Chapter 215
Chapter 215
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: A Common Event
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Chapter 215
215: A Common Event
Wheeeeeen— Wheeeeeen—
The blaring alarm pierced through the chaos.
Footsteps scattered in every direction.
“That way!” “Hurry!” “How did it get all the way here!?” “Aaaah!”
Commands and screams echoed from every twist and turn of the labyrinthine corridors.
[System: Penalty trait 'Sacrifice of the Feast' has activated.]
[System: 'Heightened Vigilance' trait is now active.]
Pop-up windows flashed like they were urging me to get moving.
“Shut up. I know without you telling me to fuck off.”
Crackle—
I channeled mana and swatted the message windows away.
I knew it already.
This wasn’t the time to stand still. But even so, my feet wouldn’t move. In the end, I collapsed in front of the round room’s door, clutching my head.
“Damn it, what a load of bullshit…”
Wheeeeeen— Wheeeeeen—
The relentless alarm grated on my already frayed nerves. Aughhh! My fingertips trembled—whether from rage or irritation, I couldn’t tell.
“Hoo— damn it. Calm down. Just calm down.”
I knew the source of this disgust, anger, irritation, revulsion, nausea. It was the image of Gong I-su, wallowing in the mud I was desperately trying to avoid, insisting that this was the only answer.
The sight of him consumed by fear and madness, thrashing about.
The horror of him having lost his own face.
And yet, he had the gall to lecture me sternly.
“Damn it, if you were just gonna give up that easily, you wouldn’t have gone through all this hell to get here.”
Whether Gong I-su was truly connected to me or not, every version of him was a potential future I could reach. Hell, the things he said to me were questions and doubts I’d already wrestled with myself.
“Hoo—”
A short, deep breath.
Honestly, Gong I-su’s words and actions weren’t incomprehensible.
He’d probably seen more despair, more darkness than I had.
And unlike me, he couldn’t leave that room.
Just as I suffered under endless madness, he’d been forced to fight off otherworldly beasts that hunted him relentlessly.
“Ah, whatever. Thinking too deeply about it just gives me a headache.”
I stopped thinking.
Sure, maybe someday I’d give up everything too. But not yet. I still had the strength and will to keep walking, to resist, to thrash about.
‘Yeah. No need to force myself into pessimism.’
Heo Sang-hyeon, once a slave to Heo Ju, had reclaimed his will. Lee Sun-bin, who was supposed to die, had survived somehow. And beyond that, I’d saved quite a few people.
No, wait.
That wasn’t all. Jang Hyun-deok—that guy—was already brainwashed by the [King in Yellow Raiment] before he even met me, right?
I didn’t put Jang Hyun-deok in danger. He went crazy and dragged me into it, and I ended up saving him.
And even after, I’d been protecting him through all his screw-ups.
“Ha, yeah. Damn. Almost let the mood get to me.”
What? Spreading ruin like a plague? Bullshit.
“Like I told Curtain Call before…”
Was that my fault?
Wasn’t it just that the abyss dwellers were the bad guys?
I knew this conclusion was a kind of sophistry, but I shoved that aside and settled on it anyway.
Thud thud thud!
“Hey, sunbae!”
“…”
Thud thud thud!
“Hey! Sunbae! Say something!”
“Get lost! And don’t come back!”
“No way, man!”
“…What?”
“I’ll back off for today like you want. But I’ll come find you again and bug you.”
“What nonsense is this? Don’t remember me, don’t talk to me, just get lost! I don’t want to get involved with you!”
Gong I-su was losing it.
But I just smiled and replied.
“Nope. You’re already involved with me. Observation or whatever, just watch. I’ll show you how tenacious and horrific I can be.”
With that, I poured mana into the door standing between me and Gong I-su.
Hmm, the door itself had defensive runes, so it wasn’t easy.
But after persistent tries, I completed the spell I intended. I even wove it intricately into the defensive runes—no one would notice unless they looked hard.
“You can sense what I just did to this door, right?”
“…”
I couldn’t tell if he was speechless or pissed, but no reply came.
What I’d done was a mark. Now I could return here anytime with [Gate Creation].
“Ignoring me won’t work. Wanna live like a plant with no drama? Tough luck. Even if you refuse, you’re stuck with me now. Get ready.”
“I have nothing to offer you…”
“Don’t lie. I don’t know what that friend in your head whispered, but I won’t stop until I pry everything you know out of you.”
Ah, Gong I-su didn’t have a head, did he? But I didn’t bother correcting my slip and turned away.
This wasn’t the end. His awkward attitude, the way he provoked me like he wanted to.
‘Maybe Gong I-su sees message windows like me.’
I didn’t know what he’d threatened me with, but he was still hiding something.
KABOOM!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
An explosion and gunfire.
This time, it was close. What escaped? The [Starving Elder]?
Whatever broke out, if I wanted to see Gong I-su again anytime soon, I should clean up around here.
“See you later, sunbae.”
I heard Gong I-su mumbling something from beyond the round door, but I ignored it and kept walking.
Labyrinthine corridors.
And the ‘patients’ of the sealed ward charging from every direction.
“Beat… smash……”
IPE-348, [Forestfolk]. A massive humanoid surreal entity with leaves sprouting from its body.
Kiri-riri-riri—
That one’s IPE-58, [Sweeping Hound]. A mechanical lifeform shaped like Achilles.
“Come closer and I’ll smash you?”
“Scary… no……”
The [Forestfolk] sensed my mana, panicked, and fled down the opposite corridor, but the [Sweeping Hound] had no intelligence.
Kiri-riri-riri—
“Ah, annoying.”
[Thunderstrike Field]
Crackle-crackle!!
The [Sweeping Hound] overloaded on the surge and shut down instantly.
I didn’t have full intel on every patient locked in Paju Central Hospital, but I remembered the famous ones.
I ran into a few more in the corridors, but no big issues. Most went down in one hit, or they avoided me first.
“Hmm, but not knowing the outside situation is frustrating.”
It’d come down to one of two things.
If the [Mountain Predator]’s pals had broken in, I’d need to deal with them.
‘Their target’s probably me…’
If their real goal was to cut off Gong I-su’s info entirely, they might go after him too.
Gong I-su still had info I needed to extract.
I didn’t want some cliché where he croaks at the key moment going, ‘Ugh, Kim Shin-hwa, there’s something I haven’t told you… Argh!’
“Please, let this just be a simple mishap.”
If it had nothing to do with the [Mountain Predator]’s crew… then no need to worry. Just clear the commotion around the round room, and done. The rest was for Paju Central’s security and suppression teams.
Anyway, priority one: get the info.
I needed to grasp the overall situation to decide my moves.
“Wish I’d run into someone I could actually talk to.”
A bit further, and weird sounds came.
“Kee-kee-kee— eat— devour— eat—”
“Keke-ke-ke— kill— murder— kill—”
Voices from down the corridor.
Unfortunately, not the kind from something reasonable. I activated stealth magic and crept closer.
Huge heads, skinny limbs, slimy skin. IPE-2943, [Amphibian Humanoids].
Separate from Paju Central’s codenames, these served [The Silent Waiter], incarnation of the [Mountain Predator].
‘But they don’t look like outsiders.’
They had restraints on. Looked like sealed ward escapees.
They were hyped up, charging somewhere. Their target—
“Prey! Prey!”
“Kill! Eat it! Rip off the head and chew it alive!”
The [Amphibian Humanoids]’ target… ah, them?
Five humans with Paju Central Hospital badges on their shoulders. They’d formed a perfect formation, guns trained on the humanoids.
“Fire!”
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!
“Kee-eeek!”
As expected, the humanoids dropped in seconds.
“Damn, feels like I’m losing my mind.”
“Hang in there. This area’s mostly cleared.”
“Should pop a Nirvana.”
Sealed ward security. Perfect timing for my intel drought. Talking to them should give me the sitrep.
‘But they won’t be thrilled to see Kim Shin-hwa, huh?’
[Form Absorption]
On the other hand, Yi Ha-seo was under their protection.
“Heyyy— can you help me out?”
“Gah!”
“Stay back!”
Guns swung my way in unison.
“Wait, hold fire! Teacher!”
Luckily, the one who seemed like the leader reined them in.
“You’re still here? I guided you earlier!”
Huh? These weren’t the security I’d seen before—why mention ‘earlier’?
‘Yi Ha-seo nearby?’
Would be trouble if we met.
I shoved aside complications and spun a quick story.
“Ahh— tried to leave, but IPE-2286 blocked the way—”
IPE-2286, [Living Wall]. Yeah, that’d force a U-turn.
“Ugh, got it. Only exit nearby was that way. What now…”
The leader pondered. Come on, what’s to think about?
I gave the hesitant leader a handy solution.
“Hey, could you escort me to the C-3 shelter?”
Sealed ward had emergency shelters scattered around.
“Ah, C-3’s close from here. We’ll escort you.”
“Yay— thank youuu—”
Now I was walking under security escort.
“Buttt— is everything okay? So manyyy— escaped.”
Patient breakout event.
Honestly, a common event.
In a more realistic place, impossible, but this was a game rigged maliciously. Paju Central’s restraints felt insultingly flimsy by design.
Trigger even a minor issue as a player, and ‘patients’ break out for chaos.
“Don’t worry. Suppression team’s back from outside. They’ll handle it soon.”
Another guard chimed in.
“Suppression team’s sweeping problem elements around A Block now. They’ll hit C Block soon.”
Optimistic tone, but B Block sat between A and C. Would take a while.
“Outside commotion’s settled, right? Foreigner Bureau showed up too.”
“Yes. Most surreal entities outside are handled; just cleanup left. But.”
“But?”
“Know that Yang Seo-ho from the Foreigner Bureau?”
“Oh, yesss—”
“Looks like his power at the end affected even the sealed ward’s barrier.”
Ah— now I got it.
Thought he wouldn’t go full throttle in a crowded spot, but he must’ve been pissed.
That power from Sejong City.
He unleashed it to resolve—no, obliterate—the situation, and the fallout let sealed ward patients loose.
“Caused parts of the barrier to shut down. Admin thinks something slipped in from outside during that.”
“Ahh— slipped in? What about suppression team?”
“Yeah, that’s why they’re in A Block—dealing with the infiltrators.”
Damn. Something did get in.
Barrier glitch was brief, but no half-assed fixers or bureau clowns got through.
Definitely abyss spawn. Tied to the [Mountain Predator].