Chapter 56: It’s Not Me that’s Wrong, It’s the World! |
Zhao Lan’s eyes darted to the side and caught a glimpse of something unsettling. Precious was grinning, but it was a twisted and sinister grin that made her skin crawl.
Yu Xiao felt a chill run down her spine as she imagined the headlines that would greet her tomorrow. All the patients in the six hospitals would learn of her infamous title, the one that branded her as the ‘Deadly Arse Assassin.’
“Ugh…” She shuddered.
She forced herself to read on.
【…Your current points are 163.】
【Congratulations on topping the leaderboard! You’ve earned two reward cards. Please go to the forum to claim them.】
The only silver lining of her disastrous return was the surge of points she had accumulated. She felt sorry for Liu Fei, who had splurged on ten talismans from her, only to never get a chance to use them.
Yu Xiao lifted her head and saw Zhou Xiao Zhen and Zhao Lan beaming, clearly pleased with their results. Especially Misty, who had bagged two titles, both of them impressive.
Yu Xiao bit her lip and asked nonchalantly, “By the way, Misty, what’s your titles?”
Zhao Lan warmly smiled at her and said, “I share the same title with you, Demolition Crew Member. What about you, Smiley? You must have something similar, right?”
Yu Xiao forced a smile and replied, “Yeah, sure. I’m the Demolition Crew Captain.”
“Ah, I thought so,” Zhao Lan said. “My other title is connected to yours, I think. It’s called the ‘Bully’s Accomplice’.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen’s eyes widened in awe. “Smiley is the bully?” she asked, her voice filled with admiration. “Who else but Smiley could deserve such a title?”
Yu Xiao let out a hollow laugh. She felt no pride whatsoever. “You guessed it. It’s related to my other title. The ‘Amusement Park Bully’.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said, a hint of envy in her tone. “I guess I didn’t do enough this time. I missed out on the Bully’s Accomplice title. Next time, I’ll try harder.”
“Smiley,” Zhao Lan suddenly asked, “how many titles do you have in total? Just two?”
“…”
Yu Xiao clamped her mouth shut, refusing to divulge the horrifying ordeal of the Merry-go-Round that had nearly filled her with rage.
“Hehe…” She tried to sound casual. “Titles are not that important, really. I made a killing in business this time, and now I have over a hundred points. I’m almost ready to leave the Sixth Hospital.”
“That’s amazing,” Zhou Xiao Zhen did some mental arithmetic. “To get out of the Sixth Institute, one person would need at least one thousand eight hundred points. Sister Xiao earned over a hundred points in just one dungeon run, so that means we only need to do a dozen more dungeons, and we can send one of us away?”
“That’s the plan,” Zhao Lan agreed, sounding optimistic. “It seems selling talismans for points is more lucrative than I thought.”
Yu Xiao felt a wave of relief wash over her as the conversation moved away from her titles.
“Hey, I got a luck card this time,” Zhao Lan glanced at her phone with excitement. “I always got stamina cards before, and I was afraid I would turn into a She-Hulk, but I didn’t expect to get a luck card.”
“I got a spirit card,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said, “It’s the kind that Xie Meng Meng talked about, the one that can boost your spirituality and make you more aware of ghosts.”
Yu Xiao looked at her cheerful face and felt obliged to warn her. “The spirit card is not all roses, you know. Sure, being more attuned to ghosts is a useful skill, it can help you spot or track them. But it can also be a curse. You saw how Xie Meng Meng freaked out in the haunted house, right? That was because her intuition was too strong.”
Zhou Xiao Zhen stared at the spirit card, her face showing a mix of curiosity and apprehension. She weighed the pros and cons in her mind, then made her choice. “I’m going for it. I’m using the card. Don’t worry, I won’t be afraid as long as you two are with me.”
Yu Xiao nodded in approval, not wanting to dissuade her. After all, having a heightened sense of spirituality was not a bad thing.
She opened her own interface and discovered that she had also received a spirit card, along with an upgrade card.
She remembered that Zhou Xiao Zhen had gotten one of these cards before, the kind that could improve the quality of items. Yu Xiao considered the items she possessed: sunglasses that could pierce through illusions, a wig that could transform her appearance, and the Coin of Great Observation.
She didn’t hesitate for a second. The upgrade card was meant for the Coin of Great Observation, because that was the only item that had offensive power. She tapped on the upgrade card, and watched it flip over, revealing three options.
【Please select the item you wish to upgrade. A. Sunglasses. B. Wig. C. Coin.】
She chose the Coin without a second thought, and a spectacular display of fireworks erupted on the screen. When the fireworks faded, the instructions for the upgraded Coin of Great Observation appeared.
【Coin of Great Observation 2.0: Can predict fortune or misfortune. Face-up brings good luck; all ghosts and monsters within a ten-metre radius will endure agony. Face-down brings misfortune; everyone within a ten-metre radius will feel conflicted emotions of love and hate towards you. Cooldown time: one hour.】
“…”
Speechless, she wondered why Zhou Xiao Zhen had lucked out with an extra round of mahjong after using the upgrade card, which was a useful upgrade, while her own item had turned into a freak show.
Sighing, she accepted that some things were beyond the realm of luck.
She used the spirit card as well, but she didn’t notice any difference afterward. The ward looked normal, except for a cold draft near the door.
Supposedly, the ward was a safe haven, but it was hard to believe considering the ghosts that had breached it multiple times.
Knock, knock, knock!
A loud banging came from outside, followed by the familiar gruff voice of the delivery man. “Delivery pickup!”
“I’m coming!” Zhou Xiao Zhen, who had volunteered to handle the deliveries in the ward before, replied. She took the talismans from Yu Xiao and headed to the door to hand over the package.
As she neared the door, but before she opened it, Zhou Xiao Zhen shuddered.
“Brrr. It’s freezing.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “This delivery guy has a strong Yin energy.”
(Yin and Yang energy (阴气 and 阳气): Concepts from Chinese philosophy. Yin represents the passive, dark, and feminine principles, whereas Yang represents the active, bright, and masculine principles… Essentially a philosophy used by sexist to suggest that women are the root of all evil and need to be controlled by men who possess Yang energy to suppress their Yin.)
Yu Xiao realised that her spirit card was kicking in. She felt a sharp drop in temperature as the delivery man got closer to the door and said, “Feeling Yin energy is normal. But if you feel Yang energy, then we’re in trouble.”
“Right you are,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said, as she grabbed a stack of delivery slips through the narrow gap in the door. Carefully, she began to scribble down the address and recipient details.
Intrigued by the delivery person’s attitude, Yu Xiao decided to strike up a conversation. “Delivery man, you must have a hard time, huh?”
The delivery man grunted but didn’t respond.
Undeterred, Yu Xiao persisted, “You know who I am, right? We’re hiring at Saint Elizabeth’s. Are you interested?”
“Hmph,” scoffed the delivery man, pressing on. “Are you finished yet? How long does it take to fill out a form?”
“What’s the rush?” Zhou Xiao Zhen snapped back, losing her patience. “You think you can do better? Then come and show me.”
Realising it was a hopeless case, Yu Xiao awkwardly rubbed her nose. She figured that being a delivery person must have some perks; otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to disrespect the Dean like that.
Fluffing up her pillow, Yu Xiao tossed her shoes aside, and reclined on the bed to browse the forums.
She spared a thought for Liu Fei’s trio, who had never escaped the instance, and then recalled Xie Meng Meng’s duo. On a whim, she decided to check the Fourth Hospital forum in hopes of finding news about Xie Meng Meng’s situation. Then she realised she had her number and switched to browsing the forum posts.
The post about the Dragon’s Descendants was still on the front page, with nearly a thousand comments.
There were many trading posts on the forum, most of them seeking item swaps. There were also posts complaining about being broke and having to eat steamed buns, as well as stories of being harassed by female ghosts in the instance.
As she continued scrolling, Yu Xiao came across a rather popular new post.
【Prepare yourself for the most bizarre treatment instance I’ve ever encountered.】
That was the title that caught Yu Xiao’s eye as she scrolled through the forum. She tapped on it, curious to see what it was about. To her surprise, she recognised the username of the poster. It was someone she knew.
【OP: Hey, everyone. I just escaped from a nightmare of an instance and I still can’t shake off the horror. I swear, if I hadn’t been lucky enough to team up with some of the big shots from our hospital, I would have been dead without even knowing how or why. I need to get this off my chest, and also warn anyone who might stumble into this instance in the future. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes and survive.】
【Another strategy post?】
【Bring it on.】
【I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, literally.】
【…】
【The name of this instance is Lolita Amusement Park. You guessed it, it’s an amusement park. But not a fun one, oh no. It’s a twisted, dark, and dangerous one. There were eight of us in the instance, five girls from two different wards of our Fourth Hospital, and three boys from the Fifth Hospital. The attending doctor is a girl named Lolita, and she’s the worst. You know how some people complained about Saint Elizabeth’s attending doctor being too hard to deal with? Well, Lolita makes him look like a Saint. No pun intended.】
【Before I go on, I have to mention that we had some VIPs in our group this time. The three girls from the other ward are the big shots of our hospital, especially the one who has a mouth like a rogue. No offence, big shot, if you’re reading this. I’m not trying to badmouth you, I’m actually admiring you. You’re awesome. Anyway, I’m going to take a break for an hour after this first part, so if you don’t want me to spill any more beans, just reply here, or give me a ring, and I’ll shut up and delete the post.】
【Who are the big shots in our hospital?】
【Did she mean that half of the top ten on the leaderboard are women?】
【One of them is rumoured to be ‘Zhuge Liang burning the Spider Web Cave’ – a woman who can outsmart any trap and enemy.】
【But hasn’t that rumour already been debunked?】
【…】
【Hey, OP, are you still there? It’s been an hour. Are you going to start or not?】
【Well, since the big shots haven’t stopped me, I guess I’ll go on. It all began when the big shots seduced Lolita to give them some clues. Lolita revealed three vital pieces of information: first, we had to leave the amusement park within two days; second, we could only obtain all the clues after trying out all the game facilities in the park; third, once we got the clues, we could leave the park and take an ambulance back to the hospital. Don’t forget the third point, it’s the most important!】
【With these hints, we divided ourselves into four teams and started to explore the game facilities one by one. That’s when we realised that all the game facilities were death traps, and we had no chance of survival, except for the big shots…】
【…】
【That’s how the big shots cleared the instance. I swear I’m not lying or exaggerating, that’s exactly how they effortlessly guided me out of the haunted house. Of course, I know you can’t replicate what the big shots did, even if I tell you how they did it. I’m just sharing it for your reference…】
The identity of the OP was obvious from the post; only Xie Meng Meng could have written it.
She felt a surge of pride at the admiration in the words, but it was quickly overshadowed by dread. How could she face the six hospitals tomorrow, knowing that they would all be aware of her embarrassing title? She painfully wished to destroy this flawed world that mocked her.