Chapter 58: It's strange precisely because it's too normal!

“Beautiful nurse, I was wondering, do the doctors here have any specific taboos or anything like that?”

While changing his mask, Mitarai Saburo seemed to be trying to fish for information from the nurse.

If anyone knew the doctors better than the patients, it would be the nurses.

Compared to the other Chosen, Mitarai Saburo’s approach was much more meticulous. He was almost simultaneously fishing for information while frantically recording every single detail of the place.

What puzzled him was that the nurse was wearing high heels.

While helping travelers change their masks, he deliberately had them stand in different positions; the sound of the nurse walking was quite loud. Furthermore, there didn't seem to be any other shoes or other nurses at the nursing station—was it not her?

The reason Mitarai Saburo had this thought was because he had noticed something in the Smiling Hospital.

The outsiders wore masks, and the nurses wore masks. However, the doctors did not wear masks, and neither did the patients.

The nurses would chat with him and help him change his mask. The doctors and patients, on the other hand, didn't seem to pay much attention to the Chosen. It seemed as though they subconsciously categorized the nurses as being on their own side, leading to a slight sense of reliance and goodwill toward them.

Besides, the nurse looked very beautiful. Except, of course, for the one at the front desk.

“Every doctor has different preferences; I’m not quite sure myself,” the beautiful nurse said casually.

While changing Mitarai Saburo's mask, she also took out a bottle of cleanser. She naturally sprayed it on him for a while, seemingly to remove any odors.

Mitarai Saburo was bold enough to pull down his mask and sniff; it indeed smelled like cleanser.

The vast majority of the Chosen did not refuse this service. Everyone felt that the place was filled with toxic gas, and they believed that using cleanser could reduce some of the contamination. In fact, after being sprayed with the cleanser, the Chosen felt much better.

Only Zhang Yangqing and Jones refused.

Jones was a vagrant; he disliked the smell of the cleanser. Moreover, the rules did not mention whether the substance was good or bad, so he tried his best not to violate anything.

Zhang Yangqing already had cleanser, so he felt there was no need. In the world of Rule-Based Ghost Stories, it was best to remain wary of anything not explicitly written in the rules. Rule 5 mentioned that the hospital contained things lethal enough to kill, and one should not touch them casually. Before he could be certain whether these things were problematic, Zhang Yangqing would not accept them easily.

Next, he needed to find a way to confirm the allegiance of the "Nurse" faction.

For the other Chosen, this was a question that could not be judged until something went wrong. Zhang Yangqing knew how to judge, and he was the only one who could use this method. He needed to find a point of "opposition" between the nurses and the patients.

To put it simply, Zhang Yangqing only needed to find something that both nurses and patients were aware of, and then have both parties describe whether that thing was good or bad. If one said it was good and the other said it was bad, Zhang Yangqing could simply verify the truth of the object to immediately distinguish the level of friendliness between the nurses and patients toward outsiders.

Zhang Yangqing didn't have many other things; all he had was this bottle of [Freshness Spray].

“Nurse, let me ask you something. Is spraying this on me beneficial for me?”

Hearing Zhang Yangqing's question, the beautiful nurse replied, “Of course. This can reduce the harm caused by the toxic gases.”

Nodding, Zhang Yangqing continued, “Then, do you know what kind of fruit the Director likes to eat?”

The beautiful nurse nodded and answered, “The Director likes to eat apples.”

“And where can one get apples?”

“I'm sorry, I wouldn't know about that.”

Zhang Yangqing chatted with the nurse for a while, but besides these details, the other nurses didn't seem to know much. However, having obtained the information he wanted, he left the area.

Jones had also obtained a way to enter the safe house: if he could find apples and give them to the Director, he could not only gain protection but also confirm whether the nurse was lying to him.

But the problem was, where could he find apples? There was no fruit wholesale market nearby. Would he have to search the trees around the hospital? But the hospital was so large, and the toxic gas outside was even thicker than inside. He feared that before he found the apples, he would be dead. Furthermore, with so many rooms in the hospital, searching them one by one was not a scientific approach.

While the other Chosen were struggling, Zhang Yangqing was already walking toward a specific location.

Zhang Yangqing speculated that if there truly were fruit in the hospital, it would definitely be in the inpatient department. When the families of patients came to visit, they would surely bring some fruit. Since this ghost story world was prompting the Chosen to find apples, the only clue could be in the inpatient department. This would also solve his doubts regarding the cleanser and the identity of the nurses.

The other Chosen also began to use their various wits to analyze the information and rules.

Rule 12 mentioned that only doctors in this hospital could treat patients. If you find that the person treating you is not a doctor, run!

Currently, the toxic gas in everyone's bodies was accumulating more and more; they would likely need to see a doctor soon. To prove whether the doctor treating you was actually a doctor, you couldn't simply ask them directly.

As is well known, hospitals have a [Staff Directory], which contains detailed information such as the appearance, name, position, and title of the medical staff. One only needed to find this, take a photo with a phone, and then verify the doctor's identity when receiving treatment.

When Mitarai Saburo found the Staff Directory, his brow furrowed. It wasn't just him; the other Chosen also found it very strange. It wasn't that the doctors listed were strange, but rather that they were *too* normal, which was what made it strange.

The doctors, nurses, and patients they had seen along the way all had smiling faces, and some of their actions were quite bizarre. Yet, in the Staff Directory, these doctors and nurses all had normal countenances. This was a creepy hospital; if the Staff Directory were creepy, that would probably be the normal thing.

“Could it be that they only turn into smiling faces after they've been infected?” Mitarai Saburo analyzed.

However, even if that were true, it was a useless clue, and he soon pushed it to the back of his mind. Their purpose for coming here was to survive this period safely and then find the location of the cafeteria. They wanted to eat and then leave, not investigate the source of the toxic gas.

After careful thought, Mitarai Saburo decided to head to the inpatient department first. However, along the way, he would photograph every Staff Directory he encountered, just in case.

What made Mitarai Saburo wary was that ever since those few barks of a dog, the entire hospital seemed to have become eerie.

Just when the audience thought the Chosen were being very cautious and that many people might survive this instance, accidents began to occur one after another, and the large screens turned black one by one.

A Chosen from South Korea, feeling a burning sensation on his skin, went to the burn department for treatment, only to have his skin peeled off by the doctor. According to some twisted logic, he indeed no longer felt the burning sensation on his skin.

A Chosen from Camel Country experienced difficulty breathing and began coughing up blood; he went to the respiratory department, only to have his throat directly excised by the doctor.

A Chosen from Rooster Country went to the gastrointestinal surgery department due to stomach pain, only to have the surgeon cut his abdomen open right in front of him and remove the contents inside.

However, the doctor did not stitch the wound.