Chapter 1152: Capitalism in the Doomsday
Except for an automatically locking door latch, the other locks on the iron door were currently unlocked. Under the relentless pounding from outside, the iron door emitted loud and unsettling sounds, as if it could rattle one's brain.
Lin Sanjiu thought that the people outside the door must be as weak as she was at this moment. She rushed to the door, which, despite its sturdiness and weight, equipped with a heavy brass lock, still seemed insufficient to deter any skilled posthuman.
"I can't open it!" a voice, on the verge of panic, cried out from outside, each word dripping with despair. "I can't open this door!"
Lin Sanjiu's fingers, just about to turn the door lock, froze.
"Help!" The banging on the iron door ceased, and the voice sounded as if it had moved farther away. Then, the iron door of the neighboring patient room also began to make a clanging noise, though it was much fainter than before. "Is anyone there? Please! Save me, let me in, I promise I'll repay you!"
Was he not coming for her? Did he remain unaware of her presence in this patient room?
The man had uttered only two sentences, yet his voice had already strained his throat to the point where his intense fear and despair were palpable, evoking a heart-wrenching response. Lin Sanjiu wondered if this was a ruse, an act to deceive her into opening the door. Encountering such a skilled actor was a rarity, she admitted.
With her right hand, the one carrying the IV needle, poised to unlock the door and grant entry to the person outside, Lin Sanjiu hesitated. However, just as she was about to turn the door handle, a low, muffled noise emanated from the outside. It sounded as if something had leaped against the wall or as if a water bag had burst, akin to teeth biting into a soft grape.
The person outside stopped crying for help.
Lin Sanjiu pressed her ear against the iron door, her right hand still on the door lock, holding her breath. Outside, there was silence, and the previous noises seemed like mere illusions. She didn't know if she was hallucinating, but she detected something subtle in that silence.
Slowly and silently, her right hand moved to the other two unlocked locks, and her fingers gripped the lock cores.
Just then, someone leaned closer to her ear, separated by the iron door, and took a deep breath.
It was like the deep breath a tourist takes when they finally reach the top of a mountain and admire the beauty of the valley.
"Oh, there's a newcomer," a low male voice said as Lin Sanjiu abruptly withdrew her ear from the iron door. Each word he spoke seemed to be intentionally articulated, with her imagination conjuring images of the veins and muscles on his cheeks rising and falling in sync with his speech.
Outside the iron door, the locks received light scratches from someone's nails, producing a fine, piercing sound that seemed to penetrate beneath the skin.
The door lock suddenly endured a series of forceful blows, and the sharp metallic sounds pierced Lin Sanjiu's eardrums. Startled, she swiftly secured the other two locks. With a clattering noise, the person outside the door emitted a puzzled "Ha," saying, "You're a woman with black hair... you're missing your left hand... Well, I don't need nutrient solution right now. Just hide for now; we'll meet again."
Had he seen her just now?
Lin Sanjiu doubted it. To prevent herself from falling off the door frame, she leaned her body against the door to maintain balance. Even if someone outside had observed her from a distance, it was unlikely they could clearly discern that she was missing her left hand.
She remained silent, listening attentively for a while. As the noises gradually subsided, she didn't hear any sound for several minutes. Only then did she slowly relax her shoulders. She didn't know how these people were maneuvering outside the door. After all, beyond the door was an abyss of unknown depth, with no footholds.
Could they be clinging to the walls like geckos?
One thing she could be sure of: the people brought into the hospital seemed very weak and couldn't forcibly breach the iron door into the patient room.
After pondering for a moment, she retrieved [Ghost Ukiyo-e] and held it in her mouth as she carefully unlocked the door. Each movement caused a stinging pain in her skin due to the IV needle. Inserting the needle into the back of her hand with her mouth had resulted in her right hand resembling a cotton ball used for sewing needles.
The person outside had indeed left. Through the crack in the door, there was only a dim wall adorned with small clusters of cotton-like white light.
Before widening the gap in the door, Lin Sanjiu entered her hypersensory state. She immediately sensed that this ability had significantly weakened. In her sensory perception, everything appeared vague, dim, and faint, lacking its usual clarity. It covered only a small area outside the door and left her feeling drained.
She could barely confirm that there was no one nearby, then quickly peered into the neighboring patient room on the right.
The person who had pounded on her door earlier had vanished without a trace. The only evidence substantiating that she hadn't imagined those cries for help was a bloodstain between the iron door and the wall: a sizable pool of blood with hair adhering to the wall, fragments of flesh wedged between the wall bricks, and a substantial amount of fresh blood slowly trickling down the wall, disappearing into the dimness that defied clear visibility.
She shut the door with a loud thud.
"Your Higher Consciousness has also decreased," Mrs. Manas said, expressing concern. "Significantly. You probably don't want to know how much remains."
Lin Sanjiu remained silent and scanned the small patient room once more. Considering that everyone had a first time being brought into the hospital, there had to be some information here; something that could help newcomers understand the basics.
Her initial focus was the medicine cabinet, the only storage space available. She found a syringe, two needles, an eye ointment tube, and a lip balm, and then retrieved a thin booklet from the bottom drawer. Throughout the entire process, she endured constant pain in her hand and head.
"A price list?"
Lin Sanjiu placed the booklet, which consisted of only five or six pages, on the bed and began reading it. Gradually, she felt her lower abdomen tightening, as though her organs were twisting, and she had been tied up like a rice dumpling. Although she didn't fully comprehend the situation, the items on the price list conveyed a sense of harshness.
"Single room (one round), 5 points."
How many points did she possess? She glanced around the cramped room and noticed a wall clock at the head of the bed, indicating 3:08 in the afternoon. It was difficult to believe that only half an hour had passed since the lava round began.
"High-Efficiency Nutrient Solution, 3 points."
Indeed, the meager amount of liquid in the IV bag was depleting rapidly.
"Hospital Pass (one hour), 2 points."
Lin Sanjiu stared at it for a few moments, suddenly having an idea. Could this be the method those individuals employed to traverse the walls?
There were numerous other medical supplies, medications, and services listed that she couldn't comprehend: X-ray examinations, aspirin, sutures, surgeries, bouquets, Lava Wound Recovery Ointment. The last one piqued her curiosity with a small note that read, "When applied generously, it can regenerate severed limbs." This made her wonder how much Puppeteer had to apply to regrow his head. The list encompassed various items with varying point values and diverse applications. It stated that all these medical-related items could be procured at the payment counter and affiliated store located on the ground floor of the hospital as long as she had sufficient points.
However, what truly drained the color from her face was the explanation on the last page.
She read aloud, "In the spirit of healing, this hospital will admit emergency patients without regard to their financial situation and provide appropriate treatment. Once the patient regains consciousness and becomes mobile, the hospital will issue a final bill at the end of a round, collecting the outstanding fees. It should be noted that any items used from the room's medicine cabinet will also be listed on the bill. For patients unable to settle their debts, the hospital will resort to forced collection methods, compelling the patient to mortgage and sell their belongings to cover the debt. Abilities and Special Items are appraised with a value of approximately 1-2 points."
In other words, Lin Sanjiu had already owed the hospital 8 points as soon as she woke up. If she couldn't come up with 8 points before 6:30 in the evening, at least 4 of her abilities and items would be taken away!
Lin Sanjiu quickly returned everything to the medicine cabinet, sat on the bed, and tried to organize all the information in her mind to figure out what to do next. The booklet provided a clear introduction to the prices but lacked the most critical piece of information: how to earn points.
"Perhaps killing other players can earn you points?" Mrs. Manas suggested. "Didn't that person just kill someone? I assume the victim couldn't afford a single room... and had nowhere to hide, so they were killed outside."
Even if that were the case, how could she engage in such acts? Not to mention that everyone was hiding behind iron doors, and her current weakness rendered her unable to scale walls or even step outside the door.
Lin Sanjiu frowned and thought for a while before asking softly, "Do I have enough Higher Consciousness remaining to mimic someone?"