Nightmare Paradise : Starting as a Doctor

The barkeeper beckoned for Lynn to follow him through the door into a cramped backroom containing only a small table with two chairs. He took a seat and motioned for Lynn to do the same.

“Since we are going to do business together, let me introduce myself. Reginald, owner of the Whispering Serpent tavern. People call me Boss Reggie, and I am also a broker of information.” The bartender extended his hand for a handshake, his exposed arm was thick, muscular, and adorned with tattoos, quite domineering.

According to the old guide Jack, Boss Reggie was a gangster in his youth, even a gang leader, known for his viciousness. Legends about him still circulate among the streets of the outer district.

Lynn gracefully removed the hood that had concealed his features, unveiling the meticulously crafted fake face beneath. With a confident gesture, he extended his hand towards the barkeeper to meet his hand, initiating the handshake.

"My name is Lynn, Doctor Lynn," he introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you.” Boss Reggie responded with a smile, and then whispered, "I have a business for you, but it will not be easy. Last night, there was a fight between two gangs, the Saber Tooth Gang and the Devil’s Den Gang in the west area of the district. The leader of the Devil’s Den Gang is on the verge of death. He is seriously injured and is now in hiding. The injury is severe, a gunshot wound. They are desperately searching for a doctor, but no one wants to face the consequences if the intervention fails. He asked me to find a doctor for him. The medical fee is twenty thousand, which is not low. Do you want to do it?"

Lynn was surprised, he didn’t expect to immediately have the opportunity to practice his medical skills. In addition to that, he could meet and observe the gangs that ruled the outer district. And when Lynn heard about the medical fee of twenty thousand federation dollars, he immediately became energized.

Compared to his previous monthly salary of less than a thousand federation dollars on the outskirts of the city, this was a huge sum of money. He could technically earn way more now if he used nightmare coins to buy valuable things to resell in this district like gold. But if he had the choice, he would never do that. Because it meant that he was lowering his chance of surviving the next dungeons.

“I will do it,” Lynn responded without hesitation.

"Then, hurry up and get ready now. I'll find someone to take you there," the barkeeper said. "The guy got shot. It's quite serious. It's better to do it as soon as possible."

Lynn nodded, and quickly left the tavern. He went back to the abandoned home he had entered when he first came to this district. After closing the door, from his inventory, he grabbed out a backpack that was collecting dust in there. It contained all the medical and surgical instruments he had collected from the zombie-filled hospital dungeon.

“It’s been only a few days, but it feels like years have passed,” Lynn muttered, shaking his head at how much had changed already.

He swiftly organized the surgical tools, bandages, anesthetics, and other supplies from the hospital. "It seems that all the elements are available, I don't need to buy anything else."

Within fifteen minutes, he was ready to depart. Lynn put his backpack on his back. As Lynn returned to the tavern, he mentally reviewed the steps of removing a bullet and repairing internal trauma. Though he lacked real-world experience, the extensive medical knowledge imprinted in his mind from devouring textbooks granted him everything he needed.

Soon enough, Lynn arrived at the tavern. Boss Reggie stood behind the counter and was talking to a middle-aged muscular man. "Here's your escort, Anton, ancient gangster, he now works under my orders."

Lynn simply nodded, picking up his medical bag and following the man outside. He led him through the winding alleys of the outer district, keeping up a brisk pace.

Anton remained silent throughout the journey and soon arrived in an extremely dilapidated residential neighborhood. Weeds were growing on both sides of the road, and the yards were also overgrown with vegetation as if no one had been there in a long time.

There was a cross-shaped road sign displayed on the roadside, with a skull and a sheep's head attached to the top of the sign. The road sign indicates the path ahead, with "To Hell" written on it in an unknown type of blood. There were numerous signs written on the road signs, some of them being warnings, and some even serving as gang recruitment billboards.

Occasionally, people poked their heads out of the dilapidated houses on both sides and glanced around furtively.

"Follow me, don't look around, and walk normally," those were the first words spoken by Anton.

Lynn nodded calmly as he had already noticed that from the moment they entered this area, they seemed to have been watched and monitored. It seems that Anton had also noticed it.

As the two entered a corner of an alley, Anton suddenly accelerated, thereby entering and hiding in a house.

"Someone is following us, it should be someone from the Saber Tooth Gang," Anton calmly explained to Lynn.

"The people from the Saber Tooth Gang are not fools. They know that the Leader of Devil’s Den Gang has been shot and that he needs to find a doctor. This area should have been blocked by the Saber Tooth Gang, and some people monitor the streets."

"If you know someone will be watching us, why did we come here so blatantly during the day?" Lynn asked, curious about Anton’s reasoning.

"It's more dangerous at night. At that time, some areas of the outer district became hell. Beggars, drug addicts, and gangsters roam like evil spirits. The likelihood of a homicide at night is tens of times higher than during the day," Anton said seriously.

"And during that period, there are sinister things in the outer district that are very dangerous," Anton added ominously.

"Sinister things?" Lynn was stunned. The way Anton, said it, these sinister things definitely didn't refer to people. Could it be some kind of monster?