-22- Medical Commission

"Civilization Preservation Society..."

Muttering the name, Yvette pondered for a moment before deciding to initiate a hack immediately. On one hand, she wanted to see if this organization was genuine or a scam; on the other, she suspected their servers likely contained a wealth of data, and she might just be able to acquire some for free.

To her surprise, however, the hack was blocked shortly after it began.

Unlike the antiquated, static firewall at the Blackwater District Police Station, this website employed dynamic defense. Its vulnerabilities were scarce and difficult to exploit, and even when she managed to break through, any anomalous access path would have its credentials revoked within less than a second.

This gave Yvette the feeling of engaging in rapid offensive and defensive maneuvers. Moreover, her opponent was incredibly skilled—they possessed a "living presence" that felt less like an AI and more like a top-tier Rune Hacker.

After some brief consideration, Yvette decisively abandoned the attempt. A normal system hack was like playing chess against a corpse, but this felt like sitting across from a living person, which was an entirely different matter. Although she used jump servers, fake addresses, and traffic obfuscation to mask her tracks, there was no guarantee she wouldn't leave behind a trail.

She had no desire to be traced back through the network and attacked in return.

...

Setting aside the mysterious "Civilization Preservation Society"—a group of unknown origin but possessing top-tier anti-hacking capabilities—and aiming to avoid stirring up trouble, Yvette spent the following month living a relatively peaceful and harmonious life.

As for the welding torch, the sale of the Arcane Wind Blades went as expected. Aside from the one set she kept for herself, the remaining four encapsulated packages were all sold to the same local gang leader.

Selling the final four sets meant a windfall of 200,000 credits, bringing Yvette much closer to the 500,000-credit cost of the book, *Elemental Decay Completion Techniques*.

With little to do and in preparation for future endeavors, Yvette decided that morning to add her neighbor, Regal Hoffman, on his work contact number using the details left on his business card.

"Good morning, Mr. Hoffman."

"Good morning—oh, Miss Sienne, is something the matter?" Regal looked surprised to see Yvette on the holographic screen.

Having moved in a month ago, Regal, his wife Susan, their eldest son Hans, and their young daughter Mary had become quite familiar with Yvette and her "cousin" Rosalind. They would exchange warm greetings whenever they passed each other in the hallway or met on the street below.

Due to their similar ages and interests, Rosalind had become quite close with Hans and Mary, counting them as good friends.

As for Yvette, although she appeared young, her demeanor was unexpectedly mature—nothing like a child. Consequently, during their occasional chats, Regal and Susan would subconsciously treat the silver-haired girl as an equal.

"It’s like this, Mr. Hoffman. I’ve had plenty of free time lately, and after reading some books on 'potions,' I’ve developed a keen interest in medicine. I was wondering if you could provide me with some guidance or allow me to observe your treatment process," Yvette said. "Of course, I would be happy to pay a reasonable tuition fee."

Beyond rune compilation, specialized knowledge in the field of rune medicine was Yvette’s second-largest reserve of expertise; after all, the Abyss Base was filled with professional books on the subject, many of which were internal secrets of the Black Tower.

She had read them during her time there but hadn't studied them seriously, as they weren't needed for her escape.

While magitech and energy reserves remained her primary focus, she didn't mind digesting the medical knowledge she had previously skimmed through while she had the spare time. She would need it sooner or later, regardless.

"This..." Regal clearly hadn't expected such a request. He hesitated, "I’m sorry, Miss Sienne, it’s not that I don’t want to teach you, but I don’t hold a professional teaching license. Even if I did, this would need to be conducted at a formal educational institution..."

"You only need to let me observe. How about 20,000 credits a month?"

"Twenty thousand..."

Regal swallowed hard. He was, in fact, practicing medicine without a license—a fact well known to the residents of Wright Apartments and his regular customers near Acid Street. Because of this, his fees were exceptionally low. While doctors of his caliber typically earned around 70,000 a month—a solid middle-class income—his own earnings barely reached 20,000.

Just by letting this young girl watch his work, he could more than double his monthly income!

Even with the risk of illegally disseminating knowledge, it was a gamble well worth taking!

Besides, he already lacked a medical license; it was a case of "the debtor doesn't worry about the number of debts," and his patients would surely keep his secret...

He made a self-deprecating joke to himself and then said, "Alright, Miss Sienne. From now on, I will send you a message whenever I have a house call or a patient coming to the clinic. Would that work?"

"That would be fine. Thank you very much, Mr. Hoffman," Yvette replied with a nod.

...

In the afternoon, the Hoffman clinic received a customer—someone suffering from tinnitus, seeking a diagnosis and medication.

Yvette immediately walked over to the small clinic in the Hoffman home. While observing, she was warmly treated by Mrs. Susan; despite being there to learn, she found a small table laden with refreshments, as if she were there to enjoy a leisure afternoon.

Yvette understood Mrs. Susan's mindset; she was likely being treated as a major benefactor.

She remembered that their children, Hans and Mary, were both attending the Black Tower Middle School, a top-tier elite institution. The tuition there was 300,000 credits a year. Even with Regal working at full capacity and Mrs. Susan taking on odd jobs, they were still burdened by heavy student loans and even more terrifying interest rates, resulting in a quality of life lower than that of the lower-class residents in the Blackwater District who earned four or five thousand a month.

It was undeniable that this understanding was one of the reasons she had proposed the learning arrangement to Regal.

After observing the treatment process for a while, Yvette saw Rosalind walk in through the door. After offering a polite greeting, she didn't interrupt Regal’s work, turning instead to ask, "Teacher, Aunt Susan, are Hans and Mary here?"

"They went out this morning. Are you looking to play with them?" Susan asked kindly.

"Yes," Rosalind said with a sweet smile.

Since the day she arrived in this world, this was the first time she had made friends she could play with, and their personalities were a great match. Since she didn't have much to do, she spent her time like a student on summer vacation, wandering around with Hans and Mary whenever possible, enjoying every day.

"Wait, let me check..." Susan opened her magitech terminal and activated a subscription-based family safety service, which allowed parents to know the real-time location of their children and call for help quickly in an emergency.

After a moment, she said in surprise, "They seem to be at Scrap Metal Avenue... that’s five kilometers away. What are they doing all the way over there?" She paused, sounding a bit angry. "And they aren't picking up their calls! These two children!"

Scrap Metal Avenue was an old district with decent safety; it was lined with shops, and the likelihood of trouble was low. Furthermore, no alarms had gone off, and ignoring calls was standard behavior for children in their rebellious phase. Still, as a mother, a look of worry quickly appeared on Mrs. Susan's face.

She muttered to herself, "Could they be in some kind of danger?"

"Don't worry, Aunt Susan, it will be fine. I'll go check on them for you right now," Rosalind said. After exchanging a look with Yvette, she headed downstairs and hailed a taxi bound for Scrap Metal Avenue.