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nNick looked with surprise at Wyntor.

nHe had thought that Wyntor would maybe give his ticket to him, but when it actually happened, Nick was still surprised.

nNick felt bad accepting something so expensive.

n“You just earned us a ton of money,” Wyntor said, not looking at Nick. “Just take it.”

nNick hesitated, but in the end, he just accepted it.

nAfter all, he also didn’t really want to die from his injuries, and despite his current demeanor, he was in quite a lot of pain.

nWhen Nick took the ticket, Wyntor nodded. “Just follow the signs. I’ll wait for you in three hours. That’s usually how long these baths take. I’ve had my fair share of them in the past.”

n‘He had his fair share of them?’ Nick thought.

nNick doubted that Wyntor had taken a three-hour bath for every minor injury he had ever received, which meant that Wyntor had probably been heavily injured multiple times before.

n“Sure, thank you, Wyntor,” Nick said.

nThe next moment, a smile appeared on Wyntor’s face. “Have fun,” he said again as he walked through one of the doors.

nNick looked at the ticket in his hand with anxiety.

n4,800 credits.

nHe held 4,800 credits in his hand right now.

nThe most money Nick had ever held in his hands had been 500 after he had finished a quite unsavory job.

n4,800 credits was a lot!

nEventually, Nick looked around and found some signs hanging from the ceiling.

nNick’s reading comprehension was still weak, but with enough time, he could understand what he was reading.

nAfter wandering around for about three minutes, Nick finally found the entrance to the full-body recovery baths.

nNick slowly opened the door and looked into the room.

nIt had a couple of lockers and racks for clothing.

n“Come in!” a woman shouted with a friendly tone.

nNick awkwardly walked into the room.

nHe had never been in such a place before.

nWhen the woman in the room noticed Nick’s appearance, a pained and apprehensive smile appeared on her face.

nNick just showed her his ticket.

n“Right this way, sir,” she said with a forced smile as she gestured to one of the doors. “Do you prefer to undertake the cleansing bath with or without clothing?”

n“Cleansing bath?” Nick asked. “I thought this is a full-body recovery bath.”

nThe woman just smiled awkwardly. “Sir, it is customary to take a cleansing bath before undertaking a recovery bath. We need you to be clean for the recovery bath to work properly.”

n“Oh,” Nick said. “I’d like to keep my clothing on, then.”

n“Of course, sir,” the woman said as she opened one of the doors to the side. “Please, step inside.”

nNick felt out of place, but he followed the woman’s instructions.

nThe room Nick entered was quite small, and he could see five light blue baths.

n“Please,” the woman said as she gestured towards one of the baths.

nNick awkwardly stepped forward and slowly lowered his body into the bath.

nThe blue liquid, which didn’t feel like water, got pushed out of the bath but was quickly drained.

nSSSSSSSS!

nThe next moment, the water around Nick started to bubble and released sounds akin to boiling water.

nIt was quite loud.

nAt the side, the woman’s eyes opened widely in shock.

n“Wow,” she involuntarily commented.

n“Oh?” Nick uttered.

n“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just surprised,” the woman said. “I’ve never heard the cleansing bath become this loud before.”

n“This isn’t normal?” Nick asked.

n“No, it isn’t,” the woman said. “The cleansing bath is filled with a liquid that gets used up when it comes into contact with dangerous impurities. The more impurities it comes into contact with, the more liquid gets used up, and when the liquid gets used up, it makes this hissing noise.”

n“But it’s never been this loud before.”

n“If I may ask, what happened?” she asked.

n“I fell into the sewers,” Nick said.

n“Fell into…” the woman said before she trailed off.

nShe couldn’t imagine falling into the sewers.

nHow would that even happen?

nShe had never even seen the sewers in her life.

nNaturally, since the normal Outer City didn’t have rusty metal grates as their flooring, the woman had never seen or smelled the sewers.

nBecause of that, she also had no idea just how dirty the sewers were.

nHowever, when she saw Nick relaxing, she decided to stop asking questions.

nRight now, except for his heavy injuries, Nick felt great.

n“Your body has been cleansed,” the woman said. “Do you prefer a quick cleansing shower for your head, or are you fine with taking a quick dive in the bath?”

n“I’ll take a quick dive,” Nick said.

nThe woman nodded. “About a minute in total should be enough. You can take multiple dives, of course.”

nNick nodded back, took a breath, and went underwater.

nFor the first time, he was actually happy to be submerged in liquid.

nNick couldn’t describe just how great this felt.

nAfter a minute, Nick surfaced again.

n“Please, step out,” the woman said.

nNick did just that, and when he could finally take a good look at his appearance, his eyes widened.

nHe had never been so clean before in his entire life!

nAll the stains in his clothing were gone, and his skin felt so smooth!

nHowever, not everything was great. 𝒊𝒃𝙧𝙚𝒂𝓭.𝓬𝙤𝙢

nNick saw that his skin had started to swell in multiple places.

nApparently, his wounds were already starting to get infected and swollen.

nA moment later, Nick heard a shocked gasp, and he turned to the woman.

n“I’m sorry,” she said with genuine worry and pity. “I’m so sorry.”

nNick wasn’t sure what she meant.

nSince Nick was now clean, the woman could actually see Nick’s injuries properly.

nBroken bones, destroyed nails, and bleeding cuts all across his body.

nIt was like Nick had fallen down a staircase made of swords.

n“Please, follow me,” she said with a slightly urgent voice as she opened the next door.

nNick did just that.

nIn the next room, he saw 15 green baths, but compared to the previous baths, there were also several pieces of external equipment.

nFor example, there were breathing masks beside a couple of the baths.

nNick also saw that people were in four of the baths.

n“Please, in here,” the woman said as she gestured to one of the baths.

nNick walked over and slowly entered the bath.

nAs soon as he was fully submerged, he started to feel warm.

nThe next moment, a breathing mask was put on his face, and a hand gently pushed him into the bath.

nIt took some getting used to, but eventually, Nick managed to acclimate to staying below the surface.

nThe feeling the bath gave him was so great and warm that Nick felt himself drift away.

nAnd just a couple of minutes later, Nick fell asleep.

nThis chaptr is updated by 𝓇𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝓂

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