Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 508: Illusion and Reality

Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Illusion and Reality

Lu Yun recognized that all the doctors on the bulletin board were Red Bracelets, which made the players present turn pale, "All the doctors are Red Bracelets, so if we want to complete the second task, we’ll have to kill a Red Bracelet."

To ensure the safety of the Red and Black Bracelets, the White Bracelets who came aboard were carefully selected regardless of background. They were generally players of lower levels. Even if some of the Red Bracelets lacked substantial combat experience, the number and level of items they possessed far surpassed those of the White Bracelets. There was simply no comparison, otherwise, so many wouldn’t have been killed at the start of the hunt.

Now the instance had designated Red Bracelets as doctors, obviously setting them up to fight to the death against the Red Bracelets.

"I don’t think this instance wants us to kill Red Bracelets, but rather wants the Red Bracelets to kill us," a player said. "The first task is to complete a psychological treatment, and only doctors can treat patients. Do you think the Red Bracelets will cooperate and let us pass?"

"Then why don’t we do the third task? Isn’t the hospital’s main door right there?"

Following the direction pointed out by the speaker, everyone turned their heads, and there was the hospital’s main door, glaringly obvious in front of the reception desk, impossible to miss.

"But is that really the hospital’s main door?" Selin walked over and tried pushing the door. The door didn’t open, and he didn’t clear the level.

Several more players tried their luck one after another, all to no avail.

"Even though it’s a Level E instance, that doesn’t mean the way to clear it is plainly in sight," Lu Yun said. "Did you all pay attention to the last reminder from the instance? This instance might cause hallucinations, which means the door we see may not be a real door. The actual door is elsewhere in the hospital; we just haven’t discovered it yet."

"Then let’s go find it," a hesitant player suggested, "but there are still Red and Black Bracelets in the instance."

"I have a detection item I can use," the previously outspoken female player Chen Zi said. "It can detect the number of people within a certain range. I think the Red and Black Bracelets probably don’t dare to move around casually right now."

"That makes sense," Xu Huo spoke. "Many Black Bracelets have no experience in solving instances. They might be hiding like startled birds right now."

That made sense too. With the opportunity in front of them, they had to take the risk despite the danger.

So everyone searched the first floor first and then followed the nurse’s instructions to go upstairs to look for the wards.

The stairs had an electronic lock. Selin used a card to open the door and didn’t leave the card behind. Instead, he warned the group, "What if it really locks us in?"

It was hard for players to trust each other. Everyone feared being locked up, but they also didn’t trust him. A player stepped forward and attached a small gadget to the electronic lock. A few seconds later, he removed it, "This door can’t be locked now."

The electronic lock was sabotaged. It could be easily opened even when shut.

With everyone in agreement, they ascended the stairs to the second floor of the hospital.

At the top of the stairs was a large nurse’s station. It was unattended. There was a corridor to the left, right, and straight ahead from the nurse’s station. The left and right were lined with wards, while at the end of the corridor directly ahead was a doctor’s office.

After circling the corridors, the players indeed found their own names.

"How odd. How could the instance know our names?"

"Didn’t you hear what Lu Yun said about it possibly being an illusion? Besides yourself, who would know your name?"

"Then how do we rest tonight? We’ve checked every room on this floor, windows and walls, there’s no door, and we can’t get to the third floor either."

"Let’s just make do with any room. I have a bad feeling, like entering a room will turn us into actual mental patients."

"Idiot."

"Don’t you believe it? Do you understand what psychological suggestion is?"

"I don’t know, and I don’t believe it. With the item in hand, can you still not tell reality from illusion?"

...

The players argued amongst themselves, but there wasn’t much they could do. Unable to pass the level for the time being, they decided to rest near the nurse’s station.

As time passed, some players grew tired and started to doze off against the walls, while others who were more alert forced themselves to stay awake. But just then, a player suddenly stared into the dark corridor and shouted, "Who’s there!"

The rest were startled awake and quickly prepared for battle, but when the light from their illumination devices shone down the corridor, there was nothing there.

"You must be seeing things," Chen Zi said.

The gaunt player with dark circles under his eyes said firmly, "I clearly saw someone walk past."

"There’s no one there," Xu Huo said. "Didn’t we just check?"

"Could it be a Red Bracelet who climbed in from the outside window?" another player offered a plausible explanation.

"There!" The gaunt player suddenly pointed down the corridor right in front of them. This time, several people shone their lights in that direction and indeed saw the tail end of a shadow.

"Damn it, let’s get him!" Chen Zi tossed her light forward and charged ahead, "We have so many people; we’re not afraid of him!"

Clearly, she wasn’t the only one with that mindset; at least six or seven players rushed out together. But when they reached the door of the ward, the figure had vanished again, leaving only the curtain at the window fluttering.

"Lucky for him, he’s fast!" The few players left the room somewhat unwillingly.

They rested back in their original spot for a while longer until another player saw a figure in the corridor. This time even more people gave chase, but they still failed to catch anyone.

"What’s the meaning of this? Are they messing with us?" Chen Zi was puzzled, "What’s the point?"

"We might be hallucinating," Lu Yun furrowed his brow and said, "Everybody, don’t run around, and don’t think about any figures..."

Before he could finish speaking, he too saw someone standing at the end of the hallway, the red bracelet reflecting a faint light in the dark.

The others followed his gaze and once more chose to charge together. This time they fared slightly better. The ones at the front managed to see the figure escaping through the window as they burst into the room. Two players ran up to the window, ready to jump out after it, but Lu Yun stopped them in time.

"Wait, look at what’s below us first!"

The two players came to their senses, squinting their eyes, and after a moment, they realized the truth and hastily retreated—the view outside the window wasn’t ordinary; it was an ocean exuding an air of decay!

"Now the situation is clear. Even though it feels like we’re on the second floor, we’re actually right by the sea surface," Selin said. "If we had forced open the main door on the first floor earlier, we might have let seawater flood in."

The group felt the complexity of the situation, and Xu Huo asked at the right moment, "Then how do we determine what’s real and what’s fake in this building?"

"We are within the confines of the instance and, at the very least, cut off from the outside world. As long as we don’t try to break through the hospital’s boundaries, we should temporarily be safe," Lu Yun speculated after a moment of thought.

"Then tell me, are the figures we’ve been seeing illusions or traps set by Red Bracelets?" the gaunt player asked.