bacchusnovels Chapter 523 Underground 7
Chapter 523 Underground 7
One by one, people on the field completed their selections, and in the end, only a few D-level chosen ones with the lowest ratings remained, and no one paid any attention to them.
Their faces were dejected. They looked at each other and could only huddle together for warmth, barely managing to form the last few dorm rooms.
Su Wan watched all of this coldly, and only after the last chosen one was assigned did she speak calmly:
"Dormitory assignments are complete. Now, everyone, follow me."
The group followed her, walked through a path paved with blue bricks behind the cafeteria, and around a withered flower bed. A four-story building came into view.
The off-white exterior walls gleamed warmly in the setting sun, the windows were neatly arranged, and some windowsills even had several potted plants growing well.
A faded metal sign stands in front of the building, with the words "Home for Medical Staff" written on it.
"This building looks pretty good," someone muttered quietly, a hint of relief in their voice.
Su Wan didn't turn her head, her voice flat:
"You're living in the basement."
"The fourth floor is where the medical staff live."
She paused, glanced at the line behind her, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"You... are not qualified to live up there."
No one spoke anymore.
Instead of going through the main entrance, Su Wan led everyone around to the side of the building.
There was a narrow iron gate, and a rusty exhaust fan was embedded in the wall above the door frame, slowly turning and emitting a dull hum.
As the iron gate was pushed open, a wave of damp, cold air rushed out, carrying a complex smell of disinfectant and mildew.
The stairs go down.
The steps are made of cement, and are severely worn, with some cracks along the edges.
A dim light bulb hung overhead, its light barely illuminating the ground beneath their feet, but unable to dispel the water stains seeping from the walls on either side.
The watermarks meandered down the wall like silent tears.
The further down you go, the colder the air gets.
Lin Feng noticed several pieces of paper pasted on the wall at the corner of the stairs. The paper was yellowed and the edges were curled. There were words printed on it, but they were blurred by the moisture.
"Pay attention to the rules behind your room doors." Su Wan's voice came from the front, echoing in the narrow stairwell.
"Read carefully and follow strictly, otherwise—" she paused, "you may never see the sun rise again tomorrow."
Nobody took that as a joke.
At the end of the stairs was a long, dark corridor with gray-white tiles on the floor, some of which were cracked and filled with dark stains.
The corridor is lined with dark brown wooden doors, each labeled with a room number.
Every few meters along the corridor ceiling, there was a fluorescent light, its tubes emitting a pale white light that barely illuminated the entire corridor.
Su Wan pointed to the end of the corridor, "There's a public restroom at each end—men on the left, women on the right. Pay attention to the signs. Don't go to the wrong one."
Someone glanced in the direction of the restroom but didn't say anything.
Lin Feng glanced at the layout of the corridor and quickly found the room number corresponding to the key in his hand—17.
He led Wasim, Derek, and Nikolai to the middle of the corridor and stopped in front of door number 17.
Insert the key, turn it—click, and the door opens.
Behind the door was a semi-basement.
The moment Lin Feng pushed open the door, he noticed that the room was much better lit than he had expected.
Above the wall, there is a narrow, elongated window, about half a meter above the ground. Through the window, you can see the darkening sky outside and the ankles of the occasional passerby.
There weren't many unnecessary decorations in the room.
On each side were a set of bunk beds, with iron frames and peeling paint. Thin military mattresses were laid on the bed boards, and a gray-green quilt was folded over them.
A rectangular wooden table stands against the wall opposite the door, its surface pitted and covered with graffiti and writings left by unknown previous residents.
There are four enamel mugs on the table, with red slogans printed on them.
There is a wardrobe in the corner to the right of the door.
The doors are double doors made of dark brown wood panels, with a noticeable crack running from the top to the handle.
The wardrobe door had no lock, only a simple metal buckle.
Lin Feng looked around and, following his own habits, chose the upper bunk on the right.
Wasim chose the lower bunk on the right, lifted the blanket to check it, and then folded it again.
Nikolai chose the upper bunk on the left, while Derek plopped down on the lower bunk on the left, tried lying down for a bit, and grinned:
"It's alright, quite comfortable."
After choosing the bed, Lin Feng immediately turned his gaze to the back of the door—
There was a yellowed piece of paper pasted there, with a few words written in black marker.
"Go and look at the rules behind the door," Lin Feng said.
The other three people then gathered around.
Dormitory Rules:
Rule 1: Dormitory lights must be turned off promptly at 23:00 PM every night.
After the lights are turned off, do not open the door or respond to any sounds you hear.
If you must get out of bed, please close your eyes and act from memory.
……
Rule 2: Public restrooms are open 24 hours a day.
[Please note: Women's restrooms are for women only, and men's restrooms are for men only.]
If you enter a restroom and find that the person inside is not your gender, please exit immediately and silently recite "All phenomena are illusory" 20 times.
……
[Rule 3: Please make sure to close the closet door before turning off the lights each night.]
If you wake up in the middle of the night and find the closet door open, don't close it. Cover your head with the blanket, count to 300, and then lift the blanket.
If the cabinet door remains open, keep your head covered until dawn.
……
[Rule 4: Su Wan may enter or leave any room at any time before lights out.]
[But we need to observe her shadow. If her shadow is abnormal, then she is not the real Su Wan.]
[Don't make a sound. Silently hold the key in your hand and make her shock level reach 60 points or more (out of 100). She will then leave on her own.]
……
Rule 5: There is only one basement corridor.
If you accidentally walk into a completely unfamiliar corridor, don't panic. Stand still, close your eyes, and think of something that makes you happiest.
If you still haven't returned to the familiar corridor, loudly call out your name while walking forward.
……
[Rule 6: Before lights out each day, the roommates must jointly confirm one shared experience or one piece of art they have all watched.]
If the details or sequence of events someone recounts do not match everyone's memory, then that person may no longer be the complete person they were.
[From now on, do not have any further conversations with him. Report this matter to Su Wan immediately the next day.]
After reading the rules, Lin Feng felt a little uncomfortable with rule 3, judging that this rule should be half right and half wrong.
Wasim glanced at everyone: "Let's go through them one by one."
Lin Feng nodded.
After Wasim slowly read the first rule aloud, Derek crossed his arms, looking puzzled:
"What's the rush to get out of bed? Even if you urgently need to pee, you can just grab a bottle and take care of it in bed!"