Chapter 13
[Is this for real?]
Author: ForumingIsEasy
++++
[Entity Report]
Yeongsaeng General Hospital
Rating: Level 3
Classification - Location-Type
Yeongsaeng General Hospital is a location-type entity that intermittently appears in the area of ██ City, Gyeonggi-do.
It takes the appearance of a local general hospital built sometime between the 1980s and the 2000s, and the name 'Yeongsaeng General Hospital' can be found on the building's exterior walls and throughout its internal documents.
The entity does not exist in a fixed location like ordinary spaces; it is presumed to appear together with fog under certain conditions.
According to survivor testimony, it initially feels like a normal medical facility, but anomalies begin to occur over time.
Unlike other location-type entities, it has been confirmed that communication signals from outside can be received inside Yeongsaeng General Hospital.
Survivors sometimes send rescue requests using electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, and laptops, and repeated reports indicate that if a person who receives the distress signal moves to the scene while carrying the device, the hospital entrance or part of its interior structure will manifest.
The Bureau suspects this is an anomaly related to visitation, and a lure used to draw in new patients.
[Anomalies]
(This material can only be viewed on site due to the risk of information contamination.)
[Response Guidelines]
Immediately cordon off any unregistered medical facility
Online censorship of the keyword “Yeongsaeng General Hospital”
Dispatch the Field Response Team upon detecting a distress signal
Restrict the use of electronic devices in fog-affected areas
++++
My senior sent this to me in a message—does this make any sense?
Why is this what I got after the Backrooms and then the gacha pull?
Why are they sending me straight from Level 2 to a Level 3 entity, desu?
Should I take the euthanasia pills I brought from the Backrooms and kill myself?
[Comments]
GayWeirdGay : Bro, the Backrooms are Level 4....
TrappedAtHome : If it were me, I'd probably try to put one in the middle after surviving Level 4 and Level 2 back to back.
ㄴ EntitySimp : For real.
SettingsTweaker : Ah, but of all things, it's that nasty Level 3 one?
GroundedGhostNo1 : Is the newbie supposed to be the protagonist of some novel like "I Alone Manage the Bureau on Hard Mode"?
WhiteHacker : Newbie, please give me your bank account.
DadIsAMartialArtist : Why are you still carrying the euthanasia pills?
[Here’s Why the Newbie Is Screwed]
Author: Bloodhound
That hospital is no ordinary bastard.
I've been in there a few times myself, and it was hell every time.
But I can't give you any tips.
Why? Because if I spoil it, that bastard hospital responds in real time.
There’s a reason the anomaly section is blocked off.
You might not be able to see it on the Bureau forum, but I don't think it's worth gambling your life over.
Besides, you don't tour the whole hospital; you go department by department, so if you don't know where you're going, it won't help anyway.
At the scene, they'll probably give you written procedures depending on which department you're entering, but even if you follow them perfectly, the survival rate was 30% or something.
Besides, you're going in from the weaker side to begin with, so that's still pretty high.
The only good news is that the hospital doesn't respond to information you learn after entering, so newbie, get ready to cram.
[Comments]
IncantationSurgerySurgery : For real.
ㄴ PostingForPay : Is there a hospital freak here?
ㄴ EntitySimp : This bastard is a famous hospital-loving freak.
OrphanCrusher : Level 3 with a 30% survival rate? Isn't that a bargain?
ㄴ IncantationSurgerySurgery : That includes just being kept alive as a test subject inside the hospital.
ㄴ OrphanCrusher : Holy shit, lolololol why the hell would you count that, lolololol
[Which Branch Is That Supposed To Be?]
Author: PostingForPay
Let's say they stuck me in the Backrooms because it's the "human rights are optional" track.
And let's say they assigned you to managing a much lower-rated entity.
But sending you straight to the hospital after only two days off? What the fuck, lol.
No matter how capable the newbie is or how short-handed they are, that's not a normal schedule.
At this point, aren't they just testing when you die?
[Comments]
ManagingManagement : Inferring other users' identities is prohibited.
ㄴ PostingForPay : No, head mod, even you can see that that's not right, can't you?
ㄴ ManagingManagement : Each branch has different policies, so it can't be helped.
ㄴ PostingForPay : If the newbie dies, I'll post a poop pic. Later.
ㄴ WhiteHacker : 22222222222
DadIsAMartialArtist : Why are the comments like this?
Judging by the reactions, I get that the place I'm going tomorrow is completely fucked.
A 30% survival rate, including just breathing in the hospital?
Why are they even counting that as survival?
[Choi Yuna-senpai: Junior]
I was wondering if I should leave a suicide note when Choi Yuna's message came in.
[Me: Yes, senior.]
[Choi Yuna-senpai: I'm going too tomorrow.]
[Me: You're being deployed to the hospital too?]
[Choi Yuna-senpai: Yep]
[Choi Yuna-senpai: (a lunchbox with yubu-chobap and kimbap)]
[Choi Yuna-senpai: Don't pack lunch.]
[Me: Are we going on a picnic somewhere tomorrow by any chance?]
[Choi Yuna-senpai: The food at the site is bad.]
Manager Kwak Chun-bong said to empty your stomach whenever you had to go on site.
I'm confused.
Still, knowing someone familiar was going with me put me a little more at ease.
If I were going in alone or with someone I didn't know at all, I might have been anxious.
Just as I felt that way, I suddenly remembered a post I had seen on the forums during my break.
[It's Better to Go on Site with Strangers]
Author: DadIsAMartialArtist
A friend of mine in the Field Response Team says that
Rather than having to watch someone you know die right in front of you,
even if the odds of dying go up because you're awkward and out of sync,
it's better to go in with people from a completely different branch.
It was a story about someone he actually knew, and it was so sad once I heard it.
If you have a Field Response Team, definitely take this into account.
[Comments]
Is this really about someone you know?
ㄴ EntitySimp : I'm seeing this bastard break character.
Bloodhound : Seeing a desk suddenly empty out or someone get marked dead isn't exactly fun either; at least on site, I can still struggle back.
ㄴ AutoSaveIsEssential : If someone dies because of me, I wouldn't be saying that either.
ㄴ (OP) DadIsAMartialArtist : That's right....
A post saying it's better not to go on site with someone you know.
It said it was about someone he knew, but judging by the body and comments, it seemed to be DadIsAMartialArtist's own story.
That didn't change anything, though.
The Bureau. What a messed-up place.
Just how many entities are active out there in the world?
And what exactly is the Bureau doing to keep them hidden?
Once I was on the side that managed and concealed them, the more I learned, the more afraid I became of entities.
If I think about it, I'm a victim of an entity too.
This environment was all too much for me, someone who had only been on the job for ten days.
Suddenly, the euthanasia pills I had brought from the Backrooms caught my eye.
If I had to keep living while being consumed by fear, maybe that would be a merciful choice too.
Bzzzz
Just as my solitary thoughts, as usual, were about to drift in a negative direction.
The device rang.
[Choi Yuna-senpai: I'm going to sleep. Newbie, you should sleep early too. See you tomorrow.]
A message from my laid-back senior.
“It's not like we're really going on a picnic.”
For some reason, every Field Response Team member I'd seen so far had been weirdly relaxed.
Team leader Imina too, and senior Choi Yuna too.
No, maybe only the people who stayed relaxed survived.
As that lifeless text instantly drained my tension, sleepiness flooded in.
I felt like I hadn't quite prepared my mind enough, but I decided to go with the flow.
Rather than staying up all night and heading to the site without any sleep, it’d be better to be a young man who at least got a good night's sleep.
***
The next dawn.
I skipped breakfast and boarded the train to the sound of an alarm that rang unusually early.
“The cafeteria's an entity too, so don't you have some special Bureau transport or something?”
“Do you want me to cut off one of your arms?”
“Come to think of it, they count getting to the site as paid time too, right?”
After two transfers, my senior and I arrived at a beach in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do.
The sea was still quiet because summer hadn't arrived yet.
But people who had come to enjoy the in-between weather of spring and summer were strolling sparsely across the sand.
“So why are we at the beach right now?”
“Because this is where the hospital appeared.”
“It's not even vacation season.”
“We come for other cases during vacation season.”
“Besides, the report said it appears near Gyeonggi-do in the first place.”
I was dumbfounded, so I checked the report stored on the terminal, and the contents had changed slightly.
++++
Yeongsaeng General Hospital is a location-type entity that intermittently appears in the area of ██ City, Gyeonggi-do.
Recently, it has also been seen appearing in other regions.
++++
What is this, a real-time update?
What choice do I have? If they tell me to do it, I do it.
As I trailed closely behind Choi Yuna, a container building came into view.
[OO Beach Water Safety Countermeasures Committee]
Screeeech.
My senior entered the container.
“Gwanak Branch Field Response Team, two members present.”
“Ohhh! It's Choi Yuna! We're lucky this time.”
Inside the container were three men in suits.
"Hello, I'm...."
"Hey. You're the newbie, right? Name later, later."
What is this, getting treated like I joined some all-male running club?
One of them, who seemed to be the leader, approached familiarly, as if he knew my senior.
“You'll stick with me again this time, right? Hm? Last time, I was the one who helped you recover the entity.”
Rubbing his hands together and speaking in a nasal whine, he didn't seem ordinary.
At that level, could you really say you were good at socializing?
“No. Today it's this guy.”
“Huh? Him?”
Senior Choi Yuna shook her head and pointed at me.
The three men's gazes turned to me in response.
“Does he have any ability?”
It was the man on the right asking.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“A junior from our department.”
“That's it?”
“Yeah.”
He looked dumbfounded by my senior's curt answer.
“No, even if he's a newbie, you still need some insurance on an ability user…”
“Ability use is at your own discretion unless the higher-ups order otherwise.”
“Hmm....”
Apparently, Choi Yuna's ability was far more impressive than I thought.
“Alright, alright. If Gwanak sent a newbie, the department you're going into must be easy this time.”
But the three soon lost interest in me and started whispering among themselves.
DadIsAMartialArtist.... How badly hurt must he have been for guys like that to be the better option?
“Now that we've got all five people, we'll give a brief explanation and go in.”
The man who had approached Choi Yuna first began the briefing.
There wasn't much to the briefing.
After contacting the phone that received the rescue request, enter the hospital ten minutes later.
Apparently all we had to do was rescue any survivors and get out.
They said the manual that only field personnel can see can also be viewed after entering the hospital.
They told us to get an analgesic injection before entering.
Because if your arms and legs end up getting cut off, it would be a problem if it hurt on top of that.
When the explanation was over, the three went out for a smoke, leaving only me and Choi Yuna in the container.
It was awkward to chat for ten minutes, and I had nothing else to do, so I left a post on the forum.
[I'm About to Enter the Hospital]
Author: ForumingIsEasy
Going in with my senior and three employees I don't know to rescue survivors.
If the Backrooms were anything to go by, I should still be able to check the forum after entering.
I'll give live updates now and then.
Looking forward to any pro tips from the Field Response Team.
“What are you doing?”
Just as I was about to check the comments, Choi Yuna suddenly popped up behind me.
“Nothing much, just browsing the internet for a bit.”
“I see.”
I was getting quite a few comment notifications, but even so, I couldn't browse the forum in front of someone.
“Let's go in.”
By then, the three who had gone to smoke had returned and were calling us from in front of the container.
Surprisingly, the bright beach that had been there just moments ago was now filled with fog so thick you couldn't see an inch ahead.
And a massive building stood directly ahead.
Written on the sign was 'Yeongsaeng General Hospital'.
“Inject the analgesic!”
The leader(?) said that and, without hesitation, jabbed the analgesic he was holding into his thigh.
“Here. Yours too.”
The man who had been on the right came over and handed us the same shot.
“You go first.”
“What about you, senior?”
“I want to see whether you can do it right.”
Under Choi Yuna's supervision, I sat in a chair and jabbed the analgesic into my thigh.
Unlike the shots I'd gotten at the dentist, I didn't even feel numb.
“Does this actually work? I don't feel anything.”
“Look at your feet.”
“Huh?”
When I looked down, Choi Yuna was standing with both her feet on top of mine.
“Yep, it definitely works.”
She looked like she was leaning back a little, but how was she keeping her balance?
I'm already dizzy.
Bzzzz.
The terminal rang at the most ill-timed moment.
Someone who had checked my post late must have finally left a comment.
Without opening the forum, I pulled down the taskbar and checked only the contents of the comment.
IncantationSurgerySurgery : You absolutely can't take any kind of medicine before going into the hospital.
Wow, that's incredibly useful information.