In May or June, just as summer heat was beginning, the weather in the East Country was getting even hotter. A nurse, with a sweet smile, had sweat soaking her white uniform, subtly revealing her two bra straps underneath.
Bai Chuanxia sat on the hospital bed, holding a paintbrush. After shifting his gaze from the nurse, he used a few strokes to outline a lace garter belt on the thigh of the girl in his drawing.
"Black stockings really do make the goddess more perfect, ahem."
A sudden cough pulled at his body. A sharp pain shot through his heart, his face instantly went pale, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
He strained to move his finger to the emergency call button. This small movement had already exhausted all his strength.
But he didn't press it. He had encountered this situation countless times during the half-year since he transmigrated. He would only hit the button when he truly couldn't hold on anymore, when his consciousness started to blur.
Perhaps the Goddess took pity on him; the agony only gently touched him before retreating. The sharp pain lasted for a few tens of seconds before slowly subsiding.
Gasping, Bai Chuanxia leaned back against the hospital bed, relaxing his whole body and covering his eyes with his arm. "I'm alive again."
He was a transmigrator. This world was a parallel-universe Japan, and he had been here for half a year. Unlike most transmigrators, he didn't have to adjust to a new life, because, according to the doctor, he had congenital problems with his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Simply being alive was a miracle.
In other words, he could fall asleep at any moment and not wake up to see the morning sun.
At first, Bai Chuanxia wasn't panicked. Compared to transmigrating into a spider, goblin, or slime, a disease-ridden start wasn't hard to accept. Maybe he had some kind of special constitution.
But he soon met his visiting parents—ordinary, middle-class people who tried hard to look strong in front of him, giving him encouragement and comfort. Bai Chuanxia was certain they were normal people, not Grim Reapers in disguise or anything. Their marriage was harmonious, and they didn't have any plans for a vacation trip by plane. He didn't have a sister, and there was no story about him being swapped at birth.
"Sigh, so I'm not the protagonist of some web novel after all," Bai Chuanxia muttered with a wry smile, taking out his phone.
He took a few deep breaths to steady his voice before dialing a number saved under the name Mizukui. Mizukui was his childhood friend, a very unusual woman.
The phone rang several times with no answer. Just as Bai Chuanxia was about to hang up, the call connected. A woman's voice came through, slightly breathless: "Hello."
"Hello, I'm Mizukui's friend. Please let her take the call," Bai Chuanxia said. He was used to having strangers answer her phone.
"Don't answer my calls without permission." Another, more husky female voice sounded, and the phone was quickly snatched away: "Hi, Xia. What's up?"
"Who was that?" Bai Chuanxia held the phone tucked between his neck and shoulder while tidying up the draft he had just finished.
"It was a cat," Mizukui's voice was magnetic and carried a hint of cynicism.
"Your cat's very smart," Bai Chuanxia joked. "Come pick up the draft when you have a chance and help me mail it to the editorial department. This story is very interesting; it's about a goddess and five hot-blooded boys."
"So you're starting a new project again?" Mizukui's voice rose a few degrees. "You stopped the last one, Naruto, right at the most exciting part, didn't you?"
"Don't I recall someone saying they wouldn't read something only kids would read?" Bai Chuanxia chuckled.
"I've changed my mind. Your work is excellent," Mizukui said without any sign of embarrassment. "I'll come get the manuscript tonight. Gotta go."
Before the call ended, he heard another strange, affected female squeal.
"That wicked person," Bai Chuanxia grumbled, hanging up the phone fiercely. Childhood friends, those creatures, weren't they supposed to be gentle, sweet, and wholeheartedly devoted to taking care of the protagonist? Why was his childhood friend cooler than he was and lived a wilder life?
My childhood friend definitely has problems.
Bai Chuanxia was an art major in his past life. The development of entertainment was the same in this parallel world, but none of Earth's popular works existed here. Bai Chuanxia decided to use the last of his time to draw some of those works. He might as well, since he had nothing else to do. However, he would stop at the most exciting part—a tactic known as being a serial cliffhanger. This was his last, malicious joke on the world. It was a way to leave a trace of his existence, making his transmigrated journey worthwhile.
Sunlight streamed through the window and hit the floor. Bai Chuanxia painfully got out of bed. His legs were weak, forcing him to shuffle slowly into the hallway. The air smelled of disinfectant, but the sunlight seemed to dissipate some of it.
Leaning on his crutch, he made his way to the hallway outside the ward. The hospital was in the suburbs. There weren't many people on the road in the summer; they all walked in the shade of trees or buildings. The honking of cars on the nearby road and the incessant chirping of cicadas were usually irritating, but the chaotic noises didn't bother him.
"Hey, did you hear?" A nurse was speaking to her colleague nearby: "The chief doctor in the gynecology department is supposedly involved with a patient. The patient is a married woman, and her family came looking for him. They're still mediating in the director's office."
"Ugh, that's crazy," the other nurse said. "An affair like that, he'll definitely be suspended, right? He was such a promising doctor."
The two were chatting animatedly when a smiling female voice suddenly came from behind them: "What are you two talking about?"
Startled, they quickly turned around. Recognizing the person, they both bowed: "Good afternoon, Dr. Arina!"
The woman they called Dr. Arina was in her twenties, with a brilliant smile, wearing a white coat. Inside, she had on a white ladies' blouse that emphasized her full chest and clear S-curve. A short skirt revealed a pair of long, pale legs.
"Gossip again? Don't spread misunderstandings before the facts are clear, okay? If you're that bored, go ask the patients if they need anything."
"Hehe, got it!" The two nurses, though criticized, weren't afraid at all. They even stuck out their tongues playfully and leaned in close to her. "Arina-sis, the cute young man who came in the day before yesterday was asking for information about you."
"Don't hit on the patients!" Arina feigned annoyance, tapping both of them on the head. "And I absolutely will not consider a young little boy."
"Adults should act like adults," Arina said as she walked past Bai Chuanxia. She suddenly turned and addressed him: "Xia-kun, don't let these 'aunties' trick you, okay? If you encounter any harassment from adults, be brave and call the police."
After she finished speaking, she gave Bai Chuanxia a playful wink, turned, and went into the ward, enthusiastically greeting each of the patients there.
Hashimoto Arina was Bai Chuanxia's attending physician, a warm and cheerful older sister. Bai Chuanxia had a strong positive impression of her, for three main reasons: boobs, big boobs, and very big boobs.
"Dr. Arina is truly wonderful," the first nurse said, her eyes full of stars. "She's gentle, cheerful, easy to get along with, and a top student from the medical academy. She might become the youngest department head at the hospital."
"She should have a boyfriend, right?" the other nurse asked. "I heard someone saw her getting into a handsome young man's Porsche after work."
"A Porsche! Really? Tell me more!"
Bai Chuanxia looked away and stopped listening. He did have a good impression of Hashimoto Arina. However, with only six months left to live, simply being alive was a luxury. Love was out of the question for someone with congenital renal failure.
If a beautiful older sister like Hashimoto Arina tried anything while wearing her doctor's uniform, he'd probably have a heart attack and die in the next second.
"Damn it, my heart is hurting again." Just imagining the scene made his heart protest. He quickly took a deep breath, silently recited Buddhist scriptures, and calmed himself down.
With his artistic talent, drawing a fan-comic of Hashimoto Arina would be simple, but he was afraid he wouldn't finish it before he died. Rather than chase fleeting dreams, he focused on how to stop his current manga to generate the most resentment from his readers.
"Time for medicine." Bai Chuanxia stabilized his mood and took out his phone to check the time for his dose.
When he opened the screen, he froze. A strange APP icon had appeared on his normally clean home screen. It was a Minotaur, and the golden, shattered hair shining on its head made it impossible to look away.