When Shen Jiyue saw Mu Sichen, a flicker of surprise crossed his frog-like eyes. “Have you already written the supplementary rule?”

“Not yet. I have something to discuss with you first,” Mu Sichen said gravely.

As he drew closer, Shen Jiyue’s pupils suddenly locked. He stared at Mu Sichen’s name tag. Though his mutated face was a mask of horror, the way his eyeballs stiffened betrayed his deep suspicion.

“Don’t worry. I used a special method to swap tags with someone,” Mu Sichen explained, pointing to the name ‘Zhang Sansan.’ “If I had truly become a follower of Big Eye, the tag would read ‘Volunteer Sha Dayan.'”

Shen Jiyue’s eyes performed a slow, 360-degree rotation. He seemed to relax.

Talking to intelligent people was effortless; at least Shen Jiyue wouldn’t stop listening just because of a label. “What do you want to discuss?”

“Regarding the rules. I don’t think we need a rule about ‘Family accompanying Patients for discharge.’ Instead, we need: ‘Volunteers must not be harmed, and their actions must not be obstructed.’ I need your cooperation to make this happen.”

Every blister on Shen Jiyue’s body twitched simultaneously—a gruesome sight. “What are you saying? Have you given up on finding the ‘Pillar’?”

“Of course not,” Mu Sichen replied. “But the Pillar isn’t in the basement discharge office. It has no physical form. It isn’t in any single room, yet it’s in every room at once.”

Shen Jiyue remained silent, every one of his eyes fixed on Mu Sichen.

Mu Sichen continued, “In this sanitarium, Patients ‘recover’ to leave, Doctors ‘recruit’ enough patients to leave, and Family Members become Doctors to leave. Even Volunteers have an exit: if they perform well, they are promoted to ‘Followers’ and transferred elsewhere. Everyone wants to leave, yet no one ever actually escapes. That is the true essence of despair. Based on that principle, where do you think the Pillar is?”

Shen Jiyue didn’t answer.

“I believe the Pillar’s power is decentralized,” Mu Sichen said. “It permeates every corner of the facility. Since this is Big Eye’s domain, the Pillar must manifest through His primary trait. Therefore, the Pillar is the ‘Gaze’ itself—a fragmented, omnipresent perspective that looks down on everything, never anchored to a single point.”

To Mu Sichen’s surprise, Shen Jiyue didn’t look shocked. He merely whispered, “I didn’t think you’d figure it out.”

Mu Sichen stared at him. “You already knew? You were lying to me?”

Then, realization dawned. “No… you weren’t lying. Our goals are the same!”

Shen Jiyue sighed. “Since you’ve guessed it, I won’t hide it anymore. Yes, I knew the Pillar was the ‘Gaze.’ To find it, one must force those fragmented gazes to focus on a single point. When the entire facility’s attention is anchored on one spot, the Pillar will manifest.”

“And you were going to use your discharge to draw that focus,” Mu Sichen deduced.

“Yes. I was going to tell all the patients the truth: that there is no escape.” Shen Jiyue pointed to the mirror in the room. “I have an ability to record images and play them back on any reflective surface. I was going to broadcast the sight of a patient’s soul being devoured during ‘discharge’ to everyone in the building. Once the collective belief in the rules is shattered, the sanitarium will cease to function. The Pillar would have to focus on me to stop the spread.”

“You would have died,” Mu Sichen sighed.

“I thought you understood my resolve,” Shen Jiyue said calmly.

Mu Sichen realized then that Shen Jiyue had never intended to survive. Previously, Mu Sichen thought he could use Ego Stickers to pull Shen Jiyue back from the brink of madness. But Shen Jiyue hadn’t left a back door for himself. He wanted to be consumed, using his final moments to tear the system down.

“Now that we’ve been honest, please cooperate with my plan,” Shen Jiyue said. “Once I draw the Pillar out, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“I refuse,” Mu Sichen said.

“It’s the only way.”

Mu Sichen shook his head. “There are always more solutions than problems. We don’t need a suicide mission. I will draw the Pillar. You will assist me.”

“I don’t want to argue about who gets to die first,” Shen Jiyue said resolutely. “If you won’t help, I’ll go to Yao Wangping. With his personality, he’d be delighted to sacrifice me.”

“I never said I was going to die. I value my life far too much for that.” Mu Sichen took Shen Jiyue’s hand. “I want to find a way where everyone lives. I have a plan, and I am confident. Please, help me.”

His sincerity moved the mutant. “Tell me the plan first.”

Mu Sichen laid it out. Shen Jiyue was sharp; he only needed the outline to grasp the logic.

“It’s safer, technically,” Shen Jiyue said worriedly. “But the risk to you is immense. One slip and you’re gone forever.”

Shen Jiyue was fearless regarding his own death, but hesitant regarding Mu Sichen’s. This only solidified Mu Sichen’s trust in him.

“This world is a nightmare,” Mu Sichen said. “People go mad or die without warning every day. Existence here is like walking on thin ice. Why fear a calculated risk? If I lack the courage to face danger, how can I ever resist the mental pollution that’s everywhere? If you agree, then let’s begin.”

Shen Jiyue opened his mouth to protest, but eventually sighed and nodded. He smiled. “If you ever make it out of Pupil Town, come to my town. It’s a peaceful, safe place. People live happy lives there.”

“We’ll see,” Mu Sichen replied noncommittally. He didn’t trust Qin Zhou, and he didn’t believe any town in this world was truly “safe.”

Step one: Tricking the “program” into writing a rule.

To do this, they needed to temporarily pollute Shen Jiyue. Shen Jiyue produced a mirror. “Using my reflective ability, I once recorded the image of Big Eye during the ‘Day’.”

“You can do that? That’s incredible,” Mu Sichen said.

“Your abilities are just as strange,” Shen Jiyue countered.

Mu Sichen didn’t want to explain the System, so he gave a dry laugh. “Eyes in the sky, man-eating hospitals, octopus gods… in this world, anything is possible.”

Shen Jiyue placed his palm on the mirror. “The mirror only captured reflected light. Looking at it isn’t the same as looking at Him directly, but the power is still immense. I’ve never dared to look at it myself since I recorded it.”

“I only need you to start the process of pollution. My teammates will interrupt it. You must stay conscious.”

“If it’s less than a second, I’ll be fine,” Shen Jiyue promised.

Mu Sichen stepped outside and whispered the final instructions to Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo. They nodded solemnly.

Mu Sichen re-entered, holding the mirror face-down. He faced Shen Jiyue.

As he flipped the mirror, Mu Sichen shouted: “Shen Jiyue! Stop resisting! Return to His embrace!”

Shen Jiyue’s eyes locked onto the glass. Every eyeball on his body went rigid. A look of rapturous intoxication filled his gaze.

At that exact moment, Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo burst through the door. Cheng Xubo tackled Mu Sichen, causing him to slam the mirror face-down on the bed. He then “beat” Mu Sichen for good measure.

Chi Lian shrieked, “What are you doing to my patient?! Volunteers only assist doctors; they don’t act on their own! How dare you try to treat a pat—”

Chi Lian stopped, her voice catching in her throat. She had seen patients with a few blisters, but she had never seen someone as far gone as Shen Jiyue. He wasn’t just gross; he was a walking nightmare.

Thanks to Cheng Xubo’s quick reflexes with the mirror, Shen Jiyue’s eyes snapped back to normal. He composed himself and looked at Chi Lian. “Don’t be afraid. I—Dr. Ke? Why do you look different?” He glanced at her tag and realized. “Ah, you swapped too.”

Chi Lian didn’t have time for small talk. Her body went stiff. “Quick! I feel the Gaze! It’s glaring at me—it feels like it wants to kill me with a look!”

Cheng Xubo stopped “punching” Mu Sichen. “This gaze is way scarier than the one I felt earlier. I’ve got goosebumps on my goosebumps. Captain, you okay?”

Mu Sichen, having taken a few real hits, looked up and gave a thumbs-up. “The plan worked. I hear the broadcast—it’s telling me to add a rule!”

“Yes!” Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo high-fived.

Mu Sichen nodded to Shen Jiyue, dropped the mirror, and sprinted to the lobby. The pen was waiting on the wall.

He first tried to write: “Volunteers must not be harmed, and their actions must not be obstructed.” A prompt whispered in his ear: [Rule Invalid.] The ink vanished.

Mu Sichen thought for a second and tried again: “When a Volunteer is performing an operation on a Patient, their actions must not be interrupted, and the Volunteer must not be harmed.”

This time, the whisper said: [Rule Valid.]

The new rule etched itself onto the board. Step one was complete. The “program” had been patched to protect its “transaction.”

Author’s Note:

Qin Zhou: Are you kidding? I have so much presence that even with my eyes closed, I’m the brightest star in the room. Chen-chen would spot me instantly.

Big Eye: Without me, Mu Sichen wouldn’t even know you exist!

Mu Sichen: Big Eye has a point.