Chapter 46: The Laboratory Door
Yang Jin did not try to stop Yuji. Instead, her slender eyes narrowed as she looked at Shen Yu.
"Are you going to give up as well?"
Shen Yu pretended to hesitate, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"As for me..."
Yang Jin fixed her gaze on him. Then she suddenly leaned close, her warm breath brushing against his ear.
"If you complete it, there’s an extra reward."
"Oh? There’s something that good?" Shen Yu grinned. "Then I guess I have to do it."
With a swift motion, he jumped down from the bed.
From the neighboring bed, Yuji shot him a cold glare.
"You think you can clear this level?"
"Hard to say."
Shen Yu straightened his wrinkled patient gown and looked at Yang Jin.
"Before I go, don’t you have anything else to say?"
Yang Jin’s expression returned to its usual cold arrogance.
"I will keep watching you until the day you die."
Shen Yu shook his head with a faint smile.
"You’re still as insincere as ever."
By now, he had already figured out part of the truth.
Without another word, he strode out of the ward.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
As his footsteps gradually faded into the distance, Yuji narrowed his eyes. Recalling Yang Jin’s words, his expression grew even darker.
"Damn it."
Was there really someone who could live so comfortably off another person’s protection?
Just as he was silently cursing, an unbelievable scene unfolded before him.
After watching Shen Yu leave, the usually cold and distant Yang Jin walked over to his hospital bed and lay down on it.
She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket that still carried Shen Yu’s warmth.
Beneath the covers, her long legs shifted slightly, as though she was enjoying the lingering comfort.
Burying her face deep in the blanket, Yang Jin breathed softly.
"Huff... huff..."
Yuji stared blankly.
His mind went completely blank.
Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital — Third Floor.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The dark corridor was filled with the smell of smoke and charred debris.
As Shen Yu walked through the ruins, his eyes swept across the pitch-black walls.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Each step crushed burnt fragments beneath his feet, producing sharp echoes that lingered in the silence.
At the same time, the live-stream chat exploded with activity.
"Here it comes! Finally, it’s this guy’s turn!"
"Even Yuji failed. Can Shen Yu really figure it out?"
"So what if he does? Yuji never even made it into the laboratory."
"Exactly. Yuji at least had a substitute body. Shen Yu is risking his real life."
"He’s going in just to please that nurse spirit. He’s crazy."
"If he dies, we can at least send the information to Yuji afterward."
"No... I have a feeling he might actually clear it."
The barrage of comments surged across the screen.
Meanwhile, Shen Yu continued deeper into the corridor.
Sizzle.
The moisture on his skin began evaporating. Wisps of steam rose from his body as the temperature climbed.
"It’s happening!"
"He’s about to catch fire!"
"It’s over!"
"Even if he discovers the secret, he—"
Suddenly, Shen Yu stopped.
In the oppressive silence, his voice echoed through the corridor.
"Hey, clumsy guy."
His call rang out into the darkness.
"Hey, clumsy guy."
"Clumsy guy..."
The echoes spread farther and farther away.
Shen Yu rubbed his increasingly dry skin and slowly closed his eyes.
For a brief moment, he carefully felt the changes around him.
Then his eyes snapped open.
Without hesitation, he lowered his gaze toward the floor beneath his feet.
"Found you."
As the echoes rippled through the corridor, Shen Yu rubbed his dry skin and slowly closed his eyes.
For only a brief moment, he felt the temperature around him rising. Then, as if sensing something, he abruptly opened his eyes and looked down at the ground beneath his feet.
"There you are."
On a raised section of the floor, a burned human face protruded from the charred surface.
A smile appeared on Shen Yu’s lips.
"I found you."
* * * * * *
His gaze locked onto the cracked face.
Almost immediately, the moisture returned to his skin, and his body temperature gradually stabilized.
Keeping his eyes fixed on the face, Shen Yu slowly retreated deeper into the corridor.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His footsteps echoed continuously through the darkness.
From beginning to end, he remained completely unharmed.
The live-stream comments exploded.
"Whoa! That’s insane!"
"What kind of reaction speed is that?"
"He found the problem immediately?"
"Is he cheating?"
"This is even more unbelievable than Yuji’s performance!"
"How did he figure it out?"
"Shen Yu is incredible!"
Joi City Security Defense Department.
Ho Yong stared at the screen with his mouth hanging open.
"This guy clearly knew nothing going in, right? Then how could he react so quickly?"
Lucian chuckled softly.
"It was the Head Nurse."
Before setting off, Shen Yu had deliberately asked Yang Jin a question.
Her answer had been:
"I will always be watching you."
"That sentence was the clue."
"If Yuji could deduce the meaning behind the laboratory story, Shen Yu could naturally reach the same conclusion. Combined with Yang Jin’s hint, the moment he felt himself being harmed, he immediately connected it to the careless fool hidden in the corridor."
"He used the echoes to locate it and instantly identified its weakness."
Lucian’s eyes gleamed with interest.
"This guy might actually make it into the laboratory."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Under countless watching eyes, Shen Yu arrived at the laboratory entrance almost completely unscathed.
Just like Poor before him, he stood with his back facing the laboratory while keeping his eyes locked on the burned corpse.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
He knocked against the wall behind him with both hands.
For a brief moment, surprise flashed across his face.
Then calmness returned.
The viewers immediately began commenting again.
"Looks like he’s stumped."
"So how is he supposed to get into the laboratory?"
"Running away isn’t an option anymore."
But after only a few seconds of thought, Shen Yu suddenly turned around and retreated.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
His footsteps quickened.
Within moments, he had returned all the way to the entrance of the third floor.
"What is he doing?"
"Is he running away?"
"If he can’t enter the lab, what else can he do?"
"The result will be the same. Even Yuji couldn’t clear it."
The comment section erupted with confusion.
However, just as everyone thought Shen Yu was about to leave the third floor, he suddenly stopped.
Then he took a step backward.
And another step forward.
Instantly, the world inside his field of vision changed.
Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.
Blood began pouring through the corridor.
The pitch-black walls transformed into writhing crimson flesh.
Large swollen masses pulsed from the walls, covered in words such as:
SCUM.
TRASH.
The hateful words bulged and twisted within the flesh.
As the contamination deepened and his rationality dropped, Shen Yu accelerated forward.
This time, he ignored everything except the ground beneath his feet and charged directly toward the laboratory.
At the end of the corridor, the laboratory entrance had changed.
The solid wall that had blocked the doorway was gone.
In its place was a massive writhing wall of flesh.
Without hesitation, Shen Yu thrust both hands into the pulsating mass.
He grabbed hold of a seam between the fibers, tore it open with brute force, and forced his body through the opening.
The laboratory had finally revealed its true entrance.
