Ch.160160 – Devil 4

# 160 – Devil # 4

Someone had to be sacrificed on the operating table.

Just like Abraham tried to kill and burn Isaac.

Looking closer, sharp knives and a plastic container full of oil were prepared near the operating table.

We couldn’t help but be shocked by this truth.

One out of five.

Who should die?

Everyone started watching each other cautiously.

The person I watched most carefully was Jeong Sojin.

In this corridor, Jeong Sojin had been a great help so far, but you can’t hide the fundamental duplicity of human nature.

“…Should we draw lots?”

Jeongseok asked.

That seemed like the best method to me.

The probability was 1/5.

But Kwon Sua was terrified.

“N-no! Being killed and burned! We might have interpreted it wrong! The method could be wrong too!”

Kwon Sua’s argument made sense.

The idea that we needed to kill someone as a sacrifice on the operating table was just my assumption.

The truth could be different.

Perhaps this was a trick or lie devised by the devil lurking in this hellish place, wanting to see our confusion.

If so, what should we do?

“Huff….”

The operating room was extremely hot and humid.

Just being here seemed to drain my stamina, making it difficult to think clearly.

Everyone was starting to look at each other with distrust.

“……”

I was especially unnerved by the strange look in Jeong Sojin’s eyes behind her glasses. Everyone’s gazes had sharpened. Maybe I was the only one who felt that way.

But our atmosphere was definitely taking a strange turn.

“I could be the sacrifice. But if I die, can you all handle whatever happens afterward on your own?”

The bravest, Yang Juhui, made a somewhat reasonable suggestion.

If Yang Juhui were sacrificed and died, we might struggle to deal with whatever happened next.

But by that logic, everyone had their own crucial role.

*Swish*-

Yang Juhui looked at Jeong Sojin.

“Why are you looking at me?”

Jeong Sojin shot back a fierce glare from behind her glasses.

The atmosphere was becoming increasingly hostile.

As the leader, I felt I needed to do something.

“I’ll decide what we should do.”

In truth, I didn’t have any particular solution either.

It might be better for everyone to keep quiet rather than fight.

*Flutter flutter*-

Just then, Yang Juhui opened the front of her uniform and fluttered her cotton shirt as if trying to cool down. That drew my attention to the luxury bag she was wearing on her shoulder.

Wait a minute.

“Wait. We might not need anyone to die. Juhui, take that out of your bag.”

“What?”

“That.”

*Swish*-

I reached into Yang Juhui’s luxury bag and pulled out a strange object.

Everyone’s eyes widened when they saw it, especially Jeong Sojin’s.

“Oh? That’s something I found a while ago!”

Yes, that’s right.

This was an item Jeong Sojin had found.

“Straw Doll: Dolls have historically been used as human substitutes. This doll can save you from death once by being destroyed in your place.”

Dolls have historically been treated like people.

The description itself says it’s used as a “substitute.”

Just as Abraham ended up sacrificing a goat instead of Isaac, maybe we could offer this “doll” instead?

# # #

I carefully placed the straw doll on the operating table.

Then I stabbed its heart area sharply with a surgical knife.

“Oil.”

*Swish*-

When I held out my hand, First Mate Jeongseok handed me the oil container. The surgery was proceeding smoothly, giving me a strange feeling.

Is this why people study to become doctors?

“Lighter.”

When I held out my hand, Yang Juhui placed a lighter in my palm.

It was a Zippo lighter.

*Click, whoosh*-

*Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!*

Perhaps because of the oil, the already flammable straw doll burst into flames instantly.

Aren’t the flames too intense?

Fearing the entire operating room might catch fire, we all retreated cautiously.

*Growl*─

Just then, a low growling sound came from somewhere.

It sounded like a hungry predator.

“Everyone! Quickly get inside the circle!”

Startled by Jeongseok’s loud shout, I gathered my courage despite my fear of the flames and ran toward the circle drawn around the operating table.

*Creak, creak*-

The UFO-shaped lamp hanging from the ceiling swayed ominously, and the burnt-smelling operating table seemed like the only thing in this space. Around the circular boundary, something with red eyes seemed to be glowing.

‘Something’s there.’

Something had appeared. Though its form was hidden in pitch-black darkness, the air in this sweltering operating room suddenly turned cold as if a refrigerator had been opened.

It was now so cold that my teeth were chattering.

*Haaah*- Our breath clouded our vision.

*Creep creep*-

Breath was rising from beyond the operating table too.

We forgot to speak and huddled together as one when a voice came from the darkness.

[そこにいるのか？]

It was a voice like someone screaming in agony.

Somehow feeling I shouldn’t answer, I kept my mouth shut, and everyone else seemed to have the same idea. We all froze like mice before a snake.

Then the voice from the darkness asked again.

[Are you there?]

This time the voice was understandable.

*Haaah, haaah*- Breath reached the circle where we were hiding.

*Swish*-

A skinny, twig-like hand stretched out from the darkness. That pitch-black hand looked both like an animal’s and a twisted human hand.

The peculiar thing was that it had six fingers.

“…Ugh.”

If we stayed like this, that hand would grab me.

I was so scared I held my breath, but the hand disappeared back into the darkness before reaching us.

Maybe… it doesn’t know where we are?

Perhaps the circle (圓) Jeongseok had made near the operating table was functioning as some kind of barrier or boundary, blocking the shadow’s approach.

We’re safe as long as we stay inside this circle-

Everyone seemed to realize this, as the atmosphere that had felt like it could shatter like ice at any moment relaxed ever so slightly. You could say we were finally able to catch our breath.

*Poke*-

Jeongseok poked my side.

His expression was quite serious.

I snapped to attention.

I had one job to do.

“Wh-what’s your name! Are you really a devil…?”

Even I thought it was an incredibly brave question.

Our plan was to learn the name of the devil lurking in this place and somehow use it to seal it away. We had to stick to the plan.

[You say I’m a devil?]

My question was answered with another question.

An unexpected response.

Jeongseok also muttered quietly, as if confused.

“…It doesn’t seem like it will tell us its name easily.”

Shit.

How am I supposed to get a name from an actual devil, not just a ghost?

“What’s your name! Name! Tell me your name! In the name of Christ, tell me your name!”

I crossed my index fingers to make a cross.

I thought the cross and faith would be the devil’s weakness.

But the thing in the darkness laughed instead.

[Look at your hand.]

Hand.

I looked at my hand that had formed the cross.

“Sh-shit, what is this!”

My hand was rotting like an apple thrown in the trash.

It reeked terribly, and pus was dripping from it.

“Eeeek!”

My hand was completely ruined.

Even though I was inside the circle.

While I was panicking at this sudden situation, Jeongseok was also alarmed.

“Oh, fucking hell….”

There was a reason why Jeongseok, who rarely swore, cursed.

*Whoosh*-

The “Escape Talismans” we had kept in our chests and pockets had all burned up.

There was no way out.

The small circle around the operating table had become a cramped hell.

[What do I look like to you?]

*Swish*-

The bony hand approached the circle where we were hiding again.

[Cast out demons in my name and speak in tongues.]

When those six fingers crossed the circle and touched my hand, my hand—which had been rotting like leprosy just moments ago—was completely healed as if nothing had happened.

[Pick up snakes and drink poison. Lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. I ask you. Who am I? Behold. It is I.]

I felt regret.

I should have just stayed home and slept quietly.

I shouldn’t have messed with that iron coffin or whatever it was.

I could tell that the being before us was something we couldn’t possibly handle.

This was on a completely different level from the ghosts I had dealt with until now.

This was “something.”

Something that shouldn’t exist in this world.

It was clear that my pitiful cross and prayers wouldn’t work against such a being that freely recited verses from the Bible.

[You say I’m a devil?]

The thing in the darkness asked again.

Having reached her mental limit, Kwon Sua screamed.

“I want to get out of here! Please let us out! I can’t breathe! I can’t!”

It was amazing she had stayed quiet until now.

The atmosphere was suffocating even if you stayed still.

I would have screamed long ago if I didn’t have the “Strong Heart” trait.

The voice from the darkness spoke, seemingly having heard Kwon Sua’s scream.

[Go out through the narrow door.]

*Creak*-

The sound of a door opening came from somewhere in the operating room.

Jeong Sojin, who was hiding right behind me and holding my side, heard the sound and her glasses flashed.

“That’s it, the real exit. The exit door has opened.”

A door to leave this place.

Hope blossomed in my heart at its existence.

However, no one could predict what the something in the darkness might do to us if we left the circle.

I thought it might be a trap. Everyone seemed to think the same, as no one moved hastily.

In this situation, I was particularly bothered by Jeong Sojin’s rough breathing behind me.

It felt like she might push me into that darkness at any moment.

It felt like holding a time bomb.

At this point, I couldn’t tell what would happen if we dragged this out any longer.

I had to make a decision.

“You are a devil. Within just 2 minutes, I’ll make you understand to your very soul that you’re a devil and that you must give up your life.”

Ha Yeongwon’s 2-minute promise.

It was time to unleash the forbidden exorcism theory that could make even a devil abandon its attachment to life.