Chapter 65: The Rule That Erred for the First Time!
Everything was going far too smoothly!
It was smooth to the point of being unbelievable.
During the surgery, the patient did not make things difficult, the chief surgeon gave patient guidance, the nurses cooperated actively, and he did not encounter any unexpected accidents himself.
In just thirty minutes, a bizarre surgery had ended perfectly!
Something was wrong!
Based on Chen Mu's understanding of the horrifying apocalyptic world, as the terrifying apocalypse developed, the overall difficulty of bizarre tasks tended to become increasingly harder!
Just like the Midnight Diner, the task rules were conventional and straightforward;
Then came the Misty Museum, where inductive rules appeared for the first time, tempting players to move around during a game of hide-and-seek, thereby making it impossible for them to discover that staying completely still was the way to survive;
Clearly, the difficulty of the Misty Museum was a step up from the Midnight Diner.
Later on, in the Deadly Examination, misleading rules appeared for the first time!
This time, it wasn't just tempting players anymore; it directly misled them into making strange gestures, causing their classmates to suspect that they were the anomalies themselves!
The difficulty had escalated by yet another tier!
This time at the Terror Hospital, three days had already passed since the Deadly Examination.
Within three days, the overall difficulty of the bizarre tasks was bound to increase to a certain extent.
Although a small minority of bizarre tasks might still be very simple, the overarching trend remained unchanged—tasks were getting harder!
Especially the Terror Hospital, being one of the top factions, would undoubtedly see a gradual increase in difficulty.
Yet Chen Mu had completed his very first surgery with such ease.
The difficulty was even lower than that of the Midnight Diner.
As long as one overcame the discomfort of bloody flesh and followed the guidance of the chief surgeon, passing was effortless!
He didn't even have to use his brain!
A trace of vigilance quietly rose in Chen Mu's heart.
The clues were still too scarce at the moment, not yet enough to deduce the path of survival.
He would just have to take it one step at a time.
At that moment, the patient stepped down from the operating table, looking quite satisfied with the outcome of the surgery.
"Young doctor, your medical skills are brilliant. Truly a miracle worker bringing the dying back to life."
Chen Mu smiled and said, "If you're satisfied, please remember to leave a good review."
The patient packed up his belongings and left the operating room.
The first surgery of the night had concluded.
After the patient left, no prompt indicating whether the surgery was successful or not appeared in front of Chen Mu.
Five minutes later, a line of bloody characters slowly materialized in Chen Mu's field of vision:
[First Surgery]
[Score: 40 points (Passing grade is 60 points)]
[Surgery Result: Failed]
Upon seeing this prompt, Chen Mu's heart sank, yet he was not overly surprised.
Sure enough, something had gone wrong!
After leaving the hospital, the patient had given this surgery a rating—
A failing grade!
Chen Mu began to carefully recall the surgical process, trying to figure out where exactly he had gone wrong.
Why did a seemingly perfect surgery result in the patient giving a failing grade?
If every patient acted like this, how was he supposed to cope?
He could only fail at most twice, leaving him with just one last chance!
As Chen Mu pondered, time ticked away second by second...
In the Terror Hospital at night, patients were pitifully scarce, and for the next hour, not a single patient entered.
Amidst his continuous contemplation, a spark of inspiration gradually emerged in Chen Mu's mind.
He looked at the walls of the operating room, which were plastered with blood-red silk banners—
[Brilliant Hands and Rejuvenating Skills]
[Saving Lives and Healing the Wounded]
...
This series of banners had all been presented by patients.
Suddenly, Chen Mu noticed that the number of silk banners on the wall seemed to have changed subtly.
"I remember when I first arrived, I counted them—there were 43 banners. Now it seems... there's one more..."
Chen Mu murmured inwardly.
When he first entered the bizarre scene, he had memorized the layout of the surrounding environment, including counting the silk banners on the wall.
This was standard procedure for Chen Mu. After all, having survived in the horrifying apocalypse for five years, Chen Mu possessed at least that much capability.
Because Chen Mu knew very well that hints regarding the path to survival were often hidden not only within the rules, but also within the bizarre environment itself. Otherwise, players could simply rely on the rules for deduction, and there would be no need to explore the bizarre scenes step by step.
If Chen Mu remembered correctly, when he first arrived, there were 43 silk banners on the wall.
When the first patient left, another banner had somehow appeared on the wall without a sound—
[Brilliant Hands and Rejuvenating Skills]
Right!
It was this exact one!
Chen Mu remembered now. The wall here had been bare white just a moment ago, and shortly after the patient left, another banner had been added.
A bizarre scene could not change arbitrarily; any subtle change was a hint to the players regarding their survival!
His surgery had failed, and an extra banner of [Brilliant Hands and Rejuvenating Skills] had appeared...
Chen Mu observed the banners on the wall once more, and suddenly he noticed that amidst all the flattering banners, two cursing banners were occasionally interspersed—
[Incompetent Quack]
[May Your Whole Family Die Horribly]
Suddenly, thoughts surged violently in Chen Mu's mind, and he figured out the reason behind it!
If he guessed correctly, every time a surgery was performed in this operating room, an extra banner would appear on the wall.
The content of the banner hinted at the success or failure of the surgery!
According to the setup of the task scenario, prior to his arrival, this chief surgeon had been solely responsible for this operating room.
Because when Chen Mu entered, he had observed the duty roster by the door, and for the past two months, the duty roster had listed the exact same name, indicating that the doctor here had not been replaced.
This meant that the silk banners on the walls were hinting at the success or failure of the chief surgeon's operations!
With this realization, Chen Mu's train of thought suddenly became crystal clear—
In the context of the bizarre world, when an anomaly presents you with a silk banner inscribed with [Brilliant Hands and Rejuvenating Skills], it is not praising you; it is cursing you!
Conversely, when an anomaly presents you with a silk banner inscribed with [May Your Whole Family Die Horribly], believe it—it is offering you its heartfelt blessing.
Context!
The culture of the bizarre world!
In the culture of the anomalies, [Brilliant Hands and Rejuvenating Skills] represented surgical failure, while [May Your Whole Family Die Horribly] represented surgical success.
Clearly, this bizarre task had introduced the concept of "bizarre world culture" for the very first time!
When players were unfamiliar with the culture of the bizarre world, they would misunderstand the meaning of the silk banners or simply ignore them as mere background decoration.
Only when players clearly understood the bizarre culture and realized that these banners were actually cursing the doctor could they discover the clues hidden within the task!
Sure enough, this bizarre task was by no means as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Chen Mu had not expected the difficulty of the bizarre task in the Terror Hospital to be so high that it even incorporated the culture of the bizarre world. This bizarre scene had begun to be arranged in accordance with the culture of the anomalies.
In that case, this wall of silk banners was actually telling the players—
The chief surgeon's skills were terrible!
During his duty hours over the past two months, he had performed 43 surgeries, with only two succeeding and all the rest failing.
He was a quack doctor!
The flaw had revealed itself!
A look of pleasant surprise flashed in Chen Mu's eyes as he finally discovered what was amiss.
Rule Number Two—
[The chief surgeon is an experienced veteran doctor with brilliant medical skills and high prestige. He will never deceive you and will always provide the correct treatment method.]
This rule mentioned that the chief surgeon possessed brilliant medical skills.
However, judging by the facts, the chief surgeon's medical skills were anything but brilliant; on the contrary, he was a total quack!
Chen Mu took a deep breath. If he guessed correctly, this bizarre task featured erroneous rules for the very first time!