“Eighteen?” Zhou Xiao Zhen arched a suggestive eyebrow. “Zhao Lan, you’re quite the hunter, aren’t you? Who would have guessed~”

    A modest chuckle escaped Zhao Lan’s lips. “Well, you know how it is in the workplace. Sometimes you’ve got to play the game.”

    “Come on, tell us more.” Yu Xiao leaned in, eager to hear. As a student, she hadn’t experienced the adult world yet, so she found these matters fascinating. “We’ve been sharing this hospital room for so long, but I never saw any young lad visiting you.”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen, who had a firm grasp of theory, shook her head. “In the world of flings, how many are genuine? I bet when Misty fell ill and he couldn’t get any money from her, he ran away. Right?”

    Zhao Lan hesitated for a moment. She seldom shared her personal affairs with others. It was partly due to professional reasons – she had to keep some secrets – and partly because she felt embarrassed to let others know her business. But today, she felt a bit more open. There were no strangers in the ward, and with the perilous hospital situation, she might not have another chance to speak.

    So, with a long sigh, she said, “Don’t say that. He’s not heartless, really. He’s quite pitiful, actually. He grew up in a single-parent household, his mother is sick, and he had to drop out and work at such a young age. I… after learning about his circumstances, decided to support him, send him back to school. I didn’t even tell him about my illness.”

    “Oh.” Zhou Xiao Zhen nodded sympathetically. “That’s very unfortunate. You’re such a kind soul.”

    Zhao Lan gave a faint smile. “It’s fate. And I can afford to help him a bit.”

    “That’s wonderful.” Zhou Xiao Zhen’s eyes sparkled. “I want to be like you in the future.”

    “Precious, you will surely surpass me in the future.” Zhao Lan patted her head affectionately. “I believe in you.”

    In the midst of this warm atmosphere, Yu Xiao, now a grown-up, caught on to a crucial point. “So, Misty, have you been intimate with that eighteen-year-old boy?”

    “…”

    Zhao Lan eyed Yu Xiao, who lounged on the bed like a pampered cat, while secretly wishing she could lie as effortlessly as Precious.

    “Cough, cough,” She cleared her throat and diverted the subject. “So, what do you think of the posts on the Fourth Hospital forum? Do you think Yu Xiao’s title is decent?”

    “Absolutely not!” Zhou Xiao Zhen scoffed, waving her phone. “The internet is full of her smutty fan fiction, nothing decent about that!”

    Yu Xiao raised an eyebrow. “There’s nothing shameful about sexy fan fiction, you know…” She stretched and yawned. “Well, never mind. I’m sleeping with you tonight.”

    “Yay!” Zhou Xiao Zhen squealed. “I want a handsome face and a fit body, especially a body with eight-pack abs!”

    “Twelve-pack abs are even better,” Yu Xiao teased.

    Zhao Lan smiled fondly at the pair of jesters. Ah, the joys of youth, she mused. They had the power to change their appearances, yet Precious only cared about abs.

    Suddenly, a ringtone blared: “I really wish I could live for another five hundred years~…”

    Yu Xiao glanced at her phone, seeing Lu Xun’s name. She debated whether to ignore or answer, but curiosity got the better of her. “Hello, if you’re calling to mock me or gossip, save your breath.”

    The line was silent for a moment, then Lu Xun spoke. “I heard you made some new talismans. How about another trade?”

    Yu Xiao snorted. “Seriously, did you give me the Coin of Great Observation as a joke? Do you have any idea how much trouble that thing brought me?”

    Meanwhile, in the Fourth Hospital ward, Lu Xun had put the phone on speaker. He exchanged a glance with Luo Jin and winked at him.

    Then he laughed. “Ha ha… Joke? No, no, we really wanted it. It’s just… not very useful to us, that’s all. But you’re so lively, we figured you could handle it.”

    “I’m done trading with you,” Yu Xiao snapped. “They say Chinese people don’t cheat other Chinese, but what about you two?”

    “Uh…” Lu Xun was at a loss for words, looking at Luo Jin. It was Luo Jin who had decided to give the Coin to Yu Xiao in the first place, so he couldn’t take all the blame.

    Luo Jin maintained a poker face. The Coin of Great Observation was indeed worthless to him; it always landed face down whenever he flipped it. He thought it was cursed. He saw no point in keeping it, so he traded it with Yu Xiao for some talismans.

    It was a shady deal, no doubt about it. Luo Jin rubbed his chin and nodded at Lu Xu.

    Lu Xu caught the signal and spoke up. “Forget the props. Have you heard of the one-time function cards? They’re rare and powerful. How about we swap some talismans for them?”

    Yu Xiao’s eyes widened. She had a one-time misfortune card in her hand, but she never dared to use it. Who would want to bring bad luck upon themselves? However, the one-time affection card that the ghost had given her during the rounds had been a lifesaver. It had literally saved her from death. So when Lu Xu brought up the one-time function cards, she was curious.

    “What kind of cards do you have?” She asked. “How many will you trade?”

    “Er…” Lu Xu did a quick inventory and said, “One card for twenty talismans.”

    “That’s fine,” Yu Xiao said. “What cards do you have?”

    “All the function cards are amazing,” Lu Xu said. “They have different abilities and can create surprising outcomes…”

    “I get it,” Yu Xiao cut him off. “I want to know what cards you have exactly.”

    “…Do you want to pick one yourself?” Lu Xu asked.

    “Obviously,” Yu Xiao said. “What if you give me something like a one-time misfortune card?”

    “…” Lu Xu thought, ‘Wow, she’s not a clueless newbie after all. She’s pretty sharp.’

    “Okay,” Lu Xu looked at Luo Jin again, “Let’s see what we have.”

    Luo Jin took out a pile of cards from his pocket, collected over the years. He sorted them out and gave a small pile to Lu Xu.

    Lu Xu rifled through the cards and rattled off their names. “We have… a one-time misfortune card, a one-time dementia card, a one-time change appearance card, a one-time profound trading card…”

    Yu Xiao listened attentively as he listed them, then furrowed her brows in confusion. “You have quite a lot of cards, but why are they all so weird?”

    Lu Xu shrugged. “Can’t help it. This isn’t something we can decide.”

    “Alright.” Yu Xiao scanned the cards and made her choice. “I want the facial change card and the deep love card.”

    “Deal!” Lu Xu cried out joyfully. “Shall I send them to you right away? We want ten 【Guardian Talisman】 and 【Healing Crisis Talisman】…”

    Yu Xiao could tell from the talismans they needed that these two had plenty of attack methods. A pang of envy hit her. Although she could draw talismans, things like props and functional cards still required time to accumulate.

    “Okay.” Yu Xiao nodded agreeably. “I’ll send them to you as soon as I finish drawing the talismans.”

    She was about to hang up when Lu Xu blurted out, “What about that Nightmare? What’s the deal with him coming out? Is he looking for you? Can you handle him?”

    Yu Xiao tensed up and asked instinctively, “Do you know how to deal with Nightmare?”

    Lu Xu shook his head. “I don’t know. I was just asking.”

    “Goodbye!” Yu Xiao snapped and hung up.

    Lu Xu realised the call had ended and sighed helplessly. “Yu Xiao is just too young; young people are always in a hurry.”

    Luo Jin thought to himself, ‘Aren’t you young too?’ But he was used to keeping silent. If he didn’t have to, he’d usually just mutter to himself. He carefully stowed away the stack of cards he had just taken out and then said, “Yu Xiao selling talismans is much faster than us relying on dungeon runs to accumulate points.”

    “Yeah.” Lu Xu agreed, turning to look at the stack of yellow paper on the table. He had tried drawing talismans before, but he had to admit, it really required talent.

    “Hey, how do you think Yu Xiao managed it? She could draw talismans when she was still a newbie. Is that normal?” Lu Xu asked. “When we were newbies, forget drawing, we didn’t even know how to make our own talismans, right?”

    “Uh-huh.” Luo Jin nodded.

    “And?” Lu Xu was exasperated. “That’s it? Don’t you have any thoughts?”

    Luo Jin said, “What’s the use of expressing thoughts?”

    “…Damn!” Lu Xu felt strangely noble. He couldn’t believe he had been living with such a guy for several years without losing his mind.

    **

    After dinner, Yu Xiao tidied up and prepared to draw talismans. A lump formed in her throat as Yu Xiao opened the box of yellow paper. She had squandered so much of it. How extravagant she had been; she needed to be more frugal in the future. The memory of the many talismans she had left on Shen Chuan’s bed flashed in her mind, and a sharp pain pierced her heart…

    “Smiley, do we have enough talismans in stock? Several orders need to be shipped.” Zhou Xiao Zhen’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

    “… They’ll be ready soon.” Yu Xiao managed to reply.

    “Bang! Bang! Bang!” A familiar sound echoed from outside. “Delivery!”

    A pang of anxiety gripped Zhao Lan’s chest. “Why is he always so irritable?”

    “Here! You’re really loud.” Zhou Xiao Zhen went to open the door.

    Curiosity overcame Yu Xiao, who squatted on the ground. How did this guy, who dared to disrespect the great Dean of Saint Elizabeth, looked like? She put on her sunglasses and peeked through the door.

    A green-uniformed figure with a duckbill cap stood at the door. He was quite tall, with a huge green bag by his feet. One hand on his hip, and the other holding the delivery, he waited for someone in the ward to sign for it.

    From this angle, Yu Xiao couldn’t see his face clearly, so she walked to the door and squatted down to get a better look from below. A slender chin and thin lips came into view…

    “What are you looking at?!” The delivery guy snapped at Yu Xiao through the door. “Keep staring and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

    “… Such a bad temper.” Yu Xiao bristled. “Do you believe I’ll complain about you?”

    “You’ve already complained.” The delivery guy shrugged. “Does it work?”

    With that, he handed the delivery to Zhou Xiao Zhen and left, dragging the huge green bag, even taller than him.

    Zhou Xiao Zhen cradled the package curiously and queried, “What does he look like?”

    “Hideous,” Yu Xiao sneered. “He’s a massive blob of fat.”

    “I thought so,” Zhou Xiao Zhen nodded sagely. “Ugly people are always troublemakers. Good-looking ones tend to have nice personalities. Odd, though, his hands are rather elegant.”

    The package contained the functional cards that Lu Xu had sent them. As they tore it open, they found two cards inside. They huddled together to inspect them. Zhao Lan observed, “This one-time appearance-changing card seems redundant with your wig function.”

    “True,” Yu Xiao admitted, “but I wanted a backup.”

    “And this one-time deep love card?” Zhou Xiao Zhen lifted the card. “Does it make you fall madly in love after using it?”

    “That’s what it says,” Yu Xiao pulled out the one-time bad luck card she had acquired earlier. “I wish I could pawn this off to someone else.”

    “Nobody’s that stupid,” Zhao Lan consoled. “Don’t despair. This bad luck card… could come in handy in some scenarios, you know?”

    “Like what?” Yu Xiao challenged.

    “Like…” Zhao Lan racked her brain for an example. “Like when you need to be unlucky yourself.”

    “…?”

    “Misty,” Zhou Xiao Zhen was baffled. “Why would anyone want to be unlucky?”

    Zhao Lan gave up, switching the topic instead. “Let’s focus on who we’ll Smiley transform into tonight. Are you bored of Leonardo yet?”

    “Never.”

    **

    Yu Xiao lay in the middle of the makeshift big bed, made of three hospital beds pushed together. Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen clung to her arms, their hands resting on her chest and abdomen. They snuggled close, breathing in sync, sleeping peacefully.

    The phone’s shrill ring shattered the silence at midnight: “I really wish I could live another five hundred years~…”

    “Mmm…” The three women stirred, blinking in the dark. Zhou Xiao Zhen muttered, “Quick, answer it.”

    Yu Xiao wriggled out of their embrace and reached for her phone on the bedside table. She pressed it to her ear, her voice groggy, “Hello, who’s this?”

    “Get to the hospital, it’s urgent,” George said, his tone crisp.

    “Mmm…” Yu Xiao felt bone-tired, but she had no choice. She still wanted to keep her position as Dean at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

    With a sigh, she crawled over Zhou Xiao Zhen and got out of bed to dress. As she buttoned her white coat, Zhou Xiao Zhen opened her eyes and saw Yu Xiao kneeling beside her.

    A smile curved her lips, “Smiley, you understand me best. Come on, I’m ready.”

    Yu Xiao’s emotions were a mess. She was about to remove her wig, when Zhao Lan piped up, “You promised to spend the night with Precious. Leaving now wouldn’t count as a full night, you know.”

    Yu Xiao froze, her hand hovering over her head, “I’ll go like this and come back to continue our night together!”

    **

    George stared at the man who walked towards him, feeling a surge of disgust. He recognized him as the one who had used his ability to fool all the medical staff at St. Elizabeth’s, and he hated Yu Xiao for it.

    “George.” Yu Xiao greeted him warmly. She liked George, who had helped her secure her position at the Health Bureau with his flattering words. “Long time no see, missed me~”

    George’s eye twitched slightly, “They’ve located the Dean’s office. It’s time to get to work.”

    “You’re such a killjoy, George,” Yu Xiao complained as she walked, “We’re friends now, we can talk about things other than work.”

    George replied, “If you don’t leave now, they’ll find an empty office.”

    “Fine.” Yu Xiao gave in and returned to the Dean’s office. She barely closed the door behind her, when a group of people stormed down to the ground floor.

    **

    Finally, he lost sight of the annoying woman, and George felt a small sense of relief as the pain in his bruised face subsided. The mere presence of Yu Xiao was unbearable; every time he saw her, she served as a painful reminder of his own foolishness. He had once thought himself clever, plotting to promote Yu Xiao’s position and remove her from St. Elizabeth. However, all he had gained from his actions was a deep sense of regret.

    **

    Unbeknownst to him, a young lad in a white shirt appeared at St. Elizabeth. He seemed out of place, not belonging to the staff or the patients.

    His eyes held sorrow as he walked with a bowed head, his hair wet as if from the rain, and his demeanour gloomy. He approached the nurse’s station and asked the perplexed nurse, “Excuse me, is this St. Elizabeth?”

    The nurse gaped at him for a moment before replying, “Yes.”

    “I’m looking for the Dean,” the young man clenched his fair hands into fists. “Is she here?”

    Sensing something odd about him, the nurse decided to inform Dr George first. This stranger gave her an unsettling feeling, and she didn’t want to disturb the Dean, for she was a fearsome woman.

    **

    When George heard the news, he was shocked but quickly recollected the recent incident at the hospital: the escape of Nightmare from the Fourth Hospital.

    Was this young man here for that troublesome woman? George’s lips twitched, his mood brightening. His dormant vengeful heart stirred, promptly formulating a plan for revenge.

    After a short wait, the young man was greeted by an attending doctor in a white coat with gold-rimmed glasses.

    “You’re here to see the Dean, right?” George asked, smiling.

    “Yes,” the young man replied. “Is she available?”

    “You’re in luck,” said George, his smile growing. “She’s just in, in her office on the ground floor.”

    **

    Outside the Dean’s office, a group of people huddled in a circle, scratching their heads as they examined the slip of paper in their hands. Each person had four options to consider.

    All the options seemed dreadful, except for the one that demanded payment with points. Finally, one person broke the silence and said, “I’m thinking of choosing option B.”

    “What?” gasped the others. “You want to shag George?” Sёar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    “Er, well, haven’t you heard the latest news?” The person gave a sheepish grin. “Many players have earned titles by becoming romantically involved with NPCs in the game. If I… well, I wouldn’t lose any points, and I might even gain some.”

    The moment these words left their mouth, everyone’s eyes sparkled. Of course, how could they have missed that!

    A dilemma gripped the patients of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. They could trade their integrity for points – a tempting offer, since integrity wasn’t worth anything in this place. But they also feared the consequences. George, the attending doctor, was the target. Who knew what might happen after sleeping with him?

    They hesitated, weighing their options, when a new arrival caught their attention. A slim figure walked down the corridor on the ground floor, drawing curious glances from the crowd.

    “Who’s that?” Some of them whispered. “Another NPC from St. Elizabeth’s? Doesn’t look like it. He’s not even in scrubs.”

    They watched him as he came closer and stopped next to them. He looked up at the door that bore the sign “Dean’s Office”. He reached for the handle and pulled, but it was locked. Only the Dean could open Dean’s office.

    “How do you open this door?” He asked, turning to the patients.

    They stared at him, baffled. “Mate, are you a patient too? You want to go in there?”

    The young man didn’t nod. He was not a patient. He had a different purpose. “How do I get in?” He repeated.

    They shrugged, assuming he was one of them. Who else would want to enter the Dean’s office? They handed him a piece of paper. “Maybe you can try the options.”

    He looked at the paper. It was a multiple-choice question.

    【To achieve your desired outcome, what are you willing to sacrifice?

    A. Let Tie Niu eat any part of your body. B. Have a night of passion with George. C. Beat up George. D. Sacrifice points.】

    He thought for a moment. He had no points, so D was out. He was a Nightmare, so he had no flesh, so A was out. He had no interest in B, so he chose C.

    He marked the box for C and then faced the others with a cold stare. “What now? What do I do?”

    They gasped, shocked by his choice. “Are you mad? You want to beat up George? He’s the attending doctor!”

    Nightmare didn’t understand their reaction. He had never been to the real world before. He only knew about an attending doctor from the dream. It was Fan Xing, who was nothing special. He had let him escape, after all. So he assumed George was the same. And he was confident he could beat him.

    Nightmare pointed. “This one,” he said. “What’s next?”

    “…”

    **

    A smug grin spread across George’s face as he sat in his office. He had just devised a brilliant scheme to get back at Yu Xiao: he would send Nightmare to her. He had no idea what Nightmare’s motives were, whether he wanted revenge or something else. He didn’t care; he just wanted Nightmare and Yu Xiao to cross paths.

    If Nightmare was out for blood, that would be perfect; he could enjoy the show from a safe distance. If Nightmare was not after revenge, that would work too; he could accuse Yu Xiao of hiding information, aiding and abetting Nightmare.

    Either way, he would come out on top, and he felt like he had already triumphed.

    He was lost in his gloating when a sudden knock on the door startled him.

    He had a feeling it was Nightmare. Why had he returned? What did he want?

    Confused, he opened the door and asked in a friendly tone, “What brings you here? Did you run into any trouble?”

    Nightmare shook his head and said, “They told me I had to beat you up first if I wanted to get into the dean’s office.”

    George: “…”

    George: “!!!”

    “Who told you that?!” George shouted. “Did Yu Xiao put you up to this?!”

    **

    Meanwhile, in the dean’s office, Yu Xiao said nervously, “Well done, you’ve made the right choice. You can go now.”

    The people outside were baffled. We haven’t made any choice yet, how did we make the right one? Then they realised they had somehow left St. Elizabeth and were back in the ward.

    Yu Xiao was terrified; she had just recognized Nightmare’s voice!

    She quickly sent the patients away and rushed out of St. Elizabeth. She returned to the ward, where it was dark and the two sisters were sleeping soundly.

    She grabbed her phone and dialled the Medical Disputes Office without hesitation.

    “~Sorry, the user you are trying to reach is not in service area…~”

    Yu Xiao threw her phone and screamed, “What’s the point of reporting right away if I can’t even get through when there’s news about Nightmare?!”

    ─── ? ── ☆ ── ? ───