Chapter: 14
Chapter 14 – God of Surgery
It’s distant. Am I still alive?
I can’t see anything ahead. I can’t feel any sensations throughout my body.
Is this how it feels when your body has disappeared, and your consciousness just floats in the void…?
A soft voice can be heard from somewhere.
“Can you hear me? I hope you can. You’re about half healed. Your arm is completely wrecked, but honestly, that isn’t even the main issue. Your stomach, small intestine, liver, large intestine—all ruptured.”
Tap tap tap
“Honestly, if a patient like this came in from the outside world, we’d typically just open the abdomen and close it back up. If someone can actually heal this, they’d be considered a god of medicine rather than just a human. In that sense, you could say I’m half a god of surgery. That’s what it is.”
“I studied exceptionally well since I was a kid. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was the pride of my family. I got into medical school and even achieved top grades! My father was busy bragging about me whenever he met someone. My mother would beam with pride every time she talked about me, earning the envy of all the neighborhood aunties. Ah… I hope they are both doing well.”
“Well, at least I’ve achieved my dreams in a different way. I became a doctor, and thanks to that, I’m still living—albeit as a loser—in this manner, and I’ve become half a god of surgery.”
Zzzzz… Crreeeeak!
“Haha, to think I’m bragging about myself in a situation like this. I’m really sorry, but… it’s been way too long since I met another person. Please understand.”
“You aren’t in pain, right? I’ve completely severed your nervous system, so you shouldn’t feel a thing. This… honestly, this injury is beyond what human medicine can fix, so it’s practically like rebuilding your body.”
“I wonder if you can hear me. Judging by how I can babble on without any restrictions, it seems your mind hasn’t fully returned yet.
But… we’re almost 80% done.”
“Since your mind isn’t all back yet, you’ll be flustered when you wake up from how well you remember my words. Don’t be surprised. I… used a little trickery here. Hah, it seems restrictions are finally starting to kick in. Looks like you’re beginning to come to.”
“This hotel… has been in operation for an incredibly long time. Countless challengers have undergone trials here, and a rare few have achieved glories unattainable in the human realm, but…
Most of them have plummeted into hell. I am one of those unfortunate souls. To put it another way, I’ve become an NPC—not a sacrifice or guinea pig, so I suppose that’s a relief.”
“There’s just one thing. I want to make just one request. I used a little trick to say this. If someday… you gain a chance in the Room of Resurrection, or if you happen to meet Buddha, please don’t forget me.
I’m Kim Sanghyun. I’m incredibly useful. I’m confident in my healing skills, and I’m also clever. I’ve gathered a wealth of experience in this hell.”
“Ah. It seems conversations are no longer permitted. You’re likely waking up now. Please, may you attain glory, and I earnestly wish you remember my name, ‘Kim Sanghyun.’”
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 5
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
I came to my senses.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I instinctively examined my status screen.
Day 5. We had definitely been to the pool on Day 3. So, Day 4 must have vanished in the blink of an eye. I must have been unconscious for a whole day.
I was not surprised at losing an entire day; I was astonished it had only been “just one” day.
Though I know little about medicine, I felt like I had been on the brink of death. How could I wake up after such injuries in “just one day”?
Moreover, I did not feel any pain at all. In fact, there were no bandages visible, nor were there any signs of surgery.
That conversation.
Vague memories of the words I heard while I was asleep came flooding back.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say he had half become the god of surgery. I even remembered the name, Kim Sanghyun. After all, he was my lifesaver.
“Room of Resurrection,” “Meet Buddha,” “NPC.”
I had no clue what any of those meant. Yet, one thing was clear: he referred to himself as a loser of the hotel, which hinted there might be some sort of “second chance” for losers here.
Of course, that didn’t matter right now. I still didn’t even know what resurrection or Buddha was all about.
Feeling remarkably well, I stood up and glanced at the clock. It was 7:40. Breakfast probably started at 7, so they wouldn’t have finished yet.
I headed toward the dining room to meet everyone.
“!!!”
“You jerk!”
“Y, Y, Kain-oppa!”
An uproar erupted instantly.
Everyone seemed too shocked to manage their expressions, soon bursting into shouts laced with worry.
“What the hell! How are you up already? Or more importantly, how did you even get up so fast!”
“Seriously, if you’re just here to say you’re okay, that’s enough! Go lie down again! You need to rest!”
I calmly assured them about my strangely perfect condition.
“Thanks for worrying about me, but really. I’m completely fine. Look at this!”
Suddenly, I did an acrobatic maneuver and a handstand (everyone’s eyes bulged at this point), and only then did some relieved reactions surface.
“Are you seriously alright? How can this even be possible? I saw your arm just flopping like a rubber band! How on earth could it be like this?”
“First, before anything else, why don’t you tell me what happened to me from your perspective?”
“Honestly,” Jinchul-hyung chimed in, “we just carried you to Room 105 the other day. But we had our doubts. Since we all get separated outside meal times, we worried you’d be left alone to die. Some of us suggested waiting till meal time to put you in bed.”
Eunsol-noona interjected, “I shot that idea down. There was no way you would survive until then. But you kept murmuring ‘105, 105’ before you fainted, so we just thought maybe there was something. So we all went in together and as expected, the moment we entered, we all got divided into separate spaces, and couldn’t see you anymore.”
“I went into the bedroom as soon as mealtime came, but you weren’t there, oppa! We should be able to see each other during meals!” Songee added.
“That’s why I said it was fortunate,” Elena said. “If Kain-ssi had been lying on the floor, that would have been the worst-case scenario. The fact that you disappeared instead gave us the impression that the hotel was doing something.”
“And then you suddenly appeared from the bedroom just now. You weren’t there while we were coming to the dining room earlier, so you must have shown up in that time gap.”
Everyone was blurting out their thoughts all at once, leading to a bit of confusion.
But overall, the matter was simple: they carried me into Room 105 on Day 3, and the moment they entered, I vanished. I had been missing for an entire day and showed up in the dining room this morning.
Roughly spanning from Day 3 afternoon to Day 5 morning.
About 40 hours, perhaps? Did the doctor treat me during that time?
While I was lost in thought, I shared everything I had discovered, including the fact that the Sage’s Advice told me to go to Room 105 just before I passed out, along with the bits of information the doctor mysteriously transmitted to me while I was asleep.
Resurrection, Buddha, NPC, and so on.
“That’s a fascinating story. Well, there isn’t a thing here that isn’t fascinating.”
“Resurrection? Is that even possible? It’s not like we’re dealing with God here.”
“Come on, Elena. Why are you surprised now? We decided to leave out that story about Room 101, but didn’t we experience some resurrection-like thing there as well?”
“True enough. It seems literally anything is possible here.”
“‘Kim Sanghyun,’ huh. Let’s all remember that name for now. I don’t know when it’s going to matter, but still,” Eunsol-noona said.
“Kain-hyung,” Seungyub interrupted. “While you were asleep, the hotel announcements got a bit of a change.”
“Hmm?”
/Welcome, esteemed guests, to Hotel Pioneer!
There are several guiding notifications so please refer to them. Additional notices may be added, and you may view them anytime at the hotel displays.
1. Hotel Pioneer always loves our esteemed guests.
However, the hotel staff are quite shy and tend to work diligently out of sight.
2. Please be aware that some elevator functionalities are out of order.
3. The hotel always respects the privacy of our guests. However, perhaps meals should be shared together? Please never forget your meal times.
4. Sometimes, guest rooms will have quite unkempt preceding visitors. If possible, please enter together. If one person manages to escape, everyone will be fine.
5. More and more special events will occur when our esteemed guests appear bored. I mean, events are the best way to forget boredom, right?/
“I’ve seen the first three already. Number 1 means food will be prepared while we aren’t looking, Number 2 says the elevator is broken, Number 3 is about how we can’t see one another outside of mealtimes, and Number 4 is straightforward. It means that if one person escapes from the Cursed Room, everyone else survives, right? And Number 5 might mean…”
“Well, they’re basically saying they don’t want us just lounging around. If you sit around and do nothing, they’re saying they’ll send monsters your way, just like two days ago. It’s a threat, really.”
“Thinking back, the monsters popped out on Day 1 and Day 3. The commonalities between those two days…”
“Days we didn’t enter the Cursed Room.”
“Exactly. The second day, when we went into the Cursed Room, there were no monsters. Ah, there weren’t any yesterday on Day 4 either, but that’s probably because…”
“One of us was half-dead and recovering, so they decided to let it slide today. That’s the impression I got.”
“So now that I’m all healed…”
We’ll have to start that treasure hunt again today or at the latest tomorrow. Or who knows? This time a monster could show up while we’re sleeping and chop us to pieces.
“Kain. Can you check the hotel information with your ability?”
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 5
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Floor Information(*)
Room 101 (Cursed Room – A Strange Family)
Room 102 (???)
Room 103 (???)
Room 104 (???)
Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Room 106 (???)
Room 107 (???)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
I informed them that all the rooms apart from Room 101 and Room 105 were still marked with question marks.
Room 101. Now that I think about it, the room itself was named “A Strange Family.”
I felt like I had seen that name the instant I entered Room 101, but here I was, still chuckling at how ridiculous it was.
A moment of silence fell as everyone gathered their thoughts, before Eunsol-noona finally spoke up.
“Well, it seems the next step is Room 102. If we’re going anyway, it’ll be better to go quickly since this hotel can’t stand us resting for long.”
“Given that we rested yesterday due to Kain’s absence, maybe the hotel was being lenient with us?”
Kain, are you feeling alright?”
I took a moment to check my body.
Honestly, my condition was fantastic. I felt even better than when we first arrived at the hotel.
Resting any longer would just expose us to more monsters anyway.
“I’m fine. Let’s just eat, and then head to Room 102 right away.”
After our meal, we decided to quickly grab our things and head for Room 102.
Room 102… I sincerely hoped it would be at least bearable compared to the hellscape that was Room 101.
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