Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: Hospital Lobby
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After hearing her explanation up to that point, I could finally dredge up some hazy memories from the depths of my mind about Moon Yo-eo.
There was a fish that had the effect of curing madness. But its effect was...
‘In the game system, it only triggered with a 1% chance, right?’
Even then, it had no effect at all on madness beyond a certain level.
I vaguely recalled that having medical traits allowed you to make more effective medicine.
With that, I gathered my thoughts and offered her a polite smile.
“Thank you. That was a good explanation.”
“Aha— no problem at all—”
She scratched her head with a goofy grin in response to my thanks.
Her curly hair was grown out long but completely unkempt, a frizzy mess. She wore grimy sweatpants with a doctor's coat thrown haphazardly over them, and she had on glasses.
‘Yi Ha-seo. Looks like she hasn’t been fired from the hospital yet.’
Yi Ha-seo was one of the doctors at this hospital.
And she was one of the reasons I’d come to the north wing. I wanted to check if she was still here.
‘Like most other NPCs.’
Depending on the route, she could provide some very useful services.
However, depending on certain probabilities or developments, she could get kicked out of the hospital, at which point she’d become a villain who caused surreal disasters.
‘Fortunately, I caught her before she turned villain.’
If I could build a rapport with her, I’d get major help.
Because she had the ability to...
treat diseases and injuries.
And under specific conditions, she could even cure mental illnesses.
“...”
Wait, isn’t that just what a doctor does?
But this was the [Cthulhu World]. A place where the obvious wasn’t obvious, and the unobvious was the norm. Yi Ha-seo’s treatments were fundamentally different from the medical services a real-world doctor would provide—something truly special.
But I hadn’t come here today to befriend Yi Ha-seo...
It was time to make my exit. I started gauging the moment, but Yi Ha-seo strode right up to me instead.
“By the wayyy— what was that you did earlier?”
“Pardon?”
“Superpowers? Magic? Sorcery? Illusion? It wasn’t just applied to one person— everyone could see it, and even the guy possessed by a surreal entity reacted—”
Yi Ha-seo closed in uncomfortably close. Her face filled my entire field of vision.
“Hmm~ I thought maybe you released hallucinogenic gas into the air, but that didn’t seem to be it—”
Her words trailed off as she got lost in thought. I took a casual step back and answered her question.
“Who knows? No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Is that sooo? That’s weird—”
She crossed her arms and tilted her head back and forth, pondering. Even spotting orthodox goblin-style illusions—she wasn’t one to underestimate.
‘Better slip away now.’
Fortunately, before I had to come up with another plan, someone appeared to help me out.
“Doctor! Doctor!”
A nurse came running from afar.
“The patient in room 308 that you saw earlier... his condition...”
The nurse glanced at me nervously, looking troubled. Something must’ve gone wrong with the patient.
“Ahh— reallyyy? I thought the spiral energy from the crystal would definitely have a good effect, but this is tricky.”
“D-Doctor, that kind of talk—”
The nurse glanced at me again. She was clearly saying, ‘Please don’t talk about that where others can hear.’
“Oh, I was sure the radiation reshaped by passing through the crystal’s spiral structure would dramatically boost regenerative power, but no effect at all? What a shame. Such a shame.”
“N-No, it’s not that there was no effect...”
The nurse fidgeted anxiously. From the looks of it, it wasn’t a lack of effect—probably too strong an effect or some unexpected side effect.
“Ahh! I seeee—! Then let’s hurry!”
Yi Ha-seo’s eyes sparkled as she started to dash off with the nurse—but paused to look back at me.
“Oh, you there, handsome— er, fixer, right—?”
Handsome? Me?
“Yes, I am a fixer.”
“Ah, just as I thought! If you ever get something weird in your body or lose a limb, come see me anytime. Just ask for Yi Ha-seo at the re-reception desk.”
The “re-reception desk” she pointed to was just the front desk.
“Got it.”
“Hehe, I’m really good at taking stuff out or putting stuff in bodies. Anyway, see you—”
Yi Ha-seo was an oddity even in this special hospital. She used surreal medical techniques with little resistance, the most radical doctor in Paju Central Hospital, which already catered to the unconventional.
From her manner of speaking, it seemed like she’d cause a major incident if left alone.
“Oh, Doctor! Please!”
The nurse dragged her away. I heard the nurse say, “Doctor, you’ve been warned before!” But Yi Ha-seo replied, “Ehehe, but that guyy’s pretty handsome—”
I touched my face for a moment.
‘Hmm, I shaped it to be pretty plain.’
Being called handsome wasn’t a compliment in my current situation. Standing out was the last thing I needed—wait, no. It wasn’t the face shape; it was because I’d set my charm stat to 20.
The face wasn’t the issue. I lowered my hand from my face and rummaged in my pocket.
Something new was there. A rectangular, hard object. Yi Ha-seo’s ID card, which I’d swiped during our conversation.
Anyway, thanks to Yi Ha-seo coming to me, I’d accomplished most of my objectives in the north wing.
‘It didn’t have to be hers specifically, but it’s the best one.’
She had a pretty high security clearance level. Now I could infiltrate most places without issue.
‘Next up...’
The north wing wasn’t just home to that massive aquarium.
Being a place that provided surreal medical services, the patients waiting for treatment were wildly bizarre.
A hulking man with horns sprouting from his head, a woman with four arms, a fixer gripping menacing weapons due to paranoia, a sorcerer whose face was shrouded in eerie shadows from some curse, and so on.
Even in Geumchon-dong’s back alleys, where criminals, fixers, weirdos, and other races gathered, you didn’t see sights like this often.
‘Reminds me of Basilissa at its peak.’
And over there—a familiar bald head, and a short woman carrying a massive executioner’s sword that must’ve been over two meters long...
‘What? Fourteen’s got health anxiety, fine, but why’s Curtain Call here?’
She was hugging an enormous bundle in her arms besides the sword—no, that was a person.
“There, good enough? Now heal up and get lost.”
Curtain Call tossed the injured person she’d brought into the hospital lobby like a sack of trash.
“Ugh— Colly, please...”
“Ugh— what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“At least help me with check-in... please...”
She’d toss aside anyone she’d beaten herself without a care, so this must be one of Tudor’s colleagues that Curtain Call mentioned.
There were other familiar faces too, but none recognized me with my changed appearance.
Amid the buzzing crowd of these eccentric characters, though, some caught my eye.
“...”
At a glance, they resembled monks.
Scattered around the hospital lobby, they’d been muttering bizarre nonsense since earlier.
“...All beings rot of their own accord, all beings suffer of their own accord, all beings torment themselves, all beings spill their own blood, all beings corrupt themselves, all beings seek their own death. Thus, all things in the universe lead only to emptiness, and by the teachings of गजशिरः बुद्धः, I rot of my own accord, suffer of my own accord, torment myself—”
They weren’t the only ones spouting nonsense, but their words carried a special power.
[System : The ‘Feast’s Sacrifice’ trait activates.]
These were prayers offered to abyssal entities.
Some people occasionally showed discomfort at their odd behavior, but in a place teeming with weirdos, strange outfits and mutterings weren’t that remarkable.
Was I the only one who noticed the problem?
‘Why are the Elephant Buddha Temple guys popping up all of a sudden?’
Like the Hwangrim Church, they were disguised as monks, but they didn’t worship Buddha.
They worshipped गजशिरः बुद्धः, the [Elephant-Headed Buddha]. The problem was that [Elephant-Headed Buddha] was an alias for the [Predator of the Mountains], just like [Blood Demon King], and one of its powerful avatars.
“Wait, come to think of it...”
The guys the nurses subdued earlier had been made with sorcery that neither the Gourmet Expedition nor Elephant Buddha Temple typically used. It was a method favored by Mara Nigara, an other race that worshipped another alias of the [Predator of the Mountains], the [Silently Waiting One].
“Damn, did they send out all the avatars just to catch me?”
Not all avatars shared the same rituals or personalities. They each had completely different abilities and preferences—and there were plenty of absurd cases where avatars hated each other.
And yet, they’d banded together just to take me down?
[System : The ‘Feast’s Sacrifice’ trait activates.]
Ah... so that’s why they came in so aggressively at the hospital entrance.
It wasn’t a “maybe.”
This bastard was going all out.
Before I knew it, grotesque maggots were slithering out from corners and cracks in the walls.
They were maggot-shaped, but not maggot-sized. The big ones were already over a handspan long.
The remnants of the Gourmet Expedition were probably waiting somewhere too.
At least three, maybe four... Fortunately, the [Predator of the Mountains] didn’t have many avatars. Five at most.
All their forces were converging to capture me.
‘But is it really to catch me?’
Or were they stirring up this mess to stop me from contacting other Feasts’ Sacrifices?
Honestly, I didn’t think meeting another Feast’s Sacrifice would lead to some grand solution...
But going this far made me want to meet one no matter what.
‘It’s about time...’
I hadn’t predicted this level, but I’d expected some kind of commotion.
Still, I had no intention of wasting energy brawling with these guys.
There were plenty of people here who’d fight in my place.
And besides...
[System : Enhanced Vigilance activates.]
They’re here. Here. Here.
[Blur of Identity]
[Phantom Step]
[Shadow Veil]
I activated several stealth spells at once and slipped into a corner of the hospital lobby.
Then, the hospital’s main entrance burst open all at once, and a massive number of black-suited men poured in with perfect coordination.
“Wh-What?”
“What’s going on?”
The patients—fixers—lunatics—cultists—other races buzzing in the hospital all backed away at once, staring at the sudden intruders.
“U-Uwaaah!”
Those who recognized them screamed.
“Th-The Administration!”
“What? The Administration?!”
A woman strode forward ahead of the group pushing in to seal off the hospital.
A super civil servant who looked like she’d get along better with a psycho killer.
She brought a large megaphone to her mouth and spoke.
“A-Testing, testing— good? There’s a guy named Kim Shin-hwa inside!”