The Hand of Confession – Chapter 161

Volume 6: Days of Being Zapped in the Lab

Cure

Depressing¹

Seems like Experiment B requires very few experiment subjects. None among these last few, so they must be with the players from the earlier groups.

The unknown has always been more terrifying than the known. Even Shen Maomao couldn’t stop thinking: What is Experiment B, anyway? Why’s it so mysterious? How are the people participating in the experiment doing now? What have they encountered?

This unknown became even more dreadful under the added rule: “Anyone not back in their cage before the bell rings will die.”

There was no need to watch any longer. Lou Jingmo and Shen Maomao silently walked towards their impending electrocution journey.

All the white coats they encountered today were hurrying along, walking so fast they looked like they were about to take flight. They’d shove aside any experiment subjects blocking their way very irritably, causing strong dissatisfaction among the players.

Besides the white coats, many patrolling guards had appeared in the corridors. These guards wore uniform clothing, carried strangely shaped weapons, and marched back and forth in small squads of six. Their eyes vigilantly scanned the surroundings, watching every experiment subject with scrutinizing gazes, exhibiting great discipline.

Shen Maomao secretly counted; she saw at least eight squads of guards on her way here.

It seemed something significant must have happened last night; the entire laboratory was already under lockdown. This was extremely disadvantageous for them. Too many guards made it inconvenient to search for clues.

After walking a short distance, they reached the previous fork in the road.

As usual, they swiped their cards to enter. Behind the door, it was quiet and deserted, with only a few ghost-like experiment subjects walking silently forward, a stark contrast to the bustling crowd² outside.

Shen Maomao hopped on the ground twice, then lightened her steps, walked to the side, and started staring at the spot on the floor that had made noise earlier.

After watching for a long time, not a single red eye emerged.

“Stop looking,” Lou Jingmo said. “The Red Eyes are gone.”

Based on yesterday’s situation, faint footsteps and quiet conversation wouldn’t attract the Red Eyes’ attention. They likely monitored unnatural noises and sounds exceeding a certain decibel level.

The new guards wore military boots, their steps synchronized, producing a sound far louder than the Red Eyes’ allowed range. Yet, Lou Jingmo hadn’t spotted a single Red Eye on their way here.

The Red Eyes had vanished overnight. Perhaps the lab had shut them down because these creatures couldn’t be seen by the guards?

She always felt things weren’t that simple, but it was too early to say for sure. She didn’t have enough information yet.

Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo sat on the bench seats, waiting for the experiment subjects ahead of them to finish being electrocuted before it was their turn.

Despite supposedly being sent here for treatment for homosexuality, these experiment subjects showed no restraint at all.

Shen Maomao even saw a same-sex couple who trembled uncontrollably whenever they embraced, clearly exhibiting a stress response. Yet, they still held each other’s hands tightly, unwilling to let go even though their faces were deathly pale.

She couldn’t help but sigh, “Love really is grand.”

Lou Jingmo glanced over, scoffing disdainfully, “What love? They just know this experiment has the highest safety factor, so they’re clinging together for warmth.”

After all, this bunch of white coats were aiming to treat homosexuality, not electrocute homosexuals to death.

But after prolonged, ineffective treatment, who knew if they wouldn’t resort to something extreme, like removing the prefrontal lobe? Although injuries sustained in the game would completely disappear upon returning to reality, if one’s prefrontal lobe was actually removed, they’d become dull and foolish. How could they possibly find the exit and leave the game then?

Experiment C wasn’t necessarily the safest either.

Lou Jingmo whispered close to her ear, “Control yourself a bit. Tomorrow, let’s try another experiment.”

Shen Maomao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “But this isn’t something I can control, right?”

Lou Jingmo: “You could try thinking of horrifying or disgusting scenes. If you can still get excited looking at Sadako³, then never mind what I said.”

Shen Maomao: “…” Even if I don’t get excited, I’ll get scared! That damn machine might interpret fear as a reaction to the same sex… Besides, I’m not excited! I just think doing yellow stuff⁴ in public⁵ is thrilling, that’s all.

While they were whispering, the white coats came out to pick people again. Perhaps because their posture while talking seemed too intimate, or perhaps because their performance yesterday was too outstanding, they were chosen in the first round today.

Just like yesterday, the two were dragged by a group of strong white coats and strapped onto the electroshock platforms, beginning another day of their electroshock careers.

Yesterday’s experiment records must have been shared, because as soon as they started today, the screen showed the video of Lou Jingmo being electrocuted yesterday, but the white coat administering the shock wasn’t the same one.

Shen Maomao watched Lou Jingmo on the screen, brow furrowed, body trembling. Her mind started to drift, automatically adding things to Lou Jingmo’s face.

Let’s add red eyes, and a slit mouth… An image of “Red-Eyed, Slit-Mouthed Lou Jingmo” appeared in her mind.

There. Now Shen Maomao wouldn’t feel a thing.

Because she’d added scary parts, there was no titillating⁶ feeling; because she knew the face belonged to Lou Jingmo, there was no fear either.

She and Lou Jingmo were as calm as still water. The machine faithfully relayed this feedback to the screen. A white coat tapped the display, thinking the emotion detector had malfunctioned.

She first checked the clamps on both of them, ensuring they were where they should be, then spoke into her walkie-talkie, “C412, suspected machine malfunction.”

Shen Maomao interjected, “I told you yesterday, your treatment system has problems! Look, yesterday I reacted to everything I saw, but today I’m reacting to nothing. The human brain and emotions are such complex things! Judging someone as homosexual based solely on ‘whether they react to the same sex’ is rather simplistic⁷, don’t you think?!”

With that, she sneered, “With your level of thinking and awareness, you might as well give me your clothes and let me research the human psyche and the formation of sexual orientation.”

The woman in the white coat, wearing a colored mask and gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, put down the walkie-talkie and walked towards her. The heels of her high heels clicked against the floor, step after step, until she stopped beside Shen Maomao’s electroshock platform.

Shen Maomao shut her mouth.

Right now, she was fish on the chopping block⁸. If the white coat decided to act against her, she wouldn’t even have the ability to resist.

Lou Jingmo, enjoying the drama and not minding making things worse, quipped, “Running your mouth is fun for a moment, keep running it and it’s fun forever?”⁹

Shen Maomao: “…” Damn you Lou Jingmo.

Am I going to have to use my second life today? That would be such a waste!

Besides, given the situation, the moment I revive, I’ll probably be seized by several white coats and dragged off to a deeper level laboratory to study the secret of my resurrection.

No, she couldn’t just sit there waiting for death.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shen Maomao slightly regretted her sharp tongue¹⁰, though she still felt she was right. These people weren’t scientific researchers or doctors saving lives; they were executioners who disregarded human life and ethical boundaries, using human bodies for experiments. As she spoke, she struggled, making the platform clang loudly, but achieved little else.

The woman curled her lip, looking down at her condescendingly. She took out a handkerchief, crumpled it up, and stuffed it into Shen Maomao’s mouth.

Shen Maomao: “Mmph, mmph, mmph…”

The smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils, stinging her eyes so badly she almost cried.

At that moment, a barrage of bullet comments¹¹ flew through her mind— “How many germs are on a handkerchief carried around?” “Does a disinfected handkerchief still have germs?” “What are the consequences of ingesting disinfectant?”

But now, she couldn’t speak even if she wanted to. It seemed the woman didn’t intend to harm her, or perhaps couldn’t harm her—an experiment subject—so she could only use this method to silence her and get some peace.

The maintenance technicians arrived quickly. After inspecting the machine, the leader stated firmly, “No problem, the machine isn’t broken.”

The woman: “Are you sure?”

Technician: “Sure. Absolutely no problem.”

The woman waved them away. As if refusing to believe it¹², she pulled up several more video clips for the two to watch.

The electrocardiogram remained utterly placid¹³, so steady it seemed even an earthquake or tsunami appearing before them wouldn’t cause any fluctuation.

The woman unfastened the safety belts restraining the two, had someone return their clothes, and said with a smile, “You have been cured! Congratulations!”

Shen Maomao pulled the handkerchief out, spat three times—ptooey, ptooey, ptooey—and decided to take her sharp tongue to the very end. While getting dressed, she complained, “It’s freaking 9102¹⁴ already! Homosexuality isn’t even a disease! What the hell ‘cured’?!”

This isn’t a cure at all, it’s depressing!!

The woman’s expression returned to impassivity. She told her assistant, “Take them away, bring in the next pair of patients. Starting tomorrow, they can formally participate in the experiment.”

Two burly assistants practically threw them out.

Shen Maomao landed square on her butt, crying out, “Owowow!” as if she’d been badly thrown.

The assistants, noses in the air, snorted coldly and shut the door.

The moment they closed the door, Shen Maomao scrambled up from the ground.

Because they were “cured,” the two had gained a large chunk of extra time. The path from the laboratory back to the cafeteria was currently deserted.

This extra time naturally had to be put to good use. Lou Jingmo spoke quickly, “The number tags should open many doors. Let’s split up and investigate separately. If you feel hungry, go eat at the cafeteria. You should still have some time after eating for free exploration, but remember to return to the cage before the bell rings.”

Shen Maomao: “Wait, how do I know what time the bell rings? No, wait, even if I know the time, I can’t gauge it accurately!”

Lou Jingmo: “Isn’t your intuition usually pretty good? If you can’t be sure of the time, just head back directly at noon. If you disappear because you couldn’t make it back in time, we can see where the disappeared people end up.”

Shen Maomao: “…Are you even human?”

Lou Jingmo directly chose a direction and started walking, raising an arm and waving without looking back, like saying ‘Sayonara’¹⁵.

Shen Maomao glared fiercely at her—at her back, of course—then chose the complete opposite direction, parting ways with her.

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