Chapter 1863: Chapter 1863

An hour before Jenkins received the news, the Church had followed standard procedure for handling spatial anomalies and dispatched a small team into the fog bank. Their mission was to find any trace of the missing people and to investigate the nature of the other region that had superimposed itself onto their world.

But after the team entered the fog, half an hour passed without any word. A subsequent analysis of the dissipating white mist revealed faint traces of a hallucinogen.

It was clear no one had deliberately spread it; even a large dose would be ineffective in such an open, windy field. After consulting their records and analyzing the hallucinogen's components, the Church finally confirmed that the phenomenon accompanying the fog was the Cursed Item designated A-07-2-3926: [Bigges Hospital].

A-07-2-3926 [Bigges Hospital] is a Cursed Item similar to [Night Manor], a tangible entity that can be seen and touched. Its defining characteristic is a time loop that affects its interior.

[Bigges Hospital] is a hospital-like complex that appears at random in the material world. A barbed-wire fence marks its perimeter, separating inside from out. It only manifests during spring and summer, and always in a plains region.

When the hospital materializes, the surrounding air becomes naturally infused with traces of a hallucinogen. The substance itself isn't lethal, addictive, or supernatural. Its sole effect is to make anyone who inhales it more susceptible to emotional outbursts, loss of reason, and vivid hallucinations.

The Church believes that [Bigges Hospital] manifested somewhere in the world, and by a stroke of pure coincidence, its location overlapped with the spatial anomaly near Nolan, resulting in the current incident.

"Although the time loop in [Bigges Hospital] is confined to its interior, we can't just leave this Cursed Item alone. Aside from the temporal anomaly, it spontaneously lures ordinary people inside. What's worse, these trespassers are completely unaware that their thoughts are being manipulated; they justify their actions with excuses like 'urban exploration,' 'gathering material for a story,' or 'a test of courage.' Even if we cordon off the area, they'll find what they perceive as 'normal' ways to get in. In short, to protect Nolan, the closest city, from its influence, the Church has decided we must resolve this proactively rather than wait for the situation to escalate." Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on N()velFire.net

Papa Oliver sat with Jenkins by a campfire in the Church's hastily erected camp. Cursed Items involving time were exceedingly rare, and not many people had experience handling them. As luck would have it, however, Papa Oliver and Old Jack had encountered [Bigges Hospital] thirty-three years ago. In fact, they were the only survivors of that incident, which was why he had been summoned so late in the evening.

Jenkins asked, a flicker of eagerness in his voice. Fusing the King Soul required a location with a temporal anomaly. While the Astral Plane was an option, the Star Spirit had mentioned it was barely suitable. If a better alternative presented itself, Jenkins certainly wasn't going to let it slip by.

"I was the one who suggested the Church call you. We'll need your strength for this."

Papa Oliver tossed more wood into the fire. All around them, the temporary camp was still taking shape. Crops had been torn from the earth, clearing a large swath of land for the Church's operations. According to the incident report he and Old Jack had filed back then, along with the few other records on [Bigges Hospital], this was going to be a long-term affair.

The Cursed Item's presence had dropped the temperature, making it feel nothing like a midsummer night. The campfire had been lit for this very reason. Chocolate, perched obediently on Jenkins's shoulder, seemed to enjoy the chill, its amber eyes reflecting the dancing flames.

"You've read the files, haven't you? The area inside the barbed-wire fence is in a time loop, but the length of each cycle varies. The shortest one we've recorded was three seconds; the longest was eleven minutes and fifty-three seconds. If you fail to get out before a cycle ends, you're trapped forever, forced to repeat the same actions with every loop. People outside the fence can see what's happening inside. The Church believes that if left undisturbed, Bigges Hospital will vanish after 3,948 cycles. When it reappears somewhere else, everyone who was trapped inside will be gone. The hospital will be waiting for a new batch of victims."

Jenkins gave a solemn nod, confirming he had read that section of the report.

"That's the declassified version. What you need to know is the part that isn't public. Those files are kept at the Holy See. Among our personnel here in Nolan, only Strass and I have the clearance to access them, so I'll brief you orally."

Papa Oliver lowered his voice. He and Jenkins cast a wary glance at their surroundings, and Chocolate, perched on Jenkins's shoulder, mimicked the gesture, scanning the area as well.

"The hospital has what we call 'residents.' In other words, the Cursed Item [Bigges Hospital] isn't just the physical structure; it includes the people who belong inside it. The Church of Travelers has a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. They believe Bigges Hospital didn't cross over from a Mysterious Realm but was instead born in our world. And those people inside... they're probably the reason for its creation.

There are seven entities inside the hospital that we believe are real, all of them located in the main building. Through years of the Church's research—which involved sending in death row inmates for observation, as well as some... less savory methods I can't discuss—we've managed to map out the patterns of these seven individuals within the time loop. From this, we've found a way to banish [Bigges Hospital] prematurely."

"Let me guess. Among those seven, someone is performing a ritual?"

Jenkins interjected. Papa Oliver nodded, his forehead creasing, which made the wrinkles there even more pronounced.

"It's because there are too many people with no reverence for the mysteries of the world that things keep getting worse," he sighed. "The main hospital building has four floors, though you could say six if you include the basement and the rooftop. At the precise moment the time loop begins, there are two people in the basement, two on the first floor, one on the second, one on the fourth, and one on the rooftop. Which one do you want to hear about first?"

"Let's start from the top."

Jenkins replied after a moment's thought.

"The longest cycle the Church has observed lasted eleven minutes and fifty-three seconds. During this time, the rooftop is occupied by a single barefoot man in a gray wool sweater and black trousers. For the first eight minutes and twelve seconds, he paces back and forth along the edge. At eight minutes and thirteen seconds, he pulls a sheet of paper and a fountain pen from his pocket. He leans over the railing to write, and this continues until the ten-minute, twenty-three-second mark. At ten twenty-four, he places the paper on the ground and uses the pen to hold it down. Five seconds later, at ten twenty-nine, he leaps from the rooftop."

Papa Oliver made a falling motion with his hand, its shadow stretching into a strange shape on the ground in the flickering firelight. Jenkins, hugging his knees as he sat beside the old man, nodded.

"He dies? Is that the end of his story for the remaining minute and twenty-four seconds?"

"No. At ten minutes and fifty-seven seconds, he transforms into a malevolent spirit and slaughters everyone else inside the time loop."

Jenkins's eyes widened in surprise. He then raised a hand to greet Mr. Fred, a demigod from the Church of Ocean and Exploration, who was just walking past their campfire.