20: Chapter 20: The elevator descends; there is no one alive on the second basement level.

"You..."

"Cannot come back."

The voice in Ward 105 slowly faded away.

The entire corridor fell silent once again.

And the elevator door remained open.

It was pitch black inside, like a hole leading to some bottomless abyss.

Chen Ye stood where he was, his scalp tingling.

"Damn it."

"I really don't want to take the elevator now."

He was telling the truth.

Previously, the Inpatient Department elevator almost sent them into a death zone.

Now, they had to take the elevator to Basement Level 2 again.

Moreover, the rules stated: [No exit in Basement Level 2]

No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem like a place where one could return alive.

Beside them, the three examinees who had been temporarily classified as "Pending Patients" had turned completely pale.

One of them, a Short-haired Girl, finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Can we not go?"

"Can't we just stay here?"

No one answered, because everyone knew it wasn't possible.

Ward 105 was almost impossible to suppress.

Once the contamination fully erupted, the entire Inpatient Department would become a death zone.

Moreover, the Dean had already taken over the ward.

If they refused the maintenance mission, the outcome would likely be even more miserable than entering Basement Level 2.

Thinking of this, Lin Jin finally took a step and walked toward the elevator.

The moment he approached the elevator door, the Hand of Rules suddenly popped up a notification again.

[Abnormal elevator rules detected]

[Current status: Dean takeover]

[Danger level decreased]

[Note: The current elevator has entered "Internal Operation Mode"]

Internal Operation Mode.

Lin Jin's eyes flickered slightly.

In other words, they had previously taken the "Patient Elevator."

But now, because of their change in status, this elevator had identified them as internal staff, so the rules were different.

Thinking of this, he looked down at the white coat he was wearing.

On the white fabric, more black patterns had begun to emerge, like some kind of constantly spreading contamination.

The Hand of Rules also updated simultaneously.

[Contamination erosion: 27%]

[Current identity stability decreasing]

[Please avoid prolonged contact with high-risk areas]

27%.

The distance to the 50% irreversible contamination was getting closer and closer.

Lin Jin knew clearly that this trip to Basement Level 2 would likely be a watershed moment.

If he didn't handle it well, he feared he might really be permanently kept by The Hospital.

Just then, the Head Nurse suddenly spoke again.

"The rules for Basement Level 2 are complex."

"I suggest you do not separate at will."

Her voice was still cold, but compared to just a moment ago, there was significantly less hostility.

Or rather, after Lin Jin passed the "New Employee Assessment," The Hospital had started to default to them being internal staff.

This change actually made people feel even more uncomfortable.

Chen Ye couldn't help but curse in a low voice.

"Damn it."

"Why do I feel like we're becoming more and more like real employees?"

The three examinees beside them looked even worse.

Especially after hearing "do not separate," they were obviously even more panicked.

Because now, they didn't dare to leave Lin Jin at all.

The Head Nurse had already clearly stated before that if the mission failed, they would be randomly contained.

And in this hellish place, "contained" most likely meant death.

"Let's go in."

Lin Jin finally spoke.

Everyone looked at each other, and then, step by step, walked into the elevator.

The inside of the elevator was very old.

The walls were covered in rust, and in the corners, one could even see large patches of blackened bloodstains.

The most eerie thing was that there were only three elevator buttons.

[Level 1]

[Basement Level 1]

[Basement Level 2]

And the Basement Level 2 button was red, as if stained with blood.

As soon as Chen Ye walked in, he couldn't help but shrink back.

"Why does this place smell like corpses..."

The air was filled with a strong smell of disinfectant.

But underneath the disinfectant, there was another scent mixed in.

Rotting.

Damp.

Like something had been left underground for a very long time.

The Hand of Rules was also constantly refreshing information about the surroundings.

[Current area: Internal Employee Elevator]

[Status: Operating normally]

[Attention: Do not make eye contact with the people in the mirror]

Mirrors?

Lin Jin subconsciously looked up.

Only then did he discover that the entire ceiling and surrounding area of the elevator were actually mirrored surfaces.

And in those mirrors, their figures were being reflected.

It was just that the people in the mirror seemed to move half a beat slower.

Chen Ye saw it too, and his scalp instantly went numb.

"Holy crap."

"Did that mirror just move?!"

No one spoke, because they all saw it.

The "Lin Jin" in the mirror was slowly looking up, while the real Lin Jin hadn't moved at all.

The air instantly went deathly silent.

The Hand of Rules went crazy with alarms.

[Warning]

[Do not maintain eye contact with the reflection for a long time]

[Reflection is synchronizing identity]

[Current synchronization progress: 7%]

Synchronizing identity?!

Lin Jin immediately averted his gaze.

The next second, the "Lin Jin" in the mirror actually slowly revealed a smile, while the real Lin Jin wasn't smiling at all.

Chen Ye was stunned.

"Damn it!!"

"That thing is imitating you!"

Just then, the elevator door slowly closed.

Ding.

The broadcast sounded coldly.

[Night Shift Maintenance Worker confirmed.]

[Heading to Basement Level 2.]

[Please remain quiet, employees.]

The next second, the elevator plunged violently.

Boom!

That sensation of weightlessness was much more intense than a normal elevator.

It felt less like descending and more like falling directly.

The Short-haired Girl was so scared she grabbed the wall.

"It's too fast!"

But even more eerily, the elevator floor display didn't change at all, remaining stuck at: [Basement Level 1].

But the falling sensation was getting stronger and stronger, as if it would never reach the end.

And the figures in the mirror also started to become increasingly wrong.

One of the boys suddenly turned pale.

"Wait..."

"Why is there one person missing in the mirror?"

Everyone looked up sharply.

In the mirror, there should have been six people, but now, only five remained.

And the one who had disappeared was the bespectacled examinee at the very back.

The air went silent instantly.

Everyone turned around at the same time, but in reality, that boy was still standing there, only his expression was becoming increasingly terrified.

"Why... why are you looking at me like that?"

Chen Ye swallowed hard.

"You..."

"You don't have a reflection in the mirror anymore."

The boy's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

"Impossible!"

He looked up sharply.

The next second, his entire body froze instantly.

Because in the mirror, there really wasn't him, and the spot that originally belonged to him was just a pitch-black void.

The air was dead silent.

The Hand of Rules popped up a notification again.

[Mirror synchronization failed]

[Target has been marked by elevator rules]

[Current status: Pending replacement]

Replacement?!

Lin Jin looked up sharply.

"Stay away from the mirror!"

But it was already too late.

The black mass in the mirror suddenly moved.

The next second, a pale, white palm suddenly reached out from the mirror surface!

"Ahhhhh!!"

The boy instantly broke down and scrambled backward frantically.

But the elevator space was too small, and he couldn't dodge it at all.

And that hand had already tightly grabbed his neck!

The surface of the mirror began to ripple like water.

A large amount of black hair surged out from within.

Chen Ye roared and smashed his shield against it!

Boom!

The mirror surface shook violently!

But the Hand of Rules instantly sounded an alarm.

[Attacking the employee elevator is prohibited]

[Current area rule priority: B-]

[Consequence of violation: Elevator out of control]

Chen Ye abruptly stopped his action, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Damn it!!"

"Then what do we do?!"

And that boy was already being dragged into the mirror bit by bit.

He struggled desperately, his face turning blue rapidly due to oxygen deprivation.

"Save me!!"

"Save me!!"

The others were completely panicked.

The Short-haired Girl even started to cry.

"What do we do..."

"What do we do..."

Just then, Lin Jin suddenly noticed that in the mirror, at the spot "without him," a blurry figure was slowly emerging.

It was like something was preparing to replace that boy.

The Hand of Rules refreshed frantically.

[Employee elevator rules in operation]

[Mirror is replenishing the number of passengers]

[Once the replacement is complete, the original target will be permanently left inside the mirror]

Permanently left inside the mirror.

The air instantly turned freezing cold.

And even more terrifyingly, the elevator broadcast also sounded slowly at this moment.

[Incorrect number of people detected.]

[Beginning to replenish.]