Chapter 12: You guessed it right, I am.

Julie dodged the muzzle and swiftly executed a small grappling move, pinning Wu Chang to the ground.

“Is this how you repay a lifesaver?” she asked.

Wu Chang pounded the ground in surrender. “I was just helping Dr. Charles take off his uniform earlier.”

Julie released him with an annoyed look. “That wasn’t helping him shed control of the uniform. You just kicked him off the cliff.”

Wu Chang argued confidently, “Well, tell me—did I help him take it off or not?”

The fight between Charles and Wu Chang shattered the nighttime silence of the sanatorium. The medical staff in the corridor seemed to respond as if receiving a signal, moving toward the source of the noise.

Julie glanced at the approaching sleepwalkers, ignoring Wu Chang’s protests, and dragged him into a nearby vacant room.

She covered his mouth with one hand and raised a finger to her lips in a “shh” gesture.

After a few minutes, the corridor fell silent again, and the sleepwalkers dispersed, resuming their trance-like struggle with their uniforms.

Julie leaned close to Wu Chang’s ear and whispered, “Walking around at night is forbidden—that’s the sanatorium’s rule.”

“What exactly is going on here?” Wu Chang imitated her whisper.

The Moonlight Sanatorium was riddled with mysteries and offered few clues. Even after glimpsing the grudges of several players, the intelligence he held was pitifully scant.

Now that a knowledgeable informant had appeared, he couldn’t let the chance slip away.

Like every NPC who provides clues in a game, Julie cooperated fully and recounted the events within the Moonlight Sanatorium.

Her information closely matched what Wolf had shared, with two key additions.

The first concerned the Anderson family.

Legend had it that before the invention of the steam engine, when faith had not yet been overtaken by industry and technology, a few fortunate individuals blessed by the gods could wield mystical powers.

The royal family had once gathered these gifted people into a secret order of magical knights.

The ancestors of the Anderson family were the first—and last—leaders of this order.

Their merit that earned the Andersons the fiefdom of White Stone was leading the magical knights in sealing away an evil god named Layman, the very deity worshiped by the Serenity Sect.

According to legend, Layman was a five-meter-tall evil god made entirely of gold.

After sealing Layman, the magical knights melted his body down into gold coins for safekeeping. These coins retained Layman’s malevolent divine power and were thus called the Cursed Gold.

The second addition concerned Randy Anderson himself, the director of the Moonlight Sanatorium.

Randy was an unwavering materialist who believed mysticism was mere trickery and deceit. Ironically, he possessed mystical talents comparable to his ancestors.

Under his intense will, the entire sanatorium had been constructed as a vast magical array.

Anyone entering the sanatorium was assigned an identity and bound within the array.

These identities, manifested as uniforms, divided people into medical staff and patients. Once merged with the identity, escape or freedom was impossible.

Those wandering the corridors, struggling with their uniforms in a sleepwalking state, were actually evil god worshipers infiltrating the sanatorium, seeking the Cursed Gold.

Even with the power granted by the evil god, they could not break free from the array.

Julie’s tone turned grave.

“The array in the sanatorium is like a forced game of make-believe with brainwashing effects. It erodes and alters everyone’s will, turning them into puppets called medical staff and patients.”

“I used to resist it, but lately the array’s power has grown stronger. At this rate, I’ll lose my clarity and be assimilated too. That’s why I need your help—to find a way to break free from the array.”

Wu Chang was troubled about the next step when this NPC with hints came forward voluntarily. He suppressed his excitement and calmly asked,

“What can I do to help?”

Julie said, “The only person capable of stopping all this at this stage of the delusion is Director Randy. I can use phase magic to help you bypass the obstacles and reach his office. Your task is to convince him to face reality, accept his magical talents, and put an end to everything.”

“Convincing the director? Clearly, you’re better suited for that than me. Why don’t you go yourself?” Wu Chang frowned.

As a mature NPC, Julie should have learned to clear the dungeon alone rather than relying entirely on the player.

Julie sighed helplessly. “Like I said before, once merged with an identity, you are bound by the sanatorium’s rules—I am no exception. Without permission, I can’t enter the director’s office on my own. But as a newcomer, you’re not constrained by these rules.”

“How long after entering the sanatorium does one merge with an identity?”

“One week.”

Wu Chang clicked his tongue, thinking how insidious the Moonlight Sanatorium dungeon was.

The dungeon description only emphasized leaving the sanatorium but did not mention a time limit. If one failed to clear the dungeon within a week, they might never leave.

It was clearly designed to trap cautious players—like an experienced doctor who spent nearly a week simply trying to switch from patient to staff. One could say the exploration was lost before it even truly began.

“Miss Julie, do you have any advice on how to convince the director?”

Wu Chang was self-aware. He wasn’t a hot-blooded hero who could defeat a villain with just words of love and justice.

Julie pulled out a metal badge about the size of a cookie from her bosom and pressed it into Wu Chang’s hand.

“This will protect you from being killed the moment Randy sees you. But how to convince him—that’s up to you.”

Wu Chang looked at the warm badge in his palm.

“Item Name: King’s Emblem.”

“Item Type: Dungeon Item.”

“Item Description: A token of the king. Only messengers appointed personally by the king may possess this emblem. Holders gain respect from the Kingdom faction and the Magical Knights faction. When obtaining items related to the Kingdom faction, there is a chance to unlock an additional ability.”

“Note: Created by the original Magical Knights. It can only be activated with the holder’s permission and cannot be forged.”

No wonder Julie knew so much—she was a spy sent by the king.

“Aren’t you worried I might be from the Serenity Sect?”

Julie shook her head. “Not worried.”

“Because I look upright and honorable?”

“…”

After a brief silence, Julie said, “Because I saw you kill Ginton. Ginton had a talisman blessed by the evil god. Those who worship the evil god can’t harm him.”

Wu Chang’s expression grew strange as a thought struck him. “You wouldn’t have warned every newcomer not to mess with Ginton, would you?”

He seemed to understand the source of the heavy grudge surrounding Ginton.

Julie said without guilt, “I need an efficient way to screen companions—those who are valuable.”

“Have you figured me out now?”

Facing the director soon, as an outsider, Wu Chang needed a solid identity.

Nothing fit better than the identity Julie had imagined.

Julie wore an expression as if she had just uncovered a secret and said slowly,

“You carry a magical item imbued with a sacred aura, perfectly preserved yet showing traces of history in the details. Also, when you saw the King’s Emblem, you didn’t ask me about its effect but looked surprised, clearly recognizing it.”

“Coupled with your actions—killing evil god cultists and investigating the Cursed Gold—it’s not hard to guess you must be a descendant of a Magical Knights member.”

Wu Chang applauded Julie’s deduction.

“You’re right. I am.”