A Different Enemy

Anton stopped and looked at the empty and abandoned hospital in front of him. The facilities were dark, and by the smell, he felt as if he had entered an operating room.

Was the dark entity trying to slowly hunt him down in a bizarre game? Or was it playing some other game he was unaware of? However, since the other party had chosen to face him directly and not play tricks on him from behind, Anton didn't mind.

As the other party wanted to play, Anton would take charge and confront it until he managed to eliminate the dark entity. Looking at Sara, he walked towards a small stone shack that served as decoration and peered inside before kneeling. "Sara, I need you to stay in this place. You know, I am a policeman; I will definitely get you out of this place."

As Anton was leaving, Sara tightly held his hand and pleaded with tears in her eyes, "Please don't leave me in this dark place."

Anton took off his jacket and put it on the little girl. "Sara, be obedient. I'm just going to find the exit in that hospital; remember that I will protect you. I just need you to stay in this place and not move, okay?"

"Alright, I'll wait for you in this place!" Sara nodded obediently.

"Good!" Anton gently stroked Sara's small head and walked towards the hospital door. As he approached the abandoned hospital, Anton saw some yellow words written on the door: mental hospital. Was it a psychiatric hospital? Anton frowned.

At the entrance on the first floor, there was a list of employees of the psychiatric hospital. There was a familiar face on it. Smiling Doll? It was a familiar figure!

In the first line of the employee list, the first figure was a yellowish doll with red balloons. It looked exactly like the smiling doll, but it didn't have that smiling face. The smiling doll from fun time. This doll seemed to enjoy great popularity within the hospital. From what Anton could see, there were many photos of children with the smiling doll. All the children were happily hugging the smiling doll. Was it really a mental illness hospital? Anton was somewhat astonished.

He did not expect that this smiling doll was actually called a happy doll. Moreover, it was apparently a beloved figure within this abandoned hospital. What exactly happened for this doll to become a dark entity? How could something like this be taken over by a dark entity? Anton couldn't understand.

He still remembered Elizabeth's parents, who, according to their words, suffered brain death. That means they must have been killed in some way in the labyrinth. Furthermore, the damage suffered in this dream world would be reflected in real life in some way.

"Now that I am in your territory, what are you waiting for? Why don't you come and kill me?" Anton stood at the entrance of the psychiatric hospital and said it with a smile. In his hands, he held his knife tightly.

"Hmph, it's too early to kill you now." The smiling doll said it with a shrill laugh. Suddenly, it appeared not far from where Anton was.

"I'll play a game with you. We'll talk about it if you can survive."

"In this psychiatric hospital, I have installed a special torture device. I call it 'the happy smile.' If you can survive, then you can do whatever you want." The smiling doll released that strange laugh again. Then it disappeared into the darkness, leaving the red balloons floating on the ceiling.

"It moves very fast; can I do anything to it?" Anton thought with a serious expression.

Anton continued walking further into the hospital. There was no one in the room, and everything was very messy. Soon, Anton reached the third floor of the psychiatric hospital.

There was a black door with the words "Happy Doll Maintenance Office" written on it.

"This must be the room of the smiling doll." Anton thought and pushed the door.

After entering, he realized that the place was quite tidy. The display was very simple. There was only a table, a wardrobe, many red balloons, and some chairs.

"This device?" Anton was stunned when he saw it.

"This is the electricity generator device." The strange laugh of the smiling doll reverberated in the room.

Anton looked at the huge body of the smiling doll standing at the door; the coldness emanating from its body made him feel suffocated.

"In this psychiatric hospital, as long as there is a disobedient patient, I will bring them to this chair. Once electrocuted, no matter who it is, they will be obedient. Even if they don't have a mental illness, they will admit that they are sick after being electrocuted."

"No one can remain conscious after being electrocuted. They will do anything I say. Otherwise, why do you think everyone wants me inside this old hospital? It's all thanks to this machine." The smiling doll didn't move from the door, but its voice continued to resonate throughout the room.

"[Mission in progress:

Class: Domination/Elimination

Request: Defeat the smiling doll and uncover the secrets of this place.

Reward: 10,000 faith points, 10 general strength, and 15 spirit.]"

"I see, then die." When Anton said that, his body moved at a terrifying speed towards the smiling doll.

Holding his knife tightly, Anton stabbed it into the side of the huge yellowish body of the smiling doll. After Anton stabbed the knife into the doll's skin, he felt something warm at the bottom of his chest. In a matter of seconds, he found himself standing again in the same place.

"How is this possible?" Anton wondered as he touched the wound.

"Does it reflect damage?"

"That was very impressive; you move much faster than anyone else who entered this place. To be honest, you control your emotions very well," said the smiling doll while applauding.

"If I can't harm it and the damage is reflected, I am in its domain," Anton realized.

He looked at the chairs in the room, ignoring the wound on his body. He analyzed his situation once again. This dark entity, the happy doll, supposedly treated mental illness by relying on electric shocks to make others submit to it. This kind of doctor was practically the cancer of society many years ago.

Anton sat on the chair in the room.

This was a dream world created by the other party. Even if Anton wanted to leave now, he couldn't, just as he couldn't inflict physical harm since it resided in his body. You might as well wait here and see what methods the smiling doll was going to use.

After about three or four minutes, a few doctors in white coats approached down the hallway. They had tools in their hands as they walked towards Anton. All of them had a mask of the smiling doll.

"Is this also part of the dream?"

Just as the surveillance increased, Anton suddenly realized that strange ropes had appeared around him, tying him to a seat. Even with his current strength, he couldn't free himself, no matter how many times he tried.