"I…" The doctor in the white coat appeared calmer than the others, unaffected even by the corpse on the table. "My name is Zhao Haibo, I'm a doctor. You should be able to tell from my attire."
He pulled at his dirty white coat and continued, "Before I came here, I was performing surgery on a woman. She had an intraventricular tumor, which had been growing rapidly for the past six months. It had already caused mild hydrocephalus, and if not dealt with soon, it would endanger her life."
"I chose an approach via the frontal lobe, puncturing the ventricle under CT guidance. Honestly, every time we perform such surgery, the risk is considerable. But that woman, wanting to be there for her young son, chose to take the risk."
"Normally, the operating room is designed to ensure environmental stability—there shouldn't even be a slight breeze. But no one expected something worse than wind to come."
"When the earthquake struck, I had just removed the woman's skull and was about to cut through the dura mater. If anything went wrong here, it could easily lead to brain contusion with catastrophic consequences."
"I made a quick decision to terminate the surgery and temporarily replace her skull. Otherwise, in an environment full of dust, her life would be in great danger."
"But I didn't expect this step to be harder than I thought. I could barely stand, let alone properly place the small piece of skull back."
"The nurse beside me knocked me off balance, and no one could stay steady. In the confusion, I could only cover the woman's head with a sterile sheet and immediately tried to organize the others to evacuate. But just then, a medical cart crashed into my leg, and I fell to the ground."
"Before I could get back up, the ceiling of the operating room cracked, and I immediately lost consciousness."
Everyone looked uneasy after hearing the doctor's story.
He had used a lot of medical terminology in this account.
If even one of those terms was fabricated, no one would be able to tell.
"Dr. Zhao, where are you from?" the muscular man asked casually.
"I don't feel obligated to answer your question," Dr. Zhao replied. "My story is over."
The muscular man opened his mouth but didn't say anything further.
"Is it… my turn?" A bespectacled young man with flickering eyes spoke up. "My name is Han Yimo, and I'm a…"
"Wait." The man with the goat's head suddenly interrupted Han Yimo.
The interruption startled Han Yimo, and he turned around in confusion.
"What… what's wrong?"
"It's 'half-time,'" the man with the goat's head said with an awkward smile. "We'll take a break for twenty minutes."
Everyone was a little at a loss.
There's actually a "half-time" break at a time like this?
Qi Xia glanced at the clock on the table. It had been half an hour since they woke up.
It was now 12:30.
"So, this 'break' is mandatory," Qi Xia thought to himself. "At 12:30, no matter who is telling the story, everyone will be forced to take a twenty-minute break…"
But the game had only been going on for thirty minutes, and now they were taking a break for twenty minutes?
Qi Xia frowned. He knew that wasn't something he needed to worry about.
The organizer of this game was clearly insane, so there was no need to think about it with normal logic.
He could only keep repeating to himself in his mind, "I'm Li Ming, from Shandong."
Only by repeatedly reinforcing this in his mind could he be ready to speak when it was his turn.
Everyone waited in awkward silence.
It was called a "half-time break," but the atmosphere only became more oppressive.
"Excuse me… can we talk?" the muscular man asked the man with the goat's head.
"Oh, of course. You're on free time now, and I have no authority to interfere," the man with the goat's head replied.
The muscular man nodded and looked at Dr. Zhao. "Dr. Zhao, where exactly are you from?"
Dr. Zhao's expression darkened. "I've noticed that you seem displeased with me from the very beginning. Why must I tell you where I'm from?"
"Don't misunderstand, I don't have any ill intentions," the muscular man said calmly. "The more you share, the more credible it becomes. Since everyone has shared where they're from, there's no need for you to hide it, right?"
"The more you talk, the more credible it becomes?" Dr. Zhao shook his head indifferently. "I only know that 'the more you talk, the more mistakes you make.' If the rules are absolute, there's no issue with my story. And I don't trust any of you."
"That's a bit biased," the muscular man said. "There are nine of us here, and only one is the enemy. If you cooperate with everyone, we can work together to expose the liar. The more you hide, the more suspicious you become. This is the second time I've asked you. Are you still going to hide it?"
The muscular man seemed very skilled at interrogation, and with just a few words, he had cornered Dr. Zhao logically.
His message was clear.
Only the "liar" would refuse to trust anyone since they knew their own identity.
If Dr. Zhao continued hiding, he would become the focus of suspicion.
But how could someone who became a neurosurgeon be just anyone? Dr. Zhao snorted and asked, "Then you answer me first—who are you? What do you do?"
"You?" The muscular man hadn't expected the doctor to suddenly turn the tables, and his expression faltered.
"Exactly. Since you wouldn't let go of me after I spoke, I can ask you before you speak," Dr. Zhao said with a smile. "Fair enough?"
The muscular man thought for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I have nothing to hide. My name is Li Shangwu, and I'm a criminal investigator."
The words left his mouth, and everyone turned their gaze toward him.
At that moment, the words "criminal investigator" gave everyone an unexpected sense of security.
"You're a cop?!" Dr. Zhao was taken aback.
No wonder this man had been probing from the very beginning. He was the first to bring up the idea of "making sure everyone survives." Perhaps he really wanted to help everyone escape.
Dr. Zhao's attitude softened considerably. "If that's the case, I apologize for my earlier attitude. I'm from Jiangsu."
At this point, the tattooed man, Qiao Jiajin, looked somewhat displeased. "Dr. Zhao, do you really trust this Officer Li?"
"Hm?" Dr. Zhao looked at Qiao Jiajin in confusion. "What are you trying to say?"
Qiao Jiajin tapped his fingers on the table and said lightly, "It's not 'story time' right now. In other words… everyone can lie now."