episode_0102

The first principle of exploration.

[There is no such thing as a perfectly safe floor]

Without slowing down, Heo Yun carefully examined the surrounding terrain.

It’s an old hospital.

It’s so amazing that it’s exactly the kind of scenery you’d imagine at least once.

Dark, murky air. A strange chemical smell.

There are suspicious stains on the floor, as if it hasn’t been cleaned for a long time.

“Hey. Yoon Da-ju! Where are you?”

“This way!”

An answer came from beyond the darkness.

Heo Yun started running even faster.

I wonder if something will suddenly pop out.

Such anxiety constantly hurried my steps.

Let’s meet up with Dazhu quickly and go back with the cure.

“Huh?”

Just then, something like a white shadow passed by the edge of my vision.

“Dajuya. Are you still there? Did you find the AI?”

“Yes, I’m with you now!”

Heo Yun kept running.

It’s a hospital hallway with only blue emergency lights floating overhead.

On both sides, the doors to the wards where patients stay are packed tightly.

“How on earth is there a cure here… … !”

Wooo-

The sound of an unknown machine running is getting louder.

Heo Yun was now almost running at full speed.

“This way! Hurry up!”

“Are you really Yoon Da-joo?”

“Yes!!!”

As we move towards the voice, the light gradually becomes stronger.

[Counseling Room]

‘Gulp.’

Swallowing dry saliva, Heo Yoon opened the door at the end of the hallway with all his might and went in.

A consulting room with a desk.

Unlike the outside, this place was strangely clean.

There are doctor’s gowns hanging on a coat rack near the entrance, and a desk stands by the window.

There are curtains on one wall, presumably to house a bed.

Is there a chance that I will have to lie down for the examination?

“… … .”

I followed the voice of Dazhu all the way here.

The destination is right here.

No matter how hard I looked, the only place I could hear the voice was behind the curtain.

“Hey, Dajuya… … ? Are you there?”

Could I have been fooled?

I cautiously approached the curtain.

Chook-

“Ahhh! Aaaahhh!”

“Sister!”

Yun Da-ju and AI were sitting side by side on the bed.

“Thank goodness you’re okay.”

“… … Not yet.”

Yoon Da-joo showed off her arms. The ringer cord was dangling.

The AI next to him also has a blood draw device inserted into his vein.

“What?”

Heo Yun couldn’t continue speaking properly.

A mixture of absurdity and anxiety.

“What the heck is this? Are you guys crazy!?”

Even though I’m really upset, I can’t approach him rashly.

Because if you mess with this wrong, you never know what might happen.

In a situation where even one wrong step can lead to a person dying.

I came to a place that looked like a hospital, which I didn’t even know existed, and I got an injection that I didn’t even know what it was.

Everyone can see how dangerous this is.

“I’ll explain it slowly.”

Yun Da-ju carefully gets up.

Heo Yun slapped Da Ju hard on the cheek.

slam!

“Ah!”

“What the heck? Are you guys in your right mind?”

“Yes. Let’s talk before we hit each other… … .”

Yoon Da-ju began explaining again, caressing her cheek.

“We checked what kind of space this is. The syringes were also inserted because it was necessary.”

“Right, Yebin?”

Next to me, the AI nods its head.

“Yebin?”

“Yes. That’s her name. Dabin oppa gave it to her.”

“When?”

AI, Yebin opened her mouth and answered.

I clearly heard the answer, but it didn’t really register in my head.

No matter how much I think back, it just sounds like a mumbling sound.

“… … Okay.”

There must be something else.

Because Dabin sees things that others can’t see.

“Then, Yebin. Was this something Dabin asked to do?”

“Yes.”

In the end, you just have to believe.

Heo Yun took a deep breath and sat down next to the bed.

“So why are you getting the shot?”

“This is like medical expenses.”

Daju explains while looking out into the hallway.

“Treatment costs?”

“Wait a minute. Come a little further in.”

Heo Yoon moved inside the bed.

Knock knock!

Yoon Da-ju quickly closed the curtains again.

“Why?”

“Outside. Keep wandering.”

As soon as the curtains were drawn, the atmosphere completely changed.

The lights inside the room suddenly disappear.

Rather, the hallway, which had been dark all along, became brighter.

The sound of children talking.

The sound of nurses pushing medical carts.

The sound of patients walking hesitantly and talking to each other.

The hospital, which was thought to be dead, was actually full of life.

Thump thump thump thump thump!

Someone is knocking on the curtains.

Behind the translucent plastic curtain, shadows of people passed by randomly.

Red letters are written above the curtain.

blood.

The cries of those who thirst for blood remain as graffiti on the curtains.

The noise stopped after a long time.

“Whew… … .”

“Shhh! Not yet.”

Rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle!

The curtains flutter violently.

Because they were pressed so close to the curtain, I was able to see their detailed shapes.

Men in doctor’s gowns.

In his hand he holds something round. It is usually about the size of a soccer ball, but the size varies from person to person.

Clank!

There was a metallic sound from the wall, and a round capsule rolled out.

Yoon Da-ju picked it up with her familiar hands and handed it to Heo Yoon.

“Here. Take it.”

“Is this the cure?”

“Yes. It can treat all symptoms, and it can only be used once per person.”

Then, as if he had anticipated the question that would come up, he turned his gaze to the manual next to him.

[Guide to Blood Capsules]

It is a thin booklet that is stuck on the wall like a pamphlet.

Heo Yun took it off and read it.

It was written exactly as Yoon Da-ju said.

“Can you believe this?”

“There’s no other way?”

Da-ju shrugs her shoulders, still with the ringer in.

Heo Yun held the capsule.

A pill about the size of a fingertip. Inside is a ruby-colored liquid that is soft and warm.

Thump. Thump.

As I hold the capsule still, I feel a faint pulsation inside.

Is there something alive inside me?

“Ah. You have to eat that quickly. If you keep it for too long, it will hatch. ”

“Really?”

“Page 7 of the manual.”

Heo Yun hurriedly turned over the manual.

[The storage period is 10 minutes after manufacturing. This is the quality assurance period, and if the period is exceeded, the performance will gradually deteriorate and deterioration will begin.

If 1 hour has passed since manufacturing, the ■■■■ inside will hatch.]

It is not known what will hatch.

The letters are covered as if they were charred black.

Heo Yun was about to leave the room when he stopped and looked back.

“Then I need two. One for the female researcher.”

“Here it is.”

Yebin handed me another pill.

“Let’s go now. Can you pull out the syringe by yourself?”

“Yes, that’s true, but we’ll be out in a bit.”

“No, why!”

Yoon Da-ju, as always, was playful even in this situation.

“Um. Would you like to check it yourself?”

Heo Yun was pushed out of the counseling room.

Heo Yun is standing in a bright hallway. The other two are in a dark consulting room.

Among the sharply divided light and dark, the dark side.

Yoon Da-ju stood on the threshold, her balance precariously maintained.

“Look carefully now.”

Bam.

The moment Daju came out of the hallway.

All the lights in the hallway went out. At the same time, a light came on inside the consulting room.

“That’s the principle.”

“Yes. The hallway will be safer if there are people here.”

It wasn’t just the lights that changed.

In an instant, the atmosphere itself changed.

The once lively hallway once again smells of strange chemicals.

I can’t see anything, but the clanking sound of a cart passing by.

And on the other side.

A flashlight flashes, which you hadn’t seen at first.

Again.

Again.

Again.

A rustling sound is heard mixed with the footsteps.

It was like the sound of someone barely breathing when all of their airways were blocked, leaving only a tiny gap.

“Dajuya… … ?”

Heo Yoon unconsciously grabbed the arm of Da-ju, who was standing next to him.

Yoon Da-ju looks into the darkness without saying anything.

“Sister, you shouldn’t have met Seok Hyun-min.”

It was a word that was completely inaudible to Heo Yun, who was already terrified.

“Hey, Yoon Da-ju! Hurry up and do something!”

“Yoon Da-joo!!!”

Heo Yoon roughly grabbed her arm and shook it, but Yoon Da Joo didn’t move at all.

The changes gradually became more serious.

Now I can actually feel the cold air.

Again.

Again.

Knock knock.

The flashlight beam gets closer.

Men in doctor’s gowns are coming here.

In each hand is something the size of a soccer ball.

Heo Yun’s eyes met with one of them.

Empty eyes.

… …it was a human head.

“Okay! That’s it.”

Paat-

The lights came on in the hallway.

Yoon Da-ju went back to the bed inside the counseling room and sat down, and Heo Yoon was left alone in the hallway.

Da-ju smiles brightly as she pulls up the blanket.

“I found this out through experimentation.”

“You… … are really fearless.”

“Hehe.”

On Da-ju, who was smiling brightly, the cold impression from before was nowhere to be found.

“Then I’ll go back with the medicine first, and then you two can somehow get back to the elevator. Is that what you’re talking about?”

“Yes, Sister.”

Heo Yun was lost in thought.

It’s definitely the best option.

The medicine’s effects are said to wear off after about 10 minutes.

This means that speed is important above all else.

If we all go out now, the hallway will immediately turn into a dangerous situation.

Dark spaces, surrounding threats, and time limits.

There are too many variables.

It is right to deliver the medicine by passing through a safe hallway alone.

After thinking about it this far, I quickly made a decision.

“Do that.”

The plan is as Daju suggested.

But I add one condition.

“But Yebin should go back.”

Heo Yoon didn’t notice at all, but the moment he brought that up.

Yoon Da-ju’s eyes lit up for a moment.

“Then it will be the two of us who will go back through the dangerous hallway.”

“Yeah. Yebin is still young.”

As he said that, Heo Yoon put two pills in Yebin’s hand.

“… … .”

Yebin looks up without saying a word.

Heo Yoon patted Yebin’s shoulder.

“Go quickly. There’s less than 7 minutes left.”

Da-ju, who had been watching everything from the dark bed, suddenly opened her mouth.

“Sister.”

“Why.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

Daju asks in a dry voice.

Although a momentary feeling of inexplicable anxiety came over Heo Yun, he soon nodded.

“Of course.”

Then he returned to the dark consulting room, onto the bed, and sat down next to Da-ju.