Damn it, I'm surrounded by insane Alphas!

After they returned to Y City, Gu Chen took pity on them and gave him three days off.

On the first day of the holiday, Shi Ran got up very early.

Since returning from the game, I've been busy with all the trivial matters at the company and haven't had a chance to visit my mother in the hospital.

Today he specially bought his mother's favorite cakes and dumplings, carrying them in big bags to the hospital.

So much time had passed that he couldn't remember which ward it was, and he had to ask for directions the whole way to find it.

When I arrived at the ward door, my mother was still asleep.

Because of the medication, she is waking up for less and less time each day.

Shi Ran didn't go in; she just stood quietly outside the door watching that frail figure.

He had been wandering in the dungeon for nearly ten years, and it had been far too long since he had properly seen his mother.

As he was thinking, two figures walked up behind him. It was his mother's attending physician, followed by a younger omega, who was probably an intern and looked quite handsome.

The doctor flipped through the medical record in his hand and asked, "Are you a family member of the patient, Su Wenxin?"

"Yes, I'm her son... Doctor, how is my mother?"

"Your mother is currently in a critical period. She must complete all chemotherapy on schedule over the next two months before we can assess the subsequent effects."

Shi Ran's heart tightened. He had just used the two million he earned from the game to pay off his previous chemotherapy and hospitalization fees, and now he needed to undergo chemotherapy for another two months...

That's probably another few million gone...

"What about two months from now? Is there a chance of improvement?"

"Frankly speaking, with the current level of medical technology, there is no cure. We can only do our best to control and slow down the process."

Shi Ran's heart sank. His mother had primary autoimmune fibrosis, a very rare disease. Shi Ran had inquired about it in the dungeon using available resources, but there was currently no cure.

The doctor's words were tantamount to a death sentence.

He nodded reluctantly, turned around, pushed open the ward door, and went inside.

The intern who remained outside the ward whispered to the attending physician after he left, "Professor, didn't you mention a new treatment in Europe at the conference you attended last week? Why...?"

The female doctor watched the two figures disappear into the ward from afar and sighed. "The first phase of clinical trials for that treatment showed good results, but it's extremely expensive, costing at least tens of millions, which is simply unaffordable for ordinary families."

"Besides, the cure rate is only about 30%. What's the point of telling him now, other than giving him an unattainable hope and even more pressure?"

The intern paused for a moment upon hearing this.

He glanced at the ward with a complicated expression, then said nothing more.

In the ward, Shi Ran gently put down his things and looked at the thin profile of the woman on the hospital bed.

He had never seen his mother collapse.

His parents divorced a long time ago. In his memory, his father was always painting in his study, and he always smelled strongly of ink.

He didn't like the smell; he preferred the gentle, clean scent of soap on his mother.

His mother, relying on her meager salary as a doctor, single-handedly raised him.

To earn more money, she would go out to see patients every weekend morning.

She would get up and rush to the hospital even when she received an emergency call in the middle of the night. She was always on duty during the Chinese New Year shift, just for that little bit of overtime pay.

Coincidentally, this was the hospital where she worked.

So now, many doctors in this ward, and even on this floor, know her.

She worked here her whole life, saving many lives, but in the end, she collapsed from overwork.

Shi Ran felt a lump in her throat, thinking that her mother wouldn't have worked so hard if it weren't for her.

Maybe I wouldn't have gotten sick, and I wouldn't have to suffer like this now.

Therefore, he always felt guilty about his mother's illness.

Seeing the astronomical treatment cost at the time made me act impulsively and sign that inexplicable "experimental" contract.

He thought to himself that he had to cure her no matter what.

Now that we've got the money, we never expected that the subsequent mess would turn out to be such a disaster.

Those alphas, who were supposed to be virtual characters, somehow ended up in his reality due to some kind of worldline merging.

Indeed, there is no such thing as easy money in this world.

As he was thinking, he realized that his mother had woken up sometime earlier and was looking at him tenderly.

"Xiao Ran is here..."

Her mother's voice was weak, but tinged with amusement, "You've lost so much weight in just a few weeks! Is work too strenuous?"

Shi Ran's eyes immediately reddened.

He quickly lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "No, I've just been a bit busy lately."

His mother looked at him, her eyes filled with heartache: "Don't overwork yourself... Ranran, actually, Mom has thought about it. My illness can't be cured, and spending money is a bottomless pit. Why don't we just leave the hospital and go home to recuperate?"

"no."

Shi Ran suddenly looked up, her tone unusually firm, "The doctor said I need to undergo chemotherapy for two months first to see how it goes. Mom, don't worry about the money, I'll take care of it."

The mother was also stunned. How come it felt like the little guy had become a completely different person after only a few weeks apart?

Have they become more composed and better able to make decisions?

She occasionally forced a smile, her tone becoming more relaxed.

"Mom, I have great news for you! I won first prize in that competition a while ago! The prize money is 500,000! And the doctor said he's helped us apply for a special subsidy from the hospital... No problem."

Mom was stunned for a moment, then finally smiled: "Really? Our Ran is so amazing! That's wonderful..."

But as she smiled, her eyes dimmed, and she sighed softly.

"I never imagined that after working here my whole life, I'd end up lying here..."

She paused, then turned her gaze back to Shi Ran.

"Ranran, actually, Mom doesn't have any other wish right now. I just hope to see you settled down and put your mind at ease."

Suddenly, his nose stung, and for no apparent reason, Gu Chen's cold face flashed through his mind.

He quickly shook off the thought, talked with his mother for a while, and only left the ward after she fell asleep from exhaustion.

He has to go to work now and doesn't have time to take care of her full-time, so he has to hire a caregiver.

The cost of caregivers plus chemotherapy fees... Shi Ran couldn't help but sigh; the road ahead is long and arduous.