I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

Chapter 146 The Sin of Peeping at Gods and Hospital Internship

Ivan struggled to sit up in bed.

The movements were slow and weak, so weak that even the trampoline didn't emit that familiar scream.

I was soaked to the bone, and the blankets and quilts looked like they had been drenched in rain.

After a moment of silence, Evan grinned and said, "Well, at least it proves I have plenty of water."

He made a joke and looked at the panel.

Three debuffs and you're instantly hit by three ghosts knocking on the door.

[Gazing upon the truth: Spiritual potential reduced by 20%, duration: 168 hours.]

[Spiritual damage: Mental state reduced by 50%, duration: 168 hours.]

[Sin of Peeping at Gods: The success rate of your participation in rituals, potion-making, meditation, and spellcasting is reduced by 1000%, lasting 168 hours.]

Holy crap!

When Evan saw these three lines of text, he was completely stunned.

"A 1000% reduction? Lasting for a week!?"

"Old Tree, are you that shy? You get so stressed out just from looking at me!?"

This buff seems to be quite powerful; even the Purification Potion and the Anti-Moon Potion can no longer purify it.

The first two are fine; they only temporarily reduce the attributes.

The third one is absolutely fatal!

What does a 1000% reduction in the success rate of anything related to magic mean?

This means that within the next week, he won't be able to refine any medicine, and he won't even be able to set up a basic concealment ritual.

After all, in such a world, failure means much more than just digesting some materials!

He still remembers the $100 that was stolen when he failed to appraise the Silver Key for the first time because he was distracted!

He'll be forced to take the pill without a condom again these next few days.

Now, he has truly become a brute force with only physical strength left.

"The sin of peeping at God —"

He read the name of the debuff and gave a wry smile.

"The gods of this world are really stingy!"

On the other side of Federal Avenue, there is an upscale apartment complex.

In a well-decorated living room, a young man in a sharp black suit leaned comfortably in a leather chair, holding a glass of amber-colored bourbon whiskey.

Willens Sap, a 22-year-old expert financier.

A woman was sitting opposite him.

She wore a veil and a dark robe. Her skin was fair, and the veil covered most of her face, revealing only the outline of her chin and lips.

She exudes a captivating sense of mystery.

She looked to be around 3,000 years old. On the table in front of her was a crystal ball, with a faint blue light slowly flowing inside.

Just then, the crystal ball suddenly trembled.

A voice came from beneath the veil: "I have detected that from now until the next seven days, Evan Ludwig Arkham will be at his weakest in recent times."

"This is the perfect time you've been waiting for, Mr. Sap."

Willens put down his wine glass, a smirk playing on his lips, and said, "These lowlifes are always like this. There's no need to make contact with them; they'll make mistakes on their own."

He stood up, walked to the fireplace, and warmed his hands by the fire.

"With no other options, they will naturally become my debtors."

"Kane, you used to work for Alcott, used the life of a middle-class student as a medium to curse him, and you even went to his house."

"What kind of person do you think this guy is?"

The woman called Kayne raised her head, revealing her face beneath the veil.

The left side is beautiful and charming, with smooth, jade-like skin and slightly upturned eyes, exuding a captivating allure.

The right side was severely burned, and the skin was twisted into a dark red scar tissue.

The eyelids were distorted by the scars, making the person's face look incredibly grotesque.

In the dim light, there is a celestial being on the left and a demon on the right.

Kaine whispered, "A vulgar person who can't control his desires, a fool full of flaws."

"This guy knew absolutely nothing about supernatural powers back then. If it weren't for that meddlesome witcher, he would have died soon from being exploited by money."

Willens chuckled and said, "I really don't understand you!"

"You're a witch, yet you've developed the traits of a financier and a prophet. Don't you ever want to become a master?"

Kaine smiled faintly, the smile creating a stark contrast between her half-beautiful and half-terrifying face.

The left side is like a gentle breeze, while the right side makes one want to vomit.

"My young master, fate often doesn't wait until you're ready to bring you hardship."

Willens nodded, stood up, and straightened his cuffs.

"That statement is absolutely true for Ivan Arkham!"

The next morning, Evan got up early, washed up, and went to school with his backpack.

It's Friday, and he plans to go see Richard and Hill tonight to ask them all the questions that have been building up over the past few days.

The morning classes ended quickly, and the reversal effects of various potions were completed one after another.

You reversed the side effects of the three-stage Anti-Moon Potion.

Your silver resistance is permanently increased by 2.5%.

Your Sun Affinity is permanently increased by 3%. (After consuming)

[You reversed the side effects of the improved, unfinished Eclipse Potion.]

[Special Trait: Black Sun Wings +1%]

"The actual effect is indeed different from before. The anti-moon silver resistance has increased by 0.5%, and the extraordinary properties of the solar eclipse have doubled, but the self-awareness attribute is gone."

"Byron's improvements were indeed effective, but unfortunately I'm now burdened with the sin of peeping at God, so I can't do any extraordinary things for a week."

After lunch, Evan and Morales took the tram to the medical school on the north side of the Charles River.

The medical school remains as busy as ever.

Due to the recent worsening of the illness, many students have developed dark circles under their eyes from exhaustion.

Having already adapted to the environment yesterday, Morales quickly settled into his role.

His main task at this stage is to learn how to operate various instruments and related precautions.

Simply put, it means to be an assistant.

The situation is different for Evan. Since he volunteered to be transferred to the hospital yesterday, Dr. Forem immediately offered to personally take him there after receiving a phone call.

The two boarded the medical school's carriage.

Ivan asked curiously, "What happened that you wanted me to go there in person?"

Forem leaned back in the carriage seat, a hint of solemnity on his refined face.

"Some issues involving the supernatural have arisen; it seems someone is secretly conducting some kind of ritual in the hospital."

"Some patients who are already in poor mental condition are affected by the disease and develop tendencies toward madness and self-harm."

He sighed and continued.

"At the same time, due to the influx of more patients, the clinical testing department has been operating beyond capacity for a long time, and I need to reallocate staff."

About thirty minutes later, the carriage stopped.

The two arrived at the gate of a rather large hospital.

Sage General Hospital, the largest comprehensive medical institution in Bolton.

The main building is a classical building with granite as its main feature, and the stone walls between the columns on both sides are covered with iconic ivy.

The wings on both sides have been continuously expanded over the past few decades, and the architectural style of mixing red brick and granite makes the whole hospital look like a growing giant.

The entrance was bustling with people of all kinds, coming and going.

Doctors and nurses in white coats hurried along, carrying patient records in their hands.

An ordinary-looking man, dressed in plain clothes, supported his family members, his face filled with anxiety.

There were also some well-dressed middle-class people, probably there to see a private doctor.

As a top expert in the field of clinical laboratory medicine, as soon as Forem stepped off the carriage, a middle-aged doctor quickly came to greet him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Forem introduced himself.

"This is my new assistant, just call him Arkham."

"He's a skilled and energetic young man. You can entrust him with any special issues or matters that you're hesitant to handle."

He then introduced Evan, saying, "This is Dr. Banner from the hospital's laboratory."

Ivan flashed a bright smile: "I've heard so much about you, Dr. Banner."

Dr. Banner is a man around fifty years old.

He was so muscular that he didn't look like a doctor; he looked more like a retired boxer.

He has a square face with a strong jawline, and his hair is different from other doctors'; he only has a simple buzz cut.

It perfectly matches the image of Dr. Banner that Ivan remembered.

Banner grinned, revealing a set of neat white teeth.

"To be Dr. Forem's handpicked assistant, and to be so young, has a bright future ahead of him."

Banner led the two into the hospital through the back door, talking as they walked.

"Recently, due to those strange infectious diseases, the number of people in hospitals has surged, and the flow of people has become more complicated."

"Besides the usual wailing and noise at night, there were also some people doing some sneaky things."

"In some places, you can often hear noises whose source you can't find."

"Many female nurses were so frightened that they cried, or they were too afraid to even leave their offices."

Forem nodded and asked, "Anything else?"

Banner continued, "The situation is even more serious in the lab. Some of the patients who have come in recently seem to have something else in their bodies that is highly contagious."

"Several lab technicians began experiencing hallucinations and showed signs of aggression towards their colleagues."

"On several occasions, lab technicians would suddenly drop the samples they were carrying in the hallway halfway through their work, causing very serious leaks."

He said, his face full of exhaustion, "I really don't know what's wrong with me."

Forem frowned slightly: "Didn't you go to see the police?"

Banner scoffed, "Rely on them? Those guys are hoping to get as far away from the hospital as possible right now."

"As for those detectives who are said to have special abilities, they are now mainly focused on investigating the source of the plague."

"None of them came; they told us to handle it ourselves."

Forem pinched the bridge of his nose; he understood.

The municipal authorities put pressure on him, forcing him to handle the matter.

As they talked, they entered the hospital.

A scene from a classic American TV series.

The long corridor is lined with wards on both sides.

The ceiling was low, and doctors and nurses were constantly moving around busily.

Strange noises came from different hospital beds.

Some people were groaning, some were muttering something incomprehensible, and someone suddenly screamed before falling silent again.

Interspersed throughout were the nurses' startled gasps.

At first glance, it doesn't look like a hospital; it looks more like a mental hospital.

Banner sighed: "Fortunately, the police are inhumane, but the Chamber of Commerce is quite proactive; they've already sent people over to maintain order."

As soon as he finished speaking, several burly men in black uniforms walked over from the corridor ahead and quickly stopped the two patients who were causing trouble.

Forem nodded, took off his expensive custom-made coat, and draped it over his arm.

"Arkham, I'll go deal with those experimental samples."

"Have Dr. Banner take you to the place where the strange noises used to be."

Evan grinned and said, "No problem."

Banner looked at Ivan, who was calm and composed at the moment, and said with a smile.

"Dr. Forem is a big shot in our hospital, so you'd better work hard, young man."

Ivan smiled and nodded: "Thank you for your suggestion and reminder."

Banner then led Evan through the corridor to the stairwell on the second floor.

It was a wide stone staircase with cast iron handrails, the paint of which was already peeling.

Banner said, "Two patients fell down the stairs and died here, and then strange noises started coming from here a few days ago."

"Several nurses fainted from fright. No matter how we examined them, we couldn't find anything."

"This has rendered the main staircase practically useless at night; nobody dares to walk down it."

Ivan nodded slightly and noted down the location.

Banner then led Evan up to the third floor.

Compared to the noise on the first and second floors, the third floor is much quieter.

But from time to time, groans and whispers could still be heard coming from one of the wards.

Banner led Evan through the corridor to a balcony on the outside of the third floor.

The balcony was small, and the iron railings were covered in rust.

From here, you can overlook the small garden behind the hospital, where the trees are bare in the cold December wind.

Banner pointed to the balcony floor: "Five days ago, two patients got into a fight here and then fell off at the same time."

"Then two more patients came and squatted here, scribbling and drawing on the ground."

17

Ivan looked down and saw various colors of chalk marks remaining on the ground.

Banner sighed and said, "Ever since then, people who pass by here have been inexplicably losing money."

He joked, "I feel like I shouldn't have been a doctor; I should have been a detective."

Ivan chuckled: "Doctor, you're more suited to be a giant than a doctor or a detective."

Banner paused for a moment, then burst into laughter: "You're quite the joker."

He then took Evan back to his office on the second floor, where the nurses processed Evan's identification documents and entry permit.

"These two places are currently the most serious, especially at night."

"You shouldn't be afraid of ghosts, right?"

Ivan grinned, his tone matter-of-fact.

"Of course I'm afraid of ghosts! I've even peed my pants from being scared by ghosts before."

The two young nurses behind the counter couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh when they heard this.

Banner blinked, somewhat bewildered: "Then how will you investigate?"

Ivan patted his chest and said, "Although I'm afraid of ghosts, and I've even wet my pants from being scared by them before, it's unlikely that I'm afraid of ghosts."

"Don't worry! I'll take care of those two things tonight."

After saying that, he took his identification, put on the white coat handed to him by the nurse, and strode out.

Banner and the two nurses looked at each other in bewilderment.

"???"