Chapter 68: Lies Turned Reality, the Rat's Theft

Chapter 68: Lies Turned Reality, the Rat's Theft

Tap, tap.

Listening to the receding footsteps, the Dog Player confirmed that Ji Yan had indeed left just like that—yet he still couldn’t believe it.

Did he really just walk away?

Or was it…

His fingers brushed against the wound on his throat. The scalpel had cut shallowly, not damaging his windpipe. Staring at the blood on his fingers, a trace of panic flickered across the Dog Player’s face.

But the next second, he shook his head violently, dismissing the absurd thought.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"He must be bluffing. It’s only his first day in the instance—how could he have unlocked the [Morgue] map? And that ridiculous scalpel? I’ve never even heard of it!"

He checked his personal status on the Information Panel.

All his stats were completely normal.

This only further proved Ji Yan’s words were lies.

"Hmph. Childish scare tactics."

The Dog Player snorted with a laugh, bandaged the wound on his throat haphazardly, and headed back to his assigned resting room.

But along the way, he unconsciously touched his throat again, feeling an inexplicable itch…

---

Twenty minutes later.

Lying in bed, the Dog Player tossed and turned, his entire body wracked with discomfort. Gradually, his unease grew into full-blown dread.

He abruptly sat up, rushed to the mirror, and yanked his collar aside to inspect the wound.

It had already scabbed over—yet the Dog Player felt even more wronged!

He checked his status panel again and again. No abnormalities. So why did he feel so terrible?

Knock, knock, knock.

The door suddenly rattled. The Dog Player stayed on guard, refusing to open it—but the doorknob twisted on its own, slowly swinging open.

Standing in the doorway was a towering shadow clad in a bloodstained white coat. The figure had the head of a black-furred hound, hands tucked in its pockets, its gaze devoid of emotion as it stared at its medical student.

"You haven’t reported on tonight’s mission."

The Dog Player suddenly remembered—he’d triggered a late-night mission from the Dog Supernatural Entity (Dog Doctor), and the task was to successfully alter the White Goat’s personal status.

Gritting his teeth, he reported the truth.

He didn’t dare lie. He knew all too well what the Dog Supernatural Entity was most sensitive to—Loyalty.

As he finished, an unmistakable layer of black haze settled over the Dog Supernatural Entity’s face, its eyes turning icy.

"Your performance tonight was utterly disappointing."

The Dog Player didn’t dare respond, hanging his head, not even daring to breathe loudly.

But the next second, he saw his own hand—covered in patches of black fur…

His pupils shrank. He quickly covered his hand, only to collapse in horror as he realized his other hand was also sprouting thick fur.

His face itched. His scalp swelled with a stabbing pain.

"Wait… no…"

"How can this be real?!"

He touched the coarse fuzz on his cheeks—then the hard, bony protrusions on his head.

At the peak of his terror, he heard the Dog Supernatural Entity’s voice, laced with bone-chilling cold:

"Explain this to me."

"Why are you growing Zodiac Goat fur… and why do you have Goat Horns on your head?"

The Dog Player looked up and saw the monstrous face of the Dog Supernatural Entity, its lips curling back to reveal crimson gums.

"Teacher, I don’t know… I swear I don’t know!"

"It’s that White Goat’s scalpel—it’s messing with me! I would never betray you! This is the White Goat’s scheme!"

"Teacher, you can't fall into that dead goat's trap!"

The Dog Player pleaded, his voice mixed with a growl. His entire body was now covered in horrifying black goat fur, and his forehead split open as two sharp goat horns emerged.

The Dog Supernatural Entity (Dog Doctor) looked at its medical student.

Its gaze grew increasingly cold.

It shook its head, as if in resignation, or perhaps regret.

"Of course I can see this is a goat's trap."

"But this isn’t the White Goat’s trap—it’s the Black Goat’s!"

"Whether you were loyal or betrayed me no longer matters. You’re already infected."

"And I don’t need infected students. They taint the scalpel. Infected zodiac players always end up in the Morgue."

The Dog Player took a step back. In his shrinking pupils, the Dog Supernatural Entity’s clawed hand, now covered in black fur, loomed larger and larger…

"Warning! The Dog Supernatural Entity (Dog Doctor) harbors severe doubts about your loyalty. [Wish] revoked. It believes you are critically infected."

"Ding! You have been sent to the Morgue, becoming one of the selflessly devoted Silent Teachers. You have died and logged out…"

……

Inside Room 444, Ji Yan opened the [Lies Parchment].

On the tattered parchment, a line of bloody text appeared—Ji Yan’s lie.

"An ordinary scalpel, disguised through lies as a severely contaminated scalpel."

The wound on the Dog Player’s throat was just a normal wound.

But under Ji Yan’s convincing words and demeanor, if the Dog Player wavered and fell deeper into the deception, the "Lie Becomes Truth" privilege would activate. Just as the lie described, he would grow eerie goat fur and horns…

Thus, it was a lie.

And yet, it was the truth.

Ji Yan found triggering this privilege wasn’t difficult at all.

Human hearts are inherently suspicious.

When a lie is convincing enough, even if you firmly believe it’s false, time will erode that certainty, breeding self-doubt.

For example, if you read the words "You have throat inflammation," you’d suddenly feel an itch in your throat, an urge to cough—all from psychological suggestion.

And the parchment? It turned that suggestion into reality.

Thinking deeper, Ji Yan realized just how overpowered this [Wish Privilege] was.

If used without restraint, he could practically dominate this Instance.

"Ding! Congratulations, Zodiac [Goat] Player. By using the Wish Privilege, you have successfully eliminated the Zodiac [Dog] Player."

"The Goat Supernatural Doctor is highly satisfied with your performance. Progress increased by 20%!"

"Due to the opposing relationship between Zodiac [Goat] and [Dog], you receive an additional reward. Your internship period has been reduced from 3 days to 2 days. After completing just one more day, you will advance past the first stage of the plot, promoting from [Intern] to [Attending Doctor]."

"You have obtained a strategy reward—[Goat Supernatural Doctor’s Torn Mask]."

As the game’s announcement echoed, Ji Yan exhaled slightly in relief.

That Black Dog had repeatedly set traps to no avail, while Ji Yan needed only one strike to deliver a fatal blow!

Eliminating a zodiac player came with rewards—plot progression, supernatural artifacts, and strategic advantages. No wonder the twelve players schemed relentlessly against each other.

Compared to dutifully following the plot, this hunting method was undeniably more efficient.

"Goat Doctor, dawn is approaching."

"You should rest now. You have surgery tomorrow."

In the room, the Female Supernatural Entities hiding in the darkness spoke cautiously, their tone eerily reminiscent of an overbearing mother.

"Yeah, time to rest."

Ji Yan stretched lazily. According to the hospital instance's mechanics, players only needed 2 to 3 hours of rest to fully recover their condition.

No wonder so many Zodiac Players were out carrying out missions late at night...

Closing the notification panel, Ji Yan briefly glanced at the Supernatural Artifact Equipment accumulated in his Toolbar before hastily preparing to sleep.

But with that glance, he realized something was wrong—the Rusted Hatchet and the Supernatural Eyeball in his Toolbar had vanished without a trace!

"Wait… where are my artifacts?"

Just as Ji Yan was stunned, a game alert suddenly echoed in his mind:

"Warning! Due to frequent interactions with the Rat Player, the opponent has activated the Wish Privilege—Cunning Theft—and successfully stolen random items from your Toolbar."

Ji Yan: "…"