Helping to Save Lives - 10
"Hah, what now..."
Spotting the uninvited guests, Shin Roa scowled deeply as she greeted them.
"Hey! Help us out! Please! There's a fucking injured person here!"
Roa gave the wounded one's injury a quick once-over. She couldn't tell much from the outside. It felt like blood was leaking inside the body, but there was no way to confirm without further checks.
"Hold on. First, calmly describe the condition, and take the medicine next to you."
"I can't even... do that!"
The uninvited guest gulped down the medicine desperately, as if they couldn't hold back any longer.
"...?"
Shin Roa frowned. These people usually feared taking that medicine. They would agonize over it endlessly before finally swallowing it and stepping into the hospital. It wasn't strange. In a world where level was everything, temporarily fixing one's level at 1 was essentially handing your life over to Roa. If Roa harbored malicious intent and killed someone who'd entered her hospital, they couldn't resist at all. They'd just die. Miserably.
But this uninvited guest had swallowed it without a moment's hesitation, cramming it down forcefully.
Roa had to think carefully.
"I've got money! Fuck, I'll shower you in cash, just open up! It huuuurts!!!"
'Do I need it? Honestly, I'm not sure.'
Of course, there were costs for medicine supplies and equipment maintenance, but fundamentally, the reason she made money was through dungeon clears. The lone man didn't look that strong, but maybe he really could clear that dungeon. Judging from his words, the skill gap between him and the women was stark. She didn't have to treat them just to earn a few bucks—or even delay it a bit—and she'd suffer no loss.
"I'm... gonna die..."
"..."
But the woman in front of her was trembling. She looked truly desperate.
A long-forgotten part of Shin Roa's heart began to ring alarm bells instinctively. She didn't want to see sick people. She didn't want to see people die. Unless she'd sacrificed everything and the patient still died despite her efforts, she couldn't bear watching someone who could be easily saved perish.
She agonized. She bit her lip hard.
'This much... should be fine.'
Letting that woman die for no reason might lead to her group spreading bad rumors about Roa around the area—and that would be trouble in its own way.
External access detected. Grant base access permission to 'Kim Minjeong'?
"Grant."
And so, Shin Roa lost the battle against herself. She wasn't thorough enough. Not ruthless enough. Not wise enough. She failed to uphold her conviction to ignore everyone except her sister to the very end.
Her reason knelt before her altruistic, extravagant, base desire to help the injured and save the dying.
And now, it was time to pay the price.
"...Huh?"
The door opened. But no patient entered.
"The door's open. Come in...?"
In that instant, Shin Roa sensed something off. Someone that desperate wouldn't hesitate now that the door was open.
There were two possibilities. They lacked even the strength to enter—or they were never able to enter in the first place.
"Urk!"
The lights went out. They were under attack.
"Terrorism—if it's a terrorist—"
Shin Roa bit her lip. She knew a lot and grasped the situation immediately. A hunter using stealth was hiding in the room. The thief had, while the woman disguised as a patient touched the door after taking the medicine, stealthily placed her hand on the handle. And Roa, oblivious, had opened the door.
She'd failed.
"Damn it!"
She grabbed her scalpel as quickly as possible and charged toward the door.
'Terror skill...'
A technique thieves often had. A skill to neutralize and destroy other survivors' bases. But it was still a skill. It couldn't be used at level 1. And breaking a base from outside was far harder than from inside—especially for a pathetic group of survivors like this.
'I have to stop them!'
Even as a non-combat class, Roa's level was high. The thief likely had skills for ambushes or scouting rather than frontline combat. If she rushed now, she might make it in time.
With that thought, Shin Roa ran without stopping.
"Ah."
But it was pointless. She could see it. The door was wrecked, and the system could no longer protect her hospital.
"Fuck, let's go in!"
And the thugs poured in like a flood.
"Do you think you can just barge into—"
"This bitch still doesn't get it? You think we're the ones begging here?"
They gripped their weapons and slowly cornered Roa.
"Beat her down!"
Roa resisted desperately. Her only weapon was a small scalpel, but it was sharp enough to tear through other hunters' flesh.
But she couldn't fight evenly against so many.
"Ughhh..."
"Hey, kill her! Stab the shit out of her!"
"We're not staying here forever. Better to loot quick and bounce, right?"
If another survivor group found this mess, they might attack these guys or join the pillaging. No reason to drag it out.
"Fuck, antipyretics! Find the fever meds!"
"Need wound ointment too—any warehouse with drugs around?"
The women scattered in an instant. Leaving Roa collapsed in the lobby, they rampaged through the place.
"Hey, anyone with fire? Burn it so no one else can get in!"
"Don't want other groups grabbing the leftover meds..."
Collapsed on the floor, Roa lay in a comatose state, unable even to flutter her eyelids.
'Ah...'
Her consciousness remained. Thanks to the skills she'd gained as a doctor, her life was preserved. But that was it. In this state, she could do nothing. Without help, she'd die slowly.
She'd only delayed the impending doom by a little.
'No...'
And then, they entered that room. The one where she'd desperately hidden her most precious treasure.
"Kyaaaaah!!"
"Yo, what's this? She had a lover?"
"Nah, probably her sister. Better kill her to avoid loose ends."
"Hold up. This one's pretty cute... Why not have some fun before dumping her?"
"You crazy lesbian. You wanna do that to a kid like her?"
"Hey, we're killing her anyway. What's the harm? No one's saving her."
"Hah... Looks low-level and scrawny. Just drag her along for now."
Everything was breaking. Everything was crumbling.
Having trashed the hospital, they left without a care.
Roa listened to them go with her eyes closed. They hadn't doused everything in flammables, so the whole building didn't go up immediately. But that wasn't hope—it just prolonged the time she had to feel her defeat, mistakes, wrongs, and pain.
'Ah...'
She'd failed. She'd repeated the same mistake again. She shouldn't have. She should have coldly turned them away, not let emotions sway her. She should have been more cautious about security. Not relied solely on the level-down drug, but found ways to verify identities.
But now, it was all meaningless.
Heea would die defiled. Roa would slowly burn to death in this blazing building.
Regret tormented her endlessly. Memories of her past actions flooded in.
If only she'd checked people trying to enter more thoroughly. Or never even considered treating them.
At the moment her mother died and her sister was injured, if she'd rushed to the safe house instead of standing there dumbstruck.
Back when she was still in the organization, if she hadn't treated the visitors.
'From the beginning...'
She even thought it might have been better if she'd never learned medicine. If she'd never thought she could heal the sick, never believed she could save them, she wouldn't have this pain.
If she'd become an engineer or a scholar instead, everyone might have been happy. Eating her mother's cooking, playing with her healthy sister now and then, living comfortably in a safe organization.
'I'm sorry...'
It had all been wrong from the start. Her desire to save people—that extravagant, noble wish—had led her and everyone around her to ruin.
There was no turning back. It was too late. She could do nothing more.
If given another chance, she'd swear never to waver. But she was wise enough to know no such chance would come.
"What?"
And then, a voice rang out.
"What the hell happened here?"
A man's voice.