Chapter 81: A Reporter's Professional Ethics |
[Side Quest: A Reporter's Professional Ethics]
[Quest Description: On the second floor of the Mount Massive Asylum Infirmary, you discovered a heavily injured fellow Reporter. He was on the verge of breathing his last right in front of you, but using your superb first-aid skills and the medical supplies you carried, you pulled him back from the brink of death. Perhaps, you can learn something from him.]
[Quest Requirement: Converse with the Reporter, Stephen.]
[Quest Reward: ???]
A new Side Quest. Bai Mu had not thought that much about it when he saved Stephen, considering he had even used up his only First Aid Kit.
He simply felt that their previous chat on the boat had been quite pleasant, so he resuscitated Stephen out of a desire not to let a friend die right in front of him.
However, he had a faint suspicion that Stephen might hold a quest; otherwise, the man would not have waited until he walked into the Infirmary to start breathing his last.
If Paradise merely wanted to provide him with a Memory Card, leaving a nameless corpse in this room would have had zero impact.
Bai Mu quickly understood that this was a plot trigger. If Players had highly effective healing items or recovery skills, they could save Stephen and trigger this quest.
Triggering this quest was not necessarily difficult, but it required a willingness to part with valuable items. If this were a video game, Bai Mu believed most players would gladly interact with a dying NPC. But in Paradise, there were not many people as decisive as him.
"Is this what they call good karma?"
In Bai Mu's experience, the rewards for hidden Side Quests were always quite substantial.
Even setting the quest rewards aside, Bai Mu was quite relieved to meet an old acquaintance in an asylum littered with corpses. He had assumed he would never have the chance to see Stephen again.
However, Stephen did not seem to remember him. His appearance had indeed changed significantly, mainly because he was wearing stylish new clothes.
Furthermore, it was unclear how the timeline worked on Stephen's end. The last time they parted ways, Bai Mu was eating steak in a high-end hotel while Stephen rushed in excitedly from outside, wanting to interview him.
Today, in a sudden twist of fate, Stephen was a dying man tied up in the Infirmary.
"It is me, Bai. When I was stranded on the Deserted Island, didn't you interview me?" Bai Mu pointed at his own face, trying to jog Stephen's memory.
Stephen remained looking thoroughly confused, as if he had never seen Bai Mu before in his life. Bai Mu glanced at his title window. He currently had the "Witch's Friend" title equipped. After a moment of thought, he switched it to "Walking Headline".
The effect was instantaneous. Stephen was suddenly enlightened, his eyes widening.
"Bai! How come you are here? We haven't seen each other in two or three years!" Stephen instantly transformed into Bai Mu's old acquaintance.
It really was because of the title. It seemed that in this middle-aged Reporter's memory, he only recalled interviewing Bai Mu on the Deserted Island when the "Walking Headline" title was equipped. Moreover, in his timeline, several years had actually passed since their last meeting.
Bai Mu felt as though one day in Paradise equaled a year on the outside. Only two or three days had passed for him, yet two or three years had gone by for Stephen.
It was hard to tell whether Stephen's memories had been altered, or if that much time had truly passed.
There was even another possibility. Bai Mu using this title was like adding a "Deserted Island Survival" mod to the entire world. The events related to that piece of news only existed when he had "Walking Headline" equipped.
The specifics were not that crucial. In short, by swapping titles, Bai Mu successfully gained Stephen's initial favor. Now, they had gone from strangers to old friends who had not seen each other in ages.
Bai Mu flashed the Camcorder on his chest and introduced himself according to the background provided by the Script. "I switched careers to become a Reporter. A few days ago, I received an anonymous email saying that this asylum was secretly conducting illegal human experiments. I wanted to come and verify the truth, but I never expected such a coincidence to run into you."
"So that is how it is," Stephen nodded.
"What about you, Stephen? Why are you here?"
"I actually received that anonymous email too." Stephen's face filled with righteous indignation. "I arrived a bit earlier than you. I got here before dark. Exposing these inhumane atrocities to the public is exactly what a Reporter's professional ethics are all about!"
"As soon as I entered, I realized this place had massive problems. A priest was actually illegally preaching inside the asylum! I even filmed the abused patients; many of them did not even have intact skin left on their bodies!"
"Did you sneak in here?" Bai Mu swept his gaze across the ward, picking up a pair of fine tweezers from the operating table to help unlock Stephen's handcuffs and shackles.
"Of course." Stephen lowered his voice. "Undercover filming is a basic skill for a Reporter. My infiltration was absolutely flawless. No one spotted me at all, and I captured a ton of crucial footage."
"Then how did you end up handcuffed in a ward?" Bai Mu looked at the bruises on Stephen's wrists and ankles. "Did you get exposed while trying to escape?"
"That was a tactical retreat." Stephen coughed. "I originally planned to leave through the front door. After the priest finished his brainwashing, he left with the patients. Who knew that just as I was getting ready to go, a group of armed soldiers would suddenly rush in from outside."
"I could only try to find a place to hide on the second floor. Oh my god! Bai, you definitely wouldn't believe what I caught on camera! Those soldiers were being dragged around by something invisible! They all died!"
"Calm down, Stephen. You still haven't said who handcuffed you here," Bai Mu pointed out.
"It... it was a burly fat man." Stephen could not help but shudder. "He found me on the second floor, caught me, and tied me up in this Infirmary."
"And that priest, he took my Camcorder!" Stephen gnashed his teeth in anger. "If I hadn't popped the Memory Card out when they weren't looking, all the evidence I filmed would have been gone."
"A fat man?" Bai Mu frowned. "What did that guy look like? Is he still alive? Did he just leave after tying you to the hospital bed?"
"He was taller than the door frame." Stephen gestured with his hands. "He looked to be at least two hundred kilograms, as massive as a Japanese sumo wrestler. The guy was a total lunatic. His body was covered in wounds, and there was no way to communicate with him normally. I was almost stabbed to death by him..."
"He is definitely still alive. He left here not too long ago, though I don't know what he went to do."
"Right, we need to get out of this room right now!" Stephen trembled. "Otherwise, if he comes back and sees us, we are doomed. Bai, we have to hide, quickly!"
Just as Stephen said those words, Bai Mu raised an index finger to his lips.
He heard footsteps coming from outside the door, and a massive humanoid shadow appeared at the entrance to the Infirmary.
[Side Quest "A Reporter's Professional Ethics" has been updated.]
[Quest Condition Changed: Escape the pursuit together with Stephen.]
[Note: Do not forget, you are a Reporter.]