I Quit Being This Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 48

The doctor gradually left, and only Jia Yun and Mang Ke remained in the corridor.

Mang Ke still felt awkward about what she had just said. She was so focused on thinking the doctor was out of line that she completely failed to notice the names he and Jia Yun used for each other.

She had helped her, yet she spoke ill of the person’s uncle. Logically, her goodwill score should have instantly dropped to a negative number, right?

Jia Yun’s dark eyes were fixed on Mang Ke. Finally, she sighed softly, walked to a chair, and sat down, crossing her legs.

“Come and sit down. How can I discuss things with you if you stand there?”

Mang Ke looked at the serious, businesslike manner of the other woman and her heart began to pound.

Was she going to scold her?

No way, no way! She looked so gentle, would she really reprimand her for being rash?

If so, would it be inappropriate to talk back? Should she just obediently accept the scolding?

At this thought, Mang Ke began to backpedal. Not only did she fail to sit down, she actually retreated a step.

“What I said just now was certainly a bit harsh. I’ll be careful next time, so please don’t lecture me anymore.”

Mang Ke stood far away from the woman, saying cautiously, “It’s fine if I just stand here and listen.”

In Jia Yun’s eyes, this posture conveyed only one word—cowardly.

However, a cowardly Mang Ke was also quite cute.

Jia Yun changed her position, leaning back on the chair, and said to Mang Ke, “I’m not going to scold you, why are you so afraid? I just want to discuss something with you.”

“Go ahead, I’m really fine standing here.” Mang Ke was still quite timid.

“Alright then.”

Jia Yun didn’t mind. She straightened up and said to her, “You know that our current environment is not the real world, but a book, right?”

Mang Ke: “…”

So, is this a secret known to everyone in the whole world?

Seeing Jia Yun genuinely intending to talk, Mang Ke collected her thoughts and said, “I know. Are you a transmigrator, too?”

“Instead of a transmigrator, think of me as a… participant.”

“…What does that mean?”

Jia Yun looked at her with a knowing smile: “The literal meaning. You’re smart enough to understand, aren’t you?”

Mang Ke looked at her suspiciously. What about her made Jia Yun think she was smart?

“Human thought is a complex and wondrous thing,” Jia Yun explained. “For patients who are brain-dead, this feeling is like their mind and body are separated, existing in another world.”

“Some people can feel external stimuli, while others are completely unaware. Consider the situation you and I are in now; isn’t it very similar to those who are brain-dead?”

Mang Ke paused, unable to fully grasp the woman’s explanation, but she instinctively felt that Jia Yun was talking about something very important.

“Creating a world to stimulate a person’s potential—that is the work I am involved in,” Jia Yun said calmly. “As for whether they can wake up, that depends on the patient themselves.”

“Are you saying…” Mang Ke looked at her and asked, “That one of us is the patient?”

“Yes.”

Jia Yun pointed to the ceiling: “Besides treating brain-dead patients, this project has other uses.”

“A hundred days in the book is only a dream in reality. If someone lives for twenty or thirty years in this world, the knowledge and education they gain will carry over after they wake up. The cost of this education is terrifyingly low, yet it can cultivate batch after batch of highly educated talents.”

“Even without education, the beautiful environment and rich elements of adventure are incredibly popular in the tourism industry. I presume, Mang Ke, you have already met supporting characters who have come here to travel and relax? They are consumers of this project.”

“And you,” Jia Yun pointed to Mang Ke, “you are the healer of this world.”

Mang Ke scratched her head. Could she say that she completely didn’t understand what this person was saying?

It felt like she understood every single word, but combined, they made her want to pull her hair out.

However, she did seem to understand one thing: someone in this world was sick, and that person was definitely neither herself nor the woman in front of her.

That left only one person…

Mang Ke looked toward the hospital room, then turned and asked, “Is the patient you are talking about her?”

Jia Yun nodded, resting her chin on her hand, and smiled. “You are indeed very clever; you guessed it right away.”

Mang Ke’s heart was pounding now. So, Xun Fangyun was not a character who had simply awakened in the book, but a person who inherently existed. It was just that her constitution was special. Unlike the previously encountered Yue Yin and Jiang Chun’er, she couldn’t leave this place.

So, if she could find a way to let her leave, she could take her back to her own world.

Then she wouldn’t have to reject her anymore.

Once this idea popped up, it sprouted up like mushrooms after rain, filling her mind until it nearly overflowed!

“How do we treat her?!” Mang Ke strode over to Jia Yun, grabbing her hand. “You must know how to cure her!”

Jia Yun curled her lips into a slight smile: “Of course I know.”

“And that is… you have to date me.”

“…Huh?”

Xun Fangyun gripped the side of the bed, feeling a mouthful of metallic sweetness.

“Mang Ke… she is mine,” Xun Fangyun felt the taste of blood foam even in her nostrils, nearly suffocating her. “No one is allowed to take her!”

Her hands trembled as she propped herself up, sitting upright. The tubes inserted into her body pulled out one by one, leaving faint, bloody traces.

The smell of blood in her mouth and nose became increasingly pronounced. Xun Fangyun felt her vision blur and a sweetness in her mouth. Before she could cover her mouth, blood directly gushed out, terrifying both people in the hospital room.

Mang Ke was completely frozen. She had never known anyone could vomit blood like this. Blood was already leaking through her fingers. The sheets and blanket were stained red. Doctors and nurses rushed in, checking her and attempting to stop the bleeding.

A few nurses even directly pushed Mang Ke out.

“I apologize, but the patient’s family must leave. We need to perform emergency life support here.”

Pang—

The door closed in front of Mang Ke, completely obscuring the scene inside the room.

Mang Ke felt her hands trembling. Although Jia Yun repeatedly told her that these things were fake, when the blood spurted from Xun Fangyun’s mouth, Mang Ke could not convince herself not to believe it.

Red blood flowing through her fingers. Mang Ke felt there was probably no more terrifying sight in the world than that.

“It’s alright,” Jia Yun reached out and patted Mang Ke’s shoulder. “Emotional fluctuation is a good thing.”

A good thing… a good thing?

Mang Ke looked up at her, tears welling in her eyes: “Is this, truly, a good thing?”

Jia Yun was also feeling somewhat guilty, but seeing Mang Ke cry, she couldn’t bear it, and comforted her, “Yes, this is a good thing.”

Mang Ke stayed outside during the emergency treatment, only being allowed back in more than two hours later.

Stepping past the nurse, Mang Ke saw the hospital room was a mess, with blood on the bed, the tables and chairs, and the medical equipment. It looked particularly gruesome.

A caregiver was changing Xun Fangyun’s sheets and clothes. Seeing that she was struggling alone, Mang Ke rushed over and said softly, “Let me help.”

“That would be very kind of you.”

The caregiver was a middle-aged woman in her thirties or forties, reportedly the maid from Xun Fangyun’s ancestral home, who had been sent over the previous night.

Together, they helped Xun Fangyun change into a new hospital gown. The blood-stained clothes were useless and were taken away by the maid for washing.

After the nurses and doctors left, only Mang Ke and Xun Fangyun remained in the room.

The phone on the table chimed. Mang Ke leaned over and saw it was a text message from Jia Yun, saying she had other matters to attend to and had left.

The screen lit up and dimmed. Just as Mang Ke was about to tap the screen to reply, she felt a gaze fixed intently on her.

She turned her head instinctively and saw Xun Fangyun had woken up at some point, staring at Mang Ke with her dark eyes.

Without speaking, Xun Fangyun extended one hand from under the covers and weakly tugged at the corner of Mang Ke’s clothes.

“I thought… you would leave…”

Xun Fangyun whispered, “Waking up and seeing you here… I’m truly happy…”

Mang Ke turned and sat down, looking at Xun Fangyun on the hospital bed, who looked near death: “You can talk so much. Does that mean you’re already better?”

Xun Fangyun shook her head, her face pale, and said with an anxious tone, “No, I’m still in pain.”

“Pain?” Mang Ke asked. “Where does it hurt?”

The person lying on the bed blinked and hooked her little finger around Mang Ke’s hand, saying, “My heart hurts.”

Xun Fangyun’s bright dark eyes lacked their usual clarity. Now, she was soft, like a pouting kitten. If not for her illness preventing her, she would surely pull Mang Ke into her embrace.

Mang Ke felt her palm tingling where the woman had hooked her finger.

“Well… should I call someone for you?” Mang Ke looked away, saying softly, “They just left.”

“No need,” the other’s voice slowly came. “I want to talk to you.”

“Talk about what?”

“Let’s talk about… how I mistreated you these past few days.”

Mang Ke was silent for a moment, then couldn’t help but say, “So you know you were mistreating me?”

Xun Fangyun’s eyes held a hint of a smile. She used her hand to pull Mang Ke’s hand into the quilt.

“I thought that if I pushed you away, I could let go,” Xun Fangyun said softly. “Now I realize that if I pushed you away, I might find it even harder to let go.”

Watching her wander around in front of her every day, yet being unable to touch her, was indeed a desperate feeling for her.

Perhaps after finally venting the sadness in her heart, Xun Fangyun had come to a realization.

She didn’t want Mang Ke to leave her. She wanted them to be together forever…