There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

"Thank you, you strange big brothers!"

"I’m a woman, damn it!"

"Thank you, strange lady-brother."

"...Forget it."

That evening, the seven children gradually recovered their health, thanks to Yan Yuan’s blood and Duan Fei’s [Rough Healing Technique]. They were now well enough to offer their thanks from their beds.

Yan Yuan, bled nearly dry, leaned shakily against Duan Fei’s cheek and asked weakly, "Why am I the one making the sacrifice when you’re the ones getting thanked?"

"In the early stages of a startup, someone always has to make sacrifices. That person can’t be me, so it has to be you."

"Master, when I get the chance, I’ll pick out a nice chandelier for you—and I’ll definitely hang you from it!"

"Hilarious. I can’t die right now anyway!"

While Duan Fei and Yan Yuan bantered, the Priest was silently observing Duan Fei from the side.

He had touched Duan Fei’s hand before and knew that beneath the glove were not human fingers, but skeletal ones.

But from what he just saw, the man hadn’t used the power of Necromancy. Instead, it was the crazy Mage next to him who was a bit strange.

Even more baffling, the skeleton could use healing power without any apparent cost, which only deepened the Priest’s confusion.

Closing his eyes, the Priest pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "The Lord says, those who crawl up from below shall lend their power to pull you back from the Abyss."

"What are you talking about?" Winston asked in confusion. "Trying to sound all profound like that is so outdated."

"I am Ken, a Priest of Radiant City. You must be Adventurers who have just arrived. Thank you for saving our lives. Whatever you ask of me, I will do it."

Father Ken said with a smile.

Although he knew the trio’s origins were somewhat bizarre, the situation in Radiant City had already collapsed. Death was occurring at every moment.

At a time like this, whoever could pull them out of this desperate situation would be their Savior.

Even if they were servants of the Demon King or minions of an Evil God, he would still assist them.

Seeing the resolve in Father Ken’s eyes, Duan Fei nodded. "Do you still have any of those gems? May I see them?"

"I don’t have them anymore. After the plague broke out, I suspected it was related to the gems we brought back from that place, so I threw them away immediately."

"I have some," said the Little Nun from another bed, her head lowered. "I’m sorry, Priest. I secretly went and picked them up. They’re under the floorboards beneath my bed."

The Priest looked at the Nun, who had lowered her head in shame, and finally gave a soft smile. "Don’t blame yourself. I also considered going back to retrieve the gems. It’s human nature. You just need to confess to God."

"I will, Father."

Prying open the floorboards, Duan Fei found that there were indeed gems there, but there was something wrong with their condition.

These gems had cracked open from the middle, looking like a clutch of hatched eggs.

Something had drilled its way out of these gems, leaving behind a pile of disgusting green slime before vanishing without a trace.

Pinching a shattered gem, Duan Fei noticed his pollution indicator bar was slowly rising, which meant this thing was related to contaminants.

From this, Duan Fei formed a bold hypothesis.

These gems weren’t gems at all—they were eggs.

The Priest’s speculation was correct; these gems were likely the cause of the plague outbreak.

The form contaminants took was not fixed. It was possible these contaminants had arrived here as eggs, accumulated within the gems, and then slowly hatched.

’But why would the hatching process cause a plague?’

’And what was the connection between that giant eye lurking in the statue and these eggs?’

After thinking for a moment, Duan Fei remembered Beist and held up a gem, asking, "Beist, do you recognize this thing?"

"I’ve never seen them, but I hate them."

’Mm, got it. It seems your era didn’t have things like this.’

Stowing the gems away, Duan Fei planned to hand them over to other players for analysis after leaving the instance.

Outside, the screams were still endless, but Yan Yuan didn’t have much blood to begin with. They couldn’t possibly save so many people.

Given the plague’s rate of onset and transmission, it wouldn’t be long before everyone in the city was dead.

After a long and painful deliberation, the Priest looked at Duan Fei and pleaded, "Sir, I know this is a huge ask, but could you try to save a few more people? Even just one more would be enough."

"How about we turn everyone into Undead Creatures?" Winston said excitedly. "I just remembered how to turn people into skeletons! The process is completely painless, and they won’t have to fear any diseases after the transformation. Their brains just won’t work too well."

Duan Fei smacked him with the crowbar to shut the idiot up.

’Saying something like that in front of Father Ken... has your intelligence stat been reduced to a negative number or something?’

That side effect alone was enough for Duan Fei to feel that this was a line they absolutely could not cross.

Father Ken awkwardly turned his head away, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.

After a moment of thought, Duan Fei asked, "Who’s the leader of the doctors here? I saw some Doctor Beaks on my way, and I’d like to cooperate with them."

"Are you sure? Those doctors are all heretics. They believe that diseases are caused by tiny things called ’bacteria,’ and that even smaller things called ’viruses’ make the bacteria and us sick. They also say that some small creatures can accumulate in our bodies and make us ill, and that boiling water can kill these ’pests.’ Just listen to them. They’re completely mad."

"I think they sound perfectly sane," Duan Fei said.

"Exactly, exactly," Winston also nodded and said. "Humans discovered this back when I was a child, but you people have actually regressed. You’ve all become useless."

"Haven’t had enough of the crowbar, have you?" Duan Fei looked at him, annoyed.

Winston shot a fearful glance at the crowbar. Getting hit with that thing really hurt.

After finding out the location of the Doctor Beak headquarters, Duan Fei called for Yan Yuan and had his other two companions stay behind to look after the patients, while he himself headed for the headquarters.

Walking through the empty streets, Duan Fei felt that the plague was even more severe than he had imagined.

There were hardly any living people left on the roadsides. The doors of every house were left open to make it easier for the corpse collectors to enter and carry out the bodies.

The disease was like a giant stone pressing on the chest, squeezing out the last wisp of life from everyone, which transformed into groans that echoed throughout the city.

"How horrifying," said Yan Yuan from Duan Fei’s shoulder. "Good thing I don’t have to worry about diseases."

"Yeah. No matter how high my Spiritual Power is, I can’t stand to see things like this."

The Doctor Beak headquarters was in the southern suburbs of Radiant City. It was a large, sinister-looking villa, and behind it lay a mass grave.

The appearance of these doctors was very distinctive. They wore wide-brimmed hats that covered their hair, long, bird-beak-shaped masks to filter the air, and long robes that were waxed and soaked in oil, as this was believed to resist the invasion of disease.

Their black silhouettes made them look like crows with folded wings. And sometimes, like crows, they were synonymous with death.

Some also carried a cane, which allowed them to examine and turn over bodies without direct physical contact.

As Duan Fei approached the large villa, he heard the sound of a crossbow being drawn.

One of the Doctor Beaks aimed a crossbow at Duan Fei. The leader of the group said in a low voice, "Stop. You can’t come here."

"I have some ideas about this plague, and I need to cooperate with you doctors," Duan Fei said immediately. "I have a letter of recommendation from the Priest."

Taking the letter of recommendation from Duan Fei’s hand, the squad leader quickly read it, confirmed the Church’s emblem on it, and said, "...Don’t move. I’ll go consult the chief."

A few minutes later, the captain of the doctors returned and said to Duan Fei, "Alright. Before you come in, drink this."

Looking at the milky-white liquor the other man handed him, Duan Fei felt a little conflicted.

’Making a skeleton drink something like this... wouldn’t it be a bit... astringent?’

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