Chapter 53: The Supernatural Doctor of the Zodiac, The Oil Painting on the Wall

Chapter 53: The Supernatural Doctor of the Zodiac, The Oil Painting on the Wall

Facing the Supernatural Doctor's chilling gaze, Ji Yan instinctively took half a step back before quickly steadying himself.

He wasn’t late, and his Surgical Kit was fully equipped.

There were no missteps—surely the other party wouldn’t Blacken without reason?

The Supernatural Doctor raised an unnaturally elongated, almost deformed hand and adjusted the "9527" Work ID hanging on Ji Yan’s chest.

"Pay attention to details."

"I don’t like lazy, negligent Interns under my supervision."

As he spoke, the Supernatural Doctor glanced at the other four Players.

"Your Internship period is three days. During this time, I will evaluate each of your performances."

"Only two of you five will earn Promotion. The rest who fail will be sent to the Severe Ward!"

As soon as the Supernatural Doctor finished speaking, a survival guide popped up before Ji Yan and the other four Players.

Ji Yan skimmed through it quickly, grasping the gist.

In the Undead Hospital, each Supernatural Doctor was assigned four to five Players.

Over these three days, the five Players would compete against one another, completing Internship Tasks to earn Evaluation Scores. Only the top two would secure Promotion.

Success meant advancing to the next stage of the Instance.

Failure meant being assigned to the Severe Ward.

The patients in the Severe Ward were all heavily Blackened Supernatural Entities, making survival there especially difficult.

Ji Yan was the last Intern assigned to this group’s Supernatural Doctor.

Thus, from the very first day of the Instance, he was thrust into a cutthroat competition.

A brutal start right out of the gate!

The other four Players also wore solemn, tense expressions.

Their exchanged glances crackled with competitive tension.

"These five report forms correspond to the Wards assigned to you today."

"Take them, interact with your patients, and document their symptoms and conditions in detail. I will review and score your reports!"

"Among these five patients, one is classified as [Severe]. It’s up to luck who draws that one."

The Supernatural Doctor handed out five report forms.

The Players exchanged uneasy looks before taking turns drawing theirs.

Ji Yan picked the one on the far end.

The moment it was in his hands, his Talent, Omniscient Understanding, abruptly triggered without warning:

"Warning! A Player in your Internship group has maliciously targeted you. Analysis reveals their Talent as—[Misfortune Transfer]."

"[Misfortune Transfer] Talent Details: The Player can select another Player and forcibly transfer any potential bad luck onto them, ensuring they remain favored by fortune." (Can be triggered once per Mission.)

Ji Yan froze.

He flipped over his report form.

The words [Severe Patient] glared back at him.

Damn it!

Targeted in the very first Mission—out of four others, why him?

A disastrous start in the Crimson Apartment was bad enough, but now the second Instance was pulling the same stunt.

Ji Yan’s gaze swept over the other four Players, but they were all absorbed in their own reports, their expressions unreadable. For now, he couldn’t tell who had sabotaged him.

Then, the Internship Task notification echoed in his mind:

"Ding! Congratulations, Player. You have been assigned to the A22 Ward. The patient’s condition is rated as [Severe]. Please proceed to the Mission location to conduct consultation and treatment."

"Deadline before noon: Fill out the patient's symptoms on the report form." (The more accurate the information, the higher the Evaluation Score.)

"Mission Level: B-grade."

"Mission Hint: The patient is highly unstable and prone to Blackening. Interact with caution!"

"Mission Reward: A Surgical Kit of Rare quality."

"Mission Failure: Player will suffer a 10% infection rate."

Ji Yan held the report form.

Apart from the patient's gender, there was no other information—not even a name. Everything else was marked with question marks.

What a nightmare!

"By six, I'll be here waiting for your reports."

"No extensions."

The Supernatural Doctor lifted his ashen, bloodless face, his pale-white Eyeballs fixed on Ji Yan. "Especially you!"

Ji Yan: "..."

After the Supernatural Doctor left, the players began probing each other, all speculating about who had been assigned the [Severe Ward] patient's report.

"Look at the last one to arrive—didn’t say a word the whole time, face like he swallowed a fly. No need to guess, it’s definitely him!"

The player named Ruan Tao suddenly pointed at Ji Yan, teasing with a laugh.

Ji Yan remained silent.

He couldn’t tell if the guy was just making a wild guess or if he was the player with the [Misfortune Transfer] Talent.

The loli girl Yuan Yao giggled. "Well, it’s not me."

"My patient’s in the Respiratory Clinic—just fevers or colds. Should be easy to figure out."

"After all, it’s only a D-grade mission!"

The other players stared at Yuan Yao in shock.

Did this girl just casually reveal her mission like that?

Her innocent, sweet expression made it hard to tell if she was genuinely naive or using it as a disguise to lull them into complacency.

"I won’t waste words on blessings. There are only two Promotion spots, and I’ll do whatever it takes to secure one!"

The female player Liu Zhaodi’s pretty face turned icy as she dropped those words and walked away.

"The Severe Ward is a 'cannibal’s den.' No player’s ever crawled out alive. I’ll fight tooth and nail for that Promotion spot too!"

Ruan Tao tossed out those lines before leaving as well.

The Masked Man coughed twice, shot Ji Yan a sudden glance, and then departed.

"I’ve got no patience for those three heartless jerks. You remind me of my brother, so I’m rooting for both of us to get Promoted."

"So, good luck!" Yuan Yao was the only one of the four to show Ji Yan any friendliness. With a smile, she left too.

Ji Yan observed their reactions.

Shaking his head, he couldn’t pinpoint who had set him up...

Putting it aside, he focused entirely on the mission.

...

Following the mission’s directions, Ji Yan headed upstairs, checking the room numbers until he quickly found the A22 Ward.

At the door, he spotted a Ghostly Nurse with damp, rotting pale skin, dragging a stretcher bed.

Piled on it were blood-soaked limbs of various body parts, staining the entire stretcher crimson.

The Ghostly Nurse noticed Ji Yan and spoke expressionlessly: "9527, the patient in A22 Ward has been waiting for you."

"You’re the fifth intern today to consult on this patient’s condition."

Ji Yan raised an eyebrow.

This patient’s in such high demand? There were four other unlucky bastards before me?

"So you're saying there are currently five doctors consulting and treating the patient in the ward?"

The Ghostly Nurse shook her head: "They've already finished their consultations and left. The results were all... unfortunate."

"I'm responsible for cleaning up the ward's trash. These were left behind by those interns."

She lifted a bloody palm and said to Ji Yan, "This belonged to the intern before you. He treated the patient improperly, so his hand was removed—along with both his ears."

Ji Yan's mouth twitched.

"Is there a patient inside, or some kind of man-eating monster?"

The Ghostly Nurse tilted her head and countered, "What's the difference?"

"Don't all the patients here eat people?"

"..."

Before even stepping inside, Ji Yan was already drenched in sweat.

"Hurry in. Clean up the 'trash' you leave behind, and my job will be done," the Ghostly Nurse urged coldly.

Ignoring her, Ji Yan gripped the doorknob and pushed the door open.

The room was pitch-black, cutting off all visibility. Fighting against the overwhelming stench, Ji Yan clutched his report form and forced himself inside.

The moment he stepped in, the door slammed shut behind him.

The darkness vanished, replaced by a dim, hazy light in the ward.

Contrary to Ji Yan's expectations, there was no blood-soaked horror waiting for him.

The patient in A22 wasn't some three-headed, six-armed monster with a taste for human flesh.

In the deepest corner of the ward, there was only a lone White-Clad Little Girl, quietly holding a sketchpad, absorbed in her drawing.

She looked... utterly innocent.