Red Pearl Mental Hospital was divided into two areas: one was the tiny patient ward, and the other was the Anding District where the rich could relax and live.
Jiang Che looked toward the Anding District, sealed up with iron bars, and walked toward the unattended small gate.
The black swirling clouds above grew larger and larger, the invisible pull getting stronger—enough to suck anyone in at any moment.
Soon enough, a neat-looking suitcase appeared in Jiang Che's hand.
He gripped the handle tightly, terrified he'd drop it.
And just now, the footage of him sneaking into Anding District to "take" things was being live broadcasted across the whole internet.
At this moment, the rich in Anding District couldn't care less about Jiang Che rummaging through the rooms for valuables.
Everyone just clutched their prepped weapons, bodies trembling, waiting for the final moment.
Anything could be brought into the dungeon, as long as the survivor thought it was useful—even a rocket launcher would be allowed in.
But after countless tries, it was proven that military-grade gear couldn't hurt spectral beings—only functional items within the dungeon could. Things brought from outside had no effect on the spirits.
Still, people brought weapons for the sense of security, even if it was just psychological comfort.
The audience saw Jiang Che's current state and immediately cracked up.
[If I hadn't seen the jewelry, cigarettes, booze, and a few dolls in his suitcase, I really would've thought he'd got some secret weapon.]
[Does he think he can bribe the spirits with jewels or what?]
[I'm dying, everyone else is packing heat, he's packing cash.]
[See, that's why he's mentally ill—a normal person he's not.]
...
Jiang Che patiently stood out in the open. His heartbeat raced, same as everyone else's, wild rhythm pounding.
Red Pearl Mental Hospital was shrouded in a thin gray mist, and as the fog finally covered it in full, everyone vanished from the hospital.
When the world cleared up again, Jiang Che found himself standing at the door of a two-story standalone house.
The house's entrance was closed tight; it didn't look like anyone was home.
He squeezed his suitcase harder, looking around.
He realized that, just a moment ago, the orderlies and rich folks standing near him were nowhere to be seen.
He sized up his surroundings.
This was the heart of an old neighborhood. The plants in the flowerbed looked like charred wood after a fire, traces of the flames faintly lingering. The walls of the standalone house were marked by scorch and burn, the air filled with the reek of old, rotting smoke.
Looking a bit further out, distant buildings twisted and warped, and up on their roofs strange blobs of flesh squirmed.
Jiang Che looked down; a silver key lay on the ground.
Jiang Che bent down and picked it up.
The key was right in front of him; could this be his key?
Was this house his home?
Were his family inside?
At the moment Jiang Che picked up the key, the people watching the livestream started screaming.
Red Pearl Mental Hospital had a total of 395 people, now there were 395 survivor streams—each one scattered across different spots once they entered the dungeon.
Just one glance and the viewers recognized the dungeon before them.
This dungeon was named [Despair], number nine.
It was one of the SSS-level dungeons that no survivor had ever escaped from.
Unlike other certain-death dungeons, most of the SSS-level ones have obviously marked exits, never hiding them—almost taunting survivors.
But knowing where the exit is one thing, actually getting out is another.
Some exits are guarded by spirits, making escape impossible.
Only the ninth dungeon has never had its exit found—hence, Despair.
To date, the ninth dungeon had opened 19 times, with 8,723 participants; escapes: zero.
In every stream, survivors were already screaming in hopelessness,
"How can it be! How can it be number nine!"
"Out of tens of thousands of dungeons—it had to be number nine!"
"I'd rather kill myself than let the spirits torture me!"
"Others may not survive, but I can—I can! I will find the exit!"
"Despair doesn't mean actual despair—as long as I avoid the wrong turns others took, I can find a way out!"
...
Countless people despaired realizing which dungeon they'd landed in; a few still wanted to try their luck.
By this time, many had noticed Jiang Che picking up the key.
Jiang Che stepped toward the standalone house, and even the viewers held their breath.
[The ninth dungeon isn't unsolvable—it's just that the exit hasn't been found yet.]
[19 previous runs, 8 people started at this house, not one dared go inside—he's actually the first.]
[Mental illness hits different—he's got guts!]
[What if the reason no one found the exit is simply because it's behind the doors of these houses?]
...
This comment immediately caught everyone's attention—stunned, as it was a path nobody had ever thought of.
The level of weirdness in the ninth dungeon actually isn't high; it gets its ranking solely because over 8,000 people passed through and not one found the exit.
The ninth dungeon covers a huge area, and almost nobody enters any locked, unknown houses.
Weird dungeons have one rule: never casually enter a house, because most rooms inside are inhabited by spirits.
Wandering outside, the spirits might ignore you, but if you disturb them indoors, you're doomed to endless torment and slaughter.
[There are 78 locked houses in the ninth dungeon. 65 have already been opened. If folks up front open all the doors, at least the rest of us might have a chance!]
[But what if all the doors get opened and there's still no exit?]
[Then just try other places—use human lives to experiment! That's how all dungeons go!]
[Another idiot opening doors, but there are a hundred idiots this time. Can't we use them as guinea pigs?]
...
Jiang Che slid the key into the lock, tamped down his excitement, and as he twisted it loudly called, "I'm home!"
No answer from inside; Jiang Che slowly opened the door and poked his head in.
The moment he peered in, the viewers saw the house's interior.
The oppressive atmosphere made everyone watching the stream almost choke. In the kitchen, a butcher wearing a faceless mask was cooking at the stove, the pot in front of him bubbling with bloody water.
The bullet screen cleared as if wiped clean; everyone went silent.
The human hanging upside down was familiar—they recognized him as the director of Red Pearl Mental Hospital. Thanks to the Celestial Destiny Circle, he made a fortune and supposedly traded for some powerful dungeon items.
He was seemingly the most likely to survive, and yet seconds into the dungeon—done for?
Jiang Che looked at the scene inside—this was clearly a married couple?
The man cooking; the woman tending to the patient, stitching up their wounds.
"Dad, Mom! I'm home!" Without hesitation, he'd searched for his parents for years outside, and the nurse said they'd be in the dungeon. This couple must be his parents.
The moment Jiang Che called them "Dad" and "Mom," the audience was dumbstruck,
This guy's got mental problems, right? He's calling weird spirits "Dad" and "Mom"?