“How did you know there’d be zombies here? That’s why you brought blunt weapons.”

“Are those things even zombies? They don’t look like what’s on TV.”

By the dim blue glow of the glow stick, they finally saw the two corpses clearly—one in a patient gown, the other in a white lab coat. Obviously hospital staff and a patient, trapped in an illusion. A Ghost Loop. That’s why we mistook them for that annoying guy and the expressionless guy.

“Ordinary corpses invaded by ghostly energy can move and be controlled by certain ghosts. They’re strong, but unlike Qing Dynasty zombies in movies, they don’t carry corpse poison. Still, their rotting bodies harbor bacteria—wounds from them get infected easily.”

“How do you know all this?”

“A senior told me. He saw them on a high-level VIP mission. Ghostly energy controls these corpses, so exorcism talismans don’t work. That’s why she…”

The tech nerd’s gaze drifted to the busty girl lying motionless nearby. She’d reacted fast—ripped the talisman off immediately—but it did nothing. With less strength, even her desperate struggle failed. In the end, the zombies strangled her to death.

“So their weak spot’s the nape? *Attack on Titan*, huh…”

“The senior said ghostly energy flows through the spine to control the body. Break the spine—done. Just like game zombies.”

Dr. Chen nodded. A chill thought hit him: if her neck hadn’t been broken, she might’ve become one of those walking corpses too.

“We’ve lost one teammate. Stay sharp and wait for them to come down,” the tech nerd said, gathering usable items into a pile—preparing for defense.

“No need. They won’t come down.”

“Why? We’re still here—they’d definitely come!” The tech nerd clearly didn’t believe him.

“We got attacked. So did whoever’s holed up in the director’s office—maybe worse. If they can’t save themselves, why risk coming down?” Dr. Chen paused. “Even if they found the item: first, descending from floor four is too dangerous; second, we’re bait, drawing the asylum’s attention. Think gaming: you grab the key quest item to skip the level. Would you backtrack through danger to rescue deadweight teammates? Leaving us three—the weakest—here? His message is crystal clear.”

Dr. Chen’s suspicion was now confirmed. They’d been upstairs over an hour. The director’s office wasn’t that big. If not wiped out, they chose not to return—using them as monster bait while chasing the hospital’s secret alone.

“S-so what now?” The tech nerd’s voice trembled. He’d feared this truth but clung to hope. Now Dr. Chen had snuffed it out.

“We go up. Third floor electrotherapy room. Find the key item.”

Dr. Chen would’ve waited till dawn, but three side quests meant purpose. Finding the item might let them escape early. Staying here was too risky—this asylum felt deeply wrong. Who knew what horrors might appear, things even Sister Malevolent Ghost couldn’t handle?

“Go up? Just us two?”

“Stay if you’re scared.” Dr. Chen tucked the cleaned wrench and hammer into his belt, grabbed two fresh glow sticks, and turned toward the stairs. He almost preferred going alone—keeping the ghost altar’s secrets hidden.

“I… I’m coming with you!”

After a heartbeat of hesitation, the tech nerd nodded firmly. Risk the climb, or wait here to die? No real choice at all.