Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Lanen also knows that time is pressing, and clearly, they don't have much time to hesitate.

He glanced at the others present: one veteran mental patient, two players, one still trapped in a state of 'madness'.

The choices for director seem limited.

Besides, it's just the interim director of a dream rift, and once this main task ends, this temporary instance will surely disappear. His recent university degree wouldn't really make him the director of Arkham Hospital in reality.

Thinking this way, Lanen's initial psychological burden vanished.

Under everyone's gaze, he stepped forward: "I guess the conditions for electing an interim director are now met?"

First, the chaotic situation in Arkham.

This is undeniable; not to mention the chaos, Arkham is almost gone.

Second, the turmoil in Arkham Hospital.

Thanks to the enthusiasm of the players and Luke releasing all the patients from the third floor just now, the conditions have long been met.

Patients and medical staff stood together, silently watching Lanen.

Even though it was a temporary election, there was a process to follow.

Lanen, pulling Archie forward, took a step ahead:

"So, I will run for the position of interim director of Arkham Hospital. Who supports me? Who opposes?"

Archie stood by his side, surveying all potential troublemakers with a lethal glare.

The patients shrank back, not daring to speak, while the doctors and nurses exchanged glances.

The election process had to be followed. Lanen pondered for a moment, then said, "Those with objections may speak up. Let me clarify one thing: upon my appointment, I will reinstate the usual leave and work schedules."

The chief doctor's eyes lit up noticeably.

"Of course, I will also stay here throughout my tenure."

The nurses and aides brightened up at this.

Finally, Lanen turned to the patients from the third floor and the 'director': "If I become director, I will seek justice for the incident that once occurred in this hospital."

Old Luke sneered, while Black Cat commented to the live stream, "Even if it's an act, even if the motive is for faith, in the hearts of those doctors and patients, he is a savior."

The live chat cooperated with comments:

[Heretical Savior]

[It's normal, those in despair born in a quagmire will grasp even a spider's thread offered by a heretic, unwavering unto death]

[Fanaticism often originates like this.]

The patients fixed their gaze on him, raising their tentacles.

The interim director clause took effect.

The blue and white striped patient's clothes Lanen was wearing disappeared, replaced by a familiar white lab coat for the players, now adorned with a nameplate.

[Interim Director Lanen]

Meanwhile, the chain tattoos on his body gradually faded away. Lanen closed his eyes, confirming he could now enter the Dream Rift at will.

The players cheered, and the patients, though puzzled, joined in the celebration.

Everyone was happy, except for the 'director', who seemed petrified on the spot.

Because the patients from the third floor were eyeing him, 'friendly' tentacles waving, looking forward to 'playing' together in the future.

They would take good care of the director.

Luke, on the other hand, watched Lanen with a hint of nervousness, mirrored by the comments in the Druid live stream.

[Now that Lanen's the director, he should have the most authority in the hospital under its current rules, right?]

[Seems like it, so is Lanen unsealed now?]

[Not sure, I was actually expecting a transformation! Why wasn't there a transformation sequence!?]

[So now the question is, what will Lanen do next? (trembling)]

Lanen raised his head, looking towards the part of the hospital shrouded in mist.

Becoming the director felt quite extraordinary; he felt he could control everything within the hospital and also discovered an area with significant energy fluctuations.

Lanen sensed the direction and took the lead, walking purposefully towards it.

As Lanen moved, Archie naturally followed closely. Old Luke instinctively tried to grab Archie's shoulder but failed to elicit any response, leading him to sigh in resignation.

The group thus reached the hospital's courtyard, where under Lanen's control, the surrounding fog gradually dissipated, revealing the courtyard's original appearance.

It looked like a small garden for patients to stroll in, enclosed by a fence with a sturdy lock in the middle.

Lanen approached and lightly touched the lock, which instantly opened, granting access through the fence gate.

Upon entering, Lanen immediately felt the distinctiveness of this place.

How to put it? Perhaps due to his directorial authority, Lanen vaguely understood that this was the core of the hospital at night.

“This is…” Druid exclaimed in surprise, looking at a pillar supporting the corridor, “There seem to be words on it!”

Black Cat and Druid instinctively cast a detection spell; Black Cat's succeeded.

‘Offering my humble assistance, in hopes that Arkham may swiftly traverse this dark period.’

— Aldus McClure

This name didn't ring a bell with the players, but the emblem carved beneath it exploded the live stream in excitement.

Two olive branches symbolizing peace, enveloping a book in the middle with a Gothic 'M' on it.

Anyone fond of the Lovecraftian world knew this was the emblem of Miskatonic University!

Someone from Miskatonic University was here??

Druid hurried to Lanen's side to look at the courtyard, but couldn't find any engraved symbols or magic circles. Just as he was about to ask, he noticed Lanen's gaze wandering over certain buildings or plants in the courtyard.

A flash of insight struck Druid's mind, and with Lanen's silent consent, he climbed up a pillar of a gazebo to get a bird's-eye view, leading the live stream audience to an epiphany.

[The structure of this courtyard is a huge magical formation...]

[Look, aren’t there places with only stone pillars left, and some irregular plants? Could these have been altered later?]

[Quite possible. I suspect the courtyard’s original formation might have been left by someone from Miskatonic, but was later discovered and altered by the leader of the Outsiders. We don't know the exact effects, but it likely led to the creation of the Nighttime Hospital instance.]

The players in the live stream noticed that as the director of Arkham, Lanen could discern much more.

He vaguely sensed that this formation was the core of Arkham at night, implying that the 'nighttime' of Arkham was intrinsically linked to this formation.

Considering that in a previous life, Arkham Hospital was where the leader of the Outsiders opened 'the door', it was obvious what this ritual had been transformed into.

Even if it wasn't a portal or something, it was at least a crucial node in his plan.

"Let's try to destroy it," Lanen said, turning around.

Hearing this, the players felt right in their element!

They immediately started to destroy the surrounding plants and structures.

But they failed.

Black Cat initially tried to dig out the plants with a shovel, but after a long effort, couldn't even budge the soil. Druid and the other aides experienced the same; anything connected to the ground simply wouldn’t move an inch.

Lanen tested his directorial authority, only to find, disappointingly, that it seemed limited to controlling areas outside the courtyard; he had no power over the courtyard itself.

No wonder the leader of the Outsiders hadn't shown up. Even in his absence, this formation wasn't something that could be easily destroyed.

"After all the trouble of getting here, are we really without any options?" Druid kicked a wall in frustration, only to hurt his leg from the recoil and groan in pain.

Was leaving Arkham Hospital the only way out?

Lanen frowned, but having come this far, fleeing seemed like a defeat.

But what other options were there...

Lanen closed his eyes and entered the Dream Rift to ponder his remaining assets: the physical enhancement from the Joker, the dice, and his followers - two fanatics and one nominal believer.

Wait, when did he gain another fanatic? Lanen noticed an extra white light point and couldn't help but pinch it.

In reality, Archie shuddered and stared at Lanen for a moment before reaching out to pinch his face.

Druid and Black Cat gasped; this was the first time Archie showed a gesture other than killing intent. Wait, why would he pinch Lanen's face!

Lanen opened his eyes in resignation: "Stop it."

Unable to find a suitable power to use, and with both players having tried, even combat or brute force proved futile against the formation, meaning physical attacks were not an option.

The only card seemingly fitting for this situation was the dice.

But what should he roll for? Luck? Strength?

Or the esoteric knowledge of recognizing symbols and rituals?

Or perhaps...

Lanen recalled a fleeting vision he had seen earlier in the archives, a bird's-eye view from the sky.

A mysterious ritual or formation that seemed capable of opening the dream world.

Lanen took a deep breath and made a decision.

An ethereal dice tumbled in his mind, vaguely forming the image of a giant octopus covered in tentacles.

[??? Mythos]

The original '???' was supposed to represent the Cthulhu Mythos, but as everyone knows, the cosmology of "Fate's Spiral" differs from that of Lovecraft's, so it would be odd to directly call it Cthulhu Mythos, hence the 'question marks' were used.

Meaning: Unknown, leading to forbidden, secret knowledge.

The final result:

——Catastrophic Failure

Lanen: ?

Lanen... was greatly shocked.

He thought he faintly heard the laughter of some entity.

——Embracing hope for fortune from fate, one is eventually toyed with by fate itself.

Regardless, the result had occurred. As Lanen was still uncomprehending, the anomaly began. A deluge of information, intelligence, and fragments of secrets flashed through his mind, unrecorded. He saw many scenes: a decaying black forest, the silhouette of a giant, sheep bones, a pan flute, altars, and occasional prayers.

Also, the perspective he briefly recalled in the archives, overlooking a strange Gothic campus from the sky, where a plain-faced, freckled redhead boy knelt, weeping and praying.

"The Supreme, returned from death..."

The vision didn't play out completely. Lanen's vision darkened, and then he was in the mist of the Dream Rift, completely disconnected from reality.

Lanen: ???

Why am I cut off from the network?

……

In the reality that Lanen couldn't perceive, Druid watched as Lanen stood frozen in place, calling out to him several times, but no matter how he called, Lanen never turned around.

Could something have happened?

Druid reached out to grab Lanen's hem, about to pull it, but then he heard something behind him. Turning around, he saw Old Luke dragging Archie and running towards the exit without looking back. Druid, filled with confusion, looked at Black Cat, only to find him staring straight ahead, his eyes reflecting only a silhouette.

Black Cat, you...

Druid tried to speak but found he couldn't make a sound. He touched his neck, feeling only a bark-like rough texture. But soon, he understood what had happened. With a 'plop', Black Cat's eyes burst like jelly, and from within them sprouted dark saplings. His skin and flesh withered away as the tree grew larger and larger.

Druid: ?

Rustling sounds——

[Sanity Points -50]

[Sanity Points -50]

Forced disconnection in progress——

The player was disconnected.

……

Lanen tried to leave the Dream Rift, but for some unknown reason, he couldn't exit. He felt completely numb and it was only after an unknown length of time that he finally managed to open his eyes outside the Dream Rift.

At first glance, the courtyard had undergone a drastic transformation.

What was once disorderly but recognizably a deliberately pruned garden was now gone, replaced by a dense, sprawling forest.

The stone blocks that Druid and Black Cat had struggled to move were now pushed aside and broken by the supple trunks of trees, completely altering the appearance of the area.

But to call it a forest would be misleading; it was too eerie and dark. Lanen didn't sense any vibrancy from these plants, only a sense of deathly stillness.

Right, where are the others?

Lanen hastily looked around, left and right, but found no corpses. Then, on closer inspection, he froze.

He didn't find any bodies because the bodies were the plants surrounding him.

Lanen approached a crooked, dead tree and saw a face etched in the bark, twisted in agony.

It was Druid.

Lanen's scalp tingled with horror. He gritted his teeth and looked at each tree, recognizing not only the players but also the doctors and nurses who had accompanied him, all devoid of life.

The medical staff was not a major concern; as the director of Arkham Hospital, Lanen knew the rules of the Nighttime Hospital: the hospital staff wouldn't easily die unless their daytime selves were harmed. However, it was uncertain if they could be restored from this state.

He wasn't too worried about the players either; at worst, they would be disconnected.

Wait, where's Archie?!

Lanen's heart sank as he searched the bizarre forest, finally finding Archie's figure.

He was fiercely protected by Old Luke, who had almost turned into a mass of living vines. It was recognizable as Old Luke only because the vines were entangled around a hospital gown, wrapped around Archie. Archie, with lips tightly pressed, was fighting desperately against the mass of vines with a dagger in hand.

His eyes were clear, indicating he had successfully passed the second level of the Dream Rift and regained his sanity.

"Archie?" Lanen exclaimed in surprise.

"Lanen... Lord Lanen, what is this? Can you please help me up?" Seeing Lanen, Archie seemed to find his anchor, unintentionally sighing in relief.

Lanen opened his mouth, his expression complex, looking at the mass of vines: "No need for 'Lord', were you conscious before?"

"Hmm? You mean during the period I was insane? No," Archie answered, "The last thing I remember was being in the ward, then it seemed like I fell into a deep sleep, and when I woke up, I was here. Can you help me first…"

Waking up to this moving vine, Archie was deeply unsettled. The only consolation was that, for now, the vine didn't seem intent on harming him.

Speaking of which, weren't they still in the hospital before? How did it turn into a forest as soon as they opened their eyes??

Just as Lanen was about to lend a hand, the vines recoiled from his touch as if encountering a natural predator, releasing Archie.

Archie, grasping Lanen's hand to stand up, looked around: "What's going on now? Why are there so many trees around? Weren't we in the hospital?"

"Well, it's a long story..." Lanen's gaze drifted towards the vines hiding behind the trees, his heart a tumult of emotions, momentarily at a loss for how to explain to Archie.

He certainly couldn't admit that all this was his doing.

Lanen silently vowed never to use the '??? Mythos' judgment again.

Although he didn't know the specifics, there was no doubt that everything around them was his creation.

It’s a disaster; he seems to have become... a real deity of malevolence.

……

Players' Forum

"Nighttime Hospital Live Stream Thread"

1L: What the heck, what happened? Did anyone see it clearly?

2L: No, the live stream suddenly went offline, just a black screen. What exactly happened? (frantic)

3L: What about Druid? Black Cat? Are they still alive? Anyone alive, give a shout.

4L: What happened, what happened? I just went to the bathroom, and the stream was down when I came back. What exactly happened?

5L: Same question. I just went to get water, and it's a black screen when I return. Did something happen that I wasn't supposed to see?

6L: Hiss - I didn't see much either, it seemed like something happened to Lanen.

Druid: Damn

7L: !!! The person involved suddenly comes back from the dead!

8L: The person involved has appeared! What exactly happened, Druid!

Druid: I don't know how to explain it, damn.

9L: ?? I'm so anxious, I'm the king of anxious! Come on, spit it out!

Druid: Anyway, let me show you my current state. Photo.jpg

The photo showed Druid's current state of deathly stasis, but instead of a corpse, it depicted a bizarre section of tree trunk.

Players on the forum took a long time to recognize Druid's face in the pattern of the tree bark.

10L: Damn…

11L: I just lost my sanity in real life.

12L: What exactly happened???

Druid: I don't remember...

13L: What?

Druid: I'm serious, no lies. I vaguely recall something unusual happening to Lanen, but I have no clear memory of what it was. It's as if my body deleted that memory to protect my brain.

14L: The more you talk, the scarier it gets. This is just a game, right?

15L: I think this might be a conspiracy by the game's developers, wanting us to experience the horror of Lovecraftian elements but not to the point of driving us insane, hence the current vagueness.

Black Cat: ...

16L: Oh, another person involved has appeared.

Black Cat: God

17L: Black Cat, are you okay? Did you also turn into a tree?

Black Cat: I saw the fallen Pan.

After speaking, Black Cat's ID went offline.

The players' forum was once again filled with question marks.

Meanwhile, in a large enclosed area in Arkham City, Soren Hogar abruptly turned to look in the direction of the hospital.

The magic circle he had set up was broken.

Incredulous, Soren was certain that the defense he had laid out on the circle, consuming nearly half of his life to set up, was impenetrable even to S-class anomalies. This was why he felt confident allowing the followers of the malevolent deity to roam the Nighttime Hospital.

But it was somewhat expected, after all, it involved that indescribable entity.

Soren closed his eyes and in the darkness, he saw the light point that connected the hospital to his location had vanished, signifying that the hospital's magic circle had been destroyed.

But it wasn't all bad.

A smirk curled at Soren's lips, a glimmer of light flickering in his eyes.

The coordinates... had appeared.

Soren's plan to open the Dream World was actually a four-step process.

First, as Amos had mentioned, was to use the Dream Rift to create a barrier similar to the Dream World, thus approaching the dimension of the Dream World, with Arkham Hospital serving as the experimental subject for this phase.

Second, to use this Dream World-like barrier to open a passage to the Dream World.

Third, to accumulate enough energy to open the portal to the Dream World.

Fourth, to find a coordinate that can locate the Dream World.

The reason Soren valued Lanen so highly was his belief that Lanen was the being who descended from the Dream World, carrying with him the coordinates of that realm.

Now, there was good news and bad news.

The good news was that the coordinates of the Dream World had emerged. The bad news, his arrangements in the Nighttime Hospital were destroyed, and the barrier resembling the Dream World was broken, making it impossible to meet the conditions of the first and third steps.

Soren's brow furrowed, then relaxed quickly. He turned and looked ahead, his gaze piercing through the fence enclosing the area, onto the bustling roads and the towering, prosperous steel jungle.

Fortunately, he never put all his eggs in one basket.

Soren Hogar, having survived in human society for so long, had developed a habit of trusting no one. He told Albert that the nodes set up around Arkham were the core of the entire plan, while telling Amos that the hospital would be the real gateway.

But in reality, his plans were never limited to just this. Soren had two complete plans: if Lanen failed to destroy the hospital's magic circle, it would activate automatically after a set time, using the entire Arkham Hospital as a sacrifice to create an illusion of a dream world, absorb its energy, and then transfer this energy to where Soren was standing, making this the final location for opening the gate.

If the magic circle at Arkham Hospital was destroyed...

That would be fine too, because he had a backup plan.

The Outsiders had been deeply ingrained in this city for years, first infiltrating not the government, nor the elite or wealthy classes.

But rather an overlooked small unit under the municipal government, responsible for various matters concerning the city's sewer system.

When Soren discovered that Lanen's followers were searching for magic circles throughout the city, he became wise to it. He had his followers continue to set up magic circles in more concealed places, but this was all to divert attention from his true objective.

The truly crucial nodes of the entire plan were hidden in the unnoticed sewers.

Since the first round of players found nodes on the surface, and no one had discovered any magic circles underground, combined with the limited number of players, it resulted in an oversight.

With a thought from Soren, the magic circles etched in the dark sewers began to emit specks of light.