Revenant Resonance Ch 2

Chapter 2

“What the fuck is this, shit! Are you kidding me?!”

Park Junyeol cursed and threw his phone. People who were more panicked than understanding the situation each shouted in their own way. Judging from what could be heard, it seemed everyone had received the same text message.

They desperately wished it was a dream, but there was no miraculous awakening. This was reality. There would be no hero suddenly appearing like in a movie or drama to save them, and no matter how much they shouted that it was a lie, the reality would not change. Yu Jiha suppressed the nervous murmuring in his chest and looked around. He would have to find a way to survive on his own.

Something he hadn’t seen before was now visible. As if reading the so-called Survival Guidelines had opened his eyes.

“A mailbox-like thing suddenly appeared over there.”

At Yu Jiha’s words, everyone’s gaze turned toward it. Maybe that Survival Guidelines from the strange message was inside. He cautiously opened the mailbox. There were eight sheets of paper and eight silicone injection vials. The number matched the people present.

After handing one out to each stiffened person, Yu Jiha also unfolded his own sheet.

[Pal Sang Psychiatric Hospital Survival Guidelines]

As of the time this guideline is written, the survival rate of Pal Sang Psychiatric Hospital is approximately 86%. This is a significantly meaningful and high survival rate, so do not panic and calmly follow the instructions.

One of the safe locations in Pal Sang Psychiatric Hospital is the fifth cabinet to the left of the nurse’s changing room on the sixth floor. Enter the cabinet, close the door, do not react to any commotion or stimulus from outside, and wait for rescue from headquarters.

At both ends of the ward are staircases, and in the center is an elevator. Your means of reaching the sixth floor must be the stairs. The elevator, regardless of the floor, will transport you to a place resembling the interior of a biological organ, and to date, there have been no survivors. If you wish to explore a new world, we will not stop you. If you do survive, a small compensation for your information will be provided.

It doesn’t matter which staircase you use, but if you ascend successive floors in a row, you will never reach the sixth floor. For example, if you used the left staircase to reach the 12th floor, you must use the right staircase for the next move to the 23rd floor.

There is no basement in the hospital. Even if you see doors or stairs that seem to lead underground, they are all false.

Most of the monsters resembling patients have little interest in the outside world, so if you quietly pass by without drawing attention, you should be fine. However, if noise occurs or if you remain in their line of sight for more than 30 seconds, they will immediately become hostile toward you.

If you encounter a nurse-type monster, greet them politely and explain that you are simply here to visit a patient. If you offend them, they will add you to the list of new patients.

6-1. If you have medical knowledge, it is acceptable to disguise yourself as a medical professional. After a sufficient conversation, say you are a newcomer and not yet familiar with the facility, and ask for the exit. They will kindly direct you to the back door near the parking lot. That place is one of the safe locations where you can quietly wait for headquarters to rescue you.

However, note that the nurse-type monsters’ medical knowledge stopped 22 years ago. If you mention any newly established terminology or knowledge since then, they will become enraged, believing you have deceived them. Usually, nurse-type monsters doing rounds move alone, so if you’re lucky, you may be able to escape.

1. Doctor-type monsters are harder to please but move along a consistent route during rounds. Doctor-type monsters do not move alone and are accompanied by several nurse-types, so you should be able to hear their footsteps from afar. They use the elevator, so hide in the stairs to avoid being caught in their path. Hiding in an empty, lit hospital room is not recommended.

If you do end up facing a doctor-type monster, do your utmost with the mindset of a grad student meeting their supervising professor, a subcontractor meeting the head of the parent company, or a grandson greeting a grandparent with a massive inheritance. To put it bluntly, kiss ass. They especially like flattery about having a full head of hair.

Patient in Room 101 is afflicted with a savior complex. Worship them wholeheartedly as if you were a believer of a cult religion—kneel, bow your head, and pay your respects. They will be so intoxicated by your worship that they will let you go.

Patient in Room 202 suffers from “dad joke syndrome.” No matter how dull the joke, even if your mouth doesn’t twitch at all, burst into joyful laughter as if your belly button is about to fall off. Let them bask in the feeling of power. If your reaction is insufficient and they don’t feel that their junior is roaring at their joke, they will force you to laugh.

Patient in Room 303 is an alcoholic. No matter what drunken, boorish behavior they display, act obsequiously and be submissive. Soon they’ll mutter something like “kids these days are all the same” and pass by. However, if you are intoxicated upon entering the anomaly, they will attempt to suck the alcohol from your bloodstream.

Room 404 is unoccupied.

Patient in Room 505 is delusional. Depending on your gender, they will call you “unnie” or “oppa” and ask you to play house with them. You must do your utmost to participate in the delusions of a bearded, hairy-chested, muscular middle-aged man who believes he is a six-year-old girl. If they are satisfied, they will cheerfully say, “Let’s play again next time,” and let you go safely. Otherwise, they will attempt to turn you into a teddy bear.

Patient in Room 606 suffers from separation anxiety. If a grain of rice falls from their body, they become extremely distressed and start crying while crawling on the ceiling. You must gather all the fallen rice grains and carefully stick them back on using your saliva. They will be very grateful and give you a rice grain as a gift. It’s not very useful, but you can offer it as a bribe if you encounter a doctor-type monster. If submitted to headquarters, you will receive a small reward.

The monsters described above are those affiliated with Pal Sang Psychiatric Hospital. However, on rare occasions, monsters not affiliated with the hospital may enter. We trust in your wits and luck.

‘Huh, this might be more doable than expected? As long as I don’t run into the alcoholic since I drank……’

There weren’t any monsters that would kill on sight, and it mostly seemed like they would let you go if you played along. Maybe others felt the same, as their expressions softened slightly with relief.

The hot-tempered man who had been interrogating the bus driver cleared his throat.

“I don’t really get what’s going on, but I think if we want to escape, we have to enter this Pal Sang Psychiatric Hospital place. Anyone got a different idea?”

No one raised their hand. Park Junyeol also made a grimace, but didn’t object.

Someone suggested bringing something that could be used as a weapon, but the idea was scrapped. Interference with objects inside the anomaly was impossible. They couldn’t even break a tree branch, nor could they shatter the window of a car parked in the lot. In the end, the eight people entered the hospital empty-handed, clutching nothing but tension and fear.

Just before stepping into the building, Yu Jiha, who had been reading the guidelines carefully, cautiously called out to the others.

“Um, excuse me… I think our number might be a problem.”

“What do you mean, student?”

“If you look at rule number five, it says not to draw the monsters’ attention. But eight people walking around a hospital isn’t exactly normal. If it were me, I’d probably glance at a group of eight people with mixed genders and ages gathered at the hospital entrance…”

“Hey, what are we supposed to do? We came in as eight to begin with.”

Park Junyeol scoffed, but the rest of the group nodded thoughtfully.

“He’s got a point.”

“Then… should we split in half? Since we’re supposed to be visitors, four people sounds like a reasonable number.”

“If we split up too much, it could be dangerous, so this should be fine.”

“There are staircases on both sides, too.”

Yu Jiha teamed up with Park Junyeol, the bus driver, and the woman who had identified herself as a nurse. They agreed to take the left staircase first.

As soon as they stepped into the building, they were able to clearly recognize what the monsters were. They were not human. Although the figures roaming inside the building had human-like limbs and features, they were definitely not human.

Something about them provoked the uncanny valley, but it wasn’t just a superficial unease. It was a fundamental sense of wrongness. A long-forgotten survival instinct, buried after humans overcame physical weakness with intelligence and climbed to the top of the food chain, screamed out. They are not human. It was the same sixth sense that allowed early humans, long before civilization, to detect the approach of predators and flee to survive.

Just as the tense group collectively stopped as if by signal, the monsters also sensed the presence of unfamiliar visitors to the hospital.

The monsters stared at them simultaneously, but within a second, all of them averted their gaze. Splitting into four must have been the right answer. The group let out a breath of relief and exchanged glances of acknowledgment before walking toward the ends of the hallway.