Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Happiness General Hospital Horror (8)
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Thud...
The floor rumbled.
The impact was so heavy it made the ceiling tremble faintly, rippling through the air.
Thud...
Another step.
In the darkness, a grotesquely elongated arm swayed.
Its joints bent unnaturally, like they were broken, as slender fingers grazed the floor.
Thanks to that long, abnormal arm, I could pinpoint its position.
But that didn't bring any relief.
If anything, it squeezed my heart even tighter.
Whoosh—
As the arm lifted, the air tore with a shriek.
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.
The certainty that an attack could come at any moment turned into suffocating pressure, freezing my body stiff.
I fought to suppress the rising terror and steady myself.
But clinging to reason didn't make everything bend to my will.
Fear leaked out intermittently through my body.
Even standing still, my legs kept shaking.
The pain that hadn't even arrived yet was already constricting me in my imagination.
Thud...
My heart pounded like it would burst.
The tremor starting at my toes shook my entire body roughly.
'...Should I just start over.'
Thud...
The footsteps were still approaching me.
If I stayed put like this, death would loop again.
'And that means...'
A flash of my moments with Kang Su-ji crossed my mind.
The flare, the devil, the despair of falling into the trap.
And then, a tale of reversal.
In that moment, I'd realized something.
Regression wasn't just an option for escape.
The shaking in my legs began to subside bit by bit.
My heart still raced, but it wasn't just from fear.
'...This thing can't kill me.'
I bit my lip and spat the thought out loud, repeating it like a mantra.
"You..."
I clenched my fist until it felt like it would shatter.
"Can't..."
I gathered strength in my toes.
"...kill me."
With those words, my rigid body loosened for a moment.
And then.
With my body freed once, I didn't hesitate anymore.
I charged straight at it.
My heart hammered wildly, veins throughout my body boiling like they might rupture.
A dull drumbeat echoed in my ears.
In the darkness, the security guard's arm gleamed black as it rose, then slammed down.
A grotesque hand—impossible to tell if it was human or claw—sliced through the air toward me.
—
A direct hit would end it.
Instant death right there.
A heavy gust brushed my back, and my bangs lifted as if floating.
—It's coming.
The shadow loomed over my head.
In that instant, I gritted my teeth.
My skin prickled, and the delayed sound of air ripping pierced my ears.
I thrust my head forward instead.
Toward that massive fist, I hurled myself in what looked like suicide.
Boom!!
Dust exploded upward.
But no collision occurred.
The monster's fist smashed the ground right in front of my face, close enough to feel my breath on it.
The impact between floor and fist sent shockwaves rippling out.
As if blocked by an invisible wall, the fist skewed off course, slamming into the floor and kicking up dirt and papers.
For a split second, my legs buckled like they might give out—
But at the same time, a small thrill burrowed deep into my core.
"...It works."
My body moved precisely as intended.
Using the momentum from my charge, I grabbed the monster's arm.
The unnaturally elongated forearm.
The sensation at my fingertips was cold and sticky, like old rubber gloves.
But in this moment, that was secondary.
Right now, this arm was the perfect foothold.
I leaped forward, harnessing the inertia from my run and the pull from gripping the arm.
I slid my body toward the scattered pile of papers.
Shhh—
Papers split and fluttered everywhere.
On the thin rail of paper, my body slid like an arrow.
Thud!
I dove low between the monster's ankles.
I slipped through the gap, skimming the floor.
Then came the monster's leg crashing down.
A "thunk!" of impact, and wind whipped past my hair.
A mere handspan's difference. Perilously close.
A little farther to the right, and my head wouldn't have been safe.
But now, the monster couldn't attack anymore.
Its phase was over.
In the cramped office, its massive bulk became its own shackles.
It would take at least five seconds for it to turn and pursue.
Short if short, but a long time in its own way.
And that was more than enough for me.
My body shot toward the door.
It collided with the broken doorframe, tumbling out into the hallway.
Crash—!
When I opened my eyes, I'd already slipped behind the monster.
Creak—
The monster's head turned slowly.
With a sound like cracking bones, its empty eye sockets groped toward me.
Huff, huff—
No time to rest.
I gasped for breath, braced against the floor, and forced my body up.
I whipped my wobbling legs forward.
But—
Thud!
"Urk...!"
My forehead slammed into a solid wall.
My vision flashed white, the world warping before me.
Hot blood trickled down the bridge of my nose.
My shoulder hit the wall, joints popping dully.
My breath caught, choking off.
My heart thundered like it would tear through my chest.
'...A wall? There was... a wall here?'
I slowly raised my head.
KABOOM!!!!
Behind me, the wall to the medical records office shattered with a deafening roar.
A furious wail accompanied a storm of dust.
Thud...! Thud...!
Heavy footsteps shook the air, closing in on me.
But I had no time to look back.
There wasn't just one security guard.
Cold, empty eye sockets glared down from above.
The moment that gaze touched me, my veins felt like they froze.
A massive arm slowly, but surely, wrapped around my body.
Its grip twisted my waist, lifting my toes into the air.
My feet kicked futilely at empty space.
My breath snagged in my throat.
Thud... thud...
Thud... thud...
Thud... thud...
Another set of footsteps joined from behind.
Two, no—at least three shadows overlapped in pursuit.
My mind went blank white.
My vision spun, tinnitus screeching in my ears.
The dull thud of my heart battering my eardrums.
The edges of my vision slowly darkened.
***
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Moving to the last save point.]
[The most recent save point is AUTO SAVE 3.]
[Happiness Sharing General Hospital Horror]
[Death Type]: Absorption.
[Tip]: Wrong actions inside the hospital can easily become grounds for expulsion.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
When I opened my eyes, I was back in the lobby.
Fluorescent lights shone coldly down, filling the empty space with silence.
No more monster footsteps echoing, no walls cracking, no wind tearing the air.
Just stillness.
I hadn't seen my own end.
Unable to breathe, I'd blacked out in its grasp.
I let out a heavy breath and slumped into a nearby waiting chair.
The cold plastic against my back triggered a flood of memories.
"Ah."
A short sigh escaped my lips.
Back when I'd shaken off the security guard anomaly in the medical records office.
When it moved as I'd predicted.
That faint, eerie thrill resurfaced.
I turned the thought over in my mind.
'What the hell was I thinking...? Thrill in a situation like that.'
Embarrassment flushed my face.
Fortunately, only I remembered that moment.
Hoo—
I exhaled long and slow.
As my heart calmed, it was time to formalize the rules for the now-proven hypothesis.
I jotted down what I'd grasped so far with the Recorder's Pen.
Rule 4. Patient Dolls in the Waiting Line
4-1. All patient dolls possess number tickets. They only move when 'their number is called.'
4-2. Stealing or swapping patient dolls' number tickets is forbidden.
- If caught, an alarm sounds, and a security guard anomaly appears.
- If caught by security, you're forcibly expelled from the hospital. (Immediate 'absorption' death)
4-3. However, sitting next to or waiting like a patient doll is allowed. Maintain 'patient-like' behavior.
4-4. The wait never ends. Numbers go up to the thousands, so waiting in line won't get you your turn.
Rule 5. Nurses
5-1. Nurses are abominations with hollow eye sockets and torn mouths.
5-2. Nurses classify patients as 'emergency' or 'non-emergency.'
- Non-emergency leads to death by 'bleeding.'
- Emergency recognition leads to chart registration and forced bed rest.
5-3. Move while the nurse is away. No physical resistance possible.
- Lying still too long risks the ruse being discovered, so don't linger.
5-4. Nurses call patients in a mechanical voice when searching.
- Hide or minimize movement upon hearing it. Discovery starts a chase.
- Their hearing seems more developed than a normal adult's.
- However, if the patient flees, their speed increases dramatically.
5-5. Nurses only act within their assigned areas.
Rule 6. Security Guards
6-1. Security guards are black-uniformed anomalies with empty eyes, enforcing hospital order.
- There is more than one.
- Unknown how many will come. (?)
6-2. Stealing number tickets from patient dolls or causing a disturbance summons them immediately.
6-3. Resistance is pointless once caught; you're forcibly expelled outside.
- Immediately after, 'black arms' outside the hospital absorb you.
6-4. Guards stick to their zones. (Lobby guards only patrol the lobby.)
- This shows anomalies can't deviate from their roles.
It was starting to come together.
I stood up right away.
Plenty of time to slack off at home.
I headed to the lobby, scraping dried blood from the floor onto my coat.
Then straight to the bathroom, smearing it all over my body.
In that state, I made my way back to the emergency room.
Clunk—
The door shut, and chilling silence brushed my skin.
There stood the nurse anomaly, right in front of me.
Its empty sockets pierced straight through me.
The moment our gazes met, my heart flinched instinctively.
But I was no longer the me who crumbled before.
I stood my ground.
I took in the anomaly's form.
A hunched back, over two meters of unnaturally emaciated frame.
Skin sagging like dried paper.
Its face was an empty mask, devoid of eyes or nose.
Only in the center yawned a grotesquely torn mouth.
Hundreds of needle-like fangs protruded inside.
Black drool streamed down, soaking the floor.
...I revised my thought from moments ago.
I couldn't hold that gaze after all.
Cowardly, my eyes slid away.
'...Sometimes, anomalies are scary no matter how many times you see them.'