“Doctor Su! Doctor Su!”
“Someone, come quickly!”
The sounds of hurried shouting and running grew closer. Several colleagues who had just finished surgery found Su Wenjun’s mother collapsed outside the restroom and immediately surrounded her.
“Wenjun! Wake up!”
***
A minute later.
Under her colleagues’ frantic care and shouting, Su Wenjun slowly opened her eyes.
Before her were several familiar, anxious faces, and above her were the ceiling lights of the duty room.
“Wenjun? How are you feeling? Can you speak?” Her team leader, Chief Surgeon Director Liu, a forty-something female, was checking her pupils with a small penlight.
Su Wenjun closed her eyes. Her body no longer felt strange.
“I probably haven’t been resting well lately. My blood sugar might be a bit low, and I just stood up too fast.”
“Haven’t rested well? When do you ever rest?”
Director Liu shook her head in disapproval and signaled a nurse to draw blood for an urgent test. “We need an ECG and a head CT to rule out other issues. Your face looks much worse than it did before you went into the lounge this afternoon. You’re a doctor yourself; don’t you know that your health is the foundation of everything?”
Soon, the preliminary test results came back.
Her blood sugar was slightly low but not severe. The ECG was generally normal, the head CT showed no obvious abnormalities, and her blood count was basically within the normal range.
“Looking at the results, the main issue is likely excessive fatigue combined with an irregular diet and sleep schedule recently, leading to sudden syncope.”
Director Liu looked at the report, her tone softening slightly, though her eyes remained worried. “Wenjun, you’re under too much pressure. Your daughter… and then there’s work. I know you’re worried about everything, but if you keep pushing yourself like this, what happens if you faint on the operating table next time?”
Su Wenjun listened in silence.
She knew her colleague was right.
“Director Liu, I…” She hesitated for a moment before speaking. “I’d like to request a few days of leave.”
Director Liu was somewhat surprised. Su Wenjun was a well-known workaholic in the department; it was rare for her to ask for leave voluntarily.
“Good. Go home and lie down for a few days. Spend time with your daughter and relax. Don’t worry about work or the department.”
“Mhm, thank you.” Su Wenjun nodded. She truly needed time. Not just to rest, but to figure out what was happening to her body and to spend quality time with Xiao Xiao.
At her colleagues’ insistence, Su Wenjun stayed at the hospital for another 2 hours for observation. Once it was confirmed there were no issues, she was cleared to go home.
Before she left, Director Liu repeatedly urged her, “Rest well, eat on time, and come back to the hospital immediately if you feel any discomfort. Don’t try to tough it out.”
Su Wenjun agreed to everything. Carrying her bag, she slowly walked out of the hospital building.
She took out her phone and first sent a formal leave application to the department head. Then, she opened her chat window with Shen Xixi.
She had asked Shen Xixi about the game earlier that afternoon.
After thinking it over, she sent another message: “Xixi, thank you for your advice. I haven’t been feeling very well these past two days, so I’ve taken leave to rest at home. I also want to study this game properly. If it’s convenient, could you tell me if playing this game for a long time affects one’s health?”
Sent.
Next, she tapped on Su Xiao’s WeChat.
“Xiao Xiao, Mom is off work. I just took a few days of leave. Have you eaten dinner? I’m coming home now. Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll bring it for you.”
After a long while, Su Xiao replied.
“Mhm.”
***
Luo Tiantian was happily wandering through the Palace Garden.
The afterglow of the setting sun gilded the exquisite pavilions and exotic flowers, and a faint floral fragrance drifted through the air.
‘It would be nice if it could always be like this…’ she couldn’t help but mutter to herself. She reached out to touch a peony in full bloom.
Just as her finger was about to touch the petal, a wave of weakness washed over her.
It wasn’t mental exhaustion, but a sense of powerlessness emanating from deep within her body, accompanied by slight palpitations and dizziness.
The flower bushes in front of her seemed to flicker.
‘Huh?’ Luo Tiantian quickly grabbed the nearby railing to steady herself.
‘What’s going on? I was fine just a moment ago.’
‘Is it a problem with this game body? Or is my real-world health status mapping into the game?’
She thought about her own precarious health.
‘I need to log out and rest…’ She didn’t dare stay any longer. Bracing herself against the discomfort, she prepared to pull up the system panel to log out.
Suddenly, a voice heavy with the scent of alcohol sounded behind her.
“My beloved concubine… where are you going?”
Luo Tiantian turned around.
King You had appeared behind her at some unknown point.
She was still wearing her red robes, but the collar was a bit loose, revealing her delicate collarbones. Her jet-black hair was draped over her shoulders. Most striking were her cheeks, which were flushed with an unnatural crimson. Her eyes were hazy with a burning heat, and she reeked of alcohol. She had clearly drunk too much.
She just stood there looking at her, a faint, lingering smile on her lips.
Luo Tiantian’s heart skipped a beat.
‘What is she doing?’
She took a small step back, squeezing out an obedient smile.
“Your… Your Majesty? Why are you here? I… I was just about to go back…”
‘This woman looks wasted. I hope she doesn’t start any more trouble. I’m too dizzy to deal with this right now.’
Shen Xixi simply took another step forward. The strong scent of alcohol mixed with her natural light fragrance hit Luo Tiantian’s senses.
Her eyes were blurry as she looked at Luo Tiantian, yet it also seemed as if she were looking through her at something else.
“Go back?” She gave a light chuckle, her voice raspier than usual and filled with a strange irritability. “Go back where? In this palace… hmph, it’s all the same.”
She reached out, seemingly wanting to touch Luo Tiantian’s face, but her fingers only brushed past a stray lock of hair near her ear.
“Your Majesty… you’ve had too much to drink. Shall I call someone to take you back to your chambers to rest?” Luo Tiantian asked tentatively, while quietly shifting her feet to try and distance herself from the drunken heat source.
She wasn’t feeling well herself and didn’t have the energy to wait on a drunkard.
Shen Xixi looked as if she had heard a joke, the corners of her mouth twitching. “Go back to an empty home? Or listen to those old fogies nag endlessly?”
She suddenly reached out and grabbed Luo Tiantian’s wrist with significant force.
“Walk with me.”
Luo Tiantian winced and struggled, but she couldn’t break free.
‘I want to log out!’
But when the “Gold Donor”—no, her Sovereign—gave an order, what could she do? She could only grit her teeth and be dragged along, stumbling behind Shen Xixi.
Shen Xixi didn’t seem to have a specific destination. She just pulled her along, wandering aimlessly through the garden with unsteady steps.
“Your Majesty, you’re drunk. Why don’t I help you back to rest? The wind is strong out here…”
Shen Xixi scoffed and suddenly opened her arms.
“The wind… is good! Let it blow… clear my head!”
She stumbled, nearly falling over.
Luo Tiantian lunged forward to support her. The contact felt scalding; she could feel the heat radiating from the other woman’s body even through her clothes.
‘So hot.’
“Your Majesty, be careful.”
Shen Xixi leaned into her, pressing most of her weight against her. Her head rested in the crook of Luo Tiantian’s neck, her burning cheek pressed against the girl’s cool skin. She rubbed against her comfortably and mumbled a slurred complaint. “So… so annoying…”
“Your Majesty… what’s annoying?” Luo Tiantian didn’t dare move, fearing she might trigger some unwanted desire in the other woman. She could only follow the lead.
“At home… the old man and woman…” Shen Xixi muttered drunkenly, her voice filled with a rare sense of frustration and grievance. “They want me to go back, to go abroad… or else… they’ll cut my allowance! Hmph! As if… I care? It’s just money…”
So she was drinking because her financial source was being cut off in the real world?
Luo Tiantian realized the situation, but her heart also sank.
‘If this player sponsoring me has problems in the real world, will it affect my game earnings?’
‘Oh, please no…’
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