25: Chapter 25 Repairman, Do Not Take the Wrong Item

"Maintenance Worker."

"Whose face are you taking back?"

Countless faces hanging on the wall spoke simultaneously.

The voices layered over each other.

It was as if the entire Recycling Room had come to life.

Chen Ye stood outside the door, his hand gripping his shield tightening abruptly.

"Again?"

"Does this dump know anything other than asking about faces?"

No one laughed.

Because this time, it was different from those Faceless Patients outside.

What they asked outside was:

"Have you seen my face?"

But here, the question was:

"Whose face are you taking back?"

The question had changed.

The rules must have changed, too.

Lin Jin stood at the entrance of the Recycling Room, not walking in immediately.

His gaze swept quickly across the room.

Countless "faces" hung on the walls.

Each one looked like a translucent mask.

They had no flesh and blood, yet they had expressions.

Some were terrified.

Some were numb.

Some were in pain.

Some even maintained the smile from the last moment before death.

They were hung neatly on the wall, pierced through the forehead by rusted hooks.

Like "waste materials" recovered by The Hospital.

The iron rack in the center of the room was piled with damaged medical records.

Some medical records were already broken in half.

But the names on them were still glowing faintly.

[Wang Qinian, Not Discharged]

[Liu Pei, Not Discharged]

[Zhao Ming, Not Discharged]

Behind every medical record,

hung the same sentence.

[Facial Recognition Failed]

Lin Jin's heart sank slightly.

He finally understood where the Faceless Patients outside came from.

They weren't born without faces.

Nor were their faces eaten by monsters.

It was The Hospital that had "recovered" their faces.

People who lost their faces could not complete identity verification.

Could not be discharged.

Could not die.

They could only be trapped in Basement Level 2, constantly searching for the next face.

This was not an ordinary anomaly.

This was a broken identity system.

The Hand of Rules slowly unfolded.

[Target: Waste Recovery Room]

[Current Rule: Categorized Storage of Waste Identity Materials]

[Main Waste: Facial Recognition Templates, Medical Record Fragments, Contamination Suppression Equipment]

[Current Fault: Face Templates Detached from Medical Records]

[Warning: Taking the wrong waste will trigger an erroneous binding]

Lin Jin's eyes darkened.

Taking the wrong one causes binding?

That meant every face here wasn't just for show.

If he touched them randomly, he would likely bind a face to himself or his teammates.

Who would turn into whom would be anyone's guess.

And the thing they really needed to find was the 105 isolation anchor.

That black iron box was in the corner.

Barely ten meters from the door.

But between these ten meters, it was covered in faces.

There was also a pile of medical record fragments underfoot.

Any wrong step could trigger a rule.

Chen Ye asked in a low voice:

"Can you move?"

Lin Jin didn't turn back.

"Yes."

"But you can't touch the faces."

Chen Ye's mouth twitched.

"Do I look like the type of person who would foolishly touch a ghost face?"

As soon as he finished speaking,

Liu Hang suddenly let out a suppressed groan of pain.

Everyone turned back.

Half of the features on his face were still blurred.

His nose and mouth hadn't fully recovered, and the corners of his eyes looked as if they had been soaked in water.

And now,

one of the faces on the wall was slowly turning toward him.

It was the face of a young man.

The features were ordinary.

Wearing glasses.

It was remarkably similar to Liu Hang,70-80% alike.

Liu Hang's expression changed instantly.

"That face..."

"Is that mine?"

Lin Jin immediately turned back.

"Don't look."

But it was a split second too late.

Liu Hang's gaze had already met that face.

The next second,

the face hanging on the wall suddenly smiled.

"Found you."

Liu Hang's pupils constricted sharply.

The half-blurred features on his face began to re-emerge.

But what emerged was not his original face.

It was the outline of the face on the wall.

Chen Ye's expression changed drastically.

"Damn it!"

"His face is changing!"

Liu Hang also noticed.

He raised his hand to touch his face, his voice trembling.

"No..."

"This isn't me..."

"This isn't my face!"

The Hand of Rules turned bright red instantly.

[Erroneous Facial Template Binding Detected]

[Target: Liu Hang]

[Current Status: Half-bound]

[Consequence: Identity Displacement]

[Countdown: 00:00:29]

Lin Jin's expression sank abruptly.

Thirty seconds.

Another rule countdown.

He immediately turned and returned to Liu Hang.

"Look down."

Liu Hang was completely panicked.

"Will I turn into someone else?"

"Yes."

Lin Jin answered very quickly.

Liu Hang's face turned pale.

Lin Jin added:

"So don't talk nonsense."

He raised his hand and pressed it against Liu Hang's forehead.

The Hand of Rules unfolded to its limit.

The world before him began to layer.

Liu Hang's face was no longer a face,

but an identity template being replaced.

The original template was damaged.

The external template was invading.

The two were overlapping.

The most troublesome part was,

Liu Hang had just been registered by him as a temporary attendant.

The responsibility belonged to Lin Jin.

If Liu Hang were covered by the wrong template, the backlash of contamination would also count against Lin Jin.

[Maintenance Target: Liu Hang's Facial Identity Template]

[Fault: External Waste Face Template Forced Binding]

[Maintenance Plan 1: Forcibly Tear Off External Template]

[Success Rate: 34%]

[Consequence: Permanent Damage to Target's Facial Recognition]

[Maintenance Plan 2: Use Attendant Registration as Anchor, Rebuild Original Identity Outline]

[Success Rate: 69%]

[Cost: Maintenance Worker's Contamination Erosion Increases]

Lin Jin did not hesitate.

"Plan 2."

The next second,

the black text on the back of his hand suddenly became scalding hot.

[Temporary Attendant: Liu Hang]

[Responsibility: Lin Jin]

This line of text lit up like a nail.

Using it as an anchor, Lin Jin forcibly pulled back the facial template that was about to shift.

Liu Hang let out a scream.

The face on the wall also screamed along.

"Mine!"

"That's mine!"

"Give it back to me!"

All the faces on the wall opened their eyes simultaneously.

Countless gazes fell squarely on Lin Jin.

Chen Ye immediately raised his shield to block the others.

"Don't look!"

Shen Tingxue raised her hand.

Frost spread along the bottom of the wall, but she didn't freeze those faces.

She was smart.

The faces here were likely identity materials.

Destroying them directly might not be a good thing.

She just created a circle of ice barrier between the wall and the floor, blocking those faces from continuing to project their gazes outward.

Lin Jin held Liu Hang's forehead tightly.

[Rebuilding Identity Outline]

[23%]

[41%]

[External Template Resisting]

Half of Liu Hang's face kept changing.

One moment it was his own.

The next it was the face on the wall.

Then it became blurred again.

He was trembling with pain, but he gritted his teeth, not daring to scream.

Because he knew,

every word spoken here could trigger a rule.

After a dozen seconds,

Lin Jin twisted his wrist abruptly.

As if forcibly snapping an invisible string.

Snap.

A soft sound.

The strange outline on Liu Hang's face finally dissipated.

Although his features were still pale and stiff, at least he had returned to himself.

The face on the wall instantly shriveled up.

As if drained of moisture,

finally turning into a gray-white empty shell.

[Maintenance Complete]

[Target Identity Stabilized]

[Contamination Erosion: 31% → 36%]

Lin Jin withdrew his hand.

The black lines on the back of his hand spread a bit further.

Chen Ye's expression was grim as he watched.

"It increased again?"

Lin Jin flexed his fingers.

"It's fine."

Chen Ye gritted his teeth:

"Stop saying 'it's fine' every time."

"If it keeps increasing like this, what will you do if you really get left behind by The Hospital?"

Lin Jin glanced at him.

"Then remember to burn a decent wrench for me."

Chen Ye cursed directly:

"Get lost."

This curse actually relaxed the atmosphere in the team, which had been stretched to the breaking point.

Shen Tingxue, however, did not laugh.

She looked at the black markings on the back of Lin Jin's hand and whispered:

"The contamination has already exceeded one-third."

"You cannot keep bearing the rules for others indefinitely."

Lin Jin certainly knew this.

But he knew better.

In this team, he was the only one who could rely on rules to maneuver.

Chen Ye could block monsters.

Shen Tingxue could control the field.

But when truly facing The Hospital's rules, they couldn't "repair" them directly.

If he hadn't taken the responsibility, Liu Hang would have been gone just now.

And once the first person died in front of him, the remaining people would only collapse faster.

"Get the Isolation Anchor first."

Lin Jin didn't explain further.

"We'll talk about other things once we're out."

He turned back and looked toward the depths of the Recycling Room.

The black iron box in the corner was still there.

The writing on the seal was very clear.

[105 isolation anchor, Discarded]

But after what just happened, Lin Jin didn't dare treat it as an ordinary item.

Discarded didn't mean useless.

Nor did it mean safe.

He walked inside, step by step.

The medical record fragments underfoot made a faint crunching sound.

Every time he stepped, the faces around him would turn slightly.

As if observing.

As if waiting.

Lin Jin didn't look at them.

Only staring at the gaps on the floor and the iron box in the corner.

The Hand of Rules kept scanning.

[Underfoot: Damaged Medical Record]

[Risk: May release residual identity if crushed]

[Left: Discarded Face Template]

[Risk: Gaze binding]

[Right: Contaminated Syringe]

[Risk: Entering treatment process upon contact]

The entire Recycling Room had almost no safe spots.

Every step Lin Jin took was like walking on a minefield.

Chen Ye lowered his voice at the entrance:

"Do you need me to go in?"

"No."

"The more people there are, the easier it is to trigger."

Lin Jin walked to the iron box.

The surface of the iron box was severely rusted.

The edges of the seal were black.

As if soaked through by something from the inside.

He crouched down.

He didn't open the box immediately.

He looked at the lock first.

[Target: Waste Storage Box]

[Status: Sealed]

[Internal Item: 105 isolation anchor]

[Attached Contamination: Face Residue, Ward Resentment, Medical Waste Fluid]

[Opening Risk: Medium]

[Suggestion: Remove discarded label first]

Remove the discarded label?

Lin Jin looked at the seal.

He soon understood.

If he took out the Isolation Anchor as "waste," it would still belong to the discard rules and couldn't be reused for Ward 105.

He had to change it from "waste" back to "maintenance material" first.

This was the key.

He raised his wrench and pressed it gently against the seal.

[Maintenance Target: 105 isolation anchor Storage Status]

[Fault: Valid material incorrectly classified as waste]

[Maintenance Plan: Rewrite material status]

[Success Rate: 73%]

Lin Jin was just about to act.

All the faces on the wall suddenly spoke at the same time.

"Maintenance Worker."

"Discarded things cannot be taken back to the ward."

"Discarded things can only stay here."

"If you take it away, you must leave something else behind."

The voices grew louder and louder.

The entire Recycling Room began to vibrate.

Chen Ye's expression changed abruptly.

"Again?"

Lin Jin didn't stop.

"Leave what?"

The voices answered in unison:

"A face."

"Leave a face."

The air suddenly went dead silent.

The Short-haired Girl covered her mouth, tears almost falling.

Liu Hang was so scared he took a step back.

Chen Ye cursed:

"Why don't you go steal the Dean's face?"

The faces on the wall suddenly quieted for a moment.

Then,

they all turned toward Chen Ye.

Chen Ye's scalp tingled.

"I was just saying that."

Lin Jin, however, caught an anomaly at this moment.

They were afraid of the Dean.

Or rather, they didn't dare to ask for the Dean's face.

This meant they didn't want just any face.

But "substitutable waste" that could be recognized by the Recycling Room rules.

Thinking of this,

Lin Jin's gaze fell to the damaged work badges on the floor.

In the Waste Recovery Room, there wasn't only faces.

There were also work badges, medical records, and wristbands.

So the substitute didn't necessarily have to be a living person's face.

As long as it could satisfy the logic of "equivalent waste,"

he could trade for the Isolation Anchor.

Lin Jin reached out and picked up a damaged work badge from the floor.

It read:

[Round Checker: No. 07]

The work badge was already split in half.

But it still retained a faint aura of rules.

The Hand of Rules refreshed.

[Target: Discarded Round Checker Work Badge]

[Status: Expired]

[Remaining Value: Low]

Not enough.

He scanned toward the other side.

A larger medical record was pressed under a discarded syringe.

There was no name on the medical record.

Only one line of text:

[Deregistered Employee]

Lin Jin's eyes shifted slightly.

This one would work.

He used the wrench to pry away the syringe and carefully flipped out the medical record.

[Target: Deregistered Employee Medical Record]

[Status: Discarded Identity Credential]

[Remaining Rule Value: Medium]

[Can serve as substitute waste]

Found it.

Lin Jin pressed the medical record onto the iron box seal.

The faces on the wall screamed simultaneously.

"That's not a face!"

"We want a face!"

Lin Jin said coldly:

"What you want is discarded identity."

"A face is just one type of identity material."

"This employee medical record is also a discarded identity."

"According to your hospital rules, it's enough for a trade."

The voices suddenly became chaotic.

Like countless consciousnesses arguing.

The Hand of Rules began to calculate.

[Substitution logic established]

[Recycling Room rules determining...]

[Determination passed]

All the faces on the wall suddenly shut their mouths.

Lin Jin didn't give them a chance to go back on their word.

He pressed the wrench down hard.

The seal ignited with black flames.

[Discarded label removed]

[105 isolation anchor status updated: Recyclable Maintenance Material]

Click.

The iron box opened.

Inside lay a long black nail.

The surface of the long nail was engraved with runes.

Dried blood remained on the tip of the nail.

It lay there quietly,

yet it made all the faces in the entire Recycling Room close their eyes simultaneously.

As if they didn't dare to look at it.

[Target: 105 isolation anchor]

[Status: Severely contaminated, repairable]

[Current Use: Rebuild Ward 105 isolation rules]

[Warning: Will attract Faceless Patients while being carried]

Lin Jin reached out and picked up the Isolation Anchor.

It was bone-chillingly cold.

The next second,

outside the corridor,

all the Faceless Patients

looked up simultaneously.

"Face..."

"Our face..."

"He took away our face..."

Chen Ye's expression changed drastically.

"You've got to be kidding me?"

"This counts as a face too?!"

Lin Jin gripped the Isolation Anchor tightly and walked out quickly.

"Don't talk nonsense."

"Run."

As soon as he finished speaking,

all medical records on Basement Level 2

lit up simultaneously.

Harsh static sounded like an interrupted broadcast.

Immediately after,

a completely strange, aged voice

slowly came from the depths of the corridor.

[Unauthorized item retrieval detected.]

[Basement Level 2 locked down.]

[All patients.]

[Begin face hunting.]