"Doctor! Doctor! I feel like I'm about to give birth!"
In the dimly lit clinic, a woman covered in blood screamed in agony, struggling as she was strapped to a rusty, dilapidated birthing chair.
"Hurry up! Doctor, please take a look, the baby's coming out!!"
"Why aren't you coming?! Doctor! Doctor!? Are you even a doctor?? Turn around and look at me!!!"
The pregnant woman's screams grew sharper, her struggles becoming more frantic.
But the doctor, standing nearby, never turned to look at her. He just nodded and replied lazily, "Okay, okay, I'm coming, don't rush. I'm preparing the delivery tools. Ma'am, you wouldn't want your baby to fall on the floor the moment it's born, would you?"
These words seemed to have a devastating effect on the woman's gradually escalating panic. Her frantic energy suddenly stalled. Her bloodshot eyes slowly began to clear, and her gaze mechanically wandered to her belly.
She muttered, almost dazed, "The baby... yes, the baby... the baby can't fall on the ground, I have to give birth, the baby can't fall on the ground..."
She kept repeating those words, her emotions gradually stabilizing.
Soon, the clinic fell quiet again, with only the sound of metal clanging in the background.
It was the doctor making the delivery tools.
Tiny sparks flew from the doctor's workspace, briefly lighting up the dark space.
The pregnant woman's attention was drawn to the sparks. She hugged her belly and turned her head to look at the doctor's back. Her eyes started to redden again, and her expression began to twist into something more monstrous.
"Doctor! What are you doing?! What are you doing?!"
"What? Didn't I tell you? I'm preparing the delivery tools. There are too many patients in the clinic lately, and the nurses are helping out, so I have to do these little tasks myself."
As he spoke, the doctor turned around and held up a rough steel saw that he had just finished assembling.
A sunny, proud smile spread across his face as he said, "See? It's ready."
The moment the pregnant woman saw the steel saw, her body suddenly jerked, and the leather straps pulling at her struggles made a grating sound as they scraped against the rusty chair.
Her legs kicked violently, splattering the blood everywhere.
"What are you going to do?! This isn't a delivery tool! What are you going to do?!"
"Ma'am, please take a good look. This is a delivery saw."
The doctor brought the saw closer to the pregnant woman, his eyes lingering on the irregular teeth of the blade as if admiring a piece of art.
He clicked his tongue, praising it, "This is the cutting-edge delivery technique featured in SCIENCE. All we need to do is use this saw to cut open your belly, and your baby will be born safely in the birthing chair, avoiding the tragedy of the baby potentially falling to the ground during natural delivery. It also reduces the risk of infection. Moreover, the sharp serrated edges would enlarge the incision, ensuring that the baby's head wouldn't get stuck due to limited space during delivery."
He grinned and measured her belly with the tool, squinting, "And the best part? Zero negative reviews for this method."
"The baby... safe... my baby... will be safe..."
"Exactly, ma'am. Don't worry. I'm the most experienced delivery doctor in this clinic. I'll make sure your baby is safe."
The pregnant woman, who had been promised something, suddenly became excited. She slapped her bulging belly with force, leaning forward and impatiently shouted, "Hurry up! Hurry up and deliver my baby! My baby's coming out! Hurry, doctor! Hurry!"
"It's my honor to serve you." The doctor, holding the rough steel saw, didn't even flinch as he skillfully and smoothly made a cut upwards.
"Shh—"
A thin, crimson line snaked upward as the woman's abdomen split open at the slightest touch.
Then, immediately—
"Bang—"
The overwhelmed body exploded like a popped balloon, blood splattering everywhere.
She wasn't dead yet.
She screamed in agony from the intense pain, her hands and feet struggling wildly. Her eyes, filled with rage and terror, locked onto the doctor as she shouted, "What are you doing? What are you doing!? You're trying to kill me! You're trying to kill my baby!!"
The doctor was covered in blood, but his face remained spotless. He gently moved the steel saw away from his face and smiled reassuringly at the patient.
"Ma'am, it's really hurtful for you to say that. I'm saving you and your baby. Look, your baby... has been safely born."
The pregnant woman's frantic movements froze as she looked at her belly with extreme joy. But what she saw inside the ruined flesh of her abdomen was a pair of large, blue eyes, blinking up at her.
The eyes were incredibly clear and expressive, very captivating.
If the thing wasn't a writhing tentacle, it might have been more endearing.
Staring at the terrifying newborn that resembled an octopus tentacle, the doctor gave a knowing smile and complimented, "Look, your baby is so healthy, with those bright, shining eyes. It's definitely a... uh… well… a baby with big eyes."
The pregnant woman's joy froze for a moment because of the doctor's nonsensical praise, but it didn't stop her from expressing the overflowing love she had for her child.
Black blood of joy welled up from her hollow eyes.
"My baby! My baby!!"
"Yes, it's your baby."
"Bring my baby to me! I want to see if it's a boy or a girl!"
When the doctor heard this, his smile faltered, and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.
Honestly, if you had to assign a gender to an octopus tentacle...
"Congratulations, ma'am. It's a... boy."
It did have a boy part.
"A boy... a boy!?"
The pregnant woman's voice pitched even higher. Despite her injuries, she couldn't stop thrashing and struggling. A frenzied look took over her blood-splattered, horrifyingly thin face once again.
"Why is it a boy!? Why is it a boy?! It was supposed to be a girl! It's you! It's definitely your delivery technique that's wrong! It's you!! You quack doctor!"
Maybe sensing her mother's anger, the newborn, lying in the pool of blood, blinked its eyes innocently.
Honestly, it looked kind of cute if you only focused on the eyes and ignored the rest of the body.
The doctor sighed and shook his head at the absurdity of the situation.
"Ma'am, you should know, the baby's gender depends on the parents, not the doctor. Maybe you should ask the baby's father."
"The baby's father..." The pregnant woman's eyes briefly blanked, then she suddenly burst into cruel laughter. "He's gone... I ate him... Hahaha, he's dead! That man, he wanted to be the baby's mother... He didn't deserve to be. Only I can be the mother..."
"...Uh... huh?"
"He's gone... He can't be found anymore... Hahaha, he's disappeared... I'm the one who's the baby's mother!"
The doctor's CPU overloaded for a moment.
But his solid professional training quickly helped him spot an opportunity. He raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat excited, and said, "If it's just simple death, our clinic can offer a special service where we consult with spirits. You'd still have the chance to ask him why your baby turned out to be a boy. However, this service might be a little expensive. But I think, for the sake of the baby, everything's worth it..."
He pitched eagerly, as if he'd get a big cut from the deal.
Maybe the doctor's sincerity moved her. The pregnant woman's gaze shifted between venom and confusion several times, but in the end, she nodded like a zombie.
"My child must have answers. What do I need to do? Hurry, doctor, I want to ask him!"
"Great, ma'am. First, please close your eyes."
Watching her hesitantly close her eyes, the doctor's lips curled into a strange smile.
He lifted the steel saw and moved the rough teeth to her neck again.
"Then take a deep breath... Yes, good, tilt your head back a little, raise your neck a bit more, good, don't rush, just a moment..."
"Shh—"
The doctor's hand trembled.
Thud... Something fell.
Blood splattered everywhere, painting a beautiful vermilion picture on the white wall.
"Uh... Though there was a bit of an accident, the surgery went smoothly, ma'am. You can go see your baby's father now."
The doctor clicked his tongue, casually wiping his blood-stained hands on his white coat, then glanced at the head on the floor.
"Ugh, kind of scary."
He quickly kicked it away and raised the steel saw, turning to look at the tentacle on the patient's body.
The big eyes were still blinking, as if it didn't realize what was happening, or maybe it just had no cognitive abilities at all.
"I told you, this service is a bit pricey. Your mom hasn't paid yet, but she probably won't be back for a while. How about... you pay for her?"
Though it had no cognitive abilities, the newborn instinctively started to struggle violently as it sensed death approaching.
But in the doctor's eyes, this struggle seemed more like an invitation.
The fish on the cutting board wriggled harder, and the fisherman got more into it.
"Shh—"
Without hesitation, the doctor pierced its body. The new tentacle writhed in pain, and within moments, the big, adorable eyes lost their sparkle, motionless.
It embraced death on the same day it was born.
"Money for goods, thank you for your patronage!"
The doctor elegantly bowed, tossing the steel saw aside, and left the dim room without looking back.
[Single Trial (Leftover BIRTH) Challenge Completed]
[Scoring and rewards in progress...]
[Player: Sincere, Performance Score: S]
[Food Awarded: Finger Bread (C) X5]
[Food Awarded: Canned Slime Drink (C) X5]
[Food Awarded: Faux Eyeball Cake (B) X1]
[Path to Ascension +0, Ladder of Audience +0] (Single trial doesn't increase score)
[Current Path to Ascension Score: 2104; Global Rank: 499713]
[Current Ladder of Audience Score: 156, Path of Fate Rank: 74]
[Trial Completed, Exiting...]