HM Chapter 20

In the medical room, the lights dimmed slightly, turning into an eerie blue-white glow. "Curly" instantly changed his expression, stepping back a few paces and looking at Yuan Yuxue with a blank face. "So that's it. No wonder you're not afraid or resentful—when did you figure it out?"

"?"

Yuan Yuxue paused slightly, his voice light and somewhat puzzled. "Did I need to figure it out?"

From the moment the doctor, "Curly," and "Gold" entered, he had scanned them, recording their characteristic data. He never considered them to be his teammates... after all, robots don't rely on facial recognition. All appearances were merely specific data differences to Yuan Yuxue.

Thus, their performances seemed overly exaggerated and inexplicable to him. Yuan Yuxue silently observed for a while before understanding their act.

This response, though not harsh, carried a significant insult. "Curly" trembled with anger, cursing maliciously. He looked at Yuan Yuxue, his face twisted, no longer resembling Curly. He cursed, "Even if you can figure it out, so what? You might escape, but your teammates will still be trapped in this nightmare! Endlessly repeating the agony of being killed or killing teammates, never..."

He seemed to want to say "never ending," but before he could finish, Yuan Yuxue, uninterested in listening, broke the chains on his feet. He quickly got up and reached out, his beautiful, art-like fingers displaying the power to snap steel bars.

"Curly" didn't even have time to react before his neck was snapped.

His eyes bulged, and he died mid-sentence, looking even more resentful than "Gold."

But Yuan Yuxue didn't care.

In truth, this illusion was perilously designed.

Players dragged into it would lose short-term memory and wake up facing the desperate situation of being a test subject.

The terrifying medical equipment would frighten anyone, let alone those who personally experienced its "treatments."

At this point, meeting one's "teammates"—who weren't there to save them—would be the first blow.

The teammates were in safe positions, either as interns or assistants, while the player was the test subject.

It wouldn't take long for the teammates to decide to sacrifice the player to obtain the task item and escape the game. The reasoning, as they would say, was all about luck—they survived because of good fortune. The unlucky player, on the other hand, was merely a stepping stone and a sacrifice.

This disparity could drive anyone mad.

In most temporary player alliances, the camaraderie wasn't deep. Facing such betrayal in a dire situation, they wouldn't ponder the oddities of their teammates' behavior or the underlying motives. Most would simply go berserk, aiming for mutual destruction.

From here, the illusion's trap was set.

Players lacking strength would be repeatedly killed by the medical equipment. They would see their organs being extracted alive, yet remain conscious, with the pain never leading to death. Until their consciousness disintegrated or they became a ghostly part of the dungeon.

The second outcome involved strong players who would kill the betraying "teammates."

As long as they killed someone they believed to be a fellow player, they would be permanently trapped in the illusion.

They would endlessly relive the scene from when they woke up, starting a cycle until they were too exhausted to resist—unless they realized the trap and the teammates were impersonated by ghosts. But it would be too late; from the first wrong step, they would be mired in a hopeless quagmire with no chance to repent.

The illusion often set up extreme oppositions to induce mistakes.

Experimenter and subject, "doctor" and "diseased" patient.

Usually, players would face situations of kill or be killed, rushing decisions under pressure. Even the most astute and calm individuals would find it hard to make the right choice in life-and-death moments, often opting for self-preservation—a natural human inclination.

But this illusion, testing humanity, was pierced from the moment it encountered Yuan Yuxue. Yuan Yuxue simply... didn't fit the rules of this illusion.

He wasn't swayed by visual deception, nor did he fall into emotional turmoil. His judgment was based on basic data, making him a unique challenge for such dungeons.

After dealing with the impostors, Yuan Yuxue prepared to find clues about his teammates.

The illusion was exposed. As Yuan Yuxue opened the medical room door, his vision blurred as if being sucked into another space, bringing intense dizziness.

When he reopened his eyes, he found himself in a small space surrounded by walls of twisted arms. The arms no longer moved, rigid like dead worms, still intertwined.

Yuan Yuxue easily tore open the cocoon of arms, recalling the previous situation.

It seemed that after being encased, he experienced a temporary loss of consciousness.

Yuan Yuxue had encountered similar situations before. Some insectoids used hallucinogenic toxins as a defense mechanism. But the effects were mild, unlike the recent experience, which even he couldn't discern—

Perhaps it was another real world.

As he tore open the cocoon, Yuan Yuxue quickly emerged, seeing two other large cocoons.

Compared to the one he had emerged from, which was dull and stiff, the other two cocoons seemed alive. Countless pale, boneless "arms" stretched and intertwined like writhing snakes, with faint figures visible through small gaps.

Yuan Yuxue approached, assessing the thickness of the cocoons.

He could break them open directly, freeing the players inside. But now, he needed to consider how to do so without harming the humans within.

Yuan Yuxue tilted his head slightly, his dark lashes casting a shadow. As he moved closer, the cocoon suddenly struggled violently.

A pale human hand with pinkish nails forced its way out, clawing for an opening.

Yuan Yuxue didn't hesitate, helping to widen the gap. A figure then crawled out with difficulty, nearly tumbling over as her feet remained stuck.

It was Gold.

Yuan Yuxue stepped forward to support her arm as she nearly fell.

Touched, Gold trembled slightly, her face pale with extreme vigilance. Recognizing Yuan Yuxue, her wariness didn't fade. After steadying herself, she took a few steps back, hesitating before hoarsely saying, "Yuan Yuxue?"

Yuan Yuxue nodded.

No other explanation was given.

For him, understanding human emotional logic and defending his identity was difficult.

Gold stared at him for a while, then finally sighed in relief, "Sorry, something happened just now, and I couldn't believe it. Did you also encounter people like... me and Curly?"

Yuan Yuxue hesitated slightly, then nodded, "...Yes."

Sort of.

"What about Curly?"

"Still inside." Yuan Yuxue glanced at the remaining cocoon.

"He hasn't come out..." Gold muttered, surprised. She moved closer to observe, considering Curly the strongest among them.

The "arms" didn't react to her presence but tightened, forming a narrower gap. Gold's brow twitched as she noted the increased danger.

Yuan Yuxue started timing.

"Wait ten more minutes," he said. "If he doesn't come out, I'll act."

Gold agreed. She kept her distance from the equipment, fearing it, and moved to a more open area to wait. Yuan Yuxue, as a simple yet accurate timer, prepared to cut open the cocoon as soon as the ten minutes were up.

At that moment, the cocoon bulged from the inside.

A foot emerged first.

Curly irritably kicked a slit open, causing stiff "arms" to fall away. He stepped out.

His curly hair was a tangled mess, his face dark. After a quick scan of the others, he tore off the remaining arms, then said, "Hey."

He addressed Yuan Yuxue, "Take off your mask and let me see."

Yuan Yuxue: “.”

Without asking "why," Yuan Yuxue coldly refused, "No."

Curly glanced at him suspiciously, stepping forward as if to remove the mask himself. Gold, sensing the tension, stepped in to stop an internal conflict. Though somewhat afraid of Curly, she looked imposing with a stern face, "Are you still stuck in the illusion? Be careful not to be disliked."

The phrase "be disliked" seemed to hold power. Curly paused, cautiously glancing at Yuan Yuxue, deciding he was likely real, then mumbled, "Fine. I just have a bit of a psychological shadow..."

Gold couldn't help but ask, "What did you encounter?"

Curly blushed slightly.

Gold: “……”

Why are you blushing!?