Chapter Fifty-Six: Stricken by Illness

The members of the Heaven and Earth Society had left behind an abundance of healing potions and magic elixirs for Wu Hua and his companions, so restoring health was no longer an issue. Moreover, Suo picked up a pair of purple-grade gloves designed specifically for espers, while Tu Tiao collected four or five red-grade energy swords, making up for the ten thousand or so credits he had previously lost to Wu Hua.

Wu Hua also devised a strategy for efficient leveling. From the fierce battle with the Heaven and Earth Society, he deduced several important rules. First, the high-intelligence Queen Bee boss was utterly invincible; there was no hope for just a few of them to defeat her, and even summoning a large group wouldn’t help. For such a boss, only overwhelming numbers or a power capable of violating the balance of the game would suffice.

Since the boss was out of the question, the only option was to target the lesser monsters. The plan was for Lingling to first transfer all her items to Tu Tiao, whose carrying capacity was the highest. Unburdened, Lingling could reach an astonishing speed of twenty meters per second, rivaling a warrior’s charge. Then Suo lent her his tiger-hide boots, which granted +4 to strength specialization and boosted movement speed by 10%. This allowed her to wield an AUG and dash to the foot of the mountain to snipe at the Queen Bee with ricochet shots from 500 meters away—beyond the effective range, but not impossible to hit. After all, the Queen Bee was not quite like a human; the moment she detected an attack, she would immediately send out swarms of wasps in retaliation.

Lingling’s lure could bring seventy or so wasps up the slope. There, Wu Hua would wait for her to return and toss him the gun. Suo would cast a telekinetic barrier to slow the swarm, while Wu Hua launched the main assault. If any wasps managed to get through, the Pork Chop Eighteen Slashes from Riwan would cover the rest. As for Tu Tiao—he would be draped in item-laden backpacks from head to toe, lying at the summit, smoking and admiring the carnage, all while sharing in the experience points.

As he divvied up the gains, he exclaimed in delight, “Splitting experience is the life! This is the way, absolutely the way!”

The experience from the wasps was indeed generous; even split five ways, the progress soared at a thrilling pace. Of course, Tu Tiao’s “comfort” didn’t last long before everyone started to complain.

“All right, since you say I’m slacking off, I’ll cheer you on instead,” Tu Tiao bellowed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing across the grassland, “Brothers, charge! Kill! Grab! Come sting me, wasps! I’m your Grandpa Tu Tiao…”

Everyone: “...”

Grinding levels was, without a doubt, monotonous. Even with such clear division of labor and high efficiency, everyone found it tedious in the extreme. Later, when Lan Lan and Qiao Qiao logged on, increasing their numbers, Lingling could lure even further and more wasps, making the experience flow in faster. Wu Hua persisted, believing that games were meant to bring joy and satisfaction. But without a solid foundation of levels, that satisfaction would only be for others.

With this conviction, Wu Hua’s group trained for three full days. As the main attacker, Wu Hua received the most experience. The result of three days’ monotony: his notorious red name was cleared, his level skyrocketed from an ordinary 23 up to 29 and 55%, already reaching the threshold of high-level players. Suo and Lingling, with their significant contributions, both reached level 30. The other four, including Tu Tiao, each gained a level. Though their progress wasn’t as dramatic as Wu Hua’s, everyone was satisfied—solo, it would have taken at least half a month to gain a single level.

By the third evening, rain was still falling. Wu Hua could no longer endure it; the mere sight of a wasp made him want to vomit. After a group discussion, they decided to return to the city.

Under the night rain, Dreamstar City appeared even more misty and beautiful. After bidding farewell to Tu Tiao and the others, Wu Hua suddenly found himself troubled. Where would he sleep on a rainy night like this? Sleeping in the park outdoors was out of the question.

“Beep—beep—” A Madfield taxi stopped at the bus sign. Through the beams of the headlights, the rain could be seen intensifying, the ripples on the ground jumping joyfully.

“Young man, where to?” The driver was not an NPC, but a player, likely in his forties.

Wu Hua thought for a moment and replied, “Dreamstar Grand Hotel.”

The driver smiled slightly and started the car. “You must be quite the player, heading to Dreamstar for the night, eh?” His tone was kind.

Wu Hua smiled and nodded. In truth, he wasn’t any special player; the heavy night rain simply left him with nowhere else to go. Not buying a house in the city had been his greatest mistake, but at the time he was too poor to afford one.

Now he had no choice but to stay at the Dreamstar Grand Hotel. It was expensive, but his principle was to neither shortchange himself nor waste extravagantly.

Lost in thought, Wu Hua stared out the window as the neon lights blurred past.

Suddenly the driver asked, “Young man, you don’t look too well. Are you ill?” It wasn’t until this question that Wu Hua realized his entire body was burning up, his head heavy and his feet light.

Damn! Three days of training in the rain—could he have caught a fever?

The driver was shocked to see blue damage numbers, “-5, -4, -6…” appearing above Wu Hua’s head—the telltale color of illness.

“I’ll take you to the hospital,” the driver declared, making a sharp U-turn.

Falling ill in-game was actually more miserable than in real life. Minor ailments like colds or fevers, if not promptly treated with medication, would be fatal—only slowly, and after dying, one would revive at the central hall.

But the game had an upside: there were no incurable diseases, and certainly nothing like AIDS. This was part of Star Wars’ indirect anti-addiction system.

Even so, Wu Hua found it odd. His combat suit had a water resistance of 56%, yet he still came down with a fever. He had a vague suspicion that the Mulin Grassland was not as simple as it appeared. The Queen Bee boss, seemingly unremarkable, must conceal some deadly threat. But with his current level and equipment, taking her down was a near-impossible task—better to wait until he grew stronger.

Dreamstar City’s hospital was unique, built in the city center and surrounded by a park, resembling a resplendent palace. There were no separate departments, no need for registration or paperwork; an NPC nurse greeted players at the entrance.

“Standard room, intermediate room, premium room: 100, 300, 500 credits respectively. Which would you prefer, sir?” The petite nurse was polite and charming.

“Which one offers the fastest recovery? I’ll take the fastest,” Wu Hua replied. He had no desire to waste game time in a hospital; spending more credits was fine.

Naturally, he was admitted to the premium room. In truth, it was much like the standard, except that at each corner of the bed was a device resembling a miniature camera. Once the patient lay down, four beams of light would shoot into the body from the shoulders and feet, swiftly eliminating the virus.

“You’ll be fully recovered by morning,” the nurse explained. “Good night, sir. Sweet dreams.”

“Sigh!” Wu Hua let out a long breath. This trip into the city had cost him over five hundred credits—truly, fortune and misfortune are intertwined, excess begets its opposite. Things had gone too smoothly lately; now he was finally struck by bad luck. The grand plan to find a lovely lady at the Dreamstar Grand Hotel was ruined by nothing more than a simple fever.