Chapter 321
The monster struggled for a few moments before finally dying. Su Jin couldnt stop panting as he tried to recover from what just happened. His idea had been a risky one. He had hoped to use the strange man in front of the cafeteria to kill the monster, but he wasnt sure if the man would attack the monster. If the man hadnt, then he would be the one lying lifelessly on the ground now.
Su Jin was not the type who liked taking risks, because taking risks usually meant that he had no other options and was in a situation where he was desperate to find a way out. Only a lunatic would seek risks out.
Luckily for him, Su Jin managed to survive this. He looked up at the man, who was still quietly standing where he was without moving. But the abstract looking mask on his face shifted such that his eyes were now staring at Su Jin.
Su Jin was quite sure that if he crossed the line, the man would definitely hack him to death. The chili powder that was thrown at him was possibly a hint from the Handbook, and Su Jin believed that such a hint wouldnt happen a second time. The Handbook could forgive one for being rash, but not for being stupid.
Now that the monster was dead, Su Jin had the time to catch his breath. But he couldnt stay here for too long. If he couldnt get the last fragment of the key, he was going to end up dead sooner or later. He had to get into the cafeteria, but getting in meant having to battle this man standing in his way. It looked like an impossible situation.
Su Jin knew there had to be a way around this. The Handbook would never force an owner into a dead end. But he wasnt sure how he could get around this puppet-like man.
He got up and said to the man, I want to go into the cafeteria.
The cafeteria is closed during this time, replied the man immediately. His voice was shrill, as though someone was squeezing his throat.
Su Jin quickly asked the next question, What are the cafeterias opening hours?
6am to 8pm. If you miss this window, there will be nothing to eat, replied the man.
Su Jin paused to think. He had 48 hours in this hospital, so he could afford to wait until the next day. But Challenges in the Handbook did not remain as they were as time went by. The Handbook was now allowing him to obtain the key through the man in bandages, but if he didnt get everything from the man in bandages now, the next day something would change and the Challenge would become harder to complete. If that wasnt the case, he wouldnt insist on coming out given how dangerous it was.
Then is there a way to enter the cafeteria outside of its opening hours? asked Su Jin.
The man was silent for a few seconds before nodding slightly. Yes, there are two ways. One is to kill me. You can go in and out of the cafeteria freely after that.
Su Jin had a pained expression on his face. That was definitely not possible, so he waited for the man to explain the second method.
The second way is to look for a seasoning and give it to me. As long as it is something that can be used in cooking, it will be accepted, said the man.
Su Jin frowned. Finding a seasoning didnt sound hard, but he was in a hospital. Where else besides the cafeteria would have something like that?
Seasoning does alcohol count? asked Su Jin as his eyes glinted.
The man nodded. Of course. There are many types of cooking from all over the world that require alcoholic liquids. If you can find some for me, I will let you in.
Su Jin nodded. It wasnt going to be easy to find something like cooking wine in a hospital, but finding actual alcohol wasnt difficult. He could dilute it with some water and it should pass.
If I need to get my hands on alcohol that place should have some. Su Jin turned to look at a nearby low building. The word Pharmacy was written on it. There ought to be alcohol there.
He then looked at his axe. The head had been sliced off the handle, and the handle was stabbed into the monsters mouth. If he carried just the head, he couldnt do much damage with it, but he decided to bring it along anyway. Any weapon at this point was better than nothing. It might come in useful.
He turned to walk toward the pharmacy building, its sign made more eerie by the red moonlight. Thankfully, there was nobody guarding the building, so Su Jin got in easily.
But once he got in, he sighed inwardly. There were a lot of rooms inside. Besides the counter with a window where people could collect their medicine, the other rooms were all storerooms. But he didnt know which storeroom contained what. If he had to search the rooms one by one, itd take forever to find what he wanted.
There should be a map of sorts, right? murmured Su Jin to himself. There had to be a map, or at least some record of what each room stored, so that the pharmacists could find the medicine they wanted. That sort of thing was probably at the counter.
Su Jin decided to give it a shot. He got to the door leading to the counter, only to find that the door was locked with a copper lock.
Im glad I brought this along! Su Jin used the head of the axe and smashed it against the lock, and it gave way after just a few tries. He walked in and ran toward the office desk, then opened each drawer in hope of finding what he wanted.
His luck wasnt too bad and he found what he wanted quite quickly. Everything was recorded in a small notebook and he figured that the one keeping records was possibly a woman, since there were cute drawings on the cover.
He started flipping through the numerous pages and didnt take long to find what he was looking for.
Disinfectants, room 302. The room that stored disinfectants probably included alcohol. Room 302 meant that it was on the third story.
He walked out of the room behind the counter and found the stairs, then started walking up. But he soon noticed something amiss. Based on the design of the staircase, he just needed to climb four flights of stairs to reach the third floor. But he had climbed at least six or seven flights, yet he hadnt even reached the second floor.
Damn it, is this a meme? Su Jin frowned. He was most afraid of running into such a situation. Firstly, memes were pretty dangerous, and secondly, it took time to crack a meme. If he wasnt lucky, he could be trapped here for days.
Su Jin shook his head and continued heading upward. He had to climb a few more flights to find some sort of pattern. As he went up, Su Jin kept making a mark on the stairs. He discovered that he would see the mark he made the next time he turned to take the next flight of stairs, which meant that he had been climbing the same flight again and again.
It looks like a Z-type staircase but it doesnt turn? I keep going up the same flight of stairs, muttered Su Jin to himself. It was supposed to be a Z, but he would arrive at the bottom of the Z when he was supposed to be at the halfway mark again and again.
The head is the tail, the tail is the head, Su Jin continued to murmur. He came to the staircase landing and stood with one foot next to each of the two flights of stairs. He tapped his nose as he said, If thats the case, does that mean Im appearing at both the upper side and lower side of the staircase?
He suddenly felt like something was tearing through his body, but nothing happened to his actual body. It was just something he could feel.
Woong! There was a loud humming noise as his world began to spin. He immediately grabbed hold of the banister, and when everything stopped spinning, he found himself at the second floor.
So its that sort of meme, Su Jin smiled. This sort of meme would disappear once Su Jin understood how it worked.
Actually, this was a very simple meme. The flight of stairs he was walking on was the second flight of stairs that had been trapped in its own dimension. The plane he was on was round, which was why Su Jin said that the head was the tail and the tail was the head.
Once he understood this concept, the dimension walls disappeared and he appeared on the second story. He did not stop there and continued heading upward. The meme didnt exist anymore, so he reached the third story without any trouble.
Room 302 was right next to the staircase landing and he found it once he got to the third floor. The door was also locked with a copper lock and he smashed it easily with the axe.
A pungent smell hit his nostrils once he opened the door. This room stored disinfectants, so it was normal for the room to smell like this. The storeroom didnt have lights and the red moonlight seeping in from outside provided very little light. He had no choice but to feel his way around. He would open any container he found and put his finger in it.
Alcohol was a chemical that could remove a lot of heat, so when it was applied onto the skin, it felt cold. Su Jin soon found what he was looking for. He got himself a three-liter bottle of medical-grade alcohol.
Su Jin picked it up and walked out of the room, then got out of the building and returned to the hospital wards. He poured out most of the alcohol inside the bottle, then filled the bottle with water from the tap and shook it hard. He then brought the diluted alcohol to the cafeteria and handed it to the man guarding it.
The man took the bottle from Su Jin, unscrewed the cap and held it in front of his face, as though he were smelling it. But Su Jin couldnt figure out which part of that twisted face of his could possibly be the nose.
Its alcohol. You may go in now. The man moved aside and motioned Su Jin to go in.
Su Jin let out a sigh of relief. He cautiously walked past the man, then entered the cafeteria. It was completely silent, but at least it was well lit, so he didnt have to use the tables and chairs to find his way around.
His target was the kitchen, since he would probably be able to find what he wanted there. He walked through the dining hall and found his way to the kitchen. Unfortunately, there were no ingredients lying around as Su Jin had hoped. The kitchen was empty except for a large number of kitchen utensils.
He scanned the place for a while before his gaze landed on a refrigerator.
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