episode_0269

(Is this the child?)

(Ugh… It’s not a skill… But for now, send him to an orphanage. They’ll probably find out something there.)

I hated hospitals.

Because I don’t have any very good memories.

Of course, there are many people who like hospitals, but Eun-ha especially liked them.

Could it be because the trauma occurred in childhood?

“Haa…… Haa…”

I sat down in the dark hallway and took a deep breath.

I feel comfortable when I curl up,

I felt better after emptying my mind.

As I exhale, a hot sigh escapes between my lips.

“Sigh……”

Take a breath.

I guess that means he’s still alive.

I scratched my shoulder with my fingernails, and it bled and hurt.

Still alive.

yet.

Without dying.

still.

And I never get tired of it.

‘… … It’s okay. It’s better than dying.’

I thought positively.

As long as you’re alive, that’s enough.

He smiled languidly as usual.

『… … .』

“Thank you.”

Eunha stands up, supported by [Red Woman] who approaches her.

She made her way down the long hallway with a brief thank you.

… … .

I hate hospitals.

I didn’t like it.

So, from now on, I hope you like the hospital.

Let’s make good memories with many people.

‘Who knew he’d lose?’

The galaxy laughed.

… … .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

※Neulpurum Emergency Center Emergency Ward Usage Rules※

– This guide has been created for the safety and health of you and your patients.

– If there are any missing or damaged parts in this guide, please visit the general affairs department on the first floor of the hospital to request a reissue.

1. Please observe the ward round times.

– Please enter the patient room and make sure not to disturb the rounds.

– The hospital is not responsible for any additional injuries or risks.

2. Internal Medicine: Fasting recommended.

– There is a saying that you should not eat food that has been contaminated with death. This also applies to food from the afterlife.

– Food intake is not recommended, including food given to you by patients.

3. Psychiatry: Be careful with delusional patients.

– There is a girl with a strange way of thinking. A confused child will ask you if her thinking is correct.

– Answer the questions carefully. Your answers will be reflected as correct answers to the girl.

4. Isolation Room: No access.

– Do not respond to calls for help.

– Do not approach the damaged isolation room.

– Avoid falling if possible. Be careful of falling. Be careful of the ceiling.

5. Thoracic Surgery: Who coughs…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Neulpurum Emergency Center… That’s a familiar name.”

Eunha, who was sitting on the hallway chair and reading [The Black Book] again, got up from her seat.

A general hospital visited with Kang Na-ri,

Avoiding the security guards following her, she took a step back and entered the hospital in ‘this’ world.

The feeling of your surroundings changing in an instant is always creepy.

I shivered at the smell of blood that filled the interior of the building.

Swish…

The sound of heavy raindrops hitting the window.

There’s thick fog outside the window.

[Cheongryong General Hospital] This place… [Neulpurum Emergency Center] The inside of the building was a long, straight corridor, a passageway.

Flickering lights dimly illuminate the dark hallway.

“… … .”

Visibility is about 10 paces.

Beyond that, it was strangely dark, and the galaxy’s soft eyesight could not see into the darkness.

A long corridor, with sickrooms lined up on either side.

My heart feels heavy as I stand in this seemingly endless hallway.

‘Thoracic surgery, urology, internal medicine… there aren’t any patients walking around the hallways. Where is the intensive care unit?’

But if you keep walking, it will come out.

Eunha, who had been pounding her chest in the stuffy air, let out a rough breath.

hospital.

Fucking hospital.

I had courage.

… … .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Please observe the ward round times.

– Please enter the patient room and make sure not to disturb the rounds.

– The hospital is not responsible for any additional injuries or risks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Go to the intensive care unit.

[Blue Dragon Guild] A B-class hunter and the hospital security team leader. That’s because he told me to avoid the intensive care unit and emergency room if possible.

“[Red Lady] Where is the ICU we should go to?”

“Eunhong (紅). My name.”

“That’s a pretty name. Did you make it yourself?”

“No. You built it.”

“Yes?”

“The Red Woman is a title you gave us… We didn’t even have names.”

Squeak…… Squeak……

After a while.

As Eunha was walking down the long hallway of [Neulpureum Emergency Center], chatting with Eunhong.

A strange noise was heard from far away in the darkness.

Squeak… squeak…

It sounded like rusty wheels.

Ten steps beyond, something moving in the darkness.

‘That thing’ also has slow approaching footsteps, perhaps because it couldn’t find the galaxy due to the darkness.

Eunha moved quietly, afraid that it would notice her.

Squeak… squeak…

The smell of blood gradually becomes stronger.

A terrible smell of disinfectant.

And the sound of rusty wheels… is that a wheelchair?

As vision is limited by darkness, other senses become more acute.

‘… …Are you the doctor who makes rounds in the ward as mentioned in the rules?’

The rule was to stay in the patient room during rounds so as not to disturb the patients.

I listened quietly.

Beyond the darkness, the sound of wheels opening the sickroom door and going inside can be heard.

‘It’s like a game. It’s easy if you think of it that way.’

There are similar things among games.

A horror game where you move from room to room while avoiding monsters and reach the destination to win.

The current galaxy also has to sneak through the hallways without the doctor making rounds knowing, and get to the intensive care unit, which is its destination.

Squeak…

The sound of wheels coming out into the hallway

The sound is heavier than before. It’s like someone is being carried in a wheelchair.

Bam!

The worry was fleeting.

Eunha swallowed her sigh at the smell of blood slowly approaching and opened the door to the nearest hospital room.

Squeak!!

And at that moment,

As soon as Eunha opened the door to the hospital room, ‘something’ that heard the sound started running towards Eunha.

Squeak! Squeak!

CLACK CLACK CLACK!

The sound of rusty wheels.

It gets closer in an instant from beyond the darkness.

“I wish I had good ears…!”

Squeak!

A tearing noise.

Immediately after, the evil galaxy pushed itself into the hospital room,

Before I knew it, the figure of ‘that thing’ that had approached within 10 steps came into view.

… … What is that?

“Mr. Eunhong!”

『… … !』

Didn’t he know that he would be taken care of too?

[Red Woman], startled by Eunha’s call, took Eunha’s outstretched hand and entered the ‘Orthopedics’.

Squeak!!

bang!

As soon as the hospital room door closed,

‘Something’ running towards the galaxy hit the door and stopped moving.

“Whew… I survived. It’s nothing special.”

『… … .』

Eunha, who entered the hospital room, hugged the carrier and took a deep breath.

He hides his trembling fingers behind his carrier and smiles confidently.

I was surprised.

These days, even doctors at hospitals are running around so diligently.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

『… … I think I’m hurt.』

Thump. Thump.

It seems like he didn’t know that Eunha would take care of him.

[Red Woman], who had been hiding her flushed cheeks with both hands, pushed Eunha’s pelvis with her butt and stepped back far away.

“… … Ah. Yes. ”

The affection is heavy.

Eunha turned her head.

… … .

… … .

After that, it was the same thing over and over again.

The process of walking down a long hallway and hiding in a nearby hospital room when you hear the sound of rusty wheels.

Anything is difficult at first. As long as you don’t make mistakes, there will be no problem.

“Oh my, I finally found it.”

A few minutes passed like that,

Eunha, who has finally found the ‘intensive care unit’, happily opens the door and enters the room.

Swish.

The first sound I heard was the sound of rain hitting the window.

And the beeping sound of a machine indicating the patient’s heart rate.

Of the eight beds far apart, half were empty,

The TV, turned off, shows Eunha’s face.

“Hey, who’s here again?”

and,

An old woman was sitting quietly on the bed,

He welcomed Eunha with a warm smile.

“… Yes?”

“What a bunch of ladies. Would you like some drinks?”

Grandma laughs and hands Eunha a yogurt that was served for breakfast.

I frowned at the attitude of ‘that thing’, which felt not only resentment but even affection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2. Internal Medicine: Fasting recommended.

– There is a saying that you should not eat food that has been contaminated with death. This also applies to food from the afterlife.

– Food intake is not recommended, including food given to you by patients.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

However, I cannot accept the yogurt that my grandmother gave me.

Eunha, who had gently declined, quietly observed the ‘patients’ in the hospital room.

“Did you see that? Who was the girl in the next room fighting with?”

“What?? You ate mugwort wraps?”

“Oh my, I don’t know when this old man will go away.”

A grandmother who badmouths the old man sitting next to her.

An old man scratching his half-sunken head.

An old man lying still on the bed, with his neck bent at a 90-degree angle and looking at a TV that was turned off.

“Ah… Hello! Sisters!”

And, a little girl about the same age as ‘Fly’ or [Doll Girl].

He smiled complicatedly at the girl’s greeting, who raised both arms.

“… … Hello.”

『Wow! Wow! Your voice is so pretty!』

A girl who bursts into laughter paints the quiet intensive care unit with her own colors.

It is a pure white and light color like a dandelion.

‘A bit… much younger.’

A scene like an ordinary hospital room.

But they are not living.

It’s not a monster.

Not a ghost or a monster,

A grudge that doesn’t even reach the heavens…

Something in between.

“Oh my~ I wish I had a granddaughter like you. What did you eat to be so pretty?”

“… … .”

They are like,

As if he didn’t know that he was dead.

He approaches me and speaks to me with a smile.

This is the first time something like this has happened.

Is it because it’s a hospital?

“In that way, we lost our way.”

“… … .”

[Red Woman]’s words.

‘Mediocre things’ that don’t even know that their own time has stopped.

I was speechless at the wrinkled smile and tiny dimples that met my eyes.

What should I say?

I don’t know.

Just the hospital gowns they are wearing,

It looks as white and light as a dandelion seed,

Galaxy also just shows a light smile.

“Where did you come from, sisters! My mom said her heart hurts! That’s why I promised to play with my friends when I grow up?”

“… … Really? Sister, I came because I had a headache.”

The startled girl tells Galaxy to bend her knees and gently strokes her head.

It made my head hurt even more.

Swish…

Rain pouring down with all its might.

Eunha, who had been moving her lips for a long time, asked a question to the grandmother, not the girl.

“Sir. How long have you been in the hospital?”

“Huh? Well… I’m old and don’t remember. Sorry, Miss. Should I give you some snacks?”

“I have a snack allergy so I will not be accepting this.”

“Me! Sister! Ask me! I know!”

Knock knock knock!

The girl jumped up like a rabbit and raised both her hands.

“… … Um… What’s your name?”

“Heejin is Heejin.”

“Yeah. Since when has Heejin been here?”

『Ten nights ago!』

Ten nights… About ten days ago.

I don’t like it, but maybe you know about [Silver Potion].

Rustle. She opened the carrier slightly, put her hand in, and took out [Silver Potion].

Then, the girl who recognized the potion’s eyes light up.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Yeah! Write it down when you get here!”

“And? You drank it right away?”

“no?”

The reason I visited here today.

As Eunha bit her lip as she recalled that fact again,

The little girl chattered away about what she knew with a bright smile.

“The doctor said that if I gave you that, the hospital bill would be free! Did you eat the pork cutlet too?”

“… … .”

“If I sleep well today and wake up, I’ll be able to run around with my friends!”

I bit my lip.

That was it.

… … .

… … .

Squeak.

“It’s time for rounds.”

After a while.

I sat on the empty bed with the girl and took a few moments to catch my breath.

The hospital room door opened.

The ‘something’ I saw in the hallway earlier came inside.

Squeak…!

A doctor pushing a bloody wheelchair.

The nurse following ‘that thing’ had no face.

Would it be accurate to say that the head was cut vertically and became flat?

The nurse was holding a large first aid kit in place of the ‘doctor’, whose hands were sewn to the wheelchair handles.

Squeak! Squeak!

It seems like it’s okay to encounter ‘that’ when you’re in the hospital room.

‘Those things’ that came inside rolling on rusty wheels begin examining the ‘patients’ in the sickroom one by one.

“It’s a mild headache.”

“Is that so?”

Still!

An old man watching a TV that was turned off with his neck bent at a 90-degree angle.

While the ‘doctor’ is examining him, the nurse behind him takes an axe out of the first aid kit and hits him on the head.

Eunha wiped the blood that had splattered on her cheek and touched the corners of her hardened lips.

‘Ah. The diagnosis is accurate. Anyone can see that person has a headache.’

Is there such a future-oriented diagnosis?

It gives a headache to even those who look at it.

Then the doctor approached the old man with a sunken head…

Suddenly, he stares blankly at the old lady sitting next to him, then approaches Eunha without examining her in any particular way.

Galaxy and the girl, who had been holding their heads without realizing it, looked up at the ‘doctor’.

I came to help Kang Na-ri, but what is this?

『… … .』

A doctor approached us in a wheelchair.

‘That thing’ stared intently at the girl with bright eyes.

Swish…

Then he orders the nurse to put a lollipop in the girl’s tiny hand and turns to Eunha.

“Are you newly admitted to the hospital?”

“It’s outpatient treatment.”

“nurse.”

The nurse who approached Eunha took her temperature.

After taking her temperature, he squeezes her large breasts and checks her pulse and breathing, then measures her blood pressure and steps back.

『… … .』

But something is wrong?

The flat-faced nurse wiggled her fingers as if she were anxious.

Then he grabbed Eunha’s chest once more and measured her pulse.

“Is this how you usually measure your pulse?”

“My heart is broken.”

“I’m fine.”

“Do whatever you want. No matter what happens, we won’t blame you, young lady.”

The ‘doctor’ who had been spouting strange words was fidgeting with his hands sewn into the wheelchair.

Immediately after, a nurse opens a large first aid kit, takes out a pure white doctor’s gown, and hands it to Eunha.

A doctor’s gown that I received by chance.

What does it mean?

But before I could even ask the question, he put the man who had been hit in the head with an axe in a wheelchair and left the hospital room.

“The rounds are over.”

“Bye bye, teacher!”

“Thank you for always sharing your precious blood.”

Squeak…!

The sound of rusty wheels.

What was left in the hospital room was a bloodstain on the spot where the old man had been lying,

A pure white doctor’s gown in Eunha’s hand.

A girl waving her hands vigorously.

“… … What happened?”

“I was ignored.”

“That means you’re that healthy.”

The doctor’s gown had a familiar smell of disinfectant.

… … .

‘Why did you suddenly hand me a gown?… Are you asking me to play doctor or something?’

When I went to see the doctor, he immediately gave me a gown.

Eunha got up from her seat and put on a pure white gown over her boxy shirt.

The buttons don’t close because the size doesn’t fit, but since I’m wearing a gown, I look like a doctor… or like a doctor cosplayer.

Swish…

A faint smell of disinfectant.

One day, the smell of tears shed by a mother who loved her daughter.

“… … .”

I turned my head.

The grandmother sitting next to me is handing me yogurt with a friendly smile.

Without even knowing that his life was over.

Something mediocre, not even reaching the sky.

( “Do whatever you want. No matter what happens, we won’t blame you, young lady.” )

There was hesitation.

Is this okay?

But, I can’t just leave them like this.

Eunha, who was smoothing down her pure white doctor’s gown, spoke to the old lady sitting next to her.

“… … Grandma. Is there anything you would like to say to someone else?”

“Huh?”

A regret I want to leave behind.

A word of commitment to listening to the story.

The ‘mediocre thing’ raised its head with a puzzled expression after hearing Eunha’s question.

“……ah.”

and,

He frowned as if his eyes were dazzled,

As if he realized something, he smiled bitterly.

That’s it.

A mediocre attachment that barely fades away to this extent.

『… So that’s how it happened. So you, Miss, were the grim reaper who finally came.』

“… … .”

“I was just waiting for that old man… I forgot.”

An old man with a sunken head on one side.

He is still fast asleep.

The Milky Way mixes with her gaze as she looks at him sitting next to her.

Is this it?

While I was thinking like that,

She wakes up in bed… and takes Galaxy’s hand with her wrinkled hands.

『… … Really. Thank you. ”

“… … .”

“Thank you so much, really.”

Bow.

My back is bent.

Again and again,

Unable to overcome the passage of time.

The old woman shook off the lingering attachment to the galaxy she was holding.

“… … .』

The galaxy did nothing.

I just asked the question because I wondered if there was a will.

But it seems there was no will to be left behind.

( “Thanks to you, young lady. Just by existing, you become a milestone for countless things.” )

What on earth do I mean to them…

I don’t know.

The galaxy laughed.

‘I came here with the intention of helping Kang Na-ri…’

chance.

A chance encounter.

Saaakㅡ.

So, Eunha, who straightened the collar of her doctor’s gown,

I slowly closed and opened my eyes,

In the large hospital room, only she, [the red woman], and the little girl were left.

That’s it.

… … .

… … .

Knock knock.

The sound of carrier wheels.

Eunha left the hospital room and walked down the hallway.

Dressed in a pure white doctor’s gown, with a languid smile.

Click-.

Avoiding the occasional sound of wheelchair wheels,

Moved forward.

『So… you know where the ‘potion’ I showed you earlier went?』

『Yeah! I was bored so I wandered around and found them! There were a lot of them!』

I wanted to do something.

That’s it.

Eunha walked down the dark hallway with the girl.