Inside the safe zone, especially around the treatment center, there were occasionally people walking along the streets. Unlike those in the wilderness, they didn’t look nearly as tense—clearly more relaxed.
The red banners hanging at the entrance of the treatment center stood out—on the left, “United as one, we’ll overcome difficulties together,” and on the right, “Protect the people, fear no hardship.” The somewhat tacky yellow-on-red lettering somehow brought an odd sense of reassurance at this moment. Just a glance, and it felt as if one had been pulled back into the bustling, ordinary reality of the outside world.
No matter how strange this world had become, some things, it seemed, never changed.
The treatment center had been organized after the officials took over. As long as one’s HP dropped below half, treatment was free. Of course, you could still receive treatment above half, but then it cost game currency.
Healing-type Awakeners were extremely rare. Out of millions of players, fewer than a hundred had been found so far—truly one in a million.
Some of those who could adapt to combat would join special operations squads, but most stayed behind to work at the treatment center.
After all, many who awakened with healing abilities often had physical limitations. The well-known healers here included the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, and even pregnant women.
For someone like Xiao Xue, who was in good health and only had congenital severe myopia, she was already considered a rare case.
But maybe because of that, her healing ability wasn’t particularly strong.
Most likely, when she got a bit older, she’d end up working here too.
But Xiao Xue didn’t want to. She wanted to join a combat team. That’s why she’d followed Long Teng and the others out, hoping to practice against slimes and train her combat ability in advance. She hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.
Qi Xue lowered her head, stopping at the entrance of the treatment center. “I-I won’t go in. I can heal myself. If I go in, I’ll just be a burden to everyone…”
Yi Luo glanced at her, then suddenly said, “I remember your brother.”
Qi Xue’s head jerked up, eyes behind her glasses a little blank. “Ah?”
Yi Luo nodded. “He was remarkable. He protected a lot of people.”
Qi Xue lowered her head again. She probably didn’t want to cry in front of everyone, but the tears still slipped out uncontrollably. She wiped at them hastily, smearing her glasses into a blur. Crooked on her face, she kept her head down, voice choked, crying soundlessly: “…I’m sorry…”
Yi Luo patted her head. The gesture wasn’t exactly gentle, but the solid weight of it was unexpectedly comforting. “Do you know how to write reports?”
“Huh?” Qi Xue blinked in confusion.
“The combat teams are short on people,” Yi Luo smiled. “But they won’t willingly send a kid like you out.”
Qi Xue stared blankly, but the chubby boy beside her caught on instantly. He jumped up. “Ah! I get it! They won’t ask you to go—but you can apply! Write reports, write your story, write about your brother, make it so moving that the leaders have to cry!”
Yi Luo nodded with satisfaction. “Exactly. They definitely won’t let you into a combat team right away. But if you keep at it, eventually they’ll give you a chance—to at least start combat training.”
Qi Xue’s mouth slowly fell open in surprise. Yi Luo pressed a finger to his lips for secrecy, then patted her head again. “Just don’t say I taught you this.”
“Don’t carry everything alone—you’re still a kid. It’s fine to ask the adults for what you want.”
Qi Xue clenched her fists and nodded hard.
“Alright, now—everyone inside for your checkups. Behave.” Yi Luo pointed toward the doors. The group of half-grown kids lined up obediently and shuffled inside.
He Wuning, of course, fell to the back, looking in no rush at all.
The receptionist at the entrance was an Awakener with the skill Status Appraisal. Since even free treatment was prioritized by severity, those with the lowest HP were treated first. She swept her skill across the group—and nearly dropped her pen when she saw He Wuning’s 9 HP above his head.
The young woman in a white lab coat moved swiftly from behind the counter, grabbed hold of He Wuning, and shouted at the top of her lungs: “Make way! Critical case here!”
He Wuning: “No, I don’t—”
Before he could finish, she had already slapped an oxygen mask over his face, shoved an oxygen tank into his arms, and glared at him fiercely: “Don’t talk!”
“Where’s the stretcher? Get him on the stretcher!”
He Wuning was shoved down onto the stretcher by several busy hands. He wanted to protest—who’s ever seen a critical patient this lively?—but they didn’t give him the chance. He was carried straight into the treatment room.
The one assigned to treat him was the “elder” in the group of “elderly, weak, sick, disabled, or pregnant”—an old lady with graying hair, reading glasses, a bony frame, and a rather stern face. He Wuning heard the young nurse who’d brought him in call her “Teacher Yan.”
Teacher Yan gave him a single glance, said nothing, and got straight to work: “Arm.”
He Wuning rolled up his sleeve. Her healing ability seemed to require equipment support; she gave him an injection. He Wuning only twitched an eyebrow.
She looked up at him, then suddenly let out a cold laugh. “So, you can tolerate pain, huh?”
He Wuning met her gaze silently. He could see his HP rapidly rising, but the old lady’s expression looked anything but pleased.
He found it baffling. Could it be she disliked him just because he didn’t scream in pain?
“Hmph.” She looked away. “I’ve seen plenty of young men like you who love to show off. Let me tell you—people who cling to their last scraps of HP while still trying to act tough are the quickest to get themselves killed in this world.”
He Wuning: “…”
“You’re down to your last bit of blood and you’re not even worried? What, do we have to chase you down just to treat you?” She gave him a look of utter disappointment. “So young and you don’t even know how to take care of your body. You think it’s shameful to be afraid of death, is that it?”
“It’s only shameful if you die! Start taking yourself seriously!”
Her words were nagging and harsh, but her hands were not rough at all.
He Wuning sat there with a blank face, enduring the scolding. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Yi Luo leaning in the doorway, clearly having come at some point, watching the scene with suppressed laughter.
He Wuning ground his molars.
Teacher Yan noticed him too, and immediately turned her sharp tongue: “Yi Luo.”
Yi Luo snapped upright. “Here!”
She snorted. “What are you staring at? You’re the same kind! Watch yourself!”
With her stern face, she looked like she found everyone an eyesore. Even her wrinkles seemed to flatten out from how tightly she held her expression. “What are you grinning at, always smirking like that?”
“Ahem.” Yi Luo wiped the smile off, looking almost afraid of her—but then spoke like he wasn’t afraid at all. “I was just thinking how much you two look like family. Both so fiery-tempered. You scolding him is just like scolding your grandson…”
He Wuning kept his mouth shut with Teacher Yan, but with Yi Luo, he wasn’t so polite. He lifted his eyes. “You’re the one who’s her grandson.”
“Then I’m getting the better deal.” Yi Luo leaned on the doorframe, grinning. “If Teacher Yan were to take a liking to my lonely old man at home…”
Teacher Yan looked about ready to jab the syringe into Yi Luo’s forehead. “Get out!”
“Roger that.” Yi Luo turned at once. “I’ll go check on the chubby kid next door crying.”
He Wuning silently watched his retreating figure, thinking: So this is the light of humanity?
With the interruption, Teacher Yan said no more. She wrapped up the treatment quickly, waved her hand in dismissal, and sent He Wuning—her so-called “cheap grandson”—on his way.
By the time Yi Luo strolled out of the next room, smiling as he dragged the still-sniffling chubby boy with him, He Wuning was already at the entrance, opening the car door.
From the look of it, if Yi Luo had come out a little later, He Wuning would’ve left without a word.
Yi Luo froze. “You’re not staying in the safe zone overnight?”
It was obvious he still intended to head out.
“Yeah.” He Wuning didn’t even look back, getting into the car with a smooth motion.
The chubby boy mumbled, “He’s really so cool…”
Yi Luo chuckled at him. “Not crying anymore?”
The boy scratched his head sheepishly. But at the entrance, the milk-tea car had been rumbling for quite a while without moving.
Yi Luo frowned, then realized something. Smiling, he walked over and tapped on the window.
He Wuning reluctantly rolled it down. Inside, Q-chan was still enthusiastically directing him: “Listen to me! Turn the wheel all the way! All the way! Don’t touch the gas pedal! You can’t just bulldoze your way through here! Better to inch out slowly, nice and steady…”
Yi Luo had originally meant to hold back his laughter so as not to rile this “grandpa” again, but after a token effort, he failed completely. So he gave up and leaned on the car window, grinning: “Want me to reverse it up for you?”
He Wuning’s expression was thunderous, but he didn’t try to act tough. Without a word, he opened the door for Yi Luo to get in.
Hands in his pockets, he stood on the steps of the treatment center. The chubby kid shuffled over furtively and, with a maturity beyond his years, tried to comfort him: “Boss, even if you don’t know how to reverse a car, you’re still the coolest in my eyes!”
He Wuning: “…”
Yi Luo parked the car in front of him with a smooth, practiced flourish, the tail of the vehicle swinging around in a perfect arc. Maybe it was just He Wuning’s imagination, but it looked an awful lot like showing off.
What, driving a tank makes you so great?
He Wuning was annoyed—but thinking about it carefully, maybe it really was pretty great.
Yi Luo lowered the window with a smile. “Want me to drive you out of the city?”
“No need.” He Wuning rejected him flatly. He stared at Yi Luo for a while, his expression conflicted.
By all rights, he should thank him. But… glancing at the faint smile already tugging at the guy’s lips, he felt that if he actually said the word “thanks,” Yi Luo’s tail would shoot straight into the sky.
Yi Luo, good at handing out his own exit ramps, simply nodded. “No need to be polite—serving the people.”
He Wuning: “…”
He fished a roll of bandages out of his pocket and tossed it to Yi Luo. Yi Luo caught it reflexively—it was a healing item.
“A thank-you gift.”
But by the time he processed it, He Wuning had already driven off.
Yi Luo’s face changed. “Damn, I was too busy teasing him—I forgot to add him as a friend!”
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The author has something to say:
Mini bonus skit (not canon):
Yi Luo: He treated me to milk tea.
Rabbit: You had to pay for it.
Yi Luo: He gave me bandages.
Rabbit: From what he saved at the treatment center.
Yi Luo: He actually doesn’t dislike me that much (confirmed).
Rabbit: You’re hopeless (confirmed).
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