“Hiss~ It hurts so much!”
Xu San San slowly opened her heavy eyelids, only to be met by complete darkness.
“Where am I?”
Her brain momentarily froze.
“Shouldn’t I be in the Medical Room? How could…”
She tried lifting her heavy left arm again.
“Ah~! Ouch~!”
A piercing pain instantly shot through her.
Xu San San turned her head and strained to look at her left arm. In the darkness, she could vaguely see a bloody wound stretching from her left shoulder down to her forearm.
Along with the pain came a strong smell of blood and a vivid memory—
A girl of about fourteen or fifteen falling from a pile of ruins. During the fall, a rust-covered steel bar scraped the girl’s left arm, followed by a “thud!” as she hit the ground.
At the moment of impact, a massive monster had its throat slit by a black figure wielding a long blade, and simultaneously, the girl closed her eyes…
Xu San San was bewildered. Could it be that she… had traveled through time?
But where were the legendary carved bed, beaded curtains, and silk drapes?
Staring into the pitch-black room, she pricked up her ears, but the customary opening line, “Woman, This King tonight will…” didn’t appropriately sound off.
Damn, had she really traveled through time?
Why was it different from what she had imagined?
She turned her head again to look at her left arm, which was too painful to move.
The bleeding wound beneath her torn clothes seemed to silently confirm her suspicion.
Xu San San bent her right hand, trying to prop herself up, when she suddenly realized she was still clutching something in her right hand.
Looking closer, it was actually an emergency medical kit she had picked up in the Medical Room before losing consciousness.
Oh no, oh no, this was the “confirmed diagnosis”—she had truly traveled through time.
Xu San San, female, 20 years old, a third-year student at XX Medical University. Her parents had unfortunately contracted an infection and passed away during a global pandemic.
On December 12, 2023, Xu San San was interning at the YY Hospital Emergency Department.
That afternoon, an ambulance brought in a patient with a knife wound. Under the head nurse’s instructions, she was tasked with fetching tetanus shots and surgical supplies from the Medical Room.
Just as she touched the handle of the emergency medical kit, suddenly, she inexplicably traveled through time.
Alright, since she had traveled through time, even if there was no plot of an overbearing prince falling in love with her, she couldn’t just give up because she wasn’t satisfied with the setup!
Focusing on the present was the key!
Xu San San quickly calmed herself down. After experiencing her parents’ deaths, she had long learned how to swiftly gather her emotions and look forward.
Struggling, she used her right elbow as a pivot to slowly prop herself up, then shook her still somewhat groggy head.
Her left arm was injured, her mind was foggy, her forehead was burning, and her limbs felt heavy and weak.
Great, not only did she have external injuries, but she was also running a fever—unsure whether it was a bacterial or viral infection.
Xu San San quickly self-diagnosed.
When she finally managed to sit up, she belatedly realized that there was someone else lying beside her right hand!
Her arm had accidentally brushed against a body. In the darkness, she couldn’t make out the exact outline, but faint breathing sounds confirmed that the person beside her was still alive.
At least she hadn’t directly traveled into a pile of dead bodies…
Wait a second, could the person next to me be some kind of fallen prince or amnesiac crown prince deliberately arranged by the plot?
Xu San San was still unwilling to give up. She turned her head, straining her night-blind eyes to peer through the pitch-black surroundings, hoping to find some clue of a fallen nobleman from the dark figure beside her.
She still clung to the fantasy of those cliché time-travel heroine tropes.
However, reality struck quickly!
Suddenly, a faint beam of light shone through.
Though it lasted only a few seconds, it was enough for her to get a rough idea of her surroundings.
The light came from a crack in the door to the right. By that faint glimmer, she discovered that to her right, lying staggered front and back, were quite a few people!!!
They all had severe external injuries!!!
No wonder the smell of blood here was so strong.
Based on that fleeting glimpse of light, she quickly deduced that she was in a very large room, something like a “warehouse.”
The “warehouse” was so long that when the light swept across, she couldn’t see where the right side ended.
The good news was that Xu San San was positioned at the far left of the “warehouse.”
Because when she slightly shifted her left leg, she kicked against the left wall.
The bad news was that her dream of a domineering prince falling in love with her was utterly shattered—
Because the lighting didn’t match, and the character’s appearance didn’t match either!
Soon, another beam of light shone through the crack in the door. This time, the light lasted longer, moving from far to near. The source was faint, but it was enough.
By the weak light, Xu San San quickly opened the first aid kit with her right hand. Relying on her well-practiced muscle memory, she accurately found the tetanus shot, used her teeth to pull off the needle cap, and without hesitation, injected it into her left arm.
At the same time, the light source outside the “warehouse” drew closer, accompanied by the sound of footsteps.
The footsteps were somewhat chaotic and scattered, suggesting more than one person.
The conversation that soon followed confirmed her judgment.
“Brother Wang, about that matter I mentioned to you earlier…” one somewhat fawning voice said.
“What matter?” another voice, hoarse and slightly impatient, replied.
“It’s… it’s about getting into the city…”
“Ah, getting into the city? Do you think it’s that easy to enter the Base? I’ve told you, you have to wait in line, wait in line. Just be patient!”
“Ah, yes, yes. Then, Brother Wang, I’ll keep waiting. It’s just… just about the Contribution Points I transferred to you earlier…”
“With the few Contribution Points you gave, you want to join the Outer City Patrol? That’s not even enough to buy one Gene Reagent. Young people these days…”
The conversation faded along with the light, swallowed by the darkness…
Words like Outer City, Base, Contribution Points, Patrol, and Gene Reagent swirled, leaped, and echoed endlessly in Xu San San’s mind…
Just then, a “beep” from a mechanical sound broke the silence. A blinking light suddenly appeared on her right wrist…