31: Chapter 31 Choosing the wrong door will become part of the report.

Two doors.

Opened simultaneously.

On one side was the Deans Office.

Cold white light filtered through the darkness.

Behind the crack in the door, a large desk could be seen.

A thick stack of medical records sat on the desk.

Each medical record was flipping its own pages.

The sound of paper rubbing together merged into one, like countless people whispering and gasping.

On the other side was the logistics door leading to Basement Level 2.

The green light on the door was on.

The light flickered on and off.

As if it might go out at any moment.

Behind the door was still that narrow logistics corridor, with yellowing staff regulations hanging on the wall.

"If you encounter Maintenance Department personnel, please report to the Dean immediately."

This line of text was more glaring than before.

Lin Jin stood in the center of the corridor.

His white coat was covered in bloodstains.

The wound on his shoulder was temporarily sealed by Shen Tingxue's frost.

But the black pollution veins had already crawled near his collarbone.

Before his eyes.

Two prompts appeared simultaneously.

[Route 1: Deans Office]

[Description: Submit the final report to end this ward round process.]

[Danger Level: B]

[Route 2: Maintenance Department Old Archive Room]

[Description: Access historical fault records; may trigger sealed records.]

[Danger Level: Unknown]

Unknown.

These two words appeared again.

Chen Ye glanced at the Deans Office, then at the logistics door to Basement Level 2.

His expression was grim.

"Does this even need a choice?"

"The Deans Office is clearly a trap."

Liu Hang nodded quickly.

"Right, the Head Nurse also said just now, don't trust any medical records in the Deans Office."

The Short-haired Girl's voice trembled.

"Then we go to the Old Archives Room?"

"But Basement Level 2 is also very dangerous…"

After she finished speaking, she realized the words were meaningless.

In this instance.

Where isn't it dangerous?

Shen Tingxue did not express her stance immediately.

She looked at Lin Jin.

"Your pollution erosion is almost at the danger line."

"If you go into Basement Level 2 again, you might not make it to the Old Archives Room."

Lin Jin did not refute this.

He could feel that his physical state was very poor.

His right arm still had the aftereffects of low-temperature paralysis.

The wound on his shoulder had residual pollution.

The black veins on the back of his hand were slowly squirming like a living creature.

What was more troublesome was.

Basement Level 2 also had his face registered.

If he went back, that face might continue to try to replace him.

But the Deans Office wasn't a way out either.

The Dean clearly wanted to admit him.

The so-called "submitting the final report" was likely just having him write himself into The Hospital's records.

Once the final report was stamped, even if he wasn't admitted, he would be completely bound to The Hospital.

The Head Nurse stood before the Dean.

After she pressed her fingerprint, the cracks in her mask had spread to half her face.

Black blood flowed down along the cracks.

Her body trembled slightly, but she did not retreat.

The Faceless Dean still stood in place.

The medical record book was closed.

But the pressure around them was getting heavier.

The broadcast did not continue to urge them.

This felt more like some kind of countdown.

Lin Jin suddenly spoke:

"What happens if the final report is submitted to the Deans Office?"

The Head Nurse said in a low voice:

"The Deans Office will archive it."

"After archiving, all anomalies will be redefined."

Chen Ye frowned.

"What do you mean?"

The Head Nurse looked toward Ward 105.

"For example, Ward 105 will not be recorded as a successful maintenance."

"Instead, it will be recorded as cleared after the Dean took over."

"You will not be recorded as examinees."

"Instead, you will be recorded as temporary patients who have undergone observation."

"Lin Jin…"

She paused for a moment.

"You will be recorded as a Maintenance Worker under the Deans Office."

The air instantly turned cold.

A Maintenance Worker under the Deans Office.

This wasn't much different from the admission earlier.

It was just a more covert way of doing it.

Lin Jin smiled slightly.

"Understood."

"It's easy to get in, but you'd have to file a resignation report to get out."

Chen Ye's mouth twitched.

"You're still in the mood to joke at a time like this?"

"I have to choose even if I'm not joking."

Lin Jin looked up toward the direction of the Maintenance Department Old Archive Room.

"We're going to Basement Level 2."

Chen Ye nodded immediately.

"Fine."

"Then let's go."

Shen Tingxue did not move immediately.

She looked at Lin Jin, her voice very calm.

"Reason."

Lin Jin was taken aback.

Shen Tingxue continued:

"It's not that I don't trust you."

"But every step now could mean death."

"I need to know why you chose the Old Archives Room."

This sentence made Chen Ye quiet down as well.

That's right.

They couldn't just rely on feelings to move forward.

Lin Jin glanced at her, feeling a bit more steady inside.

Shen Tingxue wasn't blindly following him.

She was always judging the situation.

This was a reliable teammate.

Lin Jin spoke:

"The Deans Office is a closed loop."

"Once we go in, we can only write the final report within the rules set by the Dean."

"No matter how we write it, the report will end up in the Dean's hands."

"But the Old Archives Room is a variable."

He pointed to the back of his hand.

"My pollution is at 43% now; if we drag this on, I'll be admitted sooner or later."

"To remove the pollution, to figure out the clues Lin Shoushan left behind, and to know why the Maintenance Department was sealed, we have to go to the Old Archives Room."

Shen Tingxue was silent for half a second.

"In other words, the Deans Office is short-term safety, long-term death."

"The Old Archives Room is short-term danger, but there might be a way out."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Correct."

After hearing this, Chen Ye immediately raised his shield.

"Then there's nothing more to say."

"Choose the one that lets us get out alive."

Just as everyone was preparing to turn around.

The Faceless Dean suddenly raised the medical record book.

The broadcast sounded.

[Night Shift Maintenance Worker Lin Jin.]

[You have not yet submitted the final report.]

Lin Jin turned back.

"I choose the Maintenance Department Old Archive Room as the report location."

The air suddenly turned cold.

The medical record book opened automatically.

[The Maintenance Department Old Archive Room does not have final archiving authority.]

Lin Jin had been waiting for this sentence.

"But it has historical fault verification authority."

"The final report involves historical faults of the Ward 105 isolation system."

"It cannot be archived before verifying the original files."

The medical record book's page-flipping speed increased.

The broadcast had a brief static noise.

[Verifying process—]

[Unverified historical archives exist.]

[Final report archiving suspended.]

It worked.

Chen Ye almost laughed out loud.

"You glitched the process again."

But Lin Jin did not relax.

Because the Faceless Dean raised his hand.

A piece of paper flew out of the medical record book.

The paper hung in mid-air, turning into a new notice.

[Temporary process change]

[The Deans Office will send a Medical Record Keeper to supervise along the way]

[Supervision target: Night Shift Maintenance Worker Lin Jin]

[Supervision goal: Prevent tampering with archives]

The next second.

The sound of a chair being dragged came from the Deans Office.

"Creak—"

"Creak—"

A thin, long figure slowly walked out from inside the door.

It was wearing a gray uniform.

It held a medical record folder wider than its body in its arms.

There were no facial features on its face.

But a label was stuck to its forehead.

[Medical Record Keeper]

Chen Ye's expression darkened.

"It even brought a supervisor?"

The Medical Record Keeper walked to Lin Jin's side with stiff steps.

It had no mouth.

But a voice came from the medical record folder.

"Do not browse unrelated archives without authorization."

"Do not tear, modify, or take away archives."

"Do not question the archiving results of the Deans Office."

With every sentence it said.

The medical record folder would automatically flip a page.

Lin Jin looked at it.

The Hand of Rules unfolded.

[Target: Deans Office Medical Record Keeper]

[Danger Level: C+]

[Abilities: Recording, accountability, archive lockdown]

[Weakness: Must follow written procedures]

The corners of Lin Jin's mouth twitched imperceptibly.

As long as it has a weakness, it's fine.

Easier to deal with than the Dean.

"Let's go."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the logistics door.

Shen Tingxue followed.

Chen Ye took up the rear.

Liu Hang and the Short-haired Girl were sandwiched in the middle, their expressions extremely nervous.

The Head Nurse, however, did not move.

Lin Jin walked to the logistics door and suddenly turned back.

"Aren't you coming?"

The Head Nurse shook her head.

The cracks on her mask were still expanding.

"I guaranteed you beyond my authority; I cannot leave the Inpatient Department."

Lin Jin frowned.

"Will the Dean deal with you?"

The Head Nurse was silent for a moment.

"He is already dealing with it."

Her voice was huskier than before.

It sounded like it was coming from very far away.

"Lin Jin."

"If you see my name in the Old Archives Room."

"Don't finish reading it."

Lin Jin's eyes shifted.

"Why?"

The Head Nurse did not answer.

Because the Faceless Dean behind her had already slowly raised his hand.

A black recording line extended from the medical record book and wrapped around the Head Nurse's neck.

The Head Nurse's body stiffened suddenly.

But she still looked at Lin Jin.

"Remember."

"The Maintenance Department wasn't sealed by The Hospital."

"They sealed it themselves."

Lin Jin's pupils constricted slightly.

The Maintenance Department sealed it themselves?

What does that mean?

But the Head Nurse could no longer say more.

Her mask completely cracked open.

There was no face inside.

Only dense black text.

Like she herself was a medical record that had been written poorly.

The logistics door began to emit a beeping sound of urging.

[Temporary attached personnel, please proceed to the Old Archives Room as soon as possible]

The Medical Record Keeper stood by, a cold voice coming from the medical record folder.

"Failure to arrive within the time limit will be considered as waiving access rights."

Lin Jin withdrew his gaze.

He couldn't save the Head Nurse now.

And he couldn't save her anyway.

He could only move forward first.

"Enter the door."

Everyone filed into the logistics corridor.

The door closed slowly.

Just as the last sliver of the gap was about to close.

Lin Jin saw the Head Nurse standing in the corridor.

The black recording line tightened bit by bit.

She did not struggle.

She just said in a voice that was almost inaudible:

"Don't let the Dean get the Maintenance Department master file."

Bang.

The door closed.

The corridor was cut off.

In the logistics corridor.

Only dim yellow light remained.

And the rustling sound of the Medical Record Keeper flipping the medical record folder.

Lin Jin stood behind the door.

His fingers slowly tightened around the wrench.

Shen Tingxue asked in a low voice:

"What did she say at the end?"

Lin Jin looked up, toward the darkness at the end of the corridor leading to Basement Level 2.

"She said…"

"Don't let the Dean get the Maintenance Department master file."

As soon as he finished speaking.

On the wall deep in the corridor.

An indicator light, sealed in dust for many years, suddenly lit up.

[Maintenance Department Old Archive Room]

[Sealed status: Damaged]

[Current visitor: Lin Jin]

[Note: Son of Lin Shoushan]