Inside the collective dormitory for intern doctors at Tuya Hospital, the other roommates were either not yet returned from night shifts or sound asleep.
Only a handsome young man was tirelessly practicing suturing.
"201st stitch, 202nd stitch..."
Zhou Can would silently count every stitch he completed.
His goal for today was to complete 300 stitches.
Even though he was already exhausted and drowsiness surged over him like waves, he still clenched his teeth and persisted.
He must be harsh on himself; with the internship year coming to an end and wanting to stay on as staff, the upcoming residency recruitment in two days was his only chance.
Tuya Hospital was a provincial triple-A hospital with comprehensive facilities and an array of famous doctors.
To be able to work here would mean not only learning many advanced medical techniques but also broadening one's horizons and elevating one's overall scope. The room for growth was vast, and the future appeared bright.
Everyone wanted to stay, so the competition was sure to be intense.
He was only stronger in pathological diagnosis; his medical skills were far behind those of the outstanding interns.
To stay, he had to work harder than others.
The piece of pigskin crowded with dense stitches bore witness to his sweat.
Pigskin closely resembles human skin, making it an excellent tool for practicing suturing.
The closer the practice material is to human tissue, the better the practicing effect.
Drowsiness grew more intense, and the wall clock had already pointed to midnight.
He ran to wash his face with cold water, dispelled the sleepiness, and continued to persevere with gritted teeth.
Almost two hours later, he managed to complete 300 stitches with an iron will.
[Congratulations, you have completed a hundred thousand sutures and triggered the Experience Points system. Medical practice and surgeries will now earn you medical skill Experience Points.]
Zhou Can vigorously shook his head.
What the hell is this?
As his thoughts wandered, something even more magical happened.
A display appeared before his eyes.
[Zhou Can, Intern Doctor]
[Pathological Diagnosis, Level 2, Current Experience Points 89.5/100. Diagnostic ability at an excellent standard for residency training.]
[Incision, Level 1, Current Experience Points 7.6/10. Dissection ability at a moderate level for interns.]
[Suturing, Level 1, Current Experience Points 8.1/10. Suturing ability at an excellent level for interns.]
[Ligation, Level 1, Current Experience Points 8.5/10. Ligation ability at an excellent level for interns.]
[Hemostasis, Level 1, Current Experience Points 4.8/10. Hemostasis ability at a failing level for interns.]
...
After reviewing all attributes, he found all the ratings to be very fair.
Pathological diagnosis had always been his strong suit and his only edge.
During department discussions on cases, he outperformed the vast majority of interns.
Suturing and ligation were the medical techniques he practiced the most.
Reaching an excellent level for an intern was not surprising.
Other medical skills lagged behind due to limited energy and the inability to focus on them all.
"What's the use of this Experience Points system?"
Zhou Can had read many novels where the protagonists acquire a system and then skyrocket in capability. Now that such good fortune had befallen him, he naturally wanted to thoroughly mine this 'gold mine.'
He tried to put another stitch into the pigskin.
[+0.1 Suturing Experience, +0.1 Ligation Experience.]
He couldn't help but feel ecstatic.
Previously, after practicing suturing a hundred thousand times, his experience remained at 8.1. Now, just one stitch had increased his experience to 8.2; the rate of progress was like riding a rocket.
At this rate of increase in Experience Points, only 18 more stitches were needed for his Suturing Skill to advance to Level 2.
He suddenly felt a surge of energy, his sleepiness completely gone.
He ignored that the hands of the clock had already pointed to midnight and continued practicing suturing on the piece of pigskin.
The Experience Points kept rising rapidly.
When he completed the fourteenth stitch, it was as if electricity surged through his body, leaving him thoroughly rejuvenated.
[Congratulations, your Ligation Skill has advanced to Level 2! Current Experience Points 0/100. Ligation ability at a lower standard for residency training.]
He seemed to have reached a new peak in his understanding, application, and operational level of ligation.
Good lord, he's already leveled up to the training standard so quickly!
With a needle in hand, the world is mine.
Itching to test his skills, he tried tying a square knot with both hands on the spot.
It only took 0.5 seconds.
Before, it would take him at least 5 seconds to tie a square knot, now his speed had increased tenfold.
And compared to the knots he tied before his promotion, both neatness and solidity are incomparable.
It is said that the directors' knot-tying skills are so advanced that they can hold the needle with one hand and operate on tofu pudding or a cotton ball, ensuring no damage to the tofu pudding while tying very sturdy knots.
Just think about how fragile tofu pudding is; it would break at the slightest tug during tying.
Zhou Can is still miles away from that level.
However, he believes that with this magical Experience Points system, it's not impossible to outperform the directors.
After trying to tie with both hands, he tried tying with one hand, which took 18 seconds, and the knot was rather sturdy, pulling a bit tight on the sutured area.
He didn't attempt to tie knots holding the forceps with one hand.
If he couldn't even tie well with his hands, it would definitely be worse with forceps.
Just like the swordsmen in martial arts novels, who must train their swordsmanship until it's an extension of their limbs before they make a little achievement.
Forceps and tweezers, in his hands, were far from reaching the realm of being alive.
They were even somewhat clumsy, far from being nimble.
Zhou Can kept his head down and continued to practice hard.
Since his ligation level improved, his suturing speed also sped up a bit.
Soon, his Suturing Skill Experience Points gratifyingly rose to 10/10.
[Congratulations, your Suturing Skill has advanced to Level 2! Current Experience Points 0/100. Suturing ability is at a lower level within the training standards.]
Finally, he leveled up.
He split his face in a silly grin.
The wonderful feeling of upgrading his medical skills fascinated him.
This also meant that the gap between him and the outstanding interns was closing.
At this rate of improvement, it won't be long before he surpasses them.
After leveling up in suturing, previous confusing aspects of suturing became crystal clear. His application and operation of suturing had also improved dramatically.
He couldn't wait to experience the upgraded Suturing Skill.
Holding the forceps and needle, piercing the pigskin, threading through, and then tying the knot.
All these movements were done smoothly in one go, seemingly with a bit of a master's flair.
The time taken for one stitch has been reduced by almost 50 seconds. The suturing effect has been substantially elevated; the skin edges of the wound were neatly aligned, the angle at which the needle pierced was just right, and the distance from the skin margin was spot on.
This is the ability after leveling up in suturing.
Now, looking back at his previous sutures.
They were just two words: "Trash!"
He could now spot any deficiencies and flaws in the sutures at a glance.
It felt like looking back at the homework done in the first grade after reaching sixth grade, full of disdain. How can the handwriting be so ugly? How can such a simple arithmetic problem be wrong, so stupid.
He felt a rapid improvement in his medical skills, and the invisible pressure brought by those outstanding interns had almost entirely dissipated.
In its place was brimming confidence exuding from his every look.
At this moment, this piece of pigskin had already been fully sutured.
Zhou Can picked up the scalpel, ready to squeeze the last bit of utility value out of it.
Finding the right angle, the scalpel carefully slid through.
[Cutting Experience +0.1.]
Every time he made an incision, the Cutting Experience would increase by 0.1.
After 21 cuts, this piece of pigskin was of no use anymore.
Seeing that his Incision Skill was only 0.3 Experience Points short of leveling up to Level 2, although he was reluctant, he had to dispose of this trash.
Tomorrow, he'll buy another piece of pigskin, and surely he will be able to level up the Incision Skill to Level 2.
The clock was already pointing towards 1 a.m.; it was time to sleep.
He had to go to work tomorrow.