"Hehehe, I'm not mentally ill, I'm Dr. Caroline~"

After taking the medication, Caroline looked dazed and wore a foolish grin all over her face.

"That's right, I'm not mentally ill either. Let me tell you a secret - I'm actually a doctor here."

Lin Ye hid in the surveillance blind spot of the activity room and spat two capsules into his hand. He definitely didn't want to end up like Caroline.

"I need to escape from here. If I stay for a while longer, I might actually become mentally ill."

Jessica also spat out her capsules. She glanced at Caroline giggling foolishly nearby and felt extremely uncomfortable.

The three of them naturally gathered together, perhaps out of some kind of inertia, or maybe because this was the only surveillance blind spot in the activity room.

"Make them take the medicine? Why?"

Caroline stared into empty space, having a conversation with thin air.

"This medicine feels wrong. Why do I get the sense she was more normal before taking it?"

Lin Ye carefully observed Caroline's condition. He had just been sent to this mental hospital by his family and didn't know much about the place.

"It might be some kind of psychoactive drug. They want to turn us into actual lunatics."

Jessica had heard of this mental hospital before - it was a special facility connected to the military. She never expected to be sent here herself.

"She says you should take the medicine, otherwise... otherwise something will happen, what was it again?"

Caroline looked blankly at Jessica, wanting to say something but unable to think clearly.

"It's alright, we'll take it later."

Jessica patted Caroline's head. For some reason she couldn't explain, she felt concerned about this girl who didn't seem to have much brains.

"Liar, don't lie to me. That's not good."

Caroline struggled to express her meaning, but this only made her appear even more abnormal.

"Are you saying there's someone only you can see who's telling you to remind us to take our medicine, otherwise something bad will happen?"

Lin Ye crouched in front of Caroline, looking into her eyes. He could tell Caroline wasn't lying. Compared to those so-called normal people, he'd rather trust a mentally ill person who wouldn't deceive him.

However, he wouldn't completely believe what mentally ill patients said. What interested him was the hidden information in their words, and the source of that information.

"Right, no take, die."

For a brief moment Caroline seemed to return to normal, but soon she was crawling over to Jessica with that foolish grin.

"You don't actually believe what she said, do you? I suggest you better not think too much about it, or you'll go crazy too."

Jessica surveyed the activity room's layout, thinking about how to escape.

"No, she didn't lie to me. Something's wrong here. Did you throw away your capsules?"

Lin Ye felt somewhat uneasy. This mental hospital seemed different from what he had imagined.

"No, I didn't. Are you saying something will happen if we don't take the medicine? But I'm absolutely certain I'm not sick. Why would this be happening?"

Jessica found this young man inexplicably reliable, though she didn't know why.

"Not sure. Maybe there's some kind of toxic substance in the environment, and we can't survive without taking the medicine."

Lin Ye took out the two capsules. The medical staff hadn't thoroughly checked their mouths, seemingly unconcerned about whether they had actually swallowed the capsules.

"Hey, you didn't take that suspicious medicine either, right? I didn't take mine either."

A well-built young man suddenly approached them and whispered.

He was Patient No. 3, who had been in line ahead of Lin Ye.

"No, I didn't take it, but I'm considering whether I should try it."

Lin Ye felt hesitant. Common sense dictated he shouldn't seriously consider the ravings of mentally ill patients, but compared to common sense, he preferred to trust his own judgment. The attitude of the medical staff was just too strange.

The management here was extremely strict, yet the medical staff weren't rigorous about ensuring they took their medication. That discrepancy was the problem.

"Haha, very funny. But I didn't come here to joke around. Don't you think this place is strange?"

Patient No. 3 secretly observed their surroundings, lowering his voice like a thief.

"There are too many strange things about this place. I don't know which particular aspect you're referring to."

Lin Ye also lowered his voice, suspecting there might be listening devices here.

"I walked around earlier. Everyone here is a newly arrived patient. So where are the previous patients?"

Patient No. 3 hadn't noticed this issue at first either, but he had come here to look for his missing friend. However, everyone here was new - he had asked around but couldn't find a single long-term patient.

"Maybe they're in other areas, or maybe they've all been discharged."

Until he could confirm there were no listening devices nearby, Lin Ye wasn't going to speak carelessly in public areas.

"Bullshit! No patient has ever left this mental hospital! There's definitely something wrong here!"

Patient No. 3 said excitedly.

"You're right about that, but you haven't told us why you came to find us."

Lin Ye felt this No. 3 was quite unreliable.

"I want to investigate this mental hospital outside the activity room, but I need someone to help distract the orderlies' attention."

Patient No. 3 looked at Lin Ye. He wanted to search other areas for his friend, but the orderlies at the entrance were standing right there, making it impossible for him to leave the activity room.

"We're mentally ill, not stupid."

Lin Ye looked at No. 3 as if he were an idiot.

"Don't you want to escape from here? I can scout the way for you!"

Of course, Patient No. 3 had never actually considered scouting for others - he just wanted to use these mentally ill patients to achieve his own goals.

"First draw a map of the terrain from the medication room to the activity room. If you can draw it, I'll help you."

Lin Ye originally wanted him to draw several possible layouts of the entire area, since there were only so many possibilities. But looking at No. 3's not-very-bright head, he suddenly felt he shouldn't bully the disabled like that.

"...Huh?"

Patient No. 3 looked blankly at Lin Ye, seemingly not understanding what he was saying.

"You can't even draw a map? Then how are you going to investigate this place? Get lost and wait for the orderlies to bring you back?"

Lin Ye was starting to feel like talking to this moron was a waste of time.

"I can remember how many turns I take. Aren't maps supposed to be printed? Talk like you know how to draw one."

As a normal person, Patient No. 3 felt it was difficult to communicate with these mentally ill people.

Jessica took the paper and pen nearby and quickly sketched a floor plan from the medication room to the activity room.

Lin Ye took the floor plan and supplemented it with several possible layouts of the entire area.

Patient No. 3 stared at the map for quite a while before finally locating the activity room.

At that moment, Caroline also handed her completed map to Patient No. 3 - it was an extremely complex three-dimensional structural diagram that somewhat resembled the map Lin Ye had drawn.

"Hehe... like... drawing..."

Caroline emitted happy, foolish giggles.

"You should just take the medicine... what if it can cure you? Don't give up."

Lin Ye patted Patient No. 3's shoulder comfortingly.

Patient No. 3 didn't speak, just silently took the maps and moved away from them.