There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Chapter 36: Chapter 33: Third Time Around

The quiet office was suddenly disturbed when the door burst open.

An anxious-looking nurse walked in, and when she saw the person sleeping on the desk, she lightened her steps, cautiously approaching before gently calling out.

"Doctor Chen?"

The young man lying down moved his eyebrows slightly, then lifted his head, his eyes revealing a momentary confusion before suddenly sharpening.

His abrupt change of expression startled the nurse beside him; she carefully took two steps back and tentatively asked, "Doctor Chen?"

Xu Shuo collected his gaze, looked at the nurse who had twice brought him messages, and sighed imperceptibly before responding, "Yes, it's me. What is it?"

"Well... the mental state of the patient in room thirteen has deteriorated. Do you think we should administer today's medication ahead of schedule?" the nurse asked with continued caution.

This was already the third time.

"Understood, I'll go have a look in a bit," Xu Shuo agreed amiably.

The nurse nodded, then exited the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

...

After she left, Xu Shuo leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the dull ceiling for a while before summoning the Player's Handbook.

Looking at the newly issued Character Card, Xu Shuo tapped on it.

[Warning: This Character Card contains risks. Accepting all character information may affect the host. It is possible to complete the Character Card tasks without accepting character information.]

The system actually issued a warning.

Xu Shuo pressed "Confirm" without hesitation.

In an instant, the Doctor card, human-like in appearance, transformed into a beam of light that shot into his mind, cramming his brain with a clutter of information.

Xu Shuo furrowed his brow; he felt as if another consciousness was trying to invade his brain. This erosion, like pollution, was usually imperceptible but could subtly alter one's behavior over time.

If you were keenly aware of this change and resisted it, then it would lead to—schizophrenia.

So, the person who wanted to kill Luo Kun was indeed another personality of Chen Chu.

It was a rather ordinary story of a doctor and a psychiatric patient. Because of his treatment of patient number thirteen, Luo Kun, Chen Chu inadvertently ended up driving himself mad, and the new personality that emerged wanted to simply kill Luo Kun to solve all problems.

The Character Card's wish was quite special too, both wanting to continue treating Luo Kun and wanting to kill him.

Goodness, even as a Character Card, these two personalities are still at odds, thought Xu Shuo as he massaged his forehead.

Perhaps, he could kill Luo Kun while treating him?

Besides, there is another more critical issue—if the role you play is ill, does it really equate to "oneself also being ill"?

The medication on the table was prescribed by Chen Chu for himself, but it had been secretly replaced by another personality with something similar; now they were just jelly beans.

No wonder they tasted too sweet to him when he tried them before; they dissolved too quickly under his tongue.

Since the former Doctor Chen always swallowed the pills with warm water, he hadn't realized the problem, which caused his condition to worsen gradually.

And the "first round" of medication prepared for Luo Kun, originally a regular medicine, had been switched by Doctor Chu to poison.

The reason for doing this, apart from trying to kill his own patient, was to watch the reaction of his other personality upon learning that he had poisoned a patient to death, hoping it would lead directly to a mental breakdown incapable of resistance, thus allowing Doctor Chu to take over.

Xu Shuo sighed. He felt as if there were now three personalities inside this body.

Personalities of a patient with multiple personality disorder tend to be peculiar and relatively independent.

This meant that Doctor Chu's personality still existed, and so did Chen Chu's personality, although it was more peaceable and detached.

No wonder he always felt something was wrong after entering the game, because an unusual line of thinking was affecting his judgment all along—Doctor Chu's personality was very powerful, and inevitably, Xu Shuo was somewhat influenced by it.

Especially after seeing Luo Kun, that reaction would become increasingly intense, which is why he always felt a headache after leaving Ward 13.

Because the other personality wanted to come out and have fun.

...

Xu Shuo knocked on his somewhat peculiar head, took a sugar bean from the table and ate it, then accidentally knocked the medicine bottle onto the floor as he let go.

He squatted down to pick up the sugar beans, then walked to the bathroom and fetched a small, carefully maintained fruit knife from the compartment in the vanity cabinet. After looking at the sharp tip of the knife, Xu Shuo still slipped it into his pocket.

It's not bad to have something for self-defense, that kid is not easy to deal with either.

Afterward, Xu Shuo left the office, not heading to Ward 13 but going to the pharmacy on the other side.

The pharmacist was surprised to see him, "Doctor Chen? — Is your medication running out?"

"Yeah, get me some thioxanthene drugs," Xu Shuo said calmly.

"I remember you just..." the pharmacist began as he turned to sort through the drugs, asking nonchalantly, curious if the doctor had increased his dosage.

"I accidentally dropped them on the floor just now."

Hearing these words, the pharmacist immediately clutched his chest, lamenting, "Doctor Chen, you should know our hospital has always been a bit strapped for cash, I hope you can be more careful next time."

Xu Shuo nodded apologetically, "I will."

After getting the medication, Xu Shuo made his way to Ward 13.

As he passed a certain ward, he saw a nurse carrying in a few slices of cake. In Chen Chu's memory, the patient in Ward 8 had hyperthymia and needed to eat sweets to calm down.

And still didn't put on weight.

Thinking about this, Xu Shuo arrived in front of Ward 13 and expertly turned on the light.

"Doctor Chu." The young man sitting on the bed and reading looked up, a strange smile appeared on his pale face as he gazed at him.

It was as if he was looking at an interesting toy.

You can't judge by this kid's obedient appearance; he actually has antisocial personality disorder. Since being hospitalized, he has gone through three doctors, and even Doctor Chen had been driven mad by him.

Xu Shuo didn't waste any words. He took out the newly prescribed medication and gave two pills to him, considerately poured a cup of water, and then helped himself to two pills as well.

The young man, who had just been handed the cup, paused for a moment at this action.

"I'm tasting the medication to see if it's sweet for you," Xu Shuo lied calmly, taking the book from his blanket and sitting on a chair beside the bed. He continued, "Eat up and get some sleep. I'll read for a while here."

Luo Kun was dumbstruck for quite a while, staring as he slowly swallowed the pills in his hand, then once again, as before, opened his mouth to him in a gesture.

"Doctor Chu, I've taken my medicine."

"Good, sleep now."

Xu Shuo, without looking away from his book, listened to the sporadic movements beside him. The ward lit by the light looked somewhat pale.

...

This time, he was determined to figure out how exactly time was becoming disordered.

In his memory, Doctor Chu had already killed Luo Kun twice, but each time time would reset, and his task flip-flopped between "completed" and "incomplete".

Thus, "having killed" can turn into an established fact, which meant the odd time loop within the mental hospital before the end of the game needed to be resolved.

Whether it starts looping because "Luo Kun is dead" or because it is simply time.

If it's the former, it means finding the other players in this Scripted Murder Game.