Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Yu Lingling easily obtained the address of the City A Special Department Hospital. One kindhearted person even drew her a simple map in case she had trouble finding it.
After finishing the last sip of her warm soy milk, Yu Lingling scanned the QR code and paid a little extra before quietly slipping out of the shop.
She took a taxi to the Special Department Hospital.
This time, Yu Lingling’s luck wasn’t so good. The driver looked like an ill-tempered man. He gave Yu Lingling, who was bundled up in a thick down jacket, a once-over. “I hear that place is some exclusive club. They don’t even let outsiders in.”
Yu Lingling sensed the malice coming from him and couldn’t be bothered to respond.
The driver took her silence as contempt, and his expression darkened. “I’m telling you, young girls these days just won’t stay on the straight and narrow. You’ve got some sugar daddy or rich ‘uncle’ there, don’t you? How much do you charge per night?”
Yu Lingling looked toward the driver’s seat and reminded him, “I’m a minor.”
“Rich men love underage girls like you.” The driver gave her a knowing grin. “I’m telling you, girls these days need to stay on the straight and narrow. If you were my daughter, I’d break your legs. I don’t know how your family raised you to be so shameless…”
The driver had already decided that Yu Lingling was being kept by some rich man. She didn’t dress like someone with money, and what wealthy person took a taxi? They all had private cars and drivers.
“I’ve picked up girls in your line of work before. Seriously… you’re filthy. I’ll need extra.”
Having just experienced human kindness, Yu Lingling was now being subjected to blatant malice. Far from getting angry, she found it rather interesting. “How much extra?”
The driver thought Yu Lingling was just a young girl he could easily bully. Would she really dare stand up to a grown man like him? She could only let him do whatever he wanted.
It was just a shame she really was a minor. Otherwise…
Greed flashed through his eyes. “I’ll have to get the car washed and disinfected. I won’t be able to take any fares for the next few days. I know your line of work isn’t easy either, so eight thousand yuan will do. Transfer it to me right now.”
With that, the driver tossed a printout of his payment QR code into Yu Lingling’s lap.
Looking at his personal payment code and practiced movements, Yu Lingling knew he must have pulled this despicable scam plenty of times before. “Mister, have you ever heard a certain saying?”
The driver already saw Yu Lingling as prey in his grasp. Delighted at the thought of another eight thousand yuan entering his account, he thought to himself that anyone who could visit an exclusive club was indeed a fat sheep. Her young age had its advantages too. A few threats were all it took to make her pay up.
“Let’s hear it.”
Yu Lingling looked up and saw the driver watching her through the rearview mirror. She didn’t flinch or look away, nor did she show any of the fear or timidity he had expected.
“Walk enough roads at night, and sooner or later, you’ll meet a ghost.”
As soon as she said that, the driver felt a sudden chill coming from the front passenger seat. He turned to look and found a woman with long, disheveled hair sitting in the previously empty seat. Her eyes were pitch-black, without a trace of white. She grinned at him, revealing a mouth densely packed with teeth, and the driver’s face changed drastically.
The car stopped by the side of the road. The area was so remote that not a single vehicle passed for ages.
Yu Lingling got out of the car, found the Special Department’s phone number on the Horror Game App Forum, and called it. After giving them her exact location, she said calmly, “There’s an empty car here with traces of Horror Game energy. There’s no one anywhere nearby. The driver was probably pulled into a Horror Game Instance. He’s an ordinary person.”
After she briefly explained the situation, the person on the other end asked, “Approximately how many people entered the instance? Can you confirm that an ordinary person was pulled in?”
“Yes,” Yu Lingling answered with certainty. “How do I know? Because I’m the one who sent him in.”
After hanging up, Yu Lingling switched off her phone and followed the route she had already memorized toward the Special Department Hospital.
Having only just visited the Special Department back in her own city, Yu Lingling couldn’t help marveling at how rich City A’s Special Department was by comparison.
Yu Lingling had forced the driver to keep going. Only when they were nearing her destination did she deliberately trigger a fluctuation in the Horror Game’s energy. However, now that she was a Full-fledged Player, she could naturally choose not to enter the game.
The driver, whose entire body had been tainted by the Horror Game’s energy, wasn’t so fortunate.
Yu Lingling’s eyes curved in amusement. She deliberately smiled at the camera, slowed down, and said, “Good luck to him.”
With that, Yu Lingling vanished on the spot.
The Special Department was highly efficient. Before Yu Lingling even made it inside the Special Department Hospital, they had already uncovered the entire story.
Since the incident concerned Yu Lingling, it was promptly reported to Wen Ling.
Wen Ling frowned. “What is she going to the Special Department Hospital for? And how did she learn its address?”
The young man in the baseball cap was browsing the forum beside her. “Chief Commander, I think I know how Yu Lingling found the hospital’s address.”
Wen Ling looked over.
The young man in the baseball cap handed her his phone.
Wen Ling was an ordinary person and didn’t have the app on her own phone, but her subordinates compiled summaries of its content for her to review every day. Still, she was extremely busy and couldn’t read every single post. Now, she saw the thread Yu Lingling had made: “Solo Player, just arrived in City A. Injured in an instance. Where can I get treatment?”
Wen Ling laughed in exasperation. “She really is…”
But she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
The young man in the baseball cap took his phone back and continued reading the forum. “There’s something twisted about the way she does things. She knew this was against the rules, but she did it anyway – and even went out of her way to provoke us.”
Wen Ling said nothing.
The young man in the baseball cap looked at her. “She’s losing control.”
Wen Ling remained silent as she took out her phone and made a call.
At that moment, inside a hospital room at City A Special Department Hospital, Doctor Song looked at the caller ID in surprise before answering. “Chief Commander.”
As Wen Ling spoke, Doctor Song’s expression grew solemn.
Wen Ling was normally decisive and ruthless, but when it came to Yu Lingling, she became uncharacteristically hesitant. “The things she’s done… Do you think she knows the Special Department’s rules?”
Doctor Song had always been Yu Lingling’s psychiatrist. Of everyone in the Special Department, he understood her condition best. “With her mental state, an ordinary person would have gone insane long ago. But she… I believe she’s maintaining a kind of equilibrium.”
“I can say with absolute certainty that she knows the rules. She’s highly intelligent, and some of her personalities aren’t particularly friendly toward this world.”
“I don’t know what she’s come here to do. All I know is that the rope holding her back is gone. She’s like a dragon from Western legends, filled with hatred for every person and every thing that took her treasure away.”
“That includes us – and the Horror Game.”
“Her threat level…”
Before Doctor Song could finish, a rhythmic knock sounded at the door. An ominous feeling suddenly rose in his heart, and he turned toward it.
After knocking, Yu Lingling opened the door and walked straight in.
Polite, but only barely.
Watching Yu Lingling approach step by step while Wen Ling’s voice continued over the phone, Doctor Song stammered, “Y-you came to see me?”
Yu Lingling nodded. “Doctor Song, I’ve come to take you with me.”