This passage… it was hard to tell if it was an NPC's monologue to a player in a script, or a title sequence description replacing the system's voice.

As that voice spoke, all sorts of horrific images flashed across the touchscreen before Feng Bujue's eyes…

The images were blurry, mixed in with black and white static, and mostly fleeting.

What they showed was mostly eerie… ghostly shadows on the floor, corpses plastered to the walls, terrified faces, handprints, the backs of children, writhing entrails, tangled masses of hair, and so on…

Finally, as the "introduction" ended, a splash of vibrant red appeared in the black and white scene.

A pair of blood-red eyes suddenly reflected on the screen, and then froze in place…

"Nice atmosphere…" Feng Bujue yawned and muttered in a very casual tone.

Anyone else might have been scared witless just watching that introduction. But Brother Jue could still make light of it with ease…

"If these images are a microcosm of 'Lester's' workplace…" Feng Bujue laughed, "then his tardiness and dozing off are quite understandable…"

As he spoke, the elevator stopped.

The doors… slowly opened.

Outside was a rather wide corridor, with white walls and tiled floors. There were lights above, but the light was dim and seemed to be mixed with strange shadows.

"Hmm… I wonder if there's a door ambush waiting?" Feng Bujue thought to himself. He took a small step forward, holding onto the elevator door, and slowly, cautiously, poked his head out.

The corridor was empty on both sides. Every so often, there was a row of plastic chairs, usually next to a doorway. Each door had a clearly labeled sign hanging on it. Besides the floor and room number, the signs also said things like "Internal Medicine" and "Pediatrics."

"Hmm… it really is a hospital…" Feng Bujue murmured.

Judging from the "nurses and female doctors" mentioned in the plot introduction, Lester's workplace should be a hospital. The moment the elevator doors opened, Feng Bujue was even more certain. The width of the corridor and the smell of disinfectant were both characteristic of a hospital.

However, there seemed to be more than just the smell of disinfectant in the air. Feng Bujue vaguely felt that he smelled another odor, but it was faint and difficult to identify…

"Okay, I guess this is me starting my shift." Feng Bujue took a step forward and walked out of the elevator.

Whiz… Bang!

Almost the instant he stepped out, the elevator doors began to move, slamming shut in just half a second.

Feng Bujue turned to look and saw that the elevator doors had instantly changed… their height had increased slightly, and their width had increased considerably. Most elevators in hospitals were like this, considering the need to move beds in during emergencies, so the load capacity and door size were close to those of a freight elevator.

"So… this is it, huh…" As Feng Bujue muttered this, he suddenly noticed something: when he looked at his reflection in the elevator doors, he saw the face of another person.

It was a white male wearing a security guard uniform, about the same height as Brother Jue, with a rather handsome face.

"This must be Lester…" Feng Bujue said to himself, "So… when the other characters in the script look at me, this is what they'll see."

[Important notice: Your equipment effects have been reset; your skills and inventory have been locked; the items in your clothing pockets have been shielded, and some new items have been added.] The system prompt appeared at the appropriate time.

"Heh… hehe…" Feng Bujue chuckled dryly, "Of course… they'd pull this again."

Having played enough Nightmare Scripts, he was used to this kind of situation…

Players on the forums had long ago compiled and summarized the fact that Nightmare difficulty single-player survival mode was undoubtedly the most likely to trigger "restrictions." Players had almost a 50% chance of encountering various restrictions when playing these scripts. In other words… no matter how good you were, the system would always find a way to show you what "nightmare" really meant.

"Alright… let's see… what I can use." Feng Bujue immediately reached into his clothes and pants pockets.

After searching himself, he found the following items: an opened pack of chewing gum (with three pieces left), a plastic-handled folding knife (the kind commonly used for peeling apples), a pair of sunglasses, a small can of spray hair wax (mini size), a white, smelly sock (yes, only one), a small comb, half a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter.

"No phone on me…" Feng Bujue rubbed his chin and said, "Is it a script restriction… or does it mean I'm in an era before cell phones were common…"

As he pondered this, another system prompt appeared: [Main Quest Triggered]

Almost instinctively, Feng Bujue opened the game menu and brought up the quest log, which displayed a sentence full of malice: [Stay at your post and survive until dawn]

"Working a night shift in a hospital is life-threatening… things are really getting tougher in this world." Feng Bujue quipped, then turned and walked to the left.

"Anyway… first, I should look for a map or something to confirm the layout of the script." His eyes darted around warily, not even missing the cracks in the walls, afraid of overlooking any possible clues.

"Hmm… the doors to the consulting rooms are all closed, and there's no light coming from inside… so this must be the outpatient department. Since no one comes at night, all these rooms are locked." As Feng Bujue passed the doors, he didn't forget to make some deductions.

"Speaking of which, this corridor is really long…" He walked for a while and still couldn't find a map on the wall, so he couldn't help but look back.

And then he saw a very strange scene…

The moment he turned his head, all the lights in the corridor flickered twice. In the brief instant when the lights went out, a white, faintly glowing figure seemed to appear in the pitch-black corridor.

"It" was far away from Feng Bujue, looking only about the size of a thumb. It was hard to tell whether it was just a spot of light left on his retina, or if there was really a shadow there. Anyway… when the lights came back on, the white figure was gone.

A normal person would probably have had their fear level skyrocket at this sight, and they would have quickly turned around and started running.

But Feng Bujue narrowed his eyes, using the same expression he used when testing his eyesight and trying to see the smallest row of icons at the bottom, staring at the corridor…

"Tch… trying to scare me?" He said arrogantly, and pulled the sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on.

It was hard to say whether to celebrate or regret it… but Brother Jue's actions had an immediate effect.

The moment he put on the sunglasses, the "white figure" appeared again, and this time, it was standing less than a meter in front of Feng Bujue.

It was a person wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Judging by the figure, it seemed to be a male. Except for his eyes and nostrils, his entire body was wrapped airtight. If you looked closely, you could see traces of blood seeping out from the gaps in the bandages…

"Whoa…" Feng Bujue stared at the person for a few seconds, then pushed the sunglasses up to the top of his head. At this point, he couldn't see the bandaged person anymore. Then, Brother Jue put the sunglasses back down, and this time he could see him again…

"Whoa~ whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa~" He kept saying "whoa" in the first tone while moving the sunglasses up and down, as if he were looking at a picture drawn with invisible ink.

The bandaged man stood in front of him without making any attacking movements, but… from the bandaged brother's eyes, you could tell that he was a little surprised by Brother Jue's reaction… and that surprise quickly turned into dismay.

"Ah…" The bandaged man finally couldn't take it anymore. The security guard in front of him didn't seem to be afraid at all, which was really damaging to a ghost's self-esteem. So, he raised his hands, opened his mouth to groan, and slowly approached Brother Jue.

"Hmm? You want to fight?" Feng Bujue pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose with his middle finger, making sure they were on tight. Then, he leaped back a large step, striking a signature Wong Fei-hung pose, as if he was ready to go toe-to-toe with this bandaged guy.

"You… aren't afraid of me?" The bandaged man actually stopped in his tracks, and a garbled sentence came out of his bandaged mouth.

"Afraid of you?" Feng Bujue scanned the other person up and down with a look of disdain, "You've already been beaten up like this, why would I be afraid of you?"

"I am a ghost… do you know what that means?" The bandaged man lowered his voice, using what he thought was his scariest tone.

"I don't know." Feng Bujue was telling the truth. The ghost settings were different in every script, how could he possibly know… "But do you know…" Feng Bujue actually took over the conversation and asked, "what 'whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa~ whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa' means?"

"Uh…" The bandaged man was stumped by his question.

"What 'whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa~ whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa' means is…" Feng Bujue suddenly screeched, "In a small town, time flows by, pure courage… memories washed clean, I remember you, live with pride…" (Note: This is a reference to a popular song)

"Ah!" The bandaged man screamed and ran away… It was hard to tell if he was shocked or scared…

"Tch… too weak…" Feng Bujue spat, took off his sunglasses, shrugged his shoulders, and turned to continue forward, "Looks like the ghosts in this script basically rely on teleportation, interfering with circuits, and appearing and disappearing to scare people. As long as they don't have the ability to move objects with their minds or physical contact… they're just like farts to me…"

After walking for another few dozen seconds, a T-junction appeared ahead, and a hospital floor plan was finally posted on the wall at the junction.

"But I can't be careless…" Feng Bujue muttered as he walked, "Nightmare difficulty isn't going to be that easy. These scripts that restrict abilities… besides testing your fear level… are bound to be filled with all sorts of extremely nasty puzzles…"