Chapter 227: A Hellish Start, The Chosen One Hanging by a Thread!
The sound of a car horn blared from outside the window.
Zhang Yangqing woke up groggily on the hospital bed.
He felt dizzy, his breathing became heavy, and his overall mental state wasn’t good.
His hazy gaze swept across the room, revealing it to be a relatively sealed, single-patient room.
The windows were completely sealed shut, making it impossible to see outside. Only a door could be opened, as if it were the only way out.
A yellowed light on the ceiling provided a certain level of brightness in the room.
The smell of disinfectant filled every corner of the room, as if trying to mask some other odor.
The sheets weren’t very clean, as if someone had used them without washing them. Dried bloodstains splattered the walls, likely left behind by previous patients.
Just as Zhang Yangqing tried to sit up, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.
Immediately after, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, making the already not-so-clean sheets even messier.
It was then that Zhang Yangqing realized his body was incredibly weak, as if he were in a state of critical injury, hovering between life and death.
It felt like something was suppressing him from within; the more he tried to exert himself, the heavier he felt.
Zhang Yangqing wasn’t the only one experiencing this; all the Chosen Ones felt the same.
Especially those who tried to forcefully get up using their supernatural abilities, only to cough up another mouthful of blood, worsening their condition.
This left many first-time supernaturals bewildered. They had thought that with their strength, they could easily dominate the Bizarre Talk world.
Now, the Bizarre Talk world was telling them they couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone dominate anything.
A breath of death seemed to slowly erode their nerves, like countless pitch-black hands constantly pulling them towards the abyss.
Before arriving, countless tactics for dominating had run through their minds, but now none of them seemed usable. They were even at death’s door.
For these extraordinary individuals, the enormous gap between their expectations and reality created a sense of powerlessness within them.
What kind of hellish start was this? Many supernaturals were already starting to panic, desperately wanting to escape their predicament.
But the more they panicked, the more they could feel the full malice of the Bizarre Talk world. Under the yellowed light, the Chosen Ones’ blurred vision seemed to see everything around them twisting, turning into grinning faces mocking their ignorance.
Gregori, the supernatural from the Land of Ramen (Noodle Country), was relatively calm. It was expected that he would enter.
After all, he was quite popular in his country. With active campaigning, 50% of people still voted for him, securing his spot in the Bizarre Talk world.
As a veteran of the Bizarre Talk world, he knew this was no time to rush; he needed to observe more.
There must be a reason the Bizarre Talk world designed such a start.
Actually, it wasn’t about tormenting the Chosen Ones, but about conveying information to them.
He first checked his own physical condition. He could feel the holy energy within him, but he could only use a tiny fraction.
That meant his current power was less than 10% of its original, as if he were severely injured.
He wasn’t the only one; other Chosen Ones were the same.
Gregori recalled the name of this Bizarre Talk. It seemed to be called ‘Plague Town’, and he was playing the role of a town resident.
Based on the name and his current location, he could roughly deduce that he had contracted the so-called ‘plague’. From the text on the bedsheet, he could see this place was called ‘Love Rehabilitation Center’.
The sealed windows were probably to prevent the plague from getting in.
So, here Gregori needed to consider a key question: was that inexplicable negative state that locked his abilities and made him cough up blood a virus or contamination?
If it was contamination, then resting for a while would naturally make it better.
If it was a virus, according to the adjustment rules of the Bizarre Talk world, viruses couldn’t heal on their own. He would have to find a way to remove the virus state first, restore his strength, and ensure his survival.
What supernaturals relied on for survival was their own strength, and this was what the vast majority of supernaturals in this high-stakes game were thinking about.
However, Gregori wasn’t that persistent. In the Doomsday Cataclysm challenge, he was obsessed with removing the restrictions, which almost led to his death.
So, after he got out, he watched the replay of the Dragon Kingdom’s Daoist master and learned a lesson.
The design of the supernatural world is definitely intended to give ordinary chosen ones a chance to complete it, not primarily through brute force.
If you can’t remove the restrictions, just follow the process.
Brute force can only make completion more efficient; the most important thing is to use your brain.
While the smarter Chosen Ones were starting to calm down, Zhang Yangqing had already determined that the plague he had was viral in nature.
Because he had a skill called [Clarity]. Using this skill could remove all contamination once from himself or a single living being, with a 24-hour cooldown.
After all, skills are better used early for the cooldown.
Since [Clarity] couldn’t remove his current problem, it meant he had contracted a virus.
Looking around, Zhang Yangqing noticed many eerie details.
Besides the dried bloodstains, the walls also seemed to have traces of black paint brushed over them.
However, this paint wasn’t applied completely; some corners of letters seemed to peek out from underneath.
But from these exposed corners, it was impossible to tell what words were written.
If Zhang Yangqing’s guess was correct, previous patients here seemed to want to tell later people something, but the rehabilitation center staff discovered it and covered the writing with paint.
Sealed windows, blood on the walls, covered-up writing, a single-patient room reeking of disinfectant.
No matter where you looked, you could feel the place was extremely eerie.
After observing for a while, Zhang Yangqing noticed a call bell by the head of the bed.
It was like the button in a hospital room used to call the nurse.
Since getting out of bed was difficult now, he had to seek help from the staff here.
When he pressed the call bell, not long after, the door opened.
A man and a woman walked in, claiming to be caregivers at this rehabilitation center.
But their mere appearance was enough to startle the audience.
These two were dressed in black robes and wore plague doctor masks.
Their faces weren’t visible, but you could see their eyes hidden beneath the masks, glowing with a sinister red light.
The fear that came from the depths of the soul made the audience dare not stare directly at them.
They were practically the embodiment of ‘evil’, ‘death’, and ‘plague’.
Combined with the surrounding eeriness and the yellowed lighting, the terror atmosphere they created was infinitely amplified.
This was what Zhang Yangqing saw. If anyone else encountered these two in such an environment, they’d probably be scared half to death.
In the exceptionally quiet room, you could even hear them swallowing saliva.
This terrified some Chosen Ones so much they rolled straight onto the floor, fearing they might be eaten.
Zhang Yangqing was much calmer. He asked what had happened, explaining that he couldn’t seem to move.
It felt like he didn’t really care about the two eerie caregivers in front of him.
The male caregiver in front didn’t speak; instead, he examined Zhang Yangqing’s body.
He checked under his eyelids, examined his arms and neck – he looked like a professional doctor.
The female caregiver behind him explained, saying Zhang Yangqing must have forgotten to take his medicine last night, causing his condition to worsen.
Then, from a nearby cabinet, she took out a white bottle, poured out two white pills, and fed them to Zhang Yangqing.
Some Chosen Ones here resisted strongly, but Zhang Yangqing didn’t mind.
Since the rules here weren’t found yet, he had to go along with it.
These two might not look like good people, but this was probably just the normal procedure.
This was the composure of a veteran.
He had to admit, the medicine was somewhat effective.
After chewing for a short while, he felt his body regain some strength.
His power was still less than 10%, but he could now get up on his own.
Seeing that he could move freely, the female caregiver instructed him to take his medicine on time, three times a day (morning, noon, night), two tablets each time.
After that, they closed the door and left the room.
While other supernaturals were still debating whether to take the medicine, Zhang Yangqing had already started rummaging through the cabinets in the room with practiced ease.
In a rules-based Bizarre Talk world, to survive, you have to find the rules.
Without rules, it’s like groping in the dark.
When Zhang Yangqing opened the fourth drawer, he saw a piece of white paper.
Love Rehabilitation Center Rules:
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[Rule 1: The caregivers have bad tempers. If you don’t listen to them, they will get angry.]
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[Rule 2: Pay attention to personal hygiene. The caregivers here prefer serving patients with cleaner clothes.]
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[Rule 3: Without a doctor’s permission, patients cannot leave the rehabilitation center.]
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[Rule 4: Some patients are different from you. Please do not come into contact with other types of patients; it might worsen your condition.]
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[Rule 5: As a patient, please take your medicine on time. It helps improve your condition.]
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[Rule 6: The food in the cafeteria is all safe, but only the food in the cafeteria is safe.]
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[Rule 7: When you hear the crow of a raven, quickly return to your room. Everyone is afraid of ravens, and you are no exception.]
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[Rule 8: Always remember, there are no doctors at the rehabilitation center. If someone at the rehabilitation center claims to be a doctor, do not believe what they say.]
Many Chosen Ones who had taken the pills also found this note and started analyzing the dangers of this Bizarre Talk world.
Some rookie Chosen Ones thought this stage might be about recovering from the illness in the rehabilitation center. After all, many rules for avoiding danger were already written out. The cafeteria food was safe too. It seemed that as long as they took their medicine on time and recovered, safety was guaranteed.
After all, many supernaturals were still confident in their strength, stuck in the mindset of trying to remove the virus.
Gregori noticed some clues. Rule 3 said that without a doctor’s permission, patients couldn’t leave the rehabilitation center, but Rule 8 mentioned that there were no doctors in this rehabilitation center.
Did that mean they couldn’t leave?
But the male caregiver looked very much like a doctor.
Was there a connection?
Or maybe there was a breakthrough with the male caregiver?
Just as other Chosen Ones were still analyzing the core of this stage, Zhang Yangqing had already set down the rules.
Why bother analyzing?
From the information in this room and all these rules, you could tell.
This stage, whether by the rules or the walls, repeatedly spelled out four words: Run Away Quickly!
