Chapter 17: Apparently, I Should Be Dead

Winter did not even have enough energy left to respond to Summer’s mockery.

The usual softness and innocence on her face were completely gone. There was no sweet smile, no pitiful look, and no tears to make people feel sorry for her.

There was only emptiness.

Judging by her condition, Winter must have struggled desperately to stay alive inside the Polluted Zone before Archer finally cleared out the remaining mutated creatures.

Honestly, the fact that she had managed to make it back alive was already a miracle.

Summer looked at her for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face. "Where’s my dear fiancé, Sister? I thought you two would make up and survive together."

To be honest, she was kind of disgusted when she mentioned Ryland, but for the sake of rage-baiting Winter, she gladly brought him up.

"Dead," Winter eventually replied. "Got eaten by a spider."

Summer hissed under her breath because being eaten by a spider must have been both disgusting and a little scary.

Yes, spiders were her number one enemy. She hoped that she would never encounter one inside a Polluted Zone.

"What a pity..." Summer put on a sad expression, but her acting was so bad that anyone with eyes could tell she did not mean a single word.

A moment later, she shrugged. "But anyway, he wasn’t even that good in bed."

The other people who heard her words immediately shook their heads.

One Sentinel slowly shook his head. "This woman has no shame. How can she talk about her dead fiancé like that?"

A Guide beside him shrugged. "Why not? Compared to Archer, her fiancé must’ve been tiny and couldn’t even last three minutes."

"Tch, just like my boyfriend."

The Guide immediately turned toward her. "Sister, respectfully, please break up!"

Back to Winter, she tried to take another step forward, but the moment she finally reached a place she considered safe, whatever strength she had left seemed to disappear all at once.

In less than a minute, she finally collapsed onto the floor and lost consciousness. The medical team quickly gathered around her and carried her away on a stretcher.

Summer watched the whole thing in silence and she did not even feel much when she saw Winter being carried away.

After all, Winter might be the original Summer’s sister, but she was not her sister.

As long as Winter did not bother her, Summer did not really care what happened to her.

She quickly looked away. "Zoey, where’s the examination room again?"

Before Zoey could answer, Archer spoke first.

"Just follow me." He glanced at Summer before adding, "I have to go there too."

"Okay!"

Summer immediately followed him down the hall.

The medical section of the headquarters was divided into several examination rooms. However, when they reached the end of the hallway, Archer stopped in front of a room that looked noticeably different from the others, even the door looked expensive.

Summer looked at Archer’s door, then she looked at the ordinary examination room she had been directed toward.

Of course.

Apparently, even medical examination rooms had a social class.

Since Archer was an elite Sentinel, he had his own separate examination room, and judging by the door alone, Summer could already tell that the inside was probably much more luxurious than hers.

"This way, Miss." A staff member gestured toward another room.

"Let’s meet again after the examination," Archer said.

Summer raised her eyebrows. She had honestly expected Archer to say goodbye right here. Their mission was already complete, they were safely out of the Polluted Zone, and he no longer needed guiding anytime soon.

Apparently, however, he was still reluctant to say goodbye to his precious Guide.

Summer could not blame him. After all, where else would he find another Guide with 96% compatibility?

"Alright," Summer replied before reluctantly pulling her eyes away from Archer’s fancy door.

She followed the staff member toward her own examination room, and for some reason, she suddenly felt like she had been sent to economy class while Archer casually walked into first class.

The difference became even more obvious once she stepped inside.

Her examination room was not bad. It was clean, bright, and filled with medical equipment, but there was definitely no fancy couch.

Summer was still looking around when a woman in a white coat turned toward her. "Summer Beaumont?"

"Yes."

She smiled. "I’m Doctor Jojo. I’ll be handling your examination today."

Doctor Jojo glanced at the tablet in her hand before pointing toward the examination bed.

"Please sit down. Since you just returned from a Polluted Zone, we need to check for external injuries, pollution exposure, infection, and any unusual changes in your body."

Summer obediently sat down. "Will it take long?"

"Usually around twenty minutes."

That was not too bad.

Doctor Jojo placed a small device against Summer’s wrist. A thin light moved slowly up her arm before several numbers appeared on the screen.

"Heart rate is normal."

Another scan.

"Body temperature is also normal."

After that, Doctor Jojo picked up a larger scanner and moved it slowly in front of Summer’s body.

Summer sat there quietly while the machine made several soft beeping sounds.

The more the machine beeped, the stranger Doctor Jojo’s expression became.

Summer’s rabbit ears slowly lowered. Why did doctors always make faces like that before saying anything?

"Is there something wrong with me, Doctor?" Summer finally asked.

Doctor Jojo studied her tablet for a few moments before saying, "No. Actually, that’s the strange part."

Summer sighed because that did not sound comforting at all.

Doctor Jojo turned the screen toward her. "Your condition is extremely stable."

Summer stared at the numbers without understanding any of them. "Isn’t that good?"

"It is." Doctor Jojo nodded. "But for an F-Rank Guide who just spent several hours inside a Polluted Zone, your mental energy should show at least some signs of exhaustion. I heard you need to have your rank reevaluated?"

Summer nodded. "Yeah. I’ll do that after this."

Doctor Jojo seemed to think about something for a moment before saying, "Your condition is actually quite unusual, Miss. I’ve never seen an F-Rank Guide successfully guide an SSS-Rank Sentinel and still be alive afterward."

The nurse standing beside Doctor Jojo nodded seriously. "If they don’t die, the Guide’s mental state usually drops so badly that they can no longer function normally. But I think... your brain is still healthy, Miss."

Yes, Summer’s brain was indeed healthy and fine.

"Actually, I think it would be better if you took the reevaluation test at the main headquarters since the testing equipment there is more advanced and comprehensive," Doctor Jojo suggested. "I’ll write a recommendation letter for you, so you can go to Zone 0."