By Zephyria 
[Drink drink drink■■■■■drink drink■drink drink drink■■■I want to drink■■drink drink■I’m craving alcohol■■■■■■drink let’s draw blood drink alcohol■ti■■only…….]
Ominous letters, similar to those seen before, were lined up over the body of the Aberration, whose complexion was flushed a drunken red, but Jiha could tell its identity without even reading them. It was the patient from Room 303.
‘An alcoholic!’
Of all the Aberrations, he had encountered the one he least wanted to meet. Yoo Jiha hurriedly turned and fled. Park Jun-yeol, who had been at the same end-of-semester party, also turned pale and bolted.
The Aberration ignored the bewildered knight and chased after them.
「Give me alcohol-aaa aa¡ It’s mine aa-aaak¡」
As if possessed by the vengeful spirit of a Russian who had drowned in a vat of vodka, the alcoholic entity charged forward, crushing other Aberrations that got in its way. Jiha’s breath reached the tip of his throat, and his lungs hurt as if they were tearing apart.
‘I can’t believe I drank today! Buddha! God! Allah! Confucius! If you just let me escape from here, I’ll never drink again!’
Yoo Jiha was fleeing so desperately that his vision was turning white when something caught his foot.
“Huh?”
Before he could even realize what was happening, his body was already tumbling across the floor. At the same moment the pain of falling while sprinting at full speed rattled his bones, Park Jun-yeol’s voice dropped.
“Sorry. At least one of us has to survive, right?”
Through his blurred vision, Jiha saw the back of the man turning away without a shred of regret. So, he just now intentionally tripped…
「My alcohoooool¡」
There was no time to be shocked. Yoo Jiha gritted his teeth and stood up at the sound of the Aberration’s scream behind him. His ankle throbbed with pain, likely sprained from the fall. He managed to limp a few steps, but he couldn’t reach his previous speed, and the presence of the Aberration drew closer.
He hadn’t intended to cry, but his vision kept blurring. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he scanned the surroundings. It wasn’t the time to cry or give up. If escaping was impossible, he had to at least hide.
Sprinting with a stagger, he turned a corner and saw a new patient room before him.
Room 404.
The common-sense question of why Room 404 was on the 3rd floor had long since become meaningless. Yoo Jiha urgently turned the handle. It wasn’t locked. He opened the door and dove inside.
The moment the door slammed shut, the sound of the Aberration’s heavy footstep echoed just beyond.
「Where did my alcohol gooo¿ The scent came from here.」
The voice of the Aberration could be heard from the other side, separated by only a single door. Fearing that his pounding heart and ragged breathing might be heard outside, Yoo Jiha clamped both hands tightly over his mouth.
The noise of the creature banging on the walls and door, and slamming into the ceiling and floor, continued, but the Aberration failed to discover him behind the door.
「Strange. Did Room 404 take it away.」
Only after the presence of the Aberration had faded for a long while did Yoo Jiha finally let out a long, held breath. Only then did the pain in his ankle, which he had been ignoring, surge up in throbs. He finally had the composure to scan his surroundings.
Room 404 was pitch black, without a single speck of light. As if it had been separated into a different space entirely, not even the light from the hallway leaked inside. Submerged in darkness, Yoo Jiha gritted his teeth, unable to even breathe loudly.
Room 404 was definitely vacant.
It was described as such in the Procedure Manual, and unlike the other rooms he had seen on his way, the lights were completely off.
But why…
Clink.
Why was he hearing the sound of chains beside him?
The shadow of a flame, burning like an eternity, flickered violently as it approached, as if to swallow him whole.
* * *
The appearance of an anomaly and the manifestation of its power are always accompanied by contamination. Thus, on a large panel displaying the entire Korean Peninsula—including North Korea, which is South Korean territory under the constitution—contamination levels were being updated incessantly. Anomalies do not distinguish between day and night. Measuring contamination levels 24 hours a day to track and observe dangerous anomalies was one of the primary duties of the Measurement Center in the Information Analysis Office of the Water Abnormality Worship Management Bureau.
Despite the late hour, the staff of the Measurement Center were preoccupied with analyzing Aberrant Realms. The Head of section for the night shift was paying particular attention to the Eight Phases Mental Hospital, an Aberrant Realm where new victims had occurred.
“Have you still not opened a path to the Eight Phases Mental Hospital?”
“A traffic accident occurred on the bridge, so we are currently taking a detour.”
“Tsk. Of all times…”
The Head of section stared at the status panel. First sighted 22 years ago, the Eight Phases Mental Hospital is an Aberrant Realm with a strong wavelength, making the analysis of victims relatively easy. It had been confirmed that one of the eight people, likely a medical professional, was already staying in a safe location.
‘The problem is the 6th floor.’
The Eight Phases Mental Hospital shows a high survival rate because it is easy to pass through if one grovels and caters to the entities. However, this information was slightly misleading by design. To be precise, it was the survival rate until they discovered the lockers.
The lockers in the 6th-floor nurses’ changing room could only fit two people at most, no matter how much they squeezed in; there were more cases of humans injuring each other to claim a locker than cases of being caught by an Aberration. Nevertheless, the Procedure Manual specified entering the lockers because they were a safe haven from the Aberrations.
Regardless, the best course of action was to enter and rescue them before a disaster occurred. Since rescue is not difficult once Agents from the Investigation and Exploration Division enter, the staff, including the Head of section, continued their routine work. But that time did not last long. The urgent voice of a staff member analyzing the Aberrant Realm rang out.
“An abnormal waveform has suddenly been detected at the Eight Phases Mental Hospital! It’s not a newly spawned Aberration, so we are cross-referencing it with the Aberrations recorded in the Management Bureau.”
“What? An External Abnormal Demon crawled into the mental hospital right when victims have occurred? Just what kind of thing is it?”
“This waveform is, uh…”
A moment later, the staff member who checked the analysis record shouted, face pale.
“It—it’s the Blind Eater!”
A stunned silence fell over the Measurement Center, where the sound of people chatting while working had been heard. The Head of section let out a heavy groan and quickly issued orders.
“…Team 5 is out there on exploration, right? Tell them not to enter and to stand by. And request support from the Enforcement Division immediately.”
[Hidden World Record]
Name: Blind Eater
Classification: Aberration-B-M.Mc-0097
First Sighted: November 3, 200☓
Appearance Location: Sighted near Jongmyo. According to information from an Agent who defected from North Korea, the site of Gyeongdeokgung Palace is also an appearance location. Cross-verification required.
Danger Level: Malevolent
Containment Level: Uncontainable
True Eye Text: Water■■■■is■■■■■■■
Response: Conversation impossible. Communication impossible.
Remarks: Its true form is composed of a giant mouth, but black flames surge and obstruct the view, making it impossible to confirm what expression the giant mouth is making or what lies within the flames. Based on the sound, it is presumed that chains are moving.
The reason no human has fallen victim to the Blind Eater in the last 17 years is that it always devours Aberrations first. The countermeasure is simple. Escape while the Blind Eater is devouring another Aberration. If you see characteristic flames or hear the sound of chains, run. Currently, it is impossible to eliminate or contain the entity.
(Below this, access forbidden for security level 3 and below)
Judging by the situation where it targeted Agent Choi Beom-seok, the last Bearer, it is almost certain that it hunts in order of highest contamination level. The reason it targets Aberrations over humans is likely for the same reason.
* * *
Clink.
The sound of clashing chains spread, cutting through the darkness. The eerie metallic sound echoing in the sealed blackness soon dominated all directions. The sound that had been heard beside him suddenly began to ring from the floor, the ceiling, behind his back, and beneath his feet. No, perhaps the idea that the sound had come from the side in the first place was an illusion.
Yoo Jiha, who had been trembling with his face buried in his knees, suddenly realized the metallic sound had stopped. Wondering if the chain monster had disappeared outside, he cautiously raised his head. And he locked eyes.
Amidst the black flames that felt like the fires of hell, an Aberration was staring down at him from directly above his head.