doctor

"I…" The man in the white coat appeared calmer than the others, unaffected even by the corpse on the table. "My name is Zhao Haibo. I'm a doctor, as you can probably tell from my attire."

He tugged at his dirty white coat and continued, "Before I came here, I was performing surgery on a woman. She had an intraventricular tumor that was growing rapidly. Over the past six months, it had continued to enlarge, causing mild hydrocephalus. If we didn't perform a craniotomy soon, her life would be in danger."

"I chose a frontal lobe surgical approach, using CT guidance to directly puncture the ventricle. In fact, every time this kind of surgery is performed, it comes with significant risks. But the woman, wanting to stay by her young son's side for as long as possible, decided to take the gamble."

"Normally, an operating room must maintain absolute stability—even a slight breeze is unacceptable. But no one expected something far worse than wind to arrive."

"When the earthquake struck, I had just removed the woman's skull and was in the process of cutting the dura mater. Any mistake at this stage could cause a brain contusion, leading to devastating consequences."

"I made a split-second decision to stop the surgery and temporarily place the skull back in position. If I hadn't, in an environment filled with airborne dust and debris, the woman's life would have been in grave danger."

"But I didn't expect this step to be much harder than I imagined. I could barely stand, so how could I possibly place a small piece of skull back accurately?"

"The nurse beside me stumbled into me, throwing me off balance. No one could stay upright. In the chaos, I had no choice but to cover the woman's head with a sterile sheet first, then immediately turn around to organize the evacuation. But at that moment, a small medical cart crashed into my leg, and I fell hard to the ground."

"Before I could get back up, the ceiling of the operating room split open, and I lost consciousness instantly."

After hearing the doctor's account, everyone's expressions turned uneasy.

Throughout his story, he had used many medical terms. If even one of them was made up, no one would be able to tell.

"Dr. Zhao, where are you from?" The burly man asked casually.

"I don't feel obligated to answer your question," Dr. Zhao replied. "I've already finished my story."

The burly man opened his mouth as if to say something but ultimately remained silent.

"I-Is it my turn?" A bespectacled young man hesitated for a moment before speaking. "My name is Han Yimo, and I am…"

"Wait a moment."

Suddenly, the goat-headed figure interrupted Han Yimo, startling him. He turned around, confused.

"W-What's wrong?"

"It's time for the 'intermission,'" the goat head said with an awkward grin. "We'll take a twenty-minute break."

Everyone looked bewildered.

An intermission? At a time like this?

Qi Xia glanced at the clock in the center of the table. It had already been half an hour since they woke up.

It was now 12:30.

"So this 'break' is mandatory," Qi Xia thought to himself. "At exactly 12:30, no matter who is speaking, the game will be forced into a twenty-minute intermission…"

But the game had only been going on for thirty minutes, and now they had to take a twenty-minute break?

Qi Xia frowned. He knew this wasn't something worth dwelling on.

The organizer of this game was clearly a madman—there was no point in applying normal logic to any of this.

So he kept repeating a single thought in his mind, over and over again:

"My name is Li Ming, I'm from Shandong."

Only by drilling this phrase into his head countless times could he be sure he would say it smoothly when his turn came.

The group sat in silence, looking uncomfortable.

It was called an "intermission," but the atmosphere had only grown more oppressive.

"Excuse me… are we allowed to talk?" the burly man asked the goat-headed figure.

"Oh, of course! This is your free time. I have no authority to interfere."

The burly man nodded, then turned back to Dr. Zhao.

"Dr. Zhao, where exactly are you from?"

Dr. Zhao's expression darkened. "You seem to have been dissatisfied with me from the start. Why must I tell you where I'm from?"

"Don't get me wrong, I mean no harm," the burly man said steadily. "The more you say, the more credible you become. Since everyone else has shared their hometowns, there's no reason for you to hide yours, is there?"

"The more I say, the more credible I become?" The doctor shook his head indifferently. "All I know is that 'the more you say, the more mistakes you make.' If the rules are absolute, then there's nothing wrong with what I've said so far. Besides, I don't trust any of you."

"That's a rather biased way of thinking," the burly man replied. "There are nine of us here, and only one is the enemy. If you're willing to cooperate, we can work together to root out the liar. But the more you withhold information, the more suspicious you seem. This is the second time I'm asking—are you still going to keep it a secret?"

He was clearly skilled at interrogation, and with just a few words, he had cornered Dr. Zhao into a logical dead end.

His meaning was clear.

Only the "liar" would have no need to trust others—after all, they already knew their own identity.

If the doctor continued to withhold information, he would only make himself the target of suspicion.

But someone capable of becoming a neurosurgeon was no ordinary person. He let out a cold scoff and asked, "Then answer me first—who are you, and what do you do?"

"Me?" The burly man hadn't expected the doctor to turn the tables on him so suddenly. His expression faltered for a moment.

"That's right. Since you relentlessly questioned me after my story, I should have the right to ask you before you tell yours." Dr. Zhao smirked. "Sounds fair, doesn't it?"

The burly man thought for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I have nothing to hide. My name is Li Shangwu, and I'm a criminal police officer."

As soon as he said this, everyone turned to look at him.

At this moment, the words "criminal police officer" gave them an unexpected sense of security.

"You're a cop?!" Dr. Zhao was momentarily stunned.

No wonder this man had seemed to be probing from the very beginning. He was also the first to propose that "everyone should make it out alive."

Maybe… he truly wanted to save them all.

The doctor's attitude noticeably shifted. "If that's the case, then I apologize for my earlier demeanor. I'm from Jiangsu."

At that moment, the tattooed man, Qiao Jiajin, looked rather displeased. "So, Dr. Zhao, are you really going to trust this Officer Li?"

"Hmm?" Dr. Zhao glanced at Qiao Jiajin, puzzled. "What are you trying to say?"

Qiao Jiajin tapped his fingers on the table and said casually, "This isn't 'storytelling time' right now. In other words… anyone can lie."