Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Patient #2
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The first thought that hit me as soon as I read the rulebook was one thing.
"Ah, fuck."
This was fucked.
But unlike the security guard rulebook, there were no contradictions. It was textbook perfect, straight out of the manual. Yeah, if you're gonna write a rulebook, do it like this, for fuck's sake.
But what the hell were these bizarre clauses?
"..."
Fill the Black Box... myself?
Using the patients in the room?
And on top of that, it said to eat them because there's no food. Even the suspicious meds from the hospital—swallow them without batting an eye.
Horrifying, but at a glance, it seemed doable. Not like I had to go full Lee Do-hyung Section Chief, grabbing a knife and conquering the hospital.
This hero of reversal, Kim Geunhong, had single-handedly torn apart vampires and smashed every Management Bureau bastard up to section chief level—an ultra-superhuman among superhumans. I'd even worked security here at the hospital and won top guard award.
To survive.
I could do any disgusting thing.
But it wouldn't be easy. There had to be a reason Dr. Kim Seonghan warned me off. The rules looked fine, but something had to be tricky.
I read the rulebook over and over, tense, committing it to memory.
Then.
"Huh?"
[4. Unless implementing rule 6, do not leave the room carelessly. A security guard will appear from time to time, and he will drag you to a horrific place. Begging for your life is not recommended.]
Hold on.
This...
"..."
A memory flashed through my mind.
'P-please! Help me! Save me, please!'
The anomaly I'd run into during box collection duty.
A terrified human-looking patient begging me for help.
"N-no way."
No way.
It was actually a person?
Then the people trapped in this hospital like me... someone with no connection, just like me...
I'd stuffed a regular person into that black room at the end of the hall?
"U-urp."
Intense guilt welled up.
My stomach churned, vomit rising. I forced it down, but my hands started shaking, heart racing, dizziness hitting.
I'd put a person there... with my own hands?
No, no!
I really didn't know!
I was just following the rules! And I had no idea if it was even human! No way I'd driven someone to death!
I tried shaking off the thoughts, but they wouldn't budge.
What if that person really had been kidnapped into this hospital?
Couldn't find the rulebook, didn't know the situation, scared shitless so they left their room, ran into me on guard duty, and begged for help?
And I'd coaxed and sweet-talked them right into the black room?
"Urk...!"
Fuck...!
Fuck, fuck!
You shitty hospital bastards!
Is this what Dr. Kim Seonghan meant by never crossing paths with security as a patient?! I had no idea what the hell was going on...!
—Shiver shiver.
My body and mind trembled.
Chills from realizing I'd done something terrible.
But I couldn't just shake.
I had to survive.
For that person I'd harmed, too.
"Dr. Kim Seonghan."
I stroked the ring from Dr. Kim Seonghan on my finger. Wedding ring? Whatever it was, I had to survive to deliver it back to Daeseong Blessed Mother Hospital.
Refresh.
Pushed other thoughts aside, focused on survival.
First, the no-leaving-room rule—I'd already proven I could handle it. Avoid the nurse, but I had no reason to go out anyway.
Follow the rules and survive.
Okay, fill the Black Box when it appears in the room. Two other patients now... I could handle it if it showed. No need right now.
And when the nurse comes to medicate, swallow without hesitation.
I could do this.
I tucked the rulebook into the drawer and climbed onto my bed, leaning back.
Deep breaths, and suddenly hunger and thirst hit.
...This was a crisis for sure.
Only edible things here were the other patients. Filling the box would give food, but otherwise? Could I kill a patient without the box? Not in the rules.
"..."
"..."
I looked up—both were staring at me.
Monsters with stitched-shut eyes and mouths. Killing those fuckers? Fine. But eating them? Nauseating.
Hold out for now.
No real dangers, so sleep to conserve energy.
I closed my eyes.
* * *
—Rustle rustle.
Noises woke me.
Nurse?
Tension surged.
But she hadn't entered yet.
The other two patients were making the sounds.
"..."
"..."
They were crawling wildly. Or not wildly—slug-like, slow and sluggish.
One half-hanging off the bed, the other sprawled like it fell from the drawer. Grotesque poses.
Why move now after staying still?
—Click clack.
Shoe sounds from outside.
Nurse?
Did they sense her coming and writhe?
Scared of what horror she'd do?
While I debated mimicking them, the door opened.
—Slide!
It was the nurse.
Eyes and mouth stitched, just like expected.
Silent Hill nurse vibe.
She scanned the room. I kept my head slightly down to avoid eye contact. Red high heels peeked under her mesh stockings. The crawling patients thrashed harder.
Then.
She strode crisply to the crawling patient.
Grabbed it with one hand, plopped it on the bed.
—Stab!
Suddenly shoved her hand into her own gut...!
—Squish squish.
Wriggled it around. I knew that pain—utterly revolting. But no blood flowed. Pop. She pulled out her hand, clutching a pulsing, grotesque lump of flesh like a heart.
Size of a melon.
—Grip!
She seized the patient's jaw, pried it open. Stitches stretched... no way?
Feeding it that?!
—Squelch!
As expected, she crammed the lump into the patient's mouth.
It flailed.
No mercy—she forced it all in, worked the jaw to make it chew.
Soul-crushing despair hit me, like my spirit evaporated.
Instinct told me.
That grotesque lump was the "medicine" from the rulebook.
—Slump.
The patient slumped. The other crawled frantically toward the door. She grabbed its nape, laid it on the bed, repeated the process.
"..."
My turn.
She stood by my bed.
—Stab!
Hand into her gut again, wriggled twenty seconds, pulled out a pink, melon-sized lump dangling fleshy tendrils.
Held it out to me.
Staring with stitched eyes.
[5. You are a patient. A nurse will enter periodically. Even if they offer something horrific, do not flinch. It is medicine—eat it all without showing discomfort.]
[5-1. You must prove you can take your medicine properly and diligently. Refuse, and the hospital will not discharge you.]
Eat this naturally or no escape.
Laughter bubbled up.
So this was the hard part.
Separately, my hand had already taken the lump.
Compared to pains I'd endured.
Disgust was nothing.
"Ah."
Mouth wide.
No hesitation—I popped it in naturally, bit hard.
—Crunch.
Juices burst, unknown liquid gushing. Chew chew. Ignore revulsion, ignore taste, force it down. No describing that flavor.
The nurse watched silently.
—Chew chew.
—Crunch.
Chew.
Swallow.
Repeat.
Puke here...? Might be better. As I thought that, she offered something.
A water bottle.
"...?"
I stared blankly; she tilted her head.
Unscrewed the cap, offered again.
Drink it?
Fuck yeah, chug!
Grabbed it, gulped fiercely, washing nasty flesh bits down with water. Finished "medication"—she jotted on her clipboard, click-clacked out in heels.
—Click clack.
Left: me and two patients, slumped from the horror meds.
"Urp!"
Disgusting...!
Madness-inducing revulsion!
So bad, these two shared-trauma fuckers felt like comrades! We'd all choked down this garbage—camaraderie sprouting!
Felt the lump squirming inside. Really okay? Maybe wrecking my body? But only trust the rulebook. Survival first, nothing else.
Wanted to scream, held it in.
I'd discharge, come hell or high water.
* * *
Three days passed.
Three more doses.
Luckily, nurse gave water—no dehydration. But three days starving? Losing it. Ravenous. One more day, starvation shows.
Unhealthy look.
Death.
Dreaded opening eyes.
Wanted eternal sleep.
"..."
Eat the other patients?
No Black Box yet.
—Slide.
That thought, and a noise—eyes snapped open, black shape appeared.
Black Box in the room center.