Chapter 54
Chapter 54
He was a frail-looking boy. If not for the patient information card, Yu Lingling would never have guessed that he was already fifteen.
His eyes looked as though they were veiled in white gauze. He could sense light and darkness, but he couldn’t make out anything in front of him.
With his poor vision, his hearing had become exceptionally sharp. As soon as he heard the door open, he turned toward the sound, an inscrutable look of anticipation on his pale, gaunt face.
Song Siyuan wasn’t very good at dealing with teenagers. The only young person he spent much time around was Yu Lingling, but the boy before him was nothing like her. He was fragile and sensitive, yet possessed an Exclusive Skill like that.
Song Siyuan glanced at Yu Lingling, who was reading the information card, and took the initiative to ask, “How is your recovery going?”
The boy clutched the blanket nervously. “Do you need me now?”
Song Siyuan was about to answer when Yu Lingling casually put the information card back.
She walked up to the boy and asked bluntly, “Tongyu, were your eyes injured in an instance?”
Tongyu was the boy’s name. He had never heard Yu Lingling’s voice before. He tilted his head slightly, his body going rigid, as though he wanted to draw closer yet also wanted to hide.
“Y-Yes.”
Yu Lingling leaned in for a closer look, frightening Tongyu into shrinking back until he was pressed against the wall. He didn’t dare move, like a small animal cornered with nowhere left to run.
Even Song Siyuan felt a little sorry for him. Given how overbearing Yu Lingling was being, she would probably have a hard time accepting anything other than a yes. But Tongyu was different from him. If Yu Lingling really tried to force the boy, Song Siyuan would step in to protect him.
Besides, this was the Special Department’s hospital. If Wen Ling hadn’t sent word as soon as Yu Lingling was spotted, the Special Department would have arrested her by now.
Song Siyuan folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “Yu Lingling, don’t do anything illegal.”
Yu Lingling ignored him and asked, “What is your Exclusive Skill?”
Even Song Siyuan was taken aback. “You can’t just ask someone like that.”
Tongyu possessed an animal-like intuition, and he sensed no malice from Yu Lingling. “Before someone enters an instance, I can establish a connection with them. If they die inside, I can resurrect them through Injury Transfer, moving their injuries onto myself. The injuries become much less severe and won’t be fatal, but I’m not strong enough to use the skill repeatedly.”
“Inside a Horror Game Instance, the stronger an Exclusive Skill is, the greater its side effects.” A skill this powerful couldn’t possibly have such a minor drawback. Yu Lingling also suspected that this wasn’t how the Exclusive Skill was meant to be used. “Is there anything else?”
Tongyu suddenly said, “Someone else asked me that too. I-I experience everything the other person felt before they died, and afterward, I often relive it over and over again.”
Song Siyuan had heard of Tongyu, though he had never worked with him. At the boy’s words, he unconsciously straightened, and his expression changed.
“Oh,” Yu Lingling said. “Do you feel it because Injury Transfer moves their wounds onto you, or would you still feel everything even if the wounds were transferred to someone else?”
Tongyu stammered through his explanation. “I-I don’t know. But if the wounds are transferred to someone else, they’re transferred in full. It wouldn’t save anyone. It would only change who dies.”
Realization dawned on Yu Lingling. “A life for a life? Does it have to be a human life? Could a mosquito or a fly work?”
Tongyu was thoroughly confused by her questions. “N-No. It has to be an equivalent exchange. You might even have to pay a greater price.”
Yu Lingling wasn’t disappointed. She nodded and stopped asking about Tongyu’s Exclusive Skill. “My brother’s name is Yu Huan.”
Tongyu turned toward her voice in shock. He still remembered that man. Though the man’s aura had been frightening, he had borne Tongyu no ill will.
Yu Lingling sat down on the edge of the bed. “My brother said you’re a very interesting person, just not very smart.”
Tongyu’s lips moved, but he didn’t know what to say. Was he really not very smart?
Yu Lingling said she thought her brother was absolutely right – Tongyu really was interesting, but not very smart.
Her brother knew her well. She would like someone like Tongyu and be willing to take him as a teammate.
Yu Lingling continued, “I asked myself whether I wanted you as my partner.”
Tongyu and Song Siyuan were both taken aback.
Recalling how she had made friends at school, Yu Lingling thought for a moment before saying, “Since you lost your sight in an instance, I’ll help you get it back.”
Tongyu was stunned. “I-Is that really possible?”
Yu Lingling didn’t answer. Instead, she continued laying out her terms. “The way you use your skill is far too limiting. I’ll find a way for you to save more people without harming yourself. I’ll also make sure you can protect yourself, so you won’t always feel like a burden.”
Tongyu stared at Yu Lingling, his hands clutching the blanket tightly.
One glance was enough for Song Siyuan to know that Tongyu would definitely leave with Yu Lingling.
Tongyu had been with the Special Department for so long, yet none of them had ever realized what he truly wanted.
Song Siyuan took out his phone and sent Wen Ling a message. “Chief Commander, Tongyu’s about to get poached.”
Wen Ling replied with only three words. “I know.”
Tongyu murmured, “Is it really possible?”
“It is.” Yu Lingling placed her hand over Tongyu’s gaunt, skeletal one. “Tongyu, you have a lot of regrets too, don’t you? You can’t fight, and you can only save one person at a time.”
Tongyu nodded vigorously, tears streaming down his face.
Yu Lingling said bluntly, “Become my partner and come with me. There are some things we should never have had to regret.”
Tongyu placed his hand in hers. “I’ll go with you. Thank you. Thank you for being willing to have me as your partner.”
Yu Lingling ordered Song Siyuan to pack Tongyu’s belongings, then had Tongyu sit in a wheelchair while she settled down beside him and helped herself to the snacks and fruit in his hospital room.
Because Tongyu was so young, the staff assigned by the Special Department to care for him had prepared plenty of things children liked. Now they all went straight into Yu Lingling’s stomach.
Song Siyuan rolled his eyes. “Yu Lingling, do you not realize I’m injured?”
Tongyu immediately looked uneasy.
Yu Lingling didn’t even raise her head. She was busy eating dried fruit. There were certain fruits she didn’t like fresh, but absolutely loved once they had been dried. “No.”
Song Siyuan gritted his teeth. “I knew you never saw me as an injured man.”
Yu Lingling nodded. “I don’t see you as a human being either.”
Song Siyuan’s eyes drooped. Whatever. He was a grown man. Why was he bickering with a child?
Yu Lingling asked directly, “How soon do you two need to enter another instance?”
“I just came out of one,” Song Siyuan said. He had entered that instance as part of a rescue mission, but it still counted as one of his runs. “As for Tongyu, I don’t think he’s entered many instances at all.”
Tongyu lowered his head. “I-I can’t see, so I’d only be a burden inside an instance. The Special Department has always used Game Coins to buy me more time.”
Yu Lingling asked in confusion, “You don’t want to enter instances?”
Tongyu said quietly, “I-I’m more useful outside.”
Yu Lingling frowned. “But how are you supposed to get stronger if you never enter any instances?”
Besides, judging by what Tongyu had said, staying out had never been his choice.
Yu Lingling realized what was going on and clicked her tongue. “Looks like they’re all afraid you’ll die.”
Tongyu hurriedly explained, “They arranged for people to take me into an instance before, but with me there, the difficulty increased by a lot. Someone almost died trying to protect me.”
Yu Lingling picked out a perfectly intact potato chip and held it between her fingers as she looked at Song Siyuan. “Looks like the Special Department is terrified of losing Tongyu’s Exclusive Skill.”
Song Siyuan frowned. “Yu Lingling, the Special Department isn’t as despicable as you think. Given his condition, keeping him outside is genuinely more useful and much safer.”
Yu Lingling ignored him and merely asked, “Tongyu, are you afraid of dying?”
Tongyu shook his head. If he were afraid of death, he wouldn’t have used his skill again and again.
Yu Lingling scoffed. “From now on, I’ll take you into instances.”
Deep down, Tongyu had always felt that he needed to enter them. “B-But what if I drag you down…”
Yu Lingling cut him off. “At this rate, a few more uses of your Exclusive Skill and you’ll die out here anyway. You might as well enter the instances. Even if you die, at least you’ll be dying for yourself instead of someone else.”