MDCR 20

My Record of Taking Charge of the Dark Mastermind

Chapter 20

“Hey.”

“Shut up.”

“Yo.”

“I said, shut up!”

Still got some energy left, huh.

I thought saying stuff like this was really embarrassing.

It would sound obvious, shallow, and clichéd.

But I still wanted to say it—and honestly, that was the only thing I could say.

A nurse and a long-term patient.

That’s all our relationship amounted to.

So clichéd, so shallow, so utterly trivial.

“How’s Irix doing?”

Still, there was one more relationship that felt a bit special.

I had read the writings where he poured out his thoughts.

His back shook, but he didn’t look back.

“I killed him.”

When did he die? Last I saw, he was still alive.

“I told you—he’s a bad guy. So I killed him. Don’t care.”

“When did you write that?”

“In my head.”

So he hadn’t actually written it.

In that case, I could’ve written a hundred novels and finished them all—steamy romance, light romance, chaotic romance, and so on.

“I still want to see if he dies properly.”

“What’s so interesting about a bad guy story?”

“Because it’s your story.”

“…….”

“So I’m curious. If you wrote it, show me. I’ll read it and curse at it.”

I hoped Irix wouldn’t actually die.

He’s already become someone to kill, so technically he should, but I wanted Room 301 to rewrite it from the beginning.

After a moment, the blanket shifted and a thin arm shot out.

I found the vein and inserted the needle. Fixed it in place and made sure the IV flowed properly.

“The medication will arrive in about an hour. Take it quietly then.”

No response.

I unwrapped the syringe, removed the cap, and filled it with the medicine.

“Ina.”

“What?”

“Ina, don’t think about Irix. He’s really a bad guy.”

What a ridiculous kid.

He made him, and he hates him.

I pushed the syringe into the IV and spoke.

“Then give him a proper punishment and kill him. I’m curious.”

“Curious?”

“Yeah. I care about him. About Irix.”

“I told you not to care.”

“I can’t help caring.”

After a brief silence, he muttered in a sulky voice.

“Liar.”

I can lie well, but that wasn’t a lie.

“You’re interested in other things, aren’t you?”

Room 301 pulled his arm back under the blanket and said,

“You don’t care about me.”

Why did it suddenly switch to “me”?

“You care a lot about your numbers.”

I adjusted the IV flow and said,

“Once you get better, continue writing. I’ll watch over it.”

“…….”

“I want you to get better.”

I knew it was impossible, but I still hoped.

Room 301 buried his face deep in the blanket and stayed quiet. He said nothing while I left.

After that, Room 301’s condition improved considerably. His numbers recovered and almost reached normal levels.

The highly toxic emergency medication was discontinued. It was replaced with tolerable medicine, with additional drugs for recovery rather than treatment.

He began moving around more, sometimes even leaving the room. The IV bags dwindled quickly. Notes on his chart became increasingly hopeful.

Talk of discharge began. He was really improving.

I couldn’t believe it. What kind of miracle had happened?

Finally, Room 301 stood in front of me and said,

“I’m being discharged.”

I already knew that.

His condition had improved enough to go home. Now there was only one IV bag left on his stand.

“My cousin’s coming.”

Not a guardian, but a guardian proxy. I’d seen him before—recognized him as a high school classmate. He had changed so much I barely recognized him. If he hadn’t noticed me first, I wouldn’t have known either.

“Hey, Song Ina.”

Guess I’ll never get promoted to “sister.” Still just “Song Ina” to the end.

“Can I take that device?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That… you know.”

The old, dead cellphone? I didn’t even know it was still alive.

“Take it. If it breaks, throw it away. It can’t be fixed.”

“I’ll try to fix it.”

“You can’t. There are no more parts. It’s been discontinued for ages.”

“I’ll still try. I’ll make the parts myself.”

I laughed.

“You’ll have to study a lot to do that.”

“I will. I’m going to live a long time now anyway.”

That left me speechless for a moment.

It was the first time I’d heard that from Room 301.

“I won’t write anymore, but I’ll finish this story and show it to you.”

“When?”

“Later.”

He mumbled quietly.

“I’ll show it later.”

“Once you’re discharged, you won’t see me here.”

“I’ll come for your outpatient visits.”

No way. He’d probably forget everything here the moment he left the hospital.

“Alright. I’ll wait.”

Room 301’s eyes widened, as if he’d heard the most wondrous words in the world.

But Room 301 couldn’t be discharged.

Two days later, the hospital sirens blared.

—Risk of hospital collapse.

—Evacuate immediately.

I’d always believed the hospital and school were safe, but here we were.

I didn’t know if the problem was attackers or defenders.

After evacuating patients and guardians, I checked room by room. But Room 301 wasn’t there.

“Where’s Room 301?”

A child said,

“I saw them go inside.”

“Inside?”

“Yes, the 301 side. I was passing by and saw. They said my brother couldn’t come in, so they escorted him here and then went back. They said they needed to take something.”

Something clicked in my head.

The story.

After going to the ICU, that room had been empty the whole time. Room 301 thought their story was still there.

Fool. It wasn’t.

Room 301’s things had already been cleared. I had taken the story and stored it in a locker.

Since Room 301’s guardian would no longer handle him, I was told to take care of his belongings.

It was when Room 301 was critically ill. His guardian was sorting his belongings even before he died.

“Teacher Song!”

I ran, ignoring whoever shouted from behind.

The floor shook, the ceiling and walls groaned ominously—but I ran anyway.

Luckily, I found Room 301 nearby.

“Why are you here?!”

I said, startled.

“I came to get you! Get out now!”

“I can manage—”

Before he finished, the whole building trembled. I felt dizzy. The building was collapsing. I grabbed Room 301’s arm.

“Let’s go.”

“Why did you come?! You should’ve left me to die…!”

“Yeah. I regret coming.”

“Then why come at all?!”

“If I hadn’t come, I’d regret it even more! And I hate regretting, but I’d hate regretting even more!”

“…….”

“Save the swearing for after we’re out! Be prepared—there’s plenty waiting for you!”

There had always been plenty, and it only increased while coming here.

But it was too late.

With a roar, dust rose, flames and smoke engulfed us. There was no time to waste.

I instinctively shouted the name he’d memorized during his ICU stay.

“Come here!”

His eyes widened, and he smiled.

“Name… I know.”

And then…

CRASH

Everything collapsed around us.

Even knowing it was useless, I ran and held his frail body.

I couldn’t stop the falling concrete, but I did it anyway.

Why did I do that?

There was no reward.

But what choice did I have?

Good deeds never come with rewards. You do them simply because they must be done.

To continue doing good, you must recognize that first.

Just as bad deeds don’t always bring punishment.

As acts of kindness don’t always earn thanks, evil acts don’t always earn retribution.

The world isn’t perfectly balanced between plus and minus. It’s just chaotic heaps mixed together.

So I wasn’t running after something to save it. I went simply because I cared.

If you don’t act when you care, you’ll always regret it.

And…

I opened my eyes here, and met Irix.

Another Room 301, another alter ego in this world.

Click—

The sound of a running train reached me.

I opened my eyes and was back inside the train carriage.

I had clearly fallen off a cliff moments ago—so why was I here?

Could this be a loop?

Death and restart at the starting point?

So I’d do the same thing again?

But this time, it was different from the first time. This carriage wasn’t luxurious. It was small.

The train ran along the seaside. Through the window, cliffs rose. Thin strata stacked like layers of a crepe cake. White seagulls flew between the layers.

[Hello.]

A soft voice that clung to my ear.

What?

I looked at the opposite seat.

The empty space began to shimmer faintly.

[It’s me.]

How am I supposed to understand that?

Who… are you?

A map appeared before us. The same one that had been on the table when I first arrived here. Letters began appearing on the map.

“We finally meet.”

It was him.