episode_0032

I was back in the security chair again. I still felt like I was hallucinating that woman in my head, so I shook my head to shake it off.

Knock knock knock

The now familiar knocking sound came again. When I opened the window, a headless gentleman in a black suit was waiting. I felt a little relieved that this wasn’t a twisted man who was giving me grotesque fears. It’s not that this man isn’t dangerous, but…

“Hello■■. I’m in room 303.”

“The daughter of room 303 has already taken her life.”

“…Yes■■”

Just like last time, the man dropped three or four pieces of black paper under the window, turned and disappeared. After looking at the man’s back for a moment, I lowered my head. The fact that I understood the man’s words more clearly than last time gave me goosebumps.

I definitely understood what the monster said every time he died. What does this fact mean? Am I being dragged more and more into this hospital? Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like a good sign.

Ah, there might be just one good thing. I picked up the paper I had left on the desk and checked its contents. Could it be that we can find out a little bit about what the nurse wrote?

“No way..”

But for some reason, all the writing except for Hayun was still illegible. Could it be something that cannot be recognized except when spoken directly? Or is this writing particularly unique?

Knock knock knock

There was a knock on the door again. If we check the pattern so far, an incident occurred where two people came to the security room and the patient ran away.

However, this time, seeing that people came one after another rather than the patient escaping, it may not be a set pattern.

Give “■ to■■.”

When I opened the window, a woman wearing a black dress was looking at me. Her long hair covered her left eye, so she could only see her right eye, but there was enough pressure to make her want to turn her gaze away.

gulp…

I swallowed dry saliva. I can’t check because I can’t see the bottom, but it’s probably a woman wearing high heels.

If it’s not her in the first place, then she’s not in the rules and there’s nothing I can do about it…

“The 4th floor is closed.”

As I finished speaking, the woman made eye contact with me again. I wanted to close my eyes, but my mind refused to let go of the woman’s gaze even for a moment, so I couldn’t close my eyes, even for a moment, no matter how much it hurt.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

In the quiet room, only the sound of the clock indicated that time was passing.

Tears kept flowing from my open eyes and I was crying out for them to close, but I couldn’t avoid eye contact with the woman even for a moment. Because my instincts and intuition were warning me.

“■■■I did it.”

The woman disappeared in an instant, as if she had disappeared. Only then did the pressure and gaze around the room disappear and I was able to close my eyes. The tension was relieved and I sat down on the chair and closed my eyes.

I thought there must be a very big connection between that woman and the girl on the 4th floor. Isn’t that woman the one who had the biggest influence on her, who hates attention?

When my eyes, which were painful to keep open, calmed down, I was finally able to open them.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I checked was what time it was. If I don’t get it right like last time, I might get hit by that woman again.

“2:58..”

It was breathtaking. I jumped up from my seat, opened the drawer, took three cinnamon candies, and quickly left the security room.

As expected, there was nothing wrong with the direction of the entrance and security office. I glanced at the wall to the right where I met the woman last time and made up my mind.

Carefully heading to the right, I stuck my head out around the bend to check if there was anything strange. Fortunately, after confirming that the woman I had seen earlier was no longer visible, I walked slowly.

In the quiet place, only my footsteps were heard. Without a flashlight, it was difficult to see clearly in front of me, but the faint moonlight provided me with minimal visibility.

As I was waiting for the patrol to end without incident, I saw someone walking in front of me. I thought she might be coming, so I quickly prepared to run away.

“Hello■■I, young■”

However, the person walking from the other side was a bent old man holding a white cane. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that the woman didn’t show up.

Old people are also subject to the regulations, but I remember that if you are wearing a cane, you only need to hand over a piece of candy… But I didn’t know what anomaly could happen again, so I kept my guard up again.

“I have a lot■..mouth■■. Can you just give me candy■■?”

The old man who walked in front of me with a sad smile held out his hand. Unless he was in a suspicious place like this, he was no different from the kind grandfather you would see anywhere.

“Please wait a moment, Grandpa.”

It seemed like he wanted candy, both according to the rules and what the old man said, so I handed the old man a piece of candy I had in my pants pocket.

“Hehe. The young man is very kind. By the way, are you a young man who is working for the first time today?”

The old man who accepted the candy from me smiled brightly and spoke to me in a friendly voice.

It was surprising that my grandfather’s words, which I could only understand a little bit of before, changed to being completely intelligible.

“I am only working today. Grandpa.”

I spoke to my grandfather in the most polite manner possible. The patient who ran away told me that even beings that could understand could harm me, but since this old man followed the rules, I guess it’s okay…

“kkkul. He’s polite, too. If it’s okay, wouldn’t you like to walk around with this old man? It’s lonely because there’s no one to talk to.”

My grandfather gave me an unexpected suggestion. I hesitated for a moment, but without knowing why, I felt like I had to accept this offer.

“Yes, I also get lonely when I’m alone, so let’s at least go to the entrance together. Grandpa.”

After hearing what I said, my grandfather smiled kindly again. That smile was so warm and cozy that I naturally felt my tension melt away.

“Then go to the store or young man. I’m bored, so if you don’t mind, let me tell you about the old days of this hospital.”

“Yes, if it’s okay, I’d really like to hear it too.”

The old man who walked next to me walked slowly, holding a cane. As I was walking at my grandfather’s pace, I nodded as he told me a topic that interested me.

“This hospital hasn’t been such an ugly place since long ago. It was just a friendly place where people who were hurting and wanted to heal their wounds gathered.”

“…I see.”

“But after the new director came in, incidents continued. A woman hospitalized with depression was getting worse day by day, and there was even an incident where the patient committed suicide. After that, everything started to change.”

Could it be that the director is the source of all incidents? I thought of Arin and Hayun’s mother who were tied up in this hospital.

I heard that according to rule number 10, you can receive an allowance from the director. Is there anything I can do then?

“Do you see that woman over there? That woman was also admitted to this hospital with bulimia, but her symptoms worsened and she died after eating her own flesh.”

Grandfather pointed across the street with his hand. After thinking about something else for a moment, I looked at the place my grandfather had pointed out and was startled.

The woman who ate me was looking at me, drooling. The figure was looking at me with its red eyes and chattering its teeth, and it looked as if it was about to jump at me at any moment.

“Don’t be too surprised. If you stay with me, there won’t be any major problems.”

When I passed by the woman with my grandfather, she just looked at me and did not attack me.

Her gaze was directed at my lower body, and I felt scared when I realized that what she wanted was to exploit me until my life ended, just like the last time.

Fortunately, she didn’t attack me until my grandfather and I had passed and moved on to the next area. The tension was relieved and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Grandpa…”

“Kkkeolkkeol. Didn’t you give me candy? Besides, there have been many security guards in this hospital, but I have never seen a young man with such good character as you. To accompany this old man like this…”

“I am also very fortunate to have met someone like my grandfather at this hospital.”

“Thank you for thinking that way, young man..”

My grandfather and I exchanged kind smiles with each other. This seemed to be the only moment where I could feel at ease in this place where even one mistake could cost me my life.

“Well, there isn’t much left now. Please indulge this old man’s whims just a little longer.”

After that, there was no problem until I patrolled all the surrounding areas with my grandfather and returned to the entrance and security room. I arrived at the entrance of the hospital and bowed deeply to my grandfather.

“Thanks to you, I was able to finish it safely. Thank you so much!”

“I’m glad it helped a young man…but a young man.”

When I raised my head again, my grandfather had an anxious expression on his face. Seeing his expression for the first time made me feel a little uneasy.

“No, not really. Just be careful and be careful. Not all old people are like me.”

“…Yes. I’ll keep that in mind. However, it was really nice to meet my grandfather. Thank you again!”

“…You are so cool.”

Grandpa and I smiled at each other. I bowed down before my grandfather entered the hospital, and only after making sure he was fully inside did I reenter the security room.

Thanks to my grandfather, I was able to complete my patrol safely, but I still had work to do. When I checked the clock, the time was past 4:50 and was approaching 5:00.

I took a deep breath and opened the bottom of the desk drawer, and there was only one key lying inside, giving off an ominous energy.

I took the key labeled ‘basement’ in my hand and swallowed dry saliva.