Chapter 13: Item Recovery (1)

By collecting the small orb left behind by the chameleon, our first field mission came to an end.

We dragged our exhausted bodies back to headquarters.

The small orb was handed over to the research team.

It could be an item… or something else entirely.

And then, just two days later.

After a day off due to a field mission that had lasted late into the night, right upon returning to the company—before the fatigue had even worn off, Exploration Team 15 was assigned another field mission.

“Wow! Another field mission?”

“…Yes, it’s odd. There’s been an increase in anomalies lately…”

At Han So-ra’s excited question—clearly thrilled about the extra pay from another field mission—the team leader tilted his head in confusion.

“This mission involves identifying and retrieving items abandoned in a specific area,” explained Team Leader Park Chul-woo as he displayed briefing materials on the screen.

A photo of a dilapidated and eerie-looking building appeared.

“The higher-ranked teams have already removed major threats, but there’s still a lack of detailed information about the area, and unexpected variables could occur…”

While listening to his explanation, I suddenly sensed something off and raised my hand.

“Team Leader, isn’t item retrieval or cargo transport… usually the responsibility of the ‘Transport Team’?”

At my question, not only Team Leader Park, but also Han So-ra and Seo Ji-hyun looked puzzled.

Team Leader Park hesitated for a moment before responding.

“Transport Team? Mr. Kim Min-jun, are you possibly confusing us with another company? We don’t have a department called ‘Transport Team’ at Dongto.”

“…What?”

At his words, I felt like I’d been hit over the head.

No Transport Team?

Then what was the department I applied to in the beginning, and went through that dreadful ‘final interview’ for?

Could it be that it’s just called something else?

At least judging by the team leader’s expression, he didn’t seem to be lying.

And Han So-ra and Seo Ji-hyun also seemed genuinely unaware.

“The target location is an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Incheon.”

Whether she noticed my confusion or not, Seo Ji-hyun calmly continued the briefing.

“It was abandoned after an incident in the past. Recently, there were reports of something unidentifiable being seen inside. As a result, Exploration Team 6 was dispatched. They discovered and eliminated an anomaly.”

“The area has been initially secured, but unstable factors may remain. Our mission is to carefully retrieve the item from the designated area.”

“An abandoned hospital?”

“Yes.”

While listening to her explanation, I fixated on one word.

Abandoned hospital.

“No way…”

I remembered the abandoned hospital that marked the starting point of the game Tale of the Anomaly.

I looked at the photo from the briefing.

The shattered white tile floor, the peeling wallpaper, the emergency light at the end of the corridor.

It all looked strangely familiar.

‘…It must just be a coincidence.’

I tried to convince myself.

There are plenty of hospitals that look similar.

And abandoned hospitals are the perfect setting for anomalies.

“…We’ll travel to the target site by vehicle. Check your gear. We depart in five minutes.”

As Seo Ji-hyun wrapped up her words, the team members began checking their equipment.

I tried to shake off the uneasiness and reviewed the standard gear I’d been issued.

But that ominous feeling—“what if…”—wouldn’t go away.

Hiding my nervous expression, I followed the others out for our second field mission.

I could only hope my instincts were wrong.

We drove through a landscape that felt both familiar and foreign, and finally arrived at our destination:
an old, abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Incheon.

The gray sky and eerie exterior of the building gave off a chilling vibe.

At the hospital entrance, a Dongto vehicle was already parked, and members of an exploration team were waiting.

They were Team 6—a higher-ranked team that handled far more dangerous missions.

As we got out of the van, a man who appeared to be their team leader approached Park Chul-woo.

His face showed signs of exhaustion… and a hint of puzzlement.

“Phew… Ah, you must be Team 15? We’ve just finished sweeping the interior,” said the Team 6 leader.

His voice was calm and low, but his expression was uneasy.

“There was only one anomaly left inside. It wasn’t particularly dangerous, so we dealt with it easily.
But that’s not the real issue.”

He paused and glanced over our group.

“Two anomalies had already been eliminated.”

“What? Eliminated?”

Park Chul-woo asked in surprise.

“Yes. One of them even looked quite dangerous.”

“Wait, by who…?”

“The head was completely crushed. Looked like it’d been shot or something.”

He then described the appearance of the anomaly.

“You’ll see it as soon as you go in. A freakishly tall figure wearing a doctor’s coat.”

I held my breath.

A freakishly tall anomaly in a doctor’s coat.

Memories from the past replayed in my mind.

I bit my lip to keep my expression neutral.

“We still don’t know who did it.

Maybe there was a fight between anomalies, or maybe someone used an item to take it down…

When we swept the area, there didn’t appear to be any remaining threats, but…”

He shot us a warning look.

“You never know what could happen.

Team 15, be careful.

Stay alert while retrieving the item, and if anything seems dangerous, radio in immediately.

We’ll be monitoring the perimeter.”

“…Understood. Thank you.”

As Team Leader Park responded, my mind was entirely preoccupied with the abandoned hospital before me.

Yes, I recognized it.

‘This is it…’

The worn-out tiles on the exterior, the shape and position of the front entrance, the faintly visible staircase inside—no matter how I looked at it, this was the exact hospital where I had first awakened in this world and desperately tried to escape from.

The starting point of the game Tale of the Anomaly.

‘How… did I end up back here?’

Fate really did have a way of pulling you back.

No matter how far I tried to run, somehow, I ended up back here.

“…It’s creepy,” someone muttered.

“Ah, yes, really…”

At the team leader’s words, I pretended as if I was seeing the hospital for the first time.

“Alright, then let’s head in. Seo Ji-hyun, please check the interior structure again. Han So-ra, stay alert for anything around us. Min-jun?”

Team leader Park Cheol-woo called me, but I took a moment to compose myself before answering.

“Yes.”

“There’s no need to be nervous. There won’t be any combat.”

“Got it.”

“Our objective this time is to secure the item. Even if an entity appears, there’s no need to fight it.”

Why, though?

To be honest, I wasn’t that nervous.

Maybe it was because I had already escaped this hospital once before.

As I stepped inside, the familiar yet unsettling air stung my nose.

The smell of old disinfectant, dust, and a faint, fishy odor all mixed together.

Thud, thud.

Our footsteps echoed eerily in the empty space.

I followed behind the team from the rear.

We carefully entered, following the lights left by Exploration Team 6.

And before long, in the center of the lobby, we found it.

“Oh my god…”

Han So-ra let out a gasp before she could stop herself.

The remains of a grotesque creature in a doctor’s coat were sprawled on the floor.

The torso and limbs were relatively intact, but the head had been smashed beyond recognition.

Like a watermelon that had burst, dark red fragments and unidentifiable fluids were splattered across the surrounding walls and floor.

“I didn’t get a good look last time because we were busy escaping, but… so this is what it looked like.”

Seo Ji-hyun crouched down, not touching the remains, just quietly observing.

“The head of the creature appears to have been completely shattered by a powerful external impact. It was either attacked by something stronger or struck using an item.”

“Who could’ve done this…? Or wait—was it another creature?”

Team leader Park Cheol-woo muttered, his voice tinged with surprise.

His face showed clear signs of confusion and anxiety.

I did my best to mimic a shocked expression beside them.

“…Everyone, stay alert. The creature responsible for this might still be nearby. Do not let your guard down.”

It seemed the team leader had concluded that this was the work of another entity.

As I listened to Park Cheol-woo’s declaration of caution—perhaps directed at me—we began to move again.

He pulled out a palm-sized search device from his coat.

It let out beeping sounds and emitted a faint light, pointing in a specific direction.

“This way. The item is responding.”

We followed him down a spooky corridor, up the stairs, and stopped in front of a hospital room.

[Room 302]

Beep, beep-beep.

The search device gave a strong reaction toward the inside of the room.

“We’ve found it.”

Park Cheol-woo spoke, but his expression was far from cheerful.

He stopped Han So-ra from grabbing the doorknob and warned in a low voice,

“As you know, just because it’s an item doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

His tone carried a seriousness that hadn’t been there before.

“Items without manuals can be just as dangerous as entities—possibly even more so. Everyone, stay sharp and proceed with caution.”

At his warning, we exchanged tense glances.

Once again, we held our breath and slowly opened the door.