Chapter 1155: Lin Sanjiu's Unexpected Choice
Life can be absurd at times, right?
She had worked hard to level up, train, collect resources, and fight. As a Growth type, Lin Sanjiu had managed to reach where she was today through all that effort. Yet, in the end, she had fallen to the point of selling her kidney?
Perhaps noticing her staring at him in silence for a while, the shopkeeper blinked a couple of times and said, "Oh, you're a new patient, I see."
Lin Sanjiu nodded, waiting for him to continue.
After a brief moment of staring at each other, the shopkeeper finally sighed, seemingly not understanding why he had to explain the situation. "Well... if you want to earn points, you have to exchange something for them, right? Only the hospital administration has points. So, think about it, what does a hospital mainly lack? It's the things in people's bodies."
The ceiling fan above them was especially loud, making a louder noise than the wind it stirred up.
"Of course, if you don't want to sell a kidney," the shopkeeper said, scratching his cheek, "there are options like corneas, blood, hearts... even brains. Blood types and genetics don't matter; no need for compatibility, just having the goods is enough. In fact, about eighty percent of the human body can be used to exchange for points. But usually, people prefer kidneys because you can live without one."
1
Lin Sanjiu recalled her childhood fantasies of what life would be like when she grew up, but it seemed her imagination back then wasn't rich enough. "What about blood? How do you sell blood?"
"That's a bit tricky," the shopkeeper said, waving his dark, meaty hand. "You'd need to give 10 liters of blood to get 3 points."
10 liters!
That was like taking blood from a dinosaur; it would probably pass out after losing so much blood.
"How many points can I get for one kidney?" She couldn't believe that a small part of herself was seriously considering the option of selling a kidney.
"5 points," the shopkeeper said, smiling at her. "That's just enough for one Lava Player's Handbook."
Was it really worth giving up a kidney for a damn booklet? Was it worth it? If what Ya Jiang said was true, that getting the Lava Player's Handbook would end the game, then maybe it would be worth it. But Ya Jiang hadn't been inside the hospital before, so he obviously didn't know how wrong he was back then.
Lin Sanjiu still couldn't figure out where her life had gone wrong to the point where she had to choose between a few sheets of paper and her kidney. In a way, selling a kidney to buy heroin would be more valuable than this, wouldn't it?
"How... how do I sell it?" she stuttered. "I mean, how do I give you my kidney?"
"Simple and painless; in and out," the shopkeeper said, casually reciting the advertising slogan for organ trading in the doomsday world, giving people a strange sense of déjà vu. "Have you seen this?"
He bent down, disappearing behind the counter, leaving only his butt sticking out. After rummaging around behind the counter, he suddenly slapped a small gadget onto the counter with a 'smack.'
When Lin Sanjiu leaned in to take a look, she couldn't help but instinctively place her hand on her lower back.
It was a rectangular metal frame, seemingly made of the same stainless steel used for surgical knives, about the size of an adult male's hand. Below the steel frame was a round handle wrapped in medical rubber, convenient for gripping, and then—
"Then you make a cut from the area of your kidney on your lower back," the shopkeeper said, holding it and demonstrating to Lin Sanjiu, "while I say 'kidney,' and then your kidney will come out to me."
Was this a joke?
Of course, that didn't mean Lin Sanjiu was willing to lie on an operating table and let someone remove her kidney. She thought of the person who had been killed next to her patient room, imagining how the killer had collected his organs and brought them here to exchange for points. She stared at the frame for a while, carefully weighing her options in her mind, even though there weren't many.
One, she could go back to her room, get the medical supplies from there, and then sell them to the shopkeeper at a discount. This was a foolish way to do it because if she took the medical supplies from her room, the hospital would charge her full price for them, but all she'd get in return is a discount. It would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul, and the real challenge and risk were that she had to find a way to climb back up step by step in the midst of hidden enemies. After all, the rope wasn't long enough for her to reach it from the ground.
Two, sell a kidney.
Three, hunt others and exchange their medical supplies and body organs for points.
The last option was probably the main method of players in this hospital. Lin Sanjiu had just encountered several people she wouldn't mind taking a kidney from, but the problem was that she currently had neither a Hospital Pass nor sufficient strength. As long as the other person reached the wall, the roles of hunter and hunted would be reversed.
"What are you hesitating for?" The shopkeeper's patience was gradually running out, and his mouth pouted like a carp. "If you aren't buying, step aside. Someone else wants to buy."
"You're asking me to sell a kidney," Lin Sanjiu said, sighing. "Is that something I can decide on a whim?"
"Why not?" Although the shopkeeper had an unremarkable appearance, his expressions were vivid and rich. At that moment, his entire face seemed to be animated with his eyebrows running all over the place. "If you really want a complete pair of kidneys, you can even buy a new one from the hospital when you have some points!"
'You can do that?'
"Perhaps you can do it like this," Mrs. Manas suddenly suggested. "Selling a kidney gets you 5 points, and buying a pass costs 2 points. You'd still have 3 points left, right? With the pass, you can run back to your room from the wall, take down the medical supplies, and sell them at a discount. If you can gather 10 points, then buy the Lava Player's Handbook and exchange your kidney. If you can't gather enough points, you can always sell it after you finish reading the handbook. As for the points you owe on the medical supplies, you can figure that out slowly... at least now you know how to earn points."
Lin Sanjiu thought this was a good idea.
"If I sell you a lip balm, how many points will you give me?" To be cautious, she wanted to inquire about the prices first. "And also, syringes, eye cream..."
"For these worthless things, I can give you 2 points if you add them up," the shopkeeper said with an attitude as if he was about to jump off a building and not make the deal. "Hurry up and decide!"
"How much does it cost to exchange the kidney?"
"10 points," the shopkeeper said. "By the way, the Lava Player's Handbook can only be read once by one person. After you finish reading it within the specified time, it will disappear automatically. Don't blame me if you can't remember its contents. It's impossible to exchange it for points."
Alright, Mrs. Manas's plan was all in vain. Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment and realized that her coffee's effects were still active. After selling her kidney and getting the Lava Player's Handbook, if she quickly caught someone, perhaps she could use that unfortunate person's body to gather enough points to buy a pass.
With a pass, her safety would be much more guaranteed.
"What happens if I don't have both kidneys?" She had made up her mind, but she couldn't help but want to drag out the time by asking more questions. Anyone preparing to sell their kidney probably wouldn't be in a rush, right?
"It's mentioned in the Handbook," the shopkeeper said, glancing at her. "You want me to tell you everything, so you don't have to buy the Handbook?"
She hadn't thought of this method—alright, one last question.
"After selling it... what will happen to me? Will I faint or feel weak?" She really wished someone would appear at this moment, preferably attacking her, so she could capture them and extract their organs for points. Of course, there was no one around—not only in her vicinity, but it seemed that all posthumans who descended to the lower levels were quite cunning and never approached other posthumans.
"For a kidney, no," the shopkeeper said, eyes lighting up again. "I've already said, it's almost without any aftereffects. You can go back to work on the same day."
It sounded just like an abortion advertisement.
Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath and turned around. "Take it!" she said, biting out the words like a grindstone. "Hurry, give me a copy of the Lava Player's Handbook!"
"Alright, it'll be ready in no time," the shopkeeper said, ecstatic. He grabbed the stainless steel frame and leaned out of the counter. She felt a rectangular object pressing against her left lower back, and with a swift motion, he drew it across her back. Along with the shopkeeper's shout of "I want a kidney!"—she turned her head just in time to see a red object falling from her body. It looked just like a cheap plastic toy, but of course, no one would buy such a kidney-shaped toy for their child.
She blinked, feeling neither pain nor dizziness, as if nothing had happened. If she hadn't seen the shopkeeper holding the kidney-like object in his hand, she might have thought that she still had all her organs intact.
"Is it over now? What about the handbook?" she quickly asked.
"Yes, it's quite simple, isn't it? I've told you, taking a kidney has almost no lasting effects." The shopkeeper carefully examined the kidney in his hand, seemingly satisfied with its appearance—making it look like Lin Sanjiu might have implanted a fake kidney inside herself to deceive him. "Oh, let me get the Handbook for you." As he spoke, he crouched down with some difficulty behind the snowy-white counter, and with a clatter, he opened the cabinet door and began searching inside. He seemed to have stuck his head into the cabinet, and his voice was muffled when he spoke to Lin Sanjiu.
"This method reduces the brutality of the game, making hunting humans feel as easy and enjoyable as playing board games or card games. If, I mean if, there are still posthumans who can't resort to any means necessary, then this game-like experience would make it easier for them to get into character and do what they need to do."
Lin Sanjiu's face suddenly turned as white as the counter. At the same moment she rushed towards the "shop," it rapidly retreated a few steps, just out of her reach.
"Sometimes, I wonder if we posthumans are really like slaves, using our flesh and life to build these doomsday worlds... don't you agree? Thanks for your kidney."
That was the last sentence she heard.
When she hastily retreated along the two paths, she found that the map on the wall had already disappeared, just like the shop, leaving no trace behind.