Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Bizarre Companions
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It wasn’t just the patients swarming from outside that they had to worry about. The frantic footsteps of a nurse charging straight toward the hospital room from the hallway echoed wildly.
If they stayed put, they’d be surrounded in no time.
But Ian paid them no mind. Park Hee-su, shotgun bandolier slung over his shoulder and a cigarette dangling from his lips, strode forward.
“Alright, the nun and I will clear the path! Wizard, prep some spell that’ll turn this hospital into a total write-off!”
Park Hee-su shouted as he shouldered the shotgun with perfect form. Ian let out a hollow chuckle.
“What, you think this is Dungeons & Dragons? I’m not some academy kid slinging fireballs or lightning bolts.”
“What? The wizard I saw set people on fire from the inside out like it was nothing.”
“……What kind of wizard was that?”
“You know the spontaneous human combustion incident? Got a report of some psycho using magic right in the middle of the city, went to suppress it, and the whole Management Bureau squad got burned alive on the spot. Then the bastard stormed the Bureau building and wiped out every desk jockey there. You seriously don’t know about that?”
It sounded absurd even from the rough summary. Ian had seen mentions of the spontaneous human combustion case on the community forums, but he had no idea it had this kind of backstory.
‘A wizard who can forcibly ignite a human body…… The cost for that must be beyond imagination.’
Magic wasn’t an all-powerful force. Sure, it could work miracles, but those miracles always came with a price. Naturally, the greater the spell’s power, the steeper the cost—and a mage’s skill was defined by how quickly they could pay it and unleash the spell.
In that sense, whoever cast a spell capable of incinerating a human body in an instant had to be extraordinarily skilled. Whatever price they paid, being able to wipe out a Bureau squad like that screamed seasoned pro.
They were dead now, so there was no asking, but it piqued his curiosity anyway. Ian resolved to look into it once they got out, swapping grimoires as he did.
Paat.
A pristine white grimoire materialized in his grasp.
Of course, getting caught with two grimoires wouldn’t end well, so he quickly stashed the Hand of Recreation in his coat’s inner pocket. Then he approached the patients sprawled on the floor and activated his re-creation magic.
“Be reborn.”
Wooduk!
The convulsing patients crumpled into perfect spheres. The slick texture was gross, but securing materials seemed wise, so he stuffed them all into his bag.
Gotta do what needs doing.
“…….”
Cecilia’s eyes widened for a split second as she watched Ian manhandle the patients at will, but she snapped her head toward the door as it burst open. Park Hee-su grinned at the face of the charging nurse.
“Hey, miss!”
“Patient! You can’t move—”
“Thanks for taking care of me!”
Chulk!
Park Hee-su hooked his finger on the trigger and curved his eyes into sly arcs.
“This is my love!”
Taaaang!!
The shotgun roared the instant he pulled the trigger, flames erupting from the muzzle. The flying buckshot pulverized the heads of the oncoming nurses, splattering against the walls. Blood sprayed thick, flecking Ian and Cecilia’s faces.
“…….”
This was no ordinary shotgun—the sheer firepower could pass for artillery. Probably custom-modified by the Bureau itself.
“Hahaha! Let’s go!”
Park Hee-su bellowed, stomping over the mangled nurse flesh. Ian grimaced wryly, grabbing whatever nurse parts he could before following. Cecilia overtook Ian and fell in beside the sprinting Park Hee-su.
“Left’s mine. Right’s yours.”
“Ooh, nice! I like a gal who gives orders like that!”
Park Hee-su grinned and shoved his muzzle around the right corner, firing without hesitation. Cecilia offered her left arm to the grotesque lunging from the left—no playfulness in her stance—then jammed her dagger into its eye, scrambling its brain.
Kkaduduk!!
A gruesome sound accompanied the grotesque’s limp collapse. Cecilia left her severed arm dangling and climbed atop the fallen body, opening fire on the incoming horde.
Tadadang!
The muzzle spat continuous fire, unleashing a hail of bullets. In that moment, familiar footsteps echoed from down the hall.
“Detected severed limb.”
It was the surgeon.
His white coat flapping, he fixed on Cecilia with pinpoint accuracy, drool pouring from his lips.
“Surgery commencing.”
Sreung.
He drew a scalpel from his pocket and lolled out a long tongue. Cecilia eyed him, then scowled at the sudden mental haze and plunged her dagger into her own throat.
“Khek!”
Blood frothed from her mouth. Her breath hitched, carotid spurting crimson. A chill paled her skin, as if her body were cooling to death.
That snapped her mind awake. She yanked the dagger free, clamped it between her teeth, clutched her rosary, and prayed.
Her wounds healed in an instant. She gripped the dagger anew, spat the pooled blood from her mouth.
“My physician is the Lord alone. Creatures crawled from evil—dare not touch this body.”
Cecilia wiped the blood from her lips and hurled her dagger, drawing dual pistols.
“Merciful yet pitiless, our savior who saves but grants no salvation. By God’s will I stand, His proxy and servant, to purge the wicked and proclaim His gospel unto the world.”
Her fluent Italian flowed as she crossed her pistols and fired. Roaring shotgun blasts erupted rightward; leftward came wet chewing sounds amid relentless gunfire. Ian guarded the rear under their protection.
‘They’re swarming.’
The two clearing the front was great, but they had no slack to cover behind.
No choice. Ian drew his revolver and methodically burst the heads of the encroaching crowd.
Tang! Chulk, Taang!
The cylinder spun with each muzzle flash. Six shots spent. Instead of reloading, he holstered the revolver and slapped the wall.
“Be reborn.”
Wooduduk!
The wall elongated, sealing the rear hallway completely. Rear secured—but no retreat now.
He hadn’t planned on one anyway. Ian rubbed his sore throat and opened the Deep Sea Chronicles. Amid the blood mist from the grimoire, he scanned for the ideal summoned beast for their plight.
Feed wasn’t an issue. This hospital had 66 floors. One floor’s worth would sate any hunger, so he picked strong without fretting costs.
‘This one.’
Decision made, he sat mid-corridor and began tracing the magic circle. Park Hee-su and Cecilia sensed his intent and rushed to his side.
“Big one incoming? Big one, right?!”
“Quick, quick, quick.”
Thick blood reek wafted from them. Cecilia was drenched, undistinguishing her blood from the grotesques’. Park Hee-su wasn’t much better—shoulder bone exposed, like he’d been half-devoured.
Even against physical-vulnerable grotesques, sheer numbers made it dicey. Recon agents armed only with shotguns couldn’t clean house perfectly, Response Division or not.
Cecilia fared okay, but injury-wise, she had it worse. She looked fine now, but without regen, she’d be dead ages ago.
She hadn’t died, though. No problem.
Ian ignored their urging, meticulously finishing the circle. He piled seven grotesque flesh chunks atop it—mixing in his own blood—and chanted.
“Thou, eye of the great one, watcher and lighthouse. I, Thy proxy and companion, command thee: manifest here, become my eyes and harpoon.”
Chant complete, blood mist filled the corridor. Iron tang mingled with oceanic brine. Park Hee-su and Cecilia shuddered in inexplicable dread; Ian slowly turned to the gaze from the window.
Their eyes met.
[…….]
A massive eyeball. Nothing else visible. His reflection sharp in its crimson iris.
Codename: Watcher.
Vast jellyfish-like predator of the outer sea, bearing a single enormous eye.
It beheld Ian. Ian beheld it.
An unknowable gaze exchanged between them.
Then the Watcher’s pupil cracked faintly, a silhouette emerging within.
[……Hu.]
It was a girl.
Hair color and features indistinct. But unmistakably a girl’s face. Blood-red eyes bloomed in the pupil, curved lids tracing a smile as they slid downward.
“……Uuwek!”
“Huu, haa…… Almighty Father, protect us…… Khrup……!”
The girl’s appearance set Park Hee-su and Cecilia convulsing. Grotesques froze as if bound; even the bold surgeon trembled, scalpel in grip.
Only Ian stood unfazed.
[……Ahaha.]
The girl gazed at him, sticky and indulgent, then giggled faintly—in his mind alone.
Moments later, she vanished from the eye. The cracked pupil restored; the bloodshot iris reflected only Ian.
“……Kkhup, kahek! Wh-what the fuck was that……!”
Park Hee-su glared at Ian, hands fumbling. As Ian opened his mouth to reply, slender tentacles pierced the outer walls. They caressed Ian gently, then shot toward the grotesques, skewering and crushing them.
“This……?!”
The surgeon panicked at the writhing tentacles. He slashed with his scalpel, screaming skyward.
“Great one! We had no such intent—”
Kwajik!
Tentacle bundles from the ceiling pulped him into dozens of chunks. Viscera rained; mouths at tentacle tips drooled, seeking fresh prey.
“……Fuck. What is this shit.”
Park Hee-su muttered, soul-shocked. Cecilia regenerated her half-severed tongue while recovering, then kicked him.
“Snap out of it! Move!”
“……Summoning something like that— you even human anymore……?”
“Management Bureau!”
“I hear you, you fucking Jesus freak! Yeah, let’s move! Emergency exit! To the emergency exit!”
Park Hee-su spat curses, shotgun raised, charging. Cecilia followed, glancing back at Ian.
“Wizard!”
“……Coming.”
Ian followed, feeling the Watcher’s gaze.
Writhing tentacles demolished ceilings and walls, devouring every grotesque—and patient—across all floors.
Crimson blood began soaking the hospital interior.
*
Incheon’s abandoned hospital. Yohan General Hospital, the sign read. Response Team 3 checked gear and status swiftly, hands on the entrance.
“Breaching. Remember: no injuries inside, no eating. From the moment we enter, we’re not Bureau agents—we’re siblings.”
“Understood.”
Yeoul nodded at Kim I-seo’s reply and opened the entrance. The five-member team advanced slowly into the lobby, Yeoul leading.
With each step, the scenery shifted. Trailing trees and grass vanished; blood-red sky and clearing emerged.
The desolate, unmanaged hospital interior turned pristine. Then tentacles skewering nurses whipped through the air.
“Huh?”
The sight blanked their minds briefly.
Tentacles parading impaled nurses? Nothing like that in the reports.
As all thought it, patients surged madly through the entrance they’d come from.
No time to react. They floundered amid the patient wave like castaways.
“Wh-what the hell!!”
“Stay calm and respond! It’s a wild card! Lose focus and you die!”
“Min-ah! Grab the maknae!”
“Y-yeah……!”
“Fucking……!”
The agents drew weapons in unison amid varied reactions.
Kwaaaang!!
The emergency exit door flew open suddenly. A patient wreathed in flames burst out.
“S-save meee!! Save meeeee!!”
Kwajijik!
Tentacles from the exit devoured him whole. Something burst inside, but the tentacles ignored it, writhing toward the next target.
Ian’s group emerged behind the tentacles.
Park Min-ah, swept amid patients, spotted Park Hee-su and yelled.
“Oppa!”
“……Huh?! Min-ah?!”
Park Hee-su.
The team’s target, the hospital’s sole survivor. Agents’ eyes snapped to him—and his two companions. Kim I-seo, hat pulled low, spotted Ian and muttered softly.
“……Convenience store clerk?”