Chapter 497
The reporters’ struggles intensified as time went on.
Literally, the situation was escalating to the point of near frenzied madness.
Like flames engulfing firewood, their madness grew ever more intense.
Quite literally… they were willing to go to any lengths to achieve their goals.
“Block it—!”
This was exemplified right now in the siege happening at the hospital.
You might wonder why such a grand term as “siege” was being used in reference to a hospital…
But astonishingly, an actual siege was unfolding.
Bang—!
Bang—!
On one floor of the hospital, a firewall had descended.
Contrary to its name, the firewall wasn’t particularly thick, but it stood firm and resolute, blocking the entrance unlike the usual state where it was unobtrusive.
The door positioned beside the firewall glowed with luminescent paint, brilliantly advertising itself as an emergency exit even under the darkest of nights. It was shaking violently as if resolutely trying to fulfill its purpose.
And between the shaking doors stood two factions facing off against each other.
Bang—!
Boom—!
“Block it—!”
“Hey! Don’t just try to block it, lean your weight against it and hold it!”
“Hurry! Do something! It’s getting harder to hold on!”
Those inside the firewall were straining with all their might to keep the door shut. Burly doctors and nurses, along with security personnel, were pressing against it with their weight.
Bang—!
Boom—!
Even though countless people were clinging to it, the door shook madly.
It was as if an elephant were body-slamming it.
The force was so strong that those blocking the door were sweating buckets, and they felt a sense of dread as the door rattled ominously, as if it could burst open at any moment.
“Our strength is dwindling! Hurry, hurry! Do something fast!”
“Get an alchemist, a warrior, a wizard… any capable person! There must be at least one or two around!”
“At the very least, bring a welding machine! We have to do something about that damned door! We should weld it shut, right?!”
“You crazy bastard! Hey, shut up! No, don’t waste time looking for a welding machine! It’s a specially coated firewall! It’s hard to weld, and even if we do, it’ll be breached almost instantly! And how can we weld with all this banging?! Bring a capable person! Someone who can either force the door open or build a new wall!”
“We want to bring them too! But the capable people are on another floor, what can we do?!”
“I called the police, so wait! They’ll be here soon! Just hold on! Hold!”
In a dire moment when it seemed the door would soon give way.
The ones blocking it trembled in fear at the thought of the door suddenly crashing open, and those waiting on the other side would surge in like rabid animals.
As a result, they desperately shouted to those rushing around them.
Quickly, bring someone who can seal the door.
Somehow, persuade them to help us!
They cried out in desperation, drenched in fear.
And as they wallowed in dread, those on the other side were swimming in madness.
“Break through!”
“Break through—!”
People were overly exhilarated beyond necessity.
Their eyes were gleaming, their hair soaked and disheveled, and spit was dripping from their mouths. They were sweating so much that their clothes were drenched as if they had just fallen into a pool, and their throats were hoarse, producing unpleasant metallic sounds.
And there were common, everyday items around them that could easily turn into makeshift weapons.
A hammer.
A fire extinguisher.
Bricks.
Tools…
Items that could be used as deadly weapons depending on how one wielded them.
But they weren’t holding any of that.
Instead, they were merely clutching odd lumps of some sort.
“All right! One, two, three!”
Bang!
“Now, again! One, two, three!”
Boom—!
Remarkably, what they were holding were makeshift siege engines fashioned from blankets and patient gowns.
It wasn’t hard to make.
You just needed to wrap a solid mass carefully in a long shape so it wouldn’t break or twist under a heavy impact.
By doing so, a primitive form of a siege engine could be created.
“One, two, three!”
Boom—!
They were repeatedly attacking the door with their clumsily made siege engines.
It was a sight to see those who seemed unaccustomed to physical activity unifying their strength to pound on the steel door. Naturally, with each smack, the impact caused a jarring sensation that shot through the siege engine, and the effort of retreating and charging forward made them short of breath, much like having run a 100-meter dash. The sweat flowed down, giving the delusion that their skin might tear and bleed, and with each drop of sweat, their grip on the makeshift siege engine became increasingly slippery, forcing them to exert excessive effort.
Their hands were now so fatigued that it was almost painful, and every part of their bodies felt sore.
Yet, still.
They kept moving.
“One, two!”
“Three!”
Boom—!
“Almost there! They’re losing steam!”
“Damn it! We’re only trying to interview one person, why the hell is this happening?!”
“Break through—!”
To smash that wretched door!
* * *
It was a siege unfolding in the hospital in the dead of night.
Hospital staff defending, and reporters attacking… an unprecedented incident.
Amazingly, the origin of this event was trivial.
No, to be exact…it couldn’t rightly be called trivial.
“Hey, let’s do some espionage!”
“Espionage?”
“Yeah, you know, the stuff we excel at. Sneaking in. Everyone here has done undercover reporting before.”
Since it was a crime, the reporters, determined to get to where Lee Jae-soon was, resorted to sneaking into the hospital by any means necessary.
There were various methods.
Climbing up the exterior walls and finding a window that was open.
Requesting cooperation from a patient loitering outside and sneaking in wearing a patient gown.
Pretending to be a guardian utilizing the food court in the hospital basement, then bribing an actual guardian there to gain access to visit a real patient…
Thus, one by one, the reporters made their way into the hospital, nearly succeeding in approaching Lee Jae-soon.
In haste, they navigated the stairs while carefully avoiding busy nurses, rode the sluggish elevator up, and infiltrated from the outside in…
Just as the reporters were about to reach Lee Jae-soon…
“Hey, you there! How did you get up here?! You *illegally* infiltrated the hospital right now?!”
“Ah, crap. We got caught.”
They fell victim to the strengthened security of the hospital.
On the floor where Lee Jae-soon’s patient room was located, many more nurses and security personnel were bustling about than usual, and even thorough inspections were being carried out, which usually were done hastily.
Thanks to that, the infiltrating reporters were caught just as they were about to achieve their goal, and they were dragged out by security personnel, just like how the reporters had been pulled out at the hospital entrance moments ago.
But…
“Let go of me! Do you have any idea who I am?! You’re interfering with the public’s right to know!”
“We’re just trying to do an interview! If you just let us conduct the interview, we’d leave peacefully! Why all this fuss? Hiding something, are you?! What’s being hidden?!”
“What is it?! Did something weird come out of that guy? Did you find something incredible? A name for this hospital that could be ingrained nationwide?”
“Are you guys feds? It’s not like we’re asking to see top-secret information; we just want to see one person! If there’s no problem, just let us have a look! We’re not going to kill him; we just want to have a chat! Snap some photos, do an interview, and we’re done! Why are you reacting so overboard?! You’re definitely hiding something, right?! Huh?!”
There was one thing different from before.
As time passed, the reporters, feeling the pressure of Lee Jae-soon, grew increasingly impatient.
The situation where they couldn’t get close despite being right in front of him stirred their emotions, fueling their agitation.
This desperation morphed into obsession, and they became unnaturally fixated on whatever it was someone had done to them.
Because of that, their thoughts became restricted, and they acquired an excessive obsession over a single issue that they couldn’t comprehend.
“What kind of place is this?! Are you hiding something? Is it some medical accident?! We have to get it! We must get it!”
“Yeah! Exactly! It seems like you’re hiding something shady, and we need to investigate it! Given this situation, we need to make sure to confirm it even out of spite!”
“Break through! Let’s break through! Smash those bastards down!”
“Waaaaah! We’ll put them all down! How dare they block our way!”
Such excessive obsession and excitement propelled them to extreme actions.
The reporters chose to resist fervently instead of quietly getting chased out, opting to use whatever they could find—be it fire extinguishers or pots—to swing at the security personnel.
“Emergency! Emergency!”
“A riot has broken out in the hospital!”
“Seal off the floor and contact the police!”
The troubled hospital swiftly lowered the firewall to contain the floor in question.
They blocked the paths leading to where Lee Jae-soon was with firewalls to prevent the reporters from approaching him and sent not only security personnel but also doctors and nurses capable of putting up a fight over there.
They sought to suppress them in any way possible to avoid putting the hospital and its patients at risk.
However, they weren’t easily subdued, even when security personnel and sturdy men charged in.
Instead, they skillfully banded together to defend against attacks, dragging wheeled-down individuals into a pile that they stacked up neatly.
As if they were trying to stage a hostage drama.
Finally, the hospital realized the severity of the situation.
That they had surpassed mere excitement, and that these people could actually conduct a collective lynch or murder.
“We can’t let those bastards near Lee Jae-soon! They might kill him!”
“Just hold out until the police arrive! We just need to hold on a little longer!”
And thus, a siege erupted at the hospital in the midst of the night.
“We must block them! The safety of the patients is at stake, and so is our livelihoods!”
“A hospital that allows lunatics to break through and kill patients! Dammit! I don’t want to be on the news for that!”
“If that makes the news, the hospital is finished, and so is my career! I have to stop them! We must stop them!”
“Why the hell did these crazy bastards suddenly appear?!”
The hospital staff was making desperate efforts to lock the doors and stall for time until the police arrived.
“I just need to find a weakness!”
“The aftershocks? Even if this makes the news, the chances of me going down are slim, but if weaknesses spread, I’m definitely done for! It’s right to choose a method that offers at least some survival chances!”
“I’ll break through! I’ll break through! There’s something of his on that bastard! A USB or SD card! It must be there! We need to get that smartphone!”
“Damn, what if he wrapped it in plastic and hid it in his belly, or… kept it inside of him? No… Still, I’ll find it. I must find it!”
The reporters, desperate to backtrack before the police arrive, were striving to get through and neutralize any potential weaknesses related to Lee Jae-soon.
As such, the long and short night deepened.
