At the same time.
Inside room 1419, Ivan stood in front of the mirror, washing his hands. When he lifted his head again, his face had perfectly shifted into Cha Hyun-soo's.
"Not bad… looks pretty convincing."
He changed into a fresh set of clothes and walked over to Choi's door.
"Hey, anyone in there?" Ivan called out, shifting his vocal cords to match a stranger's voice.
A few seconds later, muffled whimpers came from inside.
Ivan's lips curled into a smirk. "Can't talk? Need some help?"
"Mm-mmm-mmm!" The banging against the door grew louder and more desperate.
"What's the passcode?"
On the other side, Choi—tied up like a mummy in bandages—started slamming his body against the door in a rhythmic pattern. His eyes were full of raw, animal hope. Funny how hope could bring a broken man back from the brink.
He'd been half-brain-dead from Ivan's earlier torture, but the promise of rescue lit a new fire in him.
"Two… one… two…" Ivan pressed the buttons slowly, following the rhythm of the thumps.
Beep beep beep! The lock blared an error.
"Wrong code, asshole," Ivan said, deliberately fucking up the last digit.
"Mm-mmm-mmm!"
Choi thrashed harder, smashing his head against the door over and over.
They repeated the game two or three more times. The door stayed locked. Choi was starting to lose it, hope crumbling into pure despair.
He couldn't believe how fucking stupid this guy was. It was just a four-digit code. Even guessing randomly should've worked by now.
"Two one three two. Is that it?" Ivan asked right when the man was about to give up.
"Mm-mmm-mmm!"
click!
The lock clicked open. Ivan yanked the door wide. Choi tumbled forward and face-planted right at his feet.
"Hey, you okay?" Ivan pretended to sound worried as he hauled the guy up and sat him in a chair. He started unwrapping the bloody bandages from Choi's face layer by layer.
The guy was a mess. Face covered in cuts and bruises, right eye socket caved in under a patch. Looked like the eyeball was long gone.
"Hey, you still with me? Who the fuck did this to you?" Ivan asked, frowning as he patted the man's cheek.
Choi couldn't speak at first. Only after Ivan brought him a glass of water did he finally find his voice.
"Thank you… I really thought I was going to die in here," Choi said hoarsely, opening his one swollen eye.
"No problem. Now tell me, what the hell happened to you?" Ivan asked, all fake concern while wiping blood off the guy's face with a wet wipe from his pocket.
"Two robbers broke in. They started torturing me the second they got through the door. I don't even know what I did to piss them off." Choi launched into the whole miserable story of the past week.
Truth was, Ivan didn't feel an ounce of pity. He was fighting back laughter the entire time. Still, he kept up the concerned act like a pro.
"By the way, what's going on outside? I heard some really weird noises," Choi asked.
"Yeah, shit's gone to hell. People are turning into monsters and killing everyone in the building. Including those two you mentioned—one doctor in a white coat with gold-rimmed glasses, and some burned-up guy with scars all over his face." Ivan described the two "robbers" in perfect detail.
Choi suddenly got excited. Life sparked back into his dead eyes. "You said they're dead? They're really dead? How did the doctor die? Tell me exactly how it happened!"
"That doctor died pretty fucking horribly," Ivan said, pretending to fight back nausea. "Some monster with a mouth full of razor teeth ripped him apart piece by piece and swallowed him alive. A lot of people watching threw up on the spot."
Choi burst out laughing even though it tore open the wounds on his face. "Good! Fucking good! That sick bastard deserved exactly that kind of death."
The moment he believed Ivan was dead, the burning desire to kill him vanished completely.
"You're in really bad shape," Ivan continued. "If those wounds get infected and you don't reach a hospital soon, you'll die."
Fear flashed across Choi's face. Earlier he'd thought he was already finished, so death didn't scare him. Now that survival seemed possible again, he clung to life like a drowning man.
Plus, from what Ivan described, the world outside had gone to total shit. Chaos like this was paradise for a guy like him.
"No, you have to take me to the hospital. Please!"
If this had been the original group of protagonists, they probably would've agreed and dragged out a bunch of stupid drama.
Too bad for him he ran into "kind-hearted" Ivan Greevs instead.
Ivan helped him up with a serious look and brought him to the window. "Look outside. The whole place is crawling with monsters. There's no way a few of us can get you to a hospital safely. Hell, the hospitals are probably overrun already. Going there would just be suicide."
"So what, I'm supposed to just sit here and die?" A murderous glint flashed in Choi's eyes, but he quickly covered it with perfect acting. He slumped weakly and said, "Sorry… I was out of line just now. If that's the case, I won't trouble you. I can try to reach the hospital myself."
"Please, just help me untie these bandages first."
Suddenly Ivan acted like he'd had a brilliant idea. "Wait, I just thought of someone. There's this other doctor in the building. Really skilled guy. He should have the medicine and supplies you need."
"Thank you so much for saving my life. Really, thank you," Choi kept repeating, laying on the gratitude thick. He actually looked pathetic enough to fool most people.
"I'll call him over right now," Ivan said, turning toward the door.
As he watched Ivan's back, Choi got a strange sense of déjà vu.
Suddenly Ivan stopped walking.
Choi grew impatient. "Can you hurry? I really don't have much time left."
"That doctor's already here," Ivan replied calmly. He pulled the gold-rimmed glasses from his pocket, slipped them on, and shifted back into his original face with a wide smile.
In an instant, two massive gashes tore across his cheeks all the way to his ears. His lips peeled back and disappeared, revealing hundreds of razor-sharp fangs glistening in the light.
Ivan tilted his head, still grinning like a maniac. "Do I look like that doctor to you?"
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69