[Optional quest branch 1: Turn it into oil for the Soul Lamp. Quest reward: Soul Lamp usage duration +2 days] [Optional quest branch 2: Feed it to Little Darling in the backyard. Quest reward: Little Darling affection +50] [Optional quest branch 3: Preserve it in a reagent as a collectible. Quest reward: Specimen-making experience +10] [Optional quest branch 4: Wait for the Pighead Demon to come back for his daughter. Quest reward: Pending analysis...]
Lynn calmly looked at the four quest branches the system had offered him.
"Obviously, the fourth one."
Sitting on the counter, Lynn set the ghost infant on its surface and began clacking away at his abacus, saying solemnly:
"I'm a doctor. Someone left their baby here, and I kill it? Wouldn't that make me a sicko? My moral standards won't allow me to do something like that."
"..."
"With professional ethics like mine, aren't you going to give me some points, system?"
[Morality +10]
"..."
Knife in hand, Lynn continued waiting for new customers.
Two minutes later, he opened his eyes and glanced at the ghost baby.
He discovered that its body had begun twisting into a hideous braid.
[Lynn's Sanity Value -1]
Five minutes later.
When he looked again, cysts of all sizes had begun sprouting across the infant's face, and hoarse wails came from its pitch-black mouth.
[Lynn's Sanity Value -10]
Ten minutes later.
When Lynn opened his eyes again, that face was covered in black, distorted growths of all sizes, with tentacle after tentacle writhing together across them.
[Lynn's Sanity Value -30]
The corners of Lynn's eyes twitched wildly.
It seemed the system had been right. Left alone, this ghost infant really was becoming something increasingly indescribable!
No!
If this keeps going, never mind whether that Pig Demon will still recognize his daughter.
I won't be able to take it myself!
It's too ugly!
It's so fucking ugly! And the nightmare-inducing kind of ugly, too!
Lynn stood up with a (╬￣皿￣) expression, rolled his wrists, and said:
"Fine, consider yourself lucky. I'll give you a free makeover, so you stop scaring me now and don't scare everyone else later!"
He put on a mask and gloves.
Then he picked up a rope and tied the ghost infant to the counter.
"Creeeak-creeeak-"
The twisting tentacles on the ghost infant's face suddenly mutated, sprouting countless mouths that roared horrifically at Lynn.
Smack-
With a single slap, Lynn knocked all the tentacles back.
"Behave!"
Lynn put on his monocle and cracked his knuckles, his expression impassive.
Reaching out with both large hands, he grabbed the wildly writhing tentacles on its face and vigorously kneaded them like dough.
"Waaah-waaah-" Sounds resembling frightened cries came from within the ghost infant.
[Evil Spirit Blood Infant fear +10]
Cosmetic surgery required skill.
Although Lynn had never performed cosmetic surgery on anyone before, he was very adept at sculpting clay figures.
In a sense, the two seemed pretty much the same.
And the first step of cosmetic surgery.
Was naturally to mix all that messy, sticky stuff on its face into a uniform mass.
It had to be nice and smooth.
Only then could he lay the perfect foundation for sculpting its face afterward.
[Evil Spirit Blood Infant fear +10]
Kneading dough required plenty of skill, too. It couldn't be too dry or too wet. It needed enough elasticity and resilience, making the process quite a test of hand strength.
"Don't move."
"Since I delivered you, I have a duty as a doctor to keep you healthy while you're here. Don't worry. Leave your facial problems to me!"
Lynn kept his face stern.
Putting his noodle-pulling skills from before his transmigration to full use, he finished kneading the mass on its face.
Then he pulled it outward.
[Evil Spirit Blood Infant fear +20]
He twisted it into a braid and pushed it back in.
[Evil Spirit Blood Infant fear +20]
He pulled again!
Twisted it twice and pushed it back in.
He thoroughly worked all that sticky, disgusting material into an even, elastic mass.
Meanwhile, the sounds coming from inside the ghost infant grew increasingly terrified.
[Evil Spirit Blood Infant fear +20]
Knock, knock, knock-
Just then, someone knocked at the door.
A humanoid monster stood outside, covered in burns, its face oozing pus. Foul-smelling crimson mucus constantly streamed from its eye sockets, making it a horrifying, grotesque sight.
"I want... a new face..."
A low, scorched voice emerged from the monster's throat.
Lynn glanced over.
[Burned Ghost] [Race]: Evil spirit [Level: 15] [Alignment]: Chaotic neutral [Combat ability]: Average [Description]: An evil spirit burned alive in a fire, with burns covering 99.9% of its body. Twisted and gloomy in temperament, it harbors intense malice toward anything beautiful. [Ding! Quest triggered: Help the Burned Ghost get a new face. Quest rewards: 50 Skeleton Coins, surgical experience +50, special reward +1]
"Welcome! Please take a seat over there and wait a moment!"
Lynn poked his head out from behind the ghost infant, his eyes conveying a practiced professional smile.
Splat-
Thick fluid from a growth he had squeezed open on the ghost baby's face splashed all over Lynn's mask.
The Burned Ghost, who had just entered, instantly froze.
"Please sit down. I'll be done in a moment."
Lynn smiled.
Then Lynn turned his attention back to the ghost infant tied to the counter. To speed things up, he had no choice but to use both hands.
He grabbed both sides of the kneaded lump of flesh.
And gave it a hard tug.
"Waaaaah-" A chilling cry of terror came from inside the ghost infant.
With a swishing flourish, he twisted it into a braid.
Then pressed it back onto its face.
"Aaah-aaah-" The ghost infant trembled.
He turned the ghost infant over and laid it flat, then began kneading the twisted mass of flesh on its face with even greater force.
"I'll be done soon. Please be patient."
Lynn raised his head with a smile, giving the Burned Ghost seated a short distance away a sincere look.
The Burned Ghost stared blankly at the horrifying scene on the counter.
His legs began trembling uncontrollably.
One tug.
Another two meters.
Burned Ghost: "!!!"
[Burned Ghost's Sanity Value -20!]
Another knead.
He picked up a rolling pin.
Swish, swish-
The ghost infant's face was rolled completely flat as it squealed and shrieked in terror.
Every pus-filled blister on the Burned Ghost's body began trembling.
[Burned Ghost's Sanity Value -20!]
Something's wrong!
Something's wrong!
There's something fucking wrong with this pharmacy I walked into!
He raised a charred hand, trembling, and said, "May I ask... what you're..."
At the question, Lynn looked up while kneading the lump of flesh on the ghost infant's face, a sincere, professional smile spreading across his face.
"Oh, this little ghost is too ugly. Almost mind-contaminatingly ugly, in fact. As a doctor, giving it a normal face is simply my duty."
A shudder instantly ran through the Burned Ghost's entire body.
He said blankly, "Your... your technique certainly is... distinctive..."
His whole body was rigid, his scorched eyes wide. At some point, even his hunched back had straightened.
He watched the doctor work the ghost infant's face back and forth like hand-pulled noodles.
His legs shook even harder.
A horrifying image instantly flashed through his mind: this doctor repeatedly stretching and tugging at his own face in a little while.
The Burned Ghost began to panic.
Have I walked into some kind of butcher shop?!
And just as that thought occurred to him.
Pop, pop, pop-
Pop, pop, pop-
The doctor reached out and rapidly squeezed open a dozen growths that had sprouted on the ghost infant's face.
The thick fluid splattered so far that some even hit the Burned Ghost's face.
They burst!
They're bursting everywhere!
"Mommy (ΩДΩ)!!!"
[Burned Ghost's Sanity Value -30!!]
Before you continue