Arknights: How Did I Actually Become the Doctor? — Chapter 21

Chapter 21: But I Firmly Believe That We Will Meet Again in the Near Future…You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

When you finally open your eyes again, the first thing that greets your vision is the sprawling, metallic deck of Rhodes Island floating high in the sky.

Actually, no, that isn’t quite right. You strain your neck, trying to orient yourself, and quickly realize that you aren’t looking at the deck—you are currently hanging upside down from the bridge, suspended like a freshly caught bat.

Looking down—or rather, looking up from your inverted perspective—you see Kal’tsit standing directly beneath you. Her feline ears are flattened tightly against her head in a universal sign of extreme alarm, though her face remains locked in its usual, terrifyingly placid mask. She looks like she is actively suppressing the urge to hiss at you.

“Doctor, even if you have truly made up your mind to…” Kal’tsit pauses, her sharp gaze sweeping over the handful of Rhodes Island staff bustling past the bridge. She swallows back the rest of her sentence, clearly deciding that broadcasting your supposedly apocalyptic objectives is a bad idea. “There is absolutely no need to resort to such a crude and violent method.”

In her mind, she had already run through a dozen doomsday scenarios. She fully expected that you might attempt to alter the underlying genetic code of Originium, trigger global infections, or even rally the Seaborn to bring about the deep Silence to the terrestrial world. What the grand, omniscient Kal’tsit never could have imagined, however, was that your grand master plan involved trying to play a match-three puzzle game using entire mobile cities!

You decisively play dumb, blinking innocently from your inverted vantage point. “Make up my mind about what? Did I forget some noble, world-shattering life ideal I previously had?”

Suddenly, you realize that swinging back and forth on this heavy industrial rope is actually incredibly fun. Embracing the zero-sanity lifestyle, you kick your legs and decisively start swaying left and right like a pendulum.

“I wouldn’t~” Swing. “Be some kind of~” Swing. “Big evil villain~” Swing. “From before~” Swing. “Would I?”

The old lynx glares up at you with a face cold enough to freeze Originium, momentarily rendered entirely speechless by your sheer audacity. Mon3tr, on the other hand, is having a completely different reaction. The crystalline spine-monster is absolutely terrified that you might slip and crack your skull. It paces back and forth beneath you, chasing your swinging form like an oversized, jagged puppy, ready to catch you the second you fall.

Mon3tr lets out a worried hiss. Then, a slightly more frantic hiss. Finally, it lets out a happy, clicking purr upon realizing that chasing the swinging Doctor is actually a fantastic game.

“Awesome, buddy!”

Elysium, who just happens to be strolling past the bridge, spots you swinging through the air and immediately flashes a bright, unironic thumbs-up from afar. “You’re swinging just a little more stylishly than me, and I’m the most handsome guy in Rhodes Island!”

Kal’tsit slowly turns her head, shooting the Liberi a glare so disapproving it could strip paint off a wall. Elysium tenses up, his survival instincts screaming at him, but considering he hasn’t actually done anything wrong over the past few days, he manages to scrape together a meager ounce of courage.

“Dr. Kal’tsit, you’re way too tense,” Elysium says, waving a dismissive hand. “We all know what kind of person the Doctor is. He’s been hanging up there for half the day. Do you really think he’s going to suddenly transform into some cold-blooded, edgy judge whose entire race was wiped out, hellbent on destroying the world to complete a dark mission?”

Kal’tsit: “…”

Elysium completely misreads her stony silence, assuming she is deeply intrigued by the dramatic plotline he just improvised. Eager to share, he sneaks over and smoothly shoves a thick paperback book into her hands.

Kal’tsit looks down. The garish cover art features the title: My Daily Life of Dating a Masked Idol from Higashi While Manipulating Originium Since the Era of the Gods.

Kal’tsit: “…”

Is this fractured land truly lacking in suffering? Has life become too easy?

“Elysium!” she snaps, her face darkening like a thundercloud—

“Bro, can I touch your bird feathers?”

You look over at the suicidal Liberi, who has somehow managed to get himself strung up on the bridge right alongside you. Your sinful, gamer hands reach out toward that incredibly perky tuft of red hair sticking up from his head.

“Ow! No! It’s out of print!” Elysium shrieks.

The two of you immediately start wriggling on your respective ropes like a pair of oversized maggots, struggling mid-air as you desperately try to snatch his ahoge.

“Hey, I really can’t give this to you! It’s my charm point!” Elysium yells, flailing wildly to dodge your grasping fingers. “Compared to this, I’d even be willing to offer up my perky butt!”

“I don’t believe you!” you shout back, swinging closer. “In a non-romance web novel, that’s just empty talk! Relying on you is worse than relying on the Seaborn; at least the eldritch horror censorship is loose!”

Elysium stops struggling for a fraction of a second, utterly stunned by your bizarre, meta-gaming fetishes. “Huh?”

[Elysium has been marked as a special unit by PRTS]and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

By the time your boots finally touch the solid metal grating of the deck, you have gotten your wish. You stand triumphant, holding a tuft of red Liberi hair as thick as your pinky finger.

Fortunately, Kal’tsit still possesses a shred of medical conscience, and it doesn’t take long for her to order the cranes to lower you both down.

As the ropes go slack, Elysium dramatically stretches his numb limbs, pointing an accusing finger at the surrounding crowd of operators. “Look at these hypocrites! They were laughing their heads off when they saw a handsome guy making a fool of himself, but the moment we actually get let down, not a single person cares about my suffering!”

He then pivots, indignantly pointing at Thorns, who is casually strolling over. “Especially him! He only ever knows how to make snide remarks…”

Thorns doesn’t even spare the screaming Liberi a single glance. He quickly steps past Elysium, reaching out to firmly support your shoulders. “Are you alright, Doctor? Hanging inverted for that long puts immense pressure on your cranial blood vessels. I recently learned a bit of targeted massage technique if you need it…”

Blue Poison, who has clearly been waiting in the wings for a long time, shyly steps forward holding a tray of beautifully decorated small cakes. “I calculated the time perfectly. They just came out of the oven when you were lowered down. They are nutritious, delicious, and completely safe. Dr. Kal’tsit won’t mind…”

Speak of the devil, Kal’tsit materializes from the shadows. She lets out a cold “Hmph,” and tosses a foil blister pack of pills directly into your hands. “I can turn a blind eye to your excess calorie intake for today. But if your fragile stomach cannot digest it, remember to take those—it is a new, highly potent gastric product from the Medical Department.”

“Bro, you’re finally awake!”

Blaze drops down directly from the roof of the bridge, her boots slamming into the deck with a heavy metallic clang. She flashes a wild, fanged grin. “We’ve prepared a su—per—big welcome ceremony for you! Amiya has been waiting for ages!”

Surrounded by the doting crowd of elite operators, you don’t forget your new rope-hanging buddy. You look up, pushing aside the sweet aroma of Blue Poison’s desserts, and glance back at the ignored Liberi. “Bro, what did you just say?”

Elysium, standing completely alone in the background, is filled with deep grief and indignation. “…I didn’t say anything.”

Until my lawyer arrives, I won’t say another word to you bunch of vicious, double-standard freaks!

Twenty minutes later, Elysium loses to Rosmontis by a devastating margin of three points in the impromptu “Who is the Doctor’s Favorite Operator” competition. He looks ready to throw himself off the landship.

A crowd of Elite Operators, all dressed in combat gear more secure than canned goods, are collectively slumped in the corner of the recreation room. Scout looks like he wants to take a buzzsaw to his own Sarkaz tail, deeply depressed that it is neither fluffy nor shiny enough to win your affection.

He was only 0.5 points short on the tail-fluffiness score!

The little feline herself hadn’t actually expected to take first place. The four massive tactical equipments floating behind her—affectionately dubbed her ‘four refrigerators’—are happily swaying back and forth in the air, reflecting her soaring mood. Rosmontis holds her grand prize high: a makeshift trophy constructed entirely out of pork floss cakes and a chocolate shell. She runs around the party room three times in a victory lap before finally shrinking back down to your side, carefully leaning in to whisper in your ear.

“Doctor… is also… Rosmontis’s… favorite operator!”

The grand welcome ceremony is a massive success, thoroughly enjoyed by both the hosts and the guest of honor. You throw back a few drinks, enjoying the lively, chaotic atmosphere of your operators.

But even though you are half-drunk by the end of the night, you sober up completely the moment you walk into the lounge.

You watch in absolute horror as Blaze, an Elite Operator of Rhodes Island, naturally crawls into a flattened, abandoned cardboard box in the corner of the room, curls up, and casually says, “Goodnight, Doctor.”

Old cat… I admit I haven’t finished building the base infrastructure yet, but you actually made my operators live in cardboard boxes?!!

You look over. Rosmontis is literally sleeping on the bare carpet!!!

Your gamer heart shatters into a million pieces. You are a bit broken.

You finally, deeply understand just how incredibly poor Rhodes Island is right now. You have zero LMD and zero furniture parts. This entire pharmaceutical company is just relying on these hardcore idealists working without pay, sleeping in boxes, to keep the world-saving operations running!

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, you swear to the gacha gods, you are going to replace all of Rhodes Island’s crappy trading posts, farm those resource stages, and buy every single piece of high-end furniture for the infrastructure!

[Rhodes’s Note: “Fanqie novel” refers to a popular Chinese web novel platform known for its highly tropey, fast-paced fiction. “Non-CP” means “No Coupling/No Romance,” indicating a story focused purely on action or plot rather than romantic pairings.]You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.