Chapter 1: Room 505

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“When a person falls into the water, they can hold their breath for three minutes.”

“Once breathing stops, it takes another minute to lose consciousness.”

“After consciousness is lost, the heart can continue beating for up to three minutes.”

“After the heart stops beating, the brain can remain alive for another five minutes before irreversible death sets in.”

“As long as they are rescued during that time, there is still hope.”

“Human beings are remarkably tenacious.”

A gentle, calm voice came from the phone, playing an essay aloud.

Li Guanqi sat upright before the computer in his white coat, listening to the audiobook as he worked.

He had loved reading since childhood and had always excelled both academically and morally.

He was one of those legendary “other people’s children.”

He had been impeccably well-behaved for twenty years.

Now a third-year student, he had come to the Affiliated Hospital of Xunyang University for his internship. There had not been enough openings in general surgery, so he had been assigned to psychiatry instead.

Fortunately, the work was simple enough: making rounds, taking medical histories, accompanying doctors during examinations, and attending meetings. In his spare time, he could listen to audiobooks and enjoy a little leisure.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

A hurried pounding shattered the gentle atmosphere in the room.

Before Li Guanqi could answer, his colleague Xu Fei flung open the door and rushed in.

Breathing hard, struggling to suppress his laughter, he said in a trembling, comical voice, “A patient just arrived…”

“Her presence… pfft—she’s kind of like you.”

“???” Li Guanqi’s expression darkened. “You’re quite the diplomat, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean, ‘a patient just arrived whose presence is kind of like mine’?”

Low emotional intelligence: “A nutcase.”

High emotional intelligence: “A patient has come to our psychiatric ward whose presence is rather similar to yours.”

Xu Fei’s breathing steadied somewhat. He said urgently, “Come on, come on. Room 505. Several doctors can’t handle her…”

“An absolute beauty! She’s completely insane…”

“Even tranquilizers can’t keep her down, hahaha…”

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth betrayed him. He burst out laughing, his shoulders bobbing up and down.

“505?” Li Guanqi repeated with a frown.

Room 505 was the special-case ward, unused for many years.

Its windows and door were badly damaged and had never been replaced.

He could not understand what sort of person would be assigned to Room 505.

“A patient several doctors can’t deal with? How could an intern like me possibly help…”

Muttering inwardly, Li Guanqi silently straightened the collar and cuffs of his white coat, adjusted the intern’s name badge on his chest, and followed Xu Fei toward Room 505.

In the corridor, the number on Room 505’s door looked indistinct beneath the dim lights.

The rusted iron door stood half open, creaking softly. Agitated noise seeped through the gap.

Curious, Li Guanqi pushed the door open a little farther and slipped quietly inside.

The room was brightly lit. Several doctors and nurses stood around the bed, their expressions grave as they discussed something.

“Miss, please calm down!”

“Tranquilizer! Get the tranquilizer!”

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“She’s unstable…”

“Just who is this rich young lady…”

The nurses bustled about, trying to soothe the patient while daring not to approach too closely.

There was something faintly like… fear?

Curious, Li Guanqi drew nearer to the crowd. Tilting his head slightly, he finally saw the troublesome patient.

For a single instant, he was utterly dazzled.

He had expected a woman with disheveled clothes, tangled long hair, a haggard face, and bewildered eyes.

The reality, however, was entirely different.

She had long, straight black hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall, setting off her fair complexion.

She wore a deep crimson strapless gown.

The design was simple yet elegant, perfectly outlining her graceful figure. It revealed her delicate collarbones and the refined line of her neck, like flowing red wine—deep and mesmerizing.

There were two kinds of good women in this world.

One kind had to be understood; only after getting to know them could one appreciate their gentleness and thoughtfulness.

The other kind required no understanding at all, like the woman in the red dress before him.

What made her wonderful was her figure, her face, and the faint floral fragrance mingling with the scent of disinfectant.

“A goddess…” Li Guanqi stared blankly, thinking of that vulgar word.

The girl was simply too beautiful. Her radiance lent the word “goddess” a little dignity.

But what was this goddess doing?

With her back against the window, she stood perfectly straight. She crossed her hands before her chest, swept them in a half-circle, and struck a pose with an expression of utmost seriousness.

Anyone who did not know better might have thought she was about to transform into a masked hero.

Suddenly!

A sharp gleam flashed through the red-dressed woman’s eyes. In a resonant voice, she intoned, “The cold flames shall devour everything in this world.”

“The pitch-black flower…”

She swung her arms. Her voice carried a strange magic. Li Guanqi was swept up in it; his breathing quickened, his gaze gradually grew vacant, and his blood began to surge.

“Bloom!”

“Bloom!”

His eyes widened, and he involuntarily joined the cry.

“Synchro Summon!”

Their voices rang out as one. Their impassioned shout collided and erupted through the ward, instantly drowning out every other sound.

“Black Rose Dragon!”

Li Guanqi shouted at the top of his lungs, releasing all the fervor in his chest.

“Black Rose Dragon!”

The girl’s voice was clear and resolute, filled with unquestionable power.

The instant their voices fell, a violent gale burst through the broken window.

The decrepit frame snapped and creaked. The curtains were whipped violently upward, rustling like the dance of ghosts.

The nurses cried out and scattered. The doctors raised their arms to shield themselves from the blast.

The ward descended into brief chaos. Only the cry of “Black Rose Dragon!” continued to echo.

The gale lasted for several breaths.

Slowly, the ward returned to calm. The nurses and doctors stared at one another.

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The Black Rose Dragon that Li Guanqi and the woman in red had summoned together did not appear.

The air fell deathly silent.

“Uh…”

Li Guanqi’s reason reclaimed the high ground. His old face flushed red, and his toes curled into the floor.

“Damn it. I can’t stay at this hospital.”

Xu Fei had not been wrong. He really did share the patient’s peculiar presence.

It truly was not his fault.

That insane woman’s line—“The cold flames shall devour everything in this world”—had struck exactly the right chord, as though Akiza Izinski had crossed over from the anime into reality.

Her voice had been filled with heartfelt seriousness and conviction.

He had heard countless voice performances of chuunibyou-style summoning lines. Without exception, they carried an awkwardness; the voice actors could not fully commit. Subconsciously, they knew that Black Rose Dragon was fictional, and so their words naturally lacked force.

But this crazy woman before him was serious.

She genuinely believed she could summon Black Rose Dragon. Her blood was boiling with excitement.

The pure, undiluted flavor of it had infected Li Guanqi, awakening the chuunibyou spirit that had lain dormant within him for years and making him shout along before he could stop himself.

The shouting had felt fantastic.

The embarrassment was fatal.

Li Guanqi desperately wanted to take back his remark about her being a goddess. This was the most thoroughly ruined goddess in history.

Not a goddess—a goddess of madness!

Even if he racked his brain, he never could have imagined that the exceptional patient was a card-game fanatic.

Had she finally lost control and gone so insane that she ended up in psychiatry?

The nurses and doctors around them all turned to look at Li Guanqi, their eyes filled with confusion.

“What kind of code is ‘Black Rose Dragon’?”

“What does ‘The cold flames shall devour everything in this world’ mean?”

“Does the patient have a tendency toward social retaliation?” the senior doctor asked sternly, his gaze moving back and forth between Li Guanqi and the girl.

In 2026, Yu-Gi-Oh! remained a niche franchise in Xia Long. Ordinary doctors and nurses had no idea what those lines meant.

“Uh…” Li Guanqi gave an awkward smile, his mind in turmoil.

“It’s a line from some anime…”

“She may not actually be ill…”

“It’s just that she plays too much Yu-Gi-Oh!…”

He added this with a trace of helplessness and self-mockery in his voice.

The doctors and nurses frowned in bewilderment. The explanation did not quite make sense.

The woman in red silently observed everything. Resting her fingers against her chin, she scrutinized Li Guanqi with an appraising gaze.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

“Dr. Li… Dr. Li?!” she cried, her voice filled with disbelief.

The instant her words fell, the entire room fell silent.