Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Happiness General Hospital Horror (10)
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Irrational.
And illogical.
What do I gain from doing this? Nothing.
There's absolutely nothing for me to gain.
'So why hesitate? ...Walk. Just one step forward.'
'You're no hero. You have no responsibilities.'
'Think rationally. You'll just take a loss again. Like when you quit your job?'
...
That last line was the trigger.
Words that should have sounded like accusations instead became the push I needed on my back.
...
Even back then, I knew it would be a loss.
...
But even if the same situation came around again,
I would have made the exact same decision without hesitation.
...
I took a deep breath and fully turned my body around.
...
Thinking about it, it feels like I've never once acted rationally.
In the Gyeonggwangju Station Horror too, there were plenty of reasons, but
I moved because I couldn't bear to watch her die right in front of me at the station.
In the New Employee First Day Anomaly, I couldn't stand by while people with dreams were crushed, so I stood up to it.
In the Doppelganger Horror, I charged in because I couldn't watch my hometown, my memories, and the people vanish before my eyes.
...
So.
It's the same now.
Truth be told, the reasons were never that important from the start.
...
Just—
Because I wanted to.
...
That's all there is to it.
No more, no less.
...
I stepped back into the hospital.
Somehow, my footsteps felt a little lighter.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Moving to the last save point.]
[The most recent save point is AUTO SAVE 3.]
[Happiness General Hospital Horror]
[Death Type]: Absorption.
[Tip]: Improper behavior inside the hospital could become grounds for expulsion.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I took a deep breath.
Exhaling long and hard as if pouring out all the anxiety and fear inside me, I opened my eyes.
"Let's give it a run."
***
I grabbed the necessary items from the Horror Shop and stepped out into the lobby.
Without hesitation, I tore the paper I was holding as I walked.
[30 Second Immunity Ticket] (80 Coins)
Ignores all rules for 30 seconds.
(*Caution: The 'horror' will not stay silent toward those who ignore the rules.)
[Would you like to use this item?]
[Yes][No]
['30 Second Immunity Ticket' activated.]
[Horror rules are nullified for 30 seconds.]
['Happiness General Hospital' Horror detects an anomaly.]
[The Horror shows strong hostility toward the rule-ignoring entity.]
I glanced at the system messages but didn't stop walking.
I had accounted for that much.
At the end of my path stood the middle-aged man.
The man who should have died at this point was still alive.
...
"...Where... is this...?"
The first time I entered this hospital, I couldn't understand him.
But the one who hadn't understood was me.
Now I had some idea why he had acted so desperately.
There he was, drenched in sweat, breathing raggedly, clutching his phone tightly as he flailed about.
A person's sharpest weapon is always reason.
Think about it.
If I were the horror.
If I were the horror that made a contract with that man.
Would I let him recall the details of the contract we made?
...
'No. I'd put some kind of restriction on it somehow. Using the features of this space, maybe.'
I recalled the text from the Rulebook.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
You are currently in sector 312-H-31.
You have entered the 'Happiness General Hospital' Horror.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
And the lines written below it.
...
[...Tomorrow's the interview. Should I be happy or what. Fuck. ...Rather go to the army... send me bㅡ]
[I was at Seongsim Hospital until just now. Did they change the name...? Anyway, that's bullshit up there, right? Don't prank me. I don't fall for that shitㅡ]
[The time doesn't match. The clock's been stuck at 3:17 since earlier.]
...
This hospital is a kind of imaginary space that infinitely replays the same time.
Every time new people enter, the space replays the same day and hour for those entrants.
The horror sucks out the essence of emotions amid that repetition.
Fear, despair, desperation.
That endless evil feeds on them to fill its belly.
Could an ordinary person keep up the same act infinitely in a space like that?
Repeatedly, right up until their head literally bursts open.
Impossible.
So what this man had lost wasn't just simple memories.
It was the lock on the contract the horror had taken.
So what I needed to do now was
start by restoring those memories.
I bombarded him with questions nonstop.
Hoping at least one would catch.
"Do you remember why you came to the hospital?"
"Is there anything you recall doing before entering here?"
"Your name? Not just yours, but your family's names too."
That was the key.
His face, desperate just moments ago, twisted grotesquely.
...
"Name... I can't remember my name..."
...
That's when I realized it.
What the lock blocking his memories was.
I opened my mouth carefully.
"By any chance, the name you can't recall... your daughter's name. Kim Boram. Is that right?"
As my voice fell, the middle-aged man's head froze.
In that instant, the light in his eyes drifted away, leaving them empty.
His gaze, aimlessly fixed on empty air, returned, and his tightly shut lips parted.
"I... I was on my way to the hospital. I got a call that my daughter was in a car accident... they said to come to the ER right away... Wh-what year is it now...?"
"...2025."
...
"Thirteen years have passed...?"
His face turned pale in an instant.
...
"Young man... have you seen my daughter by any chance?"
He grabbed my shoulders.
A faint pain rose from where he gripped, but I wasn't angry.
The trembling transmitted from his grip on my shoulders.
And the desperation contained within it reached me too.
I looked into his eyes, at the emotions mixed there.
If his memories were back, he would know now.
That for thirteen years, he had been endlessly toyed with by the horror.
...
But.
The first words out of his mouth weren't anger, but worry for his daughter.
...
In that moment, any reason to hesitate vanished.
The choice I had to make was already set.
I caught my breath for a moment and placed the paper in his hand.
"..Wait here just a bit."
"What is th..."
No time to linger here.
The horror had already detected the anomaly.
"You need to tear that paper every 30 seconds. Without fail."
The man stared blankly at me, not understanding the situation.
I met his eyes straight on and continued firmly.
......
"Do you understand?"
As my words ended, a heavy silence flowed for a moment.
The man drew a deep breath and stared straight into my eyes, as if confirming something.
In that gaze—
As if something I couldn't see was conveyed, his trembling stopped.
And soon, his head nodded slowly, filled with resolve.
With his confirmation, I rolled up my sleeves.
"Your daughter... I'll bring her back."
***
This time, there was no trick (blood) to fool the nurse horror.
As I opened the ER door, the nurse horror stood there beyond the gap.
A long, withered silhouette half-submerged in the light.
This time, the starting point was different.
Right from the entrance, here—this was where hide-and-seek began.
And there was a penalty too.
Even if I died and returned this time, I wouldn't get the same chance again.
The horror coins I used didn't come back with regression.
Every time things went wrong once,
the next difficulty spiked sharply.
So.
I had to clear it in this one shot.
I extended my wrist forward.
The nurse horror glanced at it and let out a mechanical voice.
...
"...This is not an emergency patient."
Her hand approached my neck familiarly.
Swaaaa—
The air split.
The monster's movements from the previous loops were already etched into my body.
Grab the neck.
Lay on the bed.
Then, eliminate the intruder.
The hand, losing its target, changed direction.
Whoosh—
Dodging the swung hand sideways, I immediately rolled my body into the only cover—the empty space under the bed.
Boom!
The follow-up.
Soon, the nurse's arm, smashing down into empty air, shifted toward the bed and crushed the entire thing.
The springs tore with a screech, and the metal frame bent grotesquely.
Whoooosh—
The belated sound of wind.
Air whipped through the space above my head like waves.
My whole body was stiff from the impact of rolling on the floor, but
thanks to that, I evaded the third surprise attack.
...
"Paaatient......!"
As the distance grew, the mechanical voice burst out.
Terror at what was about to start surged up my spine.
Soon, the pursuit would begin.
But the strength in my legs didn't falter.
This place was practically my home ground.
The path etched into my mind from repeating deaths in previous loops.
Thud! Thud!
From behind came the continuous sounds of the bed collapsing and metal tearing.
From that moment, the chase with the nurse truly began.
Overwhelming physical ability.
Monstrous speed based on that.
It was drawing closer.
But the nurse horror could never catch me.
Countless failures to enter the general ward from the ER had become information, showing me the way.