The Streamer's Choice

Once Owen realized what kind of situation they were in, his expression turned grim. "Yeah… our situation is as bad as it gets, Rosy. No one can help us now except ourselves. So we have to grit our teeth and get through this…"

Rosy nodded in understanding before slowly looking around, bewildered. "I get it, Owen. Even though I can't fight, I'll try my best to be as useful as possible!... But where are we? This looks like an abandoned hospital…"

"Probably…" Owen nodded. "But it's too quiet. Abnormally quiet," he said, trying to listen intently for a moment. "No doctors, no nurses, no patients, and no sound at all... It's like this place has been deserted for a long time."

After composing themselves, the two began to carefully walk out of the room to explore. Owen peeked his head out into the hallway, which stretched into the dim darkness as if it were endless. Some of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were still working, but they flickered erratically, causing their shadows to stretch and distort along the walls like dancing demons. The mournful howl of an old air conditioning unit echoed down the chilly corridor, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the place.

Suddenly, Owen and Rosy both caught a whiff of something. It was a rotten stench mixed with the sharp smell of disinfectant and the metallic scent of rust, like the aura of a derelict hospital filled with corpses and death.

Owen took a few more steps forward, while Rosy quickly ran up and clung to his arm tightly, refusing to let go. "Eek~ Owen, don't walk so far away from me! I'm scared~" Rosy whispered to him, her body trembling slightly.

Owen could only give a dry smile at her fearful demeanor. 'Where did your feisty personality go?' he thought, but his own heart was pounding with fear just the same. They continued slowly and cautiously down the path ahead, but the hallway was strangely empty. No signs, no nurses' station, no chairs, nothing but an empty corridor stretching into the darkness.

"There's definitely something wrong with this hallway," Owen whispered. "It's not like any normal hospital we're familiar with. It's... too quiet and empty. It's as if someone swept everything away."

Rosy was still holding onto Owen's arm tightly, her eyes darting around nervously. "How can it be a normal hospital, Owen! Don't forget, this is the Dimension of Chaos. Remember, anything can happen in this place, and the atmosphere is getting more and more like a horror movie scene, don't you notice?"

Hearing that, Owen began to weigh whether they should continue exploring. If there really were ghosts or monsters ahead, would they be able to handle them?

But as Owen was thinking, a strange sound suddenly came from the dark end of the hallway. It started softly... Scrape... scrape... like the sound of heavy metal being dragged across a concrete floor. Then came a light, rhythmic thud... Thud... thud... It wasn't the sound of machinery; it was like a large living creature walking... walking slowly towards them.

Rosy flinched and immediately hid behind Owen, her eyes narrowed as she peered into the darkness ahead with extreme fear. "Owen… do you hear that? It proves we're not alone!... Up ahead… something's moving..."

Owen tried to control his own frantic mind. His eyes quickly scanned the area for a hiding place, and then he saw the door to a patient room left ajar not far from them. "Rosy! This way!" He grabbed her arm and they quickly ran to hide in the room.

He slowly pushed the door shut as quietly as possible, trying not to make even the slightest noise. Then he scanned the dim room for a weapon, in case something broke down the door. He needed something to defend himself.

Then, Owen's eyes caught sight of a stainless-steel IV pole standing next to the patient's bed. He quickly detached it from its wheeled base, creating a long steel club that would serve as a decent weapon in a pinch. Both Owen and Rosy fell silent. They stood leaning against the door, holding their breath to listen to the sounds outside. For about five minutes that felt like an eternity, the horrifying dragging sound they had heard gradually faded into the darkness…

"The sound is gone… but don't let your guard down," Owen whispered. He turned to Rosy. "We shouldn't go out until we know for sure what that thing outside is…"

Rosy nodded lightly, her eyes still showing fear. She tried to scan the room, hoping to find something that could help them. And then, luck was on her side. Her eyes landed on a file of documents scattered on the floor near a patient bed on the other side of the room, which was covered with an old white sheet stained with dried blood and thick dust.

She cautiously walked over and picked up the documents one by one. They were several medical records. Some sheets were stained dark brown, some were torn, but the text was still legible.

"Patient Case A-113... Abnormally high body temperature, vomiting blood, failure to respond to all medications... A small foreign object detected, embedded in the neck area, near the back base of the skull. Slender, sharp, and moves when viewed with a thermal scope..."

As she read the documents, Rosy's face slowly turned pale. "Owen... look at this data… The thing embedded in the patient's body, could it be a monster from this dimension?"

Owen took the documents from her trembling hand and glanced at the attached X-ray photo. It was a black shadow shaped like a sewing needle. Its body was slender, its head was sharp, and its tail was curved. It was embedded near the patient's skull, as if trying to take control of the brain.

"It's not an object... it's definitely a living thing," Owen said in a low voice. "It could be a monster larva or some kind of parasite. Good job, Rosy. At least now we have some information about what we're up to against…" He gave Rosy a little praise to boost her morale.

Just as they were about to read the next document, a strange sound came from the bed covered by the sheet... Fwoop... The white sheet rippled lightly. Once... then again… and again… until it was clear that something was moving underneath.

Seeing that, Rosy instinctively backed up against the wall, while Owen slowly raised the steel club in his hand. He approached the bed one step at a time... step by step... every movement of his was as silent as a predator preparing to strike its target. When he was in range, Owen used all his strength to yank off the cover in one swift motion!

It revealed the corpse of a woman lying still on the bed. Her skin was pale gray, her eyes wide open and staring blankly. But the most horrifying thing was at the nape of her neck, where an egg-sized lump was swelling. It bulged under the skin and was twitching rhythmically. And then Owen noticed something moving inside.

It was a small creature, no more than 2 inches long, with a sharp, needle-like mouth. Its body was covered in countless tiny tendrils that moved in waves. When it sensed another living being nearby, it began to struggle violently, trying to urgently pierce through the corpse's skin, like a predator excited by its delicious prey.

"Owen, watch out! It's moving!" Rosy cried out as a warning.

SPLAT!

The creature burst through the skin in an instant, followed by the sound of tearing flesh and a splash of dark fluid. It leaped from the corpse and shot straight for Owen's face in mid-air!

Owen, who already had excellent reflexes, didn't hesitate. He immediately swung the steel club at it in mid-air! The impact sent it flying into the wall, but it continued to writhe defiantly. This time, it turned its sharp head and lunged at Rosy instead!

Fortunately, Rosy was already prepared. She grabbed a can of disinfectant spray from the bedside table and threw it at the creature with all her might, before Owen rushed in and stomped on it again and again until he heard a Pop! sound. Thick black blood splattered from its crushed body, oozing and emitting a pungent, nauseating stench.

Seeing that it was over, both of them immediately sighed in relief. Rosy sank to the floor next to the bed, her eyes welling up with tears from the shock of the recent event. Owen sat down next to her and held her hand tightly to comfort her.

"It's okay, Rosy. We did it. You see? If it can't get inside us, it's just a pathetic worm… So please don't be afraid..." Owen comforted Rosy in a gentle voice. "And we're going to get out of here together. I promise, Rosy…"

Rosy nodded and quietly leaned her head on Owen's shoulder.

But just as their stress was about to ease, a heavy thudding sound came from outside again... Thud... thud... It sounded like footsteps... no... it was the sound of footsteps accompanied by the dragging of something very large and heavy across the floor, along with a faint but raspy breath and a low, guttural growl of a beast. They could only look at each other, knowing instantly that what awaited them ahead might not be just a "pathetic worm" anymore…

Owen sat still on the floor next to the bed, his hand still naturally holding Rosy's tightly. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to use all his instincts to pinpoint the direction of the terrifying sound.

"It's moving past to the left... Don't move an inch," he whispered as softly as possible.

The two of them didn't move at all. The oppressive silence weighed down the atmosphere in the room until they could hear their own hearts pounding in their chests. The heavy, dragging footsteps gradually grew fainter... and fainter... until they finally disappeared into the darkness, as if something had temporarily moved on from the area.

Rosy let out a soft sigh of relief and turned to look at Owen, her eyes still filled with anxiety. "We have to get out of this room... before that thing comes back."

Owen nodded in agreement. He stood up, walked over to another IV pole, detached it from its wheeled base, and handed the cold steel club to her. "Hold this. Just in case," he said with a faint, encouraging smile. Rosy took it, though her hand was still trembling slightly from the recent tension.

Slowly opening the door, the pair stepped back into the silent hallway. Only the musty smell and the faint scent of dried blood touched their noses. The light from the fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling still did its job lifelessly. It flickered at an uneven rhythm, some spots glowing dimly, others completely dark, causing their shadows to stretch and distort along the corridor.

"Owen, look at that," Rosy whispered softly, pointing to an old metal sign above their heads that read 'Biomedical Research Department'.

"There might be more information about that parasite we found in there..." she said hopefully. Owen nodded in understanding. They immediately headed straight there before cautiously pushing open the rusty door.

Inside was a rather cluttered and messy laboratory. Stainless steel workbenches were overturned, file cabinets were left open, files were scattered all over the floor, and the pungent smell of old chemicals filled the air. Owen inspected the surroundings while Rosy went straight to a computer that still had a light blinking on and off. She tried to use the computer but found that it required a password.

Even so, she didn't give up hope. She started guessing passwords jokingly. "admin1234" - Incorrect password! "system666" - Incorrect password!

Finally, with a furrowed brow, she tried typing "Biomedical1234." The display screen changed instantly. It meant she had guessed correctly! Owen, who was watching her from a distance, could only gape in disbelief. Rosy proudly puffed out her chest and said to Owen jokingly, "See? I told you anything can happen in this place. Hehe~"

Without delay, she immediately began searching for files related to "parasite" on the machine. And she found it.

"Experiment #47: We have discovered a new species of parasite in the area of an old abandoned mine. It has a shape similar to a sewing needle, with a sharp tip and a long, slender body. It can move freely on both land and in water, and exhibits aggressive behavior, viewing other living beings as prey. What's incredible is its ability to use its mouth to pierce through the skin and enter the body of another living being without the host feeling it at all, both silent and dangerous. It then moves to embed itself near the base of the skull, by the brain, to absorb nutrients and begin the incubation process. It has an average incubation period of 5-6 hours. During this time, the host will still appear normal from the outside. But as time passes, the host will begin to develop a high fever, dizziness, neck pain, and start to lose muscle control. If more than 5 hours pass, the parasite will take complete control of the host's body and begin the mutation phase..."

Owen finished reading the data file on the screen at the same time as Rosy. His expression immediately became tense. "Just as I thought... If it manages to get inside our bodies... we're done for."

But Rosy suddenly froze as if her soul had left her body. Her expression turned to one of clear panic. She reached up and lightly touched the back of her own neck. "Uh… Owen... I... I feel something hot and itchy right here... and... I'm starting to feel a little dizzy…" she began to say, her voice trembling.

Hearing her say that, Owen's heart dropped to his stomach. He immediately turned to look at her with concern. "Rosy, don't overthink it. You might just be stressed," he said to comfort her, but in his heart, he was praying... 'Please don't let anything have happened to her.' Owen used the flashlight from his phone to look at the back of her neck... and then he saw it... At the nape of Rosy's neck, there was a small red mark shaped like a pinprick. The surrounding skin was beginning to show slight red swelling…

Author: I've tried my best to make sure these images don't get blocked by the system. Here are the censored images that are now viewable. Thank you for following my novel.

[Character Illustration: Clara]

[Character Illustration: Jessica]

[Character Illustration: Victoria]

[Character Illustration: Clara in lingerie]

[Character Illustration: Claire]

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