Hospital (6) - The Overseer's Applause
Whoosh!
A heavy hammer sliced through the air with a lethal whine.
Dodge or block?
In that split-second, I activated mana sight and calculated the physical force behind the hammer. My hand shot to the holster at my waist without hesitation.
Decision made. No dodging—take it head-on.
Fast Draw
Fwoom! The supply spell for shooting assistance kicked in, and Opus leaped out like lightning.
But the barrel wasn't pointed at the enemy. Without a second thought, I pressed the muzzle to my temple.
The metallic chill against my skin sent shivers down my spine.
To anyone watching, it looked like I'd suddenly gone insane and was about to blow my brains out.
"You...!"
Zero flinched at my sudden move, but I just grinned.
Stone Skin
Bang—!
A deafening gunshot rang out, yellow flash exploding. Explosive mana wrapped around my entire body.
The defensive incantation memorized in Opus's chamber manifested in an instant.
My instantly hardened skin clashed head-on with Dwayne's hammer, unleashing a shockwave.
Craaaack!
Sparks flew wildly in all directions. The marble floor beneath my feet cracked like a spiderweb from the impact, but I didn't budge an inch.
This wasn't just any Stone Skin—it was enhanced by Opus's incantation performance. Right now, my skin was as unyielding as a mountain.
I looked up at Dwayne and curled my lip.
"Rooooaaar—!!!"
A guttural bellow echoed. Dwayne yanked back the massive hammer pressing down on my head.
His freakishly elongated, modified arm stretched back like a rubber band.
Crack-crack-crack—
The sound of joints bending drilled into my ears. He was gearing up to smash through Stone Skin or whatever with sheer force.
He was prepping his next strike, but in that brief window, a clear opening appeared.
This was my aim.
My turn for a moment. I seized that split-second.
Click!
I tilted the grip of Opus in a cool John Wick pose and lined up a shot right between his eyes.
Hey, I was a crack shot back in my army days. Sure, pistols weren't my thing... but close enough.
Before entering the hospital, I'd memorized six incantations in Opus's chamber. Lightning Shield (twice), Stone Skin, and Fast Draw were already used.
Only two shots left.
But that was plenty.
The moment my sights locked on Dwayne's forehead...
Bullet Acceleration
I chanted the incantation and pulled the trigger.
Another thunderous bang—the air around us shuddered from the shockwave.
Bang—!
The mana bullet, wreathed in crimson flame, tore through the corridor's darkness like a comet with a trailing tail.
The Flame Bolt engraved in the chamber synergized perfectly with the real-time Bullet Acceleration overlay, unleashing peak power.
It could punch through thick alloy barriers. No matter how grotesquely modified, Dwayne's skull should've vaporized on the spot.
"...!"
But he was still alive.
"Ma...gic, die...! I won't... die...!"
More than alive.
Dwayne had caught my Flame Bolt in his palm and was absorbing the writhing flames into himself.
"...What the...!"
I hurriedly opened mana sight to trace the flow. Incredibly, he was stripping the intent from my magic and claiming it as his own.
As I froze at the bizarre sight, his turn came back around.
Whoosh! He whipped my own flames around his hammer in a right hook.
I tried to dodge and create distance, but it wasn't enough. He'd absorbed the Bullet Acceleration info too—his massive bulk moved with impossible speed, barreling into my upper body.
Kaboom!
A devastating impact hit. My left shoulder and ribs shattered into powder from the fiery fist.
"...Urk!"
Splat, splat...
I rolled pathetically across the floor, vomiting blood.
I hastily shaped mana into a splint to stabilize my bones and staggered to my feet, thinking.
What the hell was that?
"Die...!"
As the beastly Dwayne charged with a roar, a record flashed in my mind.
The hospital director's reason for running this freakish place and kidnapping countless humans.
[What is human memory? Memory is the ultimate magic to reach the pinnacle.]
He'd been endlessly dissecting and analyzing memories and minds.
So, alongside Dwayne's physical mods, mental alterations were likely too.
If that manifested as 'stripping intent' like before?
Normally, mages project unique mental energy—intent—onto mana for phenomena manifestation.
Your personal color. Mana's iris and fingerprint. Like admin privileges on a computer.
So... if the director truly mastered human minds, interfering with others' intent—mental energy—wasn't impossible.
"Damn it."
Kaboom!
I sidestepped, barely deflecting Dwayne's massive overhead smash. Marble shards flew as the floor cratered, but I racked my brain for the next move.
I'd considered unleashing full Outer Sea Devourer to swallow him whole.
But the risk was too high.
As an AoE, it'd drag Zero and the survey team in. Plus, with my remaining mana, full deployment was questionable.
Gambling and depleting mana pointlessly would end me. Better play smart.
So, only one solution.
Whoosh!!
I ducked the hook by a hair.
I flipped open the Grimoire and chanted.
Grease
Not on Dwayne—on the floor!
"...! Wha, guh...!"
Crash!
The sudden Grease spell coated the ground. Dwayne howled, losing balance.
His massive frame—hundreds of kilos—couldn't fight the inertia and slammed down.
My gamble. Instead of projecting magic directly at him, manipulate his environment.
If direct interference fails, use indirect causality. He might neutralize my spells, but not physical laws already in effect on the ground.
"Forgive... no...!"
His desperate flailing to rise was pathetic.
But in a mage's world, a split-second gap decides life and death.
Before he could lift his torso, I sighted his distorted forehead over Opus's barrel.
Before Dwayne could react, I unloaded mercilessly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Plain bullets—no magic, no intent.
His ability sucked intent, but only mental energy. Pure kinetic force— just physical damage—bypassed it.
As expected, holes punched through his bloated body.
"Gah, guhhaa...!"
But.
Despite four direct hits, he staggered back up.
I locked eyes with him, enduring the pain.
No choice—last resort—
Then.
"I'll end you...!"
Suddenly, the air around the emergency exit grew eerie.
"Ugh, aa... Aaaaaargh!!!"
Dwayne looked up at the ceiling, bellowing madly. His swollen bulk convulsed.
Crunch-crunch—
Muscles tore amid the noise; electrodes embedded in him glowed red-hot.
And then.
Kabooooom!!
Mana across the space blackened visibly, concentrating wildly around Dwayne's chest.
...This is bad.
My instincts screamed.
He was overloading his bio-core to blow the whole area. I might survive with a barrier, but Zero wouldn't.
The moment I thought we were cornered...
Splat!
A wet tear of flesh.
"...!"
Dwayne's madness-glazed eyes shook pitifully.
"Guh, guhaa...!"
Behind him.
Zero emerged silently from the shadows, his fist buried through Dwayne's bulk.
Punching clean through the chest and out the other side.
Strange patterns glowed on his knuckles—probably how Zero fought.
I'd wondered why no weapons; turns out he's a martial artist.
Pssshhh...
Zero pulled his arm free; black-condensed mana and filth erupted from the hole like a donut.
"Mage, why fight alone?"
Zero grumbled, shaking gore from his hand.
"I can fight too, y'know."
Thud!
Dwayne collapsed lifelessly. Zero spat on him.
"What kinda freak is this? You know him?"
"...Just saw him pass by once."
"Hmph. Was close."
Zero turned with a curt remark. I followed his gaze to the emergency exit.
The survey team huddled trembling in the corner.
"...They didn't run?"
"I was right there."
I sighed and approached.
"Alright, everyone, let's go. Getting sick of this place."
Dungeon crawling ain't worth it.
Fwoom!
We shoved open the heavy iron emergency door and finally escaped.
Warm sunlight poured down.
Squinting at the sudden brightness, I scanned around. We were in some peaceful park in the city.
Only hours in the dungeon, but it felt like days since sunlight.
"No 'important' casualties. Good."
Zero muttered indifferently, blatantly ignoring the shell-shocked AnYoung Pharma team. Probably to break their spirits.
"Urk..."
Adrenaline fading, pain crashed over me like a wave. My body was wrecked.
Shoulder and ribs pulverized; blood gushed endlessly from torn muscles.
I'd woven mana threads to hold bones together, but limits loomed.
"Hold still, mage. Stay like that—I'll bandage you."
His tone was casual, but Zero's hands were precise.
Never thought I'd be so grateful for my partner's doctor background.
Time for the high-grade medical artifacts from the abandoned hospital.
Nanobot ampoules and concentrated healing potions seeped into wounds under Zero's expert care. Special compression bandages secured everything—finally bearable.
"How long since your whole body got smashed, and you're wrecked again... Ha, ridiculous."
"Funny, huh?"
As we bantered, murmurs came from behind.
"...Haa... Thought we were dead... What now..."
Glancing back, the survey team sat on benches, faces ashen.
We all caught our breath, resting.
Then.
Clap, clap, clap.
Unnervingly polite applause from somewhere.
"Splendid. Truly awe-inspiring performance."
A man approached leisurely from the opposite path. Or... was it a man?
TTS-like voice made gender impossible; his form was disturbingly alien.
Neat brown suit on the body, but a spherical CRT monitor instead of a head. Object head, they call it.
Static noise inside, with a smiling emoticon.
[ :) ]
The air grew heavy.
Not figuratively—intangible pressure crushed us.
"......"
My hand trembled as I gripped Opus.
Mana sight showed his density off the charts.
Mana waves from him warped the spectrum, even tinting the sky's clouds.
This guy. Absurdly strong.
Not quite Miya-level, but he could wipe us all in seconds.
Even full Outer Sea Devourer might not scratch his suit.
Zero scowled and stepped in front, refusing to lose the stare-down.
"...Who the hell are you."
"No misunderstanding, sir. I'm just AnYoung Pharma's operations manager."
The monitor's mouth stretched grotesquely as he spoke. He looked down at shivering Team Leader Jangwi and the team.
"Ah, ah... Overseer! You're finally here! We did everything as ordered! As you see, we got the samples... What should we report to the team leader—"
Jangwi whined desperately.
But the overseer's response was icy. The smile turned to a blank line.
[—]
"Jangwi. Notice to you and all of C-Team: You're all failed in the final hiring exam."
"...What? Hiring exam? We're full-time survey team..."
"No. You were AnYoung Pharma trainees. Didn't know? This abandoned hospital was your final interview stage to test field deployment."
Jangwi and the team paled in shock.
"N-No... What about all our grueling training, briefings, sims?!"
"Basics. Essential for functioning employees."
The team fell silent.
Listening to the TV-head, the puzzle clicked: why they were so cowardly and error-prone.
AnYoung Pharma threw rookies into deadly rifts, collecting data on handling fear and extremes.
Lab rats they could afford to lose.
"Exactly, mage. As expected of our promising talent. Watched and was impressed often."
"...!"
Chill ran down my spine.
He read my mind.
The TV-head plucked thoughts I hadn't voiced. ...What ability is that?
I grimaced in disgust, but he ignored and scolded the team.
"Disappointing. Your screams yielded more data than the artifacts. But..."
He turned to me; the line smiled again.
[ :) ]
"You upended all variables, mage. An unexpected boon in our database. Reverse-engineering the bio-panel to sabotage the whole second floor, treating aberrations like toys... And desecrating the final mod—artistic."
He bowed politely.
"AnYoung Pharma welcomes talents like you. Join us instead of these rejects? Best terms in the industry."
I pursed my lips and holstered Opus.
"Pass on the job offer. Not nice enough to work for a company that treats lives as data."
"Pity. Then take this card. We're always open for business with you."
Ting—
He snapped his fingers; a business card fluttered from nowhere. AnYoung Pharma's geometric logo gleamed.
◈ Contact for corporate opportunities
Then Jangwi, dazed, spoke.
"...No way. All a test?"
His voice shook like leaves. He clutched the artifact sack—traded for comrades' lives—and ranted.
"We nearly died! Half my team gone! Just data? A test? You know how impossible this was? Not meant to survive!"
The overseer's emoticon glitched.
[ ? ]
"Impossible? Jangwi, you're alive before me."
He stared coldly.
"Survival paths abounded. Full briefing comprehension, no fear paralysis, optimal judgment—survival odds multiply. But you relied on gear, ditched comrades in crisis. Worst choices."
"Th-That...!"
"We value process as much as results. We wanted cool-headed functionality in extremes—not artifacts."
TV-head tilted; exclamation appeared.
[ ! ]
"City's full of people. Thousands of trainees monthly. Discard faulty parts, replace. No injustice—city's logic. Accept it."
"You... psycho bastard!"
A team member beside Jangwi raised an energy rifle.
Before trigger pull.
Tick!
Overseer flicked casually, like swatting a fly.
Splat!!
The member's head burst like a tomato.
So simple, surreal.
Absurdly, it reminded me of childhood parties—kids popping balloons. Same, except gray matter, flesh, blood, brains.
"Eek, eeee...!"
Jangwi collapsed, soiling himself, voiceless.
TV-head dusted black-gloved gore, turned to me smiling.
[ :) ]
"Sorry for the interruption. Mage, again: AnYoung Pharma sincerely welcomes you. Your talent reported live to higher-ups. Execs positive on recruitment. Call anytime."
"...Is that so."
Silence.
"Hm. Nothing more?"
"..."
"Understood. Busy now. Hope to meet again."
No thanks.
TV-head vanished on the spot.
Reminded me of that mage from the employment office—fire-patterned robe guy who gave me a card after proving myself to the director.
He'd vanished too.
Come to think, hadn't checked that card yet. Threads to unravel piling up.
"...Haa."
I sighed heavily.
Hospital delve done. Got ID chip, director's journal revealed "Yongsim" and "Church" keywords.
Progress, but felt more hopeless. Too close to this world's cruel grammar?
"Let's go, old man."
Zero looked down somberly, nodded.
"...Yeah."
The 17th District's setting sun burned red and sticky, like a burst skull.>