The Insomniac and Da Bo, whose intellectual development was delayed, sat on either side of Xuan Wen. The child patient, who could not tell virtual reality from the real world, stamped his feet in frustration, but there was nothing he could do.
He could not understand why his best friends had suddenly distanced themselves from him and willingly followed an "old witch" around.
Xuan Wen deftly rummaged out bandages, a needle, and thread. Like a school disciplinarian confronting a problem student, she told the child patient, "Come here."
Despite his deep reluctance, the boy's body moved on its own. He slowly shuffled over to Xuan Wen.
As she grabbed his arm and bandaged it, the boy turned his head aside, planning something exceedingly cruel in his mind.
"Are you thinking about chopping my hands off too, then sewing them back on?" Xuan Wen's voice reached the boy's ears, giving him a fright.
"I—I said that out loud?" His expression froze in shock. When he turned back, he discovered that both his arms had already been bound with bandages. "What are you trying to do? You're with those people!"
"I'm a doctor. Naturally, I'm doing this to treat you." The scalpel concealed in Xuan Wen's hand sliced across the back of the boy's neck. The external cables from his Game Helmet were wound around his spine, densely interconnected with his blood vessels.
If she forcibly tore through all those blood vessels and cables, the boy would lose his sanity and become a heap of rotting flesh.
"There's nothing wrong with playing games, but getting too addicted makes you ignore your own genuine feelings and become a happy puppet under their control." Xuan Wen reached into the boy's mutated neck. "I won't make you quit your gaming addiction outright. I'll just switch