Chapter 68: Room 101, Cursed Room – ‘Common Sense Renovating Media’ (2)
*
Third Attempt
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]
Date: Day 22
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 101 (Cursed Room – Common Sense Renovating Media)
Sage’s Advice: 3
The second warning I had to disregard was this:
2. You must not turn around on the basement stairs.
I started heading down the stairs from Basement Level 2 to Basement Level 3.
Thud… Chk-Clk!
Thud… Thud!
Chk-Clk!
…
Hearing it again, I became certain.
Something was following behind me. With each step I took, it mirrored my movements.
Once I reached the corridor, if I turned around, nothing would be there, right? I had to turn around while still on the stairs.
Taking a moment to stop and take a deep breath, just as I was about to turn around—
An alarm popped up.
[You will be attacked upon turning around.]
…
This was the first time receiving such ‘Sage’s Advice’ since re-entering Room 101.
…
Why?
Why is the advice so limited? If it’s really coming from a ‘sage,’ shouldn’t they offer me a wiser way to deal with things?
I recalled when the first advice appeared.
When that flesh-eating monkey attacked me, I freaked out and prayed for any means of survival.
The advice guided me on how to survive.
Since then, the Sage’s Advice had always pointed me in the right direction whenever my life hung in the balance.
A tip for survival isn’t bad; it has saved my life quite a few times. But in a hotel, there are moments when I need to discover something even at the cost of my life.
So—
“Please give me better advice.”
Not merely how to survive in the moment, but true ‘wise advice.’
Tell me what I need to do to gather information.
Pow!
The second piece of advice appeared.
[Immediately upon turning around, lower your head, shoot the opponent in their legs, and check the name written on their cap.]
…
Since entering the hotel, this was the second revelation I had concerning my abilities, aside from how to use the filter—I learned how to utilize the advice.
Ping!
As I turned around, I lowered my head and aimed my gun towards the target’s legs.
The sound of something slicing through the air cut past my head as a sharp object just barely missed me.
Bang! Bang!
I barely had the time to process. I wildly shot at the ‘legs’ without thinking. My shooting skills are pathetic, but the opponent was so close that hitting them was a piece of cake.
The moment they fell, I caught a glimpse of their form, and I momentarily gasped for air.
Their body was wrapped in bandages, and they seemed to be over 2 meters tall. What I thought was a blade turned out to be a 30cm long fingernail!
The source of the unsettling metallic noises behind me came from the monster’s feet, which appeared to sport ice-skate-like blades affixed to them.
The most horrifying aspect of this creature was that it possessed a grotesquely ‘feminine’ figure. Curves where they should be, you know? The clothes were more than half torn and smeared with bandages, but if I had to label it, it looked like a nurse’s uniform.
It looked so disturbingly human-like, which made it even worse.
Bang! Bang!
As I shot the monster’s head while it squirmed on the floor, it finally stopped moving.
I had to check the name on the cap, right?
‘New World Hospital’.
Is that something I should remember?
Perhaps there are several hospitals with that name. I noticed a symbol drawn next to the name—it looked like clouds. After capturing the rough shape of the logo in my memory, I took a step back.
…
However, there was something I overlooked in the madness of battle.
The area around the staircase seemed to have ‘changed’.
It was clearly different from the broadcasting station.
Behind me was a bizarre area, while I faced the ordinary staircase of the broadcasting station.
The earlier car and now the staircase?
Was this broadcasting station overlapping with some ‘unknown space’?
The hints I gathered from the staircase, the monster masquerading as a nurse, and the words ‘New World Hospital’. The former simply revealed the creature’s appearance, while the latter was undoubtedly a keyword connected to the curse’s origin.
Should I investigate? Should I type the hospital’s name into the internet and see what comes up?
…
It’s complicated. It’s too late to go home now, and using the computers on the upper floors of the broadcasting station won’t be easy either. For now, let’s check all the ‘warnings’ before proceeding.
I looked at the third warning.
3. Do not turn on the lights when searching for items in the basement storeroom. Use a flashlight instead.
I made my way to my final destination—the basement storeroom.
*
Earlier, when I used the flashlight to look into the storeroom, it didn’t differ much from a typical office building’s basement storage; it was filled with printer supplies, stacks of A4 paper, spare chairs, and desks.
What would happen if I turned the lights on, though?
I checked the status screen in front of the storeroom.
[Sage’s Advice: 1]
The first one warned me I’d be attacked upon turning around. The second provided me with a method to subdue the monster and obtain necessary information.
Only one left now.
Reflecting on the advice I had recently figured out, I thought—
If I strongly wished for ‘some information’, maybe it would respond.
…
I felt now might not be the right moment, though.
Earlier, at least I had some fundamental clue—that metallic sound suggested something shady aimed at me, but now, turning on the lights had me completely stumped with no clue as to what would happen.
Resolutely, I gripped my gun tightly.
I turned on the lights.
The space morphed.
*
Haaak! Uhaaak…
Uahhhk! Ahhhhrg!
…
An abominable spectacle unraveled before me.
If this were during my first entry into the hotel, I might have crumbled to the floor and screamed, but now, I found myself alert and on guard.
In front of me were eight beds. Rather than beds, they were more accurately described as ‘torture racks.’
Eight individuals were strapped to each bed.
They looked as if a high-dimensional artist used human bodies to create grotesque sculptures.
Some had arms and legs glued; one had a head protruding from their abdomen; another had their tongue ripped out.
Two of them continuously screamed, though those mouths weren’t necessarily attached to their heads.
The anguish that rendered the other six unable to scream was simply due to their mouths existing separately from their vocal cords.
…
It was far too unrealistic.
How could humans be alive in such a state?
People aren’t made of clay!
As I got closer to investigate, one of the ones groaning entered my field of vision—was it a male or female? One of them gazed in my direction.
… Their eyes were stuck to their hands, but nonetheless, the eyes remained pointed at me.
Grit!
A sudden pain pierced through my stomach.
I ignored the agony and turned my focus back to them.
“W-who are you? You’re not a nurse…”
“I’m an agent from the Administration Bureau. If you can communicate, can you tell me anything?”
“Please… just kill me…”
This was the second request I’d received today to end someone’s suffering.
Staring at their horrendous forms, I would’ve gladly put them out of their misery, even without them asking…
But how, on Earth, was I supposed to kill them?
Their bodies twisted and contorted as though they were sculpted from clay, and yet they remained alive. It was evident that a supernatural force prevented them from dying. How could I help them perish? If I blasted their heads off, would that do it?
To make matters worse, the forms were so garbled that I couldn’t even ascertain where their heads were.
The entity I was conversing with was peering at me with eyes affixed to a hand-like mass of flesh, engaging in conversation through the lips attached to its stomach. Honestly, what a wild day this has turned out to be!
Regardless, I made a promise.
“I will definitely kill you. Do you have any information for me?”
…
Grrrr!
“Gaaah! Uaaahk!”
Was that last exchange a demonstration of the limits of their sanity? After a brief conversation lasting only a couple of seconds, the being resumed its agonizing moans.
At that point, I felt compelled—perhaps I should investigate them directly.
The bodies were so grotesquely distorted that determining their identities, let alone their genders, was nearly impossible.
Yet, traces of their clothing remained.
Is this a school uniform?
Without a doubt, yes! I could recognize the remnants of shirts and blouses. Judging by the dimensions of their clothes, they appeared to be high school students.
Wouldn’t their school uniforms have name tags?
Treading carefully among the writhing bodies, I searched for a name badge in their uniforms.
This experience toes the line of absurd; I’ll never take a job as an agent after this hotel ordeal…
Riiiip!!!
Suddenly, another sharp pain shot through my stomach.
Did I get injured somewhere? I refrained from checking the wound, fearing it would weaken my resolve.
After an arduous search, I finally found one.
“Lee Hyuk? … What’s the third character? It’s just too ripped—”
“It’s Lee Hyuk-jin.”
…
The tone was far clearer and more coherent than the previous voice, emerging from a different body. Upon raising my eyes, I could see another pair of eyes and a mouth from an equally jumbled figure directing their gaze towards me.
“Lee Hyuk-jin?”
“Yes.”
“Can you keep talking for a bit?”
“I keep falling asleep and waking up, but I can talk for a bit. You need to leave quickly. The nurse will arrive soon.”
“Where are we? Who are you? What has happened to you? Who did this? Spill everything you know.”
“I don’t know. Sang-min suddenly turned into a monster and locked us in here. Since then, the nurse comes every day and turns us into this.”
“Sang-min? Who is that?”
“Kim Sang-min. He’s in our school—and then—Grrrrrr.”
It seemed he had something to express but abruptly sealed his lips and began emitting disturbing noises. Maybe he fell asleep again.
These kids didn’t seem to know where they were. Still, I had an inkling about the situation.
They frequently referenced a ‘nurse.’ The monster that appeared behind me on the staircase also resembled a nurse.
Plus, the name inscribed on the cap read ‘New World Hospital.’
Could that be where we are?
Why is the hospital interconnected with the broadcasting station? It’s challenging to piece together.
And these kids…
It was clear—they were meant to suffer endlessly, held back from death. Only one student, who seemed to doze intermittently, maintained partial consciousness, while the rest had long succumbed to madness, turning into incoherent heaps of flesh.
Thud!
An unbearable pain in my stomach forced me to collapse to the ground.
What on Earth is happening? When did I suffer such a severe injury?
Let’s stay calm.
I’ll sort through what I’ve gathered.
…
It wasn’t for nothing.
New World Hospital, individuals bound to beds and transformed into twisted monsters, high schoolers—Lee Hyuk-jin, and Kim Sang-min.
At the very least, I now had enough terms to search for on the internet during my next attempt.
Could I glean anything more?
Then, suddenly, sounds began to resonate from all directions.
Clink! Clank! Clink!
Metallic noises echoed from all around.
The nurses—more than one—were closing in.
…
Those ‘nurses’ appear capable of twisting bodies like clay, forcing them into a state of unending agony without dying.
I think it’s time to call it quits.
At this moment, I had no courage left to take on those nurses.
Lastly, I earnestly wished—
Is there nothing more I can do?
The final piece of advice manifested on my screen.
[Lift your shirt and check your abdomen.]
I followed the directive and lifted my shirt.
In that moment, all lingering desires to survive and attempt anything vanished.
Without realizing it, my abdomen had twisted and contorted beyond recognition.
The sharp pain I had endured must have stemmed from this transformation.
… It was disturbingly horrific.
This hospital seems to be cursed with the ability to twist and distort human forms.
Bang!
I felt my consciousness slip away as if pulled by an unseen force.
/You have failed!/
… I could have sworn I uncovered the most secrets. Isn’t it a bit overboard to label this as failure?
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