"I..." The man in the white coat appeared calmer than the others, not even the body on the table seemed to faze him. "My name is Zhao Haibo, I'm a doctor. You should be able to tell from my attire."
He reached out to adjust his dirty lab coat, then continued, "Before coming here, I was in the middle of performing surgery on a woman. She had an intraventricular tumor, which was growing rapidly. Over the past six months, it had continued to enlarge, causing mild hydrocephalus. Without immediate intervention, her life would be at risk."
"I opted for a frontal approach surgery, directly puncturing the ventricle under CT guidance. This type of procedure comes with significant risks every time it's performed. But the woman, in order to be with her young son for a long time, chose to take the risk."
"Typically, the operating room needs to maintain stable conditions, not even a slight breeze is allowed. But no one anticipated something more severe than a gust of wind."
"When the earthquake struck, I had just removed the woman's skull and was cutting the dura mater. This step, if mishandled, could easily cause brain contusion, leaving devastating consequences."
"I made the snap decision to halt the surgery and temporarily cover the woman's skull back. Otherwise, in the dusty environment, her life would have been in jeopardy."
"But I hadn't anticipated that this step would be more difficult than I imagined. I couldn't even stand steadily, let alone accurately cover the small piece of skull?"
"The nurse beside me bumped into me, causing us both to lose balance. No one could maintain stability. In the chaos, I could only first cover the woman's head with a sterile sheet, then immediately organize everyone to evacuate. But at that moment, a medical cart hit my leg, and I fell to the ground."
"Before I could stand up again, the ceiling of the operating room cracked open, and I immediately lost consciousness."
After listening to the doctor's account, the expressions of the group seemed uneasy.
He used many medical terms in his story. If even one of those terms were fabricated, no one could discern it.
"Dr. Zhao, where are you from?" the burly man asked casually.
"I don't feel obligated to answer your question," Dr. Zhao replied. "My story has been told."
The burly man opened his mouth to respond but hesitated.
"Is it my turn?" a bespectacled man blinked for a moment before speaking. "My name is Han Yimo, I'm a..."
"Wait," the goat-headed man suddenly interrupted, startling Han Yimo. He turned around, puzzled.
"W-what's wrong?"
"It's 'halftime break' time," the goat-headed man said with a sheepish smile. "We're taking a twenty-minute break now."
The group seemed somewhat perplexed.
Even at a time like this, they were having a "halftime break"?
Qi Xia glanced at the clock in the center of the table. It had been half an hour since he woke up.
It was now twelve-thirty.
"So, this 'break' is mandatory," Qi Xia silently reminded himself, "At half-past twelve, regardless of who the speaker is, there will be a compulsory break of twenty minutes..."
But the game had only been going on for thirty minutes, and now they were going to rest for twenty minutes?
Qi Xia furrowed his brow. He knew this wasn't something he needed to worry about. The organizer of this game was a lunatic; there was no need to think like a rational person.
So, he could only repeatedly brainwash himself in his mind.
"My name is Li Ming, from Shandong."
He had to repeat this to himself countless times so that when it was his turn to speak, he could say it without hesitation.
The others waited in discomfort.
Although it was called a "halftime break," the atmosphere among them felt even more oppressive.
"Um, can we talk during this break?" the burly man asked the goat-headed man.
"Oh, of course, you all have free time now, I have no authority to interfere," replied the goat-headed man.
The burly man nodded, then turned to Dr. Zhao and asked, "Dr. Zhao, where are you from?"
Dr. Zhao's expression darkened. "I feel like you've been displeased with me from the beginning. Why do I have to tell you where I'm from?"
"Don't misunderstand, I don't mean any harm," the burly man said calmly. "The more you say, the more credible your story becomes. Since everyone has mentioned their hometowns, there's no need for you to conceal yours, right?"
"The more you say, the more credible?" Dr. Zhao shook his head indifferently. "I only know 'the more you say, the more mistakes you make.' If the rules are absolute, then there's nothing wrong with my story now. Besides, I don't trust any of you."
"That's a bit biased," the burly man said. "There are nine people here, and only one is the enemy. If you're willing to cooperate with everyone, we can work together to expose the liar. The more you conceal now, the more suspicious you become. I've already asked you twice, are you still going to hide?"
The burly man seemed adept at questioning, forcing Dr. Zhao into a logical corner with just a few sentences.
His meaning was clear.
Only the "liar" wouldn't need to trust anyone because they knew their own identity.
Continuing to conceal now would only make Dr. Zhao a target.
But how could someone who became a neurosurgeon be an ordinary person? Dr. Zhao snorted and asked, "Then you answer me first, who are you? What do you do?"
"Me?" The burly man was surprised by Dr. Zhao's sudden reversal, his expression somewhat unnatural.
"Yes, since after my story, you've been relentlessly questioning me, I can also ask you before your story," Dr. Zhao smiled. "Isn't that fair?"
After a moment of thought, the burly man nodded and said, "You're right, I have nothing to hide. My name is Li Shangwu, I'm a detective."
As soon as he spoke, everyone turned to look at him.
At this moment, the words "detective" gave everyone an unexpected sense of security.
"You're a policeman?!" Dr. Zhao was stunned.
No wonder he had felt from the beginning that this man was probing for something. He was also the first to suggest "keeping everyone alive," maybe he really wanted to save everyone.
Dr. Zhao's attitude had clearly softened a lot. "If that's the case, then I apologize for my attitude just now. I'm from Jiangsu."
At this point, the expression on Joe's tattooed arm, Qiao Jiajin's face, was somewhat grim. "I say, Dr. Zhao, do you believe this Detective Li?"
"Huh?" Dr. Zhao looked at Qiao Jiajin puzzled. "What are you trying to say?"
Qiao Jiajin tapped the table with his finger and said lightly, "Now isn't 'storytelling time,' in other words... now everyone can lie."
YOU ARE READING
十天的毁灭
Paranormal"When I thought it was just an ordinary day, I found myself trapped in the land of doom. When I thought all I needed was to keep participating in the death games to escape, I realized that people began to help me."
