Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Patient #1
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My breath catches in my throat.
An overwhelming terror surges through me, as if the pressure inside my body is skyrocketing, threatening to force every drop of fluid and puff of gas out. A chill runs down my spine.
Did Kim Seonghan, Dr. Kim Seonghan, deceive me? No. That can't be. He warned me there might not be a rulebook, and I chose this myself. There's no way the doctor would trick me... No! Maybe as part of the hospital, he used the absence of a rulebook as bait from the start to turn me into a patient!
I was already spiraling into panic.
Cold sweat poured down as my body twisted. My wide eyes felt like they might pop out, and a bizarre urge welled up to crush my head and compress it right then and there.
I was already doing it. My hands pressed against both sides of my face as I trembled.
"Stop."
The pain snapped me back. This wasn't the time for such bullshit thoughts. I just needed to search more thoroughly.
Creak.
I rummaged through the other patients' drawers too, hunting for the rulebook. Nothing. I'd checked every drawer and every likely spot, but it wasn't there.
Meanwhile, the two other patients in the room said nothing. They just lay against their beds, silently watching me.
Those stitched-shut eyes were emotionless, but they felt like they were mocking me.
"It's really not here."
Despair.
A deep sense of hopelessness washed over me.
The rulebook really wasn't here?
Did that mean I had no choice but to undergo "surgery"? To endure that hellish place for countless hours of agony again?
No way.
I racked my brain desperately, and soon an idea hit me.
The patient room.
The room itself.
Maybe the rulebook was missing only from the room I was admitted to. It could be in another one.
Yes!
That had to be it!
So I just needed to go to another room and find it!
But how?
There were multiple rooms per floor, but even getting there... No, screw it, what was I hesitating for!
I had Guard Jamba!
I already knew exactly what to do!
Thump thump!
That realization freed me completely from the crushing fear and pressure. Right. I hadn't been dropped here clueless. I'd already mastered several rules while working as a guard.
Slipping into the next room and snagging a rulebook would be a piece of cake.
I took a deep breath and prepared to head out. The guard rules were etched in my mind. I could handle anything.
I'll go to the next room and find the rulebook.
With my resolve set, I opened the door and stepped out.
Whoosh!
Side glance.
A distant window at the edge of my vision. The scene outside was utter madness. Of course, I pretended not to notice, ignoring it completely.
Mannequins stood in the hallway.
Ignore them.
Never touch the mannequins.
Likewise, a black box sat in front of a room. I wasn't a guard, so I couldn't touch it.
Ignored.
I headed to the adjacent room. The sign read Room 505. Seemed like the fifth floor.
I entered without hesitation.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Sure enough, patients with stitched eyes and mouths lay against their beds, staring at me. Every room looked the same.
Thud.
I checked the drawers.
Nothing.
"..."
I'd find it in another room.
I slipped out carefully.
And just as I was about to enter the next one—
Creak.
A familiar sound.
The elevator door opening.
I whipped around instantly.
The front of a gurney came into view.
The guard was emerging.
A flurry of thoughts raced through my head.
A guard? Already replaced? No way...! How long was I under surgery? No time for a new guard! But what happens if he sees me?
Of course, these were raw flashes, unformed words in a split second, as my mind crunched the vital calculation.
Probability of sprinting to a room, opening the door, and getting inside safely in this state.
0%.
He'd spot me first.
Right then, I threw myself at the wall.
[8-1. If a patient is stuck flat against the wall bleeding from the mouth, do not engage and ignore them.]
I bit the inside of my cheek hard to draw blood and smeared it on the wall while spitting.
Rattle.
The guard approached, pulling the gurney.
Talk about quick thinking. I'd plastered myself before he fully exited the elevator.
If he followed the rules, he wouldn't touch me stuck to the wall like this.
I acted the part to perfection, just like I'd seen. Groaning as if merging with the wall, rubbing my body and face against it, drooling blood-mixed saliva.
Please just pass by...!
Creak.
The guard passed me!
Did my act work?!
I glimpsed his back as he collected the black box. He gathered all the boxes at the end, then passed me again.
Elevator doors opened, someone boarded. It moved, and silence fell.
"..."
He really left, right?
He wouldn't circle back now, waiting for me? Terrifying delusion. But caution was key here. I stayed stuck to the wall a while longer, then cautiously turned my head the other way, pretending to rub my cheek.
Nothing!
The guard was gone!
Ecstasy surged, dopamine flooding my brain. I'd survived by following the rules. Tricked that bastard and lived.
In this moment, I'd surpassed survival master with two lives, Teacher Kim Byung-man...!
Of course, the euphoria didn't last.
This was a hospital, after all.
I'd glimpsed the guard's name: Lee Seung-cheol.
"..."
I slipped into my target room.
Opened a drawer. A stack of papers.
The rulebook.
Overwhelming joy.
My hands shook.
Grateful for securing my survival method, I returned to my original room.
---Patient Rulebook---
0. If you've found this rulebook, there's hope for you. Life is precious. Never give up.
1. This is a patient room in Cheongak Mary Hospital. You're trapped here. To survive, harbor no doubts about this place and follow the rulebook exactly.
2. You're at risk of death—or something far worse. If you act out or break the rules, the medical staff will "operate" on you. It is not normal surgery.
3. You have been admitted as a patient. Before your admission, you suffered a serious injury somehow. It's currently under treatment now, but you can still move normally in the hospital. Calm down immediately.
4. Unless you're carrying out Rule 6, do not leave your room carelessly. Guards appear outside periodically, and they'll drag you to a horrific place. Begging won't help.
ㄴ 4-1. If you encounter a guard, return to your room immediately. There is a low chance that nothing will happen.
ㄴ 4-2. There is a low chance that a nurse appears instead. There is no confirmed instances of survival upon encountering one outside. Act independently to find a way out.
ㄴ 4-3. Ignore everything outside the corridor windows. It's an illusion, any reaction to it would kill you.
ㄴ 4-4. Do not make contact with wandering patients.
ㄴ 4-5. Never scream, no matter what.
ㄴ 4-6. Unless you have been formally discharged, never leave the hospital.
5. You're a patient. Nurses will enter your room regularly. Even if they offer you something horrific, stay calm. It's medicine, eat it all without showing any reaction.
ㄴ 5-1. Prove that you have taken the medicine properly and diligently. Refusing would mean no discharge from the hospital.
6. If an empty black box appears in the room, fill it, close it, and place it outside the door. Required contents:
ㄴ 6-1. A severed head and torso (both attached to each other).
ㄴ 6-2. The torso must contain no organs.
ㄴ 6-3. Use the other patients in the room — their bodies are soft, so bare hands will suffice. Remove the stitches from their eyes and mouth, and include those as well.
ㄴ 6-4. If there are no other patients in your room, use one from another room.
ㄴ 6-5. If none can be found anywhere, you must find a way regardless.
ㄴ 6-6. Fail this, and you'll go in the box.
7. There is no food for patients. Below is a list of what is found to be edible:
ㄴ 7-1. Leftover limbs from Rule 6.
ㄴ 7-2. Leftover organs from Rule 6.
ㄴ 7-3. Leftover blood from Rule 6.
ㄴ 7-4. Leftover bones from Rule 6.
8. Stay healthy. You're a patient in treatment, thus a poor condition triggers alternative therapy. There are no known cases of survival from it.
ㄴ 8-1. If you find yourself starving from failing Rule 7, complete Rule 7 before the nurse enters.
ㄴ 8-2. If you are unable to do so, hide the fact that you are starving.
9. Take your medicine diligently and stay healthy: a discharge consultation will be offered within 459 days. The doctor is not human — he is the most dangerous presence in the hospital. You must convince him to approve your discharge.
ㄴ 9-1. Be ready to question detailes about your discharge medication: timing, whether to take it with or without meals, what to do if you miss a meal or miss the mdeication, what to do if you are unable to take it due to a long-term injury, what to do if it is confiscated while abroad, and so on — prepare for every possible scenario.
ㄴ 9-2. Prove to it that you'll diligently take the medication post-discharge for a full recovery in daily life.
ㄴ 9-3. If you fail to prove it, you will not be discharged.
10. Is your discharge approved? Take your prescription to the pharmacy. You can get the location from the nurse behind the 1F desk. Once you receive your meds—congrats, you have been officially discharged. Carry your precious meds out.
11. Are you outside? Never look back. Pick up the fallen business card ahead. It has the Management Bureau contact. They'll help return you to a normal life.
ㄴ 11-1. You can choose for an optional memory wipe. Traumatic memories can hinder daily life. Forget and return to normalicy.
ㄴ 11-2. Submit your prescription meds to the Bureau.
ㄴ 11-3. Then, visit a civilian hospital for the remaining injury treatment.
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