CH 19

The moment has come.

Whether the hammering in his chest was from fear or excitement QiLeren didn’t know, but all that was left after the nerve-wracking wait was a mind clearer than ever before; he could see the floor plan before him from the perspective of an outsider, rendered in painstakingly-detailed 3D that outshone Dr Lu’s rough sketch in every way imaginable.

There was more than enough distance between the murderer on the other side of the hallway and QiLeren, but he nonetheless bolted as soon as the silhouette appeared with a sudden burst of adrenaline, the murderer hot on his heels. QiLeren didn’t glance back – forward, up the stairs – until he reached the corner of the stairwell and risked a peek out of the corner of his eye.

A pair of bloodthirsty eyes locked gazes with him, far closer than he had anticipated.

QiLeren inwardly cursed and continued sprinting towards his goal. A perfectly straight corridor, stark white lighting, carefully-planned trap less than twenty metres ahead of him – file saved!

The moment he laid down the save file, QiLeren felt half of the burden lift off of his shoulders. Before he had time to feel relieved, however, the pursuing footsteps behind him drew dangerously close. A sudden shout burst out behind him as something heavy whipped across his legs.

Thrown off balance, the lighter flew out of QiLeren’s grip as he crashed painfully into the ground.

Shit.

He scrambled up immediately, throwing himself to the side at the thick intent for bloodlust above him just in time to avoid a fatal blow from the chainsaw, which ignited a shower of golden sparks upon its contact with the ground.

In the moment, QiLeren couldn’t feel any pain. The murderer’s face was magnified many, many times – the fresh wound that twisted his features into a mess of sinister malice, the reflection in his bloodshot eyes of QiLeren’s desperate struggling – he was a hunter, cruelly playing with his prey.

There was no time for him to crawl back up. Conclusion evident, QiLeren promptly drew his dagger and pierced it through his heart.

It went through cleanly – he was not going to make the same foolish mistake of stabbing the wrong place again. No more than a second went by after the knife first broke skin before he blinked his eyes open at the save point.

He had ten seconds.

QiLeren wasted no time darting past the confused murderer and into the ward. With the chainsaw’s sparks, there was no need for the lighter as a source of ignition. He could almost taste the victory!

The two barrelled into the ward, the murderer with single-minded focus and QiLeren with desperate haste. He swerved to the side of the doorway after entering and tackled his pursuer to the ground as soon as he entered.

Two bodies tumbled against each other in the darkness. The chainsaw, having lost its master, fell to the ground with a grating noise and let out a line of gold.

The room erupted into the brilliant light of a sunset.

QiLeren could make out the murderer’s shocked expression below him. The ever-present malice was gone, leaving only the raw last moment of a volatile young man before all was ripped away by the loud explosion that shook the building to its very foundations.

Immediately thrown to the ground by the shockwaves that broke through the door after loading a second time, QiLeren struggled into a sitting position and looked at the broken wall before him. He coughed, pouring all his fear and terror into the hyperventilating laughter he let out in between.

He’d won! They’d won!

A wave of strength-sapping lethargy crashed down on him after the brief but intense celebration. QiLeren collapsed onto his back and stared at the ceiling, too bright and dazzling for his eyes. He felt the cold of the ground biting at his back, smelt the smoke that lingered in the air, too tired to even formulate coherent thoughts.

He didn’t respond to the sound of approaching footsteps until a shadow cast itself over his face. SuHe crouched down next to him, scrutinising gaze running up and down his body.

“Can you stand?” SuHe finally asked after finding no lethal injuries.

QiLeren took the hand offered to him and stood on unsteady legs. SuHe looped QiLeren’s arm around his shoulders at the sight of his dangerous swaying and helped him to a nearby bench. Around the corner, Dr Lu had arrived. He poked his head out from the stairwell, looking ready to bolt at the slightest warning. His athletic abilities would likely trip him over within a few steps, but he had the cautiousness of a small animal nonetheless.

“He died?” Dr Lu asked, slinking over after seeing the two safe and sound. He looked curiously at the destroyed ward, but held back at QiLeren and SuHe’s looks. “I feel like this…” he hesitated, “…might be too close to a movie trope. Can we go together?” He fluttered his eyelashes, taking full advantage of a youthful face that has won over too many middle-aged women to count.

QiLeren felt a corner of his lips twitch before taking a deep breath and pushing himself onto his feet. “Let’s go then.”

The explosion had ripped the door apart, leaving splinters and only half of the walls still standing. The three kicked away the debris at their feet as they entered, the extent of the damage revealed before them:

The charred ward was in complete disarray. The metal of the bed frame was twisted out of shape recognition and caked with a layer of rubble, much like the deeply cracked walls and windows around it. Their target, a serial murderer whose hands were stained with the blood of many, was lying in the centre of the room, face and body scorched beyond recognition – but that wasn’t what brought the party to a halt.

There were three treasure boxes floating above the corpse. The kind that glowed rainbows and clearly broke the laws of physics.

Dr Lu dazedly brought a hand to his forehead. “I finally believe that this is a game,” he breathed with awe.

QiLeren laid a hand on the card slots at his hip. With the existence of skill cards and inventories, he had known that he was no longer in the real world for the past twelve hours, but somehow the sight of the chest cemented this fact.

He stepped forward and gingerly raised a hand, if only to reassure himself that it was real. The moment his fingers touched the chest, a long-unseen system message materialised before his eyes:

[Player QiLeren, completed sidequest: Eliminating Abnormality in the Tutorial Village]

[Reward: Lucky draw x1]

Abnormality in the tutorial village? QiLeren looked to the corpse at their feet. Could it be referring to the murderer?

“It’s time for a lucky draw!” Dr Lu’s joyous tones interrupted QiLeren’s train of thought. He pointed at the chests in excitement, furiously gesturing at the other two. “You go first!”

“You can go first,” QiLeren said, unhurried.

“No no, I want to do it last,” Dr Lu said resolutely.

“I’ll go then,” SuHe smiled. He picked a chest at random and pressed a fingertip onto its keyhole, opening it with a click. QiLeren and Dr Lu peered inside, seeing nothing but the black of an empty box.

“It went directly into my inventory,” SuHe said, generously bringing it out for the others to see. “It’s an item card.”

[Bloodthirsty Dagger]: A mysterious dagger that grows in lethality as the number of lives it claims increases until it is able to kill in one strike. Current status of final ability: Locked.

“So basically it’s just a normal dagger right now?” Dr Lu gave SuHe a look of both judgement and pity. “Sounds a bit useless. It looks pretty though.”

SuHe just smiled. “Perhaps it’ll be of use one day.”

“It’s your turn,” Dr Lu said, nudging QiLeren with an elbow. QiLeren hesitated for a moment before choosing the one next to SuHe’s.

[Rations of Shallow Affection]: A bag of mysterious animal food. Every creature from cats to dogs to even dung beetles will struggle to forget the taste of these rations after just one bite. Be the animal whisperer you’ve always dreamed of becoming! Remaining rations: 30/30.

QiLeren almost kneeled over right there and then. The entire hospital was full of ghosts, where on earth was he supposed to find animals to feed? The goldfish!?

Dr Lu took one look at the card before giving him a consoling pat on the shoulder. “It’s time for me to show my worth as the Prince of Gacha, the one who draws limited cards with a single pull!”

Under QiLeren and SuHe’s scrutinising gaze, the aforementioned Prince of Gacha wiped the sweat from his brow and chanted “Metaphysics be my guide” as he touched a finger to the last chest.

Click.