Chapter 44: The Third Basement

Gu Yi arrived at the elevator lobby and used the red access card to reach the underground third floor.

He removed all the masks from his face and stepped into the narrow corridor once again.

Only after Gu Yi truly entered the corridor did he realize that deduction was not always 100% accurate.

There was a faint scent of orchids in the air, and the corridor was not as narrow as deduced.
He didn't need to walk with his body sideways at all.

Instead of a red wool carpet, the floor was paved with red marble tiles.

Gu Yi felt that the power of “Weird World” must be at play here, causing discrepancies between the deduction and reality.

Gu Yi reached the end of the corridor.

He pushed open the door in front of him.

Inside was an empty screening room, with only the projection room above Gu Yi's head still illuminated.

Gu Yi smoothly made his way to the projection room and found Toto.

“Hello.”

“Oh, you're here.” Toto turned around.
“You must have followed my clues to come here.”

Gu Yi looked at Toto, feeling uneasy all over.

This felt like a scenario where an author finally gained popularity through their work but was then forced by fans to cross-dress and take pictures in front of a mirror.

“You're Toto, right?”

“Yeah, nice to see you again.”

“Why do you say 'again'…?”

Gu Yi quickly seized upon the detail in Toto's words.

Gu Yi was certain that he had never met the real Toto during the progression of the dungeon, so how could she use the word “again”?

Toto calmly replied, “There's a part of me on the mask.
When you see it, it's as if you're seeing me.”

“What exactly is the conflict between you and your mother?”

“She sold me to this hospital but ended up being manipulated by the hospital's dean.
In the end, she became something neither human nor ghost.
I believe that by obtaining that access card, you should already have a clear idea of her fate.”

Gu Yi furrowed his brow.

Toto's words aligned with his investigation and deductions, but Gu Yi couldn't shake the feeling that something was unreasonable about it.

—Her tone sounded more like reciting lines rather than telling her own story.

Gu Yi used his talent.

(The deduction begins!)

(Your vision is pitch black.)

(You terminate the deduction.)

“Just as I thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's nothing.”

Gu Yi shook his head.

Just as he had deduced, the underground third floor of the hospital no longer solely belonged to Chongshan Hospital.
It was a world that surpassed Chongshan Hospital.

If he did something inappropriate here, he could very well end up in an irreversible situation.

—He no longer had the opportunity to use his talent to navigate through landmines.

“Do you have anything else to say to me now that you're here?”

“I want to know the truth.”

“I can't tell you directly.
According to the rules, you must deduce and explore it yourself.” Toto hooked her finger.
“Since you've come to the screening room, you can't just leave without watching a movie, can you? You should have brought that thing, right?”

“Monster Siege.”

Gu Yi took out Monster Siege from his pocket.

Toto took Monster Siege and handed Gu Yi a brand new pair of 3D glasses.

“You can continue watching from down there.”

“Thank you.”

Gu Yi sat in the theater seat and put on the 3D glasses.

The movie began playing.

The film had completely transformed into something else.

The main characters in the story were all peculiar-looking aliens, but Gu Yi could understand every word they said clearly.

He noticed that the plot of this story didn't deviate much from the original, except that the actors' identities had become aliens.

It's worth mentioning that the male protagonist still had a pet, but this pet had transformed into a human.

The human wore a collar like a dog and was completely naked, appearing utterly undignified.

Unconsciously, Gu Yi immersed himself in the role of that pet, but halfway through, he couldn't bear to watch any longer and took off the 3D glasses.

“What's wrong? Why did you stop watching?”

“No need to watch.” Gu Yi said, “I've already understood the implications of this film.
Chongshan Hospital is not a hospital on Earth; it comes from another parallel universe.
In this world, aliens dominate while humans are merely their pets, like cats and dogs on Earth.
Like you and me, having cognitive disorders, so I can't see the true nature of the world.
Am I right?”

“Hey, you're right.
You got half of it.”

“And I also know the other half.”

Toto grinned.
“Then why don't you say it?”

“I can also say the other half, which might allow me to directly reach a certain ending, but I don't know if that ending would be considered a perfect clearance.”

“Of course, it wouldn't…”

Gu Yi closed his mouth, looked at Toto with a mischievous smile, and asked, “How did you know I'm inside the game?”

Toto touched her own cheek and smiled.
“Is this your way of eliciting a confession?”

In the Weird World.

No matter how mischievous the players were, no matter what they said about the Weird World, the local residents of the Weird World would not be able to comprehend it.

Gu Yi had mentioned words like “clearance” and “ending” multiple times in front of Toto, but she understood them perfectly.

That in itself was unnatural.

Gu Yi stared into Toto's eyes and boldly questioned, “Are you the mastermind behind the entire 'Weird World'? Did you plunge all of us, humans, into fear?”

Toto remained silent, maintaining a stiff smile.

Gu Yi continued, “Yes, that's impossible.
You've transformed into someone who looks just like me, so there must be a hidden meaning behind it.
Are you trying to tell me that you, like me, were also once an adventurer?”

Toto's face suddenly became blurry, resembling a palette of various colors.

“You're right.”

“Why did you end up like this?”

“You'll understand later.”

Toto grinned.

The surrounding scenery suddenly changed, and a huge wooden door appeared in front of Gu Yi.

“Actually, if you simply state the essence of this world in front of me, I can let you leave.
In that case, you can achieve the achievement of normal custom clearance, and your country won't have to worry about the risk of Weird World invading for the time being.

However, the people in other countries will still live in the shadow of Weird resurgences, and the monsters in the dungeon will still invade the world.

If you walk out through this wooden door now, you can return to the real world…”

“I choose the second option!” Gu Yi said firmly, “I want to achieve the achievement of a perfect custom clearance.”

“Do you really see yourself as a savior?”

“I don't even need to guess to know that the difficulty of this dungeon has surpassed all the previous ones.

If the entire world is invaded by the Weirdness, our country won't be able to escape the calamity.

The Weird powers from other countries will still find ways to spread within the borders of the Dragon Country.
Only a perfect custom clearance can save all humans from the persecution of the Weird World.

I might be the last hope for the entire world.

Without a perfect custom clearance, it's a failure.

And I…
don't like to fail.”