“Ta-da— now we can finally have a proper conversation—”
“Weren’t you under orders to stay in your quarters?”
You were making a huge fuss trying to examine my body while I slept, and in the end you were banned from entering the closed ward, weren’t you?
“Heh, our hospital’s security is really shabby—breaking in isn’t that hard—”
I Haseo giggled.
‘Is she laughing on purpose like that?’
Honestly, it’s a bit frightening. And somehow she’s almost within arm’s reach. As I hesitated whether to step back, she swooshed forward and said:
“Could you please remove that mask you’re wearing just once—?”
Ugh, why bring up the mask first thing?
What I’m wearing now is the [Infi Mask], magically reconstructed from living flesh. In fact, an ordinary person shouldn’t even notice I have a mask on.
Unconsciously I touched my face and answered:
“It looks the same underneath.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Weren’t you sent here because you had something you were asked to help me with?”
That question was really me hoping for her to answer “No.”
The escape plan Gong Isu prepared at future Kim Sinhwa’s request.
Maybe it isn’t I Haseo at all. It could be someone else—Tudor, Curtain Call, even Yang Seohu would be better than her.
“Aah— right— The mysterious clock-headed person told me to come help you escape—”
Damn it!
Future Kim Sinhwa! What on earth were you thinking setting this trap!?
“Fine. If you came to help me escape, I’m very grateful. So— the escape. You’re going to help me with that, right?”
“Yes. But— there’s a condition.”
A condition, huh.
Right, two favors were to be granted.
“What is it?”
“If we escape now and never meet again, I’ll be sad— so please meet me separately within a week—”
“Meet you for what?”
A thrilling date event with a mad scientist-doctor psychopath?
“Fun physical exams and safe, body-beneficial medical experiment assistance.”
Oh, how fun, how safe, how beneficial that sounds.
“I refuse.”
“Eeh—? Really?”
“Of course.”
Damn it, Gong Isu, come back. Just use your power to get me out of here!
“Even if it’s a physical exam, I won’t do anything dangerous—”
But I Haseo didn’t give up easily and clung to me.
“......”
Two favors, right?
One of them is a grotesque physical exam and bizarre experiment assistance?
Really entrust my body to this woman?
Why? No way!
“Shinhwa, did you know something?”
“What is it?”
“Your organ count and shape are a bit different from ours. Their positions are different too.”
“......”
What is she even saying now?
“I only investigated remotely while you were asleep— so I’m not completely sure. I want to confirm more. Really, can’t I—?”
Only now did I realize what future me requested.
“What exactly do you want to examine?”
“X-ray imaging, MRI imaging, blood tests, tissue biopsies, cardiopulmonary function tests, colonoscopy, gastroscopy, and—”
“Stop, stop. I’ll allow the first two, but I refuse everything after that.”
“Blood test and colonoscopy?”
“X-ray and MRI were the first two.”
“Then let me at least do the blood test.”
“Give it up. Honestly, I can escape without your help.”
It might get troublesome, but subduing I Haseo alone isn’t that hard.
She pouted for a moment, looked restless, then gave up and said:
“MRI is really okay, right?”
“Yes. Now tell me your experiment details.”
“Crystal—”
“I refuse.”
“Huh?”
“I already shot one at you, didn’t I?”
“Oh? How did you know—?”
That nightmare ray has an 11% success rate.
If I hadn’t had the [Madness of the Abyss] trait, I’d have become an even more horrific maniac than I am now.
With rationality in single digits, the desire to trust my head to such a ray is—
‘No, no. Wait.’
Then something occurred to me.
“Doctor, how many crystals are you using now?”
“Hmm—”
I Haseo frowned.
“—Seven.”
Seven, huh. Still stage two. That means it’s somewhat controllable.
“All right. I’ll participate in one experiment of cosmic radiation exposure using crystalline spiral energy.”
“Wow! Really!? But—”
“How do you know the experiment details?”
“Eeh— Ah! I got it. You can read others’ thoughts!”
“Hmm—”
No, that’s not it—
“Fine! I get it. Different organ arrangement, telepathy enough to read others’ thoughts, eerily beautiful appearance, nearly unlimited mana activation! Shinhwa, I now know your true identity.”
No— I mean—
“Shinhwa, you’re an alien from another planet! Am I right?”
Hey?
“I thought so. I had some idea from the start— mind if I ask which planet you’re from?”
Why, in the middle of this crisis, am I having this level of conversation with I Haseo?
I sighed and answered:
“Andromeda.”
“Aah— Ah— Andromeda— I see— I’m so ecstatic. No wonder I was drawn to you from the start.”
Though the reasoning is absurd, there are things in I Haseo’s words and actions worth noting.
‘At least she realized I don’t belong to this world.’
“All right, then what’s the escape plan?”
“Among the IPEs I manage, there’s one that generates a wide smoke screen and jamming signals— if we trigger it, the whole C sector will fill with smoke.”
“So we slip out through a secret passage during that?”
“Exactly— And I brought this.”
I Haseo handed me a large backpack.
Inside were the items that had scattered from my torn bag.
“Hmm, thank you.”
“And this too.”
She also brought a Paju Central Hospital nurse’s uniform and a gas mask.
“I’ll get everything ready right now—”
I Haseo dashed out of the room. In the meantime, I donned the mask and uniform.
‘Not bad.’
Though it’s a nurse’s outfit, Paju Central Hospital’s nurses are among Paju’s top combatants.
Functionally designed and offering high-efficiency ballistic and magic resistance.
After a moment, a loud noise began in the distance.
Thump thump thump thump— tat tat tat tat—
“This is how it always goes here.”
This is a containment facility forcibly corralling beasts beyond control. No matter when you visit, an escape and rampage event always occurs.
And now an immense volume of smoke started filling the corridor.
‘Good. Let’s go.’
According to plan, the alarm should be sounding now. But it didn’t.
Stepping into the corridor and extending my senses— ah, the detectors, cameras, and speakers managing security are all completely broken.
‘That’s beyond I Haseo’s power. Gong Isu must have prepared that in advance.’
The files from Paju Central Hospital described “[Surreal mechanical engineering ability impossible to reproduce or replicate].”
‘It doesn’t seem magical, and apart from time travel it’s a separate power. What system is this?’
Ridiculous thought.
I gauged the power of the person risking their life to help me and considered how to respond if we fought.
But there’s no choice. Though she hasn’t appeared in any game, Gong Isu’s power is too strong, and the scope of influence it can exert is absurdly wide.
‘Almost Judicator-class? No, more like a high-level intellect. How did she get such a cheat ability?’
Before that thought finished, I reached the outer corridor of C sector. A bit further and I’d reach the exit from this closed ward.
“Noo— That’s not it—”
But I Haseo’s voice called from the wrong direction.
“This way— come this way—”
“But the exit is—”
“Ohh— That way was blocked by that terrifying person from the Foreign Management Agency recently, remember? That terrifying person—”
“Yang Seohu?”
“Yes, she tore it down so now it’s sealed.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Come this way—”
I followed I Haseo down the labyrinthine corridor. Only then did I fully grasp why “future Kim Sinhwa” had assigned her to me.
“Doctor. Wait a moment.”
“Yes—?”
“Could you open that door for me?”
“Well, I could, but— this is—”
The C-5 refuge room.
One of the refuge rooms placed throughout the closed ward for emergencies.
“Just open it first.”
Beep-leek—
With a cheerful sound the door opened.
Right, without I Haseo I would have missed this.
“You only need to guide me this far.”
“Really—?”
“Yes. Later, if you’re bored, see if you can find the secret door hidden somewhere here.”
“A secret door!?”
I Haseo’s eyes sparkled as she tried to follow me in, but I reached out and cast:
[Protect Barrier]
[Lock]
“Ooh— let me in too—!”
Thump thump thump— thump thump thump— thump thump thump— thump thump thump—
“Shinhwa? Shinhwa? Shinhwa? Shinhwa? Shinhwa?”
It really is scary... Parting here is the answer.
“I’ll keep my promise, so see you next time.”
Thump thump thump— thump thump thump— thump thump thump— thump thump thump—
[Acoustic Distortion]
Phew, it’s quiet now.
The C-5 refuge room, true to its purpose, contains cover and equipment for emergencies.
Nothing essential, but I grabbed a few firearms and cold weapons and surveyed the room.
This place also hosts one of the many secret doors in the [Cthulhu World].
‘I suspect it’s just a map error rather than a deliberate secret.’
In this room... yes, near that potted ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) plant.
If you wander and jump around there, you suddenly fall down.
[Secret Door Detection]
Pababab—
Mana beams shot out from underfoot, rooting into the walls and floor in all directions.
“There it is.”
But unlike in the game, what I found was a hidden button next to the plant.
Click—
When I pressed it, the floor opened to reveal a vertical shaft plunging down.
“No ladder or stairs. A low-level character would have discovered it but couldn’t use it.”
Without hesitation I leapt into the hole and cast:
[Feather Fall]
Clack—
A sound overhead. The secret door closed automatically. Not a big problem.
Thud.
A safe landing.
I didn’t end up in an absurd place—just a location only accessible after bypassing several security devices.
‘Right. My puppet phobia made me forget something important.’
Had future Kim Sinhwa not told me, I’d have completely forgotten during my escape.
The place I arrived at is a long corridor with ten doors.
One door is the entrance and the other nine lead to special rooms.
IPE-1 through IPE-9.
The single-digit patients stored at Paju Central Hospital.
Here, security devices and cameras are intact—but what can that do?
[Neuroshock Field]
Pazzzzt!!
The security equipment was neutralized instantly.
But alarms rang at the same time.
Wiiiiiiiiing— wiiiiiiiiing—
“All right, all right. I’ll grab just one and get out quickly.”
I added a few spells and wards to block the path for security personnel, then looked down the corridor.
Ten rooms housing either tremendous treasures or horrific monsters.
‘I don’t need the others. Some might lash out if disturbed.’
Without hesitation I opened the door to IPE-2.
Creeeeak—
A room of immense size.
And lined up within it were pure white rocks.
“Heh heh heh— there you are.”
A smile involuntarily appeared.
They look like ordinary rocks, but they have a special power.
And thanks to that power, “the one who waits in silence” tormented me so much.
“That bastard, I promised I’d get my revenge, didn’t I?”
