16: Chapter 16 Don't answer the voice from inside the door

"Why do you..."

"Not knock?"

The moment that voice sounded from inside the door, the lights in the entire corridor dimmed suddenly, as if the voltage had been suddenly drained by something.

Goosebumps erupted instantly on Chen Ye's back.

Because that was not the voice of a single person at all.

It was many, many voices.

Men.

Women.

Elderly.

Children.

They overlapped, sounding simultaneously from behind the door, as if the entire Ward 105 was packed with people.

And what was most eerie was that the tone of those voices actually carried a shared sense of "grievance."

As if they were truly blaming Lin Jin for not knocking.

Lin Jin paused his screw-turning motion for a moment.

The Hand of Rules had already started refreshing frantically.

[Warning]

[Ward 105 is attempting to establish a "Response Rule"]

[Current Status: Linguistic Inducement]

[Rule Description: Once you respond, you will be defaulted to entering the ward]

[Advice: Do not answer]

As expected.

This damned place has traps even in speaking.

Lin Jin didn't make a sound and continued to lower his head to dismantle the lock.

Click.

The second screw was unscrewed.

Inside the door of the ward, a dense scratching sound suddenly rang out.

Creak—

Creak—

It was like many fingernails rubbing against the back of the door at the same time.

At the same time, the black liquid slowly seeping from the door gap began to increase.

In the air, a faint stench of rot even vaguely appeared.

Chen Ye gripped his shield tightly, his voice kept extremely low.

"Brother Jin."

"Has it discovered us?"

Lin Jin didn't even lift his head.

"It discovered us from the very beginning."

"Now it just wants to trick us into going in."

Shen Tingxue stood on the other side of the corridor.

Frost had already covered half the floor.

She kept her eyes fixed on the Head Nurse.

"She is still watching."

Lin Jin glanced over with his peripheral vision.

Sure enough, at the end of the corridor, the Head Nurse was still standing there, motionless.

Those pitch-black eyes were quietly watching this side, like a proctor, or like something waiting for its prey to make a mistake.

And on her nursing cart, the black threads inside those syringes seemed to be becoming more and more active.

[The Head Nurse is observing your handling method]

[Current Satisfaction: 31%]

[Below 20% will trigger forced takeover]

Satisfaction?

Lin Jin's eye twitched.

What kind of hellish company is this broken hospital?

There's even performance appraisal?!

But the next second, he suddenly realized that this was actually an opportunity.

Since the Head Nurse was "observing the handling method," it meant that The Hospital itself didn't actually care if the patients lived or died.

What it cared about was "whether the rules were executed."

In other words, he didn't necessarily have to handle it in the normal way.

As long as the final result complied with the rules, The Hospital would acknowledge it.

Thinking of this, Lin Jin lowered his head to look at the door lock.

The Hand of Rules continued to unfold.

[Maintenance progress: 43%]

[Current status: Permission stripping in progress]

[Estimated remaining time: 47 seconds]

Just a little more.

And just at this moment, inside Ward 105, that little girl's voice came again.

"Brother..."

"I hurt so much..."

"They give me injections every day..."

"Can you let me out?"

The voice was very soft, even carrying a sobbing tone.

If it were an ordinary person, they would likely have softened their heart.

But Lin Jin narrowed his eyes slightly, because the Hand of Rules did not show a "Real Patient" prompt.

Instead, new warnings were constantly popping up.

[Emotional inducement detected]

[Contamination tendency rising]

[The ward is currently imitating a "victim" image]

As expected.

This thing is acting.

And Chen Ye was clearly struggling to hold on.

"Damn it..."

"Could it really be a little girl?"

Shen Tingxue spoke coldly.

"Have you ever seen a little girl who can make dozens of different sounds at the same time?"

Chen Ye shut his mouth instantly.

The ward suddenly went quiet for a second.

The next moment, the little girl's voice changed completely.

No longer aggrieved, it became cold and sinister.

"Why don't you save me?"

"Why don't you come in?"

"Why..."

"Must you stand outside?"

Boom!

The ward door shook violently!

A large amount of black liquid gushed out from the door gap!

Almost simultaneously, the broadcast in the entire corridor rang out.

[Ward 105 patient condition worsened.]

[It is recommended to inject a sedative immediately.]

The Head Nurse slowly pushed the nursing cart closer.

The sound of the wheels rolling was particularly harsh in the silent corridor.

Creak.

Creak.

She picked up a syringe from the nursing cart.

Inside, black threads were twisting frantically.

"Round Checker."

"The patient needs treatment."

"Please inject immediately."

Chen Ye felt his scalp tingle watching this.

"Can a person still live if this thing is injected?!"

The Head Nurse ignored him, just staring fixedly at Lin Jin.

And the Hand of Rules gave a new prompt again.

[Hospital standard treatment plan detected]

[Current drug: Contamination Sedative]

[Effect: Briefly suppress abnormalities]

[Side effect: Permanent mental contamination]

[Warning: After three consecutive injections, one will completely lose their sense of self]

Lin Jin's heart sank.

As expected.

The so-called "treatment" of The Hospital is essentially contamination.

And now, the Head Nurse is forcing him to execute the contamination procedure.

Once he complies, it is equivalent to formally accepting The Hospital rules.

The contamination level will definitely skyrocket.

But if he refuses, the Head Nurse's satisfaction will drop.

The assessment might fail all the same.

"Damn it..."

Lin Jin finally understood why the previous Round Checker had broken down.

Because the most disgusting thing about this place was never the monsters.

It was that it would force you to accept wrong rules step by step.

In the end, you would slowly feel that "contaminating patients" was just a normal part of the job.

Thinking of this, Lin Jin suddenly laughed.

The Head Nurse tilted her head slightly.

"What are you laughing at?"

Lin Jin shook the wrench in his hand.

"I suddenly realized."

"The problems in your hospital are even more serious than I imagined."

The Head Nurse didn't speak.

Lin Jin stood up and looked her directly in the eye.

"The ward is locked."

"Treatment permissions are incorrectly overridden."

"Patient emotional contamination is leaking out."

"You don't fix the ward first, but inject instead?"

"Your nursing procedures."

"Are a bit too amateurish."

The air suddenly went quiet.

Chen Ye was stunned listening to this.

No.

Brother.

Are you teaching the Head Nurse how to do her job?!

And even more absurdly, the Hand of Rules actually started to refresh!

["Treatment process" logic conflict detected]

[Current process contains errors]

[Head Nurse rule priority lowering]

[Satisfaction judgment recalculated]

The Head Nurse's pitch-black eyes fluctuated for the first time.

She stared at Lin Jin, her voice slowly turning cold.

"Are you questioning The Hospital procedures?"

Lin Jin nodded.

"Yes."

"And your procedures have major problems."

"The ward is leaking like this, and you're still thinking about giving the patient an injection?"

"Is your hospital's logistics department all dead?"

Chen Ye almost lost it.

Who the hell is the ghost here?!

The Head Nurse was silent.

The syringes on the nursing cart began to tremble slightly, as if the rules themselves were in conflict.

And the Hand of Rules began to operate frantically.

[Repairable target detected]

[Target: Ward 105 isolation rules]

[Current fault: Ward containment failure]

[Explanation: Contamination inside the ward is leaking outward]

[Repair suggestion: Rebuild isolation layer]

[Success rate: 79%]

Lin Jin's eyes lit up.

So that was it.

The real problem with Ward 105 was not the "patient" at all.

It was that the ward itself was broken.

The things inside were seeping out.

And the Head Nurse's treatment method was just forceful suppression, a typical case of treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.

Thinking of this, Lin Jin suddenly reached out and pushed the syringe in the Head Nurse's hand back.

"Don't administer medicine randomly."

"I'll fix the ward."

The air instantly went quiet.

The Head Nurse slowly lowered her head, looking at the syringe that had been pushed back.

Those pitch-black eyes lifted bit by bit.

"You..."

"Refuse treatment?"

The Hand of Rules immediately sounded an alarm.

[Warning]

[Head Nurse emotional fluctuation rising]

[Current suspicion: 39% → 57%]

Lin Jin's heart skipped a beat.

Damn it.

Did I overplay it?

But the next second, inside Ward 105, a shrill scream suddenly rang out!

"Ahhhhhhh—!!"

Boom!!!

The ward door bulged violently!

It was as if something had slammed hard against the back of the door!

The door lock even began to twist!

And the Hand of Rules, at this moment, suddenly refreshed with a new blood-red prompt.

[Warning]

[Ward 105 internal contamination has exceeded critical value]

[Ward is about to go out of control]

[Estimated remaining time: 30 seconds]

At the same time, a pale little hand slowly reached out from the door gap.

It gripped the edge of the door, and then— slowly pushed the door open a little.