The Night Before Departure

Late at night, Lin An slept in Room 908.

The heavy scent of perfume was somewhat pungent, and several black straps hanging beside the bed looked like ropes meant for hanging oneself.

Faint explosions occasionally sounded from outside the window, making it difficult to sleep.

Suddenly, a shrill, venomous scream rang out from within the hospital.

The piercing scream traveled hundreds of meters and penetrated the glass.

Lin An hurried to the window to investigate, but found nothing.

After appearing briefly once, the scream vanished without a trace.

What was that?

He observed for a long time, but found nothing.

Buildings filled the hospital grounds, making it impossible to tell where the scream had come from.

Lin An could only give up searching for its source and return to bed with lingering doubts.

The sudden abnormality weighed on his heart like a stone.

But he had no choice but to make the trip to the hospital.

He could not fall asleep for a long time.

Lin An lay flat on the bed, silently staring at the ceiling.

He was somewhat exhausted.

It was the second day after the Doomsday outbreak, and the fifth day since his rebirth.

Memories from his Previous Life mingled with those from the past few days, flashing rapidly through his mind like photographs in an album.

With no electricity in the hotel, the erratic weather made the late night rather cold.

"Creaaak."

The door opened. It was unlocked.

Since the keycard was useless, Lin An had no choice but to remove the lock directly.

In the darkness, Wen Ya stood in the doorway holding a blanket.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke.

"I can't sleep."

Lin An fell silent for a moment. To his eyes, the darkness was as bright as day.

He saw Wen Ya's reddened eyes.

She looked like she had cried.

Unable to sleep late at night meant she had something on her mind.

She had cried, so she had something on her mind.

Lin An could more or less guess what was troubling Wen Ya.

"You have family at Lin Jiang Hospital, don't you?"

With Mental Strength far beyond that of an ordinary person, Lin An had already noticed Wen Ya's emotional abnormality that afternoon.

Wen Ya hugged the blanket tighter and nodded lightly.

"Mm."

Her voice trembled.

She pressed her lips tightly together and spoke while suppressing her emotions.

"My mother's heart isn't good. She was hospitalized some time ago."

"She's in Room 303, in the building next to the Surgical Emergency Room."

Those words seemed to have drained all her strength.

The room was very cold, and her body trembled slightly in the pajamas she had put on after showering.

The hair dryer did not work, so she could only tie up her wet hair simply.

Lin An was silent for a moment, unsure how to comfort her.

"Tomorrow, as long as it doesn't delay the plan."

"I'll go take a look."

He looked at Wen Ya, who no longer seemed as valiant and strong as before.

He sighed inwardly.

The entire hospital had now become Hell.

The area where Wen Ya's Mother was located was even closer to the Emergency Center, where the most Zombies were gathered.

They both knew that Wen Ya's Mother had almost no hope of survival.

Taking a look was nothing more than psychological comfort.

The cold wind howled outside, and its biting whistle could be heard even through the glass.

"Th... thank you."

Wen Ya wiped away the tears she could no longer hold back with the back of her hand, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"Beep. Member Wen Ya's Loyalty has increased by 30 points. Current value: 80/100 (Almost never betrays, even in death)."

She bowed deeply to Lin An with great seriousness, as though she had made some kind of decision.

"I..."

"Can I sleep here with you tonight?"

After saying that.

She slowly walked to Lin An's bedside with her head lowered.

She gently placed her blanket beside Lin An.

Lin An frowned slightly. He had not expected Wen Ya's Loyalty to rise because of those words.

It seemed this matter had affected her deeply enough for her to completely lower her guard against Lin An.

With his excellent eyesight, he could tell that she was wearing nothing underneath.

Two points protruded beneath her thin pajamas.

"If you think this is repayment, or if you're trying to do something."

"There's no need."

Lin An had agreed to take a look without any ulterior motives.

After all, he had not promised that he would definitely go. He had only said he would do so if it did not interfere with his own plans.

Wen Ya raised her head at his words, her entire face flushed red.

Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out.

"Since you've joined my team, you're naturally one of its members."

"Teammates should help each other."

"You don't need to feel guilty or grateful."

"Besides, I really don't like you doing this."

Lin An's gaze was clear. After speaking, he calmly looked at Wen Ya.

The pleasant scent of body wash dispersed the cheap perfume smell in the room.

"Get some sleep early."

After saying that, Lin An turned his back to her and closed his eyes to rest.

Wen Ya stood at a loss, her hands freezing as she removed her top.

Her body stiffened beside the bed.

She could not say a single word.

A long time passed.

"Rustle, rustle."

Wen Ya made up her bedding.

In the darkness.

Lin An sensed someone lie down beside him, but she did not move closer.

"I'm sorry."

Wen Ya lay curled up in a corner at the edge of the bed, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes.

It was unclear whether she was saying those words to Lin An or to herself.

The next morning.

On the ninth-floor corridor, Lin An had been waiting there early.

"Brother Lin... Team Leader!"

"I brought the people over!"

At the other end of the corridor, Zhang Tie strode over.

He was still not used to calling Lin An Team Leader.

After hastily changing how he addressed him, he greeted Lin An enthusiastically and laughed heartily.

Two middle-aged men followed behind him. They appeared to be members of his previous team.

"Brother Lin!"

The two middle-aged men bowed awkwardly to greet Lin An, visibly nervous.

Lin An could be described as handsome. His fair skin even made him look like a scholar.

But in their eyes, Lin An was already synonymous with a monster.

Anyone who had seen Lin An kill a Licker with a single slash would probably never forget it.

Everyone had talked about that slash all night.

Lin An nodded in response.

He led the three men to the floor-to-ceiling window by the ninth-floor elevator lobby.

"First, tell me about the hospital's internal layout so I can determine the route."

Lin An stared directly at the Surgery Building. Nothing inside could be seen through its dark glass exterior.

The entrance doors to the Surgery Building were tightly shut, and only a few Zombies wandering outside could be seen.

It was extremely strange.

"Brother Lin, this is a map we drew by hand overnight."

The two middle-aged men were hospital employees Zhang Tie had found, and they were generally familiar with the entire hospital's layout.

Standing to Lin An's left and right, they pointed at the map and continued.

"This route leads to the Underground Parking Lot entrance. It's about twenty meters to the right of the hospital entrance. Going in from here leads directly to the Surgical Emergency Room."

"The Orthopedics Department is on the second floor of the Surgical Emergency Room and occupies roughly two floors."

Half an hour later, Lin An thanked the two men and headed downstairs with Zhang Tie.

For this operation, he did not choose to bring more people.

With the density of Zombies in the hospital, ordinary people following him would only be marching to their deaths.

Even Zhang Tie risked being infected if he was careless and got surrounded by Zombies.

In the stairwell, the two talked as they walked.

"Team Leader Lin, so we're going to the Surgical Emergency Room to find a piece of equipment?"

Zhang Tie followed behind Lin An, scratching his head.

Lin An descended extremely quickly. Without turning back, he said,

"It might not be in the emergency room. It's just that the emergency room has the highest probability."

"In the Doomsday Game, most equipment is guarded by monsters."

"Some have Mutants, while others have large numbers of Zombies."

"Based on what you described, the Surgical Emergency Room has the most Zombies, so it naturally has the greatest chance of containing equipment."

Zhang Tie nodded thoughtfully, struggling somewhat to keep up with Lin An's pace down the stairs.

Logically speaking, Lin An's words were incorrect.

He was using the result to Reverse Push the conclusion.

Equipment attracting monsters was something that happened after the Doomsday outbreak.

But the large number of Zombies in the emergency room had been transformed from patients.

Those people had not gathered at the emergency room after the Doomsday. They had already been there before the outbreak.

Therefore, the emergency room having so many Zombies was not because equipment was there.

It could only be said that Lin An knew the hospital's equipment was located where the most Zombies were because he had been reborn!

If someone sharp-minded had been present, they would have noticed the flaw in Lin An's words.

However, Zhang Tie was clearly not that kind of person.

He did not notice it at all.

"Is that equipment really powerful?"

Zhang Tie was somewhat curious. He could sense that Lin An was determined to obtain it.

What kind of equipment could make Lin An willing to take such a risk to get it?

After all, it was in a hospital.

Thinking of that enormous horde of Zombies, he still felt lingering fear.

Lin An recalled the attributes of Skull Crusher's Hand that he had seen in the Chat Channel in his Previous Life and answered solemnly.

"Very powerful!"

As Blue Equipment, Skull Crusher's Hand only had one attribute bonus, but its value was as high as five points!

It was downright absurd.

If an ordinary Player obtained it, as long as their base Strength was not too poor, they could easily surpass the ten-point human Limit Value.

Thus gaining strength comparable to an Awakened.

It could be said that this was equipment capable of bringing about a qualitative leap in one's power.

"I haven't even seen any equipment yet!"

"Team Leader Lin, you call this Doomsday Game a game. Why doesn't it have any game features at all?"

Lin An chuckled softly. He understood Zhang Tie's confusion.

"It's perfectly normal that you haven't seen equipment. Every piece of equipment in the Doomsday Game is incomparably precious."

"As for the Doomsday Game."

"It really is a game."

"Only."

Lin An's expression turned stern.

"It isn't our game!"