Chapter 29

【Current results are being settled…】

【Main Quest for the “Messiah Hospital” instance completed. Side quests completed.】

【Plot Exploration: 100%】

【Host Vital Signs: Intact】

【Player Clearance Count: 0】

【Overall Rating: SSS】

As the white light faded, Luo Li found himself in a spacious, pure white room.

His clothes had changed back to the patient gown—the same one he’d worn when he first entered the game. At the far end of the room was a window. When he walked over and peered out, he saw a bustling square teeming with people.

“This is the Main God Space, the rest area for players. Plenty of folks on the square are selling game items—you can trade points for them.”

Little Seven’s voice rang out, guiding him as he took in his surroundings.

Luo Li blinked in surprise. “I can hang out here too?”

“Theoretically, no. But since no one survived the last instance, nobody here should recognize you.”

Those words—”no one survived”—left a sour taste in his mouth. Little Seven paused for a moment before continuing, “That wasn’t quite accurate. They failed to clear it, but not everyone necessarily died. High-rank players always have ways to bail out unscathed.”

“Besides, that’s just how the game works. It wasn’t your fault.”

Luo Li leaned against the windowsill, letting the breeze ruffle his hair. “Little Seven, are you trying to comfort me?”

The system let out a cold snort.

The square outside buzzed with activity, and there was still some time before the next instance opened. Luo Li wanted to check it out, but he felt too self-conscious—he was a little monster, after all.

“Go if you want to. They don’t know who you really are.”

Little Seven saw right through him.

“What about these clothes, though… Can I change?”

“Of course. Just spend some points.”

…

On the square’s most prominent commercial street, colorful screens scrolled with the latest headlines.

“C-Grade Instance Total Wipeout—High-Rank Players Routed!”

“Derelict Hospital Becomes Ultimate Death Trap: Why Did the Instance Boss Get a Massive Buff?!”

“Subscribe to the Newest Atlas Issue—Unraveling Instance Mutation Mysteries!”

The Atlas…?

A crowd nearby was flipping through copies of the same magazine. Luo Li craned his neck and stood on tiptoes for ages, but all he could see was a sea of player heads blocking the way.

Damn it. Too short.

“You wanna see it too?”

Someone lightly tapped his forehead with a rolled-up magazine. Luo Li clutched his head and looked up to find a stranger grinning down at him with evident interest.

Then seven or eight others turned around, their eyes landing on the long-haired boy in the red shirt.

They muttered among themselves.

“A minor?” “Whose kid is that?” “A player? No shot.”

The leader spoke up. “Little miss, this ain’t a fairy tale book. Careful—it might give you nightmares.”

Luo Li shot back indignantly, “I’m a boy!”

“Doesn’t matter. Kids can’t handle this. Scram.”

“Why not? I’m a player too!”

In a moment of bravado, he’d lied through his teeth. His heart hammered as he met their skeptical stares, and he doubled down with gritted teeth. “What I mean is… I’ve cleared that instance before…”

“This run was nothing like the old ones. It mutated, you get me? The whole main storyline got flipped. That foster kid who was just cannon fodder? Turned into a key boss.”

A few of them thumbed through their Atlases, and Luo Li’s nerves jangled. Was he in there?

“Wild part is, nobody’s reporting on that foster kid. Super weird.”

“Whoever twisted the entire plot like that—holy crap, what a monster. Scary as hell.”

“A bunch of high-rankers got played like fiddles. Talk about bullshit.”

“Don’t even get me started—the basic mobs in there were brutal enough. What kinda twisted beefcake freak was that foster son…”

Luo Li, the beefcake freak himself, stood there with his ear tips burning as he eavesdropped.

“But damn, that strong? Gotta respect it. I’d love to throw down with him.”

Luo Li bolted in shame.

Truth was, he was just a scaredy-cat noob who cried at the drop of a hat.

That SSS rating? Pure luck from the Leader Boss losing his shit.

He’d just been dead weight clinging to a leg for the ride.

Luo Li hunkered down in a shady spot on the square to catch his breath when a server appeared with a fancy-looking cocktail.

“Ah… I didn’t order that.”

“It’s courtesy of the gentleman over there.”

Luo Li glanced up. A few guys at the next table waved him over, shooting him a wink that carried some unclear intent.

Luo Li was baffled. He couldn’t drink anyway, so he left it alone. But before long, a plate of desserts showed up too.

This time, the strangers came right over.

With a loud “bang,” they plunked down a crate of gear.

“Easy now—these are all yours.”

“We’re A-rank and up. Wanna team for the next one?”

“No sweat on your end. We handle the monsters and clues. You just… show up.”

Luo Li eyed their loadout: guns, blades, full tactical armor. Hardcore stuff.

He panicked. “Little Seven, what now?”

“Turn ’em down. No armed fights allowed in the space—they can’t force it.”

Luo Li whispered his refusal.

“You sure? Top-tier survival gear here—million points apiece, minimum.”

“N-no thanks…” Luo Li’s lashes fluttered with nerves. “I wouldn’t even use them…”

They slunk off, annoyed.

But it was only the start. In under half an hour, seven or eight teams pitched the same deal, bids climbing into the stratosphere.

Luo Li’s head spun. Tempted more than once, sure—but his real identity flashed in his mind, forcing teary rejections.

No way he could stick around the crowd. He ducked into a dim alley instead.

An electronic billboard there streamed live Player Forum updates. From a distance, Luo Li spotted the blazing red “HOT” label, with a post bearing his photo rocketing to the top.

【Seeking info on this player. Big reward for leads!】

【Attached: Photo】

The replies were chaos.

【WTF, whose little princess is out here solo on the square?】

【Holy shit, peak model face—wife material all day! Wife!】

【Saw him earlier, tiptoeing at the back of the crowd like a lil bunny. Adorable overload, I’m bleeding out.】

【Baby! Baby! Slowpokes lose out!】

【LMAO, just mid tbh, not all that. Bet this pic’s edited—PS’d the doggo next to him right outta frame, woof.】

【Y’all, serious talk—who even is he?】

【Lurking. Ping me wife’s name when it drops.】

【Lurking】

【Lurking】

【Buncha lurkers, zero tissues handed out. Clowns.】

【Quit lurking—he’s prob some top squad’s pampered fave. Won’t team with randos.】

【??? Spill, dude?】

【Word is, Saint Eagle, GUN, Morpheus—all the top teams invited him. Flat rejections.】

【?? Those are leaderboard elites. Turned THEM down? Bro, he must be inner circle for a top squad…】

【But no face on the leaderboards matches this cutie.】

【Ez—low combat, pretty face, sweet talker? Total team mascot. Daddies carry, no need for boards (nose pick).】

【Oi, sour grapes much up there?】

【So Baby got separated from squad? Looks so lonely…】

【Aaa wanna yoink him—even if the big boys beat me up for it, worth it.】

【Dream on. Types like him are cocky af—won’t even glance at your scraps.】

【Pls Baby’s name… contact deets… upping the bounty.】

【Bounty up】

【Bounty up】

Deeper down, another post with an explosive title.

【Hear me out: In my squad, a stunner like this’d be team bike.】

Team… bike?

Luo Li frowned and tapped in.

【Face alone is fire enough.】

【Bet he does jack shit—just kiss him post-kill for the rush. Better than points, fuck.】

【Our crew’s huge tho—would need a queue system.】

【Wife, why so many hubbies? When’s my turn?】

【Lil team bike Baby… Can’t even—imagining mornings with hubbies coaxing him into runs, his lil favors…】

【Squad’s fucktoy? Fun times.】

Maybe the content was too wild—refresh, and the post was nuked.

Luo Li felt a twinge of unease. If this blew up too big and someone clocked him as a fake player…

Better bail from the square.

Head down, he slunk through the crowds back to his room.

But even at his door, someone had left a gift: a neatly wrapped luxury box.

No way—those people who wanted to team up had actually sent gifts all the way here?

Luo Li unwrapped the gift box, and two floppy rabbit ears poked out.

It was actually… that Black Rabbit Plushie.

Beside the plushie sat a beautifully decorated strawberry cake.

Luo Li suddenly remembered something. He touched the spot below his neck, and sure enough, the Golden Key still hung there.

Everything from Messiah Hospital had vanished into thin air, but this key had remained.

So who had sent the plushie and the cake?

He carried the gift box back to Room 201 and spaced out for a good long while.

Luo Li clutched the rabbit plushie tightly to his lap, a feeling of wistful loss washing over him for the first time.

Wasn’t it said that bad kids don’t get any cake?

Then… what was this supposed to be?

“Don’t overthink it.”

007 cleared his throat a couple of times. “A game is just a game. Only fools take what happens inside one seriously.”

Luo Li sliced into the cake and took a bite.

It was delicious!

“Little Seven, you’ll stick with me from now on, right?”

007 paused for a beat. “Of course. Who told me to owe you like that?”

The artificial intelligence he’d unexpectedly picked up at the edge of an instance was one of the few people Luo Li could truly trust these days. Propping his snow-white chin on one hand, he polished off the cake bite by bite and let out a long breath of relief.

“That’s good.”

Meanwhile, 007 had received the alert for the next instance. He meant to send the basic info to Luo Li, but when he glanced over, the young boy had already curled up in the corner, clutching the plushie in his sleep.

In the end, 007 decided not to wake him.

…Whatever. They could teleport to the new instance once he woke up.

The details for the new instance scrolled across 007’s vision, line by line, sketching out an entirely new world.

【Republic Year X, Jinzhou City】

【Zhaohua Mansion has just wrapped up its period of mourning when the household inexplicably takes in a young and alluring male courtesan.】

【Though nothing more than an outer-room concubine, he arrives with grand ambitions. Flaunting his pregnancy with Master Huo’s child, he lords it over everyone and throws his weight around.】

【This spoiled, vain little concubine insists that Master Huo must leave an inheritance for him and the baby in his belly.】

【Yet in truth, he seems to harbor improper affections for Master Huo’s three adopted sons—spending nights with them, throwing himself into their arms—which has set the entire mansion abuzz with rumors, suspicion, and jealousy.】

【The household servants whisper among themselves: “So restless even while pregnant—typical of someone from the brothels, the utter slut.”】

【Whether it’s his licentious nature or something else remains unknown. But if word of these father-to-son entanglements got out, no one would dream of him inheriting anything…】