Chapter 174 - 86: The Museum in the Mental Hospital_2

Words : 1411 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

Wen Xishu hadn’t even had time to analyze the environment before being amused by this rule. This was indeed a game rule he found quite useful. In the real world, forming a team is just a verbal agreement; if you shoot, your bullet doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe. There’s no such thing as "turning off friendly fire" in reality. But in a game, when the tank is holding off monsters, the mage can freely cast skills without worrying about accidentally injuring teammates. Wen Xishu decisively pulled Zheng Zai into the team. This feature’s usefulness wasn’t immediately apparent, but Wen Xishu sensed it would play a role in this mission. "The large screen at the end of the corridor... seems rather peculiar. Could it be an item that can be identified?" Zheng Zai said. Currently, Wen Xishu and the others were all at the staircase, with hospital rooms on both sides of the corridor. At the end of the corridor, there was a gigantic screen that looked like a TV wall. Wen Xishu said: "Let’s decipher the mission first, Zheng Zai. We need to analyze the mission first. This mission includes several keywords: Great Inventor, Museum..." "So we might not face terrifying enemies, but the items themselves could be frightening, different from the purification items we dealt with last time." "This time, we need to guess the item functions based on their appearance and type..." "Remember, the mission mentioned that if we successfully survive, we can take away an item that we’ve identified." "Also, the mission description included a sentence saying that after the apocalypse, the mental hospital he was residing in became a place everyone desperately wanted to enter. It seemed like the world’s only haven." "That implies, before the apocalypse, his items were peculiar and considered garbage by people." "But after the apocalypse, these items seemed to have acquired strange abilities, perhaps enough to turn this mental hospital into a haven capable of resisting the apocalypse." "So, we might find treasures in this mission. The attributes of the treasures, the risks in the identification process... all depend on how we perform." "Currently, there are five of us... on average, each person needs to identify 2.4 items. Good luck everyone." Wen Xishu said. What he said made a lot of sense, Zheng Zai listened, remembered, and learned as he went. But Wang Ying said: "Hmm, you’re right, we know all this. But I like to do things according to protocol. Next time, I speak first, then you can add." Wen Xishu said: "Then captain, you decide the exploration order?" Wang Ying said: "Each hospital room likely contains an item. Since it’s a museum, these items should be easy to identify." "We five will enter a room together. If someone feels a connection with an item... they’ll identify that item." "If several people are interested in the same item... everyone will state their reasons for wanting it, then vote. If voting is inconclusive, I’ll make the decision." "Any objections?" Wen Xishu had no objections; Wang Ying’s method seemed reasonable too. Tong Ming said: "No objections." Aspasia and Zheng Zai also nodded. Wang Ying was very satisfied: "In that case, let’s check out the first hospital room." The door to room 401 was pushed open. The hospital bed was messy, with the blanket on the floor and the pillow in the middle. In the center of the room was a bedside cabinet with a ceramic tea cup on it. On the floor, there was also a desk lamp, with two eyes painted on its shade. Scattered across the floor were some syringes and... chains. No other items were present. "Didn’t they say it was a museum? Where are the items?" Aspasia asked. Wen Xishu picked up the desk lamp: "This is the item. Do you want to identify it?" Everyone stared at the desk lamp, but without exception, all they saw were garbled characters, not a single recognisable word. In fact, the longer they stared at any item in the room, the more garbled it appeared. Wen Xishu was no different, but his Anti-Magic Value of 19 points was significantly higher than the others. He could see a few words in the remarks section of the lamp. Diffuse, Vision, Share. These five words didn’t seem to describe a regular desk lamp, so Wen Xishu concluded that the museum exhibit in room 401... was this lamp. He also guessed its function, which was actually quite nice, but he wasn’t interested. Wang Ying said: "Don’t talk nonsense. What makes you think this is an item that needs identification?" Wen Xishu remained patient; he was patient with every teammate. After all, in the early stages of an adventure, he typically expected that every teammate would likely end up dead, depending on their performance throughout the process. Wen Xishu patiently said: "I already mentioned, captain, we need to decipher the mission. The mission mentioned the museum and the Great Inventor." "This implies the items aren’t historical artifacts but newly invented peculiar items. We only need to find new elements within the items." "Look for something that wouldn’t normally be found in the hospital rooms. Of course, desk lamps might be expected. But desk lamps wouldn’t typically have eyes painted on them. This should contain new elements. I guess this is the item that needs identification." Wen Xishu’s words were convincing, providing the team with a method for judging items. Wang Ying took a deep breath: "Is anyone interested in this? You can try it out." Zheng Zai shook his head: "Not interested in a lamp. This item doesn’t seem like a strong tool." Wen Xishu also said: "I’m not interested." Wang Ying was actually not interested either, but he needed to establish his authority as the captain and didn’t want Wen Xishu to steal the limelight. He thought for a moment and analyzed: "You still don’t understand, need to think more. This item indeed looks pointless, but the mission hints that identifying items carries risks!" "The more ordinary the item, the lower the risk. Understand? The primary task in exploring Deceit Tower is to stay alive. You all are too young; learn well." Tong Ming clapped: "Captain, you’re great, your words are so useful. Captain, can you identify this item?" Wang Ying said: "Of course." Just as Wang Ying was about to identify it, a prompt appeared in everyone’s mind: [You found a museum item. You can choose to identify it. After identification is complete, the item will be in an activated state, forcing it to display its function, then entering the ready-to-use area.] [Please decide if the identifier will identify alone or as a group. Identifying alone grants absolute distribution rights over the item at the mission’s end.] This information was quite substantial. Forcing it to display its function, then entering the ready-to-use area... and the gigantic TV wall at the end of the corridor. Wen Xishu had some guesses but didn’t voice them. Simultaneously, he noticed a gleam of mischievous triumph in Tong Ming’s eyes. If Wang Ying weren’t so envious, he wouldn’t be so easily led. "Group identification means the risk is shared but the distribution rights decrease." "Individual identification means the risk is borne by the identifier alone, but the distribution rights are 100% their own." Wang Ying continued to analyze: "I’ll give you an opportunity to choose. Decide if this item is to be identified collectively or by me alone." Tong Ming said: "Of course, the captain should identify alone! Captain, you deserve the full distribution rights for your courage." Wen Xishu chimed in: "I don’t like the lamp... Captain, you do it." Being loyal to Wen Xishu, Zheng Zai said: "I don’t like the lamp either." Only Aspasia said: "I’ll share the risk with you. Don’t worry, I’ll listen to you for distribution." Wang Ying was very pleased with his junior sister Aspasia’s attitude, thus decisively chose collective identification. Wen Xishu and the others opted out, so the collective identification resulted in: [Two identifiers, item activated, starting forced function display.] The desk lamp with eyes painted on its shade lit up at that moment. The light was soft, without exaggerated effects like petrifying targets. The lamp’s light shone on everyone, even feeling a bit comfortable. Meanwhile, Wang Ying laughed aloud: "Marvelous! Absolutely marvelous! This lamp is simply a Divine Artifact! I knew I was right! Who says Deceit Tower is tough? The museum in Deceit Tower is fantastic."

Chapter 174 - 86: The Museum in the Mental Hospital_2

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