Chapter 136: Latent Infection, Death by Arrogance (Bonus for the Alliance Leader)

Chapter 136: Latent Infection, Death by Arrogance (Bonus for the Alliance Leader)

Ji Yan grabbed the Dragon Player by the neck, and his face instantly twisted in terror. The next second, he violently broke free, putting ten meters between them.

"Why... why are you awake?!"

"Impossible! Touch, gaze—your Talent was completely sealed off by me. Without your Talent, how could you still see through this Dream World?"

Ji Yan wasn’t in a hurry to respond.

With that touch, his Talent had finally triggered as intended.

Ding! Congratulations, player. Through physical contact, you have successfully activated your Talent [Omniscient Understanding], obtaining hidden information about the player "Liu Shanyi."

Lines of bloody text floated before his eyes. Ji Yan’s gaze swept over them rapidly, absorbing the information.

At last, he finally understood what had happened during his absence from the [Undead Hospital].

When the Dragon Player realized the plan had completely collapsed, the Tiger Player had already descended into madness, controlling the body of the [Supernatural Hospital Director] and slaughtering every Supernatural Entity in sight.

The Dragon Player had made his choice immediately.

If the [Undead Hospital] was abandoned by the [Order] and turned into an [Abandoned Instance], he would be doomed alongside it.

But if he could prevent the instance from collapsing, only the Tiger Player would die—and he could still escape unscathed to the next instance!

So, he rushed to stop the rogue [Zodiac Doctors]. His delay tactics finally bought enough time for the [Order Review] to arrive.

It was the first time the Dragon Player had witnessed the [Instance Order].

They had no form—they couldn’t even be properly described.

The Tiger Player was erased in an instant, dissolving into a mist of blood and vanishing.

Fortunately, the Dragon Player had always operated on the edge of compliance, narrowly avoiding the scrutiny of the [Instance Order]. Once the instigator was eliminated, the Order took just one minute to clean up the mess in the [Morgue] and the [Obstetrics and Gynecology Department].

But when the [Main Storyline Task] reset, the Dragon Player knew all his efforts in this instance had been in vain.

Overwhelming hatred seized his heart once more. Instead of completing the main storyline and leaving, he chose to stay, activating the final [Wish Privilege] of the [Dragon]—[Dream Wander].

The reason was simple:

If Ji Yan didn’t die, he would never be able to swallow this rage!

The [Dream Wander] Wish Privilege seamlessly dragged the target from reality into a dream. Any actions the dream master took within the constructed Dream World would be reflected one-to-one in reality.

Ji Yan had been puzzled.

Why hadn’t the Dragon Player just killed him outright? Why go through all this trouble, luring him toward the [Tree of Creation] in the Dream World?

Now that he was awake, he had his answer.

The main storyline task that had popped up in the dream contained no [Text Trap]—because the entire task was fabricated!

The [Tree of Creation] was indeed withering, but not because worms were gnawing at it from within.

It was missing its core nourishment.

That nourishment required devouring the flesh and blood of a [Chief Doctor] to gradually revive.

To put it bluntly, it demanded the sacrifice of a player who had completed over 50% of the instance.

The final strategy of this main storyline was for players to kill each other.

How ironic.

The Dragon Player actually had many choices and didn’t need to sacrifice Ji Yan at all. Given his mastery of the Instance, his status, and even his intellect, he could have easily manipulated players of the other Zodiacs to use as sacrifices.

But he wanted to win.

Even if just once!

An overwhelming sense of humiliation and resentment was eroding his rationality. He wanted—no, craved—to hysterically shout at the moment of successfully sacrificing Ji Yan: "The plan may have collapsed, but in the end, the one standing and surviving is still me, Liu Shanyi!"

And it was precisely this pride that led to the current situation.

The Dragon Player couldn’t believe it.

[Dream Wander] could infinitely and realistically corrode the target’s mind, making it impossible for them to realize they were in a dream.

He had also completely cut off any medium through which Ji Yan could trigger his [Talent].

So why could he still wake up?

Blood vessels crawled across his eyeballs as the Dragon Player suppressed all his shock and confusion, his shoulders trembling violently, his eyes completely reddened.

With a vicious grin, he stared at Ji Yan. "Goat Doctor, today only one of us will walk out alive."

"One sacrifices, dies, and is eliminated—the other completes the Main Plot and leaves the Instance."

"I don’t care how you broke [Dream Wander]."

"I just want to see if you can make it out of here alive today."

The Dragon Player still held cards obtained from [Plunder] against the other eleven Zodiacs.

And all Ji Yan had were two lousy Sheepskin Scrolls!

Beg for mercy? Seek reconciliation?

His pride would never let him bow his head.

He would fight with his back against the wall!

He raised his hand and bit down hard on his wrist.

Blood gushed out— But the next second, his expression froze.

He discovered that the [Wish Privilege] he had plundered couldn’t be activated, and his arm was now covered in glaring black goat wool...

The Dragon Player staggered back two steps, watching as the black wool continued to spread across his arm. He tore open his clothes—his chest was also rapidly being covered in the same wool.

At the same time, a red [Warning Panel] popped up before his eyes.

"Warning! The player’s body is suffering from severe [Infection], and the [Infection Source] originates from the Zodiac [Goat]. Due to the opposing relationship between the Zodiac Dragon and Goat, the Dragon Zodiac Doctor now considers you to have defected to the [Goat] faction and harbors intense disgust toward you."

"Critical Notice! Due to a drastic drop in your Favorability Progress with the Dragon Zodiac Doctor, all your [Wish Privileges] have been revoked and can no longer be used."

"No! That’s not true! I haven’t defected to the Goat!"

"I despise those damned goats—their stench, their gaze, every inch of them disgusts me! How could I ever side with them?!"

The Dragon Player frantically tore at the infected wool on his body, flesh splitting, blood soaking his white coat.

Yet even as his body became drenched in blood, the black wool continued to spread at an alarming rate, soon covering him entirely.

Even his forehead bones began to protrude into two sharp horns...

Looking at his blood-soaked hands, the Dragon Player collapsed to the ground. Under this [Infection], all his stats were plummeting wildly.

With great effort, he raised his twitching eyes and rasped at Ji Yan, "When... when did you infect me...?"

"How... how could you even infect me...?"

Ji Yan calmly observed the scene before smiling.

"You seem to have overlooked one crucial detail."

"In the end, I willingly discarded the Sheepskin Scroll and successfully deceived you."

"Didn’t you ever wonder—if that lie succeeded, what would the [Privilege] be?"

The words struck like a bolt of clarity.

The Dragon Player’s eyeballs trembled violently.

"In other words, the Privilege was used to infect me!"

Ji Yan shook his head and continued, "Of course, if the Infection had been direct, you would have noticed immediately."

"So, the Infection Source had to be planted silently within you."

"As for how it was done silently—naturally, it was during the moment you Plundered my Sheepskin Scroll."

"The instant you successfully Plundered the Sheepskin Scroll, overwhelming joy would have seized your heart. That was when your vigilance was at its weakest."

"And that was also the key weapon I used to break your Dream Wander."

"In the Dream World, the Ghostly Nurse kept insisting you had already left the Instance. But as a 'Goat,' I’m most sensitive to the scent of my own kind."

"I clearly smelled the Foul Smell of goats emanating from you—the very stench you despise the most."

"When the smell grew unbearably strong, I knew you had to be nearby..."

Ji Yan stepped closer to the Dragon Player. "Originally, this hidden Infection was just a precaution I left behind."

"Clearly, my precaution turned out to be very well-placed!"

"Liu Shanyi, you had countless ways to leave the Instance and survive."

"But you chose to target me instead."

Ji Yan crouched down, a Scalpel appearing in his hand.

"All I can say is, in the end, you didn’t die by my hand—but by your own Arrogance."

With those words, Ji Yan’s Scalpel moved toward the other.

Under the weight of unwillingness, regret, hatred, and a torrent of other negative emotions, the Dragon Player’s vision was consumed by the blade.

In the end, overwhelmed by the severe Infection, he closed his eyes for the last time...