Chapter 44
“Commonly referred to as ‘Yohan General Hospital.’ It’s a newly emerged spatial-erosion-type anomaly, and every scout and agent sent in has gone missing. You could say they were basically eaten.”
The Bureau’s Response Division, Team 3’s office.
The most experienced agent began the briefing in place of the team leader, who had gone out on the museum operation.
“There are five missing in total. Some have lost their vital signs, and some haven’t. Our mission is to rescue the scouts and agents who haven’t vanished.”
“So this is a rescue mission. Then there’s no need to confront the anomalies in the hospital, right?”
Kim I-seo asked. The agent nodded.
“There’s no need to poke a hornet’s nest. This operation is neither a subjugation mission nor a cleanup job. We’re not here to investigate the anomaly’s nature either. If you go around playing hero and act on your own, I won’t let it slide, so remember that.”
The name tag on the agent’s chest, bearing the name Yeo-ul, glinted under the light. The team’s youngest member nodded at her.
“Yes.”
The hospital is an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Incheon. But that’s the fixed location; apparently, there are also cases where people suddenly transfer from an ordinary hospital to Yohan General Hospital. Most civilian victims were trapped inside the hospital this way.
“So ‘most’ means the rest walked straight into the abandoned hospital themselves?”
“That’s influencers for you. Not surprising.”
Yeo-ul shook her head and advanced the slide. Then the exterior of the abandoned hospital appeared.
It was an old building with a grayish cast overall. A cross sat atop the hospital roof, and the emergency room glowed brightly despite the power being out. Through the windows, you could even see patients, nurses, and doctors.
But their appearances were far from normal. Even seeing only their silhouettes left an indescribable sense of revulsion.
A patient with earthworm-like tentacles instead of a head. A nurse with a grotesquely oversized head. A doctor holding a patient down and tearing into the body……
No matter how you looked at it, it was not a normal hospital. The very fact that the elements of a hospital were still present there was, in itself, a clear anomaly.
“So far, we’ve confirmed that this general hospital contains a surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, an internist, and a neurosurgeon. We don’t know their traits or appearances yet, but for now, be careful around the internist. The instant a report came in that they’d been encountered, their vital signs cut off.”
“……Hmm.”
“The other doctors need to be watched as well. There’s no need to provoke them for no reason.”
Click.
Yeo-ul advanced the PowerPoint slide once more.
The monitor filled with the red-glowing words “Emergency Room.”
“You have to enter the hospital in plain clothes. You can’t wear suits like we do, and you can’t wear a designated uniform either.”
“Why?”
“If you wear a suit, the hospital will recognize us as security guards. Then we become part of the hospital on the spot. Escape becomes impossible. That’s something the first scout and agent discovered.”
“…….”
“That doesn’t mean you can go in dressed as a nurse or a doctor either. If you want to move around normally, you have to wear plain clothes and pretend to be a guardian. Understand?”
At Yeo-ul’s question, Kim I-seo nodded.
“Understood.”
“Good. I’ll tell you the rest while we move. Here, I’ve prepared copies of the rules we discovered, so take one each and figure them out.”
Yeo-ul handed Team 3 the copies of the rulebook transcribed by the scouts and agents she had printed out in advance, and said,
“Then go change into plain clothes and come back out. And one last time, let me say this: absolutely do not provoke the anomalies in the hospital.”
*
Cecilia devoured five whole chickens by herself. With that utterly monstrous stomach capacity, Ian stared at her as if he were looking at a monster. But Cecilia paid him no mind and kept munching on chicken like a squirrel.
And so, after finishing the meal with the orphanage children, the head priest, and the sisters.
Ian and Cecilia walked side by side to the general hospital where the admitted child was staying. It was still January, so the wind was cold and the air was chilly.
Cecilia, who had only ever experienced the relatively mild Italian winter compared to the Korean one, sniffled and covered half her face with her scarf. Seeing that, Ian asked her casually.
“Cold?”
“Yes. Korea is way too cold. I miss Rome.”
“The Vatican is in Rome?”
“Yes.”
Cecilia answered, fidgeting with her gloved hands.
“It’s warm. Rome. It’s too cold here.”
“Korea is a little cold, yes. And it gets hot in the summer.”
“Nngh.”
“More importantly, you seem to understand spoken Korean well, even though you speak differently. Did you study listening separately?”
“Ah, yes. For a week. I got an intensive lesson from a sister who can speak Korean. And I just learned a little more from that sister as well.”
Did she really have that much skill after only a week of study and a few days of conversation?
She must have had a natural talent for languages. It wasn’t especially important information, so Ian just gave a vague nod and thought about what to say next.
‘I can’t ask anything that’s obviously related to the mystery. If I do, they’ll realize I’m involved.’
She was a nun so devout that the Vatican had personally sent her. Could she really be unaware of the supernatural?
Impossible. She must have come to Korea for some reason and was staying here.
He didn’t think that reason was really to investigate churches. That was merely the pretext on the surface; the truth had to be completely different.
Ian had almost no clue what her objective was. If he had to guess, maybe it was to deal with the vampire nobles who had come to Korea, something religious, or perhaps to catch the priest impersonator who had appeared in Busan.
Those were only guesses, so they had no real credibility. Ian idly rolled the matter over in his head, fingering the cigarette case in his coat pocket.
‘If I dig into Vatican information, I’ll also have to hide the fact that I got entangled with mysteries…… troublesome. It’d be easier to act if something involving a mystery happened on the way there.’
Because Korea, as an Eastern country with a well-developed graveyard culture, had more wandering spirits than Ian expected. So he hoped that at least one spirit drawn by the magician’s aura would show itself.
But by the time they reached the hospital, not even a single wandering spirit had shown itself.
Anyway, they were the kind that never showed up when you needed them and only swarmed when you didn’t. Ian swallowed a sigh and told Cecilia to go in first.
“I’ll smoke a cigarette and then go in. Please take a number and wait for me first.”
“Ah, yes.”
Cecilia bowed her head and trotted into the hospital. Ian went into the hospital smoking area, put a cigarette between his lips with practiced ease, and lit it.
Inside the smoking area, a few middle-aged people were smoking. Ian also sat in an empty seat and exhaled smoke while looking through the clear window.
“Hoo…….”
The hospital’s name was reflected beyond the window.
Marigold General Hospital.
It was a hospital he had relied on often since childhood. The building was a bit old, but he remembered the facilities being decent enough. The doctors were all Catholics, so they had been fairly kind as well.
The sisters hadn’t been sending the children here for nothing.
Ian flicked ash from his cigarette, took out his phone, and checked the information about the child the nun had told him about.
Her name was Kim So-yeon. She was 10 years old, and she had been admitted for treatment of fractures and aftereffects from a traffic accident. Her room was 306.
There were no other unusual details. Ian ground out his cigarette in the ashtray, sprayed the deodorizer placed in front of the smoking area all over himself, and then went inside the hospital.
Cecilia, who had already taken a number and was waiting her turn, was sitting in a chair, bouncing her legs. Ian bought her a drink from the convenience store inside the hospital to get on her good side, then sat down beside her.
“I bought you some hot chocolate. Have some. It should be warm.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Cecilia bowed her head and took the hot chocolate, sipping it little by little. Ian took a long swig of his Americano beside her.
With each ding-dong, the number at the reception desk kept changing. Each time, the number of people sitting in the hospital lobby gradually decreased, and before long it was Cecilia’s turn. She sprang to her feet and walked to the reception desk. Ian followed after her.
“Hello. How can I help you?”
“Ah…… um? Visit? Hospi…… visit?”
“We’ve come to visit a child named Kim So-yeon. She’s from the same orphanage.”
Instead of Cecilia, who was awkwardly mumbling, Ian said it. The receptionist nodded, checked a few things, and then said with a smile.
“Kim So-yeon is in room 306 right now. It looks like you’ve come to hear the doctor’s progress report, so if you wait there, they’ll be here soon.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Ian and Cecilia bowed to the receptionist and stood in front of the elevator. She was still taking tiny sips of the hot chocolate. She didn’t seem to handle hot drinks well.
‘Cat’s tongue, huh.’
Ian thought nothing of it and waited for the elevator to come down.
That was when it happened. The floor numbers on the elevator suddenly started changing like crazy.
“……!”
From the first floor to the rooftop. And from the basement to the fifth floor.
In the blink of an eye, the elevator’s red indicator lights, having jumped through every floor, were shaking wildly. The speed at which the numbers changed was strangely too fast to dismiss as a mere malfunction. On top of that, something could be heard moving rapidly beyond the tightly closed elevator doors.
“……Hmm.”
Cecilia’s expression changed in an instant as she sensed something strange. She took a few more sips of the hot chocolate she was holding and threw it into the nearby trash can. Something that sprang out from inside the trash can grabbed the cup, which had landed perfectly inside, and crushed it.
“……Cazzo.”
Seeing that, she spat out a curse in Italian and pulled out the long cross she had tucked into her coat pocket. Ian, too, pretended to be flustered on the outside while adjusting his bag.
At that moment, with a ding, the elevator doors opened.
There was no one inside the elevator, but a human arm hung from the ceiling, dangling limply downward.
The palm at the end of the arm was packed full of sharp teeth. It thrust that palm toward the two people standing outside the elevator and gaped open the maw that had been shut.
“Yo.”
“Han.”
“Jong.”
“Hap.”
“Byeong.”
“Won.”
“E.”
“Eo,”
“Seo.”
“O,”
“Se.”
“Yo.”
Kwagagagak!!
The hands, each shouting different words, suddenly began viciously tearing at one another’s flesh.
The smell of blood spread from the elevator interior, which had instantly turned into a bloodbath. Cecilia grabbed Ian’s wrist tightly and said with a serious expression,
“Follow me. Don’t lose me. I’ll protect you.”
“Sister?”
Ian asked, doing his best to look blank. Cecilia nodded while pulling at the long part of the cross with her hand.
The cross she was holding was actually a dagger. The scabbard, which had a drawing of Jesus’s lower half on it, lay rolling on the floor, and she gripped the sharp dagger in a reverse grip as she seized Ian’s hand.
“I’m strong. I’ll explain later.”
“No, no, but more importantly, what is that? Is this some kind of hidden-camera prank or something?”
“No, this is real. We’re in big trouble. For now, run—”
“Oh, dear.”
Just as she was speaking, something suddenly poked its head out from the hallway behind her.
It was a bug’s head as large as a grown adult’s. Ian and Cecilia’s reflections shone in its bright red eyes, and the sharp hook-shaped hairs on its maw trembled with a rustling sound.
“Everyone, the elevator’s here. You should get on.”
Blood and chunks of organs pattered down from inside its gaping maw.