Chapter 18
So this is how they appear.
According to the rules, I have to put another patient into this box and leave it outside.
It's hard to understand why this bizarre hospital has adopted a system like this. Of course, this is not something I need to understand. A ghost story, a strange phenomenon, a bizarre occurrence—it's nothing more than that.
Honestly, we've been chewing on flesh masquerading as medicine together all this time, and some subtle sense of camaraderie has taken root, so it feels hard to bring myself to do it right away. People do get closer when they go through painful things together. You could call it a kind of bond.
I was brooding over those thoughts when...
The two patients suddenly stood up and slowly started approaching me.
And on top of that, they were trying to reach out their arms—
Fuck!
Are these bastards seriously trying to put me in the box?!
No way!
ㅡFlash!
I quickly got off the bed. The bastards' movements were sluggish, at a level I could easily handle.
The moment I threw a punch and struck the bastard in the abdomen—
ㅡThud.
The bastard slowly toppled over.
"Hm?"
What?
They're weaker than I imagined.
The one who fell couldn't get back up properly.
Come to think of it, the rulebook said these patients were in a weakened state. So there was no doubt they were easily taken down by my fist.
ㅡSmack!
After kicking over the other standing patient, I moved toward the one I had originally targeted.
Flailing around and reaching out to me with his arms—what a pathetic sight.
"They're different from the nurses."
Unlike the nurses who tore the Administration Bureau agents apart, these patients have no strength. If they're this weak, I should be able to carry out the rules without issue.
I forced back the nausea surging up inside me.
ㅡSqueeze!
I stomped on the bastard's chest and grabbed the outstretched hand.
Good.
Let's do this.
The patients' bodies have gone limp.
I can do this with my bare hands.
Hup!
The moment I yanked hard on his arm.
ㅡSliiip!
The arm came right off. It felt like pulling the arm off some plastic model kit. Was this what it felt like to rip off an insect's leg?
The guy whose arm had been torn off flailed around. The sight was so revolting, but I held it all in.
ㅡRrrrip!
I tore off the other arm and then ripped off both legs as well. There wasn't much blood splatter. It wasn't difficult either.
At last, the patient's limbs had all come off.
Only the head and torso remained, twitching.
"No tools..."
Now I had to take out the organs, but I didn't have any tools. With no other choice, I stripped off the bastard's patient gown with my bare hands and, just like the vampire had done, shoved my hand into his belly.
ㅡRrrip.
His stomach split open.
"..."
I grabbed the back of his neck and propped him up, then pulled the organs out from inside him. No liquid ran out. Only some grotesque tissue that merely imitated human organs came spilling out.
And so... I completed the job.
The task of tearing off the patient's limbs and removing the organs. I also removed the stitches closing his eyes and mouth.
I must be crazy to carry out something like this without hesitation.
I put the one who could no longer resist into the black box and wrapped it up neatly. After that, I left the box outside the ward without hesitation and came back in. The guard will collect the box now. To think that what I had been collecting was this thing—it's truly horrifying.
What remained at the scene was just me and the other patient. The bastard stared at me through his sewn-shut eyes. That gaze felt awfully awkward and uncomfortable.
No.
Is there more left?
The limbs and organs sprawled on the floor. According to the rulebook, these were things that could be eaten. But no matter how much it says they're edible, would a human actually put this in their mouth?
Wouldn't most humans fail here?
ㅡGrrr...
Hunger changes a lot.
In the premodern era, when there were massive famines, people sometimes ended up eating each other. That's what hunger is like. The instinct to survive transcends disgust and morality. Instinct comes first, and morality came after.
I'm hungry.
Have I gone mad? The monster's limbs were starting to look like pretty decent food. I couldn't resist the urge and grabbed the detached right arm.
I bit into the flesh as it was.
ㅡCrunch.
Blood sprayed inside my mouth.
The taste and smell were unbelievably disgusting, but honestly, it was about 1.5 times better than the medicine the nurse gave me. In terms of repulsiveness, it was about the difference between Spam and Richam... so I could somehow get it down.
I could feel nourishment flooding my body.
With the feeling of food going into my stomach, a powerful dose of dopamine surged through me. If I really got discharged from this hospital, could I live normally? Who cares. When you're hungry, even tree roots are food—that's what it means to be human. What matters is only the fact that I survived this moment.
I've already gone this far.
I can't die.
I wrung the arm out and drank all the bloodlike fluid too.
"Ahh, it goes down smooth."
After eating my fill, I stored the leftovers in an empty drawer.
Sleepiness is washing over me.
I climbed back onto the bed and tried to sleep.
* * *
I don't know how much time passed.
I mechanically followed the rulebook, as if I were killing myself. Once in a while, new patients appeared in the ward, and I repeated the cycle of spending time with them and killing them. Even so, I never once saw a real person.
I entertained this delusion.
Maybe everyone in this ward is actually just ordinary people. They're only perceiving each other as monsters because they underwent brain surgery at this bizarre hospital. If that were the case, it would be truly horrifying for ordinary people to be killing and eating each other to create a hell like this.
I didn't want to admit that this hypothesis felt credible.
...There's no need to think too deeply about it.
I didn't do anything wrong.
ㅡClack-clack.
I hear the sound of high heels.
That means the nurse is coming.
Chewing on disgusting flesh has become familiar by now.
The door opens, and a nurse straight out of Silent Hill comes in. The difference is that the eyes and mouth are sewn shut and the clothes are clean, I suppose. Well, the nurse doesn't move in a limp, dangling way, and the movements are fairly disciplined.
They'll probably take the medicine out of my stomach now.
But today is somehow different.
The nurse suddenly pulls out a syringe. And before I can resist, they jab it into my neck.
.
.
.
I blacked out for a moment.
When I opened my eyes, I saw someone sitting in front of me. A doctor in a white coat. Am I not in the ward? After quickly taking stock of the situation, I realized I was in what looked like an examination room.
N-no way!
Don't tell me this is a discharge consultation?!
"Patient."
"Yes."
The doctor spoke, and I answered calmly.
The doctor looked exactly like a real person. Their eyes and mouth weren't sewn shut, and they didn't look strange at all. They just stared at me with an expressionless face.
But the name on the nametag...
Kim Seonghan?
Ah, fuck.
Why is Dr. Kim Seonghan's name here?
Everything is starting to spiral into confusion, and I'm about to panic.
But this is my last chance.
If I can't get discharged, I'm dead.
I have to do well here.
Maybe the name Kim Seonghan is just like the name Lee Seungcheol, something predetermined. The doctor's name is always Kim Seonghan. So let's not worry about it. Just as I was a fake Lee Seungcheol, this doctor is just a fake Kim Seonghan too.
All I have to do is play my part.
According to the rules, I need to convince this doctor that even if I'm discharged, I'll diligently take my medicine and heal my body. Doctors do hate people who don't take their medicine properly.
"How is your condition?"
"It's gotten a bit better. I think I could go about my daily life at this point."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I think the medicine is working well."
"It's strong medicine, but it says here that you've been taking it properly."
Was that what the nurse had been writing on the chart?
"You have to take your medicine properly to get better quickly. Isn't that right, doctor?"
"That's right."
A perfectly ordinary conversation one might have between doctor and patient.
"I'll prescribe you some medicine. Make sure you take it properly."
"Yes. For about how many days should I take it?"
"I'll give you a month's supply. Three times a day. Take it after meals."
"Three times? Doctor, how many hours apart should I take the medicine?"
"Take it at six-hour intervals after your first meal."
"Understood. Ah, but what if I skip the medicine or skip a meal because I'm working? How should I take it then?"
According to the rulebook.
Ask as many detailed questions as possible.
"In that case, take the medicine a little earlier. You must take it three times a day. But don't take it less than two hours apart. If it's unavoidable, you can take it on an empty stomach, but I don't recommend it."
"Understood... Ah, just a moment. I'd like to take some notes."
"Here you are."
I really acted like I'd take my medicine properly and even took notes. After that, I asked a few more things, and the doctor answered every one of them.
Did that work?
"That's all. Make sure you keep taking your medicine."
The doctor signaled the end of the consultation.
"Yes. Goodbye, doctor."
The moment I finished greeting him and came out.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the first-floor desk.
"Patient."
"Yes."
The nurse at the desk called out to me.
"The pharmacy is that way."
"Thank you."
I followed the direction I was told with the prescription in hand, and the pharmacy came into view. I went in after greeting them normally, handed over the prescription, and got my medicine.
It was a bizarre container.
It's pitch black... Just looking at it makes me feel sick. Some objects evoke disgust simply by existing there, even if they have no distinguishing features whatsoever.
ㅡCreak.
When the pharmacist opened the container, I could see what was inside.
"..."
Those grotesque flesh lumps the size of Korean melons that I'd been eating. If you shrink them down to the size of quail eggs, this is probably it. They were packed in there, wriggling.
"How long after a meal do I have to take them?"
"Within 30 minutes."
"Yes. Goodbye."
With those words said.
I left the hospital.
After passing through the familiar parking lot, the guard booth came into view. I don't know how much time has passed. I definitely used to work here as a guard too.
ㅡClunk.
Suddenly, the guard booth door opened.
"Are you my predecessor?"
A person?
The guard asked me.
"I don't know."
"Here, this is your pay and severance."
What?
When I took the envelope, there was money inside... no, wait. They pay you like this here?
I wanted to ask what was going on, but the guard had already gone back inside the hospital. Right then, I left that horrible place without looking back.
There wasn't any fog.
It was just an ordinary country road.
"There was one final rule."
[11. If you come out of the hospital, under no circumstances look back. Pick up the business card that fell in front of you. It contains the Administration Bureau's contact information. The Administration Bureau will do everything in its power to help you return safely to everyday life.]
It said there was a business card.
Looking down, I saw a business card lying there.
[Administration Bureau]
A business card with the Administration Bureau's contact information on it. They said if you call this, they can even do memory-erasure procedures and stuff.
[ㄴ 11-1. If necessary, you can receive a memory-erasure procedure. Horrible memories are no help in living your life. Forget everything and return to everyday life.]
Isn't that a little too kind?
The damn bastards at the Administration Bureau are doing something this considerate? No way I believe it. After what I went through, unless you're a complete idiot, there's no way you'd trust those bastards.
I mean, it's not bad that they wrote a proper rulebook... no, but the more I think about it, the stranger it gets.
Is this really the Administration Bureau I know?
The crazy bastards who come to kill you just for looking at some fucking World Politics Gallery are really trying to save people in earnest like this?
I'm confused.
Still, one thing is certain: I absolutely can't trust the Administration Bureau bastards.
Besides, in this current round, I even have a history of luring Administration Bureau agents into this hospital and having them completely wrecked. If I contacted them carelessly now, it'd be Brain-Ripping Round Two.
"Let's go."
When I came to my senses, I was at the bus terminal.
Everything feels like a lie.
Only the ring Dr. Kim Seonghan had slipped onto my right index finger proved that what happened in the hospital was real.