Chapter 11

Chapter 11. Hunting Humans (2)

-Those serious criminals are now in the same space as Mr. Seo Do-un.

“What……?”

-There is no time, so I will explain briefly. This is a measure under the Special Zone Special Act.

It was brief.

But was that an explanation?

When I could not reply at all, that topknot bastard belatedly added more.

-Suspects accused of serious crimes within Special Zones are tried by the Bureau. If the charges are proven, their status as convicts is confirmed, and they are deployed on Special Zone exploration missions.

At the topknot man’s dry words, I went blank in a different sense.

What did I just hear?

So if someone commits a crime in a Special Zone, they are tried not in court, but somewhere called the Bureau?

And if they are found guilty, instead of a fine or imprisonment, they receive a Special Zone exploration sentence?

It was so far removed from common sense that I could not understand it.

Do they not get the right to appoint a lawyer?

No, their treatment afterward was more of a problem than their right to defense.

If you enter a Special Zone, you can die.

No matter how serious the criminals are, they throw people into a place like that?

I was still dazed when something suddenly came to mind.

There had been “Patriotic Martyrdom” in the railway station Survival Rules too.

Ah, right.

These people had even told ordinary citizens, “Since you are going to die anyway, die usefully.”

So there would be nothing they would not do to criminals.

Thinking that, I absurdly found myself understanding it.

Besides, there was something else that mattered to me right now.

“So the place those serious convicts are exploring is where I am now?”

-Correct.

The topknot man calmly confirmed it.

Does God exist?

There is no way. Absolutely not.

Being dragged back into this hellscape was already a nightmare, and now every other human crawling around here was a felon?

“Haa…….”

I exhaled, overwhelmed by shock.

The topknot man gave me about five seconds of consideration, then began reciting precautions again.

It was really annoying, but I had no choice but to listen frantically.

-That is all. Are there any points that require confirmation up to this point?

After finishing, the topknot man asked me.

I was about to say it was fine, then changed my mind and asked back.

“What is your name?”

-I am Cha Si-eon, Team Leader of Response Team 3 at the Special Management Bureau.

I had asked so I could chew over his name in hell if things went wrong.

I had not particularly expected it, but an unexpectedly clear answer came back.

But that made it even more ominous.

It felt as if he no longer treated me as an outsider.

-If there are no additional questions, I will end the communication. I emphasize again: absolutely do not die. Then, good luck.

Beep, beep, beep—

The topknot man, Cha Si-eon, hung up.

I held on to the thread of sanity that was about to be cut off with the call.

It had taken about six minutes to listen to all the precautions.

The time remaining until the 「Moving Gun」 resumed activity was eight minutes.

I moved frantically and looked for a mask first.

After covering my face with it, I also found and put on indoor slippers of a suitable size.

-Mr. Seo Do-un, your current location is the inpatient ward on the 9th floor of the main building.

-The 「Moving Gun」 is currently inactive on the 4th floor of the main building. The convicts are also staying on the 2nd floor of the main building.

-The main building has up to 13 floors above ground, but on higher floors, there is a risk of being isolated. Therefore, use the connecting passages on basement level 1 and the 2nd floor of the main building to move to the children’s hospital or the cancer hospital.

Following those words, I went downstairs through the emergency stairs.

But after going down three or four floors, the atmosphere in the stairwell changed abruptly.

Below me, I saw stairs smashed to pieces.

The walls were full of bullet marks, and cement fragments were piled thickly on the floor.

-The 「Moving Gun」 went berserk for 22 minutes and 47 seconds immediately before ceasing activity.

-As a result, three convicts died, and the facilities from the 4th to the 6th floor of the main building were destroyed overall.

This must be one of the destroyed floors.

I crossed the broken stairs with my back pressed against the wall.

But below the 2nd floor, the stairs were completely cut off.

Ah, why here of all places.

Should I go back? No, there was no time for that. There was no guarantee the other stairs were intact either.

After hesitating, I carefully opened the stairwell door.

Then I grew a little dazed at the sight of the intact hospital that appeared.

There was something strangely bizarre about a place that should have been crowded with people standing completely empty.

It felt as if I had been left alone in a world already ruined.

It was alien and lonely, but right now, being alone was probably better.

Considering the records of the humans roaming around here.

Fortunately, I did not see the convicts, and the escalator going down to the lower floor was fairly close.

Good. I just have to get there.

I moved while protecting myself as much as possible.

But, hm, what was this?

Something like a thin string caught on my ankle.

The moment I realized that, the crown of my head went cold.

CLATTER— CLINK— CRASH—!

Then the sound of glass shattering echoed splendidly.

Horrified, I looked toward where the sound had come from.

Several glass bottles were lying shattered beneath the outpatient treatment desk.

And across the top of my foot was a white thread so faint I could barely see it.

What is this? No, it doesn’t matter what it is!

I turned around, trying to get my body out of there first.

“It’s a person!”

But, ugh, damn it, this is fucked……!

At the clearly audible voice, my steps stopped.

At the far end of the corridor, three or four people were staring at me.

Ah, does God exist?

If he does, then I hope he dies instead.

“Hey, you there!”

They strode toward me.

I relaxed the body that had been about to run and faced them.

There were four of them in total.

As if they had been given the same thing somewhere, they all wore identical pale-yellow work clothes and identical masks.

I could not see their faces, but from their physiques and such, I could tell they were all men.

One huge muscular man, one man of ordinary build, one tall man, and one compact overweight man.

“Where did you suddenly pop out from? Take off your mask and show us your face.”

Among them, the huge man who seemed to be the leader crooked his finger as he spoke.

An openly threatening attitude.

I understood it.

Their work clothes were stained with blood here and there.

They looked exactly like they had been rolling around in a mire.

And in the middle of that, I had appeared wandering around in pajamas, so of course I had to look suspicious.

I grasped the situation and inhaled.

Then I spat out as viciously as I could.

“What kind of bullshit is that? They said to cover your face first if you don’t want to die. If you want someone to take it off, take off yours.”

At the words I threw back with all my strength, the men twitched.

So I raised my head even more stiffly and said,

“Some crazy bastards shoved me in here while saying something about personnel, so don’t give me shit. I’ve been dragged through hell until now too, so I’ve got nothing left to lose.”

Think about it.

What would happen if I said here, “I’m an innocent citizen, so a rescue team is coming”?

The deeply poisoned convicts might react like this.

‘What does a rescue team coming have to do with me?’

‘They’re the bastards who shoved me in here.’

‘Should I just kill that one too, to screw them over?’

There was a considerable possibility I would be beaten to death.

Or perhaps taken hostage.

So I decided instead to pretend I was in the same situation as them.

Then they would either accept me into the group, or leave me alone for a while in order to use me.

With that calculation, I shouted bluff and threats.

But the atmosphere was not good at all.

Suspicious gazes poured into me and fixed themselves there.

Right, with everyone’s necks on the line, there is no way they would let down their guard easily.

I get it, but we don’t have time right now.

How long is left until the 「Moving Gun」 wakes up?

About 4 minutes now? 3 minutes?

Why are these humans all gathered here in the first place?

I had naturally assumed they would scatter and prepare.

Don’t tell me they don’t know the 「Moving Gun」’s behavioral pattern?

As I fretted alone, a soft voice came through.

“Maybe they sent another person because things weren’t progressing like this?”

When I looked back, a person in a wheelchair was coming out from the far end of the corridor.

It was a woman, and she was likewise wearing a mask and work clothes.

Perhaps she was injured, because there was a splint on her left leg.

With this, the people surrounding me were four men and one woman.

That meant I had met all five people Cha Si-eon mentioned. Damn it…….

When the woman appeared, the men’s wariness loosened slightly.

“Reinforcements? How many of us have died now, and they sent only one?”

“They must have been in a hurry. He doesn’t even have clothes or a mask.”

“Even so, does this make any sense? If they were going to send someone, they should’ve sent him earlier…….”

“Those crazy bastards handle work like absolute shit. If I get out, I’m going to fuck up that long-haired bastard and all the higher-ups with that lawyer hyung I know.”

As expected, they were brutal.

They had the momentum of people ready to chew anything alive if only they could get their hands on it.

Cold sweat flowed when I thought that murderous intent could be directed at me.

On top of that, Cha Si-eon had said this…….

-The serious criminals from the 「Railway Station」 number three in total. All of them were deployed into the 「Hospital That Hunts Humans」, and all are alive.

This is really driving me insane.

Right, I had been curious about those people.

But that did not mean I wanted to meet them directly like this!

Which three are they?

No, more importantly, why are these people still acting so relaxed?

Am I the only one with my feet on fire right now?

“Excuse me, did you receive the order?”

The woman rolled her wheelchair toward me as I fretted.

I flinched in surprise, but fortunately, the woman seemed not to notice.

With a calm motion, the woman took a paper out of her work clothes.

“Didn’t you receive something like this?”

What the woman held out was a document of several pages.

My insides burned even more.

This was not the time to be reading something like this.

But I had no choice but to unfold that paper.

---

■ Exploration Order for Special Trial Petition Case

Convicts S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and J are ordered to explore the Special Management Zone.

The above order shall remain in effect until 1 Type “A” Mission and 2 Type “B” Missions are completed.

■ Type “A” Mission

Repair and reinforcement of Special Management Bureau facilities.

※ For the location of facilities and repair methods, refer to [Attachment 1].

■ Type “B” Missions (Select 2 of the items below)

1. Maintain survival until the point of return after subcutaneous injection of the 「Black Ampoule」 administered by the 「Nurse with Split Arms」 in the Injection Preparation Room on basement level 1 of the main building.

2. Confirm the weight of tears required for the 「Self-Playing Piano」 in the lobby on the 1st floor of the main building to play “Air on the G String.”

3. Harvest an unrotted organ from the 「999 Sotdae Poles」 displayed in the operating theater on the 2nd floor of the main building. However, if the harvested organ tissue fuses with a convict’s body, the mission shall be considered failed.

4. Maintain survival until the point of return after confirming the 「Distorted Angel」 among the patterns of the 「Incomprehensible Area Angiography Equipment」 in the cardiovascular angiography room on the 3rd floor of the main building.

5. Confirm the conditions for interacting with the 「Coughing Young Man」 in the hospital room on the 7th floor of the main building.

6. Excavate a silver ring from approximately 2m below the surface in the 「Bottomless Sandplay Box」 of the Psychological Testing Room on the 1st floor of the children’s hospital.

7. Newly discover 2 other dangerous entities or interactable targets.

Special Advice!

-There’s a gun monster here. It’s dangerous if you meet it, so be careful.

-Convicts are distinguished by armband color. The darker the armband color, the more dangerous the person.

-It’s safer to blend in moderately than to act alone!

---

Those Bureau bastards…….

They really had not told the convicts about the 「Moving Gun」.

Even the “Special Advice!” written on the order was not printed, but written by someone with a pen.

As soon as I grasped the situation, I shouted loudly.

“Run away right n……!”

THUD—!

But before I could even spit out the words, the floor shook.

The first thing I felt was a vibration.

Then holes appeared side by side in the ceiling and floor.

What followed was the scream of a man whose instep had vanished.

“Aaaaaagh!”

The man, one foot cut off, writhed and rolled on the floor.

The rest panicked on their own without knowing what was going on.

Amid that blood-soaked chaos, I alone sensed it.

The 「Moving Gun」 had resumed its hunt.