Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Happiness General Hospital – Horror Tale (3)
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The rules written there had all been etched into my mind using the Recorder's Pen.
For now, I should count myself lucky just to know the escape conditions.
I'd finished everything I could do right away.
I took a slow, deep breath and stepped out of the lobby.
—And then.
The scenery changed in an instant.
The space that had been cold and silent just moments ago was now suddenly filled with people, as if it had never been otherwise.
Patients lined up in front of the reception desk.
Elderly folks sitting in the waiting chairs, waiting for their turn.
Even a nurse pushing a wheelchair past.
The bustling hospital lobby had come back to life, looking just like any ordinary general hospital you might see anywhere.
The fluorescent lights felt much more natural now, and the patient name panels, which had been blurry smears before, now clearly displayed names.
It was clearly the same place, yet the jarring sense of two mismatched scenes overlapping washed over my entire body.
‘…So this is where it really begins.’
The chilling, sunken silence whispered clearly that this was no ordinary hospital.
Before leaving the lobby.
I'd already decided on my first priority.
My role here was that of a ‘patient.’
And for a patient to get examined, there were set procedures to follow.
That was when I started making my way slowly toward the reception desk.
A commotion broke out from afar.
“What the…? Where is this…?”
A bewildered voice.
I turned my head and saw a middle-aged man whose face was drenched in sweat.
He looked to be in his late forties, clutching his phone as he looked around frantically.
He had all the signs of someone who'd been dragged into a horror tale without realizing it or understanding the situation.
The moment I started to call out to him—
"You okay—?"
"Guh… guh. Guh guh guh guh?!"
The man's face ballooned up like a balloon in an instant, and then.
Pop—
With a sound that rang in my ears, it burst right in front of me.
My vision flooded red.
I reflexively wiped in front of my face and checked my palm.
Blood.
People's heads snapped toward me all at once.
Their lips curled up.
Heh heh—
A grotesque smile aimed at me.
I felt blood slowly pooling toward my face.
My vision grew hotter and redder by the second—
Until something burst with a pop, and everything sank into complete darkness.
***
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Moving to the last save point.]
[The most recent save point is AUTO SAVE 3.]
[Happiness Sharing General Hospital Horror Tale]
[Death Type]: Explosive rupture.
[Tip]: Patients existing inside a hospital isn't strange at all.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
My vision brightened, and my surroundings sharpened into focus.
I opened my eyes again to find myself back in the hospital lobby.
White tile floors. Excessively bright fluorescent lights.
The waiting chairs, reception desk, patients, nurses.
All gone, leaving only silence to fill the space.
In the middle of the floor lay the Rulebook, alone, proving its existence.
This time, I didn't look out the window.
I carefully picked up the paper and checked it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
You are currently in sector 312-H-31.
You have entered the 'Happiness Sharing Mental Hospital' horror tale.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The contents were the same as before.
But one fact nagged at me.
To enter the hospital, you had to pass through this lobby.
Yet right now, I was the only one standing in this space.
…And yet.
How had that middle-aged man appeared?
Timing-wise, he showed up not long after I left the lobby.
He'd been casually on the phone, oblivious to his surroundings, and then his head exploded.
This seemed like something that needed checking.
I pulled out my phone and accessed the Anomalous Tale Gallery.
I posted a question for the dead souls likely still watching my stream.
Even so—
Knowing I wasn't the only one going through this hellish experience brought a strange sense of small relief.
[Title: Happiness Sharing General Hospital. Anyone know it? Raise your hand!!!]
—Posted by: Newb120053
Anyone know this? Hand up.
[Patian Emperor]: Hand.
[Not Human]: Foot.
[Serious Junkie]: Head.
I hadn't expected them to cooperate nicely anyway.
I'd half-anticipated this.
[Newb120053]: Anyone who knows, coin dream.
Only then did the chat atmosphere shift.
Though they still seemed hesitant.
Probably because so many scumbags promise coins and toss 1-2 as bait.
I'm not that type.
[Newb120053]: Starting light with 500 coins.
A brief silence flowed, then the chat exploded like wildfire.
[Patian Emperor]: …Actually, the first discoverer of this horror tale is unknown. No records exist.
[Cream Bun]: But from what I heard, there are eyewitness accounts of it existing even in the 1800s, depending on the worldline.
[Not Human]: Name is ‘Happiness Sharing General Hospital.’ Looks like any new hospital you see around, but entry conditions are only met in specific situations.
[Serious Junkie]: Entry itself is high difficulty, so no full neutralization has ever been achieved. Management Bureau records all say “partial neutralization” only.
The souls who'd sold their souls for coins started spilling knowledge to each other.
Normally, you'd wait for one person to finish typing, but not here.
It went beyond just cutting in line—messages flowed as if they were all written by one person.
Top to bottom, reading naturally.
Like a single author.
This the gallery average cooperation?
[Patian Emperor]: Rules are ■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■■■■, but here ■■ ■■■. Got it?
ㄴ[Not Human]: Got it? If you can't clear, you can't share the Rulebook anyway.
ㄴ[Serious Junkie]: Info restrictions won't lift. Or watch videos to check what's there.
ㄴ[Cream Bun]: Problem is, buying videos basically matches the clear reward cost.
ㄴ[Patian Emperor]: Bigger issue: Even knowing the rules, they might differ by worldline. Similar overall, but “overall” is the problem lololol. Betting your life on “probably right”?! You'd trust that? Lolololol
ㄴ[Lol]: Still better than going in blind.
ㄴ[Serious Junkie]: True. Just be careful.
Info restrictions, huh.
Free攻略 seemed impossible.
I left the post and accessed the video storage.
Typing ‘Happiness Sharing General Hospital’ into search brought up the full category.
Total videos related to 'Happiness Sharing General Hospital': 941.
I couldn't buy them all.
*Advisory level — 1 view 50 coins / Permanent 100 coins.
*Caution level — 1 view 100 coins / Permanent 200 coins.
*Danger level — 1 view 200 coins / Permanent 400 coins.
Prices doubled per level.
[Code: 41] [Code: 673] [Code: 152] [Code: 4123] [Code: 15721] [Code: 4212]
'Which one to buy?'
Not all were successful clears.
Most were records of failures who died or gave up.
Only a few would have real info.
Newb privilege.
Gallery users might act like thugs, but there's a tiny bond among Anomalous Tale Gallery users.
Slightly.
Waking up in the same shithole sparks some pity, but it's not exactly happy.
[Newb120053]: Can anyone recommend one?
ㄴ[Not Human]: 15721. Don't just watch this one.
ㄴ[Newb120053]: ? Whose is it?
ㄴ[Not Human]: The horror tale I got caught in as a newb.
‘…Buying it now.’
Code in the 10,000s to start.
High enough to be called a veteran anywhere.
Plus, [Not Human] still being alive was solid proof of no failed clear.
[Code: 15721]
[Horror Tale: Happiness Sharing General Hospital]
[Purchase?]
[Yes] [No]
'Purchase.'
The purchase complete message popped up, and soon my vision shook, switching to third-person view.
***
My impression after watching the video to the end was simple.
‘…’
Money wasted.
When [Not Human] was still a regular person.
Surprisingly, she was female.
Stunning looks that'd make it hard to even talk to her on the street.
I'd had high hopes at first.
Dragged into the horror tale, she calmly passed the lobby without issue.
Found the silent space full of people.
And then… she fainted standing up.
[Not Human]: …I had anthropophobia.
[Not Human]: Now claustrophobia too.
Locked in some solitary room, she scratched at the door.
I saw just how utterly human dignity can be shattered.
“Ba-ba-bathroom! Let me go to the bathroom!”
“You fucking bastards!!!”
“Please! Doctor!”
Rescued by Foundation dispatchers, she miraculously survived.
I'd paid 200 coins for this crap.
I covered my face with my hands.
My fault this time.
I resolved not to buy videos without solid certainty from now on.