Qi Yu and the others sat in silence on the horse-drawn cart the game had provided. Nobody spoke a word.
They’d finally cleared the first stage of the game. Everyone could now turn in the quest, earn their points, and extend their lives by a few days.
By rights, this should have been a moment to celebrate. Or at least, they could chat and unwind a little, like they had back at the orphanage, joking around harmlessly, just to relax together.
It wouldn’t do for them to almost die together, only to leave without even knowing each other’s names, right? That would be tragic.
Even Pei Hu had chatted a little more with them, but with Qi Yu around, all of that went out the window.
Considering that Qi Yu had just had his own little intimate moment with the dungeon boss, calling each other “hubby,” saying their emotional farewells, and even leaving behind a bite mark on his face.
The other players’ minds had automatically filled in an epic, tragic love story. They imagined star-crossed lovers, painfully torn apart by fate, loving each other but unable to be together.
Looking at Qi Yu’s handsome face, filled with sadness and dejection, the group’s only female player, the long-haired girl, nearly went into full-on maternal mode. She felt a pang of sympathy and thought to herself: What an absolutely gorgeous love story!
Carefully, she handed him a handkerchief, “Don’t be too sad. Nobody can help how things turned out.”
Qi Yu, still lost in the shocking parting words from Xie Shao: ???
What’s going on? Did they just discuss some topic he didn’t hear?
He raised his head, bewildered, and realized everyone was looking at him with gentle, caring eyes. The last time he looked like that was when the girlfriend of their dorm mate got cheated on, and they all went out drinking with him for a whole night.
Qi Yu: “……”
Somehow, he understood what they meant and he wanted to punch someone.
No matter how you looked at it, Xie Shao had called him “hubby,” right?!
Why were they all staring at him like a jilted spouse?
So annoying.
He tried to explain the relationship between him and Xie Shao, but when it came to specifics, even he couldn’t clearly explain.
The result? Everyone nodded and murmured, “Uh-huh, we get it. Don’t be sad.”
Even Song Qing, tied up and tossed into the cart like a sack of potatoes, let out a faint, derisive snort, as if to mock that these two adulterers could get all cozy together and still not admit it.
So pretentious!
Qi Yu: “……”
Fine. What else can I do? No explanations. Just let it be.
He leaned back against the wooden planks of the cart like a salted fish and closed his eyes to rest.
Seeing him quiet, the others relaxed and began chatting quietly.
Someone asked Pei Hu, “Tiger bro, why did they send us with a horse-drawn cart to the hospital? What year is this? The orphanage didn’t even look that ancient. When I first saw the cart, I thought we’d stepped into some wuxia movie from the past.”
The blond-haired youth scoffed.
“What kind of old wuxia movie uses a cart like this? It’s all broken, practically the same as the crappy ox carts we used back home.”
And indeed, the cart was in rough shape.
A few planks of wood clumsily assembled into a rudimentary carriage. No windows, no curtains.
The horses in front clopped along. The cart behind rattled and banged.
Song Qing had been tossed inside and was now bumping around, colliding with the interior with every jolt. Qi Yu suspected that by the time they reached the hospital, Song Qing’s head would be covered in bruises.
But then he remembered Song Qing’s previous creepy display with the syringe and decided: whatever. The game hadn’t said anything about keeping him in one piece. Not getting gang-attacked was already good enough.
Meanwhile, the idle players debated the cart’s condition. They deduced, from how decrepit it was, that the game clearly had a limited budget, it was a poor game.
Pei Hu wanted to explain, but before he could, Qi Yu snorted, “A horse without a driver is called an old horse finding its way; a car without a driver? Are you trying to give us a full auto, driverless paranormal experience?”
The players: “……”
True enough. Even if someone knew how to drive, the game clearly didn’t intend for them to take the wheel. They didn’t know the roads either.
Imagine sitting in a car, no one in the driver’s seat, the steering wheel spinning on its own, mechanical noises telling you to buckle up…
Better not. That’s terrifying.
The horse-cart moved slowly, but still faster than walking. Soon, they reached the final destination of this dungeon: the hospital.
A giant iron gate, rusted and corroded to a deep red, stood before them. Surrounding it, a grayish, weathered wall covered in vines. On the gate hung a metal sign with peeling paint, the words “Hospital” barely legible.
This was a very run-down hospital.
So run-down that it made you wonder if it was even still operating, and whether there were any medical staff inside at all.
“Is anyone here?”
The blond-haired youth stepped forward and knocked on the huge iron gate.
*Bang bang bang*
Red rust fell off in chunks.
“Who’s there?” A small side door in the iron gate opened, revealing a pair of wary eyes, scanning the group carefully. “What do you want?”
“We’re delivering a patient,” Pei Hu said. “From the nearby orphanage. We’ve already got prior authorization.”
He pulled out a piece of paper, the hospital admission proof given by the game after they stuffed Song Qing onto the cart. It was just a plain sheet of paper, not even stamped, looking extremely perfunctory.
Yet, surprisingly, it worked.
The person inside glanced at it and their attitude improved immediately. “Proof? Fine. Wait here. I’ll go inside and submit an application.”
An application just to enter the hospital?
The group exchanged glances, feeling the hospital was even stranger than before.
Still, they were at the final stage of the quest. Nothing should go wrong now. And since they weren’t the ones being admitted, the hospital’s weirdness didn’t really concern them. They just needed to hand the patient over.
And handing him over went smoothly.
Soon, medical staff came out carrying a stretcher and took Song Qing away. Apparently, they were used to patients being tied up like dumplings because nobody batted an eye.
“Qi Yu,” Song Qing called out before being taken, “that’s your name, right?”
He looked at him with a grin, eyes locked on Qi Yu like he was appraising some delicious meal.
“Next time, if you beg me, I might consider letting you live a little longer.”
His face… wasn’t exactly attractive. Maybe hiding in the orphanage for so long had drained all color from it, pale as a corpse, bulging dead fish eyes, a flattened nose, protruding teeth, scars across his face.
Xie Shao hadn’t been exaggerating when he said Song Qing was ugly.
But when his face went full psycho, it was terrifying. Especially when he contorted it into a wild grin and let out shrill laughter. Even Pei Hu shivered.
But Qi Yu? He remained calm.
He let him finish, then, in front of everyone, took the handkerchief the long-haired girl offered, wadded it up, and shoved it into Song Qing’s mouth.
“You’re too noisy. Next time, I’ll beat your teeth all over the ground.”
…
Song Qing was taken away by the medical staff.
The players waited to be teleported.
The blond-haired youth looked at Qi Yu and gave him a thumbs-up in admiration. “Qi bro… so badass.”
Qi Yu: “It’s nothing. We probably won’t see each other again. Saying something harsh at a farewell? Might as well be satisfying.”
The others: “……”
When they opened their eyes again, they were in a bustling city full of tall buildings, neon lights, and a lively crowd. They were standing in a spacious plaza with a fountain behind them. A statue of a little boy in the fountain was doing… something questionable with the water.
If it weren’t for people constantly appearing in bursts of white light nearby, Qi Yu would’ve thought he’d returned to the real world.
He pictured walking down the streets, grabbing a feast at a nearby shop, spicy hot pot with three extra portions of beef, chicken wings, corn, eating until he was stuffed, and bringing back some for the hungry ghosts in his dorm.
Qi Yu glanced down at the familiar screen, which popped up again:
[Dungeon Cleared: “The Last Child of the Orphanage”]
[Main Quest Complete: Successfully delivered the quest target to the hospital alive. Reward: 30 points.]
Points were credited instantly to the players’ accounts.
“30 points… one point equals one day. After all that struggle, we only get a month of life?”
“Not bad. Tiger bro said beginner tasks only give 15 points, half a month’s worth. They barely get used to the game, and the second dungeon is already coming up. At least we got a few extra days to survive, or a few more resources to protect ourselves.”
“But even exchanging points doesn’t get you much.”
…
Players murmured while scrolling through the options to redeem points, finally reaching the long-awaited in-game shop.
Nothing there was overpowered. Players could directly exchange points for extra life, or swap them for weapons, like the auxiliary sword Pei Hu used against Song Qing, healing potions, or basic necessities like food and lodging.
All players had technically “died” once. When the game dragged them back out, even if they cleared the dungeon, without enough points to exchange for revival, they wouldn’t be released.
When not on quests, they stayed in the game’s designated player rest area, living a life similar to the outside world.
The difference? Everything! food, lodging, equipment, required points.
Buying food or renting a room was cheap, but weapons were expensive. No firearms were allowed. Surviving dungeons relied on one’s own strength or dungeon loot.
Generally, these items were saved as “last-resort” survival tools and rarely sold. But sometimes players, lacking points, would want to trade for survival, exchange unsuitable items, or new players just entering the game needed a helping hand.
Experienced players would appear, eager to trade points for loot. Over time, a wave of veterans began camping new players, exchanging items for points to extend life.
“Hey, newbie, just cleared the dungeon? How’s the loot?”
This group was no different. They were immediately approached, especially the muscular guys and the blond-haired youth.
Qi Yu and the long-haired girl, being unremarkable in appearance, were temporarily ignored.
Pei Hu collected his points from leading the newbies, waved them off, and said, “Move along. We didn’t get any useful items, just the bare minimum. Find someone else to trade with.”
The rejected players cursed under their breath, “Newbies who can’t even grab items, useless.”
With that, they moved on to target other players.
Pei Hu didn’t bother responding, leading his group to a side rental area. He had promised to guide them through the dungeon, and once done, this batch would scatter, each on their own.
As they walked, he whispered to Qi Yu:
“You triggered side quests before, right? How were the rewards?”
Rewards…
Qi Yu glanced at his screen. Below the main quest completion notice, a few lines of text appeared:
[Completed Important Story Quest: Gained Wang Yueyue’s favor. Reward: Red butterfly hairpin.]
[Completed Loft Story Quest: Gained favor of dungeon boss Xie Shao. Reward: Pink floral four-piece bedding set.]
[Obtained quest target: Song Qing’s resentment.]
[Successfully bound to the next dungeon.]
[Dungeon Name: Abandoned Hospital.]
[Quest Details: Temporarily unknown. Dungeon opens in ten days. Prepare for the next challenge.]
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
You made it to the end. The translator would like a tiny coffee. ☕
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Enter the GameChapter 2 · Pick a roomChapter 3 · DeadChapter 4 · AtticChapter 5 · ResponsibleChapter 6 · A bamboo BasketChapter 7 · DiaryChapter 8 · Song QingChapter 9 · Sent to HospitalChapter 10 · Second CopyChapter 11 · Leaking InformationChapter 12 · Special Prop!Chapter 13 · Doctor GhostChapter 14 · Store RoomChapter 15 · Psychiatry HospitalChapter 16 · Things of PastChapter 17 · Second FloorChapter 18 · He’s adorableChapter 19 · You Like Him?Chapter 20 · Kiss meChapter 21 · Group women’s clothing PlayChapter 22 · Where’s my Skirt?Chapter 23 · Wife of Murder Doctor….Chapter 24 · Go to Third floorChapter 25 · You must find me!Chapter 26 · See you in the next dungeonChapter 27 · VideoChapter 28 · Player ForumChapter 29 · Two women vying for one manChapter 30 · The Giant WolfChapter 31 · A Kind and Benevolent FatherChapter 32 · Preparing the change clothesChapter 33 · Red Heart FruitChapter 34 · In what ways do I fall short of him?Chapter 35 · KissChapter 36 · Bald performanceChapter 37 · The Prince Has ArrivedChapter 38 · Prince Song QingChapter 39 · Should we…Chapter 40 · A Kiss of True LoveChapter 41 · BanquetChapter 42 · Snow White KingChapter 43 · KingChapter 44 · I miss you so much!Chapter 45 · LeavingChapter 46 · Wanting to See HimChapter 47 · Resource Type InstanceChapter 48 · The Banquet BeginsChapter 49 · KissChapter 50 · Full-Dive Virtual RealityChapter 51 · Everyone Is a LiarChapter 52 · MegaphoneChapter 53 · Dragon???Chapter 54 · Fire DragonChapter 55 · A powerful Fire DragonChapter 56 · Want Some Barbecue?Chapter 57 · The Characteristics of the GameChapter 58 · A little DragonChapter 59 · Searching for her sonChapter 60 · We’re Going to Tear Up the HostageChapter 61 · Mountain CollapseChapter 62 · DiscussionChapter 63 · Digging for Crystals?Chapter 64 · Making Money Selling LiquorChapter 65 · A KissChapter 66 · I’m the Best LookingChapter 67 · Ghost Ship 101Chapter 68 · Has the Competition Begun Yet?Chapter 69 · LotteryChapter 70 · First PlaceChapter 71 · The Sea Monster ArrivesChapter 72 · CooperationChapter 73 · The Man in the MaskChapter 74 · WarChapter 75 · The Players’ RevengeChapter 76 · ReturningChapter 77 · The End