Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Cheongak Mary Hospital #7
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It's been a week.
There were times I nearly died, but I've managed to survive by handling everything properly.
The fridge keeps restocking with lunchboxes, so survival itself hasn't been much of an issue.
I have no idea how the lunchboxes are generated or what ingredients they're made from. I ignore all those questions and just focus on following the Rulebook to the letter.
These days, even when something bizarre happens in the hospital, I barely bat an eye. A week might seem short, but it's been plenty of time to adapt.
That said...
Being trapped in a hellhole like this is seriously wearing down my sanity.
Is the Management Bureau's follow-up support team ever coming? If they do show up, will I get attacked too since I'm the guard and technically part of the hospital now?
What if a vampire shows up here? Would the vampires get wiped out? Or would a single vampire conquer the whole place?
With nothing to do, my mind wanders to crap like this.
"..."
I have to escape.
No matter what.
-Your shift today is from 1 PM to 4 PM.
"Okay."
Today's shift is short.
I changed into my guard uniform as usual and entered the hospital.
I started my rounds, checking for any anomalies.
That's when I reached the seventh floor.
"Ah, ahh!"
I heard a human voice.
What the hell?
"O-over there! Help me! Please, save me!"
It's a person.
A frail-looking guy, completely terrified, tears streaming down his face as he begs me for his life.
I almost responded on instinct, but I kept my cool and recalled the rules.
[8-2. If a patient begging for help appears, persuade them firmly and escort them while following Rule 8. Forceful measures are permitted if needed.]
Rule 8 is about putting patients in the black room at the end of each floor.
I have to follow the rules.
This is a new anomaly, but I'm not falling for it. One moment of carelessness and I'm dead. Trying to scare me by pretending to be human now?
No way I'm buying it.
It's a pretty good human imitation, but still just an anomaly. Which means if I waste time, it's game over.
"What's wrong, sir? Calm down."
"O-over there! Monsters! S-sob, sob!"
"Calm down first. This way."
"Huh? O-okay..."
Just like the Rulebook said, I draped an arm over the patient's shoulder, supported him, and moved him along. We reached the room at the end of the floor, and I opened the door.
"W-wait a minute. It's so dark in here. Ah?!"
Whoosh.
I shoved him straight into the room.
Then I closed the door and locked it.
Done.
-Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!
As expected, the pounding started. This always happens after you put a patient in here.
After that, I collected all the boxes, finished up on the eighth floor, and headed to the ninth.
Ninth floor.
Dr. Kim Seonghan's office is here.
"..."
Every time I come up to the ninth floor, I think the same thing.
If there's a way out of this place, Dr. Kim Seonghan is the only one who would know it.
That's why every time I pass his office, I hope to run into him. I keep gently knocking on the door, wishing he's inside.
No response so far. Is he not there? Or did the hospital's monsters already get him?
I have no way of knowing, but today I knocked softly on the office door again.
Knock knock.
Is he in?
-Come in.
What?
He's here?!
My heart feels like it's going to explode. No. I can't get rattled. That could lead to a mistake. I need to stay calm and composed. But I can't help the anticipation... I slowly turned the knob and stepped inside.
"You are...?"
Dr. Kim Seonghan, skin peeled back, stares right at me.
"Good day, Doctor. It's the guard. I've survived by following the Rulebook just as you instructed."
"I see... That's a relief... I didn't think we'd meet again..."
"Doctor. Do you have some time right now?"
"Not much. I have surgery scheduled for the next shift."
No time for a long talk.
"Doctor. I want to get out of here. Is there a way?"
"..."
A brief silence.
"Follow the Rulebook. That's your best chance of survival."
"But what about escaping? Do I have to wait here forever for a replacement? And I don't want to pass this nightmare on to someone else and run."
"Replacement...? I don't know what you mean."
He doesn't know?
"But if you're dead set on escaping."
No way!
"Is there a way?"
"Guards can't leave."
"Oh."
"But patients can."
A patient?!
"Yes. If you become a hospital patient, there is a way to be discharged. But I don't recommend it. It's far more dangerous... and horrific."
"I don't care! Tell me!"
"..."
Silence again.
He really looks reluctant.
He doesn't want me taking the risk.
But I'm escaping anyway.
"You've... already adapted. You can survive as a guard. But if you insist on leaving... I'll tell you."
The doctor handed me a scalpel.
"This is?"
"When your shift ends, make a big wound on your body with this and come back to the hospital. The nurses will admit you right away. Once you're admitted, find the patient Rulebook in the bedside drawer."
A Rulebook?
"Do that, and you can be discharged. However... if there's no Rulebook, there's truly no way out. You'll just end up getting surgery."
"Wait. A Rulebook?"
That doesn't add up.
What the hell is a Rulebook anyway?
"Who issues these Rulebooks in the first place?"
"I reprint the guard Rulebook from the original when needed. But the patient ones... I don't know who places them or how. It seems like some organization called the Management Bureau does it, but I'm not sure."
"What?"
The Management Bureau leaves patient Rulebooks to help people discharge?
Those assholes?
What the...
"No time left now. Choose wisely. If you're trapped in a room without a patient Rulebook, you're as good as dead."
"Got it."
"...And one more thing."
The doctor stood up.
"Patients and guards are different. Try not to interact with any guards."
"Understood."
"Also, if you do manage to escape. Take this."
"This is?"
It was a ring.
Something precious, no doubt.
"Deliver it to Daeseong Blessed Mother Hospital. Just tell them I'm alive."
"I'll make sure it gets there. I promise."
I memorized the name.
I'll deliver it no matter what.
"Go now. Time's up."
"Thank you, Doctor."
"Make the wound as big as possible. Life-threatening. I hope you survive."
I left the office immediately.
The scalpel felt cold in my pocket.
After my shift ended.
I reviewed what happened today.
There is a way out: get admitted as a regular patient and discharge normally.
If I make a big wound with this scalpel, I can get admitted right away. Then find the patient Rulebook and follow it to discharge.
But it'll be harder than the guard rules, and worst case, there might not even be a Rulebook.
If I fail, I'll get "surgery."
"Hic, heek."
Just thinking about surgery sends chills of terror through me. I know what that surgery is. I can't go through it again.
Still.
"Let's do it."
I'm getting out of here.
Once I was ready, I gripped the scalpel. He said to make it as big as possible. I've died a few times, even gutted myself once, so I'm somewhat of a specialist in death.
But self-harming while fully conscious like this? First time.
"Fuck, this is scary...!"
My heart's pounding like crazy.
I have to slash my body hard with this scalpel.
Deep enough to gush blood and force an emergency admission.
"Shit! The pain's just for a second! Here goes!"
I bit down on a cloth.
Squeezed my eyes shut.
And dragged the scalpel from my left chest to my right side—
"Hic, heeeeeek!!!!"
My flesh splits wide, blood pouring out. The hot, sharp pain makes my body shudder, a scream building up. Absolute screamer Kim Geunhong is right here. But this pain is familiar. I've been through it with vampires a few times.
Bullshit— it hurts so fucking much I'm going insane!
"Heek! Heeeek!"
No time to hesitate!
I threw on my regular clothes and rushed out of the guard room.
The blood soaks through my shirt in seconds.
The moment I opened the hospital door.
Whoosh!
Every eye inside turns to me.
Did I...
Make the right choice? What if Dr. Kim Seonghan is just another hospital entity faking being human, tricking me like this? He mentioned replacements and the Management Bureau—stuff I don't understand.
The nurses come running. Some sprint normally. Others slither from cracks, swelling up and skittering on all fours across walls and ceilings.
I collapse amid all these grotesque nurses.
"We'll commence emergency admission procedures."
Prick!
The last thing I feel is one of the nurses jabbing a syringe into my neck.
Then I close my eyes.
I open my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Two seconds later, my wits return, and I scan my surroundings to assess the situation.
A hospital room.
It looks exactly like one!
"...!"
Did I succeed in getting admitted?!
I pull open the patient gown top. My wound—from left chest to right side—is perfectly sutured. Stitched with black thread, just like the hospital monsters' eyes and mouths.
No pain.
Looks like the nurses anesthetized me, sutured it properly, and admitted me.
First hurdle cleared. I'm in, so now I just need to find the Rulebook and follow it. But the Management Bureau supposedly left it... makes me suspicious. Do those bastards even have that kind of competence? Are they actually trying to save people? The same ones who rip out brains?
Not the time to overthink.
He said if there's no Rulebook, I'm screwed.
Let's look first.
No way it's not there.
But.
"..."
"..."
I'm not alone in the room.
Four beds.
It's a four-person room, and two patients with stitched-shut eyes and mouths are propped up in their beds, staring silently at me.
Fuck.
If I don't find the Rulebook soon, this is going to go bad.
Right, he said it's in the drawer?
I checked every drawer.
"No Rulebook?"
It's not here.