Chapter 53 Physical Damage "The one pushing the cart is myself."...
On the eighth day of her recovery, Qi Zhixia was finally able to get out of bed and walk.
Her legs have recovered very well, and she can walk the distance of a bed on her own with almost no external support.
Wang Jianping carefully examines her injuries every day. When necessary, Qi Zhixia goes to the rehabilitation area for appropriate exercise training.
Meanwhile, Luo Chuange's arm was gradually getting better, and Ren'e made a makeshift bed next to his hospital bed, taking care of him like he was his own son.
Four more days passed, and Wang Jianping removed the cast from Luo Chuange's arm and replaced it with a more convenient and flexible bandage.
Luo Chuange flexed the five fingers of his left hand, trying his best to hide the joy in his voice.
"I can still move around normally," he said, unable to suppress the smile on his face, "and there's basically no difference from before."
Wang Jianping bent down to tidy up the disassembled tools. "We put a lot of effort into this arm of yours."
He placed the items on the tray onto a small cart and looked at Qi Zhixia, who was holding onto the foot of the bed and practicing walking.
"The limbs are the most important. If you lose control of your limbs in the game, you will basically be eliminated from the game."
Gu Keke paused in her chewing of the apple, "Then her leg..."
Everyone in the ward focused their attention on Qi Zhixia's legs as they recovered after the surgery.
"Her condition is indeed very serious, but there are only two days left before she can advance to the next level of the game."
Wang Jianping pondered for a moment and said, "I will prepare a wheelchair for her."
"wheelchair?"
Liang Jun raised one eyebrow. “Wheelchairs are extremely cumbersome. Not only can the person sitting in them not move freely, but they also greatly limit the range of movement for the person pushing the wheelchair.”
She gently stroked her chin with her fingers and shook her head. "If the next level is another speedrun dungeon, then we basically have no advantage whatsoever."
Their second game was called "The Death Parking Lot"—players needed not only a high level of athletic ability but also to make accurate judgments in a very short time, making it a life-or-death battle.
Liang Jun couldn't imagine the consequences if both of them were restricted in their movements by a wheelchair in that environment.
However, Wang Jianping did not directly resolve Liang Xun's doubts. Instead, he extracted key words from her words.
"You just said 'speedrunning dungeons,' right?"
Liang Jun's heart skipped a beat.
"right."
Gu Keke threw the apple core she had finished eating into the trash can in the corner.
"Our previous level was 'Death Parking Lot,' a three-hour racing game. Isn't yours one too?"
Luo Chuange took off his black-rimmed glasses from the bridge of his nose, folded them, and placed them steadily on the bedside table.
“Our previous level was also a three-hour special game, but it wasn’t the parking lot you mentioned; it was the ‘Trainee Forecaster’ game.”
He said in a calm voice, "It's a game instance about weather forecasting. Every player is an intern forecaster who needs to complete all tasks within three hours, or they will be disqualified from their internship and eliminated by the system."
"No need to run?" Gu Keke was sweating profusely.
Luo Chuange gave a wry smile. "No need. We each have our own workstations. We just need to sit in our seats for three hours."
"Our game is purely a mental game."
Wang Jianping glanced at Liang Xun again. "So, the dungeon instances aren't exactly the same, right?"
After helping the unsteady Qi Zhixia to the bed, Liang Jun turned to look out the window.
Birds chirped incessantly outside the window, and their nimble figures could be vaguely glimpsed among the lush green leaves.
They were carefree and chirped joyfully, unlike the lifeless atmosphere in the ward.
"That should be true."
Liang Jun calmly reached this conclusion.
In the period leading up to the system's arrival, she initially thought it was just a test for a few "lucky" humans.
But she soon discovered that the home on which humanity depended for survival had been completely transformed into a "rule-based world".
As she gradually adapted to the game levels set by the system, Liang Jun felt that the content of each level was predetermined. Although the number of players it could accommodate was relatively small, there were probably countless other instances of the same level as her running simultaneously.
But now she has been told that the copies running at the same time are also different.
A thick cloud was quietly blown away by the wind, and the sun, which had been hiding behind the cloud, was exposed on the horizon.
The blinding sunlight shone directly through the windowpane and into Liang Jun's eyes.
She squinted her eyes slightly, pushed up her lower eyelids, and squeezed out a layer of clear liquid.
The system is a huge game library—
Only now has Liang Jun truly learned the truth.
The others continued to discuss the differences between the dungeons, but Liang Jun felt as if a barrier had been added to her ears, turning all the sounds into gibberish that gave her a headache.
What exactly does the system want to do with them?
Is it just to make these weak humans play games with the system?
Liang Jun felt as if she were standing on the edge of an abyss. This sense of uncertainty about everything made her feel more panicked than ever before.
What is the true purpose of this system...?
She was like a small animal that could only sense seismic waves, yet was helpless in the face of an impending major earthquake.
The feeling of helplessly waiting to die filled her with panic. Liang Xun stumbled a few times, then braced herself on the windowsill with her hands.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Gu Keke, who had just washed her hands, came face to face with the swaying Liang Xuan and quickly steadied her.
Gu Keke helped Liang Jun to Qi Zhixia's hospital bed, and Qi Zhixia hurriedly stepped back to make room for her.
Liang Jun let out a long sigh of relief, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat.
"I'm fine." She looked up and glanced around, noticing everyone's eyes were on her. "Where were we?"
“Regarding the wheelchair,” Wang Jianping continued, “we’re not going to use an ordinary wheelchair, but rather a prop from the system. However, its appearance and usage are roughly similar to a wheelchair, so we’ll use that name to refer to it.”
Upon learning this information, many questions flashed through Liang Jun's mind again—
They haven't unlocked this item yet, so where did they get it from, given their points?
Seeing is believing, so where exactly is this "prop wheelchair" that Wang Jianping mentioned?
But Liang Jun's mind was in turmoil, and she didn't know how to start the conversation for a moment.
But Wang Jianping seemed to be able to read her mind, and coincidentally said it out loud.
"This item is quite valuable; it's the consultation fee from patients who visited the hospital previously. These items used for payment are all uniformly coded and stored in the hospital's warehouse. If you want to use them, you need to report in advance, and you can only get them the day before entering the instance."
Wang Jianping rummaged through a manual on the cart. "I'll explain the rules for using this prop to you. If it triggers system authentication, then you'll know whether I'm telling the truth or not."
The other five people in the ward remained silent, listening attentively as he read the rules recorded in his book, afraid of missing a single syllable.
As expected, the system notification sounded in Liang Jun's mind after Wang Jianping finished speaking the last word.
[Unlock Item: Self-Protecting Cart.]
This cart can be bound to a maximum of one passenger and one pusher. This item will protect the passenger and pusher from physical damage for the duration of the effect. Note: Once bound, it is unique and cannot be changed.
This item will expire after the death of the player it is linked to.
This item can be used in conjunction with other items.
Liang Xuan forcefully suppressed the turmoil in her stomach.
She laid all ten fingers flat on the hospital bed, her fingertips turning yellow from the pressure, and the clean white sheets wrinkled under her hands.
"This prop sounds incredibly powerful!"
Gu Keke exclaimed in surprise, "It can prevent injury! If everyone had one, wouldn't they just kill everyone indiscriminately?"
Liang Jun sighed softly, her tone more serious than ever before.
She continued, "The condition for this item to fail is 'one person dies.' If it can truly be completely immune to damage, then how could there be a situation where a player dies?"
These words immediately caused the atmosphere in the ward, which had begun to warm up, to drop below freezing again.
Wang Jianping was standing not far from Liang Xuan, but his expression was not visible.
"The item rules also state that the cart can block 'physical damage,' which means—"
Liang Xun looked up at Wang Jianping and said, word by word, "Does the game contain non-physical damage that can be fatal?"
Wang Jianping remained calm, concealing all his emotions.
“Yes.” He nodded calmly. “Poison gas damage, biological damage, and even possible supernatural damage are not covered by this item.”
Upon hearing this, Luo Chuange was clearly anxious.
"That……"
"But the likelihood of these non-physical injuries occurring is extremely low!"
Wang Jianping rarely showed such emotion. His face was stern, and his speech became urgent, "Of all the dungeons you've cleared, which one experienced the non-physical damage I just mentioned?"
He slammed the notebook containing the rules onto the cart.
“Any damage to bodily tissues will be classified as ‘physical injury’.” Whether Liang Jun was mistaken or not, she suddenly felt that there was a hint of seduction in Wang Jianping’s words. “I’m a doctor, I’m more confident about this than any of you.”
Liang Jun was still considering, but Luo Chuange chose to back down.
"If Qi Zhixia is bound to the identity of 'passenger,' then who do you want to bind the identity of 'pusher' to?"
This is the most crucial question.
If the system stipulates that items have conditions for failure, it means that in some extreme cases, the passenger and the person pushing the cart will not necessarily be in a life-or-death relationship.
Upon hearing this question, Wang Jianping slowly squatted down.
He appeared to be tidying up the medical equipment on the cart, but in reality, he had completely hidden his face in shadow.
"The person pushing the cart is myself."
Wang Jianping's muffled voice squeezed out of his throat, "I definitely won't let you do such dangerous work. Protecting patients is our duty as doctors."
A wave of bitterness washed over everyone, but even though the words were on the tip of their tongues, they couldn't utter a single one.
This somber atmosphere persisted until the very last moment before the third instance of the dungeon appeared.
Apart from Wang Jianping, the other five people stayed obediently in ward 602.
Liang Jun and Gu Keke distributed all the walkie-talkies they had collected to them and gave them a brief demonstration of how to use them. Following Liang Jun's instructions, Gu Keke also left a new walkie-talkie for Wang Jianping.
Luo Chuange has almost recovered. He can even ignore the bandages on his hands and tentatively try some movements that patients cannot do—although Lao Ren will notice in time and then give him a long lecture.
However, Qi Zhixia still hadn't fully recovered. Without support, she could only walk for a few seconds; with Liang Xun and Gu Keke's help, she could barely walk a few dozen meters, which was clearly illogical in the game.
As night fell, the ward fell silent once more, and the sound of everyone's heartbeats seemed deafening.
Just before 4 a.m., the door to room 602 was suddenly pushed open.
Wang Jianping stood panting in the ward, his feet completely inside. His white coat was looser, revealing a corner of his shirt underneath.
"I got the props..."
In his hands was a brand new carbon fiber wheelchair.
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Author's note: The third level is about to begin!
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