“Throw, throw, throw the handkerchief gently behind the child, don’t tell him~”
“Come quickly, come quickly, kill him, kill him!”
Two rounds passed in the game, under Rong Yi’s provocation and control, Zhang Haiyang and Raymond successively replaced the nurses and stood in the outer circle.
The armband must not be left in the players’ hands, as it would turn into a life-and-death situation among players, a zero-sum game.
The first player to throw the armband, Zhong Zhiming, immediately understood this rule when he entered the game, never hesitating to pass the armband.
When Raymond entered the game, he not only noticed this rule but also discovered the relationship between the duration of the music and the placement of the armband.
This made Rong Yi breathe a sigh of relief. She was now an NPC, only able to communicate with NPCs, unable to directly convey her findings to the players.
Cooperating with experts was indeed easier.
Raymond shared his discovery with each new player who entered the game. They worked together to control the placement of the armband, even as the timing of the music became more intense. They always managed to pass the armband to the nurse at the last second.
However, as the game progressed, there were fewer nurses in the outer circle and more players, causing the pace of passing the armband to accelerate. Everyone wanted to pass the armband to all players within a single note, stuffing it into the nurse’s clothes!
At the first sight of a safety pin on the armband obstructing the process, the head nurse immediately removed it.
There was no way to make the armband stay longer in the nurse’s hands and rely on the players’ estimation of the music timing, with the last player near the nurse taking the risk to pass the armband just before the music stopped.
The pace of passing the armband increased with each round as the situation changed on the field.
Nearly a blur of pink, the armband was passed around the outer circle. And the broadcasted song, in order to trap the players, hadn’t completed a full verse in a long time.
The eighth round ended with Raymond barely tossing the armband onto the next nurse’s head. Under the siege of players, she was caught by Luo Huayue, who had just entered, screaming in agony, turning into a blood mist.
At this point, there were 6 nurses left, including Rong Yi, and two real players, four iron players, each separated by several players.
The final round was about to begin.
The head nurse was almost squeezing blood from her fists.
Eight rounds passed, they had worn out eight NPCs, yet not a single player had been eliminated.
Not a single one!
She saw angrily in the group chat, overseen by the NPC responsible for scheduling the music durations:
id463728: What’s wrong with the third level?!! Have the nurses all bugged out?
id463728: The target for this level is to halve the players! Halve!!! Can’t you all not screw up so I can meet my KPI?
id463728: Damn! I’ll use a hammer next time we work together!!!
id463728, already short-tempered, spewed a stream of profanity on the screen. The head nurse sweated profusely, trembling as she tried to reassure and ask him to set the music timing right for the final round.
id463728: Set it right? Which round did I not set it right? You guys better focus on the players!! All the opportunities have been wasted, and now you want me to set it right?!!!
The other nurses in the group trembled in fear, afraid to speak up and worsen the situation. The head nurse looked up at a player who was strangely silent as the music for this round hadn’t started yet, then looked back at the group with its volatile messages, contemplating how to respond.
Suddenly, a brave nurse spoke up.
id748993: If you can’t finish, can we complete it instead?
id748993: The threat our team is facing now is players’ lives. Do you think it’s like before, where everyone just laughs it off as a game and easily achieves KPIs?
id748993: When faced with a problem, all you do is complain here. It’s your fault if you can’t meet the KPI!
id748993: And who sets the KPI? Not us! It’s the director!
id748993: Is it our fault if KPIs aren’t met? No! It’s because players are pressured by the rules! Oh, and also because of teammates like you!
id748993: To be honest, we all feel that you have issues with controlling the music rhythm! At least it could eliminate one player if it stayed in their hands. But you? It always ends up with our own team!
id748993: Useless, completely useless! We blame you for not meeting our KPIs! We blame you!!!
If the head nurse had blood pressure, it would have skyrocketed to a stroke’s critical value by now.
Since the new director took office, despite struggling with KPIs, our internal unity remains strong. All NPCs believe if Luna hadn’t been so stubborn to remind players of their tasks, our KPIs would be easily met!
Blame Luna for everything, right?
But in this level, Luna didn’t use her reminders or penalties for player failures. Even as other NPCs were being defeated by players, she stood firm, becoming one of the few beacons of hope in the NPC team!
If Luna can’t be blamed for failures—
Then, are they left with only blaming each other?!
But unlike Luna, other departments won’t take the blame without retaliation. This nurse’s words in the group chat have escalated tensions between two departments—
How will they cooperate in the future? What about this round?
If she gets angry and stops the music, what then?!
The head nurse hurriedly chats with id748993 demanding an apology, but id748993 remains stubborn:
id748993: Was I wrong in saying that? If it’s not our fault, why should we bear the burden?
id748993: If we admit this level is our mistake, all of our sisters’ KPIs will be affected!
id748993: In that case, let’s just lay the blame on id463728. He was the one who started it, serves him right! Hmm!
Yong Yi quietly types the final word, ignoring the powerless head nurse’s attempts to diffuse the situation in the group chat, with sporadic responses from other nurses and id463728’s outbursts.
She stows away the holo-screen and watches from a distance as the head nurse’s face alternates between turning red and pale.
Ah, stirring up trouble is enjoyable!
Id463728 had always relied on the unspoken rule of “peaceful coexistence between departments, blame Luna in any situation”. He thought the nurses wouldn’t confront him, allowing him to act recklessly in the chat. Normally, as long as the nurses blame Luna on-site, he would pile on just to mock Luna’s KPIs and the month’s poor performance, and the annoyance would pass.
But little did he know there’d be a nurse confronting him directly, calling him worthless.
Id463728, filled with anger and under pressure for his low KPIs, was now considering quitting on the spot!
Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder.
“Who the hell is it? Can’t you see I’m busy—” Without looking, a burst of impatience escaped his mouth. When he turned around—
“Director, Director!”
The NPC behind straightened his pristine white coat and said gently, “I’m here.”
Finally, the last round of music began.
The armband started passing from Raymond to the newcomers – Luo Huayue, a unfamiliar player, Luna, Rong Yi (Steel Nurse), Zhong Zhiming, Zhang Haiyang, ordinary nurse, Steel Nurse, unfamiliar player, Steel Nurse…
This area was relatively crowded with players. They whispered behind Luna and Rong Yi, deciding that the music would surely end before Zhang Haiyang, so they let the armband stop in the middle.
Undoubtedly, this was another round of speed. They had to quickly pass the armband to Zhang Haiyang, who would then throw it to the nurse in front!
“Throw, throw—”
The broadcast stopped after only two words.
Zhang Haiyang just caught the armband thrown by Zhong Zhiming, trembling all over, thinking, “Throw! How do I do this?”
Seizing a moment before the girl’s note had completely dissipated, he tried to stuff the armband into the nurse’s clothes in front. But he was too nervous, leading to a slip.
The pink armband floated down lightly.
As the echo still lingered, the circle continued to slowly revolve. The sharp eyes of the head nurse looked over!
Rong Yi quickly reached out from behind Luo Huayue, clutching the armband in her hand.
Neither Luo Huayue nor Zhang Haiyang could afford to be careless!
…They could only gamble now. When her boyfriend was setting her NPC role, he also included the “rebirth”!
Suddenly, she felt a light touch on her hand.
The armband was gently pulled by a straw-like hand reaching out from behind her.
Luna: “I’ll go.”
Her voice was stiff and awkward, seemingly trying to break free from the constraints of the instance, struggling to regain her self-awareness.
Rong Yi’s blood boiled.
Indeed, Luna was a true NPC rebirth candidate, making her the safest choice.
But if she failed, all her efforts for Luna’s counterattack would be in vain!
The armband gently descended to Luna’s feet, behind the Tiger Man.
Rong Yi’s mind raced swiftly; she immediately opened the floating system backpack.
In the NPC’s backpack were some basic medical supplies. Rong Yi scrolled down a bit. On the second page, she saw the green card that reassured her—Escape Card!
Her boyfriend always played it safe, leaving this lifeline for her!
She clutched the Escape Card in her hand, waiting for the Tiger Man to turn around, revealing a look of terror.
The child had already been greatly unnerved by Luna, making it difficult for her to continue the game.
Rong Yi stepped forward, offering her arm to the Tiger Man.
The head nurse’s eyes lit up with joy, promptly declaring that the players had mistaken the person!
“Illusion!” Rong Yi said as she tapped the Escape Card on the Tiger Man’s back, then told Luna, “Let them think you killed him.”
“Make them fear you!”
Luna’s dull eyes met hers, barely nodding.
The Tiger Man was pulled out of the game by the Escape Card. The half-human high vortex in the void lingered for a few seconds before vanishing.
Yet, in the eyes of the head nurse, it was Luna who reached out and twisted the Tiger Man’s head before the rules could punish, splattering blood on her rough brain box. She broke free from the stitched mouth, gazing strangely at the head nurse, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth, and began to smile.
