Chapter 64: Rat Zodiac Player, Trust No One

Chapter 64: Rat Zodiac Player, Trust No One

Ji Yan narrowed his eyes at the tightly shut door, considering whether to pull out his hammer and force it open.

Just then, the door suddenly swung open again, and the eyes within slowly spoke: "However... we can make a trade."

"If I recall correctly, you Goats have a certain treasure in your possession."

Ji Yan: "What treasure?"

"A scalpel without an edge. I know you have it."

The vertical golden pupils gleamed with unmistakable greed.

This thing was after his Other Shore Scalpel—but how did it know about his Supernatural Artifact reward?

Ji Yan didn’t rush to agree. "How can I trust you?"

No sooner had he spoken than the door creaked open fully, revealing a hunched old woman leaning on a cane behind it. A nameplate hung from her chest: "Dormitory Supervisor."

Ji Yan’s expression shifted slightly.

The game interface had introduced this NPC before—she held significant authority, managing the entire dormitory building, equivalent to the Landlord of the Crimson Apartment.

In short, most Missions related to the dormitory had to be triggered through her!

"This storage room holds all my treasures."

"You want the Serum? Fine. Equal exchange."

The Dormitory Supervisor Ghost Granny turned, her frail frame trembling slightly as she shuffled back into the room. Inside, cluttered shelves were piled high with cardboard boxes of all sizes.

Ji Yan followed, scanning the surroundings, a sense of unease creeping over him. His gaze lingered on the Ghost Granny seated in her chair.

"Your time is short. So is mine. Decide quickly," the Granny urged, impatience seeping into her tone.

After a brief silence, Ji Yan feigned reluctance. "Granny, that scalpel is very important to me."

"More important than your life?"

"Look at the infection on your chest. In ten minutes, this trade won’t matter—you’ll be dead by morning."

Her voice was calm, deliberate, tightening the noose around him.

Ji Yan’s brow furrowed, his expression shifting through several emotions before settling on pained resolve.

"Granny, I need to see the Serum first."

The Ghost Granny snorted. "The fact that I’m willing to trade at all is your greatest fortune. Don’t haggle with me."

With no other choice, Ji Yan produced the Other Shore Scalpel.

Like all scalpels, its only peculiarity was that both sides were blunt—completely unsharpened.

"Hand it over."

"This old woman keeps her word. If I weren’t trustworthy, I wouldn’t hold this position."

As the Granny commanded, Ji Yan stepped forward, holding out the scalpel.

The moment those skeletal, corpse-spotted hands reached to snatch it—Ji Yan lunged.

He slammed into her, the Other Shore Scalpel transforming mid-motion into a silver needle that pierced her throat and tore downward, splitting her from neck to abdomen in one vicious slash!

"You little goat, how dare you?!"

The Ghost Granny roared in fury.

She staggered back, but the sliced-open skin revealed no gushing organs—only hollow space, as if the flesh were nothing but a cloak over bones...

Ji Yan’s demeanor shifted coldly. "Drop the act."

"You’re not the Dormitory Supervisor Ghost Granny. You’re just wearing her skin."

"Trying to exploit her authority and intimidation to swindle me out of my belongings? Quite the clever scheme."

Ji Yan spoke calmly.

From the moment he entered, he had been suspicious.

If this was truly a room storing treasures, why was it in such disarray? The surrounding traces clearly indicated it had just been ransacked.

More importantly, if this were really the Dormitory Supervisor Ghost Granny, why was there no system panel information at all?

His suspicions were confirmed when he triggered his Gaze Trigger talent and obtained the Hidden Information.

Now, the withered flesh and sagging, bloated figure gradually thinned out…

Then, from within, another figure slowly crawled out, shedding layers of rotten skin and mucus—a sight eerily reminiscent of a snake molting.

The figure stood up, revealing a slender, curvaceous woman with a stunning face!

A Rat-Head Badge hung from her chest. The Rat Player’s playful demeanor faded as she muttered in annoyance, "Which idiot said Goat players were dumb and easy to fool?"

"I went through so much trouble using my Wish privilege to disguise myself as the Dormitory Supervisor Ghost Granny, and now it’s ruined!"

Ji Yan ignored her complaints, his expression indifferent. "Where’s the serum?"

The Rat Player scoffed. "Can’t you look for it yourself?"

Ji Yan shook his head. "The fact that you know about the serum means there’s no need to search—it’s already on you."

The Rat Player rested her chin on her hand, her delicate face bathed in moonlight. "Clever."

"But since I found it first, it’s mine."

"If you want it, you’ll have to trade for it."

"That needle of yours would do nicely."

Ji Yan narrowed his eyes but remained silent.

His fingers subtly tightened around the Silver Needle…

Just as he considered "acquiring" the serum from her without cost, the Rat Player suddenly waved her hand and laughed playfully, "Relax, I was just teasing. You look like you’re about to devour me."

Then, she reached into her snow-white collar, retrieving a small vial from her ample cleavage and tossing it over.

"Here, take it!"

Ji Yan instinctively caught the glass bottle.

It still carried a lingering warmth and a faint fragrance…

"Ding! Congratulations, player. You have obtained a Freely Refreshed Supernatural Artifact—[Infection Serum]."

A Freely Refreshed Supernatural Artifact was not obtained through a mission but rather found at specific times and locations.

Ji Yan was stunned.

She just… gave it to him?

Wary, he wiped the glass bottle with his fingers.

His talent didn’t trigger, meaning the serum hadn’t been tampered with.

"Then what’s her motive?"

Sudden benevolence?

Because he was handsome?

Both explanations were far-fetched.

Noticing Ji Yan’s guarded expression, the Rat Player tied her disheveled hair into a ponytail. "Don’t overthink it. Of course, I have my own reasons."

"I just want you to survive longer in this Instance."

"In the zodiac alignment, the Goat and the Rat are compatible."

"The longer you Goat players survive, the more it benefits my Instance Progress and Zodiac Wish."

At this point, she sighed and said, "Speaking of which, your predecessor, the previous Goat player, had even been promoted to [Attending Doctor] and survived into the second stage of the Instance's storyline."

"If they had played it safe and steadily leveled up to [Chief Doctor], entering the third stage would have been a sure thing."

"But in the end, they still got unlucky and got infected, bitten to death by the Goat Supernatural Doctor, and sent straight to the Morgue."

"Looking back, I’ve already witnessed four Goat players cycle through. And mind you, I’ve only been in this Instance for a little over thirty days! That’s an average of one getting eliminated every ten days or less."

"Among the Twelve Zodiac, you Goat players have the shortest lifespans—it’s like you’re cursed or something!"

"Us Rat players teaming up with you Goats as allies… talk about bad luck…"

The Rat Player pursed her red lips, grumbling in complaint.

Despite her cold, elegant beauty of a mature woman, she was oddly talkative, and her speech style and tone didn’t match her appearance at all.

It created a stark sense of dissonance…

Hearing this, Ji Yan’s eyes flickered uncertainly.

Though she made it sound convincing, were Rats and Goats really compatible allies?

According to the Instance’s hints, among the Twelve Zodiac, if players wanted to know which zodiac players were their natural enemies and which were potential allies, they could figure it out through interactions with their respective Medical Instructors.

Ji Yan had previously asked about this, but all he got from the Goat Supernatural Doctor were three icy sentences:

"We are lambs on the chopping block—anyone can take a bite."

"We have no allies. Everyone is an enemy."

"Therefore, trust none of the other eleven zodiac players!"