Chapter 102

Monday morning.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I checked my weekly schedule.

The Medic’s Monday schedule was as follows:

It looked simple at a glance, but there wasn’t enough time to get it all done in a single day.

For starters, taking stock of the medication wasn’t easy.

Hundreds of different drugs were jumbled together haphazardly.

Back when I first organized them in the game, I once spent the entire day just sorting them.

“I remember getting dragged off and beaten by the guards for failing the mission on my very first day.”

Fortunately, the inventory remained the same every time; once memorized, the task became much easier.

If it was identical to the game, I should be able to finish it within thirty minutes.

I decided to hurry to the infirmary.

Since consultations for human inmates began at 9:00 AM, I had to get there before then.

“I need to find something to eat, too.”

There was a cafeteria, but if I went there to eat too early—without reading the room—I’d immediately get beaten up by the guards.

I had to scavenge for food little by little while avoiding the guards’ eyes, which was no easy task.

I looked in the mirror and neatly put on my doctor’s coat.

Prison Medics usually wear scrubs, but in Cell-X, I was issued a white coat.

Standing out in a prison that was otherwise entirely pitch-black, the white coat made me feel even more conspicuous.

‘I’ve heard that white animals in the wild stand out and easily fall prey to attacks.’

Recalling a factoid from an animal-themed short video—and pondering the correlation between wearing a doctor’s coat and being bullied—I fidgeted with the garment before stepping out of my quarters.

The medical room, the medic’s primary workspace, was located at the outermost edge of the prisoner block.

“Roasted Chestnut, do problems arise if you don’t stick to your set schedule every day?”

I gave an honest answer to the slime guard’s question.

“Yes. If I fail a task, the guards harass me.”

“Oh dear… Does that mean I have to harass you, too?”

If a slime guard were to resort to violence, how would they do it?

Smacking me with a squishy body, pressing down hard, rubbing vigorously…

None of those options sounded too bad.

Indulging in the idle fantasy that all the guards might transform into soft slimes, I replied:

“Unless you’re carrying out a guard’s duty, there’s no need for that.”

“That’s a relief.”

In fact, the very act of walking to the medical room with me right now was already far removed from a guard’s official duties.

Upon arriving at the medical room, I took a look around the interior.

True to a prison housing heinous criminals, the atmosphere inside was incredibly bleak and dreary.

Most of the fixtures were made of stainless steel with a dull sheen, creating a cold, stifling vibe.

At a glance, it looked more like a dissection room than a medical facility.

The small window was covered with closely spaced iron bars, making it difficult to see outside. The space was small, containing only a single medical examination bed, but the thick restraint straps attached to it were the first thing that caught my eye.

The bed’s legs were bolted firmly to the floor; the structure was so solid that it wouldn’t budge even if several strong men hung off it.

I lifted my gaze to check the ceiling.

I spotted a CCTV camera mounted in the corner.

CCTV cameras, which monitored every move of both the doctor and the inmates, were a staple of the infirmary.

Having once been beaten severely in the infirmary after a CCTV camera malfunctioned in the game, the camera’s operational status was of utmost importance to me.

“I have to keep it working at all costs.”

Firmly resolving to do so, I stepped onto a chair to inspect the camera.

The indicator light showed it was functioning properly, and there was no visible damage.

After confirming it was in good working order, I organized the medicine cabinet.

Since the layout was identical to the game, the task was easy.

Once I had neatly arranged the last of the medicine bottles, I checked the daily schedule.

Next to the completed tasks, short handwritten notes had been added.

These notes confirmed the accuracy of the operational manual.

It was a smooth start.

After quickly cleaning the infirmary, I discovered a box of expired cereal tucked away in the corner of a desk drawer.

It was emergency food stashed there by the previous Medic.

Judging by the way food was hidden in various spots around the infirmary, that person must have been subjected to quite a lot of harassment. I crunched on my cereal and tried offering some to the pudding slime, but—as expected—it politely declined.

“I can probably scrape by for about two days on the food my predecessor left behind.”

After gathering and stashing away all the food, I checked the time.

8:50 AM.

Soon, human inmates would be flooding in for medical consultations under the escort of prison guards.

Conducting face-to-face consultations with human inmates was a real hassle.

I had to weed out the fakers to find the genuine patients and examine at least six people; perhaps because they were violent criminals, they had nasty tempers.

They all insisted they were sick, demanding prescriptions for narcotic painkillers and hospitalization to get out of forced labor.

If things didn’t go their way, they would often fly into a rage and cause a scene.

Although a guard was always present, they were no help at all—they’d just chuckle while watching the Medic get harassed by the inmates.

“It’s a good thing I can handle it all myself.”

Since I knew exactly who was truly sick, along with their diagnoses and treatments, I figured I could pull off playing the doctor.

The crucial question now was which guard would show up.

It would be easiest if Kwak Hanmuk came, but that wouldn’t allow me to gauge the situation inside the prison.

I just hoped for the most indifferent guard among them to be assigned.

Just before 9:00 AM, I decided to use my ability for the first time in a while to check Kwak Hanmuk’s status window.

Seeing his current status made me curious about his situation.

I wondered what was going on to make his status show “Irritated.”

Amidst that, I chuckled a little when I noticed my inventory was packed with food and snacks I’d picked up. I checked Je Hyun-oh’s status window as well, but it didn’t appear—likely because he hadn’t entered the Trial yet.

Then, nine o’clock struck.

Bang!

The infirmary door flew open without a knock. A uniformed prison guard stomped in, his heavy boots thudding against the floor.

My eyes widened the moment I saw the gray metal mask.

“Chief of Security?”

It was far too high a rank for a mere guard duty assignment—specifically, supervising the Medic.

The Chief of Security was the real power in the prison.

Every guard obeyed his orders absolutely.

They would follow the Chief’s commands even if it meant ignoring the Warden’s words.

To the inmates, he was the most feared figure of all.

That was because he would instantly punish anyone who stepped out of line.

Countless inmates had met their end at his hands—thrown into the sea, with their deaths staged to look like accidents or illnesses.

Honestly, since they were all heinous criminals, no one cared if they ended up as fish food.

The problem was that his violent nature was directed at me, too.

It was no exaggeration to say that the guards’ harassment of the Medic was a practice instigated by the Chief of Security.

With his tacit approval and encouragement, the guards had gradually taken to tormenting the Medic.

It had reached the point where no doctor wanted to take the position here.

A vacant Medic post was exactly what the Chief of Security wanted.

Yet, I had stepped in to fill the role that had been empty since the previous doctor left.

That was precisely why I had been relentlessly harassed in the game, too.

In any case, the Chief of Security rarely stepped in personally. He usually had his subordinates do the harassing…

‘Why did he come here?’

I offered an awkward greeting, feeling uneasy.

“Hello…”

“Little Lamb. Begin the examination.”

Instead of returning the greeting, the Chief of Security issued an immediate order.

His tone was polite in words, but his attitude was effectively condescending.

I began the examination under his watchful eye.

The human inmates all had menacing appearances.

Although their hands and feet were restrained, preventing them from physically assaulting me, they had no trouble shouting with fierce, angry expressions.

“What does a young punk like you know! Just admit me to the infirmary!!”

Knowing that the guards were incredibly lenient when it came to inmates harassing the Medic, the prisoners expressed their rage quite aggressively.

However, I had been through too much to be fazed by mere shouting, threats, or profanity.

Compared to the Pudding Slime currently sitting on my shoulder, these guys felt like nothing more than insignificant specks of dust.

In any case, the status of the human inmates had no bearing on the game’s ending.

I went through the motions of a cursory examination and wrote a perfunctory prescription.

“There’s nothing wrong. Drink plenty of water and get some rest.”

“You quack! You didn’t even check my temperature!”

“Next patient, please.”

Then, when the “real” patients—whose cases I had memorized beforehand—appeared, I put on a show of examining them with the utmost dedication.

“Good heavens! This is a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection!”

“…Medic. I haven’t even sat down in the chair yet.”

“Ah, I can tell just by looking at your face. There’s a risk of contagion, so I’m requesting immediate isolation.”

“Ahem. Well, if it calls for isolation… I suppose I do have that… Methi… what was it? Yeah, that sounds about right.”

The inmates kept getting suspicious because I acted like I knew too much too soon, so I threw in some performative touches—pretending to take their temperatures and applying a stethoscope.

I managed to conduct in-person consultations right up until lunchtime, successfully completing my assigned tasks.

“So, the only thing left is rounds in Zone X.”

The truth or falsehood of the items in the work manual changes depending on the schedule.

Since the note about “Creature Inmate No. 13” had been added, I had to act under the assumption that the 13th inmate was present in Zone X today.

I hesitated just as I was about to re-read the previous Medic’s work manual one last time before starting my rounds.

The Chief of Security was still in the infirmary.

‘Why is he still here? Is he planning to hit me?’

I tensed up, wondering if he intended to get physical, when suddenly, a chime sounded.

Once again, both suspicion and affinity rose simultaneously.

I could understand why the ‘Suspicion’ stat might rise—after all, I was observing the patients very closely.

However, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why ‘Affinity’ was increasing.

I checked the Chief of Security’s current stats.

“Suspicion is still far higher, though…”

Even though the numbers were within a safe range, the inability to understand the reason behind the fluctuations made me uneasy.

Just then, the Chief of Security’s radio crackled with static.

—Security Department, Zone X, Code Red.

The Chief of Security responded to the clipped, professional voice on the other end.

“Acknowledged. I’m heading there now.”

He immediately turned to me and issued an order.

“Little Lamb-nim. Please follow me.”

“Pardon?”

“It seems a newly arrived creature inmate in Zone X is causing trouble. Please come with me to check the situation.”

I looked at the Chief of Security in surprise.

I was flustered because I had never encountered a creature rampage event on the very first day of the schedule.

A ‘Code Red’ meant a violent incident had occurred.

It felt surreal to hear ‘Code Red’ here in the Trial, having heard the term in the real world not long ago.

“And to think a new creature inmate has arrived…”

In the game, a creature inmate had never been added before.

I was curious to see this creature I didn’t know about.

I followed the Chief of Security to Zone X.