Chapter 133: Collapse of Dragon and Tiger, Who's Thinking of Me

The pungent smell of disinfectant in the Operating Room was soon replaced by the thick metallic scent of blood. Following the Dragon Player's scent, the Tiger Player quickly arrived, his figure emerging like a specter from the darkness.

"I've already issued my command."

"So, your 'lie' should be written on the Lies Parchment by now, right?"

The Tiger Player stared at the Dragon Player lurking in the shadows, but after asking, he realized the Dragon Player hadn't responded. The latter stood frozen, clutching the rough parchment in his hand as if petrified.

The Tiger Player narrowed his eyes. "What, are you trying to Feign Death now?"

Slowly, the Dragon Player rolled up the parchment and turned to look at the Tiger Player with an odd expression. Instead of answering, he countered, "How much time is left until the Order Review Node?"

"One hour."

"Otherwise, why do you think I'm in such a hurry?!"

The Tiger Player frowned. The Dragon Player's abnormal demeanor made him uneasy. "You still haven't answered my question."

"The parchment..."

Before he could finish, the Dragon Player cut him off. "The Lies Parchment can't be used."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The Tiger Player's eyes widened in disbelief. Without a word, the Dragon Player took out the parchment and dragged his finger across its rough surface. The moment a bloody character was written, it immediately vanished.

"Wait, why can't it be written?!"

"Didn't the parchment fall into your hands?"

In an instant, the Tiger Player closed the distance and snatched the parchment. The Dragon Player's face darkened. "Because there's already another lie on the parchment that's still in effect! You can't tell two lies at once!"

Hearing this, veins bulged in the Tiger Player's eyes as he grabbed the Dragon Player by the throat.

"You told another lie?"

"What other schemes are you hiding? At this critical moment, are you trying to sabotage me?!"

The terrifying Specter Power of the Supernatural Hospital Director immediately caused the Dragon Player's Life value to plummet. His face flushed as he gritted his teeth. "You fool!"

"Don't you get it?!"

"It was the Goat! The Goat lied on it before I did!"

"Kill me, and we both lose!"

The Tiger Player's eye twitched. "He's dead. His corpse was devoured clean."

"A dead man, an eliminated player—even if he lied before dying, it shouldn't still be active!"

"Besides, didn't you say your Wish Privilege, Plunder, meant once you took it, only you could use it?"

The Tiger Player refused to believe it.

He didn't dare to believe it.

With less than an hour left, it was as if a guillotine was hanging over their heads. To suddenly learn the parchment couldn't be used—even the calmest person would Break Defense.

"There's only one explanation."

"The Lies Parchment was given to me willingly. I didn't Plunder it at all. That was his lie."

"His final lie... was meant to deceive me!"

The Tiger Player's mind spun in confusion. Only one question remained.

"If you're saying he's not dead... then where the hell is he hiding?"

With the privilege of the Supernatural Hospital Director identity, it was impossible for him to completely fail to detect Ji Yan's presence.

Could he have truly vanished without a trace?

This question plagued the Dragon Player as well.

Within the Instance, it was impossible for someone to simply disappear.

Unless... he wasn’t in the Instance at all?!

At this realization, the Dragon Player suddenly thought of something.

"To the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department!"

The Tiger Player was confused but immediately grabbed the Dragon Player, arriving at the department in under a minute.

The door burst open as the Tiger Player growled, "Now what? Why are we here?"

The Dragon Player’s gaze swept past rows of stretcher beds before settling on the one at the far end. There, the Mother Goat lay, her belly grotesquely swollen, now large enough to cover the entire stretcher. Veins and blood vessels crawled across her distended flesh, as if she might burst at any moment.

Yet, despite this, there was no sign of life!

"This Mother Goat hasn’t birthed a New Player—that alone proves the kid isn’t dead," the Dragon Player muttered.

"You’re saying he’s hiding inside the goat’s belly?" The Tiger Player’s lips twitched.

The Dragon Player took a deep breath, unable to hold back his frustration. "You fool, he escaped to another Instance!"

"Without completing the Main Plot, how could he go to another Instance? That’s impossible!"

"Who said it was impossible?"

"The Archive Key—have you never heard of this reward? Oh right, you’ve never gotten it."

The Dragon Player himself possessed an Archive Key reward.

But for many players, this item wasn’t considered particularly valuable.

After all, even if you used the Archive, it only sent you back half an hour. What was the point of that?

Reliving old memories?

Missing home?

Only a fool would think like that!

"The Archive has a forced return mechanism."

"And it’s only half an hour. Maybe... we can still make it."

The Dragon Player spoke softly, his eyes locked onto the Mother Goat’s agonized cries.

As soon as Ji Yan returned, they would kill him immediately. That way, the Lies Parchment would reset, and his own lie could be written on it...

Thus, from this moment on, every second was torture for the Dragon and Tiger Players.

They stared unblinkingly at the Mother Goat, writhing in labor yet never giving birth. Their anxiety was so intense that beads of sweat dripped from their brows.

Each minute felt like an eternity as they counted down the half-hour, second by second.

The Tiger Player’s heart sank to the depths.

The Dragon Player, too, grew uneasy, his face paling slightly.

"Something’s wrong..."

"The Archive’s time limit is half an hour. Why hasn’t he been forcibly sent back yet?"

Gradually, their faces turned ashen.

If the Lies Parchment couldn’t be used, then their Privilege would be nullified!

They had schemed tirelessly to deceive the Instance Order, all for the sake of using the Parchment’s Privilege to take control of the Abandoned Instance—free from the constraints of Order.

Without the Parchment, they wouldn’t be rulers in the Abandoned Instance, but playthings for the unchained Supernatural Entities.

Especially since they had also tricked those twelve Zodiac Doctors!

Once the Doctors realized the Rules no longer bound them... the two players didn’t even dare imagine their fate.

Clutching at their last shred of hope, their fists clenched, they continued to stare at the laboring Mother Goat. In the final minutes, every second was spent praying Ji Yan would be sent back.

Yet time mercilessly slipped away as their despair deepened...

"Why hasn’t he come back?"

"Wasn’t the Archive supposed to last half an hour? Why isn’t he back yet?!"

The increasingly unhinged Tiger Player stepped forward and violently tore open the Mother Goat’s belly.

Bloody intestines and entrails spilled across the ground as the Mother Goat was instantly killed.

The swollen belly contained nothing but flesh and guts—no embryo, no player—no matter how the Tiger Player vented his fury...

The Dragon Player’s face turned ashen.

Staring at the wall clock, he too succumbed to utter despair.

Covering his face, his lips twisted uncontrollably into a bizarre, hollow laugh:

"Heh… what a goat."

"That last lie… it flayed me alive!"

……

Meanwhile.

In the Crimson Apartment.

The basement. The Confinement Room.

Still locked away, drowsing in his chair, Ji Yan suddenly sneezed several times in a row.

Rubbing his reddened nose, he muttered under his breath:

"Who’s thinking about me so much?"

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