Tismon note: Oops, posted the wrong chapter last time! This is the right one, apologizes!
Once Henry was finished dictating what felt like his entire life story back to me, I had one of the hospital staff restrain him and sent to Alice and Molly. I did tell them that we would present the escaped patient to her mom and I wasn’t about to break a promise to a child.
I could summarize Henry’s information into a few main points. First of all, the way they were tasked with leaving this hospital, AKA the clear conditions of this Trial, was simply to get oneself out of the confines of the hospital’s property. The hardest part would have been escaping the hospital building itself, while getting out of the courtyard would have been a breeze in comparison had it not been for, well, myself.
Additionally, the patient’s wing was heavily guarded by Disciplinary staff, nurses, and the doctors who frequent the ward, and a normal patient was all but confined in that section except during treatment hours and lunch. However, what surprised me was that the doctors knew about the strange abilities of the patients here. That was what the mutations were talking about in that announcement and the reason why the patients were here in the first place. The strange alterations that the Trash Matrix imposed on the people here were seen as a disease that needed to be cured.
That meant that the patients could use their abilities without being “erased” like the interns, but it also meant more treatment sessions if they were caught doing so. That was going to be a tough balancing act for the patients since survival would be quite challenging without the use of their class and title skills. And that was for the normal patients… what kind of horrible situation would Jae-Hyun be in?
“Say, Father Marcus,” I said tentatively, still unsure how much I could say without the hospital questioning my identity, “Did you perhaps have an opportunity to frequent the patient’s wing this day?”
He nodded in understanding, “Yes, that is one of the main duties of a Priest stationed here. I had the chance to chat with a very interesting new patient today as well; a new arrival by the name of Jae-Hyun.”
“And did he tell you anything?”
“Nothing that I can say here,” he said with a small smile, “that would be highly unethical of me to do so as a priest, just as you wouldn’t tell me the details of one of your patients, Dr. Walter.”
Right, so if I’m reading between the lines correctly, then we can’t communicate directly about the patients. I didn’t think as much, would have been too easy.
“But,” the Father continued, handing me a small note, “He did give me an interesting note to pass along to the physicians, any physician really, if I were to ever see one. He was very curious about the well-being of his caregivers as well, so I can also pass along a message for him if you wish.”
So indirect methods of communication works, interesting.
I took the paper and stuffed it in my coat pocket. I’ll read it when I’m sure that I was alone and out of sight after.
“What a wonderful individual!” I said with an exaggerated smile, “The people under our care generally do not ask about how we are doing, so it is quite rare to see someone different. Perhaps I will go and thank this gentleman myself sometime! But if you see him before I do, let him know that Dr. Walter is doing well, and he is doing his job as is required of him. In fact, one of his key tasks is already complete!”
Marcus nodded slowly, “I shall pass along those exact words, Doctor.”
Wait, another thought came to me, I probably won’t be seeing Marcus all that often, so let’s pass along as much information as I can to him while I still can. I grabbed a piece of paper from a clipboard and hurriedly wrote down as much information that I had acquired in these last few hours as I could. I also added in the responsibilities that I had, my unique situation in the hospital, and the instructions that Jae-Hyun gave me there.
“This is a… thank you note,” I said, handing the Father my paper. I was hoping that this excuse should be in line with what's acceptable for staff to do, “for all the help that you have done for the hospital on your first day here. Please read it when you have time, in private, of course.”
He nodded, “Thank you, Dr. Walter. I will make sure that I respond to you in kind. Look forward to my letter in the near future, and may God be with you.”
I shook his hands, reluctantly if I was being honest as the memories of the bug priest’s skin was still fresh on my mind, and we parted ways shortly after. Once I was sure that I was completely alone in the room, I took out the note that Jae-Hyun wrote.
Hello Walter,
I apologize about the unclear instructions that has caused you to enter the trial as a physician. I don’t know how you are dealing with the pain of the transformation, but know that I am doing my best to clear this trial ASAP. I hope that your will is strong enough to withstand the changes.
Given your unique situation, I have given some of your responsibilities to Marcus. I just need you to find the key out of this ward and access to the basement, although that might have changed as well. Marcus has already given me access to a nurse’s uniform that I can use later, and I can acquire the other things myself.
I can explain more when we meet in person. Go to the patient’s ward first thing in the morning and perform my treatment there. I will give you instructions on how to do so. I can talk freely during the treatment.
One last thing, there has been a change that I did not foresee. The entity in the basement escaped early. If you see a little girl with a doll, leave the area immediately and never approach it.
I apologize again, and I hope you continue to endure.
Kim Jae-Hyun.
Well… how was I supposed to let him know that I’m doing pretty well because of Noe? Or that I was on pretty friendly terms with Alice and Molly? Uh… let’s just pretend that I’m holding out fine due to my resilience from the prior Trial, and leave it at that. As for Alice? Let’s leave the smaller details for Future-Walter to deal with. Sorry Future-Walter! At least I knew what I had to do tomorrow.
However, I still had to survive the current day before I could plan for the next one, and after checking the time, I did have a few more things to do before I could hit the hay. It was a little after half past 6, but I had to hurry to meet up with Alice and Molly since I said that I would try to get some dinner together before meeting up with the Director. Plus, I was honestly pretty hungry, and I wanted to see what the dinner menu was.
The cafeteria was as somber as I remembered it and a whole lot emptier, although that weird plaque with all the rules were gone. In theory, that meant that people could talk and walk around, but no one seemed to want to do so. The reason for the awkward silence and lack of people in general was clear to see. She was sitting smack dab in the middle of the cafeteria, and rushed to greet me when she saw me enter.
“Uncle Walter!” Alice shouted as she ran up to give me a bear hug, “Thanks for helping cure the sick person!”
I put her down and laughed, “Not a problem, it’s what doctors here do! But I don’t see him around, where’d you put him?”
Molly wobbled towards us and spoke next, “Good evening, Dr. Walter.”
I nodded in greeting.
The doll continued, “That would be my doing. I kept the patient in a safe environment where we could present him to the Director later. We wouldn’t want him escaping again before that.”
“Fair enough,” I answered, “Have you two eaten yet?”
“Molly has,” Alice answered first, and I swore I saw some of the few patients and staff left here shuddering when the girl said that, “she gets grumpy when she’s hungry, but I waited to eat with you!”
“I don’t get grumpy when I’m hungry, Alice.”
“You so do!”
I chuckled, “Alright, alright, either way, Dr. Walter certainly gets cranky when he’s hungry, so why don’t we get some dinner?”
“Ok, Uncle Walter.”
“I am so glad she listens to you, Doctor,” the doll said, giving me one of her now very familiar sighs.
“See, she’s grumpy!” Alice added in before picking Molly up and taking her with us to the empty cafeteria queue.
Curiously, there was some options available for me to pick from unlike the default stuff they gave me for lunch. Well, there was options, although that hardly mattered since they were simply labeled Dinner Set 1 through 5. There wasn’t anything to tell me what each one was, and the weird Frankenstein monsters that worked as servers didn’t have mouths, so I don’t think I could ask for their options on what set was what.
“What dinner set do you normally get?” I asked the cheerful girl beside me.
“I always get a different set every day like mom told me, so that I can get all the um, nutrients and vitamins to grow big and strong…” Alice took a quick glance at Molly before whispering, “But I like the number 2 one the most.”
Molly rolled her eyes but chose not to respond.
I nodded quickly, “Good sir, we’ll have two orders for…”
Alice looked at me expectantly and I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Two orders for Dinner Set 2, if you could,” I continued, “I just felt like that set today, that ok with you, Alice?”
“Yes, Uncle Walter!”
Molly gave me a silent shake of her head and sighed again. Alice, on the other hand, was all smiles and good humor, which was quite the contract to her doll.
The food came quickly in a little container and we returned to the spot that Alice chose for us. I opened mine up and whatever they were feeding the staff here certainly smelled nice, although I couldn’t for the life of me explain what that scent was. As for what it looked like?
Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)
Progress to Awakening: 13.11%
It looked just like food. Yeah, like normal food. Tasted great as well.
“Yes, my Host,” Noe’s warm voice assured, “It’s delicious, and is good for you. Do not worry about anything else, dear Walter.”
Yeah, good idea Noe…
I scooped up the food and ate, it was honestly pretty good, and watching Alice eat the same stuff as me was a nice sight either way. We finished in no time, and after making sure that our stations were clean and free of clutter, it was finally time to make my dreaded report to the Director.
I had done everything that I could to ensure that this meeting went successfully, but the fact remained that I had no idea what a standard report would be about. The clues that I’ve gathered suggested it was just a general briefing about the state of the hospital, and I was also hoping to distract this mysterious Director with the presence of her daughter. Maybe I could be excused for not following whatever standard procedures there were in place for these things, if there were even standards in this weird hospital.
Alice led us the whole way to her mother’s office. Molly excused herself briefly to fetch Henry quickly, and although I didn’t know where she put him, she did come back rather quickly with the man tied up in her hair. There were several Disciplinary staff waiting outside with a handful of captive people, the same ones I told them to bring to the Director earlier, and after one final check to make sure that I had everything, I opened the door with as much confidence as I could muster and entered the Director’s office.
Want to read ahead? Check out my Patreon! It's what's keeping this project alive and well!
It's currently 29 chapters ahead with a new chapter uploaded daily!
Check it out if you want to support the author, and as always, thank you for reading!
Tismon note: Oops, posted the wrong chapter last time! This is the right one, apologizes!
Once Henry was finished dictating what felt like his entire life story back to me, I had one of the hospital staff restrain him and sent to Alice and Molly. I did tell them that we would present the escaped patient to her mom and I wasn’t about to break a promise to a child.
I could summarize Henry’s information into a few main points. First of all, the way they were tasked with leaving this hospital, AKA the clear conditions of this Trial, was simply to get oneself out of the confines of the hospital’s property. The hardest part would have been escaping the hospital building itself, while getting out of the courtyard would have been a breeze in comparison had it not been for, well, myself.
Additionally, the patient’s wing was heavily guarded by Disciplinary staff, nurses, and the doctors who frequent the ward, and a normal patient was all but confined in that section except during treatment hours and lunch. However, what surprised me was that the doctors knew about the strange abilities of the patients here. That was what the mutations were talking about in that announcement and the reason why the patients were here in the first place. The strange alterations that the Trash Matrix imposed on the people here were seen as a disease that needed to be cured.
That meant that the patients could use their abilities without being “erased” like the interns, but it also meant more treatment sessions if they were caught doing so. That was going to be a tough balancing act for the patients since survival would be quite challenging without the use of their class and title skills. And that was for the normal patients… what kind of horrible situation would Jae-Hyun be in?
“Say, Father Marcus,” I said tentatively, still unsure how much I could say without the hospital questioning my identity, “Did you perhaps have an opportunity to frequent the patient’s wing this day?”
He nodded in understanding, “Yes, that is one of the main duties of a Priest stationed here. I had the chance to chat with a very interesting new patient today as well; a new arrival by the name of Jae-Hyun.”
“And did he tell you anything?”
“Nothing that I can say here,” he said with a small smile, “that would be highly unethical of me to do so as a priest, just as you wouldn’t tell me the details of one of your patients, Dr. Walter.”
Right, so if I’m reading between the lines correctly, then we can’t communicate directly about the patients. I didn’t think as much, would have been too easy.
“But,” the Father continued, handing me a small note, “He did give me an interesting note to pass along to the physicians, any physician really, if I were to ever see one. He was very curious about the well-being of his caregivers as well, so I can also pass along a message for him if you wish.”
So indirect methods of communication works, interesting.
I took the paper and stuffed it in my coat pocket. I’ll read it when I’m sure that I was alone and out of sight after.
“What a wonderful individual!” I said with an exaggerated smile, “The people under our care generally do not ask about how we are doing, so it is quite rare to see someone different. Perhaps I will go and thank this gentleman myself sometime! But if you see him before I do, let him know that Dr. Walter is doing well, and he is doing his job as is required of him. In fact, one of his key tasks is already complete!”
Marcus nodded slowly, “I shall pass along those exact words, Doctor.”
Wait, another thought came to me, I probably won’t be seeing Marcus all that often, so let’s pass along as much information as I can to him while I still can. I grabbed a piece of paper from a clipboard and hurriedly wrote down as much information that I had acquired in these last few hours as I could. I also added in the responsibilities that I had, my unique situation in the hospital, and the instructions that Jae-Hyun gave me there.
“This is a… thank you note,” I said, handing the Father my paper. I was hoping that this excuse should be in line with what's acceptable for staff to do, “for all the help that you have done for the hospital on your first day here. Please read it when you have time, in private, of course.”
He nodded, “Thank you, Dr. Walter. I will make sure that I respond to you in kind. Look forward to my letter in the near future, and may God be with you.”
I shook his hands, reluctantly if I was being honest as the memories of the bug priest’s skin was still fresh on my mind, and we parted ways shortly after. Once I was sure that I was completely alone in the room, I took out the note that Jae-Hyun wrote.
Hello Walter,
I apologize about the unclear instructions that has caused you to enter the trial as a physician. I don’t know how you are dealing with the pain of the transformation, but know that I am doing my best to clear this trial ASAP. I hope that your will is strong enough to withstand the changes.
Given your unique situation, I have given some of your responsibilities to Marcus. I just need you to find the key out of this ward and access to the basement, although that might have changed as well. Marcus has already given me access to a nurse’s uniform that I can use later, and I can acquire the other things myself.
I can explain more when we meet in person. Go to the patient’s ward first thing in the morning and perform my treatment there. I will give you instructions on how to do so. I can talk freely during the treatment.
One last thing, there has been a change that I did not foresee. The entity in the basement escaped early. If you see a little girl with a doll, leave the area immediately and never approach it.
I apologize again, and I hope you continue to endure.
Kim Jae-Hyun.
Well… how was I supposed to let him know that I’m doing pretty well because of Noe? Or that I was on pretty friendly terms with Alice and Molly? Uh… let’s just pretend that I’m holding out fine due to my resilience from the prior Trial, and leave it at that. As for Alice? Let’s leave the smaller details for Future-Walter to deal with. Sorry Future-Walter! At least I knew what I had to do tomorrow.
However, I still had to survive the current day before I could plan for the next one, and after checking the time, I did have a few more things to do before I could hit the hay. It was a little after half past 6, but I had to hurry to meet up with Alice and Molly since I said that I would try to get some dinner together before meeting up with the Director. Plus, I was honestly pretty hungry, and I wanted to see what the dinner menu was.
The cafeteria was as somber as I remembered it and a whole lot emptier, although that weird plaque with all the rules were gone. In theory, that meant that people could talk and walk around, but no one seemed to want to do so. The reason for the awkward silence and lack of people in general was clear to see. She was sitting smack dab in the middle of the cafeteria, and rushed to greet me when she saw me enter.
“Uncle Walter!” Alice shouted as she ran up to give me a bear hug, “Thanks for helping cure the sick person!”
I put her down and laughed, “Not a problem, it’s what doctors here do! But I don’t see him around, where’d you put him?”
Molly wobbled towards us and spoke next, “Good evening, Dr. Walter.”
I nodded in greeting.
The doll continued, “That would be my doing. I kept the patient in a safe environment where we could present him to the Director later. We wouldn’t want him escaping again before that.”
“Fair enough,” I answered, “Have you two eaten yet?”
“Molly has,” Alice answered first, and I swore I saw some of the few patients and staff left here shuddering when the girl said that, “she gets grumpy when she’s hungry, but I waited to eat with you!”
“I don’t get grumpy when I’m hungry, Alice.”
“You so do!”
I chuckled, “Alright, alright, either way, Dr. Walter certainly gets cranky when he’s hungry, so why don’t we get some dinner?”
“Ok, Uncle Walter.”
“I am so glad she listens to you, Doctor,” the doll said, giving me one of her now very familiar sighs.
“See, she’s grumpy!” Alice added in before picking Molly up and taking her with us to the empty cafeteria queue.
Curiously, there was some options available for me to pick from unlike the default stuff they gave me for lunch. Well, there was options, although that hardly mattered since they were simply labeled Dinner Set 1 through 5. There wasn’t anything to tell me what each one was, and the weird Frankenstein monsters that worked as servers didn’t have mouths, so I don’t think I could ask for their options on what set was what.
“What dinner set do you normally get?” I asked the cheerful girl beside me.
“I always get a different set every day like mom told me, so that I can get all the um, nutrients and vitamins to grow big and strong…” Alice took a quick glance at Molly before whispering, “But I like the number 2 one the most.”
Molly rolled her eyes but chose not to respond.
I nodded quickly, “Good sir, we’ll have two orders for…”
Alice looked at me expectantly and I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Two orders for Dinner Set 2, if you could,” I continued, “I just felt like that set today, that ok with you, Alice?”
“Yes, Uncle Walter!”
Molly gave me a silent shake of her head and sighed again. Alice, on the other hand, was all smiles and good humor, which was quite the contract to her doll.
The food came quickly in a little container and we returned to the spot that Alice chose for us. I opened mine up and whatever they were feeding the staff here certainly smelled nice, although I couldn’t for the life of me explain what that scent was. As for what it looked like?
Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)
Progress to Awakening: 13.11%
It looked just like food. Yeah, like normal food. Tasted great as well.
“Yes, my Host,” Noe’s warm voice assured, “It’s delicious, and is good for you. Do not worry about anything else, dear Walter.”
Yeah, good idea Noe…
I scooped up the food and ate, it was honestly pretty good, and watching Alice eat the same stuff as me was a nice sight either way. We finished in no time, and after making sure that our stations were clean and free of clutter, it was finally time to make my dreaded report to the Director.
I had done everything that I could to ensure that this meeting went successfully, but the fact remained that I had no idea what a standard report would be about. The clues that I’ve gathered suggested it was just a general briefing about the state of the hospital, and I was also hoping to distract this mysterious Director with the presence of her daughter. Maybe I could be excused for not following whatever standard procedures there were in place for these things, if there were even standards in this weird hospital.
Alice led us the whole way to her mother’s office. Molly excused herself briefly to fetch Henry quickly, and although I didn’t know where she put him, she did come back rather quickly with the man tied up in her hair. There were several Disciplinary staff waiting outside with a handful of captive people, the same ones I told them to bring to the Director earlier, and after one final check to make sure that I had everything, I opened the door with as much confidence as I could muster and entered the Director’s office.
Want to read ahead? Check out my Patreon! It's what's keeping this project alive and well!
It's currently 29 chapters ahead with a new chapter uploaded daily!
Check it out if you want to support the author, and as always, thank you for reading!
