Ch. 261Scavenger
Chapter Summary: “Scavenger”
Key Plot Points and Events
- Gu Mian visits the game supermarket to inspect Profession Dungeon medicines.
- The salesclerk explains the medicine ranking system:
- Class A: strongest and most expensive
- Class B and C: progressively weaker and cheaper
- Class D: weakest and least expensive
- Gu Mian examines Dungeon-Type D—Blood Clot, which temporarily stops bleeding for two minutes at a cost of 100 points.
- He realizes that his doctor profession skill, Masterful Medical Skills Lv. 4, increases the effectiveness of medical supplies fourfold. Thus, the medicine’s two-minute effect would last ten minutes when used by him.
- The salesclerk mentions the profitable doctor profession and begins recounting how Gu Mian previously disrupted the doctor Profession Dungeon, but Gu Mian ignores the story.
- Gu Mian notices the powerful Dungeon-Type A—Scavenger pill. It places a dying player into suspended death for ten minutes, potentially allowing emergency treatment or enabling them to survive until a dungeon ends.
- The pill costs 5,000 points, making it unaffordable and raising questions about what future dungeons might require.
- Gu Mian imagines that his doctor profession could become extremely valuable, despite his poor reputation for actually behaving like a doctor in dungeons.
- Fatty appears with a cart full of supplies and asks whether Gu Mian is finished shopping.
Character Developments
- Gu Mian: Begins seriously considering the practical value of his doctor profession. After investing nine Attribute points into his medical skill, he recognizes that even weak medicines can become highly effective in his hands. His interest in the Scavenger pill also shows his growing awareness of survival strategies and the potential dangers of future dungeons.
- Salesclerk: Provides information about the supermarket’s medicine system and hints at the economic importance of the doctor profession. He is awkward because recent system changes prevent him from viewing players’ personal information.
- Fatty: Continues acting as Gu Mian’s practical companion, gathering everyday necessities while Gu Mian focuses on specialized equipment and medicines.
Significant Themes
- Resource management: Medicines can be lifesaving but are costly, forcing players to weigh immediate survival against long-term financial loss.
- Hidden value of professions: Gu Mian’s doctor skill transforms inexpensive, seemingly useless medicine into a much more powerful tool.
- Survival versus profit: The Scavenger pill may save a life, but its enormous price makes its use economically questionable.
- Foreshadowing and future danger: The existence of such an expensive emergency medicine suggests that later dungeons may contain situations where death must be delayed or prevented at all costs.
- Irony: Gu Mian is technically a doctor with exceptional medical abilities, yet his chaotic dungeon behavior contrasts sharply with the profession’s intended role.
Character Interactions
- The salesclerk patiently explains the medicine grades and their effects while Gu Mian evaluates their usefulness.
- Gu Mian internally reflects on how his medical skill could amplify the medicines, while the salesclerk praises the profitability of doctors without realizing he is speaking to the infamous player who damaged the doctor Profession Dungeon.
- Gu Mian avoids hearing his own past explained by the salesclerk and instead focuses on the higher-grade medicines.
- Fatty interrupts Gu Mian’s calculations, grounding the scene with a practical reminder that their shopping trip is nearly over.