9: Chapter 9: Choosing the Wrong Person to Help, the Entire Team Dies Along with Them.

"Brother Jin, aren't you alive?!"

Chen Ye's voice cracked.

Because on that hospitalization list,

right behind Lin Jin's name, it was clearly written:

"[Time of Death: Three years ago]"

And,

it wasn't garbled text.

It wasn't blurry.

It looked exactly like a real medical record existing in The Hospital's system.

The air fell dead silent.

The faces of the surrounding examinees turned pale.

Especially the girl who had picked up the list.

Her hands began to shake.

"What... what on earth is this?"

Zhao Qi gritted his teeth and said,

"Throw the list away first!"

The girl snapped out of it and was just about to let go.

The next second,

the entire piece of paper suddenly seemed to come alive.

Smack!

It stuck firmly to her palm.

"Ah—!"

The girl screamed instantly.

A massive amount of black text spread frantically along the paper,

crawling up her arm like ink.

"[Rule contamination detected]"

"[Target registration complete]"

"[Death protocol initiated]"

Lin Jin's expression changed.

"Let go!"

"I—I can't!"

The girl was on the verge of tears.

She shook her hand desperately,

but the list seemed to have grown onto her skin.

The black text crawled faster and faster.

Someone nearby instinctively wanted to help tear it off,

but Lin Jin barked a sudden warning.

"Don't touch it!"

Everyone froze instantly.

Lin Jin stared intently at the list.

The Hand of Rules was analyzing frantically.

"[Target: Hospitalization List]"

"[Status: Registration Rule Carrier]"

"[Current Glitch: Death Information Disorder]"

"[Danger Description: Erroneous registration is overwriting real-world identity]"

"[Recommendation: Find the source of registration]"

The source of registration...

Lin Jin suddenly looked up,

gazing deep into the corridor.

There,

a sign hung faintly.

"[Admissions Registry]"

"Go!"

He turned and dashed.

Chen Ye instinctively followed.

"Where to?"

"The registry!"

"Any later and she'll really die!"

Everyone's face changed instantly.

Zhao Qi gritted his teeth. "Let's go together!"

The group immediately rushed deep into the corridor.

But the further they went,

the more bizarre The Hospital became.

The lights overhead began to flicker continuously.

Bzzzt—

Bzzzt-bzzzt—

The promotional posters of The Hospital on the walls also changed.

The original health slogans,

at some unknown point,

had all turned crimson.

"[Patients are forbidden from leaving The Hospital]"

"[Do not open doors after lights out]"

"[Keep quiet during ward rounds]"

The last poster

even read:

"[The deceased, please proceed to Basement Level 2]"

Chen Ye's scalp went numb as he read it.

"Damn it..."

"Just how many people have died in this place?"

No one answered,

because they had already reached the end of the corridor.

The registry.

They had arrived.

It was an old service window

with yellowed glass.

Behind the counter sat a nurse,

head bowed,

completely motionless.

The most bizarre thing was that

although she was clearly wearing a nurse's uniform,

everything above her neck

was pitch black.

It was as if her face had been forcefully erased by something.

The air suddenly grew cold.

"[Rule unit detected]"

"[Target: Registry Nurse]"

"[Danger Level: D]"

"[Current Status: Ongoing registration]"

"[Warning: Do not let it confirm your identity]"

Lin Jin's footsteps paused slightly.

And right then,

the girl entangled by the list suddenly let out a miserable shriek.

"My... my name changed!"

Everyone whipped their heads around.

On that list,

her original name was slowly disappearing.

Replacing it

was a new line of text:

"[Deceased Patient: Li Wen]"

"[Time of Death: Tonight at 23:47]"

Chen Ye's back went cold.

"Holy crap?!"

"It's changing the list?!"

Lin Jin finally understood.

The "death rule" of this dungeon was essentially identity overwriting.

Once registered,

you would turn from a "living person" into a "dead person."

And The Hospital

only processed dead people.

With this in mind,

he walked straight toward the registry window.

Zhao Qi's expression changed.

"Are you crazy?!"

"That thing is clearly wrong!"

Lin Jin didn't look back.

"If you want to save her, shut up."

He arrived before the window,

and the nurse with her head bowed

finally, slowly raised her head.

No.

To be precise,

she "raised her faceless head."

A pitch-black void faced Lin Jin directly.

The next second,

a cold, mechanical voice slowly rang out.

"Please present your medical record."

The air fell completely dead silent.

Everyone held their breath.

Because this thing

was actually "working."

Lin Jin looked down at the counter.

A thick registry book lay there.

And inside the registry book,

new names were constantly surfacing.

At the very top,

was none other than his.

"[Lin Jin]"

"[Status: Deceased]"

"[Registration Time: Three years ago]"

Lin Jin's pupils contracted slightly.

Three years ago.

It was three years ago again.

That was exactly when his father had gone missing.

This dungeon

was absolutely related to Lin Shoushan.

Just then,

the nurse spoke again.

"Please present your medical record."

Her voice grew noticeably colder,

and the surrounding lights began to flicker wildly.

"[Warning]"

"[Rule unit is losing control]"

"[Recommendation: Deal with immediately]"

Lin Jin looked down at the registry book.

The next second,

the repair options finally popped up.

"[Repair Target: Hospitalization Registry System]"

"[Glitch: Life and Death Information Mismatch]"

"[Repair Option 1: Forcibly tear up the registry book]"

"[Success Rate: 13%]"

"[Consequence: Rules of the entire floor run wild]"

"[Repair Option 2: Modify erroneous medical records]"

"[Success Rate: 72%]"

"[Prerequisite: Find the original registry stamp]"

The original registry stamp.

Lin Jin suddenly looked up,

looking inside the registry window.

In the corner,

a blackened, old stamp was sitting there.

And on it,

black blood vessels were tightly wrapped.

"[Target: Registry Stamp]"

"[Status: Severely Contaminated]"

"[Current Authority: Death Confirmation]"

Found it.

Lin Jin's gaze darkened.

He vaulted directly over the window and leaped inside!

"Holy crap!"

Zhao Qi was completely dumbfounded.

That was right in front of a rule unit!

Normal people wouldn't even have time to dodge,

yet he actually rushed inside on his own?

The next second,

the faceless nurse suddenly stood up!

The pitch-black void above her neck twisted frantically.

A massive amount of black text crawled across the walls like insects.

"Patients are forbidden from leaving their posts—"

A sharp voice instantly exploded,

and the entire registry began to vibrate.

Meanwhile, Lin Jin had already grabbed for the registry stamp!

But just as he was about to touch it,

the Hand of Rules suddenly issued a frantic alarm.

"[Warning]"

"[Current stamp is contaminated]"

"[Direct contact will complete death registration]"

Lin Jin's expression changed abruptly.

Damn it.

This thing is a bomb!

And behind him,

the faceless nurse had already lunged forward,

her pitch-black hand heading straight for the back of Lin Jin's head!

At this very instant,

an icy blue torrent of cold air erupted with a bang!

Boom!

The entire wall froze instantly!

Shen Tingxue finally made her move.

An illusory image of an Ice Phoenix unfolded behind her.

A massive amount of chilling frost forcefully froze half of the faceless nurse's body.

"Lin Jin!"

"Hurry!"

Lin Jin snapped out of it.

The Hand of Rules operated at high speed.

The next second,

a new prompt finally popped up.

"[Alternative material detected]"

"[Target: Abyss Screw]"

"[Compatibility Rate: 61%]"

Lin Jin's eyes lit up.

Right!

The Abyss Screw he had obtained when repairing the Awakening Plaza!

He retrieved the pitch-black screw directly from his repair space,

and then—

slammed it hard into the center of the registry stamp!

Crack!

The entire registry shook violently!

The black blood vessels rioted frantically!

And that death list wrapped around the girl's hand

also began to burn intensely!

The broadcast voice suddenly grew shrill:

"[Error—]"

"[Erroneous registration—]"

"[Death information conflict—]"

The lights of the entire floor of The Hospital flickered frantically.

Meanwhile, in front of Lin Jin's eyes,

the repair progress was jumping rapidly:

"[19%]"

"[42%]"

"[67%]"

The faceless nurse went completely berserk.

A massive tide of black text surged forward.

Chen Ye roared, raising his shield and charging into it.

"Brother Jin!!!"

"You'd better really know how to fix this!!"