Editor’s Survival Guide — Chapter 10
Chapter 10. Episode 3. The Hospital That Hunts Humans (1)
* * *
Ten days earlier.
In other words, just after I had escaped the 「Railway Station Where the Siren Wails」.
Naturally, I had a great many questions.
So before receiving the video orientation, I asked the topknot about one thing after another.
“Roughly how many people enter Special Zones each year?”
“I cannot disclose that.”
“How many people make it out alive?”
“I cannot disclose that.”
“Does anyone who enters a Special Zone once ever get pulled in again?”
“I cannot disclose that.”
But the topknot did not properly answer a single question.
“Then, inside a Special Zone…….”
“Seo Do-un.”
Perhaps irritated by the stream of questions, he adopted a stern expression and said,
“The entry of ordinary citizens into Special Zones is an exceedingly rare phenomenon, and the probability of its recurring for the same individual is so low as to be effectively negligible. In short, this incident will never happen again in your lifetime, Seo Do-un, so please set aside your pointless interest and devote yourself to returning to your daily life.”
The fact that anyone could be so rude in the space of only two sentences was remarkable.
His personality astonished me, but separately from that, I liked the certainty of what he had said.
Something that would never happen again in my lifetime.
The topknot had declared it unequivocally, and I had trusted those words completely.
In other words, that had been a mere ten days ago.
* * *
And today.
I had been sleeping at home, only to awaken abruptly in a quiet hospital room.
The surroundings were bright, as if it were midday.
The beds in the room were pristine, without any sign of use.
And aside from me, no one was there.
Aha. So railway stations weren’t the only kind of Special Management Zone?
No, wait.
Even under these circumstances, was there any need to conclude that this was a Special Zone?
They had said someone who had been pulled into one once would never be pulled in again.
So it was still too early to jump to conclusions. Yes.
Thinking positively, I looked around.
An information card hanging from the hospital bed happened to catch my eye.
The sight of it made me beam.
Hahaha.
Trying to read the words on the card made my eyes hurt as though they were about to be torn out.
This must really be that kind of place. Hahaha.
And I had wanted to cherish my daily life……!
Slap—!
After writhing in silent anguish, I struck myself across the cheek.
It was enough to drive me completely insane, but first I needed to face reality.
Apparently, I had been dragged into another one.
This place resembled the railway station from last time, yet was different.
No matter how I looked at it, this was a hospital.
Perhaps because it was my second time, I wasn’t as confused as before.
Only the gentle realization that I was screwed washed over me.
And last time, at least, I had been properly dressed.
Right now, I was barefoot.
The T-shirt and shorts I wore were thin enough for a mosquito to pierce.
In this condition, even a glancing blow could kill me. What was I supposed to do?
Should I find a patient gown or something and layer it over my clothes?
No. I had no idea what the things lying around here might be.
Last time, there had been a siren capable of crushing me to death merely through sound.
For all I knew, there might be clothing that sucked out my blood the moment I put it on.
Then what should I do?
The rulebook.
I needed to protect myself as much as possible and search for the rulebook first.
If that topknot did his job as diligently as he acted arrogant, there would be a rulebook here too.
I began by searching the hospital room where I had awakened.
But there was no paper here that I could read.
Where would I have to go to obtain one?
Might there be one in the hospital lobby or at an information desk?
Carefully, I opened the hospital-room door.
An empty ward corridor came into view, and I spotted a nurses’ station there.
Ordinarily, nurses staffed a hospital ward’s nurses’ station day and night.
Yet even that place was empty now.
Could there be a rulebook there?
Hopeful, I approached the nurses’ station.
But there was nothing I could read there either.
This place seemed to be a dead end too.
No, how much could printing possibly cost?
They should print a mountain of copies at once and scatter them everywhere!
Rrrring—!
At that moment, a bell suddenly rang behind me.
Startled, I turned and saw a landline telephone ringing on the desk.
A telephone was ringing in here?
Afraid something might leap out, I hurriedly looked around.
Fortunately, there was no suspicious movement.
Only the ringing of the telephone echoed through the silent hospital.
I waited for the sound to stop, but it continued without end.
Growing uneasy, I simply left the area.
Coincidence or not, the ringing stopped once I moved away from the telephone.
The strange feeling made me continue walking, and I arrived at another nurses’ station.
But then—
Rrrring—!
The moment I approached, the telephone there began ringing too.
What? Was it ringing because I came close?
Rrrring—!
The telephone continued to ring.
My heart began pounding in time with it.
After hesitating, I discovered an elevator and headed toward it.
I was about to press the down button without thinking when I flinched and stopped.
Would the elevator be safe?
Elevators were a staple of every imaginable ghost story and trap.
Rrrring—rrring—!
Even while I hesitated, the telephone rang with relentless persistence.
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The elevator decidedly did not seem like a good choice.
Would I be better off fleeing down the stairs?
And if I fled? Would there be no telephones on the other floors?
Few places had as many telephones as a hospital.
And if this ringing followed me onto another floor, that would be even more terrifying.
After agonizing over it, I returned to the nurses’ station.
I glared at the telephone with a dreadful feeling, then steeled myself and lifted the receiver.
Click—
The ringing stopped.
But I couldn’t bring myself to put the receiver to my ear.
I stalled awkwardly for a moment.
Then a familiar voice came through the receiver.
—Seo Do-un?
The voice was so businesslike that it sounded confrontational instead.
It was that bastard topknot.
I hurriedly put the receiver to my ear.
At the same time, a completely unjust rebuke came flying at me.
—Why are *you* there?
“You’re asking *me* that?”
I asked in return not because I wanted an argument, but because I felt so wronged.
I was too overwhelmed even to register that the topknot had addressed me more bluntly than before.
To be honest, I felt as though I had been saved now.
“Where is this? What’s going on?”
—It is a Special Management Zone. We too have only just confirmed that you reentered a Special Zone.
“You said that could never happen again!”
—Under normal circumstances, it should not have.
I ground my molars together.
With tremendous effort, I held back the curses I wanted to hurl.
I had a mountain of grievances too, but getting out alive came first.
“Then what do I do now? Where is the rulebook?”
—It is still being produced.
“Still being produced?”
—Seo Do-un, a rescue team will be deployed this time. Until then, endure without dying. There are matters we need to confirm with you.
“Are you saying I can die if there’s nothing you need to confirm……?”
There was no answer. Was that silent affirmation?
It was absurd, but I wasn’t angry.
The promise that a rescue team was coming was more than enough.
—From now on, I will read you the precautions for this Special Zone. Can you memorize them?
“How long are they?”
—Half the length of the railway-station rules.
That was too little.
Did it mean this place was less dangerous?
Or did it mean very little information was known?
Probably the latter.
The rulebook was still being produced, after all.
—I will read the same information twice. Your present location is the 「Hospital That Hunts Humans」 Special Zone.
The topknot began reciting the survival rules.
I wondered whether it was remotely reasonable to combine the noun *hospital* with the modifier *that hunts humans*…….
For the moment, however, I forced that malicious explanation into my head.
—
■ Escape Protocols for the 「Hospital That Hunts Humans」
The 「Hospital That Hunts Humans」 is a general-hospital-shaped Special Zone roamed by the 「Moving Gun」, a hazardous entity that actively kills humans.
The survival methods identified to date are listed below. Please consult the following information to survive the hazardous entity and search for an escape route.
—The Following—
1. Cover your face.
The 「Moving Gun」 gives the highest priority to pursuing and killing targets whose faces it has seen.
2. Do not remain in one place for too long.
The 「Moving Gun」 detects locations in which humans have hidden for an extended period. The shortest recorded time in which the 「Moving Gun」 successfully detected a human is nine minutes and fifty seconds.
3. Do not enter open areas.
The firing range of the 「Moving Gun」 exceeds the maximum straight-line distance within this Special Zone.
4. If the 「Moving Gun」 approaches, conceal yourself and cease all movement.
The 「Moving Gun」 assesses its surroundings through sight and hearing, but suffers from the equivalents of astigmatism and hearing loss. In particular, it has difficulty distinguishing any part of a human other than the face.
If the 「Moving Gun」 is within close range, hide. If you cannot hide, minimize all movement. With good fortune, it may mistake you for an object and pass by.
5. Make use of nearby cover, but account for exceptional circumstances.
The 「Moving Gun」’s bullets generally cannot penetrate walls.
However, certain high-powered rounds fired at set intervals can penetrate concrete walls and floors.
The conditions and cycle governing the discharge of these rounds are currently under investigation.
6. The 「Moving Gun」 repeats active and dormant periods on a forty-three-minute cycle.
During each forty-three-minute active period, it actively hunts humans. During its dormant period, it stops completely.
However, it must hunt at least one person before it can transition from an active period to a dormant period.
A 「Moving Gun」 that passes beyond its active cycle without a successful hunt will begin firing indiscriminately. This state persists until at least one person is sacrificed.
—
“……This sounds even more dangerous than the last place.”
—It is not. The random crushing deaths triggered by the siren in the 「Railway Station」 cannot be evaded, but the 「Moving Gun」 here can be countered sufficiently.
Ah, was that so?
Well, that must be why a rescue team was coming.
—The rescue team is expected to enter in approximately seventy minutes. I will now explain your survival strategy, Seo Do-un. The 「Moving Gun」 is currently dormant and will resume activity in fourteen minutes.
“Does that mean someone died thirty minutes ago?”
—Correct. In addition to you, Seo Do-un, five other people are currently inside the Special Zone.
Then was I supposed to join those people until the rescue team arrived?
That was naturally what I thought.
But as though reading my mind, the topknot said,
—Avoid contact with them whenever possible.
“Avoid contact with them?”
Unable to understand, I asked again.
After a brief pause, the topknot said,
—You are well aware of the serious crimes committed inside the 「Railway Station」.
The serious crimes committed inside the 「Railway Station」.
He must mean those lunatics who murdered people for money and put them in the lockers.
I immediately understood what the topknot had said indirectly.
That only made me more anxious.
“Why bring that up now?”
—Those serious criminals are presently in the same space as you, Seo Do-un.
The topknot’s voice remained as monotonous as ever.
To me, however, it was a bolt from the blue without equal.