Luman was speechless. He looked at the water for a long while before turning back to me. "H-how?" he stammered.
"It's just simple science," followed by a smug and satisfied smile, "There is no magic where I come from, so this is how we make it."
"See, I did choose a fine mate." Thalen let out an approving laugh, breaking the tension in the room., "So what if she is weak with only meat and no muscles. She seems to have blessed us in other ways."
"Well, that's the easy bit done... I need to properly disinfect and stitch up this wound before it gets any more infected." I refill the bowl with the new batch of sterile water. "Do you guys have a spare cloth?"
Luman, who had now started to believe my words, quickly procured a cloth for me. I ordered Thalen to light a fire underneath it again. I placed the scalpel and forceps in boiling water to ensure they were sterile. A quick scrub with the alcohol wipes, and I was ready. Slight shaking, I roll up the cloth and place it in my mouth, getting ready for the pain that was going to follow.
It's now or never.
I mustered up my strength. With no knowledgeable doctors and unable to use painkillers, even though I had some, I put on my gloves and then started to clean my wound.
Humans are made to withstand pain, right? A lot of mothers go without painkillers to give birth, right? It's the same... right? You can do it!
Immediately, the boys surrounded me, their faces crowding my space, blocking the light. I gave them a frustrated wave and shooed them away. Quickly understanding the problem, they shuffled away, allowing my wounded area to be illuminated again.
Using the now sterile and dry scapel, I began to cut away at the dead tissue. The pain was intense, and my body shuddered as the blade slid through my skin. I bit down hard on the cloth, and muffled sounds still escaped from it, filling the room.
As I took short, panicked breaths between the cuts, the cloth started to slip from my mouth. Without a word, Thalen grabbed onto it and held it in position.
I looked at him, my eyes conveying my thanks, and Thalen nodded. I return to the cutting. Soon enough, after multiple painful and excruciating cuts, all the necrotic flesh was removed. Sweat was dripping down my forehead as my hand trembled violently. The pain pulsated through my body with each heartbeat.
Once I have finished removing all the dead tissue, I grab my antiseptic and spray it onto the open wound. The intense stinging was worse than the cut. I bit down aggressively on the cloth. My screams could not be held.
Watching me sweat through the obvious agony, Thalen wiped the sweat from my forehead and the tears from my eyes.
Whatever she is doing looks like torture... I don't think anyone would intentionally do this to themselves. Maybe she really does know how to cure this infection that has such a high fatality rate. She managed to produce pure water in under an hour. I shall trust her with this.
"I can help you if you want," Thalen's voice was full of concern. He reached out for my scapel, but I nudged him away. In fear that the site would be contaminated, and with him not knowing what to do, I shook my head, mumbling 'no' through the cloth.
Now that both sides are cleaned and free of all impurities, I grab my suturing kit. Taking the needle and forceps, I begin stitching the cuts together. As soon as the needle pierces through my skin, I wince.
The pain was unimaginable, different from when the scapel cut me. Once the needle had gone through both ends, I tied a knot and then repeated the process. By the time I finished one side, I was visibly sweating and shaking uncontrollably. I was unsure if I would be able to continue with the other.
I can't stop now. If I don't do it now, I won't be able to do it again.
"I-I have to..." I mumble through the cloth in my delirious state. I rip open an alcohol wipe with my trembling fingers, then wipe down the surface of the finished stitch. Throwing the needle aside. I open another packet of the needle and attempt the second one.
Before I could even attempt it, fear of the pain stopped me in my tracks.
I see well up with uncontrollable tears, "I can't... I can't do this." I say, dropping the cloth from my mouth.
How can I do this? I haven't even thought about the antibiotics. Why am I even trying? Can I even survive without medication?
The thought crushed me. My mouth fell dry from defeat. There was still more fighting spirit left in me. But weak and powerless, I start to fade in and out of consciousness.
Still gripping onto he needle and forceps. The next thing I knew, I saw Luman grab onto them with gloved hands, a serious look on his face. His hair now tied back, determined.
"Don't worry, Ivy. I am not going to let you die." His voice filled with certainty. With confidence, he repositioned the cloth in my mouth and began repeating the treatment on the second wound.
I hadn't realised it when I was stitching myself that Luman was eager to learn. He was a doctor at heart. While he was open-minded, it was still the first time he had seen someone willingly cut off flesh like that from the wound.
Thalen held me securely from behind. I gripped his hand with every bit of strength I had left. Pain struck one last time. Like deja vu, the world dissolved, and I was welcomed by the same darkness I had become familiar with.
---
"Dammit, you furball, why am I here again! I was in the middle of a procedure! I can't just pass out with an open wound. Take me back!" I wave my fists like a crazed person.
The furball suddenly popped into existence in front of me, but maintained a controlled distance. This time, he was more cautious and wary of me.
[C-calm down! I have never seen such an aggressive soul like you here. Usually, people who gain a lot of good karma are very calm!]
The furball huffed with scrunched brows.
[Anyway, you are fine. From your vitals, it says you are very stable, just passed out from the pain. Also, look, they seem to have taken over the procedure for you!]
As if I were watching a reality show with me as a character, the furball produced a screen in front of me.
My body was sleeping soundly. Thalen was napping beside me again. Luman, on the other hand, was scribbling things down. He scanned my items and looked at my stitches. Finishing his observation, he bandaged them.
"Oh, thank god, at least he has the brains to know to cover my wounds." I sigh with relief.
But my relief lasted only a few seconds. I realised something. I did not have any rabies vaccination or antibiotics.
I started wildly reaching around and stretching to grab the furball again, which jumped backwards with pure instinct, even though I couldn't reach him.
"Dammit, why can't I move. It's like I am in zero gravity!" I yelled, making frantic, silly swimming motions, hoping to move closer, but I gave up as I got exhausted.
[You can keep trying, but you won't be able to catch me!]
The furball giggled to itself, rocking side to side.
"Whatever!" I snapped back, crossing my arms. "Listen, since you want me to save this world, give me some antibiotics and rabies vaccine. If I don't get that, I will die. My pain would have all been for nothing!" I held out my hand, waiting.
[Oh, I cannot do that. I am not a genie or anything like that. I am just a system here to help you. Like a tour guide! Yeaaah! A tour guide of the beast world.]
Its eyes glistened proudly of its now self-assured position.
I smack my own head in utter disbelief, "How did you give me those tools then?" I point towards the tools Luman was examining.
[You earned those. The quest gives you those. I am just the system that gives you quests and helps you navigate through it.]
"Then can you give me a quest to get them?"
[Well, I cannot choose what the quest gives you. I can only provide you with quests depending on the situation, but the rewards are random. Isn't that exciting though?]
The firball shivers at the thought.
[You never know what you are going to get. It's like a mystery box! You humans have them in your world, right? Gacha machines? Blindboxes? They are soooo fun!]
Looking at the furball blabber on about blindboxes, I give up all hope of logic and sulk, curling up in a ball. Seeing this, the furball looks at me with a worried face, jumping left and right to know if I am ok.
[Umm.... oh! I know what you can do!]
I looked at it, sniffling once, "What?"
[You can buy it from the shop!]
Disappointed since it shattered the little sliver of hope it offered me, I burst out crying, "It's locked, how can I buy it from there? I don't even know my card details either, it's in my purse in my locker at the hospital!" I wailed.
[Nononono! You don't pay with human money. You gain points by completing quests and saving people. Each quest gives you anywhere from 100 to 100000 points, depending on the difficulty. Saving and creating a life gives you 100 points, too! That's great, right? Right?]
It looked at me, waiting for me to tell it something, like a dog waiting for its owner to praise it.
"Yes, good job on telling me this information, furball," I said, reaching out to pat its head. The instant I did, it closed its eyes and nuzzled onto my hand. I could not help but chuckle. It was similar to the cat that usually wandered around the shelter where I volunteered. The same shiny black fur and big, round, glistening eyes.
"So how much do they cost? Let me check... System?" I try to open my system, but it does not work.
[Oh, you can't open it in here. This is just my space, not the beastworld. It doesn't exist here. You will have to see when you wake up.]
"Ok then." I sigh.
Just as the conversation was done, I felt myself wake up, "Fingers crossed then!"