Chapter 234: Frog Hospital (26) The Secret Observer

“Zzz… zzz… zzz…”

In the small, dark, lightless room, the sound of electricity buzzed intermittently.

Qi Si sat on the chair, firmly secured by a Straitjacket and leather straps, leaning back half-dead.

His inventory was neatly embedded right below his field of vision, not locked, and he could call upon certain items at any time to sever his restraints.

But there was no need.

He had already drunk a bowl of disgusting Tadpole Soup just to enter the game; if he woke up from the dream due to too much struggling and missed crucial clues, it would be a huge loss.

After the initial confusion, Qi Si gradually adapted to the rhythm of the electric shocks and found a pattern.

For example, there was a two-second pause after every shock. One second could be used to adjust his condition, and the remaining second could be used for fragmented thinking.

Another example was that after every three shocks, a fragmented image would flash in his mind—sometimes incomplete sentences, sometimes severely overexposed scenes.

(404 not found)

Qi Si categorized all the information, using the gaps between the electric shocks to arrange and combine them, conducting the analysis as calmly as possible.

First, judging by the way people were addressed in the mental images, the Cheng An he was playing possessed some of Director Cheng Ping’s memories. Their relationship was likely more than just ordinary colleagues or acquaintances.

Qi Si knew that in psychology, there is a Misinformation Effect, where the human brain subconsciously merges received information with its own memories, leading to completely false memories.

Although people might subconsciously attribute the memories they witnessed or heard from others to themselves, they would never mistake their own name and identity—the latter already falls under the category of Mental Illness.

Of course, judging from the current situation, it was true that Cheng An had a Mental Illness; otherwise, he wouldn’t frequently fall into hallucinations and be tied up here receiving Electroshock Therapy at this very moment.

Second, based on the content of the images, it could be inferred that Cheng Ping was traumatized after Xu Qing’s death and likely did something outrageous.

(404 not found)

“Did he endure the pain himself and now, out of a Responsibility-Sharing Effect, make me experience it too, so I can empathize with him?”

Qi Si looked at the void before him, pulling at the corner of his lips, finding the situation amusing.

He had always been highly adaptable; starving a few extra meals allowed him to adapt to eating once every two days, and dying a few extra times allowed him to cut himself without batting an eye. At this moment, he was already used to using the intervals between shocks for intermittent thinking.

“I ran out of the office right after Sun Dekuan, and I can confirm that I didn’t have direct contact with the Eerie entity.

“Entering the office cannot be the death condition; otherwise, crucial clues would inevitably be untransmittable, and the True Ending Route of this instance would be impossible to clear. Even if the Eerie Game doesn’t have strong control over this world, it wouldn’t set up unsolvable problems.

“I don’t rule out the possibility of ‘being the last one to leave the office’ as the death condition, but the probability is low. The order of departure often relies on luck, and deciding life and death based on this without any clues is clearly unfair.

“The difference between Sun Dekuan and me is that I touched the documents on the desk, and… my identity is Cheng An, who had frequent contact with the Director.

“Hmm, the common trope in second-rate games: completing a prerequisite condition to unlock a new storyline.”

Qi Si joked internally, consciously splitting his mind in two: one half for thinking and analysis, and the other for receiving the image fragments generated during the electric shocks.

Fragmented images and phrases interwove and reassembled before his eyes like a jigsaw puzzle. One moment, Qi Si was an eyewitness in a first-person perspective; the next, he drifted high above, looking down from a God’s Perspective.

In the scene constructed by the phantom memories, on the edge of a pond filled with frogs and Rotting Corpses, a man with a blurred face walked out from the forest.

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“A Ritual?”

Qi Si caught the keyword, his thoughts stirred slightly, and his gaze shifted upward.

On the stone platform where the corpses lay, a Statue of the Virgin holding a baby had appeared sometime unknown, casting a shadow over half the pond.

The pure white marble body was spotless; details from the hair and eyelashes to the folds of the clothing were clearly visible. The hem of the skirt was embroidered with patterns of the starry sky, marine life, and vegetation, as if a living person had been sealed in lime in the blink of an eye.

She sat quietly and relaxed, her gentle face looking down with eyes full of compassion and kindness toward the infant in her arms, seemingly oblivious to the death and gore around her, yet also looking down indifferently upon all living beings through the child.

It was clearly a sacred scene, yet surrounded by blood and corpses, it was indescribably eerie.

A vein on Qi Si’s forehead suddenly twitched, like a warning issued by some instinct hidden deep in his genes.

His heart felt as if it were tightly wrapped in sandpaper, giving rise to waves of itchiness from the inside out.

Several non-narrative pieces of information flashed in his mind, and he suddenly realized that the deity corresponding to the Ritual was dead, and what remained was thoroughly eerie. He didn’t know what kind of malevolent existence would crawl out of the remains… 【Identity Card Hidden Effect “The Secret Observer” has been triggered. Cannot be activated again in this instance.】

【Note: The High Priest who planned the disaster roamed the Feasts of the Gods. His shadow was always behind every conspiracy and oracle, and because of this, he knew the secrets belonging to the Gods.】

His thoughts snapped. The Blood-Colored Card in the upper right corner of his vision flickered with an enchanting red light, and for an instant, his eyes reflected an inspirational illusion of clinking glasses.

Qi Si thus understood that the hidden effect of the 【Crimson High Priest】 Card was to gain knowledge at the level of the Gods, triggered by gazing upon a Deity Derivative… Deities and such lingering presences were definitely not a good sign.

It was known that the Eerie Game had intricate ties to the Gods. The more contact he had, the closer he was to the core of the game, and the more likely he was to attract the attention of High-Level Existences.

However, for Qi Si, who coveted Godhood, knowledge about the Gods was exactly what he needed.

Information was precious at all times, especially the so-called “secrets” that weren’t widely spread… “Shh—”

On the card face, the Red-Robed High Priest slowly raised his index finger to his lips, and a sea of blood and mountains of corpses bloomed in his crimson eyes.

“Zzz…”

With another electric shock, Qi Si’s mind crashed down from the pieced-together illusion.

After this shock, fragments of images flashed in his memory once again.

The content repeated what had appeared before, making him wonder if the available information had been completely exhausted.

After reviewing everything he had just seen, Qi Si couldn’t help but click his tongue: “Risking a Ritual to resurrect a wife and son—it’s that same cliché and foolish plot again…”

He suddenly recalled the old trope in Shuangxi Town where the Calabash Brothers Saving Grandfather all ended up trapped in the town—equally incomprehensible, equally… hard to describe.

Value is lost during transmission. Self-Sacrifice for Others is inherently an uneconomical transaction, even if the Recipient is an acquaintance or a lover.

What’s more, there are huge risks and costs involved… Qi Si figured he would never be able to empathize; it would be good enough if he didn’t harm people, so how could he possibly save them?

Having gathered enough information, he controlled the Cursed Pendulum to fly out of his cuff and began slicing the Straitjacket downward from the neckline.

He thought it would be easy to cut through the restraints, but the Pendulum only moved two centimeters before softly sinking into the fabric, all its force dissipated, making it difficult even to recall telepathically.

Qi Si’s eyelids twitched slightly, and an ominous feeling arose that things were going to be troublesome.

He strained to control the Pendulum to fly up again, changing direction to slice the leather straps binding his limbs.

The leather straps, which looked soft, were surprisingly hard and could not be damaged in the slightest by the Pendulum.

There was no door or window in the room, and nothing was before him except for an iron bed displaying a Female Corpse.

Qi Si was tightly bound to the chair, and the items he had expected could easily help him change his predicament were useless for rescue.

There were no keys, no hints, only endless darkness, the smell of blood, and continuous electric shocks… In front of him, the blood flowing from the Female Corpse grew heavier. The edge of the pool of blood was only half a palm’s distance from Qi Si’s toes, and it would soon touch the soles of his feet, creeping up his instep and ankle… Getting stained with blood was definitely not a good thing. Most tasks have a time limit, whether explicit or implicit.

The pool of blood on the ground was undoubtedly an implicit time limit; if it touched his body, time would run out.

The situation was much worse than expected.

Qi Si sucked in a cold breath, narrowing his eyes into slits… Green Frog Hospital, Directors Office.

In the center of the Purple Desk sat a small white marble statue; the Virgin, holding a corpse, lowered her eyes lovingly.

On either side, files were stacked neatly and high. Most of the handwriting was blurred, with only a few parts legible.

Lin Chen and the Female Teacher stood before the desk, carefully reading the Three Letters on it.

【Dear (data deleted) Your Excellency:】

【…All patients admitted to Ward 404… experienced a certain degree of personality change after admission.】

【Dr. Cheng An, who should have strictly followed the rules, frantically rushed out of his room in the middle of the night and fainted in the corridor…】

【The other three patients with clean backgrounds actively walked out of the ward while conscious. I am certain they did not suffer from somnambulism…】

【…】

【Your Excellency, I believe you must know something…】

【(data deleted)】

…【Dear (data deleted) Your Excellency:】

【Thank you for informing me of that matter… I will surely handle everything properly before the Final Deadline.】

【…I have been observing them calmly and restrainedly these past two days… I hope they can help us complete the final step within five days, just as you predicted…】

【However, they still gave me some surprises. Last night at the Green Frog Hospital, they actually managed to come up with the brilliant idea of using a Female Ghost to deal with those damned frogs!…】

【…】

【(data deleted)】

…【Dear (data deleted) Your Excellency:】

【…I led Cheng An and one patient to that Fake Office and successfully separated them. I believe without Cheng An causing trouble, they won’t be able to stir up any more waves.】

【How to deal with Cheng An is a troublesome issue. Calculations that are too strict and precise are indeed not conducive to flexibility. The three extra people who died previously have already consumed most of the Fault Tolerance. If one more dies… that would be truly terrible!】

【Let’s keep him for now; he can’t escape…】

【…】

【(data deleted)】

Lin Chen looked at the letters, cold sweat dripping down his back, feeling as if a pair of sinister eyes were secretly observing his every move, taking in everything he did.

That person knew about the existence of the Players, knew their actions, and even wanted to use them to achieve a certain goal… More importantly, the letter stated that “Cheng An,” played by Qi Si, was trapped and unable to escape.

Did Qi Si know he entered the Fake Office? What state was he in now? Why was the Consciousness Connection severed?

No, calm down. The person in the letter was clearly Afraid of the Consequences of Acting Rashly and didn’t plan to kill him immediately. He… surely would find a way to escape, right?

Lin Chen comforted himself, but more unfavorable information flashed before his eyes.

What was the information behind “data deleted”? Who was the Recipient? Why did the sender know so much information so clearly?

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

The Female Teacher suddenly walked towards the wall beside the desk and tapped it three times.

A clear “slap-slap” sound rang out, indicating the existence of a hidden space behind the wall.

The Female Teacher raised her leg and kicked the wall. A Secret Door, just large enough for one person to pass through, quietly opened.

The smell of blood and decay rushed out. Lin Chen glanced inside from a distance and saw densely packed corpses laid out.

The two corpses closest to the edge had faces he recognized.

The female Player who died on the first day, Bai Xiaowei, and… Yu Kun, who died on the second day!