Deep in the Living
Chapter 80 - 80 74 Mental Illness

80: Chapter 74: Mental Illness 80: Chapter 74: Mental Illness Three months have passed since the “Four Middle School Incident.”

The fatality rate among teachers, students, and staff at Jupiter City Fourth Middle School reached 57%.

Although this figure might seem terrifying, compared to past events of “Seam region Coverage,” it was already considered the lowest tier of fatality rates.

Fortunately, almost all teachers of cultural studies and logical analysis, who were organizing test papers in the teaching building, survived, with only the Academic Director perishing.

Thanks to the physical education teachers’ utmost protection, over one-third of the students survived, partly proving their capabilities.

Their subsequent admissions process would also be treated favorably.

Of course, the most attention-grabbing part of the entire incident naturally concerned the special student Luo Di.

As a senior about to graduate, he was not only able to engage in direct combat with mature Pseudo-Persons but also, at the last moment, teamed up with Gao Yuxuan and Li Xiaoying to kill a fully-developed Pseudo-Person.

Such exceptional students would typically advance directly to the Investigation Bureau or even be arranged to go to the Capital City to obtain an internship qualification from E.I.A World Bureau.

However, not long after the Four Middle School Incident,

Luo Di brutally beat Wu Zhiping, the general manager of Bai Gu Food, a subsidiary of Tai She Group, causing severe cerebral hemorrhage.

After surgery, the victim was paralyzed and on the brink of death.

This offense was quite grave,

and an ordinary person would be sent to a high-security prison, likely dying from an “accident” inside.

But Luo Di’s case was special; both the City Research Bureau and the City Investigation Bureau stepped forward to protect him while also requesting a mental health evaluation.

Of course, nothing dishonest was done during the assessment, and Luo Di was diagnosed with a rather serious case of schizophrenia.

Director Wang from the City Investigation Bureau was also well-prepared, bringing out Luo Di’s detailed archive report, which clearly documented an incident from three and a half years ago.

An attack by Pseudo-Persons had occurred in the No.

13 Settlement District where Luo Di lived.

Returning home from junior high school, Luo Di opened the door only to find his whole family had been murdered recently.

The decapitated corpses were sitting around the dining table, with the severed heads placed on the table itself.

According to Corner Law,

relatively intact corpses are forbidden to be cremated.

They must undergo antiseptic treatment, sealed in a sterile bag, and then buried in a collectively managed public cemetery in a conventional burial, which is where Luo Di’s family was buried, not far from their home.

Luo Di would occasionally dig up the graves at night, afterward putting the corpses back in place, never leaving a trace at the scene and always choosing blind spots away from surveillance cameras, rarely being captured on film.

These ordinary public cemeteries were large in scale, and the Corners wouldn’t affect the bodies, hence there was lenient oversight, with security guards often slacking on the job.

As the weekly cemetery inspections never revealed any missing corpses, this matter remained undisclosed.

This information provided by Director Wang further illustrated Luo Di’s mental health issues.

Another critical point was that despite his severe mental condition, his brain pituitary showed no anomaly of Thought Corner, which was extremely important.

This made the subsequent handling much easier.

Originally meant to stay in Jupiter City, Luo Di was secretly transferred to the remote Mingwang City and admitted to the newly built and relatively superior Fifth Hospital.

There, he could recuperate at the edge city least affected by the Corners, receive mental health treatment,

and possibly benefit from the less strict supervision of a marginal city like Mingwang City to work behind closed doors.

If he recovered quickly on a mental level, he might be able to return to society earlier.

Such talent should not be wasted.

However, upon being admitted to Fifth Hospital as a psychiatric patient, not only did Luo Di’s condition fail to improve, it even became increasingly bizarre.

…

In the intensive care unit of Fifth Hospital,

Luo Di, who was wearing shackles, resided in room number [0510]—a room number he had vehemently requested when transferred to the ICU.

To prevent the danger of critically ill patients self-harming with various objects or attempting an escape,

the room was equipped only with a springless foam mattress, a squat toilet, and a soft hose water outlet.

Additionally, an emergency ‘ball lamp,’ made of soft material that lit up with a squeeze, was kept in a Corner for use during urgent power outages.

Because they require substantial medication, critically ill patients are almost always drowsy, spending most of their time in a daze or sleeping, unable to feel bored even if doing nothing.

Of course,

most patients are very resistant to medication.

It often requires fully-armed security officers to restrain them before experienced nurses can administer the injections.

The sole exception was Luo Di.

He never resisted the medication, nor did he need injections.

He would consume all the tablets brought to his room without fail.

Even with Luo Fei’s help, he managed to double his medication dosage.

While the hospital was reluctant, Luo Fei personally signed the full responsibility statement, even obtaining approval documents from the City Research Bureau.

…

Thud, thud~

The closed Iron Gate was knocked on.

A meal tray with three dishes and a bowl of soup was slid through an opening at the bottom of the door,

Due to Luo Fei’s arrival, the quality of the meals had visibly improved, even retaining the heat of just being cooked, as if specially stir-fried for Luo Di.

At the bottom of the tray, there was a crime mystery novel placed to pass the time.

And on the top right corner of the tray sat a plastic medicine bottle.

Luo Di, who had been sitting on the bed in a daze, immediately widened his eyes and lunged forward

He was neither eager to taste the delicious meal nor to pick up the novel,

but instead, he grabbed the plastic bottle and twisted it open with one hand.

After confirming that the number of pills inside had indeed doubled, a rare smile appeared on Luo Di’s face.

He screwed the cap back on and placed it carefully at the bedside.

Luo Di picked up the tray and enjoyed the meal, while also taking breaks to read the text in the book during his meal.

This moment felt like a return to his senior year of high school, sitting at the cafeteria table at noon, eating while reading textbooks.

Except now, when encountering incomprehensible text, he could no longer ask Little Gao beside him for help.

Half an hour after the meal,

Luo Di closed the book in his hands and placed it at the bedside, picked up the medicine bottle again,

He did not consume the doubled dose of pills all at once but rather separated a portion and left another in the bottle.

Inspected the pills in his palm once again,

and after confirming they were correct, swallowed them in an established order*

(*Risperidone, Olanzapine, Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride, Quetiapine Fumarate, Amisulpride)

By the time the last pill was ingested, fully absorbed by the small intestine, and transported by blood vessels to take effect throughout the body,

Luo Di’s thinking did not slow down, he didn’t feel drowsy, nor did he exhibit any discomfort.

Everything seemed normal.

However, his ears picked up a strange sound, coming from outside the door.

It was like a metallic friction noise, mixed with something else.

Such noises should not be heard in a Psychiatric Hospital, especially not in the intensive care unit.

Hearing this noise, however, Luo Di suddenly became alert, his gaze more focused than ever before.

He stuffed the medicine bottle behind his waistband and stood up, heading towards the door of the ward.

The heavy iron door, which was supposed to have three different locking mechanisms and an alarm system, was now unlocked and even had streams of hot air seeping from beneath it.

Four fingers slipped into the seam, prying it open.

No alarms were triggered,

Luo Di easily left the intensive care ward during inactive hours, but the environment outside seemed somewhat different.

Though it was still the familiar hospital corridor, with identical iron doors lined up across, and the walls painted greyish green.

Except that the temperature in the corridor seemed 5°C higher than in the room.

Yellow patches had formed on the white light strips affixed to the ceiling, and the entire corridor was filled with an atmosphere of warmth, even dryness.

Not only that,

despite being a newly built hospital, the walls were already spotted, as some of the wall’s surface began to fall off in ash-like flakes under the illumination of the light, drifting through the air.

A foul and suffocating smell followed,

and a wave of pain spread from below his feet,

The metal shackles, which were originally on his feet, grew thorns after contacting the falling ash and morphed into old-fashioned spiked shackles that completely pierced through Luo Di’s ankles.

Yet it did not affect his walking, as if he had long been accustomed to this penetrating pain.

Clang clang~

The sound of the shackles echoed through the corridor, with Luo Di walking alone.

His spine, as well, protruded clearer after being covered by ash, and despite the hospital gown, one could see its distinct contours,

On both sides of the cell, painful groans continued to emanate, and occasionally a peeling, bloody hand would reach out through the windows and doors,

However, Luo Di’s expression showed an unusual excitement, he had a clear goal, he was determined to reach a certain special region.

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