Chapter 44
The person named ‘ㅈㅎ,’ who had posted exactly the same message on the community a year ago, never appeared on the community again.
The community moderator seemed to regard the current situation as serious..
and postponed the new-area exploration that had been scheduled for this Interaction Time.
--
[(Notice) There will be no exploration of the newly opened area this time.]
Although a new area had opened after the Two-Person Night Watchman Horror Story was cleared.
Since we need to manage matters related to Unfair Hospital, we’ll postpone the area-expansion investigation until next week.
As we still need to determine whether the entity capable of posting on our gallery is an anomaly agent, please be careful when writing posts.
[Comments - 9]
Anonymous 1 : You’re not sure whether it’s human?
ㄴ Moderator : Yes, we have no way of knowing at the moment.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Should I send it a whisper?
ㄴ Moderator : That’s too dangerous.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Should I ask Daebung to send it a whisper?
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Aren’t you treating me a little too harshly..? (Edited) (Deleted)
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Don’t make jokes when the situation is this serious, Daebung ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : Hey, Choi Daebung!!! Can’t you see how serious our situation is?!?!?!?
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : My surname isn’t Choi. And you’re the ones cracking jokes during a serious situation.. (Edited) (Deleted)
--
‘It must be pretty serious.’
Seeing how seriously the head moderator was taking the situation, more seriously than I had expected, I also resolved to be careful when posting on the community, at least for now.
“If you’ve used a convenience store in Korea, you can think of this as exactly the same. That’s all there is to show you.”
“It really looks.. like a place where people live.”
“I thought so too at first. Now, let’s go meet the others.”
After spending roughly forty-five minutes showing Choi Min-ah almost everything there was to see about this place,
I moved with her to the central plaza where everyone had gathered.
“Oh, Daebung’s here.”
“Daebung!!!!”
“Hey, Seo Daebung!!! Why are you late!”
“My surname isn’t Seo.. And I was a little late because I was showing the new arrival around.”
“Wow.. Seeing you like this, Daebung, you’re really handsome, huh?”
It was practically my first time.
I had ever had a long, in-depth conversation face-to-face with the community members rather than through the gallery.
“Daebung, thanks to you, this is the first time we’ve all seen one another’s faces today. Seriously.”
“Ahaha, no. Everyone came all the way here together. I didn’t conquer the horror stories by myself.”
“That’s right. I deserve a lot of the credit.”
“Ha.. I really want to deny that as much as possible, but I can’t..”
Now that we could clearly see one another’s facial features,
I felt embarrassed by the praise from the others who thought well of me, but kept the conversation going as much as possible.
“Oh, right. Anonymous 1.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“I’ll give you the item I mentioned back then now.”
“Oh!”
Remembering that I had promised to give Anonymous 1 an item, I handed him the Watchman item in front of everyone.
“Here it is.”
“Whoa!! Fuck, whoaaaaa!!!”
“If you wear that, your total Mentality will increase by 14.”
“Kyaaahhh!! Kyaaahhhhhh!!”
The others looked enviously at Anonymous 1 after he received the item from me.
I promised those people, too, that I would make items for all of them as soon as possible.
“You just need to bring me anomaly corpses. Then I can make them for you right away.”
“What do you mean, Daebung-daebung..”
“Uh, yeah.. ..We’ll at least try putting one in our inventory.”
“Oh! You can use an inventory?”
“I’m saying we’ll try because we can’t.”
“?”
“Hey, Im Daebung!!!”
“Yes?”
“Here, the price of the item.”
“Huh? I’m not an Im, and I’m just giving this to you.. ..What? Where did he go?”
After casually handing me a heavy leather pouch, Anonymous 1 suddenly ran off somewhere.
“????”
Even though we had already agreed through messages that I would give it to him for free..
“Daebung. That’s what it is.”
“Yes? What is it..?”
“Professionally, we call that ‘slipping money into someone’s sleeve.’”
“????”
…
14,000 stones.
Thanks to Anonymous 1, who had handed me a whopping 14,000 stones by pricing each point of Mentality at 1,000 stones..
--
DOLL : 76483
[Withdrawal : ] [Sell : ]
--
‘Wow.. He really has a lot of money.’
I currently had roughly 75,000 stones.
‘Next Interaction Time, I absolutely have to buy an item.’
Since things had turned out this way, when the next Interaction Time came,
I resolved to go to the blacksmith operated by the anomaly and buy the item I had already picked out.
‘Still, living with someone else means I’m not as bored as I used to be.’
While chatting with Choi Min-ah about this and that and sharing the F-set meal,
--
Other : Daebung
Me : Who?
Other : Tchik-tchik
Me : It’s an anomaly.
Other : (Photo)
Other : Hello, I’m a watchman.
Me : So you really were an anomaly.. Am I going to die now?
Other : Yes, if you don’t repost this to the community five times in a row, you will die.
Me : Gasp, what’s going on?
--
When Anonymous 1 suddenly sent me a note asking what had happened,
--
Other : The head moderator kept asking me this and that, so I answered honestly, you know?
Me : What?
Other : He was asking me some questions related to copying Mentality.
Me : Huh? All of a sudden?
Other : Yeah, so I told him for now. That’s not a problem, is it?
Me : What could possibly be a problem? I was going to tell everyone anyway.
Other : As expected of Daebung. You’re so generous.
Me : Huh? Wait, that surname won’t do..!
--
I learned that the head moderator had asked him questions related to copying Mentality.
--
Other : I only told him so he’d know about it.
Me : Okay okay, thanks thanks. I’ll tell you too if I get any new information.
Other : Phew.. Starting today, I’m going to copy 1,000 stones a day too. Let’s go~
Other : Oh, right. When you sell items to people, always charge 2,000 stones per point of total Mentality.
Me : ? Why?
Other : Giving things away for free doesn’t look good. Not to the person receiving them, and not to the person giving them.
Me : Huh? If both sides are happy, isn’t that all that matters?
Other : Humans are naturally extremely jealous animals.
Other : If you start giving things away for free once, you might eventually end up having to give everything to the Japanese for free too. Just say you’re settling it with money. Got it?
Me : But Anonymous 1 gave me 1,000 stones per point of Mentality.
Other : That sort of thing isn’t important.
Me : ???
Other : Anyway, I just came to tell you that. Have a nice day.
Me : Okay okay, have a nice day.
--
I was beginning to admire the deeper meaning behind his actions when..
‘What? Was there something else he wanted to say..’
Speak of the devil.
--
Other : Hello, Daebung-nim.
Other : This is the community moderator.
--
The head moderator had sent me a note.
--
Other : I’ll get straight to the point.
Other : I’m planning to organize a rescue team for this Unfair Hospital incident.
--
‘..He’s planning to organize a rescue team?’
…
Plenty of food.
Every item equipped without exception.
Even the advice the head moderator had given me.
It was called a rescue team, but in reality, I was in a situation where I alone had to enter Unfair Hospital.
--
Other : Are you ready?
Me : Ready ☆
Other : Let me say this once again: I’m not asking for information at the cost of Daebung-nim’s life.
Me : Of course, I’ll return immediately if it seems dangerous.
Other : Your Mentality must not fall below 80 inside the hospital. You must always keep your Mentality at 80 or higher.
Me : I’m tough as nails, so I’m fine.
--
“Where did you hear that your Mentality must not fall below 80?”
While marveling at the head moderator’s information network,
--
Input : UL
--
I entered the code the moderator had given me and began entering the horror story.
“I’ll be back.”
“Come back safely..!”
Choi Min-ah wouldn’t be able to copy Mentality for the time being, but
I had withdrawn and given her 20,000 stones just in case, so she wouldn’t end up starving while I was gone.
As I was thinking about this and that, my blurred vision gradually returned to normal, and before I knew it..
I found myself..
‘Wow.. ..Why is it so huge..’
I had opened my eyes inside a gigantic hospital.
‘Should I go look for information?’
--
Mentality : 264 / 268
[Available Return Count] : 2
[Available Crafting Count ] : 11
Input:
--
According to the moderator, as long as my Mentality did not fall below 80, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
I started to take a step toward the information desk in front of me-
Thud..
“..Huh?”
One step.
I had only.. taken one step.
I had only taken one step to walk to the reception desk ahead..
‘What’s.. wrong with this..?’
I realized that my right leg.. was not moving the way I wanted it to.
‘..Fuck..’
The instant I realized something was wrong, I pressed the Return button without hesitation.
No matter how confident I was in conquering horror stories..
I wasn’t insane enough to continue the attempt in an emergency like this, so I tried to Return.. Return.. ..to..?
‘..What? Why, why won’t it return..? Why won’t it return..!’
No matter how hard I kept pressing the Return button.
For a moment, I was bewildered by the fact that my Return Count was decreasing, yet I was not being sent back to the safe zone.
Suddenly..
one of the rules in the rulebook flashed through my mind, as though it explained the situation.
--
9. If you see someone hanging themselves in the hospital room across from you, press the help-request bell immediately.
Escaping the hospital here without a doctor’s permission is strictly forbidden.
--
‘Escaping the hospital without a doctor’s permission is.. strictly forbidden..’
Ah..
Ah...
Ha.....
‘So this is why.. ..not a single person had been able to escape from inside the horror story.’
..I’m seriously fucked.
--
[Entered Unfair Hospital]
(Photo)
(Photo)
(Photo)
From the moment I entered the hospital, my right leg has refused to move.
I immediately tried pressing the Return button, but Return is impossible.
It seems I can’t escape because of Rule 9 in the rulebook.
The four people who reportedly entered this place before me probably died or disappeared because Return couldn’t be used.
Ha..
I just hope I can make it back alive..
[Comments - 12]
Anonymous 1 : Why did you go in there???
ㄴ Author : I know.. I should’ve refused, but maybe I got some pointless hero complex.. Ha..
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Refused? ..What are you talking about?
Moderator : Entry into this horror-story dungeon is prohibited. Why and how did you enter, Daebung-nim?
ㄴ Author : ..What do you mean? You told me in a note to enter, didn’t you?
ㄴ Moderator : ..Huh? I’ve been tracking the IP that disconnected at Unfair Hospital this entire time..
ㄴ Moderator : ..Ah.
ㄴ Author : Ah.. fuck..
ㄴ Author : That fucking note.. I guess it was an anomaly agent..
Anonymous 2 : ..I don’t even know what to say. The situation is too serious. If you’re in danger, post right away as much as you can.. We’ll put our heads together and think of something somehow.
Anonymous 3 : Your right leg isn’t responding? Ah, don’t tell me.. Since it’s a hospital horror story, does entering make one part of your body disabled? So it can be treated?
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : ..I think this might be right..?
--
When I posted on the community to share the current situation,
I immediately realized one thing.
It was..
‘I was tricked..’
The entity that had lured me into the horror story..
was impersonating the community moderator..
‘..But wait, ..aren’t anomalies unable to use notes?’
However..
Weren’t anomalies unable to send notes until I sent one first?
No, ..that had to be right.
If anomalies could send notes first.. there wouldn’t be any living survivors.
That meant..
‘It wasn’t an anomaly or an anomaly agent.’
The entity that had tricked me and brought me here.. was human, not an anomaly or an anomaly agent.
--
Me : Who are you?
Other : LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Me : I said, who are you.
Other : LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Me : ..I don’t even have the energy to curse at you. Just tell me. Who are you?
Other : If I were you, would I tell you?
Other : (Photo)
Other : That’s the Mentality Attack formula you use all the time, lol. Have a taste and get lost.
--
I now had a reason I absolutely had to return alive.
‘Since I can track your location from the photo, you’re fucking dead. I swear I’ll make it back alive and tear you apart.’
Inside the huge hospital, where not a single person could be seen.
From this point on, I was in a situation where I had to do everything I could to survive.
Since one of my legs refused to move, it was practically impossible to stand up from where I was..
‘Phew.. I can do this.’
Stretching my hands forward, I began crawling toward the information desk.
“..I’ve come to go through the admission procedure.”
“Where does it hur-hurt? Did you come because of it?”
“..My leg won’t move.”
“I’ve confirmed it. I’ll guide you to Room 403 right now.”
“..Thank you for your efforts.”