Chapter 3 The Nurse’s True Rule

The mechanical warning hung in the air like a death sentence.
【Bug intruder confirmed. Hunting mode activated.】
Chen Yu’s calm expression did not change, but his senses sharpened.
The red-robed nurse who had been standing quietly at the corridor entrance suddenly moved. Her head twisted at an impossible angle, and her pitch-black eyes locked onto him with a murderous intensity that felt far stronger than before.
The other survivors scattered like ants, pressing themselves against the walls.
“Run! She’s coming for him!”
“He broke the rules, and now we’re all going to die!”
Chen Yu did not run.
He remained where he was, staring straight back at the nurse while his talent parsed the rapidly changing information above her head.
【Error: Killing limit temporarily lifted.】
【Hunting priority: maximum.】
【Core restriction remains: Direct gaze suppresses execution.】
Chen Yu sneered.
The dungeon wanted to kill him, but it still couldn’t break its own core logic.
The nurse charged.
Her pale feet slammed against the cold floor, leaving black corrosion marks wherever they stepped. The red robe billowed behind her like a curtain of blood, and one claw-like hand snapped toward Chen Yu’s throat.
The survivors screamed.
But Chen Yu did not flinch.
At the exact moment the claw was about to pierce his neck, he spoke in a low, clear voice.
“Rule: Direct gaze suppresses killing intent.”
The nurse froze.
Her claw stopped an inch from his skin.
Black veins bulged across her pale face, and a distorted growl rumbled from her throat. She clearly wanted to tear him apart, yet some invisible force prevented her from attacking.
The crowd fell completely silent.
Someone who should have been killed in one move was standing there calmly, simply using the dungeon’s own rule against it.
Chen Yu took a step forward.
The nurse retreated.
Her black eyes were still filled with hatred, but her body was forced to lower its attack posture.
“You’re not the only one who knows the rules,” Chen Yu said quietly. “I just know the ones the dungeon didn’t write down.”
【Hidden clue obtained: Red-robed nurses are executioners generated by the rule system. Their true function is to enforce eye-contact rules on all survivors.】
【Bug authority detected. The dungeon’s execution mechanism is being temporarily rewritten.】
The nurse suddenly screamed and clutched her head.
Her red robe began to burn from the inside out, as if an invisible fire was devouring her body. The rules written on her chest flickered violently, and for a split second, Chen Yu saw the true text hidden beneath them.
【Original rule: All survivors must maintain direct eye contact with red-robed nurses until the executioner identifies its target.】
【Fake rule released to dungeon: Do not make eye contact with red-robed nurses.】
Chen Yu’s eyes narrowed.
So that was the truth.
The so-called forbidden eye contact was actually the only way to keep the nurse from randomly killing everyone. The dungeon had reversed it to cause maximum confusion and self-slaughter.
“Everyone, look at her,” Chen Yu ordered without turning around.
The survivors stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
“Are you crazy?! That will get us all killed!”
“One look is enough to make her attack!”
Chen Yu did not argue.
He simply pointed at the nurse, whose body was now crumbling into black ash.
“She’s dying. If you don’t look at her now, the next rule will kill you instead.”
Some survivors hesitated.
A few slowly lifted their heads and made eye contact.
The nurse’s crumbling body paused for a moment, and the murderous aura around her weakened sharply.
Those who looked survived.
Those who refused continued to feel the cold curse creeping up their limbs.
Chen Yu watched the effect coldly.
The dungeon’s rules were not just lies—they were layered traps. Even when survivors saw through one lie, they could still fall into the next.
The red-robed nurse finally dissolved completely.
Only a charred rule card remained on the floor, smoking slightly.
Chen Yu bent down and picked it up.
The text on it had changed.
【New rule generated: Survivors who maintain eye contact with red-robed executioners will receive a temporary buff.】
【Buff effect: Curse erosion reduced by 30% for 10 minutes.】
The survivors stared at the card in disbelief.
A rule that had been killing them just moments ago was now presented as a beneficial effect.
“This dungeon is completely insane,” someone whispered.
Chen Yu put the rule card into his pocket.
“It’s not insane. It’s just greedy. It wants us to keep guessing until we make the wrong choice.”
He looked down the dark corridor, where more flickering lights and distant weeping sounds could be heard.
The hospital was far from finished with them.
【Secondary bug detected.】
【Rule 3 “do not speak to the white-coated doctor” is also a partial lie.】
【Speaking to the doctor within ten seconds will obtain medicine information.】
【Silence will cause the doctor to become a hunting entity.】
Chen Yu exhaled slowly.
Every rule in this place had two sides.
One side killed you.
The other side kept you alive.
The only difference was whether you could see the truth before the dungeon decided which one to activate.
“Stay close,” he said to the group. “From now on, don’t avoid anything. Question every rule. If it says don’t look, don’t listen, or don’t speak… that’s exactly where the truth is hiding.”
A survivor raised his voice nervously.
“What if it’s another trap?”
Chen Yu glanced at him.
“It’s always a trap. But the traps that kill you are the ones you follow without thinking.”
He started walking forward.
The survivors exchanged frightened looks, then one by one followed behind him.
They no longer believed the rules.
But they believed the only man who had survived breaking them.
Deep in the darkness at the end of the corridor, a doctor’s shadow appeared under the flickering light.
The white coat swayed slightly.
And a new rule began to echo in everyone’s mind.
【Rule 3: Do not speak to the white-coated doctor.】
Chen Yu smiled.
Another lie.
Another bug.
Another chance to break the dungeon.