I must find answers! I need to find a cure for this damn disease! After doing a bunch of searches I found an old guild that specializes in finding cures for illnesses and injury. So I tracked them down and found a run down facility on the outskirts of the player hub. I got to meet their leader, Aegis who is a bit of a loose cannon and gets banned in a lot of forums. Felix, who is a...mushroom person? Fungus person? He doesn't speak, but the others seem to know what he's saying. I met a small witch girl who was a bit rude, but her heart was in the right place. She explained to me that it was possible to cure my cancer IRL. But I needed to get rid of the "Scarred" drawback I had on my character sheet first. Then I could get the cancer healed in game and then...finally I could make moves towards having that effect carried over IRL. It's something. I'll give it all I've got! I just have play more games and win more contracts and I've got this! I was practically shaking with excitement as I left the shambled halls of the Extralife guild. I need to find more time to play. I hope Dr. Hopkin will understand if I miss a few sessions. I have an actual chance of saving myself! I can have a life! I'm...I'm so happy I could cry!! I just need to find another game to start....

I couldn't get there quick enough. My heart was practically pounding by the time I made it to the front gate. I didn't know what answers I would get...but they were answers I wouldn't ignore. I checked in with Aegis who was busy as always. Though this time it didn't appear to be ban appeals. He gave a wave and told me that Emily was in her room like last time. I didn't need Felix to escort me. How could I forget the way there? Upon entering I was set upon by a thrown glass bottle that hit me in the face, splashing liquid all over me in the process. I caught the bottle as it fell away from my face and rubbed my head, as I set it down on a nearby table before asking Emily what the hell she was doing. She apologized, saying she thought I was something else.

I told her that I had managed to buy off the drawbacks that were preventing me from being healed. However, something had happened. When I attempted to obtain a "Heal Battle Scar" gift for myself, the system auto-assigned the "Selfless" drawback just like my "Heal Injury" power. I couldn't target myself.... Emily explained that it might be a self ingrained subconscious notion that my cancer is apart of me. That I had given up hope. That I had accepted the cancer as a normal part of me.... I snapped. I was livid. I couldn't accept this. I screamed at Emily. My body acted on its own as I pressed up against her. Pinning her to a table. She was frightened. But I was even more frightened by the possibility that I had given up inside. "I may have given up hope at one point...because there was no hope. But I never...NEVER accepted this as a part of me. I WILL NEVER ACCEPT THAT!!!". I realized what I was doing and looked down at Emily who was just trying to explain the situation. She meant no ill will towards me. She just was trying to help. I backed off and apologized, letting us both calm down. After a minute of silence Emily explained that selfless wasn't that hard to get rid of. I just needed to get an improvement point to buy it off. More steps.... The words slipped from my mouth before I had a chance to catch them. "I don't know how much time I have left. If it was a single year, I would be astonished...". Emily couldn't help but stare at the ground. I was shaking. This wasn't the outcome I had hoped for by returning here. Emily said that she couldn't cure the battle scars but could offer me a temporary solution until I could find someone who could. She whipped up a concoction in her cauldron and pulled out a small bead, offering it to me. I took it and ate before feeling a warm soothing sensation wash over me. She told me that it was a cleanse that would alleviate the negative effects of diseases that cannot be cured by modern medicine. I felt a little better, but then it hit me. Issac mentioned that he hated debuffs and had also taken a "Heal Battle Scar" power. Holy shit I knew someone who could help still. I turned to leave and then stopped. I looked back at Emily and her wooden leg. I had been accepting all this help from others. But I had powers too. I could help. I wanted to help. I asked Emily how her she had lost her leg. If I could find out information about it, then I could possibly restore it! She didn't turn around and simply said "Goodbye Abigail". I was crushed, but I understood. I turned to leave and told her that I would be back sometime and walked out the door. I needed to contact Issac. But there were other things going on as well. Perhaps he wouldn't mind helping out with them as well....

It was time. The Melon Queen pageant had moved since last time and was being held on Sharma Island. I knew I needed help, so I called up Issac and Hana to see if they wouldn't mind lending me a hand. Issac showed up fairly soon after I got to the player hub and was ready to assist. Hana showed up a bit later and took some measurements to make me a wonderful looking dress but then had to attend to some business. After Hana left I mentioned to Issac that I had some drawbacks removed on my character and was wondering if he could remove them for me. I was honestly so nervous...I didn't know what would happen. Despite what I had said to Emily back at Extralife, my cancer had been a part of me for so long. It was hard to imagine a life without it. Issac couldn't have been happier to help me out. He handed over his raincoat and told me to put it on. I slipped into it and soft music began to play. Rain fell but never hit me. I felt lighter than I ever had. It was leaving me.... I stood there, stunned before taking a step, and then another, and then another. I dropped my cane and took another step. I could feel my strength returning to me! I wept....

After I had calmed down, I asked Issac if he knew anyone who could help us out and he mentioned that he had seen an ad for someone in Beast Pathing who was willing to help people out. So we headed on over and found out it was the sheriff. His name was Wrangler and he was a nice enough fellow. He offered to help us out and all Issac had to do was heal his weakened heart. An easy task for him. We set out for Blueberry town to do some shopping and bought some helpful things for the pageant before taking the long trip out to Sharma Island. It was a beautiful day on the beach and the festival was in full swing. I signed up as the defending queen and saw that Jessica (one of Tom's lackeys) was there to compete as well. I always thought she had just been dragged along and wasn't really a harm to anyone so I let her be. I aced the questions round and Wrangler and Issac managed to find someone trying to mess with some of the contestants. Apparently he was this little sprout thing and he kept making me beautiful for some reason. I went out for the appearance round and managed to do ok. It wasn't great (I was never that good with showing myself off to others). I came back inside after and told the others to let the little sprout go. I thought he was only trying to help. It dug a whole in the sand and disappeared. The next round was the talent round. We had scouted an old war veteran who had a nasty scar on his tail and my plan was to diagnose him and heal it. It went off without a hitch and the crowd loved it! I was really happy with how that turned out. But something was wrong. I could feel the effects of the beauty becoming stronger. The sprout was still using it on me. It was gaining more intensity.

The last round was Cooking and we went out with some fishing rods to catch some fresh fish. This went pretty well, but the beauty effects kept getting more and more intense until I saw a familiar green flash in Issac and Wrangler's eyes. Oh shit...this is bad. I told Wrangler to look for that sprout and stop him and for Issac to help me keep watch form the stage. We headed back and the round began. Wrangler managed to spot the sprout and Issac took out his bat and hit a home run straight into its face! I almost dropped my fillet knife it was such a good shot. The sprout went crazy and the next thing I knew there was a 30ft tall watermelon monster running amok just behind the crowd. I didn't stop cooking and neither did Jessica to her credit. We get going until our dishes were done. Unfortunately during all the commotion I forgot to take the fish fillets off the grill and they ended up rubbery. But the shrimp scampi turned out pretty well. Issac and Wrangler made short work of the melon monster. The carcass was made into a huge bonfire and I was re-crowned Melon Queen! This was such a great experience. I've had so much fun in Neo-Genis and all the people I've met so far have been the best! I'll have to be sure to call on Issac more in the future and include him <3

I was done wallowing in my own self pity. I had freedom in Neo-Genis and I was going to take full advantage of it! I walked my way over to the Extralife Guild Hall with a singular goal in mind. As I entered I heard loud noises coming from one of the room. So I peek inside and see the plague doctor standing over a surgery table. I can't see anything else, so I go to see Aegis. Coming into his office, he looks...melancholy. I ask to speak with him and we sit down to discuss the details. The confidence drained from me. It became almost impossible to speak the words I had practiced for days. "I want to open a Hospital in the Player Hub and I want Extralife to be a part of it.". The silence was palpable. My words hung in the air for at least a solid minute. I grew anxious. I almost wanted to take the words back. But then I was bumped into by what looked to be a dogmoth? It looked cute, so I pet it before staring back up to see the Plague Doctor standing in the doorway. I withdrew my hand and he picked it up. Aegis introduced him as Levi and told me his specialization was Veterinarian since his methods were disturbing. Levi excused himself and Aegis said that Yensid was the reason their dreams fell short. But he basically said that if I could secure the capital for a building and staffing, I could count Extralife in. I told him right there that I was going to the Countess in Arcania to assist them with their current problem in exchange for the money needed for the Hospital. He told me he looked forward to hearing from me and I left, purpose driven once more.

Making my way to Arcania was peaceful. I didn't run into any trouble and got to the capitol city in just a couple hours. I stopped by that same baked goods store and bought a bunch before Sylvia found me. She offered to escort me to the manor and I agreed. I was sat down in a waiting room and given some tea with my pastries~ Eventually the Countess came in. She looked...different. Her endowments were...larger. She stated that she underwent a ritual to evolve herself. Rich people are so weird.... I told her about my plans and asked if there was a way I could help out. She told me that she would pay me 4x my asking amount if I could develop a way to reverse the effects of the possession affliction that the demon queen had given to the nearby people. I asked if she had an example for me to examine. Sylvia dipped out quickly and came back with a gurney and one of the possessed on it. I performed a full diagnosis and presented my findings. The countess seemed satisfied with my performance and my abilities and had Sylvia bring out a chest with $48k. I told her I wouldn't let her down and with the money and Sylvia in tow, set out towards Demonfell.

Again, nothing occurred on the way there and we arrived in the town. There were several pavilions with possessed that were strapped down. I got to work immediately, asking the medical staff if there was a place I could use for surgery. They told me they would have a place ready shortly and I looked over all the possessed, trying to find a commonality between them. I deduced that the possession "mist"  solidified, forming a parasite that infected the host. I had them bring me in a patient and told them to prepare for surgery. The surgery went well and I extracted the parasite without issue. There were immediate changes to the patient's condition and I closed them up. After the surgery I set to work testing the parasite for reactions. Normal holy water seemed to result in a violent reaction which would harm the host. So, I devised a method to create a diluted holy saline solution to inject the victims at parasite's location. But there was an issue. We were looking at dozens of gallons to bless and not nearly enough holy personnel to cover the amount. So I called Aegis to ask if he knew anyone who could help. A minute later Aegis walked through a portal to Demonfell in the middle of a major medical operation with myself as the head. He had only seen me as a helpless patient seeking answers. Now he could see me in my element. He could see my competence. He asked me to show him the solution and I took him over to a nearby tent. I watched him raise a kite shield up and glow with holy power before it imbued all the solution we had generated so far. He looked winded and said he could only do that a couple more times. So I told him to help me with getting these into syringes and distributed to the victims. Several hours later we finished up the operation and the recovery process began. All the while down the street, on a large throne sat the demon queen, just watching us. I thought about going to say something to her for ruining these people's lives, but stopped myself and focused on finishing up. We taught the medical staff here the process of creating and administering the antidote and let Aegis take some back for analysis on future diseases. I wrote my report back to the countess and sent it on its way before we bid farewell and Aegis made a portal back to the Guild Hall. Apparently, you just can make those...glad I was walking around everywhere for a month.

Back at the guild I asked Aegis if I could count Extralife in and he said yes. So I gave him all the money I got from the countess and asked him to oversea the procurement of the facility and equipment. He did good and we found a great spot in prime real estate at the player hub. The building was built and the equipment moved in. I named the building St. Hopkins Hospital after the person who looked over me all these years. I posted online for any players with medical experience or medical research experience and waited. 2 days later Aegis comes into my office with a stack of papers. Apparently, a lot of people were interested in applying. I was overjoyed and went through the resumes with gusto. In the end we hired 20 staff at $500 a month with the opportunity for raises. Then we put out the official ad for the Hospital. $1000 per treatment or community service hours towards the hospital. This was shaping up to be a fantastic venture. I couldn't wait to open our doors officially to the public!

I had an issue... I needed to get in game blood into the real world. This put me in a bit of a pickle since the method of bringing items into the game couldn't be used to do the opposite. So I asked Issac's group chat and almost immediately got a response from someone names Kayleigh.... Honestly, I was not expecting and answer at all. But this was an incredibly lucky happenstance. So I invited her over to the hospital and sat down to talk about how she was able to do it. Her answer was...not what I was expecting. She had received a mental augment stash ability that she was able to utilize in the real world. Meaning that she could put something in game in her stash and take it out irl. So I asked her who she got it from and she said that Maze gave it to her. Well shit, I know Maze! So I called him up and asked him to come over. In the meantime I took some of Kayleigh's blood (with her approval) to examine how it was different than mine. It seemed like a player's blood will exhibit aspects of the powers they take, which heavily implies that the data for powers are in fact stored in the blood. Maze dropped by and Kayleigh said her goodbyes before leaving.

Maze asked me why I wanted the augment and I told him that I wanted to perform experiments with resources acquired in the game that can only take place irl. He asked for my headset ID and I thought that this was just a part of how he gives the augment out. Next thing I know he's in my fucking hospital room! I screamed. It caught me so off guard. Luckily, the only person who came in was The Author. Apparently he had kept the hospital quiet since he was already here and was amused by Maze who stated that he wanted to discern if I would have abused the augment or really needed it. But said he understood my circumstance. I didn't need pity. I'm a big girl who can take care of myself. If he wasn't willing to lend the augment on me, then I would find another way. But, Maze relented and granted it to me before saying his goodbyes and returning to Neo-Genis. The Author was again, aloof in his advice to me before also taking his leave and with new augment in...hand? mind? returned to Neo-Genis to resume my duties at the hospital.