Part 25: 1200cc

_{content warning: blood, needles, suicidal ideation/suicide attempt, severe drug use, human trafficking, unethical human experimentation, brief mention of prostitution}

[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


Hey, it's nice to get kind of a softball lob once in a while. That said, they've got this set up so that you can only keep one white piece between each black piece (since, well, a person can't have more than one blood type at a time, you know?) so the actual puzzle here is just shuffling around what type of blood is in what situation.



Thankfully, this puzzle isn't too difficult, but we've got some non-S endings to get to first. We'll be starting with the solution 'O/A/B/A'. This makes it so that O is in short supply, and that Kang shares the right blood type with Ji-Yeon.



The nurse looked at Lieutenant Kang.

“In this case, we can only take 400cc from you. But 400cc isn't enough. I'll draw the blood from you first, and go call another hospital later. I hope it won't be too late.”

I sat beside them.
I watched as the nurse drew the blood from the Lieutenant, but there was nothing else I could do.



Once she was done, the nurse picked up the tray and was about to leave.

“Wait. Take some more!”

Lieutenant Kang suddenly grabbed her hand.

“But if I do, you will...”



She tried to wiggle her hand out.
But the Lieutenant was not letting go.

“Just do it! It's my blood, and I get to decide what I want to do with it!”

I completely understood the Lieutenant.
If it had been me, I would do the same thing.
Not just 400cc, if I had 4000cc, I would be willing to donate all of it.

The nurse put down her tray and drew another 200cc.
The Lieutenant still wanted her to keep going, but she wouldn't do it, no matter what.
In the end, she ran away like she was trying to escape from us.

An hour later, the sign went off.
The doctor walked out, saw us, and rubbed his eyes.

“The operation was a success. But the patient has lost too much blood, and we are not sure when she will wake up. In the worst case scenario...”

I clenched my fist. Lieutenant Kang's breathing was getting louder and heavier, too.

“...she might fall into a vegetative state.”



Obviously not ideal, hence the C rank. (Spoilers: all the non-S endings besides the default Bad are C rank in this section )



What about if we adjust it so Chang is the one with the matching blood type? 'O/A/A/B'? (Cloacamazing's guess results in this outcome.)



The nurse looked at me.

“In this case, we can only take 400cc from you. But 400cc isn't enough. I'll draw the blood from you first, and go call another hospital later. I hope it won't be too late.”

I watched as the nurse hurried away, then I realized Lieutenant Kang was gone, too.

Half an hour later, the sign went off.
The doctor slowly pushed open the door to the operating room.
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and the door looked like it was as heavy as a mountain.

“I'm so sorry...”

I held my head in my hands, staring at the floor.
I couldn't breathe.
Lieutenant Kang had just rushed back in with a few colleagues. He must have found some people with matching blood types.
After hearing the doctor's words, he angrily kicked at a hospital bed in the hallway.
Yes, they were too late...



Somehow, that's even worse!

There was some discussion about what the “twist” would be for this puzzle, because of how simple it is, and the “twist” is, uh, 1200cc is a LOT of blood! It's around 2.5 pints, and the average adult has around 8 to 10 pints total in their body- when you go to give blood, you usually give around a pint of blood at most, so to donate the full 1200cc would functionally put you in the same dangerous health situation that the woman they're trying to save is currently in- it wouldn't actually solve a problem



What if we change things around a little and go 'A/B/A/O'? Having O be the type of blood they're out of is definitely hurting their chances here. (Viola the Mad's guess would result in this ending.)



The nurse looked at Lieutenant Kang.

“In this case, we can only take 400cc from you, plus the last 400cc of type O blood in storage, and it might be enough. We will do our best.”

After she had drawn my blood, Lieutenant Kang and I both sat on the long bench in the hallway.
The air was filled with anxiety.
But all we could do was wait.

An hour later, the sign went off.
The doctor walked out, saw us, and rubbed his eyes.

“The operation was a success. But the patient has lost too much blood, and we are not sure when she will wake up. In the worst case scenario...”

I clenched my fist. Lieutenant Kang's breathing was getting louder and heavier, too.

“...she might fall into a vegetative state.”



Note that you get functionally the exact same ending if you put 'A/A/O/B' (giving Chang O blood instead of Kang), so there's no point in showing that ending. (Miz Kriss's guess would result in that ending.) Let's get to the S ending.



So, it's probably pretty obvious by the title, but while 800cc seems to be enough blood to keep her alive, it's not enough, we need the full 1200cc- so we need to change things so that both Chang and Kang can donate blood to save her. Therefore, the correct outcome is 'B/A/O/A'- B to be the type of blood they're out of (and also have no interaction with the current situation altogether), and A for Ji-Yeon so she can receive blood from both Chang and Kang.

[BGM: Green Fog]


“Great! Both of your blood types are a match! We'll take 400cc from each of you, plus the last 400cc of type O blood idn our storage, and it should be enough. I'll draw blood from you both immediately.”

She gently pushed a needle into my arm.
I watched as my blood slowly filled a bag, thinking about how it was going to save her life.

“You have been in my unit for a while now. I never had the chance to tell you something.”

Lieutenant Kang, who had his blood drawn earlier, leaned on the long bench next to me and spoke.

Considering what I had accomplished today, was he going to reward me with something?
To tell me something... could it be?

“You are very good”?
“You are the best new recruit I have ever seen”?
“Unit 4 is so lucky to have you”?
Hahahaha, I just couldn't stop my imagination!



He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
But then he must have realized that he couldn't smoke here, so he took it out and put it back into the pack.

“Never be late again. If you are, I'll have you transferred.”



…

[BGM: New Life]




…

[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


So Far, Yet So Close

The simulation exam was only hours away. Yet I had been lying in bed all night, unable to fall asleep.
Every time I closed my eyes I could see the sketch that Mr. Wen had drawn of me earlier.
It was so... beautiful...
I thought I should go to school earlier to try and find it in the trash can.

I got out of bed, walked across the living room and grabbed a box of chocolate milk that Rocky had “paid” me.

The moon seemed especially round tonight...
I leaned on the railing of the balcony, watching the moon and drinking the milk.
Mr. Wen's place was to my right.
The light was still on.



Ever since I had learned that Mr. Wen lived next door, I would often involuntarily wander onto the balcony to watch the view outside.
However, I had never seen him out here even once.
The curtain was always closed behind the glass door to Mr. Wen's living room.
I couldn't see anything inside, except to tell whether the lights were on or not.

It was almost 1am. The lights were still on.
I didn't think that he could be up so late, despite his lights usually still being on when I had gone to bed in the past.
What was he doing at this hour?
It couldn't be because of... what had happened earlier today?
Ugh... it had only been a joke. I suppose that I should go and apologize tomorrow...

[BGM: Silence]


I suddenly heard a muffled sound.
Then I noticed that his curtain moved slightly, and saw a hand appear at the bottom of the glass door.

It was Mr. Wen's hand.

[BGM: Broken Dream 2]


M-Murder?!

Shut up. What was I thinking?!

I immediately called for an ambulance while I knocked on his door. But nobody responded.
No one answered the phone in the manager's office, either.
I heard that people could pass out for many reasons, but the best opportunity for first-aid only lasted for the first five minutes.
It might be too late to wait for the ambulance to arrive.

I grabbed a rope on the balcony and tied one end around my waist.
I tied the other end to the railing.
Finally, I climbed up the railing and stood on top of it, shaking.

Mr. Wen's balcony was approximately... 1.5 meters away.
My own record in long jump was... 1.72 meters, if I remembered correctly.
Ha, haha... I should... I should be all right then...

One, two three... Jump!



The slipper had been tossed on the ground earlier.

Damn it... I was so close to reaching the pipe on the other side!
I was hanging between the third and fourth floors.
The rope tightened around my waist.
Thankfully it was strong enough to hold me. I could still make it.

I held onto the rope for dear life, carefully untied the knot and jumped onto the balcony on the third floor. However, nobody seemed to be home...

[BGM: Silence]
It took 20 minutes for the paramedics to get me off the third floor balcony.
By then, it was already too late for Mr. Wen...

I watched helplessly as they carried him onto the ambulance. He looked like he was only taking a nap.
I suddenly had a feeling of deja vu of the day I lost my father.

No... No!

Li Wen



[BGM: My Mexican Guitar Gently Weeps]


Pills

If someone asked me what I wanted the most at that exact moment,
I would say “freedom”.

As for the thing that I wanted second most...
I would say “death”.

Two months ago, a short and skinny old man had bought me from a human trafficking auction house and brought me back to his mansion.
At first I thought he was just like most of the other buyers, who had only been looking for some exotic playthings.
But I soon found out that he was much more frightening.



His name was Money Jia, an infamous local millionaire in Hong Kong.
On the surface he was the owner of a chemical plant, making his bucks from pharmaceutical research and development.
But behind the scenes he had been conducting drug tests on humans. And the tests were not just limited to medicinal drugs, but also experimental ones that were developed soley for the gangs, some of which were even from abroad.

What he had spent in buying us was nothing compared to the profits he could make off of us.

All of his test subjects were people he had purchased from the auction house. None of us had any legal status.
Therefore, nobody would care who we were or where we had gone.
It was like we had evaporated from the face of the Earth.

There were both men and women among us.
Sometimes the women might get a little “lucky”, compared to the men.
If the girls were willing to become a concubine, they could be spared the fate of trying the more dangerous drugs.



Rose had been one of the concubines.
She had still died though. I heard she had OD'ed.

After her death, her body was taken away like everyone else before her.
She just disappeared without a trace.
I would rather die from poison than become another Rose.

The people who had made the same choice as I were all locked inside the dungeon.
They had tied our hands and feet to the bed posts, with our limbs spread out unnaturally.
Everyone had been tied down in a separate room.
However, the air ducts in the rooms were all connected. The air was filled with the smell of rotten flesh and death.
Every few minutes I could hear horrifying screams coming from the distance.



I had endured a fever for the last couple of days.
I heard them saying that the drug they had been giving me was defective, and if my fever didn't come down soon I would die.
To make sure that they could extract as much profit out of me as they could, they had assigned a new doctor; he had been checking up on me every day.

This doctor seemed more bookish. He might be a good man.
In my haze I tried to talk to him. He never responded.
So I kept talking to myself.

After setting up my IV drip, the doctor hung the bottle of medicine on a makeshift pole that had been made out of a rusty water pipe. Then his phone rang.
He walked to the hallway outside and half-closed the door.
His medicine kit was near my pillow.



There were two bottles in the corner of the kit ------
One with sleeping pills.
One with poison.

The doctor was still answering the phone outside.

The day had finally come.
If I could just grab that bottle, I could carry out the plan I'd had in my mind for a long time...

The rope was loose.
I grabbed the pipe firmly.

I wiggled my left hand out of the loosened rope and reached for the kit.
I grabbed the bottle closer to my left hand ------ the sleeping pills.
I twisted the cap off with my left hand and poured the entire bottle into my mouth.

Ah... it was so painful...
Then I lifted the pipe and smashed it down on my own head.

I could finally end this life in hell...
Carlos... I'm sorry... your Alicia can't take care of you anymore... goodbye forever, Carlos...



I didn't know how long had passed.
I was so surprised when I woke up.

I had an oxygen mask on my face and IV tubes inserted into my arms.
Some familiar guards and doctors were standing next to the bed.
They had tied my hands and feet to the bed posts.
The air was still filled with that rotten smell.

I closed my eyes in desperation.
Heavenly Father... what have I done wrong?

Alicia





***

Profiles have updated.







_{It's easy to miss, but Chang isn't on the list of people Kang dislikes anymore after this point.}