UnwillingEldritchHorrorofFortune
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Interlude: Jae-Hyun’s Struggles (88.5)
🕑 Added 2024-03-02 19:06:04 +0000 UTCJae-Hyun’s time in the third trial would be considered a living hell for anyone but the man who witnessed the end of everything, yet even he was filled with worry and stress. Not because of his own experiences in the hospital, they were horrific but Jae-Hyun could deal with pain, loneliness, and despair; those were only temporary. No, what he was worried about was the welfare of the others he decided to trust in this new life of his.
The Regressor wasn’t worried about Father Marcus, that man survived almost as long as he did in the first round, and Jae-Hyun was certain that this particular trial wouldn’t pose any problems for him, even if he joined as a patient. Now that he’s infiltrated the hospital as a priest, Jae-Hyun was even less worried that he might make a mistake. It was the other man that worried the Regressor.
Walter had astonished him with his accomplishments in the short time that they had met, and he was beginning to doubt how someone so talented died so early on in the first timeline. Perhaps helping him survive was the greatest accomplishment of his regression, because Walter had single-handedly accelerated most of his plans for the future. Jae-Hyun had never seen someone so capable of manipulating the masses while being simultaneously skilled in battle. Yet Jae-Hyun feared that he was putting too much responsibility onto Walter.
That was especially the case for this trial. Jae-Hyun cursed himself for not giving his party members clearer instructions. He wanted Walter to go in as a doctor and just assumed that Walter would use that term, yet he forgot to account for the difference in language. Of course, Walter wouldn’t know that a physician was not the same thing as a doctor here, how could he have? Yet the man was paying the price for Jae-Hyun’s error.
The changes to Walter’s body after integrating into the hospital as a Physician would even give Jae-Hyun trouble, and he endured agony that would have crippled even veteran Aspirants. However, not only did Walter have to endure the torment of a Physician’s body and form, but he couldn’t show any of it for fear of breaking his persona. The human mind can only take so much before breaking.
Yet if that wasn’t bad enough, he was also tasked with the responsibilities of a Physician, and any mistake would result in his death. No matter how indomitable Walter’s will was, there was only so much one individual could endure before his body and mind gave in. Jae-Hyun expected the worst, and he hated himself all the more for forcing his friend into this situation.
“Patient 004!” one of the attending doctors voiced, breaking Jae-Hyun’s thoughts, “It is time for your treatment!”
Jae-Hyun sighed and quietly made his way to the doctor. His new modifications made each step he took excruciating, the metal implants and surgical wounds scraped along each nerve of his body, but he hardly paid attention to them. What was pain to a man who had already embraced death?
“Good!” the doctor said, his grotesque, tumor-riddled face contorting into what could barely be called a smile, “You have adjusted to the procedures excellently! The Director has high hopes for you, Patient 004. I have high hopes for you.”
Jae-Hyun didn’t respond. It wasn’t like he could in any case, one of the core rules here was that patients couldn’t speak outside of very specific times. He couldn’t even answer direct questions outside of procedures, which was a lesson that many of his peers learned the hard way. Instead, Jae-Hyun just stared at the doctor with a blank face, not making a sound or moving.
“Excellent!” the doctor’s hideous smile widened, “Come with me, patient, just a few more key procedures and you will be fit to meet the young miss. Come with me to the operating room.”
Jae-Hyun suppressed a wince and followed behind the doctor. That was one of the two individuals in the whole hospital that he dreaded meeting, yet it was a necessity if he needed to clear the corrupted stage. Alice, the sole daughter of the Director, is as unpredictable as she is deadly, and Jae-Hyun had only heard of second-hand accounts of the strategies for interacting with her. He was thankful that one of his guildmates in his past life survived a run-in with Alice and told him all about it after one drunken night out, but he also wished that he had probed his old friend for more information.
All he knew was to treat the doll that was always with the girl with extreme care and attention, and to never accept to play with her under any circumstance. Yet Jae-Hyun was also instructed to always try to agree to her other requests and to keep her mood up. It was a hard balancing act, and Jae-Hyun knew that fighting against the child was out of the question. His old friend had faced this particular trial much later on in the Ascension process, and even then he was overwhelmed by the girl’s sheer presence. As they were now, in the 3rd Trial, he stood absolutely no chance against Alice.
So much had changed since his regression that Jae-Hyun was almost fearful that his increasingly inaccurate knowledge was fast approaching its usefulness. He had to make sure that the Abyss Guild’s foundation was as solid as possible so that he didn’t have to rely on his past knowledge. Trials that were corrupt or should only appear much later on were popping up with increasing regularity, and he was sure that it was because of his unique situation.
Jae-Hyun went into the operating theatre and sat down on the cold metal table as instructed. He separated the portion of his mind that would experience the awaiting agony and used the rest of the time to formulate new plans and ideas. It was one of the only benefits of these “enhancement” sessions, there was nothing that could distract his thoughts aside from the pain.
“Today,” the doctor explained, “We will restructure your musculature and skeletal system so that you are sturdy enough for what’s ahead. Rejoice, for you shall be stronger than all the other patients! Do you have anything to say before we begin, patient 004?”
“Just get on with it,” Jae-Hyun muttered as he emptied his mind of useless feelings and distractions.
The operation started and the cold surgical tools started to do their work on Jae-Hyun’s body, yet all he could think of was what he could do to help Walter out. The Regressor only hoped that he would be fast enough to do so before his friend’s sanity gave out. He knew just how corrupting this particular hospital could be.
Comments
CloudyBall
I understand that emotions were running high in the heat of the moment, but I find it somewhat odd that the Regressor mentioned the hospital's working hours without acknowledging Alice in the notes. She is obviously one of the most crucial individuals, second only to the Director herself, whom we should be attentive to. It just feels a tad bit forced that he would skip such an important detail
fire breathing gummy bear
I'm surprised that the Regressor cares so much for others. I thought that besides his sister, he would see the rest as tools that would be unfortunate to lose. Seeing that he is also willing to self reflect is nice.
