Chapter 82: Life and Reproduction, All Revealed

Chapter 82: Life and Reproduction, All Revealed

The cold scalpel sliced open her chest.

The Rabbit Player couldn’t believe it—Ji Yan had actually dared to stab her. Did he really not know the daytime rules of this hospital instance? Directly hunting players, especially during a mission, was a serious crime!

Her hands suddenly gripped Ji Yan’s wrist, but instead of showing signs of life fading, her face lit up with excitement. "You’ve triggered the death rule!"

"As an Attending Doctor, instead of treating patients, you’re swinging a scalpel at a colleague. You’ve abandoned your Medical Ethics..."

Ji Yan suddenly countered, "Then why am I still unharmed?"

"Where’s the Punishment from the death rule?"

He raised his head, as if waiting for the Punishment, yet the corners of his lips curled with a faint, mocking smile.

The Rabbit Player froze.

Right… where was the hospital’s Punishment?

She had personally witnessed a player who lost control and harbored intense killing intent toward others. In the end, the hospital’s "Rule Order" physically eliminated him.

How?

An invisible force dismantled him, tearing tendons and bones until only a bloody pulp remained…

So why was the Goat Player unaffected?

The next second, her pupils abruptly constricted.

Behind them, the headless corpse of the Monkey Player—whose head Ji Yan had cleanly severed—was groping along the floor, slowly rising. His hands fumbled for his own head…

Then, he picked it up and placed it back onto the severed neck.

The Rabbit Player stared dumbfounded. She also realized that the gash in her chest wasn’t bleeding.

Finally, she understood the problem.

"What kind of scalpel is this?"

Ji Yan smiled warmly. "A scalpel that heals and saves lives."

The Rabbit Player’s breathing grew heavy. This scalpel couldn’t kill anyone—not even decapitation worked!

Moreover, the Rule Order detected no killing intent from Ji Yan, so it remained completely silent.

She looked down at the incision in her chest. It was like a slit in a cloth doll, with no trace of blood.

Her eyes darkened. "You don’t trust anyone. So why did you choose to believe that Yellow-Skinned Monkey and team up with him to trap me?"

The Monkey Player, now reassembling his head, watched as his flesh eerily stitched itself back together.

He grinned. "Of course, it’s because this Monkey Grandpa has charisma!"

"You really thought you could fool me with that fake innocent act?"

Ji Yan ignored the Monkey Player. "I don’t trust anyone."

"Including every word you say."

"But I know the Pathogen is inside you."

He withdrew the scalpel. "It’s grown into your Internal Organs, fused completely with them."

The Rabbit Player’s pupils shrank again, her gaze flickering. "How can you be sure it’s in me?"

"【Life】 and 【Reproduction】 are the Zodiac Rabbit’s Wish Privileges."

"【Life】 continuously replenishes your status bar, giving you the means to let the Pathogen parasitize you."

"【Reproduction】 accelerates the breeding of anything that feeds on your 'status,' and the offspring will regard you as their mother, obeying you unconditionally."

"Patient B11… this isn’t your first time encountering him."

"At least two treatments—during the last one, you left this root of illness inside this Supernatural Patient."

"Waiting until the next time you took over, the infected internal organs in the patient became your setup to kill the Zodiac Players!"

"Combined with the fact that you're also trapped in this game, plus your pure and innocent persona, this extremely concealed assassination method not only cleverly evades the hospital's rules but might even leave us dead without ever figuring out who the killer was!"

Ji Yan's tone was unhurried, yet each word cut like a sharp blade, peeling away the Rabbit Player's layers of pretense one by one.

The Rabbit Player's eyes widened. Her lips moved numbly, as if muttering to herself, "But you still knew... How did you know?"

Ji Yan smiled. "Let’s just say I’m cheating."

In an instant, the Rabbit Player’s mind was thrown into chaos. She couldn’t fathom how this secret buried deep in her heart—this exquisitely crafted hunting trap—had been laid bare so completely.

Was it [Wish]? Or [Talent]?

Ji Yan pressed on, twisting the knife: "Those upright rabbit ears of yours aren’t just a reaction or a disguise."

"They’re there to mask the overwhelming stench when you use your [Wish Privilege] to [Reproduction] the Pathogen."

"First, to cover the smell."

"As for the second reason..." Ji Yan’s gaze dropped to the Rabbit Player’s lower half. "It’s because the process releases a flood of dopamine—in other words—"

"Shut up!"

"Shut the hell up!"

The Rabbit Player snapped. Her voice turned shrill, her eyes murderous. Her face burned with humiliation, her entire body trembling—whether from rage or something else, she couldn’t tell. She felt utterly exposed, every secret and shame laid bare before Ji Yan.

"Holy shit, Goat Bro, how do you even know this? Are you actually hacking?"

The Monkey Player, who had been spectating the whole time, was stunned. While marveling at Ji Yan’s verbal onslaught, he couldn’t help but wonder: "All the previous Zodiac Goats were idiots. How did we end up with such a ruthless one this time?"

Remembering how Ji Yan had survived the Supernatural Doctor’s grasp last night despite being infected, the Monkey Player realized—this Goat was the real deal. A few schemes began brewing in his mind...

Meanwhile, the Rabbit Player’s chest slowly stitched itself back together. The innocent facade was gone, replaced by a chilling coldness.

"Seems I underestimated the Zodiac Goat."

"But now, the Pathogen has fully integrated with my organs."

"That scalpel of yours—the one that doesn’t kill—can’t destroy the Pathogen. It can only kill me. And if you kill me, you’ll still trigger the rules!"

"I might die, but you won’t walk away unscathed."

She forced herself to stand, clinging to her last shred of defiance. "How about this? Let’s make a deal. One where everyone wins—"

Before she could finish, Ji Yan cut her off. "A deal? Unnecessary."

"I have my own methods. And right now, you need to sleep."

The moment he spoke, the Rabbit Player felt her strength drain away. Numbness and exhaustion crashed over her.

She dropped to her knees, pupils contracting slightly. "There’s... anesthesia on the scalpel!"

"Surgery, of course, requires anesthesia."

"I’ll perform a minor procedure on you. When you wake up, the Pathogen inside your body will be completely eradicated."

As he spoke, Ji Yan professionally donned his Disinfected Gloves and Disinfected Mask.

Under the Rabbit Player’s increasingly heavy eyelids, Ji Yan smiled "gently" and said, "No need to thank me. Just rest easy."

"After all, I’m a professional doctor."

"Bastard..."

The Rabbit Player opened her mouth, wanting to scream curses with all her might, but as Ji Yan snapped his fingers, she instantly fell unconscious.

With the Rabbit Player now limp in his arms, Ji Yan hoisted her soft, boneless body over his shoulder and headed toward the red house symbolizing the "Heart."

"Aren’t you supposed to be performing surgery? Why are you carrying her into the house?" the Monkey Player asked in shock.

Ji Yan responded with a meaningful smile. "Surgery, of course, requires stripping the patient first."

"..."