Chapter 210: Frog Hospital (Part Two) Blue Frog

“Ashes, ashes…”

(Ashes, ashes)

“We all fall down…”

(We all fall down)

In the darkness, a faint humming sound, soft and gentle, echoed from near and far, like a lullaby to soothe a child to sleep, yet utterly lifeless.

Qi Si remembered this song was called “Ring a Ring o’ Roses,” a nursery rhyme from the Black Death era, symbolizing “the death of children.”

The ashes from burning corpses obscured the sunlight. Under a gray sky, a group of children covered in red rashes played together, then all fell down at the end of the game, to be thrown into a bonfire by adults in black robes and bird-beak masks… This grotesque beauty had been the object of Qi Si’s aesthetic appreciation for a long time, and he had naturally read the corresponding stories many times in his childhood.

The subsequent lyrics changed, in a way he had never heard in reality.

“Abortions, abortions…”

“Frogs crowded the pond…”

Qi Si, with his poor English, understood nothing.

Well, it must be because the other party’s pronunciation was not standard.

“Doctor Cheng, wake up… the ward has been tidied.” With the sound of a female voice, the humming disappeared.

Qi Si opened his eyes again and found himself sitting on a bench. All the other patients were gone, and only a nurse in white was looking at him with concern.

There were still faint bloodstains on the white uniform, but they were not obvious enough to trigger his hemophobia again. However, a faint scent of blood still wafted into his nostrils, whether real or imagined.

Qi Si smiled gently: “Perhaps your clothes should be changed and washed.”

The original owner, Cheng An, had a

Qi Si wanted to ask, “How did those people die?” but to maintain his persona without revealing any flaws, he could only lower his head and remain silent, displaying just the right amount of sorrow.

The nurse sighed to herself: “Oh, our hospital seems to be cursed. Almost every surgery these days results in massive bleeding, and if this continues, what will happen to the next medical evaluation?”

A curse?

Qi Si thought of Red Maple Boarding School, but he also knew that the situation in this instance was different. Patients were dying from massive bleeding during surgery, and this was only a recent development—at least there were no problems during the last medical evaluation.

He wondered if the original owner, as a surgeon, suddenly developing hemophobia was related to this incident.

It made perfect logical sense for a doctor dedicated to saving lives to develop a psychological trauma from watching patients die on the operating table, leading to self-blame and guilt.

“Don’t worry too much, I believe the Dean can handle these matters.” Qi Si offered a comforting word, then lowered his eyes and said, “It’s getting late, I’m going back to my ward.”

The brightness in the corridor had dimmed to the color of dusk, and the dusty light tubes cast a dim yellow light, making the scene appear yellowed like an old photograph stored for a long time.

It was indeed getting late. The nurse said, “Then Doctor Cheng, please get some good rest,” and turned to walk away.

Qi Si also stood up and strolled along the corridor lined with wards.

The hospital corridor was cold and damp, and the moisture in the air was so thick it felt substantial, condensing into tiny water droplets upon contact with the cold walls. The junction of the floor and walls was muddy and wet, like the bottom of a pond in a field.

A blue frog jumped out from a crack in a missing tile on the wall, staring at Qi Si with bulging eyes, its pale, fish-belly-like abdomen pulsing, but making no sound.

Qi Si thought that holding this frog in his hand and squeezing it would feel quite satisfying.

However, considering the hospital’s name, crushing the frog might attract unknown trouble, and it would be difficult to explain within his persona—so he had to give up.

Qi Si continued to walk forward, and the blue frog seemed completely oblivious to his malice, hopping along at his feet, step by step.

He slowed down, and the frog also slowed; he stopped, and the frog also stopped, always maintaining a half-step distance from him, like a ghost that had singularly attached itself to him.

Turning another corner, a corridor identical to the previous one stretched out before him.

Qi Si glanced into the distance and saw a mop leaning against the wall at the end of the corridor, by the door of a room.

He walked over quickly and looked at the room number—

【404】

…What a profoundly meaningful number.

The frog squatted at his feet, its red eyes unblinking. As Qi Si pushed open the door, it silently hopped inside, disappearing into the corner’s shadow, observing everyone and everything with an eerie gaze.

Qi Si also entered the room. A gray-purple rag hung on the bed rail of the bed near the window, and he knew that was his bed.

The ward was neatly arranged with four iron beds, covered with light blue sheets and bedding, a rather unusual choice of color. There were no curtains between the beds, offering no privacy whatsoever.

In the aisle, there was a small table with an old black telephone on it, and next to it, a dark green notebook resembling a phone book.

It turned out that Qi Si’s earlier action of having the orderly hang the rag on the bed rail was somewhat redundant. Since he was the last to arrive, the other three beds in the room were already occupied, and he could figure out which bed was his by elimination.

Leaning against the bed closest to the door was a young woman in a black bodysuit, with permed brown, medium-length curly hair. Her scarlet lips held a cigarette, from which she exhaled smoke, her deep black eyes subtly sizing up Qi Si.

“Everyone should be here by now. Let’s introduce ourselves. This is a team survival instance; we’re all partners, so there’s no need to hide anything.”

It seemed that everyone in this ward was a player. With no NPCs around, they could relax a bit during their conversations and not worry too much about their personas.

The woman’s questions were direct: “What’s your name? What do you do in reality? What abilities do you have?”

Qi Si quickly analyzed the situation and recited weakly: “My name is Cheng An, and I’m a sophomore studying Urban Management at Jiangcheng University. I love reading, art, public service, and helping others…”

After a standard university student interview speech, the woman realized Qi Si’s uncooperativeness, and a flicker of displeasure crossed her eyes.

“Urban Management” had nothing to do with this instance, and “reading” and “art” were useless. No one would believe that a pure and naive university student could survive until now; this self-introduction was clearly a defensive measure.

“If you don’t want to say, then don’t. It’s not like I’m forcing you.” The woman exhaled a puff of smoke, and the swirling smoke blurred her face, making it ethereal like a dream. “First, tell us your identity in this instance, and say whatever you know.”

“Well,” Qi Si offered a sincere smile, “I’m a surgeon at this ‘Blue Frog Hospital,’ but I recently developed hemophobia. Dean Cheng Ping told me to cure my illness before continuing to work.”

He handled the scale of information sharing perfectly, conveying an attitude of

This made the woman’s barrage of three questions seem aggressive and tactless.

The woman seemed oblivious, continuing to ask: “How did you get hemophobia? Also, have you met Dean Cheng Ping? Is he human or a ghost?”

Qi Si sat on his bed and shook his head helplessly: “I don’t know, the instance didn’t tell me. I haven’t met Dean Cheng Ping either; a nurse told me the news.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly: “You talked to the NPCs here? What’s the failure rate now?”

Qi Si understood. The three people in the ward most likely hadn’t seen the orderly who brought him the rag; they probably had just arrived not long ago, perhaps even entering the instance later than him.

He feigned a look of shame: “My failure rate is still 0. When that nurse found me, I was afraid of being exposed, so I didn’t dare to talk to her much.

“But I did encounter something strange—” He pointed to the frog quietly squatting in the corner. “A blue frog jumped out of a crack in the wall and has been following me ever since. I don’t know if it’s an important clue.”

Misery loves company. When you encounter a tricky situation, you should share it. If they die, everyone dies together.

The other two men in the ward looked at the woman in unison, casting inquiring glances.

The woman said, “This frog must be very important. Before we get enough clues, none of us should touch it.”

She asked a few more random, rambling questions before introducing the early arrivals to Qi Si one by one.

She introduced herself as Huang Xiaofei, having cleared thirteen instances. In this instance, she was playing a couple with a player named Lu Zimo, and they were at the hospital for an abortion, scheduled for five days later.

The woman spoke the word “abortion” openly and frankly, as if it were a minor matter akin to a cold or fever, while Lu Zimo, on the adjacent bed, blushed.

Lu Zimo’s name matched his demeanor: dressed in a gray jacket, with long bangs covering his eyes, he appeared refined and taciturn.

He had cleared eleven instances and was Huang Xiaofei’s cousin. The two had teamed up to enter, using a team ring from the Jiuzhou Guild—it was unknown how they acquired it.

Next to Qi Si’s bed was a Fat (fat man) named Sun Dekuan, wearing a dark green wool sweater. He had small eyes, a small nose, and thick lips, giving him a rather Honest (honest and simple) appearance.

In reality, he was a chef who inexplicably entered the game and survived to the official pool. His face was still pale, and he was nervously glancing around with his small eyes.

Huang Xiaofei seemed to look down on the other players in the ward, not hiding her contempt in her words during the introductions, yet her elegant demeanor made it difficult to feel too much dislike, as if that was simply her nature.

Of course, Qi Si equally disliked all smokers.

Whenever he saw someone smoking, he would remember his lighter, which was still in Shuomeng’s possession. It was the first time someone had swiped something from him, so he naturally remembered it clearly.

Huang Xiaofei lazily held her cigarette, her voice muffled: “I wouldn’t say my skill level is incredibly high, but I was once ranked first on the rookie rank. I estimate that after clearing ten more instances, I’ll have a spot on the overall strength leaderboard.

“Since I entered the game, I’ve killed hundreds, if not thousands, of ghosts, probably more than most of you have encountered. As long as you listen to my arrangements wholeheartedly, I’ll find a way to help you survive.”

She extinguished her cigarette on the bedside table, tossed it on the floor, and lay down: “Today’s only the first day, probably just for us to get to know each other. Since everyone’s here and no new tasks have refreshed, let’s get some rest early.”

Lu Zimo picked up the cigarette butt and, pulling out a plastic bag from somewhere, put it inside. The plastic bag already contained many bits of trash, indicating his strong environmental awareness.

The calm demeanor of this brother and sister was undoubtedly a shot in the arm.

Sun Dekuan’s complexion improved, and he joked as if they were old acquaintances: “Xiao Lu, I’m not kidding, you and your cousin have such a good relationship. My own siblings aren’t this close.”

Lu Zimo lifted his eyelids and smiled palely: “I grew up with my cousin; my parents weren’t around, so she took care of me. I was scared of her beatings when I was little.”

Sun Dekuan clapped his hands: “Oh my god, so all older sisters are the same…”

Huang Xiaofei closed her eyes, resting, and said nothing.

“Knock knock knock.”

Suddenly, an urgent knocking sounded from outside the door, like a death knell.

A female voice yelled: “Lu Zimo, your medicine has arrived!”

Lu Zimo distinctly glanced at Huang Xiaofei, who had opened her eyes at some point and gestured towards the door with her head.

He then nodded and got out of bed to open the door.

The nurse in the stained, bloody uniform stood at the doorway, shoved a glass jar filled with dark, murky contents into Lu Zimo’s hand, and left without looking back.

At the same time, everyone heard the system broadcast.

【Current task has refreshed】

【Current task: Cure your illness】

【Task duration: 5 days】