Newbie's Quest: Awaiting Challenge
Chapter 65: The Anomaly in the Billing Statement

Ethan Walker, known for his level-headedness, was not one to be easily startled. Having simulated the scenario over a thousand times, he had a clear understanding of both the simulated and real-world dynamics of the scenario. If a crucial clue or an inevitable scene within the scenario had been altered, perhaps his confusion would be less pronounced.

At the outset of the simulation of the Seventh Hospital scenario, Ethan paid keen attention to a medical record that bore his name and photograph. However, during the actual simulation, this record seemed inconsequential. Why go through great lengths to "delete" something seemingly unimportant? This act only served to draw more attention.

The audience engaged actively in the discussion:

"Ethan seems lost in thought. What's he pondering?"

"This Seventh Hospital scenario is rightfully a five-star horror experience. Just watching it gives me goosebumps, let alone being in it."

"Ethan, snap out of it! You can't stay there too long. I have a bad feeling."

"Guys, once you're in the scenario, all intuitions go out the window. When has there ever been a safe scenario?"

"Why is this medical record blacked out? How odd."

"There's definitely something fishy when only this record is unreadable. Must be a critical patient!"

"You've got the essence of redundant exposition..."

"I'm more surprised that Ethan is actually diligently looking for clues and solving puzzles!"

"Ethan has always been brilliant at solving puzzles. Don't let the rival guild's rhetoric mislead you!"

"Can we focus on Ethan's next move, please?"

"Didn't the Seventh Hospital scenario have some issue with live feed synchronization? Can Ethan's almost non-existent operation team handle it?"

"Who said synchronization issues are operational? Remember the Emerald Tempest scenario? Never mind, let's not get into that."

"Just say it! You're killing me with suspense "

Ethan remained silent for a long while, attracting not only the audience's attention but also that of James Mitchell at the billing desk.

"Ethan?" James, having been corrected by Ethan himself, was gradually getting used to addressing him by his full name, though he occasionally slipped back into calling him "Ethan God." "Anything unusual over there?"

Ethan restored the medical record.

"Nothing much, just a damaged page in the medical record."

"Ah, I see." James nodded, sensing Ethan's reluctance to elaborate and chose not to probe further.

Perhaps conditioned by the frequent suppression faced by Emerald Tempest, James had developed an uncanny ability to read others' expressions.

Ethan, seemingly nonchalant, was in fact quite perceptive; he simply chose not to intervene at times.

But this time, he spoke up.

"James, don't be reserved. It's just us in this scenario... maybe three, or four, or even five of us. But we can trust each other."

Ethan's prowess was undeniable, compelling even his harshest critics to believe in him.

His expression of trust in James was particularly moving.

"Alright, Ethan. I've made a discovery. Take a look."

The audience shared in the sentiment.

"Ethan seems like a straightforward guy, but he's quite considerate of his teammate's feelings."

"As a long-time fan of James for a year and a half, I'm grateful to Ethan for including him. The poor guy was so misled in Emerald Tempest."

"Don't get too emotional just yet... Ethan might just be setting the stage for future freeloading," commented one viewer.

"Those who said he cares about his teammates' feelings... Felix Rayburn would like to have a word," added another.

Despite the bleak and desolate atmosphere within the scenario, the chat was bustling with activity. With Ethan's growing fame, more guilds were turning their attention to him. The Avalon Guild, from the president to the ordinary members, shared a close relationship with Ethan, almost aligning themselves with him. The relationship between the Emerald Tempest Guild and Ethan was tense; their fans and Ethan's followers were like oil and water. But with Henrik Jensen's support, the already fearless Ethan became even more audacious.

The Eternal Dynasty, a wealthy and established guild, was more accommodating towards a unique newcomer like Ethan. After all, a guild of their stature had harbored various eccentrics over the years. Occasionally, their players would discuss Ethan, sharing opinions about his strength, intelligence, and reflexes. Impetuous members like Natalie Clark had already teamed up with Ethan in private, witnessing his capabilities firsthand.

However, the Eternal Dynasty showed no explicit intention of pursuing him, given their sufficient reserves of players and no immediate need for a standout newcomer like Ethan.

Their old rival, the Titan Vanguard, was quite interested in Ethan, as rumors suggested. However, their tendency to quickly lose interest in new talents was well-known. Their strategy was to sweet-talk promising newcomers into joining, test them in a secondary or tertiary team for a month, and then either sell them off or let them go if they didn't fit in. Their reputation among new players wasn't great, often criticized for using and discarding talent like disposable bubble gum. Other guilds, lacking the resources of the Eternal Dynasty, Titan Vanguard, or Emerald Tempest, had an ambiguous stance towards Ethan. The owner of the Mysterious Depths Guild had mentioned Ethan in an interview, but being a sly old fox known for playing dumb, he evaded questions about his thoughts on Ethan.

Now, members from various guilds and individual players, both big and small, were lurking in Ethan's live stream, though restricted by their identities, they couldn't openly comment even if they saw through things.

In the scenarios, normalcy often meant triviality, but anything obscured was likely a clue. The blacked-out medical record was a telling piece of evidence, and Ethan's apparent disregard for it seemed somewhat deliberate. Putting this aside for the moment, Ethan turned his attention to the clue James Mitchell had for him, deeming it more important. On the screen, Ethan had joined James at the billing desk to examine the clue together. James wanted Ethan to see a stack of billing records, quite thick, spanning several dozen pages. These records appeared to be handwritten, likely a backup created by a nurse. Ethan flipped through them from front to back; they covered over a decade, yet the number of patient names was surprisingly limited for such a large hospital. Perhaps this record was incomplete.

Ethan didn't ponder over this too much and continued flipping. The further he went, the fewer the names became. He noticed something peculiar: other patients were listed by name, but the occupant of Room 501 was registered only by the room number, shrouded in mystery.

Moreover, the billing record for this patient continued up to December 18, 2060 - the very date they had entered the scenario.