Chapter 229: Over the Cuckoo's Nest (5)

"By the way, William."

The Barbie with excessive facial surgery said: "Once you're done helping George, could you grab me a makeup brush? It should be in the nurses' lounge on the third floor."

"I'll give you this as a reward."

With that, she reached out and placed a shard of glittering crystal on the dining table.

【Item Name: Glass Crystal Shard】

【Type: Luxury Item】

【Quality: Common】

【Effect: None】

【Equip Condition: None】

【Note: Cannot be taken out of the script world】

【Note: A fake diamond made from polished glass—perhaps it can be hidden in the nail crevices to sneak out?】

It's actually a special item with a description. But the doctor's lounge is on the second floor—how is the third-floor nurses' lounge even "convenient"?

Li Sheng suppressed his confusion and turned to the sheep-headed old woman, Martha: "What about you? Do you need anything from me?"

"Hmm."

Martha gazed lovingly at the black baby doll in her arms and said kindly: "If you could find a toy to entertain the child, that would be wonderful."

Grandma, not only is the race wrong, but the species is wrong too.

Li Sheng silently scoffed inside, nodded, and, having determined he couldn't extract any more information from these two NPCs, took his leave.

The old questions remained unanswered, yet more questions had arisen.

In Martha and the other NPCs' eyes, George saw only hallucinations, and only he felt fear. Then why could William, the character Li Sheng was playing, see them too?

Could William's schizophrenia have created a shared perception with George?

Or perhaps William's condition made him unusually susceptible to external stimuli—so that even a slight hint from the outside world could trigger vivid, lifelike hallucinations in his mind.

Thinking of this, Li Sheng slowed his pace and tentatively muttered to himself: "At the corner, there's a white-haired, red-eyed cat-girl teammate with an 8-rank light attribute, 3000 attack, 2500 defense, and insane looks waiting for me."

He turned the corner—the cat-girl wasn't there.

Well, no harm in trying.

Li Sheng shrugged and continued his delusional rambling: "If every person in China gave me one yuan, I'd become a billionaire."

"Actually, I'm from Krypton—I'll awaken superpowers when I come of age."

"National Fortune Competition: Only I know ancient myths."

He mumbled increasingly book-title-like nonsense, hurried down the hallway, and arrived at the doctor's lounge.

The door was ajar; the room was carpeted. On the left stood a coffee machine and a water dispenser; in the center sat a sofa; on the right were a row of locked storage lockers for the doctors.

On a brown recliner sofa lay three file folders, each marked with circular coffee stains—as if someone had placed a coffee cup on top of them.

Li Sheng first dragged over a folding chair and blocked the doorway (to prevent the door from suddenly closing), then stepped forward and opened the folders.

Three medical records: those of the three NPCs Li Sheng had encountered on this floor—Martha the sheep-headed old woman, the Barbie, and George.

All three patients were under the care of Dawson—the tall doctor shown in the photo in the medical records room.

Martha suffered from postpartum psychosis and mistook the baby doll for her own child who had died tragically years ago.

The Barbie suffered from ugliness hallucination disorder, perceiving certain parts of her own appearance as grotesquely ugly, feeling disgusted and ashamed, and becoming obsessed with cosmetic surgery.

(Some celebrities were already good-looking, yet insisted on plastic surgery—only to end up with even worse faces.)

As for George, he suffered from Peduncular Hallucinosis.

So that's it.

Li Sheng put down the medical records thoughtfully. Peduncular hallucinosis, as he now understood, was an extremely rare syndrome.

It primarily manifested as vivid visual and auditory hallucinations caused by damage to the midbrain, pons, and thalamus—in simple terms, when the patient entered darkness, the brain mistook it for dreaming and generated dream-like hallucinations.

"So, if we shine bright light on him, George's hallucinations will vanish."

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang—the lounge door slammed shut with unseen force.

The metal folding chair Li Sheng had placed by the door was instantly crushed flat.

The four ceiling fluorescent tubes flickered and buzzed like faulty wiring; the outermost tube exploded, showering glass across the floor.

As the first tube burst, the side of the room near the door plunged into darkness.

The flayed ghost shadow, previously seen in the pediatric clinic, reappeared in the darkness, blocking the exit and staring coldly at Li Sheng.

Snap!

The second bulb shattered, dimming the room further.

The flayed ghost stepped forward two paces, positioning itself just beyond the edge of the light.

Behind it, more demons and monsters began emerging from the walls, clawing and snarling, ready to pounce and tear Li Sheng apart.

The door was blocked, and the windows were sealed shut.

The lounge had become a sealed room—but this also proved the key to escape lay somewhere inside.

"All three patients were treated by Dawson—his locker is right here."

Li Sheng dashed to the right side of the room, found Dawson's locked locker, which required a five-digit password.

Snap!

The third tube was crushed by invisible force—the flayed ghost had now reached the center of the room; only the last bulb remained, barely holding back the encroaching darkness.

Li Sheng scanned the entire row of lockers—no clues. Then he glanced down at the three medical file folders, his eyes lingering on the coffee stains.

Wait—coffee cup?

He suddenly realized something, crossed the lounge, and went to the coffee machine on the left. Beside it sat a stack of mismatched mugs, each with a doctor's name written on the bottom.

Dawson's coffee mug was a thick black ceramic; Li Sheng picked it up, poured himself a cup of hot coffee, and as the liquid warmed the cup, a five-digit number slowly appeared on its outer surface.

12306.

Dawson, so you're actually the China Railway Customer Service Center!

Li Cheng cursed loudly in his heart, set down the color-changing coffee cup, rushed to the locker again, spun the combination dial, and opened the door,

inside the compartment lay quietly a key labeled with a children's clinic, a voice recorder, and a box of matches.

Snap!

The last fluorescent tube finally burst, and the entire rest room plunged into darkness.

The flaying ghost shadows and all the monsters surged forward in unison, rushing at Li Cheng.

Sssh.

The sound of a match head scraping across the rough strike pad rose in the darkness.

A faint glow tore through the lightless gloom; Li Cheng held the burning match and faced the host of evil spirits with composure.

Fangs, claws, scythes, chainsaws—every attack from the evil spirits vanished into nothingness the instant it entered the light.

The flaying ghost shadows ringed Li Cheng tightly, howling fiercely, yet ultimately unable to cross a single step beyond the threshold, and could only watch helplessly as he took the key, the voice recorder, and the matches, tucked in the file folder, pushed open the door, and left the rest room.

(End of chapter)