Chapter 7: The Ghosts in the Basement
“The patients sent to the basement were all people who were on the verge of death.”
The high school boy with silver hair and red eyes, Yuiru Enen, nodded with deep emotion as he walked down the dimly lit fluorescent staircase.
“I see, so that’s why the ghosts on the basement floor had such a strong taste.”
“Strong taste?”
“You saw them too, didn’t you? The swarm of ghosts on the basement floor. They were people who died with a grudge against the hospital.”
Indeed, the ghosts she saw on the basement floor had a more sinister presence than the ghosts on the ground floor. Was it because of resentment?
End-of-life care patients who had been abandoned by the hospital. The resentment of those who had been sent to a place known as the “death room,” so to speak, must be immeasurable.
As she gradually approached the basement floor, Houzuki felt a chill run down her spine.
“Huh, was it this cold……?”
“I told you, night is the best time for ghosts.”
Yuiru chuckles and stands in front of the door leading to the basement.
“Let’s start with the appetizer, Houzuki.”
“But you said the taste was too strong?”
“I’m not feeling bloated.”
Houzuki sighs at Yuiru who is urging her to quickly open it while knocking on the door, and inserts the key she got from the young nurse into the lock.
Gachan.
The sound of the door being unlocked touched Houzuki’s earlobe.
She slowly opened the door and saw a corridor dimly lit by fluorescent lights. Among the unused storeroom doors and health-related posters taped to the walls, something black passed in front of Houzuki.
It was a woman with messy black hair and tattered hospital gown, walking barefoot down the cold corridor. Her entire body was painted jet black, with only her eyeballs rolled up, which was terrifying.
Peta, peta, peta.
Only the sound of the woman’s footsteps fell in the corridor.
Not aiming in any particular direction, she was walking down the corridor casually as if she was just taking a stroll.
She dragged her feet, and occasionally groaned in a voice that sounded like a squashed frog.
Ahh, ahー.
Ahー, ahhー.
The voice was unbearable to hear, and Houzuki covered her ears.
“What are you doing, Houzuki?”
Yuiru slipped past Houzuki, who was covering her ears, and raised the silver knife he was holding in his hand at the woman walking down the corridor with unsteady steps.
The tip of the knife undoubtedly pierced her cervical vertebrae from behind.
The silver-haired, red-eyed high school boy had easily taken down the hideous female ghost, and he pushed her down and immediately began eating.
“Hmm, the taste isn’t that strong. Maybe there’s a bit of resignation mixed in there.”
Guchagucha,jyu~ru.
Guchagucha, go kin ~.
“She’s just a small fry that can’t fill my stomach, but maybe it’s best to start with something like this as an appetizer. She’s neither good nor bad, just a mediocre ghost.”
Gorigori, gorigori.
Go kin ~, guchyugucha.
“Whew, gochisousamadeshita.”
Having finished off the female ghost in no time, Yuiru reaches out for the next ghost.
What Yuiru grabs is the ghost of a young boy who was stuck to the wall. Clinging to the wall like a spider, he glares at the high school boy with silver hair and red eyes, but as soon as he realizes he is going to be eaten, he swings his skinny, branch-like legs in resistance.
There’s no point in doing that. Houzuki has never once seen this high school boy let his prey escape.
Grabbing the boy’s small head, Yuiru plunges the tip of his silver knife into the boy’s round eyes.
“Old-fashioned soy sauce ramen!!”
Yuiru gleefully savored the taste of the ghost boy.
“I never thought it’d be this good. Oh, so this hair part is noodles. I love ramen, I can eat as much as I want.”
Jyurujuru, zo zo zo.
Mushamusha, jiyuru.
“Hmm, the inside has a variety of flavors, like roasted pork fillet and bamboo shoots. All topped, how luxurious. Ah, it’s amazing to be able to enjoy such a luxurious ramen…”
“Ramen doesn’t compare to a main dish.”
When Houzuki said that to Yuiru, “What are you saying?” he refuted.
“Houzuki, you seem to not know.”
“About what?”
“Ramen to me is like a beverage.”
Yuiru said with a confident look on his face.
These are words that an obese, big eater would say, but perhaps he has a similar line of thought. Yuiru is skinny, so it doesn’t seem that way.
Houzuki was a little taken aback and asked,
“So, is curry a drink to you?”
“Curry is food, isn’t it?”
“Why is your perception of it so different here?”
“If there’s no rice, it can be considered a drink, but if there’s rice, it’s food. What kind of nerve does someone have to call it a drink?”
“I question your nerve, calling ramen a drink.”
Despite this conversation, Yuiru finished eating the boy’s ghost. He clasped his hands together and said, “Gochisousamadeshita,” before moving on to the next ghost.
There were various ghosts, including a man stuck to the wall, a woman trembling in the corner of the hallway, and a girl who opened the storeroom door just a little to see what was going on. Yuiru complained that the taste was too strong, as if each one of them harbored some kind of resentment towards Tsukinashi Town General Hospital.
The silver-haired, red-eyed high school boy quickly finished off the ghosts on the basement floor,
“Okay, time for the main dish!!”
“Are you still eating?”
“Yes, I’ll eat. My stomach is bottomless.”
Houzuki was truly astonished at Yuiru’s energy while eating the ghosts in the basement floor as well as towards eating the ghost in the morgue.
This is the most ghosts he’s ever eaten and to be able to further eat a main dish, his stomach is truly bottomless. He could even enter a competitive eating contest.
Houzuki chased after Yuiru, who was humming as he walked in the direction of the morgue.
Kashan, kashan.
As they reached the corridor where the morgue was located, the sound of a scalpel falling hit Houzuki’s ears.
