Chapter 547 Beware of Mental Erosion

Chapter 547: Beware of Mental Corruption

Faced with the environment and rules of the Newborn Ward—or rather, the "Reverse Birth Corridor"—if the ones entering were novice players experiencing a nightmare game for the first time, they would most likely choose to hide in their wards for three days. They would attempt to use the enclosed space to gain a fleeting sense of security, clinging to the naive belief that "as long as I don't wander around, I won't trigger danger."

However, for veteran players who have survived multiple nightmare games, they understand better than anyone the true meaning behind a setting of "survive for 72 hours."

It not only signifies that danger will gradually approach as time passes, eventually engulfing the entire game scene, but also implies something invisible yet far more terrifying—psychic contamination—is quietly seeping into their consciousness.

In the oppressive, bizarre world of nightmares, there is no such thing as a completely safe zone. If they choose to lock themselves inside their wards, clinging to their last shred of fragile security, waiting for the game to clear automatically once time runs out... then the outcome will most likely be just one: during the long wait, they will witness the unknown horror gradually draw near until it becomes unavoidable, ultimately meeting a helpless death.

Compared to this method of actively walking towards death, humanity's innate thirst for knowledge drives them to struggle desperately even in desperate situations.

Players are willing to believe that in nightmare games, there exists a path to survival. The so-called hopeless situation is merely something they overlooked or missed. Therefore, even if the entire Newborn Ward transforms into a monster trying to devour them, they believe that within the gaps of the monster's teeth lies a sliver of a chance to clear the game.

Yet, what can kill players is not just the "monsters" or "rules" within the game itself, but also the psychic contamination from the nightmare game. The more fragile one's mind, the more physically exhausted one is, the more susceptible they become to being consumed by this erosion.

This is the harsh truth veteran players have summarized through blood and painful lessons from countless nightmare games.

They might not yet know that this mental erosion stems from the corruption of the Red Moon's power, but they have still noticed that when their bodies reach a state of extreme exhaustion, with negative conditions like hunger, thirst, and sleep deprivation piling up layer by layer, their minds become exceptionally fragile—irritable, volatile, sensitive, becoming easy targets for provocation, more prone to sinking into despair...

By that point, they will slowly lose all desire to survive, lose the instinct to struggle inherent to humans, and even gradually lose their sanity, ultimately meeting their end after their consciousness completely collapses.

The lighting and environment of the Reverse Birth Corridor have been eroding them from the very beginning. Therefore, the players know that before the real crisis arrives, they must maintain their bodies in the best possible condition and ensure they remain in the most rational state—this is the most fundamental reason they had to go to the thirteenth-floor dining hall to obtain food.

On their way back to the fourteenth floor with the food, even Le Shiya's gaze was constantly fixed on the lights on the ceiling. She was secretly calculating her distance from cover, pondering where she should dash with her brother at the fastest speed if the corridor lights went out again.

Especially when they stepped into that familiar stairwell, almost everyone instinctively held their breath, their footsteps unconsciously lightening considerably.

However, the journey from the thirteenth floor back to the fourteenth proceeded surprisingly smoothly.

When they stepped onto the fourteenth-floor ground, what greeted their eyes was still that same dizzyingly bright, glaring lighting. This was more or less what the players had expected, after all, the first few hours of a survival game are relatively safer, which was why they chose this time to go to the thirteenth floor for food.

They walked all the way through the long corridor, past the series of rooms, passing by those nurses who had been standing motionless at the corridor's end all along.

Just as their ward was in sight...

"Zzzt— Zzzt—"

The corridor lights flickered without warning. The light sources jumped violently, like candles about to be extinguished, constantly switching between incandescent brightness and darkness, making the entire corridor appear eerie and sinister.

And then... the nurses, who had remained completely motionless under the lights all this time, actually, at this moment, began to move!