Hospital 444
Chapter 388 - 5 The 13th Passenger

Chapter 388: Chapter 5 The 13th Passenger

Virgil still felt as if he was in a dream, utterly bewildered.

Just the day before yesterday, he was an ordinary person, and the most bizarre thing in his life was a madman barging into a nearby school and shooting children.

But now, his entire worldview had been almost completely destroyed and reshaped.

The Paranormal Hospital that treated curses!

It really existed!

"I still don’t understand," Virgil said. "What special talent do I have that you value so much?"

Was he... really that important?

"Even more important than you think," Klein said, looking down the corridor where his sister had gone missing. "But recruiting you also poses risks for us."

"Risks?"

Klein did not directly answer his question but said, "The red masks I gave you earlier, you received them, right?"

"Yes, I’ve got them."

The first thing Klein did upon entering the hospital was to hand two red masks to Virgil.

"In this hospital, all doctors and nurses must procure two red masks from the Demons Department and carry them at all times. This is common knowledge in our hospital."

"Right, but you told me not to wear the mask."

"Under normal circumstances, you must never wear it."

As Klein said this, his expression grew serious.

"All the signs inside our hospital are in English, you must have noticed," he said.

"Yes, and it’s all standard British English." For the American Virgil, this was somewhat uncomfortable.

"On your way here, you didn’t see any signs in languages other than English, did you?"

"I didn’t pay particular attention, but they should all be in English."

Actually, he was a bit puzzled by this.

After entering 666 Hospital, he noticed there were quite a few European non-English speaking patients. He heard French, German, Spanish, Portuguese. And listening closely to their conversations, he could tell that these people were probably Europeans, not from South American countries.

Although English is an important language learned by people all over the world, with so many European and American patients, there were bound to be some whose English was not up to par.

"You’ve also noticed that on our foreheads, we have a black inverted cross, right? It’s just usually covered by the bangs," he continued.

Virgil remembered. But to the average person, it just looked like a tattoo on the forehead, and in a country like the United States where tattoos were extremely common, nobody would think twice about it.

"Yes, every doctor and nurse has one."

"Then remember, if you see any non-English text, especially... Chinese, or see any doctors or nurses without the black inverted cross on their foreheads, immediately, without delay... put on the red mask."

"Why..."

"And you, Virgil, the likelihood of you seeing this kind of scenario is much higher than the rest of us."

Hearing this, Virgil subconsciously looked at the text on the elevator.

"Arabic numerals don’t count, right?"

"They don’t count."

Chinese... especially Chinese?

This statement made Virgil uncomfortable in a strange way. After all, his mother was Chinese. Moreover, Virgil looked more Asian in appearance, and many had mistaken him for Japanese or Korean.

"What happens if I don’t wear the red mask?"

"That’s the crucial point."

Klein continued, "That day, the surveillance camera near the elevator showed that Rosa and Mary had passed by one after the other. And according to what I know, Rosa Medel, three days before Mary’s disappearance, being the assistant head of the Demons Department, had procured an astonishing three extra red masks."

Three red masks?

"Masks must be completely used up before new ones can be issued, and one can only claim a maximum of two at a time; only the deputy director is entitled to claim three."

"Why would someone need that many?"

"Yes, why indeed... We later investigated all the doctors, nurses, and patients who took the elevator to this floor during the time Mary disappeared. There were a lot of people, so it took us quite some time, especially the passengers who shared the elevator with Mary."

"So..."

"Most of the passengers remembered Mary; after all, she’s part of the Faust Family, the daughter of the vice president. Everyone clearly remembered that she paused for a full ten seconds at the elevator door before entering. No one dared to offend Miss Faust, and even though she was hesitant to enter, they held the button to keep the elevator doors open for her."

"Ding—"

At this moment, the elevator doors opened.

A male doctor walked in. Since Klein had his back to him, the doctor did not realize he was the eldest son of the Faust Family. Instead, he said, "You two shouldn’t go in. With the two of you, there will be thirteen passengers in the elevator."

Hearing this, Virgil remembered that indeed there was a sign in the elevator that read "Capacity: 12 persons."

Klein then said, "Do you know why the elevator has a capacity limit of 12 people?"

"Overloading? It can’t be because the number 13 is unlucky, can it?"

"No," Klein shook his head slightly: "This is a rule established by the dean. The elevator must never carry more than 12 people, meaning 12 ’humans,’ even if all 12 are children. Of course, if a thirteenth person enters, the elevator will immediately give a warning, and it can even detect if a female doctor is pregnant. The elevator won’t start unless the thirteenth person steps out. So originally, according to the dean’s orders, there should be no need to open the elevator doors again to count the passengers, but he stipulated that everyone must check the number of people carefully when the elevator doors open!"

"Then..."

"However, within the hospital, every year, there will be one or two instances where doctors and nurses, upon the elevator doors opening, see... thirteen people inside!"

"This... doesn’t it mean that the elevator couldn’t possibly start with thirteen passengers?"

"The peculiar part is that after an investigation, it turns out that’s not the case. Only doctors standing outside the elevator notice the thirteenth person inside."

Virgil was utterly confused.

"Exactly. That’s the crux of the issue," Klein said, looking at the elevator doors behind him. "Logically, this is impossible. And according to the dean’s rules, doctors, nurses, or patients who see a thirteenth person inside the elevator must never enter it, even if all thirteen people are known and familiar to them. They also must not inform the people inside about this, nor should they actively ask anyone inside to leave. Of course, if a passenger exits the elevator, they should not be stopped."

What kind of bizarre rule is this???

"The appearance of the thirteenth passenger has no pattern."

Virgil suddenly thought of something: "But that’s not right. Wouldn’t the people inside the elevator notice that a thirteenth passenger had appeared?"

"That’s... the most terrifying part. We are Paranormal Doctors, and while it might be difficult for ordinary people to see through the hiding of ghosts, it’s usually not a problem for us. But... when this happens, those inside the elevator claim they checked the numbers carefully before entering! Yet in the end, we only find twelve passengers; we can’t determine who the thirteenth person is."

"Then..." Virgil quickly said, "Have the people who saw the thirteen passengers inside the elevator identify them one by one..."

"The Darren Family had done just that before. But in the end, they found that if they forced the doctors or patients who witnessed the thirteen passengers to recall, they would ultimately descend into madness and become complete lunatics."

Hearing this, Virgil instinctively moved away from the elevator.

"So you suspect... that when Mary... she saw the thirteenth passenger, but still went in?"

"It’s not suspicion but certainty. Because I found that at that time, there were twelve doctors and patients who took that elevator! Under normal circumstances, Mary should not have entered!"

Virgil drew in a sharp breath.

"But simply because Rosa Medel took the elevator at the same time as her..."

"Simply because she is Damon Dailun’s fiancée, she has enough motive to harm a member of the Faust Family. The destruction of the surveillance footage is most likely the handiwork of the Dalen Family," Klein said as he took a deep breath. "You are our family’s last hope of finding Mary, Virgil!"

"But what exactly can I do?"

"Do you feel anything special? While you’re here?"

"No," Virgil shook his head.

Suddenly, it was as if he had thought of something and asked, "Those twelve passengers at the time, didn’t they find it strange? The thirteenth passenger, Mary, walked in and the elevator could still operate?"

"That’s the issue. The moment I ask them this question or which floor Mary got off the elevator, they start to remember... and they go mad, turning into lunatics! Then, you can’t get anything else out of them!"

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