Chapter 2 The Scent of the Doctor

Chapter 2: The Scent of the Doctor

Zhou Jinru’s expression froze on his face, his patience wearing thin by the second. “Your performance is truly impressive, thank you, I’ll give you a thumbs up, but right now, I just want to leave.”

If they were acting, they’d committed to the full play, but he didn’t believe for a second that the universal language of Terra was Mandarin. Yet, both he and Amiya spoke flawless, standard Mandarin, understanding each other perfectly, with not a hint of communication barrier.

Moreover, the questions Amiya asked were ones any Arknights player could answer offhand—nothing secret at all.

Amiya rubbed her reddened eyes, showing no dissatisfaction with Zhou Jinru’s impatience. “Doctor, where do you want to go?”

“Where am I?” Zhou Jinru suddenly posed another question.

“This is Rhodes Island.”

He stepped forward, reaching out to touch Amiya’s upright ears. For just an instant, Amiya instinctively shrank back, staring in surprise at the man before her. Warm and real—the ears had blood vessels and nerves faintly visible under the light. They were truly real!

His heart raced wildly in his chest, all the blood in his body seemed to surge straight to his head, and a wild thought began to surface: This was Rhodes Island. The beast-eared girl before him was Amiya, the iconic mascot of Arknights. All of this was real. His current situation could only mean—he had crossed over!

“Doctor?”

Amiya’s tears finally stopped. She looked at Zhou Jinru, her expression strange, yet her face was brimming with irrepressible joy.

“No, no, why are you so certain I’m the Doctor?”

Although Zhou Jinru’s mind was in chaos, he maintained some ability to think.

Amiya’s eyes widened. “Doctor, our first meeting should have been in Chernobog. You went there every Wednesday for two months after. Don’t you remember?”

He hadn’t forgotten. Before a new annihilation operation began, he would always spend Wednesdays farming 1200 Originium Shards, since there were no credit stages that day.

In the game, the most scarce resource was LMD. Any competent Doctor would strive to farm as much LMD as possible on credit days; watching replays cost LMD, elite promotions cost LMD—money stages never changed, only the LMD flowed away.

Amiya counted on her fingers. “Besides Chernobog, you visited the outskirts most often—especially a place called Tyrant. Every time you came back, you brought a piece or two of Originium, and at first, Sister Zilan thought you were interested in her since it was where you first met…”

Zhou Jinru took a deep breath, calming his quivering heart. He knew that place well: story stage 1-7, fixed drop for elite materials—Originium. Every unlucky Doctor’s sanctuary. Those with European luck farmed 4-6 for blue and purple stones, but Africans could only live in 1-7, grinding all day, stacking Originium to synthesize Originium groups (blue stones) and purify Originium (purple stones)—especially since Amiya’s second elite promotion required ten purple stones.

He preferred not to recall those days.

But Amiya continued, listing Zhou Jinru’s black marks as if reciting a cherished inventory:

“You used to favor Kroos, often taking her into battle, but after Exusiai arrived, she and Fang started working overtime in the workshop.”

Kroos—Rhodes Island’s top blind sniper and a devil incarnate, her resumes filled recruitment in the HR office. Fang’s traits were the opposite, slow versus fast. Zhou Jinru often mischievously assigned them to the same workshop for shifts.

“One time, you got Officer Hoshiguma’s resume. At first, you were ecstatic, but soon you cursed so ferociously that Jessica, your assistant at the time, cried for ages. We all kept our distance. After work, Jessica complained about your temper and refused to assist you anymore. You said you really wanted Officer Ch’en’s resume, not Hoshiguma’s. You even mocked another player who spent thirty thousand for Hoshiguma, calling her ‘Bear Thirty Thousand’ after she arrived.”

Zhou Jinru’s face darkened. He had spent five packs for Ch’en, but only managed to get two Hoshigumas—his luck was truly abysmal. He couldn’t help but curse, and later pulled Ch’en from a regular banner. “Bear Thirty Thousand” became famous because a player maxed Hoshiguma’s potential after thirty thousand rolls.

“You wanted to buy a swimsuit for Red Bean, and everyone planned to vacation at Siesta, but in the end, nothing came of it…”

By now, Zhou Jinru was entirely clear. He had quit the game just before the summer event started, and his last memory dated eleven months back, less than a year total.

The Doctor Amiya described was him. Zhou Jinru couldn’t understand why simply tapping his phone screen had turned him into a capricious presence here—staring at pretty operators, bullying timid Jessica, only deploying the strongest operators for sorties, leaving the rest to work overtime in base.

Such a bastard Doctor was truly awful. Everyone had their complaints, yet followed the daily work schedule. Every battle was won perfectly; stumbling along the way, the Rhodes Island family grew larger. Though their abilities differed, everyone survived—no one was abandoned.

Then, one day, that bastard Doctor vanished. No matter how they searched, he was nowhere to be found. Operators finished their shifts, but saw no one coming to take over. Sortie teams received no orders, and the office was empty. The assistant had no clue where the Doctor had gone. They scoured all of Rhodes Island, but couldn’t find any trace. Only then did people realize: that bastard had left without warning, silently abandoning everything.

Rhodes Island fell into confusion. Amiya was the public leader, but lacked authority with non-core operators, which eventually led to the family’s disintegration.

Rhodes Island’s prosperity rested on operators from all fields gathering here. Penguin Logistics, Blacksteel, Rhine Labs—all stationed personnel. Even Silverash, the actual controller of Kjerag, and its spiritual leader Pramanix, resided here under the pretext of visiting Cliffheart. The true reason was the notorious bastard Doctor.

Now, he had returned, appearing before Amiya in a way no one could comprehend.

Amiya sniffed, leapt from her chair, feet landing softly on the floor. She stepped closer, grabbing Zhou Jinru’s arm. Warm, living flesh—this was not an illusion.

Still, whether it was a trap or something else, Amiya narrowed her eyes slightly, pulled a portable walkie-talkie from her pocket, and called, “Red!”

Instantly, a flash of blood-red light passed before Zhou Jinru’s eyes. He reflexively turned away, and a cold hand pressed against the back of his neck—as if someone had stuffed a handful of snow inside his collar in the dead of winter. He shuddered, unable to move.

At that moment, a girl in a red coat crouched on the desk, peeking out, confusion written on her beautiful face. Her small nose sniffed gently, and the pair of furry ears atop her head twitched.

After a while, the girl tilted her head, staring at Zhou Jinru, her large tail swaying rhythmically behind her. “It’s the Doctor’s scent. Red remembers. Doctor, you need a bath—you smell of sweat.”

Before Zhou Jinru could react, someone crashed into his arms, hugging him tightly, pointed ears pressed against his jaw.

(End of chapter)