I Can Still Be Saved!

The battle in the corridor was exceptionally brutal.

After using her skill, the schoolgirl's legs had gone limp from overexertion, leaving her unable even to stand.

Lezi-ge lay covered in blood on the floor, his fate unknown.

Neither of them had the strength left to resist the hunter, which was still struggling.

Zuo Cheng'an glanced at them both and rapidly calculated his options. Setting aside the half-dead Lezi-ge for now,

it seemed his original plan to whittle down its health bar would not work. Even if he really managed to wear the hunter down to a sliver of health today,

the schoolgirl had her skill. Tomorrow night, she could finish off the weakened hunter with two kicks. When his turn came, he would still have to face a hunter at full strength.

Hiding was no option either. The door to Room 201 already had a huge hole in it, and he could not rule out the hunter reaching inside as it passed.

On the other hand, if they killed this hunter today,

when Room 203, where the schoolgirl stayed, came under attack tomorrow, he could join forces with her.

They would not need to kill tomorrow's full-strength hunter, just do their best to wear down its health and buy time. That would ease the pressure considerably when his turn came the night after.

Besides, the schoolgirl might well come out to help him of her own accord because he had helped her.

In an instant, Zuo Cheng'an grasped the key to the situation and swiftly adjusted his plan.

The hunter was still struggling.

To keep the hunter, with only a sliver of health left, from killing his teammate for the night after tomorrow, Zuo Cheng'an picked up the schoolgirl's axe and swung with all his strength.

A direct hit!

The hunter had only had 3% health remaining. After that heavy blow, its last bit of health dropped to zero.

[Ding! Killed "Hunter (Type E)." Obtained item: Tetanus Potion ×1.]

[Congratulations on earning the "Good Start" achievement! Requirement: "Get the first kill in the beginner instance." Awarded Free Attribute Points ×3.]

[Tetanus Potion]

[Category: Item (green, consumable)]

[Effect: Applying it to a weapon can inflict debuffs such as poison, slow, and confusion.]

[Restriction: Improper use could get you affected too~]

[Description: Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Get a taste of my tetanus!]

A test tube about the size of a finger, filled with green potion, appeared in Zuo Cheng'an's backpack.

Zuo Cheng'an set aside his battle rewards for now. He first kicked the hunter's corpse aside and checked Lezi-ge's injuries.

As for the schoolgirl, she certainly lived up to those clear, innocent eyes of hers. Her face was nearly contorted from the pain of her cramps, yet she was still waving them off.

"It's just my calves and thighs cramping at the same time. Nothing serious. Go take care of the guy who's about to croak first."

Lezi-ge's condition looked grim. Three bloody holes in his abdomen were spouting "fountains," and the hunter had bitten a large chunk of flesh out of his shoulder. They could even faintly see muscles tugging at his bones as they moved.

With the crisis over and no more adrenaline dulling his pain, Lezi-ge, who had still been merrily dragging himself around on the floor, immediately collapsed, unable to move.

With injuries like these, he would never last until the instance ended unless the bleeding stopped.

He might not even live to see the next night.

Zuo Cheng'an felt little regret. After all, Lezi-ge had not figured into his vision of how the game would unfold.

Lezi-ge shakily reached toward Zuo Cheng'an. "I... I..."

Zuo Cheng'an sighed quietly. "Anything you can't let go of? Put it all in your last words."

Lezi-ge shut his eyes in pain, his whole body trembling with emotion.

Zuo Cheng'an thought he was shaking from pain. He recalled how severely wounded people would end up crying and begging to be put out of their misery.

He figured this guy was the same and wanted his suffering to end sooner.

"Want an early release? No problem. I'll try to make it painless."

Zuo Cheng'an picked up the axe, gauging where best to strike.

Though this would be his first time killing someone, he was helping put someone out of their misery. Thinking of it that way, he felt little guilt.

At those words, Lezi-ge's eyes flew wide. With strength that came from who knew where, he spat out the clotted blood lodged in his throat.

"Bro! Don't kill me yet! I... I can still be saved!! My pants pocket! My item's in my pants pocket!"

After he spoke, his agitation made the three bloody holes gurgling blood from his abdomen give another little spurt.

Ah, quite a spectacle.

Having made a blunder, Zuo Cheng'an set the axe down as though nothing had happened and found the healing item Lezi-ge had mentioned.

The instant he touched it, the item's information appeared in his mind.

[Crooked Shuangshuang Mega Gummy]

[Category: Item (white, consumable)]

[Effect: Greatly restores health.]

[Restriction: Children and the elderly should consume under supervision.]

[Description: Remember, the odds of being killed by a gummy are not zero.]

When he heard the hunter scratching at his door, Lezi-ge had known he could not avoid it.

He had torn off a small piece of gummy and gone for it. Without that mouthful of candy keeping him going, anyone else with his injuries would have croaked long ago.

Trembling, Lezi-ge took out the remaining candy and split it in two again.

A sweet flavor spread, and the medicinal effect was immediate.

The three bloody holes in his belly finally stopped bleeding, and a layer of flesh covered the exposed bone in his shoulder.

His injuries still looked serious, but at least they were no longer worsening.

Lezi-ge offered the remaining gummy fragment to Zuo Cheng'an as though presenting a treasure. "Bro, orange-flavored gummy. Want a bite? You'll be full of energy afterward."

The gummy had apparently been shaped like a little bear before. Now, after all the tearing, only one leg remained.

Zuo Cheng'an: "..."

"No thanks."

"Me, me, me! I want it! These cramps are killing me!" the schoolgirl shouted from beside them, her features twisted out of place by pain. "I don't care if it's gross! As long as it stops the pain, I'll even eat ****!! Shove it in my mouth already!!"

In the end, the gummy fragment went into the schoolgirl's mouth.

After eating it, she wore an expression of relief comparable to finally sitting down on a toilet after holding in diarrhea for ten hours.

Her legs finally stopped hurting.

After catching his breath, Lezi-ge was deeply grateful to the two who had been willing to come out and save him.

"Brother, sis, my name's Zheng Ren. Even if I offered myself to repay you for saving my life, you wouldn't want me. But rest assured, as long as I have a breath left, I'll be there whenever you need me!"

The schoolgirl suddenly turned bashful. "N-no need to go that far. I'm ashamed to say it, but I was just afraid no one would help me when the hunter came for me.

"If we all take down the hunter together, maybe we can end the instance early. Oh, right, my name's Li Yueqiu."

Hearing this, Zuo Cheng'an silently thought, Unfortunately, there's no way to end it early.

There's more than one hunter.

The night was not over yet, but the "hunter" that should have been roaming around tonight was lying on the floor, so staying in the corridor posed no danger.

Zheng Ren ached all over and lay on the floor, groaning softly.

What he did not know was that an eyeball beside him was transmitting the scene to a group of unknown beings.

[That kid got lucky. He actually managed to get a healing item and save his own life.]

[Lucky, my ass. It's not a skill, just a consumable item. Now that he's used it up, let's see what he does later.]

[Sigh, I thought we'd get to see everyone watch coldly while he died alone and in despair. How boring.]

[Want to see brothers turn on each other and married couples become enemies? Go watch instance 3-1147, "Rose Hotel."]

[Huh? Never heard of it. Is it a really obscure instance? Going to watch now!]

The scrolling comments were back to saying pointless things. Zuo Cheng'an ignored the comments at the edge of his vision and examined the three extra Free Attribute Points on his panel.