A taxi screeched to a sudden halt with a sharp squeal of brakes, coming to a perfect stop in front of Donghai City First Hospital.

First, a pair of black leather shoes emerged from the car door, followed by sharply pressed black dress pants and a matching black suit. Then, out stepped a young man with impeccable posture. Standing at around six feet tall, his physique was perfectly proportioned.

His close-cropped hair and chiseled, handsome features made him undeniably striking—a first-class heartthrob by any standard. Yet, his face bore an unsettling pallor, lending him a sickly, almost ethereal beauty.

After just a few steps, he paused, his complexion growing even paler as a fit of coughing wracked his body. The tissue in his hand was soon stained with streaks of blood.

"It's getting worse," Li Zhen muttered with a bitter smile. "Seems like my body's failing me faster than ever. To put it bluntly—time's running out."

His gaze drifted to the hospital before him. The open gates led to a small plaza dominated by a massive stone slab, its surface carved with bold red characters: *Donghai City First Hospital*. The sight was impossible to miss.

With a sigh, Li Zhen slowly made his way inside. It had been years since he left Donghai, and returning now filled him with a quiet melancholy.

Back in the day, he had spent his college years here, studying at Donghai Medical University with dreams of becoming a respectable doctor. But then, for reasons even he couldn’t explain, he’d been swept up by an online military recruitment video. In a spur of recklessness, he traded his white coat for an army uniform, spending the next several years with a rifle in his arms.

What no one knew was that during those years in the military, Li Zhen had pushed himself to the brink, transforming from a green recruit into an elite special forces operative.

Just when he thought his life would forever belong to the army, fate played a cruel joke on him. His dreams of battlefield glory came to an abrupt halt months ago when, after a mission, he was struck by a mysterious illness. Outwardly, nothing had changed—yet his body grew weaker by the day, plagued by relentless coughing and blood-streaked phlegm.

His stamina and physical capabilities deteriorated rapidly, making it impossible to endure the grueling demands of training and missions. With no other choice, he hung up his uniform and returned home.

In just one month, he burned through his discharge pay and life savings seeking treatment, yet his condition showed no improvement. Today, he wasn’t here at Donghai First Hospital for a cure—he was here for a job.

As one of the most renowned hospitals in the city, if not the country, Li Zhen knew one thing for certain: survival came first. He needed work to sustain himself, but he also hoped to use the hospital’s resources to research and treat his baffling condition.

...

Stepping out of the interview office, Li Zhen wiped the sweat from his brow. It wasn’t nerves—what could possibly shake a man who’d walked through fire and bullets?

It all came down to his illness—this bizarre condition that defied diagnosis and resisted all attempts at a cure. Even though he was technically a doctor himself, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Weakness, cold sweats, coughing, deteriorating health—those were the symptoms. But whether he took medication or exercised, nothing helped. In fact, sometimes it only made things worse.

Wandering aimlessly through the hospital corridors, Li Zhen was already growing accustomed to the surroundings. He had a feeling he’d be spending a long, long time here.

At least Donghai First Hospital provided staff housing and three meals a day. Despite his crisp suit, the most valuable thing in his pockets was probably his empty wallet.

His footsteps echoed as he meandered down to the dimly lit second basement level of the parking garage, where hardly anyone came or went anymore. He cast a casual glance around, about to leave, when—

"Stay back! I’ll scream if you come any closer!"

"Go ahead, sweetheart. Scream all you want. No one’s gonna save you even if you scream yourself hoarse!"

The absurdly clichéd exchange made Li Zhen pause mid-step. He followed the voices toward a nearby storage room.

As soon as he reached the doorway, he spotted several men crowding around a corner. A trembling figure—a young woman in a nurse’s uniform—clutched a broomstick, desperately holding them at bay.

"Help me!" she shrieked.

The men just laughed, leering at her. "Louder, gorgeous! Maybe if you yell ‘hoarse throat,’ someone might actually come running!"

"Who called my name?" Li Zhen pushed the door open with deliberate swagger, eyeing the group with cold amusement. "If you’re bold enough to harass a nurse in a hospital, why not try your luck at the police station?"

The men exchanged glances. One of them, a long-haired thug, pulled a knife from his belt and brandished it with a sneer. "What’s this? Some pretty-boy hero? Look at you—skinny, sickly, barely standing. You really think you can play the tough guy? Get lost while you still can. Pretend you saw nothing, or else—"

*Crack.*

Before the man could finish, the "pretty boy" at the door—who had seemed so mild-mannered a second ago—suddenly twisted into a mask of fury. His calloused fists clenched with an audible crunch.

"Calling me a sickly weakling is the one thing I can't stand in this life!" Li Zhen lunged forward like a bolt of lightning, his hand closing around the long-haired man's throat with such force that the man's toes left the ground, his eyes rolling back in their sockets.

Though the mysterious illness had taken its toll on Li Zhen's physique, he was still a former special forces operative. Even at his current diminished capacity, he could easily outmatch these city-dwelling, perpetually exhausted office workers. Years of combat training meant that taking down five thugs armed with knives was child's play for him.

With one swift motion, Li Zhen disarmed the long-haired man and held him aloft by the neck, instantly cowing the other four. As they watched their leader flail helplessly, one of them finally snapped out of their daze and shouted, "Get him!" The group brandished their weapons and charged.

Li Zhen barely moved from his spot. Tossing the long-haired man aside, he dispatched the others with a few precise punches. Watching them writhe on the ground, clutching their jaws in agony, he sighed deeply. "Took me nearly 30 seconds to handle a bunch of small fries like you. Guess I'm getting old."

His gaze then fell on the long-haired man's jacket pocket, where a small vial peeked out. Li Zhen picked it up and examined the three pills inside.

"What are these for?" he demanded.

"Go to hell—" The long-haired man's retort was cut short as Li Zhen backhanded him hard enough to send a tooth flying. Realizing he'd messed with the wrong guy, the thug abandoned any thought of loyalty to his employer and stammered, "T-they're... for the girl. To get her in the mood."

"Quite the playboy, aren't we?" Li Zhen smirked, pinching the man's jaw open and forcing the pills down his throat. "Spit them out, and I'll make sure you never eat solid food again."

Gulp. The long-haired man swallowed hastily. This guy clearly wasn't bluffing.

With the thugs dealt with, Li Zhen finally turned his attention to the terrified nurse. One look at her, and his entire body froze.

It was her.