After all, while Return Home was also scary, the character controlled by the player had the strength of a Genin, capable of doing many things. But now, he was just an ordinary person with only a "night vision" ability.
After a while, Obito finally recovered and immediately activated his 'Blood Eye,' entering the 'night vision' mode to proceed forward.
The sudden attack in the dark earlier had left Obito with psychological trauma, making him feel the need to use night vision, even though it would consume his ocular power.
Soon, he realized he couldn't keep using night vision because his ocular power was draining too quickly.
Although he had eye drops to restore his ocular power, he only carried three at the start of the game, and the number he could find in the game was limited.
If the difficulty level were displayed, Obito was clearly playing at the highest difficulty: classic enemies are strong, but supplies are scarce.
If he didn't use his items carefully, he'd soon be rendered useless with no resources left.
This was indeed the case.
As Obito advanced, he wandered around the hospital's first floor, finding some logs and notices. He learned that just ten days ago, a massive contamination occurred inside the hospital, causing many patients and staff to die.
Some patients went into a mad frenzy, becoming terrifying and massacring people in the hospital.
Additionally, some information revealed that the hospital was hiding many secrets, and dangerous, secretive human experiments were being conducted without the knowledge of most people.
Clearly, this was the work of the Gen organization.
Soon after, Obito encountered enemies.
These were the patients mentioned in the records who had gone mad—he encountered four of them.
The first was a madman who had turned his hands into steel claws, his body rotting with his eyes entirely white. Upon appearing, he started laughing manically and chased after Obito. If he caught him, he would disembowel him.
The second was a madman who crawled in a sinister, twisted manner, his limbs grotesque. His face had been slashed open by himself and sewn back together with thread, creating a permanent, grotesque grin.
If he caught Obito, he would violently rub him against the ground or wall.
The third was a massive, over two-meter tall, fat brute. He was incredibly strong. Once he grabbed Obito, he would crush the bones in his body, eventually dragging him into the darkness.
The fourth looked like an ordinary doctor, but his medical coat was soaked in blood, and he carried numerous surgical tools.
After catching Obito, he would gently reassure him with a soft voice, saying, "You're sick, you need treatment," before taking out unsanitized, bloodstained surgical tools to perform a procedure on Obito, without anesthesia.
These four living lunatics were Obito's nightmare, relentlessly chasing him around the hospital. Each one had their designated area to patrol and wouldn't venture into the others' zones.
However, in order to find the secrets of the Gen organization in the hospital, and to search for the missing loved ones and the members of the Indra clan, Obito had to keep moving and solving puzzles in various areas to uncover the truth of the hospital.
If you're wondering why Obito knows what will happen after being caught by those monsters—well, doesn't he learn after dying countless times?
The game "Escape" is all about escaping from these monsters when you have no way to resist.
The viewers watching the livestream could hear Obito's screams and cries that seemed like they were tearing his throat apart.
Things like "Don't come near me!" "It hurts, it hurts!" "Help!" were pretty normal.
There were also more strange phrases like, "Don't grab my OO," "Ah, ah, not there!" and "Ugh, the cabinet's moving! I'm not playing anymore!"—these bizarre utterances just kept coming.
Even though in the game, you can hide from the monsters by going into cabinets, boxes, or under tables, the monsters would still turn the place upside down looking for Obito.
During these moments, the people outside could even hear Obito's frantic heartbeat and the sound of cold sweat dripping to the floor, with the focus being on "heartbeat memories."
Yet, even in such terrifying circumstances, the audience watching in the real world kept feeling anxious for Obito, unable to bear watching him suffer when caught by the monsters.
Surprisingly, Obito, the king of resilience, still kept his eyes closed.
It's important to note that the experiences inside the game had been designed by Uchiha Kai to be as realistic as possible, and the pain from the torture felt very real.
However, there were protective mechanisms in place to prevent Obito from actually believing he was dying.
But still, Obito kept his eyes closed.
Honestly, when it comes to enduring pressure, Uchiha Kai, who prides himself as the king of Uchiha resilience, couldn't help but feel inferior.
Nohara Rin couldn't bear to watch anymore. Tearfully, she asked Uchiha Kai to stop, worried that Obito might develop psychological trauma from it.
In response, Uchiha Kai simply waved his hand.
"You really don't understand the Uchiha. If his eyes haven't opened, it means he's still in a good mental state. He'll probably have a few nightmares at most, and then he'll push everything aside."
"So, we need to keep putting pressure on him until he truly opens his eyes. Coincidentally, the game is also entering a crucial storyline, and Obito will soon meet his 'partners.'"
As Uchiha Kai said this, Obito really did meet his partners in the game.
However, the appearance of his partners in the game made Obito's pupils tremble.
"Rin? Idiot Kakashi? Why are you two here? How did you end up in this place!?"
Along with Obito's shocked exclamation, Kakashi Hatake and Rin Nohara were shown locked up in a cell in the game.
This scene left the people in the real world stunned.
After all, both Rin and Kakashi were alive in the real world, so seeing them in the game was downright eerie.
To this, Uchiha Kai just explained, "Don't misunderstand. In this game, each player is paired with two partners. Who those partners are depends on the player's preferences, and the game will generate the two people they care about most."
Then, he flashed a meaningful smile.
"Obito clearly cares about Rin, that much is obvious. But what really surprised me is that the other person he values most is you, Kakashi. Even though you two argue all the time and don't get along, it seems like, in his heart, you are second only to Rin."
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
As Uchiha Kai said this with a teasing tone, the adults in the room all glanced at Kakashi in a peculiar way. This left Kakashi embarrassed, feeling like he wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.
It was lucky he wore a mask, otherwise, the proud little 9-year-old boy would be blushing so much he'd want to run away.
Especially when Rin flashed a knowing smile, Kakashi couldn't take it anymore. He turned his head away and muttered, "Who cares about that idiot? It's his own arrogance. A ninja doesn't need such meaningless emotions. Just focus on doing the job as a tool, and that's enough."
This statement had a tone of concealment, but to everyone present, it felt cold.
The crowd knew that what Kakashi said was exactly what he thought. The child truly believed they were just tools to complete missions, without needing much emotion.
Those unaware of the details thought Kakashi's mindset was extreme, while those who knew the truth, like Minato, could only sigh inwardly.
White Fang's suicide had a massive impact on Kakashi, shaping a twisted worldview within him.
The saddest part was that this twisted worldview was actually the norm in the ninja world. Nearly everyone in the ninja world would agree with Kakashi's perspective.
A ninja, isn't that just a tool for completing missions?
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