Chapter 322
The refrigerator was placed in a very conspicuous part of the kitchen and Su Jin was quite sure he would find food inside. But given the circumstances he was in, a fridge in plain sight was actually pretty scary to him.
A common plot device in horror stories and movies was to kill a character when they opened something. It wasnt just opening a door to an unknown place, but also opening a drawer to look at whats inside. He had to open the fridge in order to get food, which made for the perfect horror movie scene.
I cant open it just like that, I need to find some other way to do so. Su Jin refused to just walk over and open it. He looked around and found some twine. He tied the twine together, then tied one end to the handle so that he could pull the door open from a distance.
Once he was a good distance away, he pulled hard on the twine and the door opened. A black liquid immediately sprayed out, and any part of the twine that got the liquid on it was instantly corroded.
Su Jins mouth twitched nervously. He was so glad he hadnt gone to open the door with his own hands. It would have been impossible to avoid that black liquid and that would have killed him.
He waited for a while before approaching the fridge. He opened the door a little wider and saw that the fridge was full of ingredients.
His initial plan was to just grab an ingredient, then go back and exchange it for the last fragment. But he hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a few other things from the fridge and got ready to cook.
The man in bandages had a very clear request. He wanted food, not just ingredients. While Su Jin didnt think the frog and rat that the man accepted was considered food, he didnt want to risk it. If the man in bandages was going to insist on getting something fit for eating and Su Jin only brought back some raw meat, it might not be accepted.
And if that happened, all his efforts would go down the drain and he would have wasted so much time. So, he decided it was better to be safe than sorry.
The kitchen had everything he needed, so he fried some vegetables, packed them into a plastic bag and got ready to go. At the last minute, he turned back to grab a few knives. It was better to arm himself if possible.
After walking out of the cafeteria, he carefully walked around the man guarding the entrance, then returned to the wards. The silence in the corridor could really send one into a panic.
Clang!
Just then, a familiar clattering resounded, causing Su Jin to shudder slightly. Was there more than one of that monster nurse? He quickly ducked into the nearest toilet and peeked from behind a corner.
He soon discovered that the monster walking along the corridor wasnt the monster nurse, but a male doctor with gold-rimmed glasses. Several syringes were stabbed into his body, and his hands were giant scalpels.
Just like the monster nurse, he would open the door of every ward, walk in, then walk out again soon after.
Su Jin held his breath as he timed how long the monster doctor took in each ward. Once he was sure that the doctor took about a minute, he walked out of the toilet once the doctor walked into the next ward. This time, Su Jin dared not make any noise and walked very carefully. The problem was, walking like that was very slow.
31, 32, 33 Su Jin counted in his head. He had to reach the stairs before getting to 60, otherwise he might be discovered by the monster doctor.
50, 51, 52 Sweat began to appear on his forehead. The corridor was simply too long, and he didnt dare to walk any faster. He was only left with a few seconds, but he didnt think he would make it to the end of the corridor at this rate.
He didnt have a choice. He glanced at the ward next to him and decided to hide inside until the doctor went into the next ward.
With that, he pressed down on the handle of the door and pushed it open, then slid into the ward. The doctor came out just as he did so.
Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. If he had hesitated just that bit longer just now, he would have been discovered. The monster doctor had a similar body shape and size to an ordinary human, so he wouldnt be hampered by the narrow corridor like the monster nurse was. It would have been much more difficult to get away from this monster.
What in the Su Jin turned to look at the ward he was in and was too stunned to speak. This ward didnt have any beds at all, so there were no patients to speak of. Instead, it had fixtures that looked like large freezers. The cover was made of glass, but it was covered in mist and it was impossible to see what was inside.
There were three such fixtures in the ward, so Su Jin picked one and used his hand to wipe away the mist on the glass. He could see there was something inside but he wasnt sure what.
Whats inside here? Su Jin frowned as he plastered his face onto the glass, hoping to get a clearer view.
Bam! A face suddenly slammed into the glass from the inside. That face was twisted, filled with pain and his eyes were shut fast. It seemed like he had been dreaming the person froze for a moment before falling back into the fixture again.
This thing stores living people? Su Jin was very surprised. This ward had living people, but they were locked inside these fixtures instead of lying on beds.
He took a step back and took a quick look at the fixtures, but he didnt make any useful discoveries. He only noticed something that resembled pipe connectors on two sides of each fixture.
He wanted to take a closer look, but he didnt have a lot of time to spare. If he waited any longer, the monster doctor might find him, so he had to leave this place for the time being.
The sound of a ward door being opened echoed in the corridor. Su Jin immediately opened the door, then walked out after he was sure that the monster doctor had walked into another ward. This time, he managed to get to the end of the corridor and made his way back to his own ward.
He walked in to see the man in bandages tugging hungrily at the bandages on his body, exposing even more bones. He immediately came pouncing over when he saw Su Jin return.
Su Jin immediately handed over his bag of cooked vegetables and said, Here you go. Give me the last fragment!
The man in bandages gave Su Jin the last fragment without hesitation, then started gobbling down the vegetables he got from Su Jin. Su Jin went back to his bed and put the four fragments together.
It was supposed to be a key, but the four pieces looked like they fit together to form a triangle. But as long as it could open a door that could help him escape this hospital, the shape didnt matter.
He tried to put them together and just like he had guessed, the four pieces did form a triangular piece that was about the size of his palm.
The man in bandages had finished eating the vegetables and he patted his tummy as though he was very satisfied. But just then, a clattering sound echoed in the corridor outside and the man in bandages immediately clutched his head and trembled in fear.
The monster doctors going to enter this ward too? Su Jin froze as he remembered what happened when he first began this Challenge. He had been in a daze and he vaguely remembered there had been someone next to his bed, looking him up and down.
The sound was now just outside Su Jins ward. He quickly lay back down on the bed and caught sight of the patient on his right who had covered themselves entirely with the blanket.
Is that a hint? Su Jin proceeded to cover himself entirely with his blanket.
The ward door creaked open, followed by heavy footsteps. The monster doctor had clearly entered the ward and the man in bandages started sobbing.
Su Jin peeked through a small gap in the blanket to see that the monster doctor was standing next to the man in bandages. The doctor scanned the man and said, Not bad, not bad. Youll make it very soon!
The doctor then suddenly removed one of the syringes on himself, pressed the man in bandages down, then stabbed the syringe into the mans arm.
Su Jin stared in shock. The man was nothing but bones, but the needle was still able to stab right through. After the injection was administered, the man became groggy and collapsed onto the bed.
The doctor gave him a pleased nod, then walked toward Su Jins bed.
Su Jins brows were furrowed. He had figured it out now. The Handbook had set the scene such that he had just been injected, so he could only vaguely remember seeing something before blacking out.
I have to be injected again? thought Su Jin uneasily. But he wasnt too scared. Getting a dose of tranquilizer wasnt going to kill him, but it would be best if he could avoid it altogether.
But when the doctor got to his bed, he didnt say anything. Su Jin dared not move at all and didnt even dare to peek out. He tried to hold his breath and make sure he didnt make any sound.
Time ticked by slowly as Su Jin counted the seconds silently. The doctor had been inside for less than a minute, but it felt like he had been here for a thousand years.
Just then, a large hand landed on Su Jins blanket and exerted a lot of force on Su Jin. Was that a sign that he wasnt going to escape this injection after all?
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