At that very moment, the live stream resumed.
All viewers watched as Fang Zhiyi took out a key and summoned the door symbolizing clearance.
But the next moment, Fang Zhiyi froze.
He stepped through the door, yet the surroundings remained unchanged—the enormous monster was still wailing, and the security team leader stood watching him from a distance.
"What's going on?" Fang Zhiyi turned and walked toward the door again, only to reappear on the other side, face-to-face with the security team leader.
The live chat exploded.
"Is the door broken?"
"We're doomed, completely doomed!"
"Hahaha, your country’s contestant cheated and got punished by the anomaly!"
"Try another key, quick!"
Though Fang Zhiyi couldn’t see the comments, he had the same thought. He pulled out his last key and summoned another door, then stepped through the one standing on the grass.
"..." Fang Zhiyi felt like an absolute fool.
Every viewer in the live stream was riveted—this was a situation unseen in decades! The game wasn’t letting the contestant leave!
"Maybe I have to kill it?" Fang Zhiyi eyed the writhing monster. From a gaming perspective, disturbing the boss meant a fight.
World leaders watching the stream felt an indescribable satisfaction, especially the three nations recently extorted.
Ning Yi'an, now safe, had shed her gentle demeanor. She lit a cigarette, her gaze dark as she watched the ongoing broadcast.
What a shame—he wasn’t dying by her hand. The promised bonus from the higher-ups was gone, and resentment toward Fang Zhiyi swelled in her chest.
"Little Hei, what’s happening?" Fang Zhiyi’s first suspicion fell on Little Hei—after all, this world held something it wanted.
Little Hei had previously explained: the anomalous world was once independent, but something had forcibly linked it to the human world—all for the sake of a twisted game. In this game, anomalies and humans were both constrained, while the mastermind watched from the shadows.
The "Director" was a product of this game—neither anomaly nor human, but a true monster.
Little Hei had begged Fang Zhiyi to keep playing, to dismantle the game. It believed its host had the power to force the mastermind’s hand, allowing Little Hei to devour the entity controlling the worlds.
Little Hei frantically waved its hands. "Not my fault, Host! It’s you..."
"Me?"
"You weren’t listening when I warned you during your training..."
Fang Zhiyi recalled Little Hei’s words: "You’re not a ghost right now..."
"..." He was speechless. Was he really about to become the first person to fail clearance because he trained in the anomalous world? This was a straight-up bug!
"What now?" Fang Zhiyi stared at the massive monster, which had stopped wailing and now swayed blindly, like a severely nearsighted person searching for glasses.
Little Hei hesitated before gritting its teeth. "I can help!"
"How?"
"I’ll cheer you on!"
"Get lost!"
Little Hei scratched its head. "Heh, just kidding. But if I intervene, that thing will notice..." It pointed upward.
Fang Zhiyi glanced at the sky, then shook his head. "Trump cards are for the final act. Leave this to me."
The security team leader and the suicidal anomalies stood dumbfounded. How could their workplace be inside a monster? What were they supposed to do now?
Suddenly, someone tapped the team leader’s shoulder. He turned to see the madman who’d been playing with doorframes earlier.
"You’re off-duty, right?"
Fang Zhiyi figured even anomalies deserved a break.
When the team leader nodded, Fang Zhiyi said, "Then let’s go."
"Go?" The team leader was baffled. True, their shift was over, but... He looked up at the monster, which had now turned toward them. Its massive, gelatinous body bore a tiny head, lump-like and grotesque.
"Clock out!" The team leader made the wise choice.
Fang Zhiyi followed closely as they fled. The monster, noticing them, let out a howl and gave chase—its sludge-like body moved silently.
Slower patient anomalies were caught in its mass, immobilized before being swallowed whole, their faces frozen in terror.
"Your Director always this intense?" Fang Zhiyi asked.
The team leader panted as they ran. "No idea! I barely see him. He’s the strongest in the hospital, but I never knew he was... this!"
"He made the hospital’s rules?"
The team leader nodded. "Yeah. The Director is the hospital’s will."
They reached the main gates, where two more security anomalies stood guard. They stared at Fang Zhiyi with undisguised hunger.
Fang Zhiyi shuddered. "Tell them to scram!"
The team leader waved. "Move it!"
Confused but obedient, the anomalies stepped aside, revealing the exit.
The moment the doors opened, the team leader froze.
Outside, thick fog swirled, and the anesthesiologist’s screams echoed faintly in his mind.
"Run!" Fang Zhiyi urged.
The team leader shook his head wildly. "No... the fog hasn’t lifted. We can’t leave yet." His eyes glazed over. "Right... it’s not time to clock out." He turned back.
Fang Zhiyi spun around—the monster was squeezing into the outpatient building, its fluid body oozing forward. The lump-like head wore a grotesque expression.
When their eyes met, an incomprehensible noise flooded Fang Zhiyi’s mind.
Seeing his eyes bloodshot, Little Hei acted fast, plunging a hand into his skull.
The rage in Fang Zhiyi’s heart subsided.
"What was that?" After so many worlds, this was the first time he’d felt true terror—that storm of fury, ruin, madness, and despair. Without Little Hei, he’d have met his ancestors.
"Chaos-spawned monsters are like this, Host. Just run!" Little Hei urged.
Gritting his teeth, Fang Zhiyi muttered a protective incantation and charged into the fog.