Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: Secure, Protect, Isolate
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Kong Isu (age unknown, estimated early 30s)
Form number: IPE-1786
Alias: Bubblehead
Classification: Yellow Class 3
Special notes: Type 7 close encounter (T-type).
Friendly / Possesses Class 3 or higher abilities / Mental corruption level 8.
Height 1.6m, weight 78kg. (Always refer to Appendix 2 for height and weight details.) Human male of Korean nationality.
Official records list birth year as 2010, making legal age 7 at time of admission. However, at admission, he already exhibited the appearance, speech, behavior, and intellectual capacity of a late-20s adult.
The patient claims to be a time traveler. He states he experienced the time between 2023 and 2024 dozens of times in loops, and that he "escaped" to this past point.
To verify the patient's claims, genetic testing was conducted with IPE-1786-2 (individuals the patient claims are his parents), but significant mutations in the patient's DNA prevented conclusive proof of relation.
For two years prior to admission, he operated as a so-called "fixer" in the outskirts of Paju. Confirmed to possess Class 3 abilities. Primary powers include telepathy, physical enhancement (C-type), and surreal mechanical engineering skills that cannot be replicated or mimicked (*Even identical materials and methods used by the patient fail to produce the same results). Limited precognition also confirmed (*Patient claims this is information directly experienced from the future / refer to Appendix 4 interview).
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Special notes
When a "corner" with an interior angle of 120° or less exists within a 3-meter radius centered on the patient, a Class 1 hazard anomaly manifests.
The anomaly occurs in the following sequence:
1. A smell like rotting organic matter emanates from the "corner." (Note: It was the stench of a decomposing corpse.)
2. Jet-black smoke emerges from the "corner." (Note: Smoke was captured for analysis, but components could not be identified. Identified as vapor from a liquid not found on Earth.)
3. The "head" of IPE-1786-3 (see Appendix 5) forms from the "corner." (Note: Visual observation without mental barriers causes fatal damage to cognitive functions.)
4. The torso of IPE-1786-3 forms from the "corner."
5. The forelimbs of IPE-1786-3 form from the "corner." (Note: By standard animal anatomy, these cannot be called forelimbs. "Appendages" is more accurate.)
6. The hindlimbs of IPE-1786-3 form from the "corner." (Note: Number varies slightly each time, typically 5 to 9 hindlimbs.)
7. IPE-1786-3 fully manifests.
8. IPE-1786-3 detaches from the corner and begins autonomous movement. (Note: IPE-1786-3 is highly aggressive and takes hostile, threatening actions toward the patient. Completely eliminating a fully manifested IPE-1786-3 is extremely difficult. Replication prohibited.)
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Other precautions
The patient's mental corruption is severe. Prolonged conversation risks infecting the interviewer with the patient's ideology and beliefs. Extreme caution required.
Patient claims to have visited IPE-45 (commonly known as Thousand Gold Hall) three or more times.
Patient refers to IPE-1786-3 as "dog."
Manifestation of the aforementioned IPE-1786-3 takes a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 90 minutes.
Keeping the patient sufficiently distant from "corners" halts manifestation, and any partially formed IPE-1786-3 dissipates.
If multiple "corners" exist around the patient, the number of manifested IPE-1786-3 matches the number of corners.
IPE-1786-3 secretes a Class 1 hazard "anomalous substance," designated IPE-1786-4.
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"Man, the setup details are thorough."
The file was packed with all sorts of absurd nonsense, but boiled down, it came to this.
Kong Isu was a time traveler.
Unlike my own experience, but he'd looped through this game's story and progression multiple times.
"But this shitty world isn't friendly to time travelers."
The corners of time housed bizarre lifeforms—or not quite lifeforms—that defied human language. Surreal monsters, anyway.
These were the surreal entities that Paju Central Hospital called IPE-1786-3: the [Hounds of Tindalos].
They prowled the passages of time. Possessed the power to shift from angle to angle. They didn't forgive those who trespassed their domain.
'The problem is, time travel requires passing through their territory.'
One step in, and it was over. They pursued intruders across time and space, eternally.
No one knew if it was because they lived in the corners between moments, but they only emerged from angles with interior measurements of 120° or less.
Hide in a perfectly round room with no corners, and you could evade their hunt, if only for a while.
"But does a round room really solve it?"
Human bodies had angles, clothes and objects could form them somehow, but for whatever reason—maybe they couldn't manifest from angles smaller than a certain size—the walls and floor corners were the only issue. Seal those, and they wouldn't appear.
'Well, it's the game's lore, so nothing to argue.'
Fine, whatever with Bubblehead or Kong Isu or whoever. Disguising as Lee Ha-seo was a smart move.
He was such a unique, standout guy that I worried the disguise might show, but—
"That doctor seems a bit off today."
"Yeah, but he's always been off. It's not like today's the first day."
"True, he's off today too, then."
The quiet chatter from behind.
Security guards patrolling the secure ward sections.
Even if I seemed a little weird, Lee Ha-seo was originally weird—so they let it slide.
This was the secure ward hallway of Paju Central Hospital.
Officially, it was for "protecting" patients with surreal contagious diseases or those at risk of inflicting surreal harm on others or themselves.
But the real purpose wasn't protection.
Secure. And contain.
Lock away surreal existences the public couldn't handle. Analyze and study their abilities and issues.
The goal?
The game didn't specify, but guesses abounded.
Round rooms like that one existed only here, but similar places cropped up elsewhere: the Foreign Administration's "Special Lodging," Helistic's "C-Zone," Cure's "Surreal Entity Lab," and so on.
Research in these containment facilities usually probed replication and recreation of abilities or surreal incidents.
'Ultimately, figuring out if surreal powers can be mass-produced or popularized.'
I'd been walking a while, but the destination was still far.
The pyramid's interior sprawled with chaotic forks and stereoscopic corridors.
Monotonous design to impair cognition. Gentle ramps instead of stairs to induce disorientation.
Walkers unwittingly shifted from 1st floor to 3rd, 3rd to 2nd.
The insane layout alone screamed they wanted to imprison their "patients," not protect them.
'Even if one escaped their room, they'd wander lost in the 3D maze forever.'
But I'd walked these halls several times before.
No need to recall a map—the layout alone let me guess the route. Familiar place, vibe, people.
"Ah, here."
Containment varied by entity's hazard level. This room held not a person, but an object.
Locked due to danger for removal, but items here could be checked out based on security clearance tied to one's ID card.
Beep—
The item in here was...
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Tabula Rasa
Form number: IPE-273
Alias: Blank Slate
Classification: Yellow Class 6
Special notes: Artifact Grade B.
A thin, flat mechanical device, 10cm wide by 15cm long.
A thin metal plate densely packed with small grooves and intricate mechanisms (material identified as 85% copper alloyed with three unidentified elements).
Five 3cm metal tubes arranged at the bottom of the plate.
When these five tubes are pressed against a subject's skull and "activated," flexible metal needles extend from the tubes, inducing permanent brain changes in the target (see Appendix 2).
39 experiments attempted to clarify operation and effects, but no precise mechanism defined.
However, [Memory Erasure For A Set Period] occurred in test subjects (19 total instances; see Appendix 3 for details).
Erasure method and scope varied slightly each time, but twice it precisely resolved the subject's trauma and obsessions.
Separately: 12 deaths, 10 drastic cognitive declines, 3 physical impairments, 2 brain deaths, 3 ability manifestations, 9 no effects.
Ongoing experiments and analysis required to determine exact purpose and operation.
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Disassembly request: Denied by committee vote.
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Paju Central Hospital didn't fully grasp this item's purpose, but I did. It was a creation of the great Idian, a device that removed madness.
"Hmm."
Truth was, I didn't know how to use it either. It required a dedicated trait.
'Still, I got that item with the parasites' knowledge before. Maybe that'll work?'
I hadn't examined it properly yet, but more study might reveal the method.
'Whatever. No harm in grabbing it.'
Checkout would log under Lee Ha-seo, but she'd be thrilled someone impersonated her to snag something this risky.
Nothing else worth taking.
Others tempted, but some items here could derail the game.
Some triggered freezes that locked the game solid, or fatal green noise crashes.
'Reloading fixed it usually, but I don't know how to reload this world.'
Better not touch.
Anyway, a few rooms past Tabula Rasa's was the one I wanted.
Unlike others, it had a perfectly circular door.
No dedicated guard.
The occupant wasn't forced in—they entered willingly.
I knocked a few times, then spoke.
"Mr. Kong Isu? You there?"
"..."
Presence inside, but no reply.
More knocks, same response. I sighed, dropped the disguise, and reverted to my true form.
"I am the Sacrifice of the Feast."
"Get lost!"
A reply at last. But not satisfying.
"I have questions."
"Don't come closer! No—don't even talk to me or look at me!"
"Why?"
"Don't think of me! Don't remember my words! Don't try to describe my appearance!"
Not in good shape.
"They're watching! The Sacrifice of the Feast! The Sacrifice! I hate it now! I don't want to be observed! Just let me be forgotten in peace!"
Thud.
"Uwaaaah!! Observation! Observation's starting! They're—they're watching me! Reading my thoughts!"
"What the hell is this bullshit?"
Brief silence.
I felt Kong Isu approach the door.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"Yes, I'm here."
"You... your name isn't Kim Shin-hwa, is it?"
Kong Isu had been confined here—not quite confined—for years. Hearing my name from him was bizarre, yet it didn't feel implausible.
Yeah.
If he really came from the future, he might know my name.
Or maybe he'd heard external info from the hospital's doctors or researchers.
I answered calmly.
"Yes."
A horrific scream erupted from inside. A chilling wail beyond any language I knew.