Death Progress Bar

evice and ordered, “Go to the emergency room and arrange for them to be searched and separated, use making them change into hospital gowns as the pretext.
If they refuse to change, just strip them and lock them up.”

One of the subordinates acknowledged the order and hurried out.

The plan had been discovered, and now David’s gaze on Shi Jin was not only cold, but murderous.
If he was the only one caught, his companions still could have carried out their plan and perhaps he would have found an opportunity to escape in the chaos, but now, their plan was ruined.

“Who are you?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m just an ordinary intern.” Shi Jin replied, still talking nonsense.
“Let me continue guessing—the fire was just the first step.
When it started, we definitely would’ve called for help to put it out.
At that time, a group of official ‘rescue workers’ would come, which wouldn’t have raised anyone’s suspicions.
In that kind of situation, it would have been a piece of cake to steal someone from the hospital… Have I guessed right? What do you say, Meng La?”

David’s expression went through another dramatic change.
His lips opened, then tightened and he didn’t speak.

Gua Nine was equally shocked.
He scrutinized David’s face, then shot him in the calf to minimize the possibility of him escaping.

“Ah!” The man cried out in pain, stumbling and almost falling to his knees.

Gua Nine yanked him up, asking, “Are you sure he’s Meng La? Meng La is supposed to be in his forties, and this man looks to be in his early thirties.”

What? Meng La is over forty?

Surprised, Shi Jin frowned a little, but still went with his instincts and believed his own judgement.

“Both his voice and the upper part of his face are very similar to those of Meng La.
Whether or not he is Meng La, it’s always right to be careful,” he said, stopping his ‘naive intern’ act.
“Send people to strengthen the perimeter defense.
We’re going into lockdown—starting now, no one except our own people will be allowed in, even the L country officials.”

Gua Nine had exactly the same idea.
He nodded and asked another subordinate to pass the message to the outpatient clinic, then walked out of the bathroom, dragging David, who had trouble walking.

Shi Jin put the gun back in his pocket, returned to his ‘harmless little doctor’ persona, and followed him.

“Who the hell are you?” David asked again.

Shi Jin eyed him and replied in all seriousness, “You can call me Mahjong Superman.”

Gua Nine & David: “……”

If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.

David watched Shi Jin for a moment, then his lips curled in an inexplicable smile.
“You’re quite interesting.
Why don’t you follow me? I promise to give you better treatment than you get in Annihilation.”

Gua Nine scowled and dragged him harder.

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Blood from the gunshot wound on David’s leg dripped on the floor, dotting a winding trail of red, but his face was as steady as if he didn’t feel any pain.
“Think about it, little doctor, I have a high opinion about you.”

Shi Jin actually continued talking with him.
He shook his head and replied, “No, I don’t have to think about it.
I like to follow a good-looking boss, but you’re not as handsome as Jun-shao, so no deal.”

The smile on David’s face faded, and he paused for a few seconds before continuing, “You really are interesting.”

“It’s useless even if you praise me,” Shi Jin waved his hand.
In his mind, he poked Xiao Si.
“Is that enough voice samples? Is he Meng La or not?”

Xiao Si was quiet for a while, as if it was calculating something, then exclaimed in excitement,  

With that, Shi Jin was completely relieved, even his expression relaxed.

David noticed his change, and in the same second, his bound hands began to shift.

The three turned the corner, and the emergency room appeared before them.

They had been walking slowly, so by the time they got there the people stationed there had received the news and put the hospital in lockdown, as per Shi Jin and Gua Nine’s orders. 

The injured “rescue workers” were all gone, perhaps tied up somewhere, the hospital doors were closed, and there were only Annihilation members in sight.

Surprisingly, Fei Yujing, who should’ve been protected in a room deep in the hospital, was standing in the lobby talking with Uncle Long.
He faced the corridor, so he saw Gua Nine and David the moment they appeared, and also noticed Shi Jin walking behind them.
He frowned and strode over, calling out, “Where did you go, Shi Jin? Didn’t you say you’d be back soon?”

Shi Jin?

David had been observing the situation in the lobby with careful eyes, but at that, his expression changed for a fraction of a second.
He sent Shi Jin an unobtrusive glance, recalling Gua Nine’s attitude towards him, and his bound hands moved again.

Shi Jin found that his progress bar, which had dropped to 700 after David was captured, rose back to 950 all of a sudden.
He immediately realized that something was wrong but before he could do anything about it, there came a loud boom and the hospital shook—the official vehicles the wounded had been brought to the hospital in began to explode one after another.
The explosions were powerful enough that they destroyed the hospital’s closed entrance and made a gaping hole in the wall.

Several people closer to the door were struck by the blast.
They were slammed  to the floor and lay there, unconscious.

The ground seemed to shake; Shi Jin barely kept to his feet.
He dodged the flying debris and shouted: “Get away from the entrance and bring the unconscious people further inside.
Hurry up!”

Gua Nine also had trouble keeping his balance, and his grip on David’s arm loosened.
David seized the chance, twisted around, and kicked Gua Nine away using all his strength.
Somehow, he got his hands free, the broken handcuffs falling to the ground, then turned to grab Shi Jin.

Shi Jin noticed his movements and ducked, kicking the man’s wounded leg at the same time.

David grunted.
He launched another wave of attacks but to his surprise, they all failed—he hadn’t expected Shi Jin to be so skilled.
Seeing that Gua Nine was already struggling to his feet, his expression changed for a second.
He switched targets to pounce at Fei Yujing, who stood close-by, hooking him around the neck and using his body as a shield.
Hostage secured, he retreated towards the hole made by the explosion, dragging the lawyer with him.

The sound of sirens came from afar—Gunfire’s reinforcements had arrived.

“Let me go!” Fei Yujing, face dark, struggled hard.
However, he was just an ordinary person without any proper training.
He was fit, but it all came from visiting the gym—it was impossible for him to break away from David’s hold.

Gua Nine regained his footing and moved in their direction, wanting to save Fei Yujing.

“Come any closer and he’ll die with me!” David threatened, displaying a tiny remote control in his other hand.

Damn it!

Gua Nine stopped, deploring the fact that he only focused on technology and neglected physical training.
He tried to negotiate: “Let him go and I’ll let you go.”

David only sneered and continued to retreat towards the gap.

When Fei Yujing had been caught, Shi Jin’s mind went into overdrive.
All of a sudden, he pulled off his surgical mask and rushed a few steps forward, blurting out, “Don’t hurt him! I’m Shi Jin, he’s my brother, I’ll replace him!”

“Shi Jin!” Gua Nine turned his head to stare at him incredulously.
He couldn’t imagine that Shi Jin had really said such a stupid thing.

Fei Yujing, too, looked at Shi Jin with a scowl.
His expression was actually a bit uglier than when he found himself taken hostage.

David’s footsteps paused, and he peered at Shi Jin.

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“I’ll replace him.
It’s a good deal for you—I’m definitely a much better choice for hostage than him.
Look, this is my gun, I’m putting it down now.” Shi Jin made a gesture of surrender, slowly took out his gun, and kept his eyes on them as he half-bent to put it on the floor.

David’s eyes were fixed on him, as if he was judging the truth in his words, but he continued to retreat.

Clack.

The gun touched the ground.

Shi Jin paid close attention to David’s expression.
In the split second that the man lowered his guard as the gun left his hand, he seized the chance and burst forward at a speed impossible for human beings, barreling into David and Fei Yujing.
All three of them were thrown to the floor.
He yanked Fei Yujing away from David and flung him to the side, then reached for David’s hand.

David’s expression went through a drastic change.
He did something, and the remote control he held turned into small but sharp knife with a blade of about a thumb’s length.
He stabbed at Shi Jin’s throat.

Xiao Si screamed,

“Shi Jin!” Gua Nine also shouted, breaking into a dead run.

Fei Yujing had been pushed so hard that he only stopped when he skidded into a row of waiting chairs.
He turned around just in time to see the scene of the knife stabbing towards Shi Jin’s throat.
His heart seemed to stop for a moment, and his mind was blank.

At the same time, the “official rescue vehicle” rushed straight into the hospital, ignoring the perimeter defense team’s attempts to stop it, and drove into the wall next to the gap, barely slowing down enough that the crash wouldn’t kill the people inside the vehicle.
Uncle Long had just finished checking the people who had passed out from the explosion, and exited the outpatient clinic at that moment, accompanied by troops that ran over to provide support.

The scene seemed to go into slow motion.
The rescue vehicle hit the gap and stopped.
Its door opened, and people jumped out to shoot at the lobby.
Several of them rushed towards David and Shi Jin, who were grappling on the floor.

“Get down! Take cover, quick!” Shi Jin yelled.
He suddenly let go of David’s arm and thrust his fingers into the man’s eyes.
At the same time, his other hand picked up the pocket gun which had fallen out of Fei Yujing’s jacket when they all landed on the ground.
First he shot David’s shoulder, making it useless, then turned the gun towards the “rescue workers” rushing over.

Bang bang bang.

All bullets hit their targets, stopping the first wave of Gunfire’s reinforcements from approaching.

Shnk.

David’s eyes were blinded and his attack missed Shi Jin’s throat, the knife scoring the teenager’s shoulder instead.

Shi Jin grunted and shot him in the shoulder again, using up the last bullet, then rolled to Fei Yujing’s side.
Pulling his brother behind the row of waiting chairs, he shouted towards Uncle Long and the people following him, “Attack! Don’t let more enemies come in!”

This seemed to break the magic spell.
As soon as Uncle Long was sure Shi Jin was out of trouble, he ordered, “Hurry! Go and stop them!”

Gua Nine took a few shots at the second wave of enemies rushing in, then hurried over to Shi Jin’s side to protect him.

A chaotic battle began, set to the irregular sound of gunfire.
Some of the perimeter defence team came over and helped the people in the lobby deal with the members of Gunfire from the outside.
The rest of the perimeter defense team was just as quick to respond, fending off the enemy reinforcements that had not yet passed the hospital fence, preventing them from approaching.

The situation was quickly brought under control, and Shi Jin’s progress bar dropped to 550.

Shi Jin leaned against Fei Yujing.
He waved a hand, trying to drive away Uncle Long who came to check his wound, and touched the phone in the pocket of his trousers.
“Just now, Meng La detonated the bombs in the vehicles by remote control, which proves the signal has been restored,” he beamed.
“Lian Jun will definitely call me soon… Oh, I knew it, see?”

Uncle Long’s eyebrows twitched.
He wanted to smack the damn kid to death.

Fei Yujing lowered his head, looking at Shi Jin whose shoulder was bleeding but who still found answering the phone more important.
Face dark, he snatched the phone out of Shi Jin’s hand and shoved the teenager towards Uncle Long.
“Take care of your wound, I’ll take this call for you,” he said, getting up.

“Ah, my phone…” Shi Jin didn’t manage to take the phone back.
A little angry, he watched his brother walk away.

Lian Jun must be anxious about what was happening on this side.
Now that Fei Yujing was the one answering Shi Jin’s phone, Lian Jun would be overcome with worry again.
Sure enough, he was a pig teammate!

“Uncle Long, please lend me your phone,” Shi Jin turned to the doctor.

Uncle Long gave him an angry sneer and pushed him to the ground.
He pulled open Shi Jin’s white coat, cut the clothes over his shoulder, and said, the scissors in his hand giving off a cold glint, “No, I won’t.
And no more talking or I’ll give you a shot of anesthesia to knock you out!”

Shi Jin: “……”

Fuck, he was surrounded by pig teammates today.

Translator’s Notes:

“Pig teammate” – a gaming/slang term: a person on the team who is unbelievably noobish or lousy and causes more trouble than the opponents.
(Explanation taken from Wiktionary, but here you have more slang terms: Slang for Noobs)