There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Chapter 39: Chapter 36: The Fourth Cycle

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Tick-tock...

Blood dropped onto a chaotic mess of a floor, staining the papers a glaring red, and then slowly spread around.

Tao Tao fought to cover her slit throat, trying to speak, but no sound would come out. She watched with a flicker of panic in her eyes as the young man rose and walked away.

In the assessment theater, no one could use their real abilities, yet this guy's combat strength was terrifying!

Hiss... Is this what the world of the powerful is like?!

The entire records room was destroyed in the struggle between the two. Tao Tao kneeled among the bookshelves, watching as more and more blood pooled under her, her consciousness beginning to blur. She bit her lip, caught in a dilemma.

Should she use the Resurrection Card now, or wait for that strange time loop to activate?

If she waited for the latter and got it wrong, death would be real, but the Resurrection Card was one-time only—it would be gone after use.

Damn it! Why did she have to run into him?

Tao Tao lay on the ground gasping for air. She summoned the Player's Handbook and flipped to the items section, her fingers trembling slightly.

...

Around the corner on the third floor, Xu Shuo left the records room with a pleased stride, heading down the stairs.

Almost the moment he opened the fire door to descend, the elevator doors in the corridor opened, and Director Zhang stepped out, his face grim as he hurried toward the records room.

On the dim and eerie corridor, the opened records room cast a stark light.

Standing at the doorway, Director Zhang glanced at the chaos inside and let his angry gaze linger on the small figure in the pool of blood for a moment before turning abruptly and leaving.

It seems it's not this person.

Besides, it's too late for a rescue; might as well just go downstairs and kill Luo Kun, and in the process test out the cause of the time loop.

What's more important, the one who acted might have already set his sights on Patient No. 13.

...

The second-floor stairwell.

After descending, Xu Shuo was about to push open the second-floor fire door when he suddenly sensed something and turned to look.

On the stairway leading to the first floor, a youth in hospital attire stood there, gazing intently at him.

"Little Kun, why did you run out again?" the young man asked softly, his face still wearing a peaceful smile, one hand leisurely tucked into the pocket of his white coat.

"Doctor Chu, I took my medicine today," Luo Kun obediently said.

Xu Shuo stepped toward him, the corners of his mouth carrying a faint smile, descending the stairs leisurely step by step until he reached him. Then he pulled out the knife from his pocket, saying with a smile, "You didn't take your medicine last time."

Luo Kun's expression faltered slightly. The young man, holding the knife, moved closer, appraising him from head to toe.

"Luo Kun, do you really think I can't kill you?"

"Doctor Chu..."

At these words, Luo Kun showed a hint of surprise. He fixated on the doctor in front of him and, after a moment of stupor, the astonishment in his eyes gradually turned into a passionate glow, bright and even a bit eerie.

Luo Kun's breathing hastened, his face turning an unnatural shade of red as he grinned and said, "Doctor Chu, you've realized—"

Before he could finish, Xu Shuo swiftly raised his hand and slashed. His eyes caught the glint of the blade. The sharp edge brought a splatter of blood that quickly stained his white coat.

Watching the youth clutch his throat and fall, struggling on the ground, Xu Shuo's face remained expressionless. He did not deliver a second blow; instead, he suddenly turned his head towards the first-floor stairwell.

The next moment, a white figure flashed in the stairwell, retreating behind the wall, followed by fading footsteps. It sounded like someone who had witnessed the killing and was running away in shock.

"So there was a Little Mouse hiding there," the young man sneered coldly, taking a step toward the direction.

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At that moment, Luo Kun, who was struggling on the ground, suddenly grabbed his white lab coat. Xu Shuo paused and lowered his head to look at the young man who started convulsing due to excessive blood loss.

Luo Kun's face was smeared with blood, which made his smiling visage all the more sinister. He grinned and said, "Doctor Chu, you only found out that time is looping, haven't you? So, have you also discovered anything else?"

The slight upward inflection in the young man's tone carried a bizarre pleasure. He showed no anger at being killed again. In fact, the whole ordeal seemed to ignite a burning sense of exhilaration within him.

What a fascinating, chaotic world this is!

Upon hearing this, Xu Shuo didn't continue to chase after the escaping voyeur. Instead, he crouched down, following the force of Luo Kun's pull, and placed the fruit knife against the cut on the young man's neck.

Blood spurted from the wound, drenching his neck and shoulders in crimson, as the pungent scent of blood spread throughout the stairwell.

"Some things, I think it's better for you not to know," Xu Shuo said cryptically, smiling faintly as if enjoying the process of executing, causing slow but progressively deeper cuts along the existing wound with forceful precision.

"..."

Luo Kun wanted to say something more, but his gaze gradually lost focus. He opened his mouth wide, blood trickling from the corners.

The young man watched him, his smile turning increasingly fierce and twisted as a low, sinister laugh emerged from his throat, echoing in the gloomy, dim stairwell.

The next instant, Doctor Chu's shaking shoulders abruptly stopped, and the crouched young man quickly stood up.

Quite unlike his previous mania, he looked pale and somewhat panicked and helpless as he gazed at the young man on the ground, then at the fruit knife and the blood on himself.

Chen Chu murmured, "It's happening again..."

...

Time flowed slowly yet again, leaving the entire hospital in utter silence.

"I see."

Xu Shuo, who had been leaning on the office desk, suddenly lifted his head, a new certainty in his eyes.

Luo Kun wasn't a player; he was just an NPC that had discovered The Fifth Hospital was undergoing a time loop. Therefore, from the start, he knew Chen Chu would try to kill him but also knew he couldn't be killed, thus enjoying this toy-like process.

Tsk, he's really a little deviant.

The original Chen Chu hadn't known that time was continuously resetting, and his second personality was no different, so he was always repeating the almost identical actions of killing and saving.

But after Xu Shuo entered the role, Doctor Chu seemed to have also realized this critical point.

Because their memories had already been shared.

Xu Shuo thought about all this, took out a couple of pills from his pocket and swallowed them, then stepped into the bathroom to pull out the fruit knife, tucked it into his pants pocket, and arranged the long, thigh-length lab coat to cover the pockets.

...

This was the third reset.

In the quiet office, Director Zhang, who had been napping in his chair, opened his eyes. He immediately got up, opened the door, and headed to Chen Chu's office.

On the dimly lit, silent corridor, a white-clad nurse passed by, respectfully nodding at him before calmly pushing the nurse cart in the opposite direction.

At this, Director Zhang paused, but when he turned his head, the nurse had already rounded the corner with the cart.

He looked away and continued walking, passing by Patient No. 8's room and taking a glance inside.

...

In the ward, Patient No. 8, who had just awakened, sat up gasping for breath. She breathed rapidly, then lifted her hands to frantically feel her neck.

"Back again, back again..."

Although this time loop cost her two mission failures, now she had to thank the loop for saving her in this third one!

Grateful for preserving her rare Resurrection Card!