Chapter 72 - 71 : Hospital Visit

The night passed without incident. No vampires. My body begged for rest, but my mind stayed awake.I lay awake longer than I should have, listening to the shallow breathing of exhausted survivors around me. Ye-Rin shifted beside mother, murmuring in her sleep. Even In-Ji finally dozed off, his gun resting against his shoulder. By dawn, I gave up on sleep and the damned fact that I couldn’t close my eyes without seeing every single person who died in front of me, replayed like a broken reel. I stepped outside the building, stretching my stiff arms. Nothing had happened during the night, but the weight of yesterday still hung over me. That’s when I noticed it—how the new survivors, the office workers we’d picked up, kept their distance from me. They huddled together in a corner, whispering in voices low enough to make sure I couldn’t catch their words. When my eyes met theirs, they flinched and looked away. I wasn’t surprised. A man who turns into a spider monkey mid-battle, rips monsters apart and people can turn into vampires anytime. "Don’t mind them," Ye-Rin said softly when she noticed my gaze lingering. She was cleaning her axe, wiping dried monster blood off the blade. "They don’t know you like I do." "Great," I muttered, "That is why I wanted to keep this a secret from others." Ye-Rin frowned but didn’t argue. Maybe because she knew I was right. Do-hwan was nowhere in sight, but his poisonous words from last night had clearly spread. No matter how much Ye-Rin defended me, no matter how the others tried to stop it—the seed of doubt had been planted. And like weeds, it was spreading fast. Kim song-woo tried to approach me, but even he hesitated, chewing his lip like he was second-guessing himself.He quickly forced himself to smile when I looked at his way. I pretended not to notice. The uneasy silence broke with a cough. A hacking, painful sound that echoed across the room. Everyone turned. It was the sickly boy—barely eleven, his face pale and clammy. His mother clutched him to her chest, trying to soothe him, but his breathing was shallow, wheezing with every inhale. "His condition’s worse," she said, panic sharpening her voice. "He needs medicine.His fever’s getting worse." Her eyes turned red as she started to cry. She started searching in her bags but she couldn’t find them. "We had medicine before but... it’s running out.He won’t last long without proper treatment." The boy coughed violently, spitting into a rag. His breathing sounded like broken glass grinding together. "What does he need?" I asked. A thin man stepped forward. He had sharp cheekbones, deep bags under his eyes, and wore clothes that probably used to be a pharmacist’s uniform. Bak-U, the middle-aged, crouched beside them. He checked the boy’s pulse, frowned, then glanced at me. "He won’t last like this. He needs stabilizers for his condition. Heart-related, maybe lungs too. If we can get to a hospital, I might find what he needs." His eyes flickered to the boy and then back to me. "His organs will start failing one by one." A hospital. It was far away from where we are staying and going there is dangerous. But the mother’s trembling voice cut through me. "Please... he’s my only son." Hyun-tae crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. "Risky. We go in, we might not come out." Ye-Rin looked at me, waiting for the decision. I sighed, pushing myself up. "Fine. We’ll go. But only a few of us. Small group, less noise." My eyes flicked toward Bak-U. "You’re coming. You’ll know what to grab." He nodded nervously, adjusting his glasses. Hyun-tae snorted. "Figures. And I guess I’m coming too. Not letting you idiots run into a death trap without me. Boom Boom whispered, making sure the survivors Haven’t heard it said, "Finally. I was getting bored."" Ye-Rin stood immediately, tightening her grip on the axe. "I’m not staying behind either." So that was it—four of us heading into a hospital crawling with God-knows-what. The hospital was a few kilometers away, we didn’t encounter any monsters, though it felt like crossing into enemy territory. We moved cautiously. Ye-Rin took point, axe resting on her shoulder. Hyun-tae covered our rear, his shotgun loaded and ready. I stayed in the center with Bak-U, who clutched his bag nervously, eyes darting at every shadow. "This place gives me the creeps," he muttered. "Everything gives you the creeps," Ye-Rin said without turning around. "Not true. I’m fine with... with cats." I almost snorted. "Yeah, unless the cat’s got fangs the size of my arm." Inside, the corridors were eerily quiet. Wheelchairs toppled over, stretchers overturned, blood smeared along the walls. We moved carefully, each step deliberate. "Pharmacy should be... lower level," Bak-U whispered, his hands trembling slightly. We reached the supply room faster than expected. Shelves lined with half-empty bottles, scattered syringes, and boxes of pills. Most of it was ruined, but Bak-U’s eyes lit up when he found a cabinet still intact. He fumbled with the lock until I yanked it open with brute force. "Perfect—stabilizers, antibiotics, painkillers," Bak-U muttered, shoving them into his bag. "This will help the boy for now. Maybe others too." "Good. Grab extras," Hyun-tae said. "We’ll stockpile. Anything useful—bandages, painkillers, antibiotics. The works." "Good. Then let’s—" I froze. Ye-Rin froze mid-step. "...Did you hear that?" Hyun-tae’s grip tightened on his shotgun. "Yeah. I heard it." Then I heard it A sound echoed from deeper in the corridor. Slow, deliberate footsteps. Then another. And another. And the next second— The ceiling above split open with a shriek, and something dropped onto the floor in front of us. Skin pale as chalk. Eyes glowing crimson. Fangs wet with gore. Blood Vampire. And not just one. Three more burst from the shadows—two crawling on the walls, another slithering through the broken ceiling tiles. "Shit," I hissed, already in the process of my beastification. [ Do you want to use beastification?] [ Target : Junior, The spider monkey] [Yes/No] I immediately pressed yes.