Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Item Recovery (2)
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Park Cheolwoo, the team leader, cautiously opened the creaky door to room 302.
With a screeching sound, the dusty interior of the hospital room came into view.
Faint light filtered through the torn curtains, but the room was overall dark and eerie.
Four beds were broken in places, and the floor was littered with shards of glass and unidentified debris.
"The signal is definitely coming from inside this room. Let's spread out and search. Don't forget to stay cautious, as always."
Park Cheolwoo confirmed that the detection device in his hand was still emitting a strong signal and spoke.
Just to be safe, I checked the map in my head, but fortunately, there were no red dots on this floor.
We each spread out and began rummaging through the hospital room.
I checked the beds and under them, Seo Ji-hyun examined the walls near the window and around the broken glass, and Han Sora inspected the fallen cabinet in the corner and the floor around it.
The team leader searched near the entrance while keeping watch on the hallway.
We had to scour every inch of the room for an item whose appearance we didn't even know.
"Ouch!"
At that moment, Han Sora, who was checking the floor near the cabinet, let out a small scream.
It seemed a sharp tile shard had been on the floor where she absentmindedly pressed down.
A small drop of red blood beaded up from the tip of her finger and fell.
Han Sora frowned, looking annoyed.
It was right then.
The moment Han Sora bled, one of the old drawers right beside her began to rattle and shake.
Rattle, rattle.
"Huh...?"
Clunk!
The drawer flew open, and something like a bundle of white bandages shot out at high speed.
"Huh... ?!"
The bandages slowly unraveled, wriggling like a living snake as they flew straight toward Han Sora.
Before she could even dodge, the bandages wrapped around her arms and torso in an instant.
"Eek! What is this...!"
Han Sora struggled in panic, but the more she did, the tighter the bandages constricted around her.
With both arms already pinned by the bandages, she couldn't untangle them herself.
"Sora!"
"The item... has activated!"
Park Cheolwoo and Seo Ji-hyun shouted simultaneously and reacted.
Seo Ji-hyun quickly drew a small knife from her waist, and the team leader, flustered, yelled.
"D-don't move rashly! E-everyone, fall back for now...!"
I swallowed hard at the scene unfolding before me.
The map in my head still showed no red dots. This wasn't a monster—it was literally a dangerous "item."
The team leader's words about items potentially being more dangerous than monsters depending on how they were handled had come true.
The bandages constricted tighter around Han Sora, and her face paled with pain and fear.
The team leader's warning about the risks of mishandling it echoed in my ears.
The bandages crept up from her torso and arms, now wrapping around her neck and face.
"Ugh, ugh..."
The intense pressure on her chest and neck made even breathing look difficult for Han Sora.
"S-Sora!"
"I can't wait! I'll cut it!"
We couldn't just stand by any longer.
Park Cheolwoo and Seo Ji-hyun rushed forward together.
The team leader tried to pull the bandages with his bare hands, while Seo Ji-hyun attempted to slice them with her sharp dagger.
But the bandages were far tougher and more resilient than they appeared.
The team leader's strength didn't budge them, and Seo Ji-hyun's dagger blade merely slid off the surface or left faint scratches.
"Ugh...!"
"It won't cut...!"
Swoosh!
Squeeze!
Instead, as if reacting to their attacks, part of the bandages split off and wriggled toward them.
They began wrapping around the two people's arms and legs as well.
In an instant, all three team members were on the verge of being helplessly captured.
'...I have to do it!'
I shook off my hesitation.
Saving my comrades came before hiding my strength right now.
I stepped forward and gripped the thickest-looking bundle of bandages binding Han Sora with both hands.
Despite being thin cloth, it felt like tough leather.
No wonder Seo Ji-hyun's small dagger couldn't cut it.
But it was no problem for me.
I took a deep breath and yanked the bandages with all my might.
Grrrrrind!
Riiip!
There was hardly any resistance.
Like tearing toilet paper, the tough, sturdy bandages shredded powerlessly in my hands.
With my immense strength, the entire bundle around Han Sora snapped and unraveled limply.
The parts trying to bind the team leader and Seo Ji-hyun also fell to the floor as if they'd lost all vitality.
What had been writhing violently moments ago now lay scattered as ordinary, worn, dirty bandages.
"Cough...! Haah... huff..."
Freed from the bindings, Han Sora collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
Red marks stood out clearly on her neck and arms.
The team leader and Seo Ji-hyun, with stunned expressions, checked their own limbs before looking back and forth between the torn bandage pieces and me.
"Th-thanks... Minjun... ah... whew... I almost died..."
Han Sora managed to say as she caught her breath.
"Really... thank you, Minjun. That was close."
Park Cheolwoo let out a sigh of relief and said to me.
His voice was still trembling slightly.
"Haa... haa..."
Seo Ji-hyun stared at me silently for a moment before giving a short nod.
It seemed to be her way of expressing thanks.
This was the danger of the "items" the team leader had warned about.
We had just experienced firsthand how items without proper knowledge of use could be as perilous as monsters.
We caught our ragged breaths in silence, staring at the bandage scraps on the floor.
The room was even more chaotic after the commotion.
We caught our breath and left the messy room 302.
The team leader carefully collected the fallen bandages into his bag.
Was that bag an item too? He sighed in relief, saying it was safe now.
As we stepped into the hallway, Han Sora touched the small wound on her finger and said.
"That thing popped out the moment I bled earlier, right? I was totally shocked."
"We can't be certain, but it's highly likely to be an item that reacts to blood. We need to exercise caution."
Seo Ji-hyun added analytically.
Park Cheolwoo nodded with a troubled expression.
"We need to be even more careful from now on. Let's move slowly."
We all agreed with the team leader and resumed walking down the hallway.
Perhaps because of the recent commotion, everyone was quiet.
Then, suddenly, Han Sora glanced at me and spoke up.
"But Minjun, you're amazing! Honestly, I thought we were all goners earlier. How did you rip it like that in one go?"
I could feel Park Cheolwoo and Seo Ji-hyun's gazes subtly turn toward me at her question.
My heart sank.
Knowing this was coming, I shrugged as naturally as possible and replied.
"I was just so shocked and out of it... I must've luckily grabbed a weak spot or something, right?"
I brushed it off with an awkward smile.
The three fell silent at my excuse.
Park Cheolwoo just looked away and focused on the item detector, while Seo Ji-hyun stared at me intently through her glasses.
Their expressions didn't seem to fully buy my words.
It felt like they vaguely sensed I was hiding something.
But they didn't press further.
"Anyway, thanks to you, we're alive! You're a total lucky charm, our newbie!"
Han Sora, as if trying to change the mood first, punched my arm lightly with her usual cheerful voice.
She knew my excuse was flimsy but played along without digging deeper.
"It's a relief we're all safe. Let's be careful going forward."
Park Cheolwoo cleared his throat awkwardly to wrap things up.
Seo Ji-hyun still observed me for a bit but soon averted her gaze and focused on watching our surroundings.
They didn't ask any more about what happened.
Was it because they were used to the abnormalities of this world? Or because I'd saved them?
Or maybe they thought digging deeper wouldn't be good for anyone?
In any case, they seemed willing to let it slide quietly.
I let out a sigh of relief.
I felt like my secret had been vaguely exposed to the team because of this.
But I had no regrets.
If the same situation arose again, I would save them.
"Our next target seems to be the staff lounge over there."
At the team leader's words, we tensed up again and moved forward.
A subtle tension had formed within the team, but our mission wasn't over yet.
We stepped back into the dark, abandoned hospital hallway once more.
"Whew."
We secured the second item without further issues and exited the hospital.
On the way out, Han Sora freaked out again at the sight of the doctor monster, but aside from that minor incident, things went smoothly.
The second item was a small teddy bear that followed sounds.
I wondered if we really needed to take something like this.
But we recovered it because we didn't know what abilities it might hide.
As we came outside, the leader of Team 6 approached.
"We heard some loud noises earlier. Everything okay?"
The abandoned hospital was empty, so the echoes from recovering the bandages must have reached here.
I glanced at Park, the team leader, for a moment.
"Oh, one of our team members cut her finger and made a fuss..."
"Haha, sorry~ It stung..."
Park responded, and Han Sora skillfully laughed while showing her finger.
It hadn't been a deep cut to begin with, so the wound on her finger had already mostly healed.
"...Ri-right, yeah, that can happen."
The Team 6 leader looked genuinely exhausted as he stared at Han Sora, then said they were heading out too and returned to their vehicle.
The team leader and Han Sora had covered up the bandage incident for the Team 6 leader.
"Let's go too."
"Yeah."
We grabbed our bags and headed to the car.