Midnight Plastic Surgery - "For You, Whom God Left Unfinished" (5)
When the head nurse collapsed, everyone thought they'd taken down a dangerous named monster. Relief washed over them. But it didn't take long to realize that was the beginning of the nightmare.
Chijijik-.
The head nurse's body on the floor began to scatter like pixels. Then a mechanical death rattle echoed through the empty air.
No sooner had the chilling mechanical voice faded than the scattered pixels regrouped. Kururuk, jjeok. Flesh swelled, bones proliferated. The single mass split into two, instantly forming a pair of head nurses—far more muscular than the one they'd just killed, their faces twisted into grotesque masks.
"W-what the hell is this? Why are there two of them now?!" Jang shouted in panic.
At that moment, both head nurses opened their mouths in unison.
"Guardian, you must not interfere with the treatment."
"Guardian, please leave."
Kwang-! The head nurses barreled through their fellow hunters blocking Jang's path like linebackers. A tank-like charge. They closed the distance to Jang in an instant.
"You crazy bastards!"
Jang wrapped his spear tip in blue sword aura and thrust desperately. Puuk-! The blade pierced the left head nurse's throat perfectly. But she didn't stop—spear lodged in her neck, she seized Jang's arm.
"Wh-what?!"
Udeok-!
"Gaaahhh!"
The two head nurses grabbed Jang's arms from both sides and twisted. His shoulder joints nearly popped out of their sockets amid a horrific scream. Seizing the opening, the right head nurse jammed a massive syringe into his side.
"Commencing anesthesia."
Chiiik-.
"Kuh, heuk······."
As the green liquid injected, Jang foamed at the mouth without a proper struggle and passed out.
"Jang!"
His comrades moved to save him—but Ri Wei, watching from a short distance away, narrowed his eyes coldly.
'This place is on another level from regular dungeons.'
It wasn't a structure solved by brute force. The more you killed, the more they split—and the stronger each one got. In other words, those things weren't made to be fought and killed.
Ri Wei reached his conclusion and bellowed, veins bulging.
"Quiet! Don't attack! They multiply when you kill them!"
"But······!"
"That's an order! Lower your weapons!"
At Ri Wei's shout, the mercenaries preparing to strike froze. Their faces twisted in rage at the fact that they couldn't even counterattack after watching a comrade get taken down right in front of them.
Seizing the moment, the hospital room door swung open, and three succubi in nurse uniforms appeared.
"Aww, that bro's already asleep? What a shame."
"I wanted to inject him myself······ right in the butt♥"
"Everyone's so pissed off. How cute. Come play with big sis?"
The succubi taunted the hunters, waving small syringes in their hands. At the same time, a thick, seductive fragrance wafted over. A mental attack that clawed at their resolve, numbing their reason.
"Y-you bitches for real!"
"I'm gonna kill you!"
The hunters bristled with killing intent. Ri Wei warned them coldly once more.
"Stop. Don't get drawn in."
"Boss! But those things right now!"
"They're provoking us to make us attack. The moment we swing our blades here, we're buried by those monsters. Get a grip!"
At Ri Wei's cool analysis, the hunters swallowed their anger and fell back. As the tension eased, patients scattered through the hospital corridor now shambled toward them.
"Am I······ pretty?"
"My eyes······ surgery went well?"
"······Answer me."
The patients shoved their mangled faces into the hunters' and pressed relentlessly. An eerie pressure demanding a response. But Ri Wei quickly flashed hand signals to the surviving mercenaries.
[Shut your mouths. Don't make eye contact. Just walk.]
The hunters ignored the patients, cold sweat dripping, and slowly moved their feet. That's when it happened.
Chiiik-.
A grating noise burst from the ceiling speakers.
**
"Heuk!"
Chen gasped, eyes snapping open. His vision flashed white. Blinding surgical lights bore down on him, too intense to even keep his eyes open.
'What, what is this?'
The moment he tried to sit up and assess, cheolgeureok-. His limbs wouldn't move. Thick leather straps bound his wrists and ankles firmly to the operating table.
'What the hell······!'
Not even a twitch was possible—a perfect restraint. Then, metallic clinks from beside him, accompanied by someone's mutterings. Chen desperately rolled his eyes toward the sound.
A doctor in a white gown stood at the operating table, busily stitching something. And the moment Chen saw the patient's face below, his heart plummeted.
'Jang······?'
A familiar face. Undoubtedly his sworn brother Jang, who'd been fighting alongside him moments ago. But no longer the man Chen knew. Both eyelids sliced off, empty sockets streaming bloody tears. Lips sewn shut with transparent fishing-line thread, unable to even scream—a grotesque form. His chest showed no signs of breath. A corpse, perfectly "operated" on.
"Phew. So many patients today."
The doctor, finishing up, peeled off his bloody gloves and muttered. Nodding in satisfaction, he called to the nurses waiting behind.
"We need to operate with utmost care. Bring the next patient."
"Yes, doctor~!"
With cheerful replies, the beauties approached Chen. Succubi in nurse uniforms. They wheeled his bound operating table over to the doctor.
"Eup! Euup!"
Chen screamed himself hoarse, but only muffled groans escaped. His tongue felt numb and rigid, jaw clattering out of control.
'Full-body anesthesia?!'
His mind was clear, but his body wouldn't obey. A suffocating helplessness, like sleep paralysis. The doctor peered down at Chen's face, frowning and clicking his tongue.
"Tsk tsk······ Mouth's too wide. Having it gaping like this is very unsightly."
The doctor's cold fingers traced Chen's torn mouth. Chen's pupils quaked like in an earthquake at the chill touch.
"Let me see······."
The doctor's gaze shifted to Chen's body. He prodded Chen's upper torso.
"My god. Look at these trapezius and pecs. Way too bulky. So disgustingly lumpy?"
"Eup! Up!"
"Aesthetically disastrous. No smooth lines at all."
The doctor shook his head and picked up the scalpel. The razor-sharp blade gleamed ominously under the lights.
"Gotta strip out all that unnecessary fat and muscle. Don't worry. I'll trim you up real pretty."
Thick tears streamed from Chen's eyes. Warm wetness soaked his pants.
"Oh my, doctor. Patient's so excited he peed himself♥"
A nearby succubus pointed at Chen's wet pants and giggled.
"Must really want the surgery. Look how thrilled he is."
"How cute. Bedwetter patient."
The succubi's mocking laughter filled the operating room. As shame and terror bleached Chen's mind white,
"Others should share this touching moment too, right?"
A succubus pressed the red button on the wall hard.
[Hospital-Wide Intercom Broadcast]
**
Chiiik-. Grating noise exploded from the ceiling speakers. The hunters, tense as they moved, halted en masse. Soon, a sound like the gates of hell opening filled the corridor.
Weeeing-! A chilling mechanical whine. An electric bone saw grinding through bone.
"Kuh······ Kaaaaahhh!!!"
A beastly scream unbelievable from human vocal cords. The hunters' faces drained pale at the agony.
"Stay still. Separating the muscle from the bone."
[Ah, oops. Nicked a nerve.]
Feuduk. Wet meat slapping onto a stainless tray rang out starkly. The unimaginable scene etched vividly in their minds through sound alone.
"Urk······."
Examiner 'Liu' clamped his mouth, dry-heaving.
"W-what is that sound······ They're dismantling Brother Chen?"
"Stop······ Stop it!! I don't wanna hear it!!"
Axe warrior 'Wang' plugged his ears and screamed. Invisible terror gnawed at the hunters' minds. Overwhelming helplessness crushed their shoulders.
The succubi didn't miss the moment their morale bottomed out.
Srur. Pink powder rose like mist between the hunters' shadows. Sweet but lethal—succubus hallucinogenic dust.
One succubus sidled behind Liu and whispered in his ear.
"Bro, look. That's the culprit. He killed Chen."
"······!"
Liu's pupils dilated in panic. In his eyes, his comrade 'Wang' trembling nearby with plugged ears distorted. A horrific 'patient' monster stood there, mouth torn to the ears, bleeding profusely.
"Uwaaa! Get away! Don't come closer!!"
Liu spasmed, drawing his sword. Wang looked up, sensing the killing intent.
"Liu? Why are yo—······."
Puuk! A strike without hesitation. The cold blade severed Wang's throat in one go.
"Kuhk······? You, why······."
Wang clutched the blood gushing from his neck and stared at Liu in disbelief. But before an answer came, his body crumpled lifelessly.
Kung.
Over their dead comrade, the succubi's hysterical laughter poured out.
"Oh my god. Sliced his friend's throat? Too rough, isn't it?"
"Kyahaha! Such hopeless bros. Must be so passionately in love they can't live without killing each other♥"
The succubi's mockery stabbed like daggers. The horrific sight of comrade slaying comrade. Right in the heart of that hell, leader Ri Wei was gripped by terror too.
Daldaldal. His B-rank hunter pride meant nothing—his legs trembled uncontrollably. The urge to collapse and scream surged to his chin.
But.
'I don't want to die.'
His tenacious survival instinct forcibly roused his numbed brain.
'Can't go back. Those damn monsters are already swarming behind us. Stop here, and we'll get torn apart by those crazy succubi and patients.'
Ri Wei bit his lip until it bled, steeling himself. His shaking eyes fiercely scanned the surroundings.
One clue. The disgusting voice endlessly pouring from the ceiling speakers.
"That surgery was very satisfying. Removing the unsightly bits······ You're truly beautiful now, patient."
All the monsters reacted to that voice. The patients' wandering, the succubi's actions—even the direction they'd dragged Chen. Everything moved on that 'doctor's' schedule.
'The core of this dungeon is the doctor.'
Fragmented info coalesced in Ri Wei's mind into one conclusion.
'Only one way. Head to the operating room and kill the doctor. Take down the boss, and this madness ends. My magic can reduce him to ash.'
Resolved, Ri Wei gripped his staff tighter. He bellowed at the remaining six dazed hunters.
"Get up! Snap out of it, you idiots!"
"Uh, uuh······."
"Stay here and we're all dead! Wanna live? Get up and run! Plug your ears—don't listen!"
At Ri Wei's roar, the hunters barely hauled themselves up. But the path ahead wasn't smooth.
"······."
Patients packed the corridor, reaching out and muttering at the hunters.
"Am I pretty?"
"Where you going?"
"Didn't see······ my legs?"
"Doctor said······ he'd make me pretty."
The patients blocked the way, refusing to yield. A density like a physical wall. Under the suffocating pressure, the two mages at their mental limit screamed.
"Aaaah! Get away! Don't cling to me!"
"Move! Move it!!"
They'd long forgotten Ri Wei's warnings. Devoured by fear, they raised their staves and unleashed magic wildly ahead.
"All blow up!!"
Kwaang-! Kwaaaang-!
Flames and explosions swept the corridor. Three patients' bodies ballooned like inflated spheres.
Peng-! Peng-! Peng-!
Chain explosions. No red blood erupted. Instead, a massive volume of compressed 'acidic pus' surged like a tsunami.
Chiiik-!
"Kaaaaah! My eyes!!"
"Hot! Save me! Aaaah!"
The two hunters doused head-on rolled on the floor. No time to cast defenses. Skin melted instantly, exposing bone; eyeballs oozed into liquid trickling down their cheeks.
"Kuhk······ Keuk······."
Ri Wei clicked his tongue coldly at his comrades melting pathetically.
"Fucking idiots."
He turned without hesitation. Saving them would just be baggage. Sticking to the wall untouched by pus, Ri Wei yelled at the remaining four hunters.
"Run! Punch through!"