Chapter 3

The person on the old, broken metal bed opened his eyes.

What entered his eyes was a pale, yellowed ceiling with water dripping in the corner.

[Beep beep beep … Main System successfully connected.]

[Welcome, E-Grade Thriller Trainee Zong Jiu.]

This was a room with four white walls. There were no windows, and even the decorations in the room could be counted on one hand.

Zong Jiu was lying on the rusty metal bed in the middle of the room. His body was covered with a quilt of the same color. On the metal cabinet to his right was a cup of cold water.

His surroundings were deathly silent. The atmosphere in this cramped room was cold and gloomy.

Zong Jiu's eyes were open. He wasn't in a hurry to get up. Instead, he was quickly digesting the information he had received. He was also comparing and analyzing the information from the original text with the main system's explanation.

The first round of the competition was a one-man show. This meant that in this ranking competition, there was no teamwork. They didn't even have to care about the life and death of others. The trainees only had to think about how to best perform in this round and survive until the end of the first round.

First and foremost, the priority was to survive. Second, they had to perform as well as they could. This was because even if they survived, if they received a low rating from the main system and the instructors, they would still face the predicament of being eliminated.

Although the main system's words were nice, saying that there was a chance to revive after being eliminated. But Zong Jiu, who had read the original text, knew that punishment dungeons weren't easy places to enter. The original text described the death rate of punishment dungeons as high as 40%. This meant that if you entered a punishment dungeon due to being eliminated, you would basically be sentenced to death.

As for how to perform in a dungeon and obtain a higher rating, the main system had also explained this problem not long ago.

Turning the tables in a dangerous situation, turning the tables when the wind was against you, turning the tables when you were in a desperate situation … These were all things that could increase your rating. On the other hand, if you were a yes-man and cowered in order to survive, your rating wouldn't be that high.

In short, there was only one word to describe it: death.

Or to put it more bluntly, encouraging everyone to die.

This behavior made Zong Jiu keenly feel that something was amiss, or even a conspiracy.

Unfortunately, he didn't read the original text. Otherwise, he would have known.

Zong Jiu sighed in his heart and tilted his head.

On one side of the bed, there was a tattered iron cabinet.

Through the reflection of the metal cabinet, he could clearly see his current appearance.

She had white hair, light pink eyes, and wore a hospital gown with blue and white stripes. The buttons on the front of her body were neatly buttoned, and her limbs were pale and slender. She blended into the pale wall behind her, like an exquisite large doll.

The only thing that didn't change was the blue letter "e" hanging on his chest.

After a while, Zong Jiu closed his eyes and opened his ID card in his mind.

The information on the identity card was very concise. It only showed that the identity of this game was set to be a 62-year-old albino boy with autism. He was usually quiet, and the admission time was this morning. It was exactly the same as the original text.

After a moment of silence and making sure that there were no other sounds around, the young man finally got up from the bed.

It was clearly a natural movement, but because of the intense dizziness and weakness in his limbs, he was forced to drag his feet, bringing along an indescribable sluggishness.

His body had been tampered with.

Zong Jiu bent his arm, pressed a few times, and came to a conclusion.

He had taken mental tranquilizers about six to eight hours ago, so there were still remnants of the drug in his blood.

He tightened his fingers and stiffly picked up the glass of water on the table.

His hands were already weak, and with the addition of the drug, he couldn't even pick up the glass. Zong Jiu had no choice but to take a closer look.

The glass was a normal stainless steel glass. Upon closer inspection, the outside of the glass was covered in a thick layer of scale. It looked like it had been used for a long time.

Under the glass, a line of blood red words was engraved at the bottom of the glass.

City XXX Mental Hospital.

At the same time, the cold system notification once again sounded in the spacious and narrow room.

Instantly, the darkened livestream room lit up, and the giant words' Thriller Trainee 'stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of the room.

The survivors who had been waiting outside for a long time immediately cheered and swarmed in.

It was no wonder that the survivors were so enthusiastic. After all, this was the first time that Infinite Loop had organized such an entertaining competition.

As soon as they came in, they rushed to the livestream rooms of the trainees with the highest rankings. No one would waste time to pay attention to someone like Zong Jiu, who was an E-Grade nobody.

Zong Jiu glanced at the number of viewers in his livestream room, which was still at zero. He exited his consciousness and looked around.

The room was only several square meters large. There was a metal bed, a metal cupboard, and a metal cup. They were all rusted, and the place looked old and empty.

It was obvious that this place was only meant for mental patients to rest. It did not provide washing or showering.

In front of the metal bed was a metal door.

The iron door was covered with dark yellow rust that was about to peel off. There was no lock or doorknob. There was only a glass window on the iron door that faced the head of the bed. The patrolling doctor or nurse could easily monitor the patient's condition from the outside.

There was no knob or lock on the door; both of those were outside the door. They could be locked from the outside, and the person inside would not be able to open the door on their own.

Patients had no human rights, especially those who were mentally ill.

Other than that, the only thing that caught Zong Jiu's attention was the numbers on the other side of the wall.

Right then, there was the sound of a lock being unlocked from outside the old door.

The next moment, the twisted door was easily opened.

Creak!

Cold wind blew in from the depths of the corridor.

The owner of the face was a woman with a cold expression. She was average-looking, and she wore a white nurse's outfit that was slightly yellowed. When her eyes fell on the smiling Zong Jiu, the coldness and distance that seeped into her bones showed no sign of dissipating.

She did not look like she was looking at a person, but more like she was looking at an object.

She said coldly, "Number 67, it's time for dinner. The dining room is upstairs, go there yourself. "

Zong Jiu did not say anything. He did his best to play the role of an autistic youth.

The nurse ignored him and opened the door on the other side. She shouted the same thing, but the beginning was changed to number 68. Without waiting for a response, she turned around and walked down the stairs with the lamp in her hand.

The corridor was dark, so dark that it was impossible to see what was down there. Even with a weak light, it was still difficult to illuminate the darkness at the corner of the stairs. He could only vaguely make out the yellowed rusty metal plates and the broken steps dripping with water.

Zong Jiu curled his lips. He did not stay in the same spot for long. He did not even look at Room 69 as he walked up the stairs.

Surprisingly, even though the room was dilapidated and covered in dirt, the dining room was surprisingly clean.

Light blue tiles were plastered all around and on the floor. Everyone held metal plates and lined up in front of the window to get their food. The atmosphere was solemn and gave off a cold and oppressive feeling.

There were already quite a few people sitting in the dining room. They were all wearing the same hospital gown as Zong Jiu.

It was easy to tell which trainees were the thrillers, because each trainee's level was firmly pinned in front of their chests. Obviously, other than the trainees, the other NPCs could not see this badge.

Perhaps it was to better deduce the plot, but the people in the dining room were all patients with badges on their chests.

Before Zong Jiu walked in, the atmosphere in the dining room was a bit strange.

But as soon as he walked in, he attracted most of the attention.

The white-haired young man in the hospital gown walked slowly. Strands of long white hair flowed down his shoulders like moonlight falling from the night sky. In the dim room, there was a cold silver glow.

His deep profile shone through the gaps in his hair. He was like the beautiful young man Adonis, the most beloved of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty in ancient Greek mythology. He had a charm that was enough to steal people's souls and transcend gender. Even if he did nothing, he could easily become the focus of everyone's attention.

The horror livestream was also in an uproar. The viewers in the other trainees' livestream were screaming.

[F * ck! This is the real contestant who came to participate in the talent show. His looks are amazing. He's even better looking than the Son of God. Oh my god!]

[I'll lick, lick, lick! I finally understand what it means to be a feast for the eyes today!]

[Ahhhhhh, I'm going to watch this face! Which livestream room is this guy in? I'll go over now!]

Of course, among the super thick bullet screen comments, there were also people who were singing a different tune.

[Alright, alright. This isn't the real world where you only need to be good-looking and know how to sing and dance to make your debut. This is the infinite world's horror trainee program. What's the use of just looking at looks?]

[That's right. He's just an E-level newbie. He looks weak and sissy. He probably won't survive the first round. Tsk.]

[What's the use of being good-looking? Not only is there Master Zhuge in this venue, but there's also the Son of God. Isn't it nice to watch them?]

"He's an E-level newbie."

He Jianlan, who was observing at another long table, turned his head again. "He's quite good-looking."

Qin Ye picked up the wilted vegetables on the metal plate in front of him with a pair of chopsticks whose tips were almost flattened. He looked unperturbed. "If you're in the mood, why don't you go and observe Zhuge An and Vincent?"

"Vincent didn't even come to the restaurant. He probably wants to get the upper hand."

He Jianlan's gaze swept across the back row. "Zhuge An is still sitting there."

They were both veterans. Qin Ye had experienced more than a dozen dungeons and was rated A. Although He Jianlan was B-level, he was still at the very top of B-level and was only a few places away from A-level.

"There are already two S-level newbies, three A-level newbies, and more than a dozen E-level and F-level newbies."

He Jianlan didn't finish his sentence, but both of them knew what he meant.

The dungeons in the infinite loop were also divided into different difficulty levels. The fewer people there were, the easier the dungeon would be. The higher the difficulty, the more people there would be.

"… Compared to Vincent, I'm more concerned about Zhuge An."

Qin Ye raised his head. His gaze passed through the crowd and landed on the person at the end of the table.

A handsome man with loose black hair sat there with a cold expression. From afar, he looked like an ancient painting that was slowly unfolding.

The only difference was that there was a small number three on the S level on his chest.

Among the tens of thousands of thriller trainees, there were only ten S-level newbies. They sat on the highest throne in the studio, overlooking the masses.

Zhuge An was also a high-ranking S-level newbie. He was ranked number three in the main system's initial evaluation.

There were many big shots among the survivors in the infinite loop. Among them, the most terrifying one was someone whose name alone was enough to strike fear in others.

Zhuge An's name was also one of these big shots. He was known for his unparalleled intelligence and was almost demonic. He could be said to be flawless and no one dared to underestimate him.

He Jianlan was well aware of this. If the "different trainee" mentioned in the random mission was Zhuge An, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves at all.

He thought about it, but couldn't think of any way to defend themselves.

"Since it's not a necessary mission, it doesn't matter if we fail. Let's just be on guard. If we can't afford to provoke him, we can just hide. "

There was nothing wrong with being on guard. Most importantly, the two of them were A-level and B-level respectively. They didn't dare to provoke an S-level newbie.

That was an S-level newbie, one of the top ten trainees in the horror genre!

Even if they took a step back and had to provoke an S-class other than No.6, they would rather provoke the other eight than provoke this mysterious existence.

It wasn't just them. The atmosphere among the other old people was also slightly strange.

The root of all the problems was the random mission issued by the main system.

In the history of the infinite loop, there had never been such a situation. The dungeons that they experienced were all team-type dungeons, and there were rewards for supporting newbies. Even two teams rarely encountered each other in the dungeon, and there were even fewer conflicts between them. After all, the iron law of the infinite loop was that humans would always be subservient to ghosts and monsters. If there was an iron law of internal strife, there wouldn't be many survivors left.

But now, this mission had broken that line. Just like the thriller trainees, from the moment the rules were announced, they knew that there would be a day when they would have to kill each other.

But fortunately, they had to be alive to survive until then, so they didn't have to think too much about it.

After the old lady who fetched food finished casting her Great Leaky Ladle Technique, Zong Jiu carried the iron plate to the corner and quietly started to eat alone.

The food here wasn't delicious, but it wasn't bad either. It was obvious to the naked eye that the hospital treated these mental patients half-heartedly. But having food to eat was definitely better than nothing.

The effects of the drug in his body began to fade. After the nerve endings were restored, the stiffness of his hands was slightly better. But his movements were still sluggish, and there was an obvious sense of incoordination.

Zong Jiu had long since turned a blind eye to it.

In the few years after the car accident, although he had undergone countless surgeries, his hands still couldn't recover to the level of a normal person. At the worst, it was difficult to even move. But now, with his perseverance and training, he could take care of himself.

The cold light without any warmth shone down from the ceiling of the restaurant. The iron plate's reflection reflected the young man's light pink eyes.

So far, although the plot had changed a lot, it was still within Zong Jiu's knowledge.

But soon, it wouldn't be.

Because … there were less than two hours before the original owner's death in the plot!