Optional Task Branches:
1. Use it as fuel for a Soul Lantern - Reward: Soul Lantern usage +2 days.
2. Feed it to the little creature in the backyard - Reward: Creature’s affection +50.
3. Preserve it in a potion as a collectible - Reward: Specimen Creation experience +10.
4. Wait for the Pig-Headed Demon to pick up his daughter - Reward: Unknown…
Lynn looked calmly at the four task options presented by the system."Option four, obviously."
Sitting behind the counter, he placed the eerie baby on the table and began calculating something with a serious expression.“I’m a doctor. If someone leaves their child here, and I just dispose of it, wouldn’t that make me the monster? My morals won’t allow it.”“…”“System, don’t you think I deserve a little reward for being so professional?”[Morality +10]
Lynn held his knife and waited for new customers. A couple of minutes later, he glanced at the ghostly infant on the table and saw its features contorting into a hideous twist.[SAN value -1]
Five minutes later, he looked again, noticing cysts of various sizes swelling across its face, and a raspy, unsettling moan emerged from its pitch-black mouth.[SAN value -10]
Ten minutes in, he glanced once more. Black, twisted tendrils had sprouted across the infant’s face, coiling together into grotesque shapes.[SAN value -30]
Lynn’s eye twitched uncontrollably.It was getting worse, just as the system had warned. If he let it be, this ghostly infant was really twisting into something beyond recognition!No way!At this rate, never mind whether that demon will recognize his daughter—he wouldn’t be able to tolerate it any longer.It was too ugly. Horrifyingly ugly!
Grimacing, Lynn stood up, flexing his wrists.“Fine, guess I’ll just give you a little makeover for free. That way, you’ll stop scaring me and start scaring others instead.”
Mask and gloves on, he tied the infant to the counter with a rope.“Creeeak—creeeak—”A series of grotesque mouths opened on the tendrils across the ghostly baby’s face, howling menacingly at Lynn.Smack! Lynn slapped the tendrils back into place.“Behave yourself.”
With a calm expression, Lynn adjusted his monocle and cracked his knuckles. Reaching over, he gripped the baby’s twisted tendrils with both hands and kneaded them like dough.“Waaah—waaah—” The eerie baby let out a horrified wail.[Fear Level of the Ghostly Infant +10]
Plastic surgery is an art, Lynn thought. Although he’d never done a face makeover before, his skills with clay modeling were top-notch.After all, the first step to reshaping a face was to smooth out all that tangled mess, creating a rounder, more balanced base.[Fear Level of the Ghostly Infant +10]
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Don’t squirm.”“As your doctor, it’s my duty to make sure you’re healthy during your stay. Trust me, I’ll handle your little face problem.” Lynn’s face was serious as he rolled the twisted mass into a pliable sphere, setting the foundation for a clean makeover.With a gentle pull—[Fear Level of the Ghostly Infant +20]
And a twist—[Fear Level of the Ghostly Infant +20]
Lynn continued to shape the flesh mass, ensuring it was evenly balanced and elastic. Meanwhile, the baby’s cries grew more panicked.[Fear Level of the Ghostly Infant +20]
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.Outside stood a figure covered in burn scars, dripping with foul-smelling fluid from its eye sockets—a terrifying, ghostly being.“I… want a new face…” the creature rasped in a burned, hollow voice.
Lynn glanced at the creature.[Burnt Ghost]
* Race: Evil Spirit
* Level: 15
* Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
* Combat Ability: Average
* Description: A spirit burned alive in a fire, covered in burns on 99.9% of its body. It holds an intense malice toward anything beautiful.
[Ding! Task Triggered: Help the Burnt Ghost get a new face. Reward: 50 Skull Coins, Surgery Experience +50, Special Reward +1]
“Welcome! Please take a seat over there and wait your turn,” Lynn called out from behind the counter with a professional smile.Splat!A squirt of gooey fluid burst from the ghost baby’s face onto Lynn’s mask.The Burnt Ghost froze.
“Just a moment, I’ll be right with you,” Lynn said, smiling.
Returning to his “makeover,” Lynn grabbed both sides of the ghostly infant’s face with both hands and stretched it.“Waaaah!” the ghostly baby shrieked, its body twisting in terror as Lynn molded the tendrils into twisted shapes.“Almost done. Please be patient,” Lynn called, glancing at the Burnt Ghost with a reassuring smile.
The Burnt Ghost looked at the terrifying spectacle on the counter, its rotting, burned body shivering.A long, drawn-out pull—two meters of tendrils stretched like noodles.[Burnt Ghost SAN value -20]
A twist, then flattening with a rolling pin.[Burnt Ghost SAN value -20]
Something didn’t feel right—this clinic felt far too sinister.
Shivering, the Burnt Ghost asked nervously, “M-may I ask what exactly you’re…”
Without looking up, Lynn kneaded the tendrils into a rounded shape, replying with a professional smile, “This little one’s face was horrifically twisted, practically radioactive-level ugly. As a doctor, it’s my duty to give it a decent look.”The Burnt Ghost felt a chill run through its scorched frame.
“Your… techniques are rather… unconventional…” it stammered, watching as Lynn worked the baby’s face like he was kneading dough. It could almost picture what awaited its face under Lynn’s “care.”The Burnt Ghost’s entire body began trembling.Had it walked into a trap?
Just as this thought crossed its mind, Lynn stretched out his hand and popped a series of cysts on the ghost baby’s face.Splurt! Gooey liquid sprayed everywhere, even onto the Burnt Ghost’s face.
Exploding cysts!"Mommy!!!"[Burnt Ghost SAN value -30]