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Did jellyfish have eyes?

I don’t really know such things since I come from the Door. But if there are no eyeballs, can they really see?

“They’re coming this way…!”

Song Ah Rin whispered, tapping my arm repeatedly.

I couldn’t tell if it actually had eyes or not, but it was slowly approaching the direction where Song Ah Rin and I stood.

Even if we were to escape, where would we go?

“Song Ah Rin, does hypnosis work on it?”

“I’ve been trying since earlier. It does work, but… it feels like trying to drink the ocean with a paper straw… it’s barely effective.”

Song Ah Rin quietly answered, her brows furrowed in concentration.

“I’m ready.”

Upon hearing that, Jang Chae Yeon calmly raised her hand and whispered.

“Wait a moment.”

We may need to see something. What if we get shocked and the enemy blows up?

Besides, the manual specifically mentioned to avoid physical confrontation, which nagged at me.

I directed my gaze to the patient.

[Name: Bud]

[Age: Manufactured 2 weeks ago]

[Traits: Variable]

[Talent: X]

[Background: What are the limits of medicine? Until now, it was common knowledge that medicine could even intervene in the mind. Here lie the scapegoats for challenging that common sense.]

[Weakness: The only solution is to burst the head. However, you must bear the aftereffects that come afterward.]

This is extremely unnerving.

I opened the manual.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[2-17. As you walk along the road, you may encounter a long corridor. After this point, you must completely rely on sheer luck.]

This really isn’t helpful at all.

In the end, it means I have to leave it all to my discretion.

“Let’s avoid it as much as possible.”

At my words, the two of them nodded.

“How?”

“Skillfully? If things go wrong, Chan Yeon, you’ll… burst their head.”

Jang Chae Yeon nodded slowly.

I glanced back at the patient, or rather, the bud.

It was standing right in the middle of the narrow corridor, making it hard to pass by easily.

“Let’s stick to the wall.”

In the end, all three of us had to sneak by like a stealth game, pressed against the wall.

We began to walk, breathing in the suffocating silence and darkness.

Looking up at the ceiling, or perhaps the sky, I could still see jellyfish floating gracefully in the air.

Had we barely escaped the pain of flesh only to be trapped in the cage of our minds? I couldn’t tell.

Fortunately, all three of us managed to pass by without major incidents.

“…”

Holding our breath, our gazes—three sets—were fixed on it.

It still moved slowly, lingering around.

“Does it not seem to notice?”

“It looks like it.”

“Easier than I thought.”

Song Ah Rin breathed a sigh of relief and began walking ahead.

At that moment—

– Crack!

A sound came from above our heads.

I quickly turned my gaze upwards.

Two jellyfish collided in the air, and something electric-like burst forth.

“…Ah.”

The patient we had just passed began to shout while grabbing what seemed to be a tentacle from their head.

“Ahhhh!!!”

Shouting? How could they shout?

There was no time to ponder if the jellyfish could make sounds.

“Chan Yeon!”

“Yeah!”

At my call, Jang Chae Yeon immediately reached out and clenched her fist.

– Pfft!

As its head burst with a blue light, memories began to flood in.

“Gah…!”

I didn’t know this person’s name. But I felt his despair, the pain of surgery he experienced here, and in the end, even his source—

Before I realized it, I was kneeling down and bowing my head.

While I could feel this person’s suffering—

“Ugh…!”

The pain ceased but was quickly replaced by a migraine.

Was the mental barrier activated?

Then what about the others?

I hastily turned to look at them.

Both Jang Chae Yeon and Song Ah Rin were kneeling similarly.

Jang Chae Yeon was sweating cold as she gasped for air, shaking her head a few times before getting back up.

“…Vicious.”

“…Are you okay?”

She nodded while wiping off her cold sweat.

“Ah, ugh…!”

Song Ah Rin’s condition was even more serious.

With a face full of agony, she began to scratch the floor as if struggling to breathe.

“C-cough…!”

“Song Ah Rin.”

I quickly grabbed her shoulder.

She shook her head.

“…Stop…!”

It didn’t seem like she could comprehend any words at all.

What to do?

I glanced sideways.

[Method: 1]

If I connect this to Jang Chae Yeon, she might also be in a shocked state, so that wouldn’t work.

…Can I use it on myself again?

I had no way of knowing if it would work after the Mountain God incident.

In the end, I had no choice but to give it a try.

Once more, a line extended above Song Ah Rin’s head.

Connecting the purple line to myself.

This time, thankfully, it didn’t bounce… and pierced my chest.

Before I could even question it, a chill washed over me as if someone had stuffed ice in my brain.

“…Huff… huff…”

Song Ah Rin’s voice began to quiet down.

“…Song Ah Rin.”

“…I’m here.”

Ah, right, when she connects with me, she speaks like that.

I awkwardly averted my gaze from Jang Chae Yeon, who was staring at us wide-eyed, and checked on Song Ah Rin.

“Are you okay?”

“…Thanks to you.”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Were you crying?”

“Shut up.”

I waited for her breath to calm down.

Once she’d regained herself to some extent, I began to say, “I hope you feel a bit better—”

Before I could finish, she grabbed my wrist.

“…Let’s stay like this for a moment.”

“…As you wish.”

We rose from our spots.

Walking in a strange silence.

Song Ah Rin walked alongside me, a distance apart while looking the other way, and Jang Chae Yeon walked beside me with an uncomfortable expression. And then there’s me.

We passed by numerous black doors.

“Do all the people here look like those things?”

“I don’t know.”

Jang Chae Yeon answered in a calm voice as she walked beside me.

“But it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.”

“Since they told us not to open the doors in the first place, we won’t.”

Curiosity? Showing curiosity here means either you’re like Yu Da On, confident that you won’t die regardless of what happens, or you believe you can survive well in a place like this.

Even after that just happened, I had no thoughts of what to do.

So this is what high variance means.

We walked through the endless corridor, relying on the faint light of the jellyfish.

“By the way, what will you do if we find the black-haired one?”

“What else? We run away.”

“Have you looked for an exit yet?”

“I’ll start looking now.”

I felt Song Ah Rin’s sharp gaze but ignored it as I opened the manual.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[2-18. From the moment you enter the Intensive Care Unit, escaping through Building B is impossible. You must escape through Building C, the morgue, and the process is highly likely to be extremely painful.]

[If you have found the desired person, step outside and run immediately. Naturally, the hospital does not take kindly to noticing that its patients have gone missing.]

[If, upon stepping outside, you see a cliff, immediately commit suicide. Allowing the one you saved to die there is also the greatest kindness you can offer.]

[If, by chance, you see a path, no matter how it looks, run toward the place that feels least like a path.]

[While running, what you observe in the operating room may chase you. You are not prohibited from using force against that entity, but the likelihood of it being effective is quite low.]

[Good luck.]

I could understand perfectly why the Management Agency decided to dismantle the Intensive Care Unit.

There were no real strategies to employ.

Just walk along the path. What comes after that, we couldn’t know for certain.

It was completely dependent on luck. The Management Agency would understandably dislike this, and victims could only be plentiful.

“…Is that it over there?”

Hearing Jang Chae Yeon point with her index finger brought me back from my thoughts to look ahead.

After passing through countless doors, the end finally appeared.

A patient room door stood alone among the black doors, its color conspicuously normal.

“Let’s go.”

I couldn’t help but quicken my pace.

“Hey, let’s slow down a bit…!”

“…”

I heard their voices behind me, but my heart raced uncontrollably.

Moving at a speed similar to running, I reached for the doorknob and—

– Click.

I opened the door.

“…Ah.”

Yu Da On was there.

With a gaunt face, she lay in a patient’s gown, looking up at me from the bed.

“…Jae Heon?”

Her expression was filled with confusion.

“Wait? Am I dreaming? How…?”

She began to pinch her cheek vigorously.

“…That hurts…?”

She muttered blankly, staring at me.

“Is it really you, Jae Heon?”

“It’s really me.”

“How did you know to come here? No, why did you come!?”

For the first time, a mix of worry and anger showed on Yu Da On’s face.

“Do you even know how dangerous it is here?!”

“I do.”

“Then why—”

“Because I wanted to.”

Yu Da On closed her mouth for a moment, then opened it.

In a trembling voice, she continued.

“Someone like me—”

“Not just someone.”

‘Three hundred times, I’d willingly die for you.’

‘That’s nice.’

‘It’s funny to say this, but you put your life on the line for me.’

‘Then I should risk my life for you too, Jae Heon.’

The conversation we had replayed in my mind.

Yu Da On wore a blank expression for a moment, as if she hadn’t expected to hear such words.

Her transparent eyes quivered pitifully.

She repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, trying to find words.

“Why on earth…”

Following her weak gestures, wrinkles formed on the sheet of her bed.

Gradually, a few drops of tears began to soak into the fabric.

“No one has ever told me I was needed…”

“If I didn’t have you, I wouldn’t be here.”

“…Thank you… …Thank you…”

“…”

At my words, she simply started crying without saying anything.

How long did she cry? She suddenly slapped her cheeks hard and looked at me.

“Let’s go outside and talk.”

“Sure.”

“I have so much to say.”

“Understood.”

Clad in her patient gown, Yu Da On stood up and looked around at the three of us.

Slightly gaunt, but she wore the same confident smile as ever.

“…Let’s go.”

Yu Da On lightly grabbed my arm.