17. He is a demon.

The man rose slowly, his eyes bulging as he struggled desperately, trying to pull off the invisible noose around his neck. Yet he simply didn’t have the strength. In the end, he seemed to turn into amber, frozen in midair. Watching this, Chen Sheng merely smiled.

If this had happened in real life, Chen Sheng would most likely have tried to reason with the man, and when that failed, he would have been forced to swallow his anger. After all, fighting is illegal.

But here, this was the "game world"! Here, there was no diligent, overworked Dr. Chen treading on eggshells every day. There was only Ah Chen, the rookie police officer exiled to Sanjiang City after offending a powerful figure.

“How cathartic…” Chen Sheng felt a rush, as if the darkness in his heart had been unleashed. Years of pent-up resentment, accumulated under the endless pressures of reality, had always been buried deep inside him, growing heavier and heavier.

But now, that darkness was being released—his anxiety and irritation were greatly diminished. In this moment, Chen Sheng had no doubt this game was meant to heal. Could any ordinary game offer such relief?

“Jake, Jake, what’s wrong with you?” Just then, the woman in the room rushed over, her face stricken as she stared at the man inexplicably hanging in midair.

“I don’t know, it just happened out of nowhere…” Chen Sheng feigned shock, even taking two steps back. Even though it was just an NPC, he didn’t want to reveal anything. With so much attention to detail in this healing game, he had to play along, making sure every subtlety was right. Only then could he truly immerse himself in the experience!

The woman didn’t doubt him, and soon several other men and women arrived.

“What happened? What’s wrong with Jake?”

“He called for Jake to open the door, and when I looked over, Jake was already like this,” the woman said, starting to cry.

“Who are you? Do you know Jake?” someone asked Chen Sheng.

Hearing this, Chen Sheng looked over, narrowed his eyes and said, “My name is Chen Sheng. I’m a doctor.”

“A doctor?”

“Yes, a licensed, legal doctor. Do you want to see my credentials?” Chen Sheng replied.

“You carry your medical license with you?” The person was baffled. What kind of doctor carries that around?

“Now’s not the time to discuss this—let’s get out of here!” At that moment, a man dressed in leather pants and jacket, with a hairstyle and look strikingly similar to Chen Haonan, spoke up.

“Leave? What about Jake?” a heavyset man shouted.

“Care? How? Do you see any rope? There’s something wrong with this hotel!” The leather-clad man’s face was grave.

Hearing this, the others turned pale. Even Jake’s girlfriend forgot her grief and was the first to run out.

Watching the group hurry downstairs, Chen Sheng’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“Suddenly, I see why villains in movies love disguising themselves as the protagonist’s close friend…”

Muttering to himself, Chen Sheng untied the noose. Instantly, the body dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. The sound, and the unnatural way the corpse landed, felt so real that Chen Sheng almost believed he had actually killed someone.

“The developers really are meticulous…” he remarked casually, then kicked the corpse into the room and shut the door.

He then went to an open room to look inside. It was clean, only the bed was a bit messy, as if someone had just been sitting there.

He wasn’t surprised—he’d seen a couple come out of that room earlier. He closed the door. He’d spend the night here, since night was falling outside.

“I wonder where the hotel’s landline is?” Chen Sheng muttered as he began searching for food in the room, feeling a wave of hunger. He wasn’t surprised—he’d felt this before, and with this level of detail in the healing game, it made perfect sense.

If you’re hungry, you have to eat.

Soon, Chen Sheng found several packs of instant noodles, a bag of sausages, a few marinated eggs, and a packet of pickled vegetables. Checking the expiration dates, he saw they were all recent.

Chen Sheng nodded, not bothering to complain—he was used to it by now. With the game’s attention to detail, it would be more surprising if something like the expiration dates were missing.

He boiled water and made the noodles. After eating his fill, Chen Sheng lay on the bed.

He’d only intended to rest for a while, mainly to think about how to play next, but somehow he fell asleep. When Chen Sheng woke up, it was already midnight, and outside the window was pitch black.

He couldn’t help but feel speechless. Who would believe it? He’d fallen asleep inside a game with such intense immersion.

“Incredible!” Chen Sheng could only marvel at that—he didn’t know what else to say. He figured it probably had a lot to do with those high-tech gold-rimmed glasses.

As he wondered whether he should exit the game, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from downstairs. Chen Sheng was intrigued.

The noise grew louder, a jumble of voices rising together, as if a party were underway below.

“This must be a triggered event!” Chen Sheng immediately realized. No wonder he’d fallen asleep—so it was a “plot arrangement”!

Without hesitation, he opened the door and stepped out. The moment he entered the hallway, a chill came over him—there was no wind, but icy drafts seemed to surge from behind, as if someone were blowing on his neck.

“A nighttime temperature drop, makes sense,” Chen Sheng muttered, rubbing his hands as he made his way downstairs without a hint of suspicion. After all, he was already familiar with the game’s extraordinary detail.

But as Chen Sheng’s figure vanished around the corner, a vague silhouette appeared in the empty hallway.

It was a man whose face bore a striking resemblance to the Jake who had died earlier, though his complexion was pale and his eye sockets sunken.

His eyes glowed a ghastly green as he stared fixedly at the departing Chen Sheng, not daring to take a single step closer.

When he was alive, he couldn’t see the rope.

But now that he was dead, the rope was plain to see.

The power of the executioner’s tool made him tremble in fear.

“Demon…”

“He’s a demon…” The low, hoarse voice echoed through the deserted hallway.