Marry the NPC with Money, Wife Comes Knocking - Chapter 9

“It’s over, lights out, the hospital is closed for business.”

“We still don’t know how to get to the eighth floor, and how are we supposed to avoid the pets and veterinarians freely roaming the third floor…”

Everyone looked pale as a sheet. Hiding in the medicine storage room wasn’t absolutely safe either; those man-eating things could burst in at any moment.

Hua Suihe could clearly feel the atmosphere getting much heavier. This really was quite an interesting script.

“What’s the ratio of players to NPCs?”

As soon as Hua Suihe finished speaking, all eyes turned to her in unison.

“You don’t know that? Didn’t you read the script introduction?” Ban Ting’s expression shifted slightly. “Are you an old player? You’re so relaxed.”

Not reading the script carefully, not panicking even when facing the big boss Su Sheng-wasn’t that the mark of a pro?

“The ratio of players to NPCs is half and half, but many players have already been sacrificed. To be pessimistic, there might be fewer than twenty left.”

So many people have been eliminated; this game really is a black hole.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

“Knock, knock, knock.”

In the midst of their silence, a clear, rhythmic knocking suddenly sounded at the door.

Everyone’s heart leapt in that instant. The veteran players pulled out their self-defense tools, while the new players grabbed whatever useless junk was nearby.

Hua Suihe was the closest to the door, so after hearing the knock, she instinctively lowered her head to look at the shadow cast through the crack under the door. Unfortunately, it was too dark, and the lights outside were off too.

The thing outside knocked for two minutes before falling completely silent.

Fang Ge shook her head, indicating that whatever was outside hadn’t left yet.

Another five minutes passed before the thing outside finally left.

Water Cube began to analyze, “It didn’t barge in directly, which means there’s something in this medicine storage room that can suppress it.”

Ban Ting couldn’t help but speculate, “Could it be that they hate some kind of medicine?”

“When I went to claim my pet, the pet was getting an injection treatment, but that treatment room didn’t even smell of alcohol, only of stench.”

Fang Ge said, “Right, did anyone notice? This pet hospital is filled with an unbearable stench, but there’s no smell of disinfectant.”

Absent-mindedly, Hua Suihe touched her mask. With the mask on, she couldn’t smell anything, but she still remembered that first whiff of toxic gas when she pushed open the door from the corridor.

It was a mix between the sour smell of spoiled food and the stench of a dead rat’s corpse.

Hua Suihe made up her mind. After buying a phone and connecting to the in-game internet, she was going to file a complaint against this smelly hospital.

Truly the tyranny of big businesses.

“Let’s look for disinfectant in this medicine storage room.”

Everyone began rummaging through boxes and cabinets, opening every medicine bottle and glass jar to sniff them. In the end, they found dozens of glass jars filled with alcohol.

At that very moment, the knocking sounded again.

This time, the knocking was much more frantic-bang, bang, bang-as if it wanted to smash the door apart.

“Quick, pour it on your clothes!”

Hua Suihe picked up one of the bottles, hesitated for a moment, opened the lid, walked to the door, and poured it out through the crack under the door.

The transparent liquid seeped through the door crack, releasing the smell of alcohol. The knocking stopped abruptly.

Hua Suihe raised her eyebrows, her eyes tinged with a trace of a smile. “It really works.”

They all poured alcohol on themselves, stopping only when their clothes were soaked through.

“They probably don’t like this smell, but alcohol may not necessarily cause them any harm.”

Ban Ting even wetted his hair. When he turned around and saw that Hua Suihe was still clean and tidy, he hurriedly handed her one of the few bottles of alcohol. “Use it, quick!”

Hua Suihe took the glass jar, played with it for a while, and couldn’t bear to pour it on herself.

Ban Ting urged her impatiently, “Hurry up, hurry up, we need to think of a way to get upstairs-we can’t waste time staying here.”

“I was just thinking…” Hua Suihe clicked her tongue, “If someone threw a fire on you after this, would you have any hope of being saved?”

No need for a big fire-a lighter would be enough to kill you.
Everyone: …

“Will they… know how to use a lighter?”

Hua Suihe shrugged. She was just playing a game, not risking her life.

“Forget it, things have come to this, and there’s no other way.”

No other way?

They hadn’t met enough players, so the information chain was incomplete.

Would the smell of alcohol really drive away the security guard on the eighth floor? No one could give an answer.

For now, it seemed that alcohol might help them avoid the monsters roaming freely after work on the third floor.

Hua Suihe poured a little alcohol onto her hand and washed her hands, then put the glass jar into her pocket.

Carrying this thing around was really inconvenient.

Ban Ting cautiously opened the door and peeked out through the crack.

The long corridor was already dark, not a single light, not a sound, but there were plenty of people and animals.

“There are ten elevator locations in total, but only one is safe.”

Water Cube’s gaze swept across everyone’s faces. “We… should split up. We’re too big a target.”

As a veteran player, he had his own self-defense items, and even if he died, he had a revival card. At this point, moving with so many people would only slow him down.

He wanted to win, so naturally he couldn’t carry any dead weight.

His suggestion was final.

So after he spoke, he stepped past Ban Ting and walked straight out the door.

The corridors branched in all directions. He picked one, crouched low, and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Another veteran player, Fang Ge, said nothing, but after Water Cube left, she also walked out of the room alone.

The six remaining people were all new players (all rookies).

Ban Ting asked Hua Suihe for her opinion: “Can I go with you?”

Hua Suihe snapped back to reality. “Ah, sure.”

She had just been looking at the live chat.

She was a new streamer, so there weren’t many viewers in her room, but the comments caught Hua Suihe’s attention.

[Peanut? Why does this voice sound so familiar?]

[Sounds a bit like my favorite streamer who suddenly died.]

[Hua Hua never turned on her camera, but I think she looks just like this~]

[What kind of stream is this? Immersive murder mystery?]

[Doesn’t seem like it. What is the streamer playing, and why isn’t she responding to chat?]

[I told you I wouldn’t stumble on this for no reason. The voice is really, really familiar!]

Hua Suihe looked at the chat and noticed a few people had her high-level fan badges.

It was the fan badge from her real-world streaming account.

Seeing this made her heart tremble, and some unbelievable guesses lingered in her mind.

“Let’s go out.”

“Mm, okay.” Hua Suihe collected her thoughts and followed Ban Ting out.

Hua Suihe picked a route at random. “Let’s go this way.”

She felt like she was missing one piece of information. It would be best to run into another player; without that missing piece, going upstairs would be pointless.

Ban Ting, feeling he should act brave as a man in front of a girl, walked ahead of Hua Suihe, though his steps were unsteady.

He was soaked all over, alcohol smeared from head to toe. Hua Suihe didn’t want to get too close, so she kept two steps behind him.

They didn’t know where the corridor led. All the rooms on the sides had their doors wide open; the doctors had left, weren’t in their offices, and didn’t bother closing the doors.

As they passed an open door, a faint, heavy breathing came from the left.

Ban Ting turned to look and saw a huge black figure coming toward them.

Judging by the outline, it was a bear walking upright!

Its eyes glowed green, staring straight at Ban Ting, and its breathing grew louder and clearer.

Its steps didn’t slow.

Ban Ting’s hair stood on end, his legs went weak. It was over-alcohol didn’t seem to work.

Hua Suihe was distracted by the chat; more and more people were joining the stream, far more than a newbie streamer should have.

[Streamer, is that a real bear on your left?]

Seeing this comment, Hua Suihe turned her head, looked up, and met a pair of glowing green eyes.