Chapter 91
"It exists across two worlds?"
"That’s possible."
I had come here to do geocaching, and there had been so much confusion, but at the same time, I was starting to feel like something that had only been blurry was gradually coming into focus.
"Is the hospital the only thing like that?"
"Hm?"
"That it exists across two worlds."
Jaaldi thought for a moment.
"I suppose not necessarily."
"Yes. Perhaps many bizarre phenomena exist across several worlds."
Other worlds, other dimensions, anomalous spaces.
Maybe those things are connected.
"That’s a truly fascinating hypothesis. I’ve learned so much since coming here. If I go back and organize it all, it will surely be a tremendous achievement."
"I do seem to have uncovered quite a few secrets."
"Yes. Especially the matter of the fake Administration—that’s practically a major coup. I’m really curious how the Administration’s upper ranks will take this."
Upper ranks?
"I... This is my first time hearing about the Administration’s upper ranks before."
"Unless you’re a department chief, there’s not much reason to meet them."
"What do they do?"
"They handle overall coordination. In truth, the upper ranks rarely show themselves. They’re something of a mystery even within the Administration."
The Administration’s upper ranks, huh... I’m curious what kind of people they are.
Even Jaaldi, a department chief, doesn’t know all the world’s secrets. But I get the feeling those upper-rank people would know even more.
"Wait. Grong. Look."
...
Jaaldi pressed down on my shoulder.
I turned my head at once.
"Then we’ll enter."
"Long live the Administration."
"For humanity."
The three fake Administration agents stepped outside the hospital grounds!
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but flinch. Were they really just going outside without going through the proper procedure?
I know the result of that behavior.
"That insane world...!"
The moment those bastards go out, they’ll see the whole world stitched together. I was swallowed by madness too, and after ending up there, I suffered terribly. That place is a hell filled with nothing but horror, a world brimming with pain.
Just watching them leave brings that sensation back to life.
Those crazy bastards are really planning to explore out there?
"Grong. As you know, you mustn’t go out there rashly."
"Yes... The rulebook always emphasized that. I did feel the urge to go out, but I was too scared, so I didn’t."
In truth, I did go out and came back with a massive penalty.
That’s absolutely not a place you should go.
"If you just walk out, nothing good will come of it. If you go out without following the proper procedure, you’ll end up in the bizarre world just like that."
"The bizarre world?"
What?
Could it be that the Administration knows too?
"A grotesque world, as if everything in reality had been stitched together... You’ll be able to see it the moment you step out."
So they knew!
The Administration too!
"You explored it from the Administration?"
"I have. Still, if it’s before entering the hospital, it’s okay to go to that bizarre world."
What?!
"Because you just have to come back. But once you’ve entered the hospital in any way, you can only leave by following the procedure. Otherwise, the only outcome is permanent disappearance."
If a patient runs away and goes outside, they disappear permanently. But if you haven’t entered the hospital yet, even if you go out there, you can still come back.
"This is the first I’ve heard of it."
So Cheongak Mary Hospital had such a rule.
"It’s information you don’t need to know once you’ve entered as a patient. There’s no need to put it in the rulebook."
"That’s true. Then, team lead. Does that mean it’s okay for us to go out there right now?"
"Theoretically, yes. But there’s no need to take the risk. That bizarre world is very dangerous."
"...Right."
Come to think of it.
You’d be crazy to leave just because you can.
"Then those fake Administration agents should be fine too. It doesn’t look like they’ve entered the hospital yet."
"Seems so. It looks like they’re planning to do some exploration."
Why would they want to explore such a dangerous place?
"Why do you think that is?"
"Who knows. I’m curious, but it’s a low priority. What matters to us right now is confirming whether dimensional travel happened or not."
That made sense.
If, after escaping the hospital, it’s our world, then dimensional travel will be confirmed. On top of that, we’ll be able to establish a way to return from a parallel world, so it’s a two-for-one deal.
"But to confirm that, don’t we have to enter the hospital and then escape?"
"I’ll teach you the method now."
"Yes."
Jaaldi’s explanation began.
We would enter the hospital pretending we were there for an admission consultation. Jaaldi knew all the rules for this, and I had also memorized them.
"Then our relationship is... Hmm. Right. Let’s make it that I’m trying to get you admitted. That’s the best option."
"Specifically, what kind of relationship is that?"
"Mother and son."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"It has the highest success rate. We’d be parents who came in for a consultation about our son’s admission. It’s usually used when male and female agents are deployed together."
"Hold on. So you’re saying I have to call you Mom, team lead? And you call me your son?"
"...Something like that."
"No way! You think those nurses will believe that? It’s an impossible combination to think of as a mother-son relationship!"
Jaaldi is an older sister, not a mother!
Of course, there are parts of her that seem motherly...!
"The nurses are just anomalous entities from a ghost story... They can’t make that kind of distinction."
"That may be true, but still. No, this is kind of embarrassing. Just thinking about calling you Mom."
"Why are you worrying about that? It’s just a role assigned during the operation. There’s no need to attach any deep meaning to it."
"It still bothers me. Doesn’t it bother you, Mom?"
"What? W-Wait a second."
When I said “Mom,” Jaaldi flinched.
"Grong, you’re making me self-conscious too."
"You should call me your son, Mom."
"B-Behave yourself... son."
Ah.
This is insane.
It suddenly got awkward.
If Jaaldi is Mom, then is Mr. Spangdal the older sister?
Then who’s the little sister...!
"Anyway. I’ll say that, as the mother, I’m here to admit you. Follow that setup."
"Understood."
With an experienced department chief like Jaaldi here, I wasn’t too worried about escaping the hospital. We were only here for a consultation, after all. It’s only a big problem if you’re taken in as a patient; an expedition this simple should be fine.
Still.
Since I was here, I wanted to meet Mr. Kim Seonghan.
That’d be greedy.
To take on that kind of risk.
But was it okay to leave the teacher there any longer?
I was sure I’d made up my mind to save him.
I was watching the fake Administration agents’ movements while thinking about Mr. Kim Seonghan.
"Will it really be possible? To recover him."
One of the fake Administration agents said that.
Recover him?
"Well... I don’t know whether it’ll work or not. I think it’ll be difficult. But if it can be done, we have to somehow pull it off. There are already breaches popping up all over the place. We desperately need his power."
"He really is irreplaceable. As expected, the inspection squad alone isn’t enough."
"Right. No matter how capable Deputy Chief Go Younghoon is, he can’t catch up to Department Chief Lee Dohyung."
"W-What?!"
Department Chief Lee Dohyung?!
The moment I was startled by those words, I could tell Jaaldi was startled too. Jaaldi grabbed me and signaled me to focus.
"No matter what happens, we have to recover Department Chief Lee Dohyung. If we can just recover him, we can deal with the aftermath somehow."
"It won’t be easy... Many agents will die in the line of duty."
"It can’t be helped. If we can recover him, that sacrifice will be worth it."
"That’s true. There are countless aberrations that are suppressed just by Department Chief Lee Dohyung’s existence alone. Still, to be honest, I acknowledge his skill, but he’s not exactly someone I like."
"He is a rather inhuman person."
This was definitely about Department Chief Lee Dohyung.
These fake Administration agents seemed to have come to recover him. But recover him? He should already be dead, split in half. What on earth were they talking about, recovering him?
Besides, if they were going to recover Department Chief Lee Dohyung, they’d have to recover his body somewhere inside the hospital, so why were they heading outside?
And besides... those guys were talking as if Department Chief Lee Dohyung were still alive.
It seemed the brief chat was over, and the agents closed their mouths again.
"What on earth were you talking about just now?"
"Didn’t you say Department Chief Lee Dohyung was torn in half and died?"
"Yes. I saw it with my own eyes. He definitely died. They did say they were going to do some kind of surgery afterward, but... n-no way?"
No way.
"Department Chief Lee Dohyung was revived by Cheongak Mary Hospital’s surgery?"
"Could he have been brought back to life through surgery?"
"That’s nonsense. There’s no way you could revive a human."
Jaaldi’s eyes turned serious.
"Even if it were possible, that wouldn’t count as being alive anymore."
"If not alive, then."
"It’s likely he was reborn as something horrific."
"Gasp!"
Reborn as something horrific?!
"It seems... that surgery caused Department Chief Lee Dohyung to become an aberration."
"He turned into an aberration!"
Department Chief Lee Dohyung was already treated like an aberration, and now surgery made him turn into one again?!
"Isn’t that a complete upgrade? If a guy who was already an aberration turned into one again...!"
"...I have nothing to say."
This was truly an unimaginable situation.
That formidable threat, Department Chief Lee Dohyung, was reborn through the hospital’s surgery?
So the upgraded Lee Dohyung escaped from the hospital?
And those fake Administration bastards figured that out after investigating and went outside to look for him?
Crazy...!
How could something like this happen!
"Son. Change of plans. We need to explore outside the hospital. Let’s head out."
"Phew... This is really going to be a difficult task, Mom."
"H-Hold on! Let’s pause that setup for a moment! Why are you suddenly talking like that!"
"No, you were the one who said I was your son, team lead."
"What?"
I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen this.
Jaaldi’s face turned red.
"I-It was just a mistake from getting too into the role... Anyway. This needs to be investigated. After all, it’s tied to that formidable threat called Department Chief Lee Dohyung."
It’s scary, but.
As long as Jaaldi is here, it should be fine.
* * *
We continued to monitor the fake Administration agents.
They were communicating, and judging by the situation, their connection to headquarters must have been cut off, so it looked like they were contacting the ones who had gone out to explore beyond the hospital.
I wanted to intercept their conversation, but I didn’t have any equipment.
"It would’ve been nice if we had Jamtree. For now, I’m heading out. Follow carefully."
"Yes."
We’re going out.
The moment I accepted those words, explosive tension wrapped around my entire body.
"Like I said, once we go out, there’ll be plenty of beings with stitched faces."
I already knew that from seeing it.
"Do not provoke them under any circumstances."
"I’d never do something like that."
"Good. And if it looks like you’re about to have an episode, tell me in advance. I’ll take care of it."
"The kind of measure that feels like a mother’s embrace, right? Understood."
"Don’t add unnecessary commentary... Then let’s go."
And so.
ㅡPlop.
We stepped outside the hospital.
The landscape of my endless trauma spread out before me.