Fresh out of medical school, Su Bai has just 27 yuan and 30 cents left in his bank account.
His younger sister's treatment deposit is still 50,000 yuan short, and the rent is almost due.
With nowhere else to turn, he puts on a secondhand headset shedding bits of foam and enters the globally released online game Firmament, choosing the least popular class on the server: Apothecary.
To everyone else, a bloodwort restores 30 health.
But in Su Bai's eyes, it has an extra line:
[Reversed Effect: When applied to a weapon, it can cause neural delay.]
From that day on, things started getting strange.
While the warrior fights monsters up front, he crouches nearby, calculating the BOSS's turning radius.
While the assassin studies critical hits, he figures out how to make a monster stay poisoned for half a second longer.
Others beat BOSSes with gear, levels, and skills.
Su Bai does it with a nearly broken dagger, a few failed potions, and two hours of positioning.
When the first Bronze Field BOSS on the server goes down, everyone waits for the expert to say something.
Su Bai glances at the time.
“Crap, the hospital payment window closes in forty minutes.”
Later, a clinic called Everlasting Spring opens in White Deer City, where major guilds line up to buy medicine.
And in the night, a name appears that gives players on the bounty board headaches: Seven-Step Ghost.
Some say he's the best support on the server.
Others say he's the dirtiest assassin.
Su Bai just wants to say:
“I'm really an apothecary.”
“As for why you died…”
“Maybe the medicine has a few side effects.”
AI smell is too strong