Chapter 230: Why Pick on You? Because You’re an Easy Target!
Seeing Zhang Yangqing do this, the audience felt a sense of relief.
It didn’t seem wrong, somehow. After all, this was how he always operated.
In the cafeteria, there was a designated area with painted sections where patients gathered in small groups to eat in their respective zones.
At this stage, any Chosen One entering the cafeteria could tell which patients were safe to approach.
Plus, with the blonde young man leading the way, the Chosen Ones just needed to follow him to find the right area to eat.
Zhang Yangqing’s method was even simpler: find one person to bother.
He simply followed the patient he had just robbed and sat down on the right side of the dining area.
Here, besides the two of them, there were many patients, all with purple marks on their necks.
When other Chosen Ones arrived, they were often stared at by many, as if they were being sized up.
But with the blonde man present, no one seemed to bother the Chosen Ones.
When Zhang Yangqing came over, they just glanced at him and continued eating, as if sensing he wasn’t someone to mess with.
The patient Zhang Yangqing had robbed had a delicate face and was somewhat short. One of his eyes was covered with a bandage, suggesting he might have been beaten up, or maybe there was something wrong with it.
He always kept his head down, afraid to get close to others, giving off a timid vibe.
Even after Zhang Yangqing snatched his tray, he didn’t resist at all, like someone who just accepted whatever came his way.
Or perhaps he had seen something here that had scared him.
When he saw Zhang Yangqing sit down, he actually wanted to move.
But Zhang Yangqing held him in place, and he just silently endured the bullying.
Someone like this might seem insignificant, but Zhang Yangqing felt this kid probably knew something.
Why did Zhang Yangqing pick on him? Naturally, because he was an easy target.
While eating, Zhang Yangqing wasn’t in a hurry to ask for information. Instead, he observed the other patients here.
There were three types of people in the rehabilitation center. The first type was like him, appearing more or less human but mostly very weak. These patients had purple marks on their necks.
The second type was similar to what he had seen earlier. Some parts of their bodies were withered—a hand for some, a foot for others—but they could still move around. These patients had red marks on their necks.
The third type was stranger. They looked human in shape, but their movements were awkward, like strange walkers, as if they weren’t used to having a human body. These patients had green marks on their necks.
However, all the patients here seemed to share one common trait: they were all weak, much weaker than normal people, though to varying degrees.
This meant there were no ‘normal’ people among the patients. Everyone had some sort of illness, more or less.
This led Zhang Yangqing to a natural guess: maybe when someone gets better, something ‘bad’ happens?
So he had already figured out a survival rule: as long as his illness hadn’t completely improved, he probably wouldn’t have major problems here.
If he felt like he was getting better, he could choose not to take his medicine to worsen his condition. That way, he wouldn’t run into trouble from the rehabilitation center.
The rules were already hinting that the Chosen Ones needed to find a way to escape.
Escaping, of course, meant not getting caught by those crow-masked caretakers.
If someone didn’t realize this and just stupidly waited to get better, they were doomed.
These were all observations that could be made.
Zhang Yangqing had felt terrible from the start, his physical condition not great, but he kept pretending nothing was wrong.
Because he could see a huge trap in this horror scenario, a massive pitfall.
Why did Zhang Yangqing say that people from the same group were just tools?
The logic was simple: it was likely that not only the Chosen Ones, but also others here had figured out the need to escape.
Since they all wanted to escape, everyone first needed to secure enough ‘pills.’
Patients with different illnesses definitely took different pills.
The Chosen Ones and other patients probably couldn’t storm the pharmacy to steal pills; it was guarded by many strong caretakers.
So the only people they could rob were patients with the same illness.
If the Chosen Ones wanted to get out, they had to get pills from these people.
Of course, the prerequisite was figuring out how to meet the conditions for leaving.
Based on this understanding, patients of other types probably wouldn’t harm the Chosen Ones. The only ones who might were those with the same illness.
Zhang Yangqing had adopted the posture of a hunter, so naturally, no patient wanted to get close to him.
But other Chosen Ones were in the posture of prey. Didn’t that blonde young man look like he was almost better?
If the blonde man wasn’t stupid, he was definitely planning how to escape too.
Having lived here for a while, he probably knew something.
If he could escape, he would also need pills to stabilize his condition. Where would the pills come from?
Naturally, he’d have to get them from others.
So, by helping other Chosen Ones and earning their goodwill,
it looked like a normal storyline, but in reality, most Chosen Ones were walking into a death trap.
If they couldn’t break free from this death trap and thought the blonde man was a good guy here to help them pass the level, they would likely die horribly.
As more and people cleared the scenarios, everyone was gaining experience, and the difficulty of the Horror World was subtly increasing.
Didn’t the last round hint that teammates could also be something sinister?
You could also understand it as people from the same group might still harm you.
Some people were only on the surface on your side, but had their own hidden agendas.
Once goals conflicted, knives would likely come out.
Take the Chosen Ones, for example. When facing life-or-death decisions, wouldn’t they resolutely sell out their honest teammates?
Weren’t teammates from the same faction just tools for clearing the instance?
This round, the Horror World had given some hints, but whether they were noticed depended on the Chosen Ones’ own abilities.
From the outside, it was easy to see the clues, but the Chosen Ones, in that unfamiliar, strange, and powerless situation, would instinctively rely on friendly NPCs.
The Red Cardinal from the Noodle Country, Gregori, caught on relatively quickly. Just now, the blonde man had asked a question that almost made him answer honestly.
The blonde man had helped Gregori downstairs and shared half his food, so Gregori did have some trust in him.
At least compared to the strange, unsettling stares from others, he found the blonde man friendly.
During their chat, the blonde man told him that he too had woken up here one day and knew nothing about the outside, not even having any memories of it.
And it seemed that, except for the caretakers, all the patients were like that.
The blonde man said he had approached other patients and asked the same question, but got the same answer: they didn’t know anything about the outside.
He also mentioned that even if Gregori hadn’t asked, he would have asked Gregori the same thing about outside memories.
Whether he was lying or not, Gregori could only remember this and ask others later to verify his claim.
After all, he was in the Horror World now. He couldn’t just believe everything an NPC said, right?
Gregori’s advantage was that in the last round, there had been a mole, making him naturally suspicious. This round, that ‘experience’ seemed to carry over naturally.
Of course, at this stage, the blonde man still seemed perfect, and Gregori had no reason to suspect him.
But then, one sentence from the blonde man made Gregori suspicious.
While eating, the blonde man made a leading statement.
He warned Gregori to take his medicine on time, or his condition would worsen.
That was fine, matching what the rules said.
The problem was his next sentence.
He asked Gregori how many pills he had left, and if he didn’t have enough, he needed to get more promptly.
Most Chosen Ones here didn’t realize the seriousness of the question and honestly answered.
They thought the blonde man was just caring about them, advice from a senior to a newcomer.
Just as Gregori was about to answer, his heart skipped a beat.
He didn’t think he had persecution mania, but what did the blonde man mean by asking this?
Pills were a sensitive topic. Gregori remembered the caretaker at the pharmacy saying that each patient could get pills every two days, and it was a two-day supply.
You couldn’t get more without finishing the previous batch, nor could you get an extra supply.
This could also be interpreted as: during that period, if a patient lost their pills, they couldn’t get more.
Wasn’t this to prevent patients from hoarding pills?
The goal was to keep the patients obediently in the rehabilitation center?
This was the hidden rule of the rehabilitation center.
Actually, Gregori was also worried about where he would find pills if he could escape.
The blonde man’s question reminded him: didn’t patients of the same type also have pills? Why hadn’t he thought of that!
Then Gregori started to speculate on the blonde man’s goal.
This guy was almost better and probably knew it was dangerous here, so he was trying to find a way out.
If he wanted to escape, he needed to get enough pills.
Thinking this, Gregori had a thought: “Could this guy be planning to kill me for my pills?”
Or maybe he was trying to gain my trust to use me?
In the last round, the Chosen Ones trusted the goateed captain because the rules said real teammates wouldn’t harm them, and they could seek help from real teammates.
Teammates mentioned in the rules were naturally trustworthy.
But this round’s rules didn’t say people from the same group could be trusted. Was this a trap?
Or, it was hard to say if this guy was even in the same group.
Regardless, since Gregori had thought of this, he pretended to eat and casually said, “I haven’t counted. Why do you ask?”
Hearing that this guy didn’t seem to be falling for it, the blonde man casually replied, “No reason. A lot of newcomers forget to get their meds and have accidents the next day. I’m just reminding you to go get your evening dose from the pharmacy right after dinner, don’t wait until tomorrow morning.”
This statement seemed to circle back, making Gregori wonder if he was overthinking.
But one couldn’t be too careful. He thanked him and never brought up the topic again, but his guard towards the blonde man had increased.
Anyway, only an hour had passed in the Horror World. He had plenty of time to explore after eating, so there was no rush.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yangqing started questioning the one-eyed kid. The kid didn’t seem to want to talk, but under threat from Zhang Yangqing, he had no choice but to answer.
Zhang Yangqing asked what happened to his eye, and he said it was infected, and a crow-masked caretaker bandaged it up.
As a local resident, Zhang Yangqing wanted to ask him about the outside, trying to understand this world through information, but like the blonde man, he had no memories of the outside.
He also woke up one day to find himself here. To survive, he had to take his medicine on time. He knew nothing else.
About the double doors on the second floor, the one-eyed kid thought for a moment, looked around to make sure no one suspicious was watching, and whispered, “The caretakers here don’t have good tempers. Patients who make them angry get taken in there, and they never come out.”
As for what exactly constituted making a caretaker angry, the one-eyed kid didn’t know.
Hearing this, Zhang Yangqing had a bold guess. Based on his understanding of Rule 2, caretakers were supposed to take care of patients. If a patient got better, they were no longer worth caring for.
They would probably be taken to that room on the second floor and disposed of. How, he didn’t know.
Next, the audience expected Zhang Yangqing to ask many questions, like the other Chosen Ones, trying to figure out everything about this rehabilitation center.
But Zhang Yangqing’s next words shocked everyone.
Zhang Yangqing said mysteriously, “How about we make a deal?”
The one-eyed kid asked suspiciously, “What deal?”
He even started to be on guard against Zhang Yangqing, afraid of what kind of deal it might be.
The corners of Zhang Yangqing’s mouth turned up slightly. “I won’t kill you, but you have to help me find out which rooms the other patients of our type are in. The more, the better.”
At that moment, the one-eyed kid suddenly looked up at him, a surprised expression on his face.
Zhang Yangqing’s words indirectly told him: I’m going to kill the others and take their pills!
The one-eyed kid was silent for a long time, his mind seemingly hesitating, or perhaps scheming.
When he looked up at Zhang Yangqing again, his expression had changed. From timid and submissive, it became somewhat fierce.
Then he said seriously, “Unless you promise to take me with you when you escape, I won’t help you!”
Zhang Yangqing sensed that his other eye, hidden under the gauze, had also opened and was staring intently at him.
“Kid, you’re interesting. Okay, it’s a deal.”
Zhang Yangqing agreed readily.
Actually, this was all within his expectations.
As everyone knew, he was the Chosen One who was best at bossing people around.
He could do these things himself, but if there was a chance to delegate, why would he do it himself?
Moreover, Zhang Yangqing’s phrasing was very skillful.
If he had simply proposed an escape plan and asked the one-eyed kid to join,
the kid probably wouldn’t have agreed. He would have thought Zhang Yangqing was using him, or using this as an excuse to steal his pills.
Having lived here so long, wouldn’t he have thought of that?
But Zhang Yangqing’s approach, that overwhelming confidence, made the kid think maybe he already knew a way out.
What was Zhang Yangqing’s wording? He directly and openly told the kid, “I have a way to kill you all.”
This statement was enough to prove he had formidable martial power.
Don’t the weak always want to cling to the strong?
Just like some Chosen Ones wanted to cling to the locals.
But Zhang Yangqing was here. He was the real powerhouse, and he had laid his cards on the table.
That’s how people are. In a desperate situation, if they see real hope, they’ll grasp it to survive.
So the one-eyed kid couldn’t wait to bargain with Zhang Yangqing, or even beg him to take him along.
Since he said that, didn’t it mean he already accepted Zhang Yangqing and was ready to gamble big with him?
The reason Zhang Yangqing chose him was partly because he was easy to control.
The other reason was that, despite looking weak, this kid was still alive.
What did that mean?
It meant this kid definitely had something going for him, probably at least being quite smart.
Even though he seemed to just accept whatever came his way, he had never revealed his true abilities.
Sometimes, the best hunters like to disguise themselves as prey.
As for whether he would betray him, Zhang Yangqing wasn’t worried about that for now.
After all, the kid also wanted to escape. Their goals aligned.
Before achieving that goal, what benefit would betraying Zhang Yangqing bring him?
If he could escape on his own, he would have done it already!
