Chapter 90
The tailing operation had begun.
I don't know where those fake Bureau agents are headed, but seeing them travel together in a black van makes it smell like they're off on some operation.
Are they moving to the operation area first, then crossing over to the parallel world from there?
Whatever the case, just witnessing them use that technology would be a huge gain.
A chance to get one step closer to their true identities.
“So, Team Leader. Are you really planning to go to Cheongak Mary Hospital?”
To be honest, that place was the embodiment of my trauma.
I overcame my vampire trauma with hatred.
I drove the fear away by raging at them, gathering vampire hunters, and fighting with everything I had.
But that insane hospital was another story.
“I don't just not want to go there again... just thinking about going there makes my whole body tingle with fear. It feels less like hatred and more like pure terror.”
I've been to a horrific otherworld like a human-meat factory, and I even saved Kim Seongjin there as an agent... but what if Kim Seongjin had drifted to Cheongak Mary Hospital instead?
“Could I have acted calmly as an agent?”
“Probably not.”
I'm still afraid of that place.
“If necessary, I do intend to go.”
“I... honestly, I'm scared.”
“So the trauma's still there, huh.”
“I can't hide it, can I? Yes. Just hearing that I'd have to go there again scares me.”
“Groong. First things first.”
“Yes.”
“I am by no means trying to bully you. But as agents, there are times when we have to face trauma when duty calls, and it's our obligation to overcome it.”
“True enough.”
“Even if an agent is afraid, the mission doesn't disappear. I think you need to overcome your trauma surrounding Cheongak Mary Hospital.”
“I think so too.”
But thought and reality were different.
“Of course, if I have to go, I'll go. I'm not a kid, and I'm an agent—I won't burst into tears and say I can't go. It's just... I don't know if I'll be able to perform well there.”
“You survived there even when you were a civilian, not an agent. You even brought back a great deal of information that even our Bureau agents didn't know. I don't think someone like you would be defeated by that place again.”
Jaldi encouraged me while expertly tailing them.
“Thanks to you, a lot of the information on Cheongak Mary Hospital has been updated. Be proud of that.”
“I am proud.”
I did establish my survival methods in more detail.
It's something to be proud of.
“Well, even if you do go there, you won't need to live there as a patient or a guard.”
“Pardon?”
“What's there to be surprised about? Our Bureau routinely places a rulebook there. It fails sometimes, but for the most part it gets done. Naturally, there's a route the agents use.”
“Ah, right! That's true!”
“Yes. It's one of the jobs the surveillance team handles. Of course, as division chief, I know all of it too.”
“As expected!”
“That really is Jaldi!”
“Explain Cheongak Mary Hospital to me briefly. It's the background behind the Bureau's monitoring of that place.”
Jaldi began explaining.
The Bureau always does its best to identify and thoroughly investigate unexplained disappearances, and through that process it learned of Cheongak Mary Hospital's existence, apparently.
From that point on, they say agents were dispatched to gather information.
“At the time, the mission volunteers were made up of people who had lost family members to paranormal phenomena and then joined the Bureau.”
“Ah.”
“Unfortunately... none of them returned. But eventually, an agent who did return appeared. Based on that agent's testimony, the initial rulebook was created, and from there it kept evolving.”
So that was the background.
“At present, we've made considerable progress. What's more, thanks to your contribution, Groong, the rulebook has been strengthened even further.”
“But what I was talking about applies when you go in as a patient.”
“Right. That's not the route agents use when they go to place the rulebook. In those cases, they infiltrate by posing as visitors, counselors, interior decorators, or patient family members and requesting visits.”
“No way, there's a method like that?”
Could I have gotten out if I'd acted like that too?
“It's not a method for someone who enters as a patient. You have to go in with that setup from the start. In most anomalous spaces, rules and settings are extremely important.”
“I understand.”
This is something I'd also felt while dealing with anomalies all this time.
Rules and settings are very important.
“By the way. That's the kind of work the surveillance team handles.”
“A pretty dangerous team.”
I don't want to go there.
“Whatever the case, if we go to Cheongak Mary Hospital, we'll use that method. I'll tell you separately when the time comes, but Groong, all you have to do is trust me.”
“Understood.”
I'm scared, but if I'm going with Jaldi, I should be fine. I steadied my mind.
“We aren't going right away anyway. Relax for now.”
Sure enough, we weren't going there now.
“In other words, it's the last resort. Right now, monitoring those fake bastards is the top priority. But if we keep following them like this, won't they notice us?”
“Hah, who do you think I am? For an agent, tailing someone by car is the most basic of basics.”
“Ooh! As expected of our team leader!”
“Besides, this vehicle is a special Bureau vehicle. By using its camouflage system, we can make the car look different. We're doing that even now.”
“That's insane, wow! No, wait! Why didn't you tell me sooner!”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“What kind of reason is that!”
Now this really feels like a real agent!
Well, with that thought in mind, I kept following the black van.
I'm too curious about where they'll carry out the operation and what method they'll use to cross dimensions.
* * *
But...
Doesn't this route look a little familiar?
“...”
A sense of unease washed over me.
A strange sense of déjà vu.
The road and scenery as I followed the black van felt oddly familiar. It felt like I was returning to a place I'd been before.
“Ah.”
That feeling peaked when we entered the country road.
Here.
“Team Leader! This is the road we took when we went to Cheongak Mary Hospital! That road!”
“What...?”
“This is it!”
That road is definitely the one!
“Strange. Cheongak Mary Hospital isn't a fixed location. It changes constantly.”
“Huh? It changes?”
“The Bureau is always tracking its location, so it doesn't matter much. In the first place, there are a few conditions for entering, so the location itself isn't that important. But if this is the road... could it be that the location hasn't changed?”
The location that should have changed is still the same?
“This is a little puzzling. A coincidence? If it's not a coincidence, then it seems those fake Bureau agents are headed for Cheongak Mary Hospital.”
“Maybe they're going there to investigate? After all, as I reported last time, they got hit hard there.”
“That's possible.”
Damn, this is insane!
Of all times, they're going to Cheongak Mary Hospital now?
What a coincidence!
“Agh!”
The feeling of returning to an old memory grew even stronger. Every time the scenery around me came into view, it felt as if I were sinking into a nightmare.
This is it.
This is exactly where Cheongak Mary Hospital is!
It's gone.
Before I knew it, the fake Bureau van had disappeared.
“Ah, there's fog up ahead.”
A fog separating the hospital from reality spread out before us.
The black van must have gone into that.
“If they went in there... it must be the hospital.”
“Right.”
“Team Leader. Are you going in?”
“Originally, I planned to try when there was really no other way. But now the opportunity has come. If that's the case, I should take it.”
“Ah.”
“Besides, aren't you curious about what those fake agents will do?”
“That's true, but...!”
Thunk.
I parked in a suitable spot and got out.
“Groong. Contact with the Bureau?”
“It's not working. It doesn't seem like we've crossed dimensions yet.”
“Do we have to cross this fog? But even if we do, I doubt we'll be able to escape right away.”
“That's right.”
“Even if we cross over to another dimension, escaping the hospital is a separate problem.”
“I'll go in.”
“Khh... Understood.”
“Trust me.”
So I've ended up back in this hell after all?
For a moment, I wondered if I was still trapped in the hospital and everything was a hallucination. The fact that I'm even having such insane thoughts is proof my mind is shaking.
And yet I am an agent.
I crossed the fog with Jaldi.
* * *
As soon as we passed through the fog, the full view of Cheongak Mary Hospital came into sight.
It's a kind of visual terror... just setting foot on the grounds again makes indescribable fear creep up from beneath my feet and chill my whole body.
It feels as if black paint is being poured over my head, and I'm stepping on a floor that has turned sticky.
I actually came back to this insane place...!
“Hah, huh. Huh...!”
From time to time, I kept checking Jaldi. If Jaldi were to vanish like a ghost, I wouldn't be able to hold out any longer.
Right then.
“Groong. Calm down.”
Jaldi took my hand and interlocked our fingers.
“Team Leader.”
“Your breathing is ragged. Come over here for a moment.”
Jaldi led me to a wall in a corner. I already know the hospital's layout. This is the outer area of the parking lot.
“Take a deep breath. Overcome your fear.”
“Hah, huh... Huh...”
I took deep breaths, but the fear wouldn't easily fade.
I've gone through countless things while working as an agent. I did feel fear in the process, but every time I managed to overcome it. I even kept my cool in that human-meat factory, for heaven's sake.
But my hands are trembling too much.
As expected, this place won't do.
Clutching Jaldi's interlaced hand, my legs began to weaken. All sorts of scenes flashed through my mind, throwing my breathing rhythm into disarray.
Since I'm trembling this much.
“This won't do. If you have a panic attack, that would be troublesome, so I'll take measures for a moment.”
“What...?”
Jaldi suddenly shoved me against the wall, cornered me, and then actually hugged me.
“Ah.”
A wall behind me.
Jaldi in front of me.
I'm being crushed as if caught between the plates of a press...
“Hug me tighter. If you can feel body heat, you'll calm down.”
I was a little short of breath from being pressed against Jaldi's chest, but... I hugged Jaldi back and took deep breaths as instructed. Sure enough, once I could feel that warmth, my anxiety gradually faded.
How much time passed?
Jaldi let go of me.
“The trembling's stopped. Are you better now?”
“Yes... It seems warmth really is a miracle cure for fear.”
“Right. Groong, you were brave as usual back there. So it really was trauma, huh.”
“...”
I have nothing to say.
“But you have to know how to overcome it. Use this as your chance. As you know, if you're afraid on the operation grounds, you won't survive.”
“I know. Thank you for calming me down.”
“If you're calm now, move.”
Could I get crushed again if I said I wasn't calm yet?
Judging by the fact that I'm even thinking this, I must be recovered.
“I can't be scared in front of someone like the team leader. Let's go. Agent Groong. My condition has recovered.”
“Excellent.”
“I'll lead the way. To be honest, this is practically my turf. I've done guard duty here, too.”
“Then guide us.”
I moved out in front.
At the very least, I'm more experienced than Jaldi when it comes to this place.
“For now, let's avoid the security office. Let's go the other way.”
“Hmm, understood.”
No need to run into the guards if we can avoid it.
After making a full circle and heading the other way, a parked black van came into view.
A fake Bureau vehicle.
I signaled for us to stop, and we checked it together.
The fake Bureau agents are out of the van, doing something. Are they making preparations before entering the hospital? That's definitely different from the reckless charge they used last time.
Had they been investigating ever since Division Chief Lee Dohyeong died?
“Team Leader. The fake agents are gathered over there.”
“I saw them too.”
“Then have those guys already crossed dimensions?”
“That's hard to say. But at the very least, I didn't sense anything like that.”
Have we already moved without even realizing it ourselves?
“There are two things we can think of. One is that we've already traveled dimensions while following those fake bastards. And the other is... hold on.”
Jaldi trailed off, stroking the chin.
“Team Leader?”
“Could it be... Cheongak Mary Hospital exists in both worlds?”
“Huh?”