General Blue's expression turned a bit strange: "This feels like watching a horror movie in the middle of the night."
"It's kinda scary... Saiki-ge... what should we..."
Yao Yao had wanted to ask Saiki what to do next, but she saw him calmly flipping through the diary front to back, as if it were just an ordinary notebook.
Beside her, Xiao Chen and Lin Fan whispered their analysis.
"What do you think of this diary?"
"Kinda boring. Feels like filler text. Nothing special stands out."
"The entries are way too short. Saiki, what do you think?"
[Yare yare daze, couldn't he just get to the point? It's all random nonsense. No important information at all. That reporter didn't even say where he was going. Sigh~]
"No way... you guys are way too calm about this!"
General Blue couldn't help complaining when he saw the three of them showing zero tension.
Yao Yao's voice trembled slightly: "You... aren't you scared?"
[What's there to be scared of?]
"It's the middle of the night, in a strange, filthy, creepy room, reading some weird diary, and you guys..."
"..."
The group raised their lanterns and returned to the corridor.
"What now? Head to the morgue?"
[Let's check it out.]
Thud thud thud...
The corridor leading to B1 felt different from the one going upward. The walls here looked scorched, and even the stone underfoot had a strange texture.
And strangely, there were lights on B1—but they flickered on for a moment, then went dark again soon after, only to light up once more after a while.
Clearly broken.
When they reached the morgue door on the 1st floor (basement level), the large iron door was locked.
Lin Fan stepped forward and pushed.
"Can't open it. Looks like it's locked from the inside."
Xiao Chen raised his axe, ready to chop it down, but General Blue charged ahead. He suddenly pulled out a shotgun and aimed it at the lock on the door.
Lin Fan: "Wait—"
Bang!!
The gunshot echoed through the morgue floor—and could even be heard all the way up on the 1st floor.
"You idiot!"
Everyone instantly backed away from General Blue, putting several body lengths between them. General Blue also realized what he'd done.
In the surrounding darkness, something was wriggling and approaching the light, trying to squeeze in.
The protective sphere of candlelight around them began to shrink under the pressure, slowly getting smaller. After holding on for a little while, they finally scattered.
General Blue coughed awkwardly twice and started to say something, only to be scolded by the group.
[I told you not to make loud noises, and you still fired a shotgun.]
"Sorry, I..."
Yao Yao looked at General Blue with a puzzled expression: "This big brother, is your brain broken ಠ_ರೃ."
Xiao Chen said coldly: "Still calling yourself 'General Blue'? We already warned you. Did your IQ just drop? Calling yourself a general? More like an idiot."
Lin Fan said flatly: "More like a dumbass!"
"You..."
General Blue pointed a finger at Lin Fan, his face flushing red. He could tolerate the others—at least they had some manners—but Lin Fan's direct personal attack finally pushed him over the edge.
Lin Fan muttered quietly: "Seriously, who even is this guy? We teamed up and he drags in someone this stupid, right, Saiki?"
[Pretty sure you were the one who dragged him in.]
"..."
"I didn't expect him to be this dumb. I'm seriously worried he'll hold us back!"
General Blue: "Enough, Lin Fan! What right do you have to talk about me like that? I admit I messed up, but..."
Lin Fan waved his hand dismissively and said coldly: "I'm too lazy to explain to you. You're not worth it."
"Hey, look—the door's open!"
Yao Yao walked forward and pushed the door open. Xiao Chen stepped in first. Lin Fan glanced back at the frustrated General Blue, cursed under his breath, then said: "Let's go. Ignore this dumbass."
[Yeah, yeah, Lin Fan with the honey-coated mouth.]
Saiki and Yao Yao followed behind them.
General Blue clenched his fists, trembling all over as he muttered darkly: "Damn it... even if the team has to include one troublemaking, useless character, did they really have to nerf me too, author!!"
Muttering complaints aside, General Blue still followed along.
"..."
Morgue.
They looked around. Right beside the entrance sat a corpse in a security uniform.
This corpse looked very similar to the two-to-three-meter-tall security guards they'd seen at the cafeteria and hospital entrance earlier—but there was a hole in its head.
In one hand it held a gun. It looked like suicide.
Xiao Chen raised his lantern to shine on the corpse. Even from a meter away, it was still creepy.
Lin Fan patted Xiao Chen's shoulder and pointed at the other hand of the security corpse, which seemed to be clutching a small book: "Looks like there's something there. Wanna grab it and check?"
Xiao Chen was silent for a moment: "Why don't you do it?"
Xiao Chen [This punk... trying to make me do something this dangerous.]
Lin Fan kept smiling and said nothing.
Lin Fan [Are you kidding? Who touches a corpse in a place like this? What if it suddenly moves?]
The two just stood there in a stalemate.
[What are you guys doing?]
Saiki stood to the side, looking at them in confusion.
"Saiki, how's it going? Find anything?"
[Nothing here except this corpse at the entrance.]
Yao Yao: "The morgue only has this one corpse. It feels like no one's been here in ages."
There were plenty of gurneys in the morgue, but none of them held bodies.
"I see!"
Lin Fan looked at Saiki and suggested: "Saiki, since there's a corpse... why don't you check what it's holding?"
Before Saiki could reply, General Blue walked toward the corpse and said: "Let me handle it!"
No one objected. General Blue stepped forward and yanked at the notebook gripped in the corpse's hand.
But the corpse's hand clung to it like glue—he couldn't pull it free.
"What's going on!" General Blue frowned and tried harder to tear it away. Suddenly, the corpse twitched slowly. Its head jerked up and stared straight at General Blue.
At the same time, a terrifying aura erupted from the corpse—far more frightening than the female ghost in the elevator earlier. The powerful pressure made it hard for everyone to breathe.
"Holy crap!"
General Blue instantly retreated several steps. The group went on high alert. But then the corpse seemed to revert to being dead—its head drooped again, and its arm fell back to the floor.
Xiao Chen: "This is getting troublesome."
"Is it? I already got it though." Yao Yao had somehow squatted beside the corpse. She grabbed the notebook from the corpse's hand without any resistance—the corpse simply let go this time.
Under everyone's stunned gazes, Yao Yao casually walked over to Saiki and handed him the notebook: "Here."
(Wait, little girl... you're not scared?)
Saiki didn't say much. He flipped to the first page, which simply read "Diary" in big characters.
[Another diary.]
He turned to the next page.
May 10.
I've been working at this hospital for half a year. Suddenly felt like starting a diary.
Every night from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., I patrol the entire hospital to ensure all door locks are intact.
May 11.
Today I checked the locks as usual, but a doctor came and asked me to make a lock.
I didn't refuse—hospital rules say I have to follow orders. I must make the lock for him.
But strangely, this lock felt sticky.
May 12.
Today I had to perform that terrifying duty again—another patient died.
Quite a few patients died today. I helped the doctors transport many of them to the morgue.
Sometimes I could clearly hear sounds coming from them. Maybe I'm just too tired and hearing things.
"..."
May 19.
Lately some very strange things have been happening.
A bunch of outsiders kept asking me where the 7th floor is. I was completely confused—there are no floors above 6 in this hospital.
"..."
June 5.
Today during patrol, there was a power outage.
According to security regulations, I must immediately go to the morgue to check the locks.
But when I arrived, the main door was wide open. Now I have to go inside and lock it from within.
...
The notebook ended here abruptly.
General Blue wiped cold sweat from his back and scratched his arms: "Damn, this one's even scarier than the last."
Lin Fan: "Looks like the security guard's diary got cut off right when he came in here and died. He was holding a gun. Whatever he saw inside must have been horrifying. Probably suicide."
"If he saw something terrifying enough to commit suicide... or maybe..."
Xiao Chen held his chin, eyes glinting: "Both notebooks keep repeating 'floors above 6'."
"And just like the last one, on May 19, a ton of people were asking about the 7th floor. Looks like it wasn't just that one reporter."
"But no one else showed any signs of trouble. And he said he transported people to the morgue, but here..."
Lin Fan gave him a strange look and glanced at the empty space behind them: "You're saying there are no corpses here, right!"
"..."
Xiao Chen didn't reply—effectively confirming it. He felt something was off. He stepped forward, patted Saiki (who seemed lost in thought), and said: "I feel like something's weird. We should leave first... what's wrong?"
[Oh, nothing.]
Saiki snapped back. He'd just been chatting with the system—these two notebooks gave far too few clues.
Saiki closed the notebook and suddenly said:
[By the way, what time is it now?]
"Why ask that all of a sudden?"
Yao Yao shook her wristwatch toward Saiki: "It's 12:59 now. What's up, Saiki-ge?"
Saiki headed toward the door and casually grabbed General Blue—who was still crouched down examining the corpse.
"What's wrong?"
[We shouldn't stay here. Let's go.]
Bang.
Just as they reached the doorway, the door slammed shut. Outside, the broken lights began flashing wildly.
"What's going on? Saiki, explain!"
Everyone behind him asked. General Blue broke free.
[That corpse might still be 'alive.' Don't forget—the diary said the door locks from the inside. And what time does the security guard's patrol start? 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. What time is it now?]
Everyone's faces darkened as they realized the problem. Saiki kicked the door open.
Bang! The sound was as loud as General Blue's earlier shotgun blast.
The moment the door flew open, the group started sprinting.
Behind them, the reanimated security corpse... slowly raised its head.