Mishelia didn’t leave a gift for Lu Li. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Because Lu Li was late, or perhaps the words themselves were the gift?

Lu Li found the big sister. As usual, the nurse hadn’t done anything to it. Asking what happened that night with Pig King and The Time of Silence, and what was left, the big sister said, "Pig King was discharged, and The Time of Silence told you to cherish the people around you."

"Nothing left behind?"

"Nothing. When are we going on an adventure!"

The big sister was jumping around the hospital bed in the corner of his eye, and Lu Li recalled the unfinished tasks.

The wheelchair girl on the second floor, sculptures, Whitely, the lingering resentments of the drowned, Mrs. Slav, patients in rooms 212 and 213, and everyone on the third floor except The Time of Silence, and everyone on the fourth floor.

The calendar was about to turn to 20, theoretically he had a third of the time left. But if the nurses were still watching him, he’d only be able to visit the third and fourth floors during the day and sneak into the second floor at night.

Lu Li thought Mishelia’s message had some deeper meaning, so he went to the adjacent ward.

"Through this arduous journey, to reach the stars," he said.

"Madman."

The siren awakened by Lu Li complained.

It seemed Mishelia really left nothing behind.

Lu Li returned to the third floor, exploring the rooms with doors and barred gates, some doors were open, and the patients in the wards lay motionless on their beds, as if confined by restraints. Some doors were closed, as if they had never been opened.

No communication and no clues.

Lu Li had to give up on tonight, returning the big sister to her room, letting the lingering resentment of the drowned steal time.

On the morning of the 20th, Lu Li attempted to explore the second floor, but nearly ran into patrolling nurses. He escaped to the fourth floor, hiding in the room of the only person he could communicate with, the Master of Dreams.

Confirming the nurse had left, Lu Li breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to explain to the Master of Dreams, "The nurse is chasing me."

"Why?"

"...I did some things." Lu Li briefly explained helping patients with their tasks.

"A good idea," the Master of Dreams said, as tolerant and kind as before.

"I have a question." Lu Li mentioned the patients on the third floor ignoring him.

"Why do you want to help the third-floor patients?" the Master of Dreams said, "They are tools; they are not worth regretting."

"I don’t quite understand."

"You see them as puzzles. Solving a puzzle will yield an answer."

Lu Li seemed to touch upon a key idea, and he continued to ask, "Do you know about this asylum?"

"A prison?" This topic bored the Master of Dreams: "I want to rest now."

"I’ll visit you again tomorrow."

Lu Li didn’t disturb further, pondering the Master of Dreams’ reminder before leaving the ward.

Back on the third floor, he went to The Time of Silence’s room.

The Time of Silence hadn’t found any rewards for Pig King, and Pig King had already been discharged. But that didn’t matter, Lu Li would collect the reward himself. And the only useful thing seemed to be the tattered rope around its neck.

"They are tools" kept reminding Lu Li—

Lu Li tried to remove the tattered hemp rope from around the neck of the corpse, and it remained unresponsive, as if a corpse being manipulated.

With a tattered hemp rope in hand, Lu Li avoided patrolling nurses, explored other wards, and slipped into room 309.

An old man named Rope of Descent lay in bed with a rope around his neck.

Lu Li glanced at the worn hemp rope that seemed ready to snap at any moment, then looked at the more sturdy and intact hemp rope around the old man’s neck.

Approaching the bed, Lu Li tried to remove the hemp rope from the old man’s neck.

—"You see them as puzzles" kept reminding Lu Li—

But the rope seemed fused with space and wouldn’t come off.

—And "Solving a puzzle will yield an answer."

Lu Li placed the severely damaged hemp rope around the old man’s neck, and then managed to remove the original rope smoothly.

Having deciphered some sort of rule, Lu Li next visited the unlocked wards on the third floor—the Shadow Thief of Fire had an oil lamp, Uninvited Guests had a string of keys, and Waltz of the Dress had a dress.

The oil lamp of the Shadow Thief of Fire couldn’t be removed, but when he placed a flashlight on it, the oil lamp could be picked up. However, Lu Li still needed the flashlight for nighttime activities. Uninvited Guests’ keyring was fused to its belt, but the Waltz of the Dress’s dress could be smoothly removed—without any cost, or the cost had already been paid.

Or the cost would be paid at some point in the future.

In the following night, Lu Li carried the dress and rope, along with the big sister, and under its murmur of "You’re like a kidnapper," he snuck into room 201, unfolding the tattered dress of Waltz of the Dress.

"I brought a dress. May I invite you to dance?"

But the wheelchair girl wrote on the board, "Thank you, but I don’t want it."

This surprised Lu Li. He thought the wheelchair girl’s dream must be related to standing up...

"Then what do you want?"

The wheelchair girl simply shook her head, and at that moment, the board slipped from her lap. She bent down to pick it up, but Lu Li had already picked up the board.

The turning pages stopped at a sketch of a girl beside a railing with a cigarette in her mouth.

"Do you like smoking?"

The girl nodded.

So Lu Li noted it down, and along with the big sister and Andrea, went to the activity area.

"Why have you come again?"

"I’ll help you keep watch."

"Get inside."

The annoyed Gatekeeper turned toward the window.

"Thank you."

Murmuring thanks, Lu Li hurried into the activity area, went to the corner to open a hidden door, hung the hemp rope, and slid down into a fog-covered garden—

The flashlight couldn’t penetrate the pitch-black fog, but the big sister said it was a flower garden. Unable to see anything, Lu Li followed the big sister’s guidance, placing Andrea in a lake.

Taking the opportunity, Lu Li returned to the activity area and used a coin to buy a pack of cigarettes from a vending machine.

Before dawn, Lu Li retrieved Andrea, packed up the rope, closed the hidden door, and left the activity area.

Lu Li handed the cigarettes to the wheelchair girl, who thanked him, saying, "Thank you for your selfless help."

But the wheelchair girl had nothing to give to Lu Li.

Next, he took Andrea back to her room, where it emitted a low hum, translated by the big sister: "It said, sincerely, thank you. Just thanks?"

Andrea also had nothing.

After returning the big sister, Lu Li tread through the darkness before dawn back to the third floor, once again leaving the daytime to the lingering resentments of the drowned.

The calendar displayed the night of "23." Lu Li woke up from bed. The lingering resentments of the drowned were still there, bowing slightly, expressing gratitude.

Then, as usual, Lu Li first visited the Master of Dreams’ room. But he received an unexpected warning.

"You have no time left."

"What do you mean?"

"That calendar is almost finished."

Lu Li took out the calendar; the number had already become 24. He hadn’t observed it for the last few days, but now he realized there were no pages beyond "24".

"The calendar only has 24 pages?" Lu Li frowned, "What happens if it ends today?"

"You will remain here forever."

"How do I leave?"

"Do what you need to do."