Doctor: Looks Like I'll Have to Handle This Myself

The doctor clearly hadn't reacted yet. He was still hiding dumbly in the back, thinking he was the mastermind who could watch everything unfold with cold detachment.

To his surprise, the Weird Blade came at him with incredible speed. It burst through the Operating Room door in an instant and, without losing momentum, struck straight at his chest.

But Xu Kai felt a little disappointed. The Weird Blade was an extension of his arm, and he could clearly sense everything happening to his Weird Energy. The strike hadn't connected; a hard, block-shaped object had stopped it. Afterward, Xu Kai's Weird Energy scattered across the floor, but it didn't dissipate.

Xu Kai didn't even need to guess. Few things could stop his Weird Energy, and only the Hospital High-Level Access Certificate could have blocked it.

"Patient Number Nine, you've got some nerve, attacking me by surprise! Well, since these two Experimental Subjects can't complete their task, it's time I took the field myself!"

Having blocked the Weird Energy, the doctor's panic vanished. He put on airs again, trying to maintain his suave demeanor.

He took the certificate from his chest and stepped out of the Operating Room.

At that instant, red light flashed in the doctor's hand, and Xu Kai shut his eyes at once.

He really couldn't look at that thing. Looking at it would kill him.

Xu Kai still had plenty of Weird Energy in his body. He used it to thoroughly sense his surroundings and form a crude image.

His vision was black and white even with his eyes open, anyway, so there wasn't much difference.

Throughout the stairwell, including the escalator, floor, and walls, the surface material began to fly up, rising against gravity. What lay beneath wasn't exposed brick but rusted ironwork. That hell resembling a slaughterhouse was slowly spreading toward Xu Kai.

Nurse Lin took the opportunity to dart behind Xu Kai. Twisting in midair, she slashed diagonally downward with her sharp long blade.

Xu Kai was relying on his Weird Energy to sense his surroundings. Although it wasn't his first time using it, he still wasn't proficient enough. He could sense the malice around him, but not where it was.

Swish!

The cold blade swept through Xu Kai's body in an instant. He was cut to pieces and lost consciousness.

The 104th Save-Load, the 105th, the 106th... the 110th Save-Load!

Xu Kai opened his icy eyes and stared coldly at the doctor.

For some reason, the doctor found Patient Number Nine's gaze exceptionally cold. He had never seen such a chilling look in anyone else. It was as if a ghost from hell had crawled through all eighteen levels, endured the agony of having its heart gouged and nose cut off, and now stood before him.

For the first time, he saw fear in a patient's eyes.

He had performed countless modification surgeries, and this Operating Room was his home turf. Yet he could actually feel fear. What a humiliation!

The doctor waved his hand, and the entire stairwell moved again. The stairs retreated from beneath Xu Kai's feet as though they had sprouted legs, while the hollow between them came to life, intent on swallowing him.

But Xu Kai acted as if he had foreseen it. Using the Weird Energy left in the Operating Room as an anchor, he extended his Weird Energy to connect with it and pulled hard, moving himself through the air.

At the same time, he flipped his body, bent at the waist, drew in his legs, and turned sideways, performing the whole sequence faster than even Nurse Lin.

A second later, the doctor trembled in disbelief, his gaze fixed on Xu Kai.

Xu Kai shifted slightly outward, and the Blood Blade falling from the ceiling narrowly grazed past him. Then he miraculously bent over. At that instant, Nurse Lin flashed behind him, and her three consecutive slashes all missed.

Still bent over, Xu Kai pointed at the ground and formed a spike of Weird Energy. He flipped over and stabbed it into the empty air.

The thrust was breathtaking, almost an inhuman move. The hairs on Nurse Lin's back stood on end. She had been following a Swordsmanship routine: after her three slashes missed, she would deliver a final strike that was certain to hit, because the first three had set it up, restricting her opponent's movements.

But Xu Kai's thrust abandoned most of his evasive movements, making it faster than her follow-up strike.

And though he had stabbed at empty air, Nurse Lin's final strike would bring her body right to that spot!

Thus, to Nurse Lin's bewilderment, she watched helplessly as her own neck moved toward the point.

When did he see through my Swordsmanship routine? Th-this is impossible!

The Weird Energy spike pierced Nurse Lin's throat. The roar from her mouth became a creaking whimper, and she struggled to breathe through her punctured windpipe.

Her whole body collapsed limply, but Nurse Lin wasn't dead yet. At that instant, the wall wrapped around her and drew her inside.

But before the wall took her in, Xu Kai expended a tenth of his Weird Energy, staring fixedly at Nurse Lin. Flames engulfed her, and the wall drew her down until it completely blocked Xu Kai's view.

Meanwhile, the doctor also pulled the blinded Leng Chong into the wall. He didn't want these Experimental Subjects to die here.

Taking control like this reassured the doctor somewhat. The fact that he could save the two Experimental Subjects from Patient Number Nine showed that the situation was still under his control.

He resumed his lofty demeanor and applauded.

"Wonderful, wonderful! You're definitely the most outstanding seed! If I hadn't modified Nurse Lin, she would almost have died..."

Xu Kai said nothing. Staring fixedly at the area behind and to the doctor's right, he jumped and hooked a finger back toward himself.

The doctor was standing at the edge of the Operating Room when he suddenly felt a chill behind him. The Weird Energy left inside the room was still there, and now it surged to life again, attacking him.

But instead of looking behind him, the doctor stepped into the stairwell.

The instant he entered, the entire stairwell seemed to move to protect its master. The wall twisted and grew a shield, blocking the Weird Energy behind him.

Xu Kai had been staring at the area behind and to the doctor's right. Now, a second later, he flashed to that spot, where the wall hadn't managed to protect him.

"Th-this isn't possible! Your combat instincts—could it be that alienation strengthened you in that direction?"

The doctor swallowed. The situation had slipped out of control again. A patient he could originally control with a flick of his hand had actually closed in on him.

Xu Kai paid no attention to the doctor's surprise. He had already prepared his next move. His right hand covered in flames, he feinted at the doctor's head.

The instant he feinted, red light blazed from the certificate in the doctor's hand. It vanished from his grasp and flashed through the air to the back of his head. At that moment, Xu Kai closed his eyes as if he had foreseen it. He withdrew his right hand and used his left to pierce the doctor's heart through his back. That wasn't all. His right hand didn't stay idle: he immediately tore off half his patient gown and quickly wrapped it around the certificate. The red light spread like ink, rapidly dyeing the blue-and-white gown red.

However, it was a step too slow. Xu Kai had already opened his eyes again, his pupils facing the doctor. Surging flames engulfed the doctor's entire body, and the instant the blue-and-white gown turned deep red, the doctor was reduced to ashes.

Before his death, the doctor rapidly received information about the pain. His face twisted as he felt the agony of the flames burning him. He struggled and writhed, and finally said:

"Seed, killing me won't do you any good. Fate was decided long ago. In the end, you belong to my lord..."

The doctor didn't finish his last sentence, but Xu Kai had understood the gist. It was nothing more than a threat.

In the end, the doctor died. As he turned to ash, the Game's voice actually rang out.

[One duel completed in the Red Shirt Arena. Obtained Chief's Gift: Hospital High-Level Access Certificate]

Xu Kai froze. He had never expected this place to count as an Arena!

Once the Game had certified the certificate, ownership immediately passed to Xu Kai. Even with his eyes closed, Xu Kai felt that it was a trap.

He quickly wrapped the certificate in his torn patient gown, then released a large amount of Weird Energy to firmly keep it at a distance. After looking through the Game's description of the certificate, Xu Kai understood why this place was an Arena.

Because it plainly stated:

[Wherever Red Shirt goes is considered a temporary Arena. This Arena has no rules, but temporary rules may be established. Defeat an opponent to likewise obtain a Chief's Gift]

[Serving Red Shirt can earn Red Shirt's Gift]

The doctor could wave the certificate to control all the inanimate objects around him. That was clearly the Red Shirt's Gift mentioned by the Game's voice. Xu Kai didn't dare touch the thing; it was obviously a trap maliciously given to him by a Rule Ghost.

Outside, although Leng Chong had been blinded and Nurse Lin's throat had been pierced, Xu Kai had experienced the alienated state himself. Injuries like those might not take long to heal.

Xu Kai didn't regret failing to kill those two in the least. Killing the doctor and obtaining the Chief's Gift—the Hospital High-Level Access Certificate—already counted as a victory.

Moreover, Xu Kai felt that with this certificate, he could simply kill two people at random and count as the winner of the next two rounds, obtaining the remaining Chief's Gifts.

Kill two people at random?

Wait, why am I so bloodthirsty?

Xu Kai sensed something was wrong and held out his hand to look.

Sure enough, his alienation had worsened. Hair had begun growing on his arms again, and his mind was becoming more combative.

Besides, the timing was wrong too. He had stayed here too long. There was no clock nearby, so he had to return to the Patient Room immediately and eat his breakfast there.