Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Hospital Escape
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"Urgh..."
My back hurt.
No, as my mind cleared, not just my back—my entire body felt stiff and heavy.
I was just about to start the game when my vision flashed, and I blacked out.
Retracing my memories, I slowly sat up.
"...Where is this..."
The sight before me nearly stopped my breath.
A rundown, filthy hospital room filled my view.
The wallpaper was peeling, and even the intact walls bore red handprints.
Chilly, damp air. The stinging smell of disinfectant mixed with a fishy metallic tang.
In that horrific scene, I lay collapsed on the floor.
This looked like an abandoned hospital.
"N-No way, this can't be..."
The scene alone was enough to make me faint, but the reason my mind went blank was something else.
Gulping, I glanced behind me.
If my suspicions were correct, then—
"It's there..."
Just as I thought. A flashlight lay behind me.
I was certain.
This was unmistakably the starting point of Monster Tale Record, the game I'd been playing.
The protagonist's first awakening—in an abandoned hospital room.
A scene I'd seen on screen dozens of times.
Then, a translucent message window appeared before my eyes.
A brutal notification confirming I'd entered the game world.
'Why now... of all times...'
I'd played the game hundreds, thousands of times, and this had never happened—until now.
Resentment surged alongside terror at what lay ahead.
My hands and feet grew ice-cold, my heart pounding wildly.
The hand gripping the flashlight trembled violently.
Creaaaaak—
"..."
From down the hall, the sound of an old iron door opening.
Followed by something being dragged across the floor.
No doubt about it.
The game's first monster, the "Nurse," was coming.
"I-It's coming...!"
I scanned my surroundings and hurriedly tried to crawl under the bed.
But reality differed from the game.
My body, frozen in fear, wouldn't obey, and the gap under the bed was narrower than I'd imagined.
Bang!
The room door burst open violently, and it finally revealed itself.
The monster, the Nurse, had its head severed above the neck.
Dressed in tattered nurse scrubs, the headless corpse moved nonchalantly.
One hand clutched a rusty scalpel; the other groped along the walls and empty air as it approached.
Though headless and blind, deaf, the moment that hand touched me—it was over.
"D-Don't come closer!"
Praying it wouldn't reach me, I backed away.
My back hit the wall, but the Nurse pressed on slowly.
"I have to go... I have to... please..."
I pounded my frozen thighs with both fists.
I needed to bolt now.
The Nurse blocked the path.
Even risking a stab, I had to slip past it.
"Arrrgh!"
Screwing up my courage, I squeezed my eyes shut and charged at the Nurse!
Expecting agonizing pain from the sharp scalpel, I screamed.
...But nothing happened.
Instead, a loud crash! echoed.
Peeking, I saw the Nurse monster sprawled far away.
It twitched faintly as it rolled.
"...Huh?"
Did I send it flying that far?
I stared blankly.
The Nurse flailed briefly, trying to rise, then went limp.
"I-It’s dea—"
I started to say it was dead but clamped my mouth shut.
I feared jinxing it and having it spring back up.
Just to be safe, I grabbed the scalpel the Nurse had dropped and hurried out of the room.
I didn't want to share space with that thing.
"But how did I..."
Did a mere body slam send it flying?
Monster Tale Record was a horror game at its core, but you could fight the monsters.
Only when "items," "strategies," and "stats" aligned perfectly.
Then it hit me like lightning.
"Cheat... Cheat Mode!"
The Cheat Mode I'd applied before starting.
Among them was an absurd one that multiplied stats by a hundred.
"Does that mean..."
I experimentally gripped a nearby doorknob hard.
Grind—
The iron knob let out a weird screech, crumpling to the shape of my fingers.
"...It's real..."
No wonder the monster went down.
Confirming Cheat Mode was active brought some relief, but the hospital's eerie visuals still chilled me to the bone.
This was the game's tutorial, and I'd never escaped this hospital—not once.
Something even worse than the Nurse might lurk here, keeping my nerves on edge.
"It's okay... S-Surely with various cheats..."
Reassuring myself, I advanced through the dark hospital, relying on the single flashlight.
My self-encouraging voice trembled pathetically.
Crouching low, I crept along.
Passing many rooms, I spotted stairs.
A hospital map was posted on the wall beside them.
"Third floor now... Just two floors down..."
I peeked down the stairs.
Call it instinct.
An ominous aura crept up from below.
'There were other cheats too...'
I desperately recalled the others in Cheat Mode.
Stats, stealth, and—monster location markers.
'Right, the map!'
Visualizing the in-game 'M' key screen, a translucent map popped up before me.
[Hospital layout displayed.]
[Red dots indicate monster positions.]
Along with the layout, red dots began appearing.
'Not too many...'
Tutorial stage, so one per floor.
The third-floor dot was stationary—the Nurse I'd taken down.
Checking the red dots' positions, I cautiously descended the stairs.
'Second floor... oh.'
As expected, no easy escape—the path from second to first floor was blocked by rubble.
The map showed this was the central staircase; for the first floor, I'd need the emergency stairs.
"Urk..."
Meaning I had to traverse the second floor.
The second floor reeked far worse of blood.
I'd grown somewhat accustomed on the third, but the foul stench choked me again.
Thanks to the map, I reached the emergency stairs without encountering a red dot.
But the entrance was barred by a locked iron door.
Click, click.
The knob wouldn't budge.
In a horror game, I'd scour for a key—
'...Should I just force it a bit?'
Recalling the crumpled doorknob, I tugged the door with just a "little" strength.
Crack!
Crunch!
"..."
The door shattered at the hinges and tore clean off.
I'd expected resistance and pulled a tad harder.
Awkwardly smiling, I propped the broken door against the hall wall.
The stairs to the first floor appeared. Checking the map, I descended slowly.
The red dot was by the main entrance, stationary.
The type you had to face to exit.
'...Please be weak like the Nurse...'
Hiding at the bottom, I peered at the marked spot.
The first-floor lobby came into view.
Vast space, high ceiling, floor littered with shattered glass.
And something in a blood-soaked doctor's coat.
"...What the hell is that..."
It towered at least two meters.
Emaciated frame draped in the stained gown, face obscured by a ragged surgical mask.
In its hand, an impossibly large bone saw.
"Urgh..."
Just looking sapped my will to fight.
"No..."
I didn't have to fight.
The Nurse wasn't meant for combat either.
Tutorial rules: hide, evade, escape.
'But with it guarding the entrance—huh?'
My eyes caught unnaturally large stones scattered on the floor.
Certain games flashed in my mind.
In them, you'd throw stones to make noise and lure enemies away.
Maybe this tutorial taught that?
"...Alright."
Crawling to avoid detection, I picked up a stone.
Aiming far from the entrance, behind the Doctor, I hurled it.
"Oh."
Whoosh—!
My lousy aim and botched strength control sent it flying at the Doctor.
The stone rocketed straight, smashing its head dead-on.
Splatter!
Like a shotgun blast, the monster's skull exploded.
Its body crumpled like a puppet with cut strings.
"...Okay."
Clenching my fists as if on purpose, I strode to the main entrance.
[Quest completed.]
[Impossible achievement unlocked.]
[Rewards increased.]