Infinite: Dawn Game

"Meow."

The well-fed orange cat was lying on the balcony, lazily licking its paws, until a hand suddenly grabbed its neck from behind. The lazy orange cat let out a sharp meow and struggled violently.

"Tsk, you've gotten fatter again."

The boy, with his youthful and thin appearance, clicked his tongue as he pinched the rather heavy orange cat, then smiled and pinched the cat's belly.

"Where do you get all that meat from every day? How did you get so fat?"

When we first met, it was just a skinny little kitten that could only meow softly.

The big orange cat saw who was pinching it, meowed in dissatisfaction, and then gently scratched the boy a few times.

It's not heavy; it's a playful, teasing tickle.

The boy didn't mind. He picked up the big orange cat and climbed onto the balcony together to watch the setting sun.

"It looks beautiful."

The boy bent down and scratched the orange cat's chin, a bright smile on his face.

"From now on, when the nurses and doctors come to check on you, be smart and run away. Come back after they leave, understand?"

The orange cat stirred, lazily glanced at the boy in front of it, stretched out its paw to hook the boy's chin, and meowed.

"Feifei is so smart!"

The boy was even happier, burying his head in the orange cat's belly and rubbing against it repeatedly until the cat seemed to have lost all will to live before he stopped and burst out laughing.

The boy's laughter was sweet. He looked at the orange cat in front of him, who was sprawled out like a pancake, letting him do whatever he wanted. He couldn't help but pinch the cat's belly again.

"Speaking of which, where do you eat every day? There aren't many restaurants around the hospital—"

"Meow!"

The big orange cat suddenly rolled over and jumped up, startling the boy. He then saw the big orange cat meowing incessantly downstairs.

The boy was on the second floor, not far from the ground. He looked down curiously and saw a young man wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers looking up.

When their eyes met, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Strangely, the young man's features were shrouded in a hazy mist. He saw the orange cat and the boy on the second floor and seemed to chuckle.

"Come on, Bao!" the young man shouted.

The next second, to the boy's astonishment, the big orange cat leaped off the balcony and landed in the young man's arms.

Yu Shijiu suddenly woke up from his sleep, and the throbbing pain in his temples made him bite his lip in frustration.

He was dreaming.

He hasn't dreamed in a very, very long time.

Yu Shijiu's intuition told him that the young man and the cat in his dream must exist in reality.

But why do I have absolutely no memory of that young man whose face I can't see?

Is there something wrong with my memory?

This was the first time Yu Shijiu had doubts about his own memories.

Is it a side effect of the medication? Or is it due to some other reason?

Wait, what time is it now?

Yu Shijiu opened the cover, and as the noisy voices entered her ears, a huge clock hanging on the wall not far away came into view.

9:45.

There are 15 minutes left before He Lingling enters the instance.

Yu Shijiu's consciousness gradually cleared, his back was soaked with cold sweat, and his clothes were sticky and uncomfortable against his skin.

There was nowhere to take a bath at the "pupa shop".

After recovering for a while, Yu Shijiu emerged from the "pupa" and found a place to brush her teeth.

The toothpaste and toothbrush were necessities purchased with ten points. After washing up, although my body still felt sticky and uncomfortable, I was much cleaner.

Yu Shijiu stopped thinking about the dream she had just had. After shaking her head, she took out the team card when the clock showed 9:59.

At the same time, "Xiao Li," who had only appeared once before, spoke again:

Would player Yu Shijiu be willing to team up with player He Lingling?

Unlike the trial game, this time a nearly transparent light screen appeared in front of Yu Shijiu, with two options on it. Yu Shijiu chose to press "Yes".

Xiao Li's excited voice rang out: [Player selection received. You have teamed up with player He Lingling. The game instance is currently being searched... We expect to find the instance within five minutes. Please wait patiently.]

While waiting, Yu Shijiu leaned against his "pupa" and tore open the bread packaging, taking bites one by one.

The bread tasted terrible, not as good as the fast food Fang Zhi treated him to yesterday, and even less so than the cake Lu Chusheng gave him.

It's a type of bread that tastes like wood chips when chewed.

Yu Shijiu felt that both the person making the bread and the factory could retire (go bankrupt).

It tastes even worse than the food served to patients in mental hospitals, and you even have to use points earned by risking your life to redeem it.

At the age of eighteen, Yu Shijiu experienced the brutality of capitalists for the first time.

Too bad to eat.

Yu Shijiu silently finished chewing a bag of bread, his face contorted in pain.

But after getting used to it, it does start to smell a bit like bread...

【Ding】

"Xiao Li's" voice appeared again: [A suitable game instance has been found... The game is loading... Congratulations...]

Welcome to "Aide Sanatorium"! Little Li wishes you success in completing the game!

As the voice of "Xiao Li" rang out, the scene around Yu Shijiu began to gradually distort and become chaotic. When the vortex-shaped shadows twisted together, a violent sense of dizziness followed.

Yu Shijiu had no choice but to close her eyes to fight off the dizziness.

After the nauseating dizziness subsided, Yu Shijiu slowly opened her eyes.

The blinding sunlight nearly blinded the boy, and as tears streamed down his face, a voice sounded beside him:

"Oh, you're here?"

A woman's voice rang in Yu Shijiu's ears. When he squinted at her, he saw her wearing a white nurse's uniform and running up to him in her high heels, supporting him.

"Patient, you're being so disobedient. Didn't I tell you it was best not to come out? You've only just recovered..."

The nurse kept nagging, her hand on Yu Shijiu's arm seemingly gentle but actually quite firm.

Yu Shijiu lowered her eyes, watching the long, bright red manicured nails of the other person dig into her flesh, causing a sharp, brief pain.

A sanatorium, nurses—especially a nurse wearing high heels and sporting long manicures. Everything seemed highly unusual.

Yu Shijiu has a high pain tolerance, but that doesn't mean he would let a character in a game abuse him at will.

"You hurt me."

The nurse loosened her grip and turned to look at the boy, who was half a head shorter than her, ignoring his words.

"Does it hurt?" The nurse's tone seemed a little impatient.

"You still feel pain? If you feel pain, then don't run around like that next time. Do you know how tired I am from looking for you?"

This is clearly not something a nursing home nurse should say.

"Tired?" Yu Shijiu's lips curved upwards almost imperceptibly. He turned his head to look at the female nurse next to him and moved closer to her.

Why do you feel tired?