Midnight Plastic Surgery - 'For You, Whom God Failed to Finish' (6)
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
A massive vibration chased right up their backs. The footsteps of the head nurses were closing in.
"Huff, huff! Damn it! Get out of the way! Move, I said!"
Ri Wei and his four hunters sprinted down the corridor like madmen. They roughly shoved aside the patients blocking their path with canes and swords, running solely for survival.
"Don't stop! We live if we open that door!"
At Ri Wei's shout, the hunters gritted their teeth. Acidic pus bursting from the patients melted their armor and seared their flesh, but even screams were a luxury now.
There, at the end of the corridor—their one hope.
[Surgery Room]
A door lit by a red [In Surgery] lamp. And in front of it, a lone wheelchair.
"......Chen?"
Ri Wei slowed, faltering.
Sitting in the wheelchair was unmistakably Chen. But none of the teammate Ri Wei knew remained.
"......"
A 'meat doll' the doctor had assembled for fun. Limbs with every scrap of muscle and fat stripped away, barely held together by veins on skeletal frames. Eyelids sliced off, exposing bloodshot eyeballs in raw nakedness. Lips sewn shut tight with fishing line.
The most horrific part? It was still alive in that state.
"Mmph!! Mmmph!!!"
The moment Chen saw Ri Wei charging with weapons raised, he thrashed violently. Terror. Instinct screaming that the second his comrades opened the surgery room door, he'd be 'disassembled' just like this.
Crash—!
Chen tumbled from the wheelchair. Crawling on his bony arms, he grabbed Ri Wei's pant leg.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!"
Chen shook his head desperately, trying to block Ri Wei. But in Ri Wei's fear-clouded eyes, that pitiful struggle twisted into something else.
......Save me? No, kill me?
Too agonizing. A blood-soaked plea to kill the bastard who did this to him.
The moment he interpreted it that way, Ri Wei's reason snapped.
"Chen......"
Killing intent poured from Ri Wei's eyes.
"Don't worry. The fucker who did this to you...... I'll tear him apart with my own hands."
"Mmph?! Mmph!!"
Chen shook his head—no, run away, please—but it was futile. Ri Wei heartlessly shoved him into the corner.
Thud—!
No time for sentiment now. Ri Wei gathered red mana at his cane's tip and barked orders at his men behind him.
"The second the door opens, unload everything. Don't give it a chance to scream."
"......Understood."
The hunters grimly aimed their weapons. Ri Wei's eyes locked on the surgery room door.
"Most powerful attacks. End it in one shot."
Unaware that command was a death sentence, Ri Wei thrust his cane forward.
"Now! Hit it!"
[Flame Explosion]
Boom—!
A massive explosion crumpled the steel surgery room door like paper and sent it flying. Through the gap, all five hunters, Ri Wei included, charged in unison.
"Die!!"
"You bastard!!"
Just as their attacks rained down.
The sight through the smoke forced them to freeze.
A normal boss monster would roar or charge with murderous intent.
But in the center of the surgery room. Next to the bloodstained operating table, a man in a white gown stood with his back turned.
He didn't even flinch at the door exploding.
Just meticulously wiping his scalpel with a cloth.
"......"
Finally, the man slowly turned his head. His eyes swept over the hunters.
As if annoyed, the doctor spoke.
"......You come in without even knocking."
He held up the cleaned scalpel to the light and added,
"Do you have a consultation reservation?"
Ri Wei faltered at the doctor's question.
Overwhelming numerical disadvantage. Blades at their throats.
Yet not even a blink.
What? That composure? A trap?
Ri Wei's gaze scanned the doctor. But all he saw was vulnerability. No signs of defensive skills or summons.
Just a thin white gown.
Bluff.
Ri Wei swallowed his fear. The horrific sight of Chen, reduced to a meat doll outside the door, flashed in his mind.
It's bluffing because the main body's weak. Don't fall for it. Kill it and we're done.
Chanting it like a mantra, Ri Wei spat in rage.
"Shut up, you monster. Your disgusting hospital game ends today."
Flames flickered at his cane's tip.
"Now!! Burn it to ash, no bones left!!"
With that roar, his four subordinates unleashed their ultimate moves.
"Die!!"
The swordsman kicked off the floor, swinging his greatsword wrapped in blue sword aura down.
Simultaneously, the archer's explosive arrow and the mage's high-voltage current targeted the doctor's heart.
Boom—!
Ri Wei hurled a sun-hot massive fireball.
Overwhelming firepower to engulf the entire room. Nowhere to dodge.
This range, this power...... No escaping.
A vicious smile curled on Ri Wei's lips.
Got it.
But just before the ferocious attacks reached the doctor's nose.
The doctor paused his work and let out a deep sigh.
"Haa......"
The doctor's voice burrowed into the hunters' eardrums.
"No disinfection, no reservation...... Not even signing the surgical consent form."
The moment those words fell.
Screeech—!
The surgery room air screamed and warped grotesquely.
Not a magical barrier or protective skill.
The immense kinetic energy the hunters unleashed reversed exactly 180 degrees, like rewinding a video, flying back to their casters in a surreal phenomenon.
"Wha......?"
The swordsman's eyes bulged, just about to sever the doctor's throat.
His descending arm twisted grotesquely beyond joint limits, swinging full force toward his own neck.
Slice—!
A chilling severance sound. The swordsman couldn't even scream.
His own hand had lopped off his head, which rolled across the floor. Its eyes filled with confusion at why he died.
The others fared no better.
"Gah!! Kraaah!!"
The archer's explosive arrow and mage's high-voltage current reflected like mirror images, piercing casters' hearts and brains precisely.
Instant death.
And then, Ri Wei's turn.
Having poured the most power, the cruelest price awaited.
"......!"
The massive fireball halted right before the doctor's face.
It expanded, swallowing its owner, Ri Wei.
[Causal Reversal]
Boom—!
"Kraaaah!!!"
A scream packed with agony erupted.
His prized B-rank flame resistance skill was useless.
Pure flames from all his mana scorched his body, burrowing into flesh.
"Guhk! Uwaaah!"
Ri Wei couldn't withstand the blast and slammed into the surgery room wall.
Crash—!
"Huff...... Gah......"
The explosion faded, silence fell.
The room reeked of burning flesh and blood.
Ri Wei lay sprawled, body charred like coal.
Through blurring vision, he barely made out the figure emerging from thick smoke.
The white gown spotless, untouched by dust or soot.
The doctor.
Ignoring the corpses at his feet, he adjusted his slipping glasses and muttered,
"So barbaric."
Contempt laced his voice.
"Civilized people solve things with words, not thrusting blades first. Only uneducated beasts riot in the clinic."
"Ugh...... Uh......"
A deflating wheeze escaped Ri Wei's mouth.
Now he realized. This being was beyond any 'boss monster' he knew.
Strategies? Patterns? Weak points? Useless.
A god of this space, bound only by the [rules] it set.
No......
Click, click.
Heeled shoes echoed in his ears. The doctor approached.
Ri Wei dragged his numb legs backward.
This isn't a hunt...... It's slaughter. We walked into the abattoir on our own feet like livestock.
The primal terror of hunter becoming hunted. Looking down at Ri Wei's trembling eyes, the doctor smirked.
"But I'm merciful......"
He drew an anesthetic syringe from his waist.
"I'll treat you, patient."
With those words, Ri Wei's consciousness snapped off.
**
Whoosh—.
Intense lights poured onto Ri Wei's face.
White glare pierced his charred eyelids. Too bright to open.
Through hazy vision, the doctor's impassive face loomed.
"Tsk tsk. Skin's completely carbonized. No regeneration."
The doctor clicked his tongue, prodding Ri Wei's blackened cheek.
"Gotta peel off the outer layer. 'Full-Body Degloving' commencing."
Clink, shing—.
Eerie metal sounds rang through the room.
The doctor's ten fingertips split, transforming into razor-sharp 'blades' thinner and keener than surgical scalpels. Silvery edges gleamed.
"Waaah! Doc, that technique's so cool!"
"Bravo! Clap clap clap!"
Succubi assisting the surgery clapped like seals in cheers.
Soon, the doctor's hand neared Ri Wei's chin.
"Now, take a deep breath."
Cold metal touched burned skin.
Sizzle—.
"Grrrh...... Guh......!"
An agonized groan escaped Ri Wei's mouth, crushed by pain. Scorched vocal cords couldn't scream properly.
Just ragged wind scraping his throat.
The doctor deftly began peeling Ri Wei's facial skin thin.
Seamless, precise incision.
Slice, slice.
Sound of flesh flaying by his ear. Succubi laughter and doctor's humming faded as Ri Wei's mind flashed memories.
"Boss! Succubus dungeon this time? Jackpot!"
"Heh, money and eye candy. Best gig ever?"
Teammates' excited laughs.
"One more success and we gear up A-rank. Ditch this B-rank label, go major leagues."
His own cocky future-talk.
And.
Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!
Chen's despairing eyes, crawling, clutching his pant leg before the surgery door—don't go, run away.
Ah......
Thick tears rolled from Ri Wei's eyes.
They fell onto exposed red muscle, stinging worse.
Should've listened to Chen.
Regret crashed like waves, crushing his chest.
Shouldn't have been greedy...... Should've just left......
In fading consciousness, his final monologue lingered.
Shouldn't have entered this hell.
That was Ri Wei's last thought.
"Wipe the sweat."
The doctor commanded indifferently.
"Yes~!"
A succubus approached, dabbing blood and tears with soft gauze.
The doctor tossed the peeled skin onto a tray and announced the next.
"Opening the skull and extracting the brain next. Block the patient's vision."
"Got it, Director."
The succubus's cold palm covered Ri Wei's bloodshot eyes.
The world went dark.
A sweet, horrific whisper reached his ear.
"Sleep tight, oppa. Next life...... play with me?"
Click.
[In Surgery] lamp extinguished.
Silence blanketed the hospital corridor.
In the darkness, only the eerie creak of a bed carrying a patient rolled on.
Screech...... screech......