pappabearbooks Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Chapter 87: Misfortune Transfer
"Confidence…Strong Luck?"
Jiang Nan looked at the newly acquired Word Spirit description, the corners of his mouth curling upward slightly.
‘Heh, quite fitting for me.’
Luck, sometimes more important than strength.
Just then, Wang Meng's voice came through from the main control console.
"Boss! Visibility ahead is extremely low!"
"The hospital's outer perimeter is blanketed by a massive fog! Radar is detecting an unidentified magnetic field interference! Recommend stopping here!"
Jiang Nan responded through the microphone on the main control panel, his tone unhurried.
【Understood.】
【Hold position here.】
He then rose and got dressed.
Inside the covers, Chen Tong groggily rubbed her eyes.
"Jiang Nan…are you going to the hospital to look for the Terminal Signal Tower?"
On the other bed, Yekaterina snapped awake as well, casually pulling on a fitted tank top.
"Jiang, I'm coming too! Let me come with you! A place like that is definitely dangerous!"
However.
Jiang Nan said nothing. He simply turned, gave a light flick of his fingertip.
Swish!
A notepad slip floated gently down in front of the two women.
Chen Tong caught it, glanced at it, and her eyes instantly went wide.
【This time, I go alone.】
【Stay in the vehicle and watch the place.】
【Also, pass the word to the others for me—no need to follow.】
"Ah?"
Faced with this decision, Chen Tong couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"Is it because there's some special danger inside the hospital? Even you have to act alone?"
Jiang Nan shook his head.
He glanced at the markers on the system map.
Although the danger rating for Seattle Mercy Hospital showed purple, in his eyes, it didn't count as a high-difficulty sub-instance.
As for Rose High School before—that had been a complete accident.
Its actual difficulty had only ever been blue.
It was only because the Arashin-kai, a force that had no business being there, had forcibly intervened that the difficulty had gone completely off the rails.
Otherwise, it wouldn't even qualify to carry the Scarecrow's shoes by the roadside.
"That's a relief then…"
Seeing how composed Jiang Nan was, Chen Tong let out a breath and set her mind at ease.
She then relayed Jiang Nan's orders to each carriage through the main control panel in the room.
……
Guo Shuai was lying on the lower bunk, with Quanquan hugging his thigh and sleeping soundly, drool soaking through his trouser leg.
Ever since taking on this accidental son, Guo Shuai had truly become a full-time single dad.
He even had to coax the thing to sleep—his energy and spirit were nearly completely drained.
"Old Guo! Wake up!"
Wang Meng's booming voice came from the upper bunk.
"Boss is moving out alone! Says not to follow him!"
"What?!"
Guo Shuai heard this and jolted upright in an instant.
He was already in rough shape, feeling aches all over.
But he forced his eyes wide open anyway, even slapping himself across the face.
"Can't let myself rest!"
"Only by following Boss can I improve! Only then can I survive in this godforsaken place!"
"I…"
Wang Meng poked his head out, stunned. "Old Guo! I'm more and more impressed by you! You're such a grind!"
"Brother Wang, you flatter me…"
Guo Shuai put on his shoes, a wry smile on his face.
"Truth is, I know my luck has always been terrible, and my natural talent isn't as good as yours…"
"So I can only make up for it with effort!"
"And besides…"
Guo Shuai clenched his fist. He had already used Grade D, Grade C, and Grade B Enhancement Serums!
"My overall physical constitution has already reached Grade B! Haven't even tested it out yet!"
Having said that, he shook the little clinging weight on his leg awake.
"Quanquan! Wake up! Time to move!"
Quanquan rubbed what were nonexistent eyes and asked groggily.
"Going out with Daddy?"
"Yaaay!!"
It instantly perked up, raising all four limbs in enthusiastic agreement.
Deep in his mind, Albert watched this scene and stroked his beard with a measure of contentment.
For he seemed to see a new star of the Savage Realm's future.
Slowly rising within the bond between this strange pair of father and son.
Shortly after, Guo Shuai sorted out his equipment and prepared to disembark.
"Hey! Wait!"
Wang Meng suddenly called out to him and tossed over a few items.
"You forgot your gear!"
Smack!
Guo Shuai caught them.
First was the Grade C Cursed Object 【Fog-Dispersing Lantern】.
a reward he had once received.
A windproof lighter.
And a fully-loaded QBZ-191 Assault Rifle that had just been distributed.
"Thanks, Brother Wang!"
Guo Shuai grinned.
Wang Meng gave him a thumbs-up. "Go get 'em!"
……
1st Floor Living Carriage.
Yu Shishi and Hoshino Hikari watched the silhouette of Jiang Nan stepping off the vehicle alone, moved to tears.
"Waaah…is there really a boss like this in this world?"
"Not using his own people as cannon fodder, going ahead into danger himself…this feels so incredibly safe!"
Hoshino Hikari especially—snot bubbles and all.
She had genuinely been sold as cannon fodder by the Sakura Nation military before.
At this moment, her loyalty to Jiang Nan shot straight through the roof, reaching 100%!
Meanwhile, Liu Yuqing beside them pushed up her glasses and rapidly analyzed.
"There must be a reason Boss is doing this."
"He's probably testing some new ability or new item and doesn't want us around."
Just as she had deduced.
Jiang Nan did indeed have something to experiment with.
That was 【Word Spirit·Strong Luck】.
He had noticed that annotation.
'Bad luck doesn't disappear—it only transfers to others.'
Now that was interesting.
If he didn't bring anyone, who would the misfortune transfer to?
If he brought people, would it get his teammates killed?
So, in order to test this hypothesis, he decided to walk a stretch alone first.
Leaving the vehicle parked here was also perfectly safe.
After all, with the 【Aura of Fear】 active, ordinary Cursed Creatures wouldn't dare approach.
……
Outside the hospital gates.
Jiang Nan had just stepped off the vehicle and, in one fluid motion, raised a single hand toward the sky and spoke.
"Fortune born from the heart, believe and the heavens will follow! Strong Luck!"
In an instant, an intangible aura radiated outward with him at its center.
Only…
He felt absolutely nothing.
But Jiang Nan didn't mind in the slightest.
Because even if this Word Spirit proved useless, he had nothing to fear.
Yet before he had taken more than a few steps, the fog had already obscured his vision.
Right at that moment.
Hmmm!
A beam of green ghostly light illuminated the field of view.
Jiang Nan turned to look.
There was Guo Shuai, holding up that green Fog-Dispersing Lantern, with Quanquan in tow by the hand, running toward him.
"Boss!! Wait for me!!"
"I'm here to take the vanguard for you!!"
"And me! Bo…Boss!!"
Quanquan mimicked Guo Shuai's tone and raised its hand to shout.
Jiang Nan looked at the comical duo—the big one and the small one—and couldn't help but break into a smile.
Seeing subordinates this motivated, who wouldn't feel pleased?
So he shook his head and decided to bring them along…
But only for a short while.
After all, the next twelve hours by his side might not be all that safe.
Jiang Nan didn't write a notepad slip—he simply nodded.
……
Guo Shuai walked ahead holding the lantern, dispersing the fog.
The trio successfully passed through the garden and arrived at the main entrance of Seattle Mercy Hospital.
Creak~
Guo Shuai shoved the door open with force and strode in first.
Bang!!
The moment the two of them had barely stepped into the lobby, the door behind them slammed violently shut!
A thunderous crash rang out!
"What the hell?!"
Guo Shuai was startled, spinning around to push the door.
Only to find it wouldn't budge at all—as though it had been welded shut.
"Damn it! What kind of useless door is this! It's definitely a ghost messing around!"
Guo Shuai slammed the door panel several times. Nothing.
"Da…Daddy……"
Quanquan's two little legs began to tremble, clinging to Guo Shuai's thigh and shaking uncontrollably.
"What is this place? It's so eerie…I'm so scared."
"Quanquan, don't be scared!"
Guo Shuai patted its head, forcing himself to stay calm.
"With Da…pfft! With Dad here! Everything's fine!"
He realized this little thing had actually infected him with its babytalk—he'd have to correct that later!
He then puffed out his chest and called out.
"Boss! This time I'll take the vanguard! You just rest in the back! I've got experience!"
However.
There was no response whatsoever from behind.
Not even the familiar notepad slip.
"Hm?"
Guo Shuai's heart lurched. He looked back.
In the hollow, empty lobby, only his and Quanquan's shadows were stretched long by the green lantern light.
Jiang Nan…was gone!
"Huh?!"
Guo Shuai stood there dumbstruck, cold sweat pouring down instantly.
"It's over…I've lost Boss!!"
"What do I do?! How do I survive without Boss!!"
At that moment, Quanquan on his leg suddenly spoke, its voice trembling.
"Da…Daddy…"
"I feel…something is staring at us…"
"So many…so many eyes…I'm so scared!!"
It shot up like a streak and scrambled along his trouser leg all the way to the top of Guo Shuai's head.
"Danger?"
Guo Shuai's chest tightened. He immediately raised the Fog-Dispersing Lantern, sweeping light across the surrounding fifty-meter radius.
The beam scanned over everything.
The lobby was completely empty—nothing but some scattered tables and chairs on the floor. Nothing else at all.
"There's nothing here…"
But right at that moment.
Zzzt zzzt zzzt!!
The [Danger Perception] in his mind suddenly blared like an alarm!!
Albert screamed inside his head.
"Kid!! Look at the ceiling!!"
"Above you!!"
Guo Shuai's scalp instantly crawled. He snapped his head upward.
There, in the corner of the ceiling, a ghastly pale monster hung upside down!
It held a bloodstained Boning Knife in its hand, and the dozens upon dozens of eyeballs packed densely across its body were all fixed dead on him!
It was the Supervisor!
"What the hell?!"
Guo Shuai swore loudly.
"This monster has absolutely no honor! Does it even know the saying 'a CT never looks up'?!"
"Hiding on the ceiling for a sneak attack!!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Guo Shuai raised the QBZ-191 Assault Rifle in his hands, flicked off the safety, and unloaded a full magazine!
Tat tat tat tat tat!!
Bullets rained down on the Supervisor, sending bursts of black blood blooming across its body.
"ROARRR!!"
The Supervisor let out an agonized roar—it seemed completely blindsided by the sudden burst of firepower.
It didn't even fight back. Instead it turned and crawled away through the ventilation duct.
"Hahaha!"
Guo Shuai laughed out loud at the sight, his confidence skyrocketing.
"That's all it's got?"
"It looked so vicious, I thought it was something incredible! Turns out it's just a bully that caves when pushed back!"
But.
Just as he was about to swap magazines.
Quanquan on top of his head weakly spoke up.
"Da…Daddy…"
"Do you think…there's any chance…"
"It didn't run away…it went to call for backup…"
"……"
The moment those words landed.
Guo Shuai's face instantly contorted into an expression like he'd eaten something truly foul.
Because.
Right there in his field of vision.
Across the ceiling, an innumerable number of crimson red dots suddenly blazed to life all at once!
Dense. Everywhere.
Every single one of them…
Was a Supervisor!
And every single one of them was at least a full size larger than the one from before!
They crawled like spiders across the entire ceiling of the lobby.
Guo Shuai: "……"
Clatter.
He simply dropped the QBZ-191 Assault Rifle in his hands onto the floor, raised both hands, and said with the most earnest expression he could muster.
"So uh…gentlemen…"
"That one made the first move just now…"
"No wait, it attacked your little brother, not me…"
"Anyway…I wouldn't dream of interrupting your family gathering!"
"I'll see myself out!!"
With that.
He turned and ran!
Sprinting like mad toward the depths of the corridor where [Danger Perception] hadn't yet turned completely red!
"Waaaaah!!"
Quanquan clung to his head, wailing.
"Daddy! You're so unlucky!!"
"Can you please stop dragging Quanquan out next time!! I want to go home!!"
"Quanquan! You can't blame Daddy for this!!"
Guo Shuai ran with everything he had, on the verge of tears.
He never in a million years expected he'd try his luck and immediately be on death's doorstep.
And now he was using his Grade B physical constitution entirely for running away!
"My luck's always been bad, but never this bad!!"
"This is like choking on cold water! And I've gone and lost Boss too!"
ROARRRR!!
Behind him, hordes upon hordes of Supervisors let out furious howls and gave chase!
They were absolutely determined to destroy this suicidal intruder!
……
At the same time, on the other side of the 1st-floor corridor.
Creak.
An unassuming side door was gently pushed open.
Jiang Nan stepped out from within, holding a hospital floor directory map he had just torn down.
He furrowed his brow slightly, glancing toward the direction of the lobby.
'What's all that commotion?'
'Why does it sound like there's a party going on over there?'
From the moment he had first stepped inside.
He had inexplicably walked into a safe passage completely devoid of any monsters—and in doing so, had been separated from Guo Shuai.
‘Looks like…Misfortune Transfer is real.’
Jiang Nan rubbed his chin.
'Guo Shuai's probably drawing aggro for me right now.'
'Perfect timing, actually—a subordinate should get some solo training in every now and then.'
'He's got that Circle-Face Entity tagging along, plus that roadside protector charm…he probably won't die.'
'Probably.'
After that.
Jiang Nan glanced at the map in his hand, twisted open the door handle leading to the elevator bay ahead of him, and walked in without a care.
But…
What greeted him wasn't the elevator bay at all—it was…
The Card Room…
And a nurse waiting to take his organs as collateral.