The Devil’s Cage

”Wait here!” Kieran told Schmidt when he saw the recovery center shrouded in the thin mist.

[Mystical Knowledge] allowed Kieran to know the complete formation of the mist. When concentrated negative energy was accumulated to a certain extent, the energy would take the form of a mist.

It was quite a common scene at graveyards and abandoned mountain sites.

However, when something like this happened at a recovery center outside the city, there could only be one explanation. Everyone in the recovery center had to be dead!

No matter what had caused the people inside the recovery center to perish, it was not something to be underestimated.

Kieran placed his big backpack down and strapped the box with the [Arrogant Word] on his back. After he took some essential items from his backpack, he got out of the Picard.

”Don’t turn on the lights. Reverse the car up to the junction where we came from and wait for me there until I come back… Please make sure that it’s me before you open the door!” Kieran warned Schmidt.

Schmidt signaled that he understood and then picked up a bottle filled with some kind of powder and started to sprinkle it all over the car. Kieran was not surprised.

After coming in contact with the supernatural and becoming the person in charge of such cases, it would have been odd if Schmidt had not come up with some self-defense method.

Kieran saw the car start up and reverse back to the junction about 300 meters away, where the sign ”Gordon Recovery Center” was located. Then he turned around and headed into the recovery center.

The dimming sunset disappeared after a while, and darkness shrouded the sky as the moon started to shine.

The thin mist around the recovery center looked thicker after the moon appeared high in the sky.

The recovery center was totally silent at the moment. Even the wind around it had stopped blowing.

However, the thick mist seemed to be moving by itself without the wind pushing it. It slowly gathered around Kieran, as if a big hand formed by it was trying to crush Kieran in its palm. When the mist came into contact with Kieran’s body though, it quickly dispersed and returned to its normal form.

[Negative Energy Corrosion: Player has Body of Evil, Low-Level Negative Energy Corrosion ineffective…]

”The negative energy mist was the first line of defense?”

Kieran saw the notification on his vision and helplessly slowed down his steps. He was even more careful when he started walking again.

No matter what the purpose of the killer who had killed everyone in the recovery center was, Kieran believed that, if he really wanted to achieve that purpose, the killer would not set up only one defense line. There had to be more waiting for him!

Kieran was moving slowly across the shadow of the building under the moonlight. He carefully walked through a big grass field and past a dead fountain with still waters. Finally, he reached the entrance of the recovery center.

There was not a single ambush throughout his short journey there.

A glass door with barbed wire that was locked from the inside was blocking his way.

It was not an obstacle for Kieran though. After a quick check, he easily opened the door with the [Deceiver’s Key]. He pushed the glass door open and entered with a quick dodging move.

While Kieran was hiding in the shadows, he scanned the hall before him. To be precise, he was looking at the main reception desk.

The reception desk was not broad, but it was not narrow either. It was enough for three men to stand side by side behind it, and it was divided into two parts. The upper section had an electric bell button and two telephones that were labeled as the inner and outer line. Obviously, it was used for the visitors.

The lower desk was tall enough for a person to lay their hands down on it comfortably after sitting down on the chair. There were some registration booklets, ballpoint pens, pins and a clipper on it, which were used by the recovery center staff.

There was also an open bag of barbeque-flavored chips.

A big sign behind the reception said, ”Gordon Recovery Center, Making you feel at home.” Beside it was an enlarged poster of a sweet, smiling nurse.

In the darkness, the uplifting poster looked eerie and creepy.

Kieran glanced over the top of the desk, but did not feel anything unsettling about it. The things that Kieran had been through had made him immune to certain things.

Thanks to his Transcendence [Undercover], the shadows made him feel calm and peaceful. Darkness was no reason for him to be afraid. Quite the opposite, it provided him with a sense of safety that Kieran knew very well.

His gaze did not pause as he glanced quickly around the place. Finally, he found what he was looking for. On the left side of the corridor, next to the reception desk, was the floor plan of the recovery center.

According to the floor plan, the Gordon Recovery Center was divided into three main parts that formed an ”H” structure. In the middle was the main reception hall, the control room, and the doctors and nurses’ quarters.

The building on the left was the patient’s ward, activity room, and medical room. On the right was the canteen, the laundry room and a side door that led to the parking lot.

As a matter of fact, according to Schmidt, the recovery center had been planning on building a hydrotherapy room, but due to lack of funding, it had been turned into a parking lot.

”You can’t ask for too much. This recovery center survived solely on donations!”

Kieran even recalled the self-mocking expression on Schmidt’s face when he had said those words.

Obviously, one could ruminate over the word ”donations”, but this still had not stopped the Gordon Recovery Center from gaining the trust of the people.

People like Louver, who had been cursed with mental illness, were sent there. The place was a first-rate choice.

”Louver’s ward is on the left wing. Room 202… Huh?”

Recalling Schmidt’s description, Kieran headed left. After taking a step in that direction though, he stopped immediately. The left wing’s corridor had been sealed off, not with a glass door with barbed wire, but with two simple iron doors.

From where Kieran stood, he could see that the first iron door was a collapsible fence door, and the second one was a solid iron door with a small iron window at eye level.

However, the locked doors were not the reason Kieran had stopped. His eyes were staring at the thick glass window, or to be more precise, at the person behind it.

It was a little girl with long blonde hair and a pair of navy blue eyes. She looked about five to six years old. Her skin was so fair that it seemed to glint a little in the darkness.

The vibe she was giving off felt pure and holy.

Kieran’s mind unconsciously filled with words to describe the little girl.

The little girl opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something to him, but amid the dead silence, she could not utter a single world.

When the little girl noticed that Kieran could not hear what she said, she grew anxious.

Meanwhile, she kept looking behind her, as if something was chasing her, and staring at the lock on the iron door.

”You want me to open the door?” Kieran asked.

The girl nodded violently and then turned around, looking anxiously behind her, as if the thing that was chasing her was getting closer.

”Okay…” Kieran nodded with a sudden realization.

The next moment, he launched a hard kick behind him without even turning his head around.

A huge monster with vicious teeth and a bloody mouth in a nurse outfit had appeared behind him.

Kieran’s kick had landed right on the monster’s abdomen.

Bang!

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

Huh! A little girl!? Where is she!!