Chapter 3

"Well, she did read the label on the IV bag…"

"Nobody can read a doctor's handwriting…"

"Hey, that’s a little mean. Besides, I think she really is a nurse…"

"Oh, just a fever? Alright, I’ll let you get back to your duties and call you over if I need anything."

"Boss, the door is open! Let’s get out of here!"

I made eye contact with the leader.

"Who are you, really?"

I stammered for a moment.

Well...I was a workhorse who had to slave away.

After attending to the old man, I sat down at the nurses' desk to investigate the scattered documents.

"Girl, are you here to play, or are you here to clock in for work?"

"Maybe there are some clues here."

The leader considered for a moment before ordering, "Let’s stay here. Go help her look for clues since it’s safe here for now."

"But…"

"If you're scared, you’re free to leave. Either way, there’s no way you can leave without finding clues first."

I quickly went through the documents on the desk and in the cabinet.

I was closely examining the doctor's order sheets, the IV infusion logs, as well as the working shift records.

As I was going through the documents, I caught a flash of something white in the corner of my eye. When I looked up, all I saw was a blurry figure.

"Night shift handover. 300 patients, 0 discharges, 0 transfers out, a single death, 0 new admissions, and 0 transfers in. Current patient total: 299…"

It was the year the hospital was abandoned.

After going through the information, I had one primary concern.

The entire hospital admitted no new patients for the entire year. Meanwhile, the existing patients were not discharged or transferred but were left to die one after another until the patient count reached zero.

This was abnormal.

I inspected the doctor's order sheet again.

"88 units of glycerin suppositories used in nebulizers."

"500 milliliters of saline, 15 grams of potassium chloride"

"4 liters of blood collected."

"1,000 bottles of saline IV drip."

Rule number two of nursing: If the doctor issues questionable orders, defy them.

Was that how the three hundred patients were all killed? By these ridiculous medical orders?

I looked at the records again. Its contents were very disorganized. There were countless lines written in frantic handwriting.

"He's back."

"I was wrong."

"Let me go."

Before I could make sense of it, the old man called out to me, "Nurse, please help me remove the needle."

"Sure."

I hurriedly got up and went to attend to him while the others continued going through the files at the desk.

"Great, thank you." Then, he suddenly blurted out an offhand remark, "If only they had given me antibiotics back then…"

"What did you say?"

I removed the IV needle without a drop of blood.

"I can't say more. Dawn is near. I have to go."

The old man's body became ever transparent at this point. Before he disappeared, he gave me a sober look before leaving one last remark, "Inpatient Department."

It was only then that I realized daylight had spilled through the windows of the room. The sky was brightening.

"The flow of time inside the game is different from what it is in real life. During the day, it is safe in the game, but that also means no clues will show up since anomalies only appear at night. The longer we stay in the game, the shorter the day becomes until the eternal light eventually takes over. We’ll be stuck here forever when that happens.

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Aaron Meyers. I can tell you’re very competent. I think we can team up and beat the game together."

"I’m Clementine Spark."

The other two players still sounded distrustful. "She must have just gotten lucky. Why is she acting all high and mighty? She’s just a nurse."

I sneered.

Just a nurse?

We nurses were a three-in-one package of special forces, high-value nannies, and efficient maids, all at the cost of cheap labor.