Translator: CinderTL
Upon recognizing one of the voices as that of the woman who had run away earlier, Jiang Cheng prepared to step forward and open the gate.
However, to his surprise, the younger-looking man beat him to it, stepping in to stop him. The young man then turned around, casting a peculiar glance at everyone.
Jiang Cheng paused for a moment, then, as if he had understood something, took a few steps back, his expression now mirroring the fear on everyone else's faces.
The young man's eyes swept across the group, and it was clear that he hadn't found what he was looking for.
There were no experienced teammates among them.
They were all newcomers.
"Now, listen to me," the young man said in a hushed voice. "Has anyone here experienced something like this before? Pushing open a gate and entering a bizarre world?"
The looks on their faces already gave him the answer.
Especially Jiang Cheng, who looked utterly terrified, yet he was trying his best to keep his legs from trembling, not wanting to cause trouble for the others.
The young man sighed, his expression tinged with disappointment. "I've been through something similar once. It's very dangerous. I hope everyone is prepared."
The middle-aged man in his 40s had just opened his mouth to speak when the young man cut him off. "Don't ask questions. Just listen to me."
He paused, then added, "If you want to make it back alive."
At this, everyone's expressions shifted uncomfortably, especially the middle-aged man.
After all, he had once been a leader, and being spoken to so bluntly by a young man made him very uncomfortable.
But he kept this discomfort to himself.
"Where we are, don't ask. I don't know either. But I do know that it's very dangerous here. Danger is everywhere, and some incomprehensible things will happen."
"What kind of things?" Jiang Cheng asked, trying to speed things along.
"Supernatural events," the young man said, his gaze fixed on the white gate as if he could see through it to what lay beyond. "In this world... Ghosts exist."
"Ghosts?"
"I know this is hard for you to accept, but it's the truth," the young man said, seemingly unwilling to waste any more time. "Beyond this gate lies a completely new world. The location and the timeline are different from our previous world."
"Think of it as a kind of... crossing over. That's how you can understand it for now."
"We've crossed over into a completely new world, and this crossing is definitely not a good thing. At least, it's not like those ridiculous stories in some novels where a fallen prince makes a comeback, or a domineering CEO falls in love with an ordinary girl from a modest background instead of a wealthy beauty."
"Here, there's only endless despair and terror. And, of course, ghosts."
As if realizing he had gone on too long, he got back to the point. "In this new world, we need to solve a case, or..." He hesitated, "let's just call it a mission for now."
"Based on the scenes that appear and the people we can interact with, we need to find clues, complete the mission, and do our best to survive in the process."
"Only those who survive till the end can leave this place."
"Once we push open this Gate, we will definitely encounter people from this world. You can think of them as NPCs in a game, there to advance the plot and provide us with clues. Don't speak carelessly; think twice before you act," the young man paused, "Understood?"
Everyone was somewhat confused but nodded, "Understood."
Standing behind the Gate, the young man took a deep breath and then pulled it open.
They all stepped out.
Outside the Gate, Jiang Cheng looked at the scene before him and immediately realized where the sense of familiarity he had felt earlier came from. This place... was actually a hospital.
They were now standing in a corner of the lobby, about 10 meters away from the ophthalmology department, and on the other side was a large glass window.
Behind the glass window stood a row of black wooden shelves, each embedded with small drawers, beside which were some old-fashioned characters: "Chinese Medicine Pharmacy."
It seemed that inside the wooden shelves were various medicinal herbs.
Following the sound, they turned a corner and found the missing woman in a more secluded area behind the lobby.
The woman was in a pitiful state, with her hands pinned behind her back by two security guards and pressed to the ground, one of her shoes lying about 2 meters away.
Surrounding her were several people dressed as doctors and nurses, and an elderly man wearing an apron.
The old man wore glasses and was dressed inconspicuously but appeared very authoritative, speaking sternly to the woman on the ground.
The woman struggled occasionally but was no match for the two security guards.
"Stop!" the young man stepped forward.
Jiang Cheng and the others followed behind the young man.
Seeing the sudden appearance of this group, the two security guards were visibly flustered, but the old man remained calm.
"Tap tap tap."
The sound of rapid footsteps approached from another direction, and soon, two people came running over. The first was a woman dressed as a nurse, followed by a man in his forties.
The man seemed to be in poor physical condition, panting heavily, but upon seeing Jiang Cheng and his group, his face lit up with excitement.
Seeing this, Jiang Cheng felt relieved.
The NPCs who were supposed to meet them had appeared.
Now it was time to understand the mission background. Judging by the hospital's layout and the people's attire, Jiang Cheng guessed it must be at least 20 years ago.
Especially the collar of one of the security guards, which was a Crimson thick wool sweater with very rough stitching.
Jiang Cheng had only seen such things in period dramas.
The man caught his breath, then smiled apologetically at the old man, turned his head, and scolded, "You family members of the patient, how can you be so unruly? You just barge in without even a greeting, thinking a phone call beforehand is enough?"
"Take the patient and follow me to register!" The man seemed to hold a certain position in the hospital, his bureaucratic tone quite practiced.
"Director Qi, what's going on with these people?" the authoritative old man asked.
Hearing this, the man smiled apologetically, "Doctor Liu, these are patients transferred from Hospital 3, along with their accompanying family members. There was some unpleasantness due to the transfer, and who would have thought..."
The old man glared fiercely at Jiang Cheng and his group, scolding, "For your own selfish interests, you cause a commotion in the hospital, disrupting the normal medical order?"
"This is simply outrageous!"
"Yes, yes," the man said with a forced smile. "I will severely reprimand them later and teach them that causing a scene in the hospital won't solve any problems."
As he spoke, the man subtly gave a look, and Jiang Cheng and the others immediately understood, hurriedly apologizing and admitting their rash behavior.
They promised it wouldn't happen again.
(End of the Chapter)
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