Chapter 75
Chapter 75
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Laboratory (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Under these stairs..."
The Monster Gallery post that Choi Yerim had sent me mentioned these stairs exactly.
The post's author said they'd gone down these stairs to another floor to find a different bathroom since the first-floor one was crowded, caught a fishy blood smell along with suspiciously named hospital rooms, and spotted some unidentified monster.
It wasn't the most credible post—
"Grrr..."
"Got it, I'll check it out."
I calmed Leo, who was wriggling inside my hood, and slowly descended the stairs.
With no lights on, I had to step carefully, one foot at a time.
The deeper I went, the more a cold, damp air—completely unlike the peaceful atmosphere above ground—enveloped my entire body.
"Ugh..."
And sure enough, a truly unpleasant smell began to waft through the air.
But it wasn't the blood smell mentioned in the Gallery post.
It was more like the disinfectant odor common in a dentist's office mixed with some nose-stinging chemical, the kind that gave you a headache.
At the bottom of the stairs, under the faint glow of emergency lights, a long corridor and several doors came into view.
The suspiciously named doors from the post started to appear.
[Isolation Room 1], [Isolation Room 2], [Operating Room], and deepest inside, [Preparation Room].
"...These names aren't that suspicious, though?"
I walked down the corridor with silent steps, lost in thought.
There were a few differences from the Gallery post.
The smell was chemicals instead of blood, the names weren't that suspicious.
And no monster in sight.
But the most puzzling thing was this.
'Why does it have to be this dark?'
Were they doing some kind of secret work here?
As if someone were deliberately avoiding light, this underground space was unnaturally shrouded in darkness.
Amid the darkness thick with chemical and disinfectant smells, just one spot—the door labeled [Isolation Room 2]—had a faint light seeping through the crack.
Like a moth drawn to flame, I naturally made my way slowly toward that door.
With each careful, soundless step, sounds I'd missed before began to reach my ears.
"Eek... eek..."
The faint, heartbreaking whimper of an animal.
And tender voices from a man and woman, as if comforting it.
"Shh... it's okay, baby. It won't hurt anymore."
"Yeah, just hang in there a little longer. Okay? You'll be fine soon."
By the time I reached the door, I finally caught the exact smell from the post.
Piercing through the foul chemical stench around me, a sharp, fishy tang stimulated my nostrils.
Unmistakable blood.
I stopped there and quietly opened my map.
On the map spread across my vision, right beyond this door in [Isolation Room 2], a vivid red dot hovered.
That Monster Gallery post hadn't been a lie.
There was a monster inside this room, where those tender voices came from.
I swallowed dryly and focused all my senses on the light seeping through the door crack and what lay beyond.
I cracked open the sturdy metal door.
Very slowly and carefully, to let no sound escape, I peered inside.
The scene under the dim light was a little different from what I'd expected.
Deep inside the isolation room was a large table like an operating bed, and atop it lay a massive wolf.
Blood flowed from its side—some injury, no doubt—and it writhed in pain, letting out pitiful eeks.
Beside it, in small glass cases, various other animals slumbered peacefully.
It fit the word "isolation room" perfectly.
"Eek..."
"There, there, it'll be over soon."
A man who looked like a veterinarian and a woman like a nurse were soothing the wolf as they expertly stanched the bleeding and administered an injection.
At a glance, it looked like the utterly ordinary process of treating an injured animal. But their movements felt somehow uneasy and hurried.
They kept vigilantly scanning their surroundings, rushing to finish everything as quickly as possible.
Then, perhaps noticing the slightly open door crack.
The veterinarian's face hardened in an instant.
He directed a sharp, wary tone toward me.
"Who's there... beyond the door."
Busted. No choice—I pushed the door open fully and stepped inside.
I felt Leo dart behind my back inside the hood.
The vet, as if he'd known I was coming or was always prepared for this moment,
opened his mouth first with what sounded like an excuse.
"Please hear me out first."
Whatever the situation, I nodded.
"This one... this one's never attacked a human, and we haven't either—it's a gentle monster. We were just sheltering it while injured. So... so please...!"
He practically begged.
"Please don't turn it into a doll!"
Into a doll?
His words left me momentarily stunned.
"Doctor, its condition..."
While I was still reeling from the shocking statement, the wolf's state apparently worsened a bit, and the nurse urgently called out to the vet.
The vet glanced at me.
I nodded silently, signaling him to continue.
Surprised by my reaction for a moment, he hurried to fit what looked like an oxygen mask over the wolf's muzzle, putting it to sleep in seconds, then began suturing the bleeding side with practiced skill.
Who the hell did he think I was?
As I pondered deeply, the vet finished the surgery, wiped his hands, and approached me cautiously.
"By any chance... are you from an exploration team?"
I nodded at his question.
For some reason, he gave off a strange sense of kinship.
Fearing monsters yet trying to treat and protect them.
Deciding to trust him, I revealed my identity first.
"Exploration team, yes. But White Tiger, not Dongto."
"White Tiger..."
When he cautiously asked how a White Tiger exploration team had gotten here, I stated my original purpose for coming.
"I'm looking for a place called the laboratory."
"Laboratory."
His brow furrowed slightly at the word.
He hesitated a moment, then spoke as if he had some idea.
He proposed a deal.
"I'll tell you the laboratory's location and any related info. In exchange, I have one request."
"A request?"
"Yes. That place... it's truly horrific. So please, make sure to destroy it."
Deep sorrow filled his voice.
I fell into thought.
Leo's quest only directed me to head to the laboratory—no mention of destroying it.
Was it okay to agree so readily?
When I turned toward my hood, Leo poked his head out and licked the tip of my nose.
It felt like permission.
I accepted his proposal, but added my own condition.
"Alright. If that laboratory is as horrific as you say, I'll handle it somehow. In exchange, you promise too. From now on, keep treating monsters that need help, like you are now."
He replied without hesitation.
"If it's in animal form and a gentle being that doesn't attack humans first, anytime."
A satisfying answer.
Now Da-ho and Leo had an animal hospital they could use too.
And so, in that dark underground hospital room, we formed a strange alliance for our respective goals.
The vet said that inside the doll shop—the next place I'd been thinking of heading—a place one could call a laboratory lay hidden.
According to him, it was a spot where they made living dolls兼items from monsters as materials, for special customers with money and twisted tastes.
His description matched parts of the Monster Gallery post Choi Yerim had sent.
Her post went like this.
The shop owner apparently misunderstood her claim of coming for a fox doll and led her to a special back room, where she saw living, moving dolls, freaked out, and fled.
Every clue now pointed to one place: that doll shop.
"...Be careful."
"Yeah."
It had been a while since someone warned me to be careful.
After parting with the vet, I headed straight for the doll shop.
The shop looked utterly ordinary from outside—just a slightly worn storefront.
But the moment I arrived, a chilling sensation swept over my entire body.
I cautiously opened my map and confirmed my suspicions weren't wrong.
The map section showing the shop interior was densely packed with red dots.
This wasn't one or two monsters. How many were crammed into this little shop?
...Were they all monsters turned into dolls, like the vet said?
"Grrrr..."
Inside my hood, Leo let out a low, wary growl toward the shop, sensing something.
If even he was reacting first, the ones inside weren't ordinary.
I securely closed my hood opening to hide Leo again, rolled my neck and shoulders to loosen up, and relaxed my body.
What was about to happen wouldn't be simple exploration.
A fight might break out.
I took one final deep breath and pushed open the creaky shop door to step inside.