Chapter 14 - God of Medicine
Chapter 14
It's hazy. Am I still alive?
I can't see ahead. I feel no sensation from my entire body.
Is this what it feels like when the body is gone, and only consciousness is floating in the void...
From somewhere, a low voice can be heard.
"Can you hear me? I hope you can. I've fixed about half of it.
Your arm was destroyed, but actually, the arm wasn't the real problem.
Stomach, small intestine, liver, large intestine. They were all ruptured."
Tap tap tap.
"Honestly, if a patient like this came in the outside world, they'd usually just open the belly and close it right back up.
If someone could fix this, they wouldn't be human; they'd be a god of medicine.
In that sense, I am half a god of medicine. That's what I am."
"I studied incredibly hard since I was young. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I was the pride of my family.
Got into med school with flying colors, and topped the grades there too! My father was always busy bragging about me to everyone he met,
and my mother would stand tall whenever she talked about me, earning the envy of all the neighborhood ajummas.
Ah... I hope they're both doing well."
"Still, well, I fulfilled my dream in a different direction.
I did become a doctor, and thanks to that, even as a loser, I'm surviving in this way, and I've become half a god of medicine."
Sizzle, crack,
"Haha, bragging about myself in the middle of all this. I must be quite something too.
I'm sorry. But... it's been so long since I met a person. Please understand."
"It doesn't hurt, right? I didn't just block the pain receptors; I blocked your entire nervous system.
This is... honestly, not an injury that can be fixed with medical science from the human world, so it's essentially at the level of rebuilding your body."
"I'm not sure if you can even hear me.
The fact that there's no resistance while I keep running my mouth means your mind probably hasn't fully returned yet.
Still... it's about 80% done now."
"Since your mind isn't fully intact, my words will sound too clear and remain too vivid in your memory, so you'll be startled when you wake up later.
Please don't be surprised. I used... a little trick. Huh, now you're starting to resist. It seems you're slowly waking up."
"This hotel has... been in operation for a very long time.
Countless challengers have undergone trials, and a very small number obtained glory unattainable in the human world, but...
almost everyone fell into hell. I am one of those who met that end. In other words, I became an NPC. It's a relief I'm not a sacrifice or a guinea pig."
"Just one thing... I want to ask you just one thing. I even used a trick just to tell you this.
Someday... if you get a chance in the Room of Resurrection, or if you meet the Buddha... please, don't forget.
I am Kim Sang-hyun. I am... very useful. I'm confident in treating people, and I'm confident in using my head.
I've also accumulated a lot of experience in this hell."
"Ah... conversation is no longer permitted now... It seems you'll regain consciousness soon...
I sincerely pray you obtain glory, and that you remember my name, 'Kim Sang-hyun'."
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 5
Current Location: Layer 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Sage's Advice: 3]
I came to my senses.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I instinctively checked my status window.
Day 5. I clearly went to the swimming pool on Day 3... Literally, the time known as Day 4 just vanished.
I was unconscious all day.
I wasn't surprised that a day had flown by; I was surprised that *only* a day had flown by.
I don't know medicine, but I seemed to be right on the verge of being a corpse, so how could I wake up 'in just a day' with such injuries?
Furthermore, I didn't feel any significant pain. No, originally, there wasn't a single bandage on my body, nor any sign of surgery.
Conversation.
The words I heard while asleep vaguely come to mind.
The claim that he became half a god of medicine wasn't an exaggeration. I also remembered the name 'Kim Sang-hyun'.
Regardless, he is my savior.
'Room of Resurrection', 'Meet the Buddha', 'NPC'
I have no idea what any of the three mean.
Anyway, according to his own words, he is a 'loser' in this hotel.
Yet, for him to make such a request to me...
This hotel might have some sort of 'revival match for losers' for the defeated.
Of course, it has no meaning right now. I don't even know what 'resurrection' or 'Buddha' means in the first place.
Feeling my body's condition, which was miraculously intact, I stood up and checked the clock: 7:40.
They must have started eating at 7, so breakfast time wasn't over yet.
I headed to the dining room to meet everyone.
"!!!"
"You bastard!"
"G-G-Ga-in oppa!"
Instantaneous loud reactions.
Just when I thought everyone was too surprised to control their expressions, worried shouts erupted.
"Y-y-you bastard, how are you already up? No, you punk, if you're sick, just lie down longer!"
"Seriously, if you came to announce you're awake, we've seen you, so hurry back and lie down again.
Don't you need absolute bed rest or something?"
Calmly, I informed them that my body condition was miraculously perfect.
"Thank you for worrying. But, really... I'm really okay. Look at this?"
For a moment, I suddenly did gymnastics and even a headstand (at this point, everyone's eyes widened).
Only then did they start showing somewhat relieved reactions.
"Are you... really okay? No, how is this possible?
I... saw your arm flapping like a rubber band, so how can that arm be like this?"
"First, why don't you tell me what happened to me from your perspectives."
"What happened... we just carried you on our back the day before yesterday and entered Room 105. Actually, we hesitated a bit.
Since we're separated outside of meal times, if we barged in, you'd be left alone, half-dead.
So there was an opinion to wait until mealtime to enter and put you on the bed."
"I vetoed it. No matter how I looked at it, you didn't look like you'd survive until mealtime.
But while you were fainting, you kept saying 105, 105, so I thought there might be something there. And we all just went in together right away.
Sure enough, as soon as we entered, we were all scattered to different spaces, and you, Ga-in, were nowhere to be seen."
"As soon as mealtime came, I went into the bedroom, but oppa wasn't there. Normally, we should all be able to see each other during meal times."
"So, I actually said it was a relief.
If Mr. Ga-in was lying on the floor, that would be the worst, but since he had vanished somewhere,
it felt like the hotel was doing something in some way."
"And only this morning did you come out of the bedroom.
You weren't there just a moment ago when we came up to the dining room, so you must have appeared in the meantime."
Everyone was talking over each other so frantically it was confusing.
The gist was simple. On Day 3, as soon as they carried the half-dead me into Room 105, I disappeared.
And after being unseen for a full day, I suddenly walked into the dining room this morning.
From the afternoon of Day 3 to the morning of Day 5.
Roughly 40 hours? Did the 'Doctor' fix me during that time?
Thinking about this and that, I conveyed the facts I had learned.
The fact that right before I fainted, the 'Sage's Advice' told me to go to Room 105,
and the information the 'Doctor' had forced into me through an unknown method while I was asleep.
Resurrection, Buddha, NPC, etc.
"A fascinating... story. Of course, there's nothing here that isn't fascinating, though."
"Resurrection... is something that absurd really possible? It's not like we're talking about God."
"Elena, seriously, you're surprised now? Last time in Room 101—no, we agreed not to talk about that—but didn't we all experience something like resurrection there too?"
"That's true... it seems like everything is really possible here."
"'Kim Sang-hyun', huh. Let's all roughly remember it together. I don't know when that name will become meaningful, though."
"Ga-in hyung. While you were asleep, the hotel notice actually changed a bit."
"Hmm?"
/Welcome to Hotel Pioneer!
Please note the following guidelines. Guidelines may be added, and you can view them again at any time on the hotel display.
1. Hotel Pioneer always loves its customers.
- Hotel staff are shy, so they work diligently when customers are not watching.
2. Please note that the elevator is out of order.
3. The hotel always protects the privacy of its customers. However, wouldn't it be nice to eat together? Please strictly observe meal times.
4. Sometimes there are less-than-tidy prior guests in the rooms. Please enter together if possible. As long as one person can come out, there will be no major problem for everyone.
5. When you customers look bored, special events will gradually increase. After all, isn't an event the best way to forget boredom?/
"Up to number 3... is what we saw before.
Number 1 means food prep or whatever will happen when we're not looking,
Number 2 is the elevator is broken, Number 3 means in Room 105, we can't see each other outside of meal times...
I understand number 4 too. It meant that in the 'Room of Curse', even if only one person escapes, everyone survives.
Number 5 is... don't tell me?"
"Well, it's telling us not to laze around. If you guys stop working and start slacking off,
they'll shower us with monsters from all over 'because we look bored', like the day before yesterday. That's the threat."
"Come to think of it, the monsters suddenly popped out on Day 1 and Day 3. The commonality of those two days is..."
"The days we didn't enter the 'Room of Curse'."
"That's right. No monsters came out on Day 2 when we entered the 'Room of Curse'. Oh, yesterday, on Day 4, nothing came out either, but that's probably..."
"Since one person was half-dead and recovering, they probably felt like giving us a break today."
"Then, now that I've recovered..."
"We have to start that damn 'treasure hunt' again today, or tomorrow at the latest. Otherwise, who knows. This time, monsters might pop out and slice us up while we're sleeping in bed."
"Ga-in, check that hotel info that comes up for a bit."
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 5
Current Location: Layer 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Layer Info(*)
Room 101 (Room of Curse - Strange Family)
Room 102 (???)
Room 103 (???)
Room 104 (???)
Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Room 106 (???)
Room 107 (???)
Sage's Advice: 3]
I announced that aside from Room 101 and Room 105, the rest were still filled with ???.
Room 101. Looking at it now, the room's name was 'Strange Family' from the start.
I think I saw it as soon as I entered Room 101, but seeing it anew still makes me laugh hollowly.
A silence fell for understanding, and soon, Eun-sol unni spoke.
"Well then, I guess we have to go to Room 102 next. If we're going anyway, it seems better to go early.
This damn hotel can't stand the sight of us resting. Even taking a day off yesterday because Ga-in was missing might have been a concession by the hotel's standards...
Ga-in, are you okay?"
I checked my body condition for a moment.
My body condition was, truly, okay.
In fact, it felt even better than the first day we arrived at the hotel.
Since resting longer would obviously just spawn monsters...
"I'm okay. I think... it'd be best to just eat and head straight to Room 102 today."
We decided to eat and then roughly pack up before heading to Room 102.
Room 102... I pray there's something more bearable than the hell of Room 101.