Geocaching #9: The Stitched World
"Existing across two worlds, you say?"
"It's possible."
Coming here for geocaching had brought plenty of confusion, but at the same time, something that had always been hazy was starting to come into focus.
"Is the hospital the only thing like that?"
"Hm?"
"The part about existing across two worlds."
Jaaldi paused to think.
"Not necessarily."
"Right. Maybe a lot of anomalies exist across several worlds at once."
Otherworlds, alternate dimensions, anomalous spaces. Perhaps they were all connected.
"A fascinating hypothesis. I've learned so much since arriving here. If I organize it all after we return, it'll be an enormous achievement."
"Sounds like you've uncovered quite a few secrets."
"I have. Especially regarding the Fake Bureau. I'm curious how the Bureau's upper echelons will react to this information."
The upper echelons?
"I've never heard anything about the Bureau's upper echelons before."
"You wouldn't, unless you're at the department head level."
"What do they do?"
"They handle overall coordination. In truth, they rarely show themselves. Even within the Bureau, they're shrouded in mystery."
The Bureau's upper echelons... I wondered what kind of people they were. Even Jaaldi, a department head, didn't know every secret in the world. But if anyone did, it would be them.
"Wait. Grong. Look."
"..."
Jaaldi grabbed my shoulder and pressed down. I turned my head immediately.
"We'll proceed with entry."
"Long live the Bureau."
"For humanity."
Three Fake Bureau agents had just walked out of the hospital grounds! I couldn't help but flinch at the sight. They were leaving without going through any proper procedure—just stepping straight outside.
I knew exactly what would happen next. That insane world...! The moment they stepped out, they'd see a world where everything was stitched together. I'd gone there once, driven mad by the sight, and suffered unimaginable pain. It was a hellscape of pure horror, filled with nothing but suffering. Just watching them leave was enough to make the memory resurface.
Those lunatics—were they actually planning to explore out there?
"Grong. You already know this, but don't go outside recklessly."
"Yes... It's always emphasized in the manual. I felt the urge to go out, but I was too scared."
In reality, I'd gone out and come back with a massive penalty. That place was somewhere you should never go.
"If you just walk out, you won't like what you see. Leave without following proper procedure and you'll end up in that bizarre world."
"A bizarre world?"
What? Did the Bureau know about it too?
"A vicious world where everything in reality looks stitched together. You'll see it the moment you step out."
They knew! The Bureau knew!
"Has the Bureau explored it before?"
"We have. Still, as long as you haven't entered the hospital yet, going into that bizarre world is manageable."
What?!
"You can just come back. But once you've entered the hospital in any capacity, you have to follow the proper exit procedure. Otherwise, you'll be listed as permanently missing."
Patients who escaped outside became permanently missing. But if you hadn't entered the hospital yet, you could go out there and return without issue.
"I didn't know that."
So Cheongak Mary Hospital had rules like this.
"It's information patients don't need to know once they've been admitted. No reason to include it in the manual."
"That makes sense. Then, Team Leader, does that mean we can go outside right now?"
"Theoretically, yes. But there's no need to take unnecessary risks. That bizarre world is extremely dangerous."
"...Understood."
Right. Just because you could go out didn't mean you should. That would be insane.
"Then the Fake Bureau agents should be fine too. They don't seem to have entered the hospital yet."
"It appears so. They must be planning to explore."
Why would they want to explore such a dangerous place?
"What could their reason be?"
"Who knows. It's intriguing, but low priority. What's important right now is confirming whether we've dimensionally shifted or not."
She was right. If we escaped the hospital and found ourselves in our original world, that would confirm the shift. We'd also establish a method for returning from parallel worlds—an efficient outcome.
"But to confirm, we'd have to enter the hospital and then escape, wouldn't we?"
"I'll teach you the method starting now."
"Yes."
Jaaldi began explaining. From now on, we'd enter the hospital under the pretense of a hospitalization consultation. She knew all the relevant rules, and I memorized them as well.
"As for our relationship... Hm. Right. Let's say I'm trying to get you admitted. That would work best."
"What kind of relationship, specifically?"
"Mother and son."
"Excuse me?"
What?
"It has the highest success rate. The setting where parents come for their son's hospitalization consultation. It's commonly used when male and female agents are deployed together."
"Hold on. So I have to call you 'Mom,' and you'll call me your son?"
"...Something like that."
"No way! You really think the nurses will buy that? We don't look anything like mother and son!"
Jaaldi was more like an older sister than a mother! Though she did have some motherly qualities...!
"The nurses are just anomalous entities from ghost stories... They won't make those kinds of distinctions."
"Even so. This is kind of embarrassing. Just thinking about calling you 'Mom'..."
"Why are you so hung up on it? It's just a role assigned for the operation. No need to overthink it."
"Still, it bothers me. Doesn't it bother you, Mom?"
"What? W-wait a second."
The moment I said "Mom," Jaaldi flinched.
"Now you're making me self-conscious too, Grong."
"You have to call me your son, Mom."
"B-be quiet... son."
Ah, this was getting ridiculous. The atmosphere had turned awkward in an instant. If Jaaldi was Mom, then Spandal would be my older sister. Then who would be the younger sister...?!
"Anyway. As your mother, I'll be the one trying to get you admitted. Follow that setting."
"Understood."
With an experienced department head like Jaaldi around, I wasn't too worried about escaping the hospital. After all, we'd just be consulting and leaving. The real trouble came when you were dragged in as a patient—this kind of simple reconnaissance should be fine.
Still, while we were here, I wanted to see Mr. Kim Seong-han again. That was probably just wishful thinking. It would be too risky. But was it really okay to leave him there? I'd made up my mind to save him.
While thinking about Mr. Kim Seong-han, I kept an eye on the Fake Bureau agents' movements.
"Do you think it's really possible? Retrieving him, I mean."
One of the Fake Bureau agents said that. Retrieving him?
"I don't know if it'll work or not. It won't be easy. But if there's any chance, we have to try. Anomalies are already breaking out everywhere. We need his power desperately."
"He's irreplaceable. The Sword Division alone isn't enough."
"Exactly. No matter how skilled Deputy General Manager Go Yeong-hun is, he can't match Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong."
What—what did they just say?! Lee Do-hyeong, the Bureau Chief?!
The moment I heard that, I realized Jaaldi was just as shocked. She gripped my body, signaling me to focus.
"We have to retrieve Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong no matter what. Once we have him back, everything else can be handled somehow."
"It won't be easy... A lot of agents will die."
"It can't be helped. If we can retrieve him, any sacrifice is worth it."
"You're right about that. Just his presence alone suppresses countless anomalies. Still, I respect his skill, but I can't say I like him as a person."
"He wasn't exactly the warmest individual."
This conversation was clearly about Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong. These Fake Bureau agents had come here to retrieve him. But retrieve him? He'd already been torn in half and killed. What were they talking about?
Plus, retrieving him would mean finding his body somewhere inside the hospital—so why were they heading outside instead?
And more importantly... they were talking as if Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong was still alive.
The agents fell silent again after their brief exchange.
"What the hell were they talking about?"
"Didn't they say Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong was torn in half and died?"
"Yes. I saw it clearly. He definitely died. They mentioned performing some kind of surgery afterward, but... d-don't tell me?"
Don't tell me. Had Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong been revived by surgery at Cheongak Mary Hospital?
"Could the surgery have brought him back to life?"
"That's absurd. There's no way they could revive a human."
Jaaldi's eyes grew serious.
"Even if it were possible, he wouldn't be in a living state anymore."
"If he's not alive, then..."
"It's highly likely he's been reborn as something horrific."
"Hrk!"
Reborn as something horrific?!
"It seems... the surgery turned Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong into an anomaly."
"An anomaly!"
The already anomaly-like Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong had undergone another transformation through surgery!
"That's basically an upgrade, isn't it? If someone who was already treated like an anomaly got turned into one again...!"
"...I have no words."
This was beyond anything I could have imagined. Had that overwhelming threat, Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong, been reborn through the hospital's surgery? Had this upgraded version of him escaped the hospital? Had the Fake Bureau agents discovered this during their investigation and gone outside to find him?
This was insane...! How could something like this happen?!
"Son. Change of plans. We need to explore outside the hospital. Let's go out."
"Hoo... This is going to be a really difficult mission, Mom."
"W-wait! We're dropping that setting for now! Why did you suddenly say that?!"
"Well, you called me your son first, Team Leader."
"What?"
She looked like she'd never been more embarrassed. Jaaldi's face flushed red.
"I-it was just a momentary lapse while immersed in the role... Anyway. This requires investigation. After all, it's connected to the immense threat that is Bureau Chief Lee Do-hyeong."
It was terrifying. But with Jaaldi here, it should be fine.
We continued monitoring the Fake Bureau agents. They were communicating with someone—likely the ones who'd gone outside to explore, since their connection to headquarters had probably been severed. I wished we had equipment to eavesdrop, but we didn't.
"It would've been nice if Jamtree were here. Anyway, we're moving out. Follow me carefully."
"Yes."
We're going out. The moment I accepted that, an explosive tension wrapped around my entire body.
"As I said, once we go out, you'll see a world full of stitched-face entities."
I already knew that from experience.
"Don't provoke them under any circumstances."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Good. And if you feel like you're about to have a breakdown, tell me right away. I'll take care of it."
"You mean that motherly embrace kind of care. Understood."
"Don't add unnecessary comments... Let's go."
And so—
—we stepped outside the hospital grounds.
The landscape of my endless trauma unfolded before us.