Chapter 22 Habits

With Luo Di's awakening, a series of examinations swiftly followed.

The attending physician first checked the basic physical state, and upon confirming that Luo Di was in relatively good condition, immediately arranged for "Psychological Detection."

Any Resident returning from outside the city must undergo psychological examination, let alone someone like Luo Di who had participated in a new type of practical activity and encountered an anomaly.

This time, the psychological detection was more complicated than the ones conducted in school.

Luo Di was fitted with a full set of brainwave detection equipment and had to answer a written test in such a state,

comprising a total of one hundred questions, including multiple-choice, short-answer, and time-limited judgment questions.

If the detection equipment registered abnormal wave fluctuations during the test, the test would restart, and three consecutive anomalies would result in disqualification.

Nearly an hour later, Luo Di handed over the answer sheet to the psychologist standing by.

"The result is [good]. There is not much difference from your previous scores. Get some good rest."

With the end of the psychological detection, the light over the door of Luo Di's hospital room changed from red to green.

A young man with glasses, who had been waiting outside early, became the first visitor.

He did not greet Luo Di immediately but instead placed a bouquet of narcissus flowers in the vase on the bedside table.

"Luo Di, I didn't expect that you would know such a person."

The visitor was Gao Yuxuan, who appeared to be in good condition, being the only one who had not been injured during the practice.

However, Luo Di's first question was neither about the practice nor about his companions, "Vice-class leader, how much time has passed? Are we still on holiday?"

"Yes, you've been unconscious for less than a day."

"How are the class leader and Anna doing?"

"The class leader has just been transferred out of the intensive care unit. He's still unconscious due to significant blood loss, but his vital signs have stabilized.

As for Anna, she's in the room next to yours, her condition should be similar to yours, and it's only a matter of time before she wakes up."

"Has the source of the accident been found?"

"Their internal staff had a suspected 'Pseudo-Person', one who could evade the basic detection mechanisms and had planned everything in advance.

He had been working in the practice region for a long time and was very aware of the loopholes in the practice system.

After we killed the zombies, he cut off the multiple power sources of the practice management region and activated the emergency protection mode, resulting in us being unable to signal our status and trapped inside for a while, and the rescue personnel were also delayed in arriving.

If not for the fact that you, Luo Di, knew such a person, we probably wouldn't have been able to come back.

This accident is no small matter, the institute's related staff will be held accountable, and the new practices will be reconsidered. Of course, our performance will also be recorded, and it's likely that we will receive a very high practice evaluation."

But Luo Di's thoughts were not on the institute's negligence; rather, he felt somewhat grateful for such an "anomaly."

"A very high evaluation?"

"Yeah, the city bureau has already talked to me. After all, we've been involved in two incidents, especially the incident of Possession, which had high difficulty.

We were able to find a way to break the impasse and even survive as a whole team, which will be recorded as a special high-difficulty practice in our files, and this will be very beneficial for our future Admissions. There will probably also be compensation for each of us later on, and it will certainly be generous, perhaps with some pretty nice rewards."

Luo Di was quite satisfied with this, as his Admissions next year would directly affect his family's future, and his parents were also looking forward to him joining a large company.

"Which hospital am I in now?"

"That goes without saying, with such good medical conditions, it must be the city's First Hospital. The expenses are covered by the institute, you just focus on recovering.

By the way, haven't your family come to see you?"

"They went on a trip; they won't be back until the holiday is over."

"Well, there's not much wrong with your body anyway, you'll probably be discharged in a couple of days."

Gao Yuxuan moved his backpack in front of him and took out several books related to exorcism, including some classic exorcism novels.

"All these books I've read, I'm giving them to you; I'm guessing it's quite boring for you alone in the hospital."

"Thank you."

After neatly stacking the books on the bedside table, Gao Yuxuan stood up, cleared his throat as if he made a mental preparation for a long time, and squeezed out a question, "Haven't we exchanged phone numbers yet?"

"I suppose?"

"Better save my phone number quickly, and call me when you're discharged. I'll treat you to a meal separately."

"There's no need for a meal, the class leader will be treating us anyway, let's exchange numbers."

Luo Di habitually raised his left arm but then realized there was nothing on it—his wristband had been shattered during the practice.

"Oh, right, your Ring is gone~ I'll leave a phone number, you can add it when you apply for a new Ring."

Gao Yuxuan left his phone number on the book's front page using the ballpoint pen he carried with him and then paced twice around the hospital room.

Both men were the reticent type, and without a shared goal like an operation, alone together in the room was truly awkward.

Originally wanting to say something more, in the end, Gao Yuxuan merely squeezed out a "Rest well, I won't disturb you" before turning around to leave.

Just as he was about to step out of the hospital room,

Click!

That all too familiar tongue-clicking sound, etched into his marrow, echoed in the empty hospital room,

Gao Yuxuan's body reacted instantly, sweat bursting from his pores like crazy, his back nearly soaked through.

Click!

Another click spread through the hospital room,

Gao Yuxuan immediately pinpointed the source of the sound - it was from the hospital bed.

However, compared to the time at the ancient house, aside from the sound, there were no other environmental changes, nor did he feel the scorching heat from Hell.

The tongue clicking sounded at regular intervals,

Gao Yuxuan backed up to the foot of the bed and looked at Luo Di, who was reading a book,

"Luo Di, are you... still normal?"

Upon Gao Yuxuan's question, Luo Di finally realized that he had been clicking his tongue unconsciously.

"It's nothing, I don't know why, but whenever I concentrate on something, I just start clicking my tongue without realizing it, as if it's turned into a sort of habit.

I even clicked my tongue a few times during the hospital's psychological tests, and it didn't trigger any possession reactions, all the doctor's checks were normal.

It's probably just a common habit resulting from the [Possession]."

"You clicked your tongue during the test too? Then it should be fine, whew... that was kind of scary."

"Was it?"

Luo Di seemed nonchalant, even somewhat pleased.

The practice that almost cost him his life, in his view, seemed more like a special experience that matched his interests and brought equivalent rewards.

"Ahem~ I'm heading off now, I'll contact you after I'm discharged."

"Mhm."

[Hospital Stay]

The services provided by the hospital were nothing short of luxurious,

Nutritiously hearty meals to aid recovery would be delivered right to the door at set times,

Any medical staff would be at your call in no time,

However, it seems Gao Yuxuan was the only visitor.

Luo Di's running partner and the key person who solved the accident - Mr. Luo Fei had not rushed over. Presumably, because he had willingly involved himself in the accident, he now needed to deal with the aftermath with the institute's higher-ups.

After being discharged, Luo Di intended to contact him immediately,

Not just to express gratitude, he also wanted to inquire about the specific details of the exorcism, as well as matters related to Hell, especially that mysterious symbol.

Without noticing, it was already evening,

When the nurse came to remove the IV, she also brought a bowl of matsutake chicken soup noodles as a midnight snack.

After fully absorbing the nutritious meal, Luo Di, who had hardly moved the entire day, got out of bed by himself.

He first returned the leftover dishes to the nurses' station, and despite being reminded again by the nurse to rest, Luo Di still chose to walk back and forth in the quiet hospital corridor.

When he passed by the room where Anna was staying, the door still displayed a red mark, indicating she had not yet awakened.

Luo Di walked to the end of the corridor and stepped into the staircase marked [Safe Passage],

As the first hospital was equipped with a large number of highly efficient multi-functional elevators, emergency stairwells like this were basically empty, let alone at night.

After some stair-climbing exercise, Luo Di sat down in the stairwell to rest for a while.

As he sat down, his body unconsciously stretched forward to do some push-ups, but he ultimately resisted the urge.

"Let's make up for it when I get home after discharge."

Luo Di hadn't been resting long in the stairwell when,

Fizzle...

Despite being bright, the light in the stairwell flickered abnormally...