There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Game over countdown: fifteen minutes.

Director Zhang straightened his blood-stained white coat, realizing one thing: everyone in the hospital was an obstacle to him completing his task.

So, it's only when it's just him and the patients left in this world that the task can be carried out without fail.

And the first person he had to kill was Doctor Chen Chu.

Fifth round.

Within half a minute, Director Zhang rushed to Doctor Chen's office, along the way he casually killed a nurse who grabbed him attempting to make inquiries—the very nurse who had been constantly persuading him to classify Doctor Chen as a patient.

But if he were to turn Doctor Chen into a patient, he wouldn't be able to kill him, plus adding another person would only further burden his task.

After all, the game was almost over.

Director Zhang felt the serpentine presence of deathly stillness in the hospital, not resisting the encroachment of dark thoughts, because he intended just that.

However, there was no one in the office. The other party was also quite quick to act.

Subsequently, Director Zhang immediately went to ward thirteen, but Luo Kun who was supposed to be there also disappeared. Even so, the latter hadn't died.

Thick smoke drifted down from the third floor.

"What a nuisance," Director Zhang coldly gazed at the stairwell, where the dim lighting cast the cold blue tones and pale walls into a bleak tapestry.

The other players had also begun to make their moves.

Director Zhang pulled out his list of targets, moving them one by one to the cafeteria on the first floor, gathering them together, thereby making it more convenient to keep them in check, sparing the trouble of dealing with them one by one.

What stories this hospital held, he didn't care; he only cared about his mission.

...

The hospital fell into a distortion of time.

The nurse once again lit the tobacco hidden on the third floor.

But when ready to retrieve the handgun and detonator button, she encountered the janitor who had come chasing after her.

The janitor, who had always been nearly invisible within The Fifth Hospital, now wielding an axe, behaved like a crazed murderer.

Or rather, he had gone mad.

The hospital was filled with intertwining screams that wove a sinister melody, chaotic footsteps, and the sound of heavy objects falling like leaping notes, enshrouding The Fifth Hospital in darkness as it performed its long-awaited frenzied rhapsody!

"How ludicrous. People say I have descended into madness, but now, they are no different."

Luo Kun extended his fingers, conducting lightly as if directing, watching the crimson blood spread across the pale walls, his lips parting into a brilliant smile.

"Doctor Chu, do you find it wonderful?"

"It's alright."

Xu Shuo was playing with his smartphone alongside.

He was waiting for the countdown, fifteen minutes left, and before that, he couldn't be bothered to move.

"Do you know why that nurse obeyed my command?" Luo Kun closed his eyes, relaxedly conducting and speaking.

"No idea." Xu Shuo casually humored him.

"She wanted to leave the hospital; she's been trapped here for too long. Every day there are crazy patients, every day there are out-of-control incidents, every day she's on tenterhooks. Doctor Chu, no one would like it, except for us," Luo Kun curled his lips.

"Hmm, you're right," Xu Shuo replied.

"Then do you know why the janitor wants to stop all of this?" Luo Kun continued to ask.

"No idea."

"Because…"

At this, Luo Kun suddenly stopped, not continuing, and the smile rapidly faded from his face. He stared darkly at Xu Shuo, who was sitting beside him, engrossed in his smartphone game without a glance elsewhere.

After a silence, unexpectedly, the dark, lightless ward thirteen suddenly lit up.

The din within the hospital abruptly ceased.

Xu Shuo, who was playing with his phone, looked up to see that the ward was eerily quiet—Luo Kun's constant prattling was no longer by his side.

Where had his ghost disappeared to now?

Or rather, at which point in time was he now?

Luo Kun was unhinged, acting unpredictably, especially after acquiring the ability to manipulate these chaotic points in time, leading everyone in the hospital in circles.

So was this because he wasn't satisfied with Xu Shuo's nonchalant attitude earlier, insisting that he join the game too?

Xu Shuo reluctantly put away his phone, took out his fruit knife to fiddle with in his hand, and walked out the door.

The hospital was deathly still with blood sprawled on the floor, dense smoke spreading downward from the stairwell, the smell of disinfectant mixed with gunpowder.

Suddenly, Xu Shuo halted in his tracks.

Turning his head, he saw Director Zhang, covered in blood, coming up from the stairwell, and upon seeing Xu Shuo, Director Zhang curved his lips into a smile.

"Doctor Zhang, you don't seem to be in good spirits," Xu Shuo asked with concern.

"Do you know why The Fifth Hospital became dilapidated?" Director Zhang didn't respond to the question but instead approached him while talking about an unrelated topic, his voice and expression as calm and gentle as the person opposite him.

"I've heard, about a decade ago, the hospital housed a mad patient, who later set a major fire, killing many people; after that, The Fifth Hospital's reputation plummeted," Xu Shuo said calmly.

"Then do you know, the souls of those deceased patients are still lingering here?" Director Zhang got closer to him.

"You mean... they are within you now?"

As the last word fell, the young man's lips also curled into a bizarre smile, the tranquility in his eyes instantly replaced by a suppressed ferocity as he pulled out the fruit knife and lunged forward!

However, as he neared Director Zhang, the latter's figure seemed like an illusion, apparently close one moment, yet farther away the next.

Xu Shuo's swing with the fruit knife sliced through the air.

Thud!

The next instant, Director Zhang was suddenly in front of him, lifting his leg and forcefully kicking Xu Shuo against the wall, pressing him with one foot to his chest!

"Right, the ghosts have given me strength. Doctor Chen, how about you join them?" Director Zhang said with a gentle smile.

"That is truly terrifying~" Xu Shuo grinned.

The scalpel came slashing towards him, and Xu Shuo quickly raised his fruit knife to block, but the previous illusion occurred once again.

The scalpel blade, seemingly within reach a moment ago, had inexplicably shifted an inch to the side by the time he looked again. Realizing this in an instant, Xu Shuo promptly ducked his head to the side, and the incoming surgical knife sliced past his ear.

Xu Shuo glanced emotionlessly at the blade.

He couldn't be seeing things twice.

Could this be the ability of the players?

While his thoughts were racing, the scene before him flipped once more, Director Zhang vanished, and the pressure against his chest eased, allowing Xu Shuo to stumble forward and steady himself, then he surveyed his surroundings.

The point in time had shifted again.

This was the stairwell, with thick smoke drifting down from the third floor.

Tch, Luo Kun's ability to manipulate these chaotic points in time was truly annoying. If only he had known, he would have cooperated and pretended a bit more sincerely with the kid earlier.

Xu Shuo glanced at the game countdown timer: ten minutes.

He needed to find that guy quickly.

Turning around, he exited the stairwell and entered room number thirteen. However, upon pushing the door open, the dimly lit room was empty, save for a collection of short stories resting on the bed.

Luo Kun's hideouts were essentially fixed, the only difference being the different points in time he would appear elsewhere.

With this in mind, Xu Shuo suddenly remembered a time when he saw Luo Kun sneaking off with that frosty nurse sister in the hallway from the second floor to the first.

Why hadn't he turned to look just now?