse's medical cart.

Those black threads were wriggling frantically inside the syringe.

As expected.

The so-called treatment was highly likely to be pollution.

He stepped forward slowly.

The Head Nurse stood where she was, her pitch-black eyes fixed on his back.

"Round Checker."

"Do not keep the patient waiting too long."

Lin Jin didn't look back.

He just gripped the rusty wrench in his hand tighter.

Chen Ye followed him, lowering his voice.

"Brother, what do we do this time?"

"If that little girl is really a patient, we can't just ignore her."

"But if she's a ghost, we can't just walk in and hand ourselves over."

Lin Jin looked at the ward sign for 105.

"So, don't follow The Hospital's rules for now."

Chen Ye was stunned.

"Then what do we follow?"

Lin Jin raised the wrench.

"Follow the maintenance procedure."

He walked to the door of Ward 105.

He didn't knock.

He didn't push the door.

Instead, he squatted down and looked at the door lock.

The Hand of Rules unfolded instantly.

[Target: Ward 105 door lock]

[Malfunction: Treatment authority deadlock]

[Attached rule: Must not open without permission from a nurse]

[Maintenance Difficulty: D]

[Maintenance plan: Remove outer authority latch, retain ward isolation effect]

[Success rate: 84%]

Lin Jin smiled.

"Found the entrance."

Chen Ye's eyes widened.

"You even fix door locks?"

Lin Jin turned the wrench.

"The Hospital doesn't allow opening the door."

"I'm not opening it."

"I'm just performing maintenance on the door."

Click.

The first rusty screw was removed.

Inside Ward 105, the little girl's crying suddenly stopped.

The next second, countless overlapping voices came from inside the door.

There were men and women, old and young.

All of them spoke at the same time.

"Why..."

"Didn't you knock?"