Refusing to Become a Doctor

Certain thoughts gradually took shape in Xia Shou's mind, as though someone were speaking to him.

[It hurts, doesn't it?

Doesn't a life where you have to keep devouring anomalies just to survive fill you with despair?

Without Abyssal Diving Syndrome, you could have a far more perfect life.

Think about it. You're the only person who can see Su Weiyu. That's the same as having unlimited money and power. She could easily give you hundreds of millions.

And no one would ever be able to trace the source of that unexplained wealth. No matter how the police investigated, their conclusion would always be "nothing unusual."

Even if the Containment Bureau investigated you personally, they would find nothing.

You could have lived the carefree, pleasure-filled life of an unimaginably rich man, just as you longed to in your previous life.

Unfortunately, you can't enjoy that life now, because you have Abyssal Diving Syndrome.

Someone like you can only dance on a knife's edge, living every day like a tightrope walker.

Can you really... accept that?]

The devil kept whispering in his ear.

Xia Shou was shaken to his core.

It actually knew he had transmigrated!

What was happening in his mind was exactly as the diary had described.

This understanding wasn't conveyed through sound. Instead, he understood everything in an instant.

Now, Xia Shou clearly understood that it could cure his Abyssal Diving Syndrome, freeing him from ever having to worry about sinking again.

Then the birdlike voice from earlier rang out once more:

"Become a doctor. Be my assistant, and I'll cure this stubborn affliction completely and perfectly. You know I can do it."

At the same time, the same voice abruptly appeared in Su Weiyu's mind.

"You suffer from transparency syndrome. Though it's incurable, I can still cure it for you."

[It hurts, doesn't it?

You should have had a much happier, more fulfilling life. Before you developed transparency syndrome, your mom and dad loved you so much. But everything changed once they could no longer see you. They never even looked for you, as though you didn't exist at all.

They lavished all their love on your younger sister. From now on, you're no longer a family. No one in this world will ever form a new connection with you again.

You will have no friends, no lover, no enemies... you will have nothing.

Yes, you have him now. He's the only person who can see you.

But what good does that do?

Relationships are built on giving and receiving, but he is the only person you can give everything to. Do you think he will value everything you do for him in the future?

Perhaps he'll be grateful for a while, but given enough time, he'll simply take your sacrifices for granted.

Because you depend on him far more than he depends on you.

In the end, you'll come to understand that you were never his friend, only his tool...]

"Become a doctor. Be my assistant, and I'll cure this stubborn affliction completely and perfectly. You know I can do it."

Hearing this, Su Weiyu's eyes widened, and she froze in place like a statue.

Even this condition that prevents anyone from being aware of me can be cured?

What this monster said is true! It really can do it!

"I heard a strange voice. Do you remember what Liu Dong said?" Xia Shou immediately warned them.

He could tell at a glance that Wang Long, Su Weiyu, and Liu Guangyao all looked off.

Clearly, everyone had heard that voice!

Despite what Xia Shou had said, he knew it was impossible not to waver.

Because as long as they became doctors, it really would cure their illnesses.

It was a baseless, incomprehensible certainty.

Xia Shou knew full well that he had no evidence to prove it wasn't lying, yet he was certain it hadn't deceived him!

"We can't become doctors! Whatever you do, don't become doctors! Liu Dong told us that. He must have already gone through it," Xia Shou repeatedly stressed to the others.

"But it really can cure our illnesses." Liu Guangyao's eyes lit up.

"Calm down. There are risks. Think about what happened to Liu Dong." Xia Shou tried to reason with him, but deep down, he was wavering too.

And thoughts he would never normally have sprang into his mind out of nowhere, clinging like maggots burrowing into bone. They wouldn't leave him alone, endlessly repeating those strange arguments, trying to persuade him to make a decision:

Say yes. The price of becoming a doctor is just killing a few ordinary people. For a Transcendent like you, that's as easy as doing a push-up. If you become a doctor, you'll never end up like Liu Dong.

The ordinary people in this hospital are unlikely to survive anyway. You can't save them, so shouldn't you at least save yourself?

His own voice was speaking to him, yet its tone was nothing like his usual one.

Everything felt so strange.

"I can let you leave this place. You can walk the mortal world without any trouble. All you need to do is obey the sanatorium's rules." That strange, birdlike voice rang out in Xia Shou's mind again.

Then an entire set of sanatorium rules poured into Xia Shou's mind.

[1. Do not disclose any information about the sanatorium to uninvolved parties.

2. Use a special ritual to connect buildings such as hospitals and clinics to the sanatorium's Closed Domain, supplying the sanatorium with raw materials.]

He only had to follow those two simple rules and meet a certain quota, and he would be free of all other restrictions, able to live in the real world like an ordinary person!

"So... the reason this hospital was pulled into the Closed Domain was that an official doctor from the sanatorium, operating in the real world, performed some kind of ritual." Xia Shou finally understood.

This wish-granting bargain reminded him of a story.

"I don't know if any of you have heard a story called The Monkey's..."

Xia Shou suddenly stopped halfway through.

He couldn't remember what he had been about to say.

His train of thought, which had been flowing so smoothly a moment ago, seemed to have been blocked at some point.

"Don't listen to it!"

A young child's voice suddenly exploded in his ears!

For a brief instant, Xia Shou's muddled mind cleared.

"I refuse!"

Xia Shou immediately made his decision. His mind seemed to return to normal.

And the thought that had been blocked immediately began flowing again. He remembered that the story he had wanted to tell

was called "The Monkey's Paw." It was about an eerie monkey's paw that could grant its owner three wishes, but did so in twisted, evil ways.

That was the story he had been about to mention, yet even such a simple thought had been blocked!

It made Xia Shou all the more aware of how terrifying Idrisu was!

"If any of you agrees to become a doctor, I'll have no choice but to kill you," Xia Shou said coldly, his tone bordering on a threat.

Then Xia Shou looked at Su Weiyu and asked with some concern, "You'll refuse, won't you?"