Lan Yu stood leisurely outside the circle, gloating over her two enemies, even tauntingly swinging the electric rice cooker in her hand. Her message was clear—she was openly challenging them. “This annoying thief woman! Such a vile person needs a good beating to learn her lesson!” Xu Xiaoman gritted her teeth, recalling some injustice. “Do you know, others have already called her ‘good sister’ and she’s living with someone now, can you still hold back?”
Just then, Lan Yu cooperatively called out towards the men’s bathroom, “Brother, are you done? Yu’er is waiting!” Her soft, sweet voice sent chills down their spines. Xu and Wang exchanged a glance, their clasped hands signaling a silent understanding. Then, Wang Xiaoyun suddenly screamed, “Lin Feng, get out here!” Her shrill, prolonged scream caught everyone off guard, momentarily bringing the attackers to a standstill, each showing signs of internal struggle. Lan Yu paused, seeing the situation was not in her favor, and quickly refocused her efforts. At that moment, Xu Xiaoman, with the momentum from Wang Xiaoyun’s forceful push, was already beside Lan Yu, delivering a left hook aimed at her pretty face.
Sun Chen had been stationed at the hospital entrance for three days now, ordered by his boss to keep watch. Over these three days, he had played countless roles, thinking it would be a simple task to watch for someone at the hospital entrance. Little did he expect the days to be so challenging. He was treated like a stray dog, chased away by security whenever he lingered in one place for over half an hour. Initially, the guards were polite, asking if he needed help or if he was in trouble. Sun Chen wished to ask them to let him into the special care unit on the eighth floor of the inpatient department, but his boss had explicitly instructed him not to disturb the person there, only to monitor when they might leave the hospital. He couldn’t explain this to anyone. At first, his excuse was simple; he was waiting for someone, a friend. The guards believed him and left him be. However, as days passed and he was still there, he was put under scrutiny by the diligent security, eventually being escorted away. The first day was spent in a cycle of deception and counter-deception, and he spent the night in a corner. The next two days got more interesting; given his seemingly erratic behavior, and considering the well-known incidents of violence due to medical disputes, his presence was seen as a potential threat. He was soon on a watch list and was invited by several guards to have tea and a heart-to-heart talk on his second day at the inpatient department. Their earnest advice left him at a loss, feeling quite displeased. Of course, anyone who was wrongly thought to be mentally ill would not be in a good mood. Sun Chen was furious, slamming the table and shouting. These unusual actions naturally reinforced everyone’s judgment, and their vigilance towards him tightened. Fortunately, Sun Chen always kept in mind the task assigned by the big boss, so he suppressed his anger and reluctantly compromised with those who were concerned about him, managing to extricate himself with difficulty. However, after being gently consoled, he realized that his previous behavior had been too conspicuous and had led to misunderstanding. Thus, after escaping, he began a game of cat and mouse, engaging in a guerrilla war with the security guards. However, he was the poor mouse being chased around, while the security guards were the cats, that’s all! After three days, perhaps seeing that this mouse, although hard to chase away, was still relatively well-behaved, the guards relaxed their scrutiny on him, though they remained vigilant, ready to strike at any moment. Sun Chen did not know why the big boss wanted him to keep a close watch here, but he was aware of the importance of an old man in a certain ward in the special care unit, which was crucial for the company’s survival and his own future happiness. Despite feeling stifled, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and continue his charade.
Leaning against an inconspicuous corner and dozing off, he suddenly heard the waiting room erupt with noise. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see all the security guards rushing inside. Remembering the big boss’s instructions to always pay attention to any commotion in the hospital, he forced himself to stand up and followed the crowd inside. Sun Chen had not rested well in these three days, and running was quite strenuous for him. By the time he entered the waiting room, a chaotic brawl had already broken out. Panting at the doorway, he looked inside to see a chaotic scene with figures moving everywhere. Before he could even find out what was happening, his gaze was suddenly drawn to two figures in the melee. Among the crowd, a nimble and agile young woman, like a butterfly through flowers, was flipping and flying, fending off the crowd’s attacks. The girl, though young, was incredibly skilled; surrounded by burly men trying to overpower her, she showed no fear, effortlessly knocking down her opponents with every move. None of the attackers could stand up to her. Outside the crowd, another girl, looking very frightened, stood still, as if stunned by the chaos.
At first glance at these two contrasting figures, two vivid scenes inexplicably flashed through Sun Chen’s mind: one was the scene from the opening day of the virtual fantasy server, where the mysterious player named (True) Ghost Hand Ruthless battled with his subordinate Wang Kai’s game character, the God Immortal Brother; the other was the bewitching scene of the mysterious cat lady from the ending credits. These images surged into his mind like an avalanche, instantly filling his entire consciousness, unstoppable. Especially when he tried to calm himself down and his heart pounded as he glanced at the frightened girl, his gaze catching her figure, he felt as if an invisible vortex suddenly appeared before his eyes, and within it, an invisible hand seemed to greedily reach out towards him. He let out a terrified scream and collapsed onto the ground. At that moment, he felt as if his entire spirit was about to be sucked into that vast vortex.
Sun Chen, trembling with fear, moved to the very edge of the hall, yet an inexplicable thought emerged in his mind: he felt that these two odd girls, one static and one dynamic, were two of the three people who had appeared on the opening day of their “Fantasy World” server. He dared not look again at the eerily beautiful girl in blue, and with a trembling heart, he observed the other girl fighting. The girl fighting did not evoke the same terrifying vision in him. Seizing the chance to look closely at her face, he almost screamed out loud because he suddenly realized that this girl matched the photo of one of the players they had obtained through technical means back at the company headquarters; this girl was the (True) Ghost Hand Ruthless from that day’s game. The big boss had rushed here with him and their superior to find this (True) Ghost Hand Ruthless. That day, the big boss personally approached the local mayor and a host of officials to help find the person they were looking for, but an accident occurred, and one of them was injured and hospitalized, which postponed the meeting. The big boss had been frantic these past few days, and together with their superior, had disappeared, leaving him to keep watch here. Who would have thought that the person they were looking for would appear in this hospital?
