LWGP - Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Key Information
"Wow, Miss Doctor?"
As soon as they opened their mouths, a few of them started showering her with compliments, some even directly asking for her contact information. Xiao Li, who was on the bed, rolled his eyes and told them to get lost. The group was laughing and joking around, but they soon realized the object of their attention wasn't paying them any mind. She was just flipping through the medical chart. When she finished, she said, "Based on the medical records here, I can't support your discharge at this time, Mr. Xiao."
Everyone was surprised, and Xiao Li even put down his apple. "You knew I wanted to be discharged early?"
Wang Jiu used her pen to point at the packed suitcase beside him. "Your condition isn't severe, but you've just had surgery and your mobility is limited. If you really must leave, you might aggravate your injury in the process. However, if you insist, you can be discharged. Just go to the inpatient front desk and complete the paperwork."
After explaining the situation, she hung the chart back on the foot of the bed. "Any other questions?"
"Yes! Miss, why don't you check his wound for him? Ah Li, hurry up and lie down!"
The young men started catcalling. The wound was just below the base of his thigh, making their suggestion clearly indecent. Xiao Li was furious and cursed them with a cold expression.
Wang Jiu, however, looked at Xiao Li, her gaze sweeping vaguely over his leg. She smiled and said, "I'm a surgeon. People usually only need me when they're missing arms and legs or have their internal organs punctured. Call me when you have that kind of need."
Then she led her people away.
Xiao Li and the others: "..."
The young lady looked so refined, how could she be so fierce?
"I just asked the front desk. That woman has a lot of prestige in this hospital. The little nurse at the desk didn't dare say anything, just gave me some perfunctory answers and treated me like a thief. She seemed very experienced."
"Goes to show a lot of guys hit on her. The nurses have become pros at fending off wolves. Heh, it's pretty rare in a small place like this. After all, she's a doctor, and a director at such a young age, even if it's a small hospital... Her aura is really outstanding."
She's so captivating even in a white coat without makeup. I can't imagine what she'd look like all dressed up.
"She doesn't have the local Sichuan accent. Definitely not a local."
"Don't talk about it. This trip was a disaster. Those TikTok influencers are gonna be the death of me. They didn't mention seeing human bones, and then Ah Li got hurt. My parents called and chewed me out. I just tried calling back, and they won't even answer."
"My parents aren't picking up either. I've tried several times with no answer, like they've gone off the grid. They're probably afraid your family will come after us because of what happened to you, Ah Li."
The group was also testing the waters. They had no desire to go from rich second-generation heirs to proletarians.
Xiao Li glanced at them and raised an eyebrow. "I'm a grown man, not a child. Don't worry, I'll explain when I get back. It had nothing to do with you guys in the first place."
He couldn't get through on his phone either, but he didn't mention it.
"Alright, let's get going. We need to hurry to Lin City to catch our flight, or we'll be late."
Right after their car left the hospital parking lot, Wang Jiu, having changed her clothes and grabbed her bag, also left the hospital and drove onto the highway.
On the highway, Wang Jiu took the opportunity to think about how to allocate her attribute points. But she didn't need to use the three points to experiment. First, with one hand on the steering wheel, she used the other to call up the Rookie's Dagger from her system inventory.
"Do you wish to equip the Rookie's Dagger to your weapon slot?"
"Yes."
"Do you wish to use it in reality?"
"Yes."
The system responded quickly, and her choice was decisive.
When a dagger appeared in her equipment's weapon slot, a plain, even rustic-looking dagger materialized in her hand the next second.
But the moment she held it, she had two distinct feelings.
1. This crappy dagger was a bit heavy.
2. But it felt very light to hold.
Uh, isn't that a contradiction? Not really. Its weight came from the heft of its material—a problem inherent to the dagger itself.
She had felt its weight when she picked it up before, making it difficult to use, but she hadn't equipped it then. Now, it was different.
After equipping it, because its attributes included Strength +1, her Strength attribute increased by 1, becoming 2.
A value of 2 was quite powerful.
The five-jin dagger suddenly felt very light in her hand, as if she were holding a flimsy plastic children's toy. However, because of the change in her strength, she had to immediately steady her left hand on the steering wheel to keep from turning it too sharply.
This was the change from +1 Strength. What about the other attributes?
Wang Jiu called up the Azure Serpent Emblem. This was a piece of equipment that gave +1 to all attributes. Since it was an accessory, it had two states: hidden and visible. She chose hidden.
Since she was sitting still in the driver's seat, she couldn't test the changes to her Agility and Stamina. But the increase in Strength was still noticeable, just not as pronounced as the first +1. It seemed the perceived difference from attribute changes might be based on a percentage of her own base stats.
It wasn't easy to test her current strength in the car, so Wang Jiu casually picked up a spare phone charger head next to her and squeezed.
Crack!
It cracked open.
Wang Jiu tossed the cracked charger head aside but still didn't touch her attribute points.
The System was a little puzzled. "You're not going to allocate them now?"
Wang Jiu: "Their effect is more significant than I imagined. Since I'm adding them for survival anyway, it's better to wait and add them as the situation demands."
In the initial stages of this game, information was scarce and full of unknowns. She needed to keep some cards up her sleeve for unexpected situations.
There was no rush, anyway.
The System made no comment on this. Every player had their own path to becoming stronger. This person was clearly very cautious, but she also had a peculiar sort of nonchalance.
It was as if... she was already adapting to the massive changes in this world.
While Wang Jiu was crushing a charger head, Xiao Li and his friends were four or five cars ahead of her on the highway.
They were discussing something—strangely, none of them could get through to their families on the phone.
It was too abnormal.
Xiao Li fiddled with his phone, occasionally touching his injured leg. His brow was constantly furrowed, making others think his leg was hurting.
"Speaking of which, it was weird. That little hospital was packed with people. I heard they were all in car accidents, but the road conditions in this county don't seem that bad. It's so strange. I asked the doctors, but they didn't know much either; they were swamped."
"Don't even mention it. I've had a bad feeling all day. This damn place is cursed!"
"Too bad we didn't get that doctor's WeChat."
Xiao Li frowned, glanced at his three hanger-on friends, and said, "What kind of woman haven't we seen? Is it necessary to keep bringing her up?"
"Haha, we just think it's a novelty in a small place like this. Rarity makes things precious, right? Besides, it's not like we'll ever see her again."
A common affliction of rich kids; this kind of talk was normal for them. But an hour and a half later at the boarding gate, they were utterly flabbergasted!
"Uh, Miss, you're going to the capital too?"
As luck would have it, Wang Jiu, now surrounded by this group, grunted in acknowledgment. Her phone vibrated. She glanced at the number, ignored the guys, and answered the call.
"Any news on the old lady?"
"You ask about her right away. Didn't you ever consider if something happened to me?"
"Then which hospital bed are you lying in now? I'll go say hello and have someone take good care of you. After all, you're my ex-husband's best friend. They'll show you some courtesy."
"Let's forget it, then. With his reputation as a cheating scumbag, I'm afraid of being collateral damage and dying in a hospital bed..."
"If you don't plan on telling me what I want to hear, then this call is pointless."
"Alright. The old lady was teaching a class at the university, but she and all the students in her class suddenly disappeared. The state departments are investigating. That's all I know."
Wang Jiu ended the call with Nie Qin, her ex-husband's best friend, and contacted the System. "Three HP, three tutorial instances. Are the next two also random, or can I choose them? What happens if I give up?"
System: "The first is random. For the next two, the system will arrange batches for a re-test. You will be notified of the time in advance to prepare. You can also choose to forfeit. Forfeiting once is fine; you'll have one last chance. But if you forfeit both times, you will permanently lose the opportunity to become a Registered Player and can only be an ordinary person from then on."
That sounded quite humane.
"If one becomes an ordinary person, I assume the gap isn't just in strength compared to players. Are there other disadvantages?"
System: "This involves key information prior to the opening of the new world of Wilderness Civilization. Do you wish to use a permission charge for this question?"
Wang Jiu: "No, not for this question. I need to think of a better topic, preferably one that would make you write a three-thousand-word thesis in response."
System: "..."
She thought for a moment, then formally posed her question.
"What are the specific settings in your game, Wilderness Civilization, regarding dungeons and reality?"
The question struck at the core concept of the game.
A science student who's good with words?
System: "Regarding dungeons, there are two modes. The first is the Wilderness Unknown Mode, which exists in fixed, unknown locations and requires manual entry for exploration. The second is the Wilderness Invasion Mode, where the dungeon itself actively descends upon real space, and the creatures within actively invade and hunt real-world organisms."
Hearing this, Wang Jiu's expression grew solemn, but she didn't speak hastily. The System continued: "Regarding reality, its core is civilization. The purpose of our game is to reshape the civilization of a new world."
Wang Jiu suddenly said, "But the prerequisite for reshaping is destruction."
It wasn't a question, but a statement.
The System didn't deny it. Instead, it completed the description of the setting related to her question. "First, guide all living beings to become players. Then, destroy the existing civilization of your world and introduce the new world's vessel. Finally, guide your evolution through the wilderness dungeon model to reshape a new system of civilization."
Wang Jiu asked quickly, "When will the destruction and introduction happen?"
System: "Are you sure you want to use your second permission charge?"
A three-thousand-word thesis was impossible. Absolutely impossible!
Wang Jiu's attempt at baiting it had failed, so she chose to give up. She planned to use her second permission charge on the old lady—if something had really happened to her.
Wang Jiu pressed the spot between her eyebrows. She noticed that the noisy group beside her had gone quiet. It seemed the word "ex-husband" had a rather powerful effect. Heh, a bunch of kids.
However, Xiao Li, next to her, was observing her.
She glanced at him. He immediately retracted his surprised and probing gaze, shifted his body slightly to the side, and pulled the blanket back over his injured leg.
Wang Jiu turned her face back to the airplane window. The plane was taxiing on the runway, preparing for takeoff. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly as she asked the System a non-critical question.
"This young man next to me is also a player, right? But he has no player characteristics for me to identify. Does that mean other players see me the same way?"
If Xiao Li had heard Wang Jiu's words, the young man feigning indifference and composure would have jumped out of his skin.
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