Episode 36
Having brought her to the parking lot with his help, I searched my memory for where the dropped car keys in the game had been. I was sure they were near a red car… I spotted the red car among the few remaining vehicles in the parking lot and looked around it.
“Phew, found it.”
I picked up the car keys and headed back to where they were. I pressed the button to locate the car that matched these keys.
“The sound came from this direction, right?”
“Yes, but where did you find the keys…?”
“That’s not important right now, is it? Let’s just go quickly.”
I dragged him towards the direction of the sound, and it wasn’t long before we found the car. Now that we had the car, all that was left was to move to the hospital. We laid her down on the back seat and closed the door, and it was only then that I realized what I had overlooked. Who was going to drive? I looked back and forth between the car keys in my hand and him.
Damn it, he’s the only one who can drive?
“Noona, are you good at driving?”
“No… I’ve never driven before. I don’t even have a license.”
I usually took the bus or walked, so I never felt the need for a car. If I was in a hurry, I could just take a taxi. There was no reason to spend money on a car and incur more expenses. So, I never thought about getting a driver’s license… If I had known this would happen, I should have gotten one with my friends after the college entrance exam!
“Can you drive?”
“I can, but I’ve never had any formal training or a license.”
That was enough. There were no people on the roads anyway, just zombies, and no other cars, so the roads were clear. He could just step on it without the pressure to obey traffic rules. Even if he hit a few zombies, it would be fine. In the game, he was a good driver…
But was it the right choice to let him drive? To put it bluntly, I was a bit uneasy about his mental state. He was crazy just a moment ago… He was better now, but still…
However, wouldn’t it be better for someone with experience to drive, even if they’re mentally unstable, rather than someone with none? I didn’t even know how to start the engine or what the accelerator and brake are, so it was better to let him do it.
“You drive.”
In the end, I handed over the car keys to him and took the passenger seat. For some reason, I felt nervous, so I fastened my seatbelt properly and gripped the handle tightly.
“There won’t be any people wandering around on the road anyway. They’ll all be zombies, so if you see someone in front of you, just keep going. Don’t stop. It’s more dangerous to make a sudden stop.”
Then, I checked on her condition in the back seat. I was afraid that she might be dead because her face was pale, devoid of any color. She was unconscious too, which made it all the more scary. When I lowered my gaze, the white bandage pressing on her wound was completely soaked in red, as if it had been red from the start.
“Let’s go to the nearest hospital.”
“Got it.”
The car started like that and drove down the road more steadily than I had expected, reaching the hospital without any accidents. Before getting out of the car, I checked her condition once more.
“…Would it be better to leave her here? We don’t know what the situation is inside, and it might not be good to casually move an unconscious patient like this.”
“That’s true.”
“But it’s not safe inside the car either…”
I was worried that zombies attracted by the smell of blood might swarm the car and harm her while we were away.
“Then let’s do this.”
He created a small dog and sent it to the back seat.
“The things I make with shadows are connected to me, so if anything happens, I’ll get a signal. I can also share their vision, so I’ll know what’s going on.”
“That’s good. But didn’t you not like Ms. Ga-eun? To go this far…”
“If I don’t do this, you’ll be too distracted while worrying about her.”
I felt a little nervous, but didn’t show it.
“But do we really have to go this far? Do you think we can save that person?”
“…I don’t know. But we can’t just leave her, can we?”
“I understand.”
I took one last look at the back seat, where a small dog was sitting bravely next to her, and then got out of the car. Then, after scanning the hospital once, I headed straight for the entrance.
「Stage 3. Hospital」
「Congratulations on entering the third stage!」
Ugh… I really don’t want to go in.
I stood at the entrance, staring at the screen that appeared in front of my eyes, hesitating to go inside.
This third stage was visually intense, not far behind the second stage. The first stage, aside from the mutant zombies, was filled with ordinary zombies that weren’t too grotesque. The second stage was eerie with melting flesh wriggling around, but this third stage… It was as if the game developers deliberately went for maximum visual horror.
The appearance of the zombies that appeared was truly horrifying. Missing limbs were the least of it; some had their internal organs exposed or dragging behind them. There were even zombies with their heads smashed in… It was like they had gathered the most gruesome images people thought of when it came to zombies.
There was no way that there would be any survivors, let alone doctors, in a place like this, right?
Even if I couldn’t save her, I had to go inside. At least to find the gem.
I reached into my coat pocket and ran my fingers over the red gem, reaffirming my resolve.
“Do-yoon, shall we go in?”
“…”
“Lee Do-yoon?”
I tilted my head and looked up at him when there was no answer even though he was standing right next to me. He turned his gaze from the entrance, which he had been staring at with a serious expression, to me.
“Do we really have to go in here? Why don’t we go to another hospital instead? It’s not like this is the only one…”
“Why are you suddenly saying this? We came to the nearest hospital because Ms. Ga-eun’s condition isn’t good.”
“I know, but this place is a bit…”
“You saw it too, didn’t you? The thing that just appeared in front of us. It’s the third stage or something… Once that appears, you can’t leave that place until you clear it. Something blocks you.”
“…”
He stared at me intently, then spread his arms and pulled me into a hug.
“No matter what happens, you must not leave my side. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Don’t take the lead, but don’t fall too far behind either.”
“Yes.”
“Always keep an eye on your surroundings, especially the ceiling.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And…”
“I know, I’ll be careful!”
Initially, I didn’t think much of the warning not to leave his side, but when he told me to watch the ceiling, I was certain. This guy had regressed.
“Shall we go in, then?”
How many times had he done this? Since the save point was at the beginning of each stage, it seems he’d returned to at least this point before. Judging by his reaction, it wasn’t just once or twice.
Seeing his response made me even more nervous. What hell was inside that he’d died multiple times…? I calmed my trembling heart and placed my hand on the door. I pushed it open slowly and stepped inside, and at that moment, as if it had been waiting, the lights in the dark hospital turned on, revealing the situation inside. Startled, I quickly stepped back and pulled my hand away from the door, which then slammed shut.
“…”
“…”
After a moment of silence, I looked up at his face. Unlike me, he looked nonchalant, confirming once again that he had indeed regressed. I softly grabbed the hem of his clothes.
“Will you be okay?”
No. Definitely not okay.
It wasn’t just a matter of not being okay. I really hated this! How could they greet us so fiercely right from the entrance? I felt like I was going to cry.
“Let’s… go in. Yes, we have to go in.”
In the end, I held back my tears and tried to open the door again.
“Step back. I’ll go in first.”
“Yeah, but aren’t you disgusted? Isn’t it too shocking?”
“It’s definitely shocking, yes.”
He must have been startled at first, too, right? Well, it was understandable. I get it.
I stood behind him, holding onto the hem of his clothes, and peeked out to check what was ahead.
“I’m ready. You can open the door.”
With permission granted, he slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. The further we went in, the stronger the pungent smell of blood became, making us want to cover our noses. As soon as he entered, he moved the shadow to create two tigers and sent them running.
Really, how desperately were they waiting for us that they ended up with their heads chopped off… Two zombies holding their severed heads on both sides threw their heads at us. However, the heads went into the tigers’ mouths and were smashed against the wall with a single bite, causing the remaining bodies to collapse like puppets with their strings cut. We had overcome the first hurdle. The second one was…
“Ugh…!”
It was a zombie with its abdomen split open, revealing its insides. It was so hard to look at it head-on that I had to suppress a scream and hide behind him. I had to endure the trembling as I listened to the tigers dealing with it. In the midst of this, he suddenly turned around, pulled me into his embrace, and dragged me away. At that moment, I heard something heavy fall right behind us, reminding me of the third hurdle.
“You can open your eyes now.”
“What, what?”
I hesitantly turned around and saw the zombie with its head exploded, lying dead on the floor. I felt relieved for a moment, but my stomach churned, and I quickly looked away. As if unaware of my discomfort, the two tigers, with something strange smeared around their mouths, came over and rubbed their heads against my legs.
Go away. Do you think I don’t know? Biting those things with your mouths and tearing out their internal organs… Ugh. Just go away! At least wipe your mouths… At that moment, as if reading my thoughts, they licked around their mouths, so I just turned my head away.
So if Do-yoon’s cleared this stage before too, it means every time he dies, instead of going back to save point, he specifically goes back to the very first stage to meet Ji-ah. This man.. I’m gonna cry.
