[OPEN] 12/3 IN MY RESTLESS DREAMS, I SEE THAT HOSPITAL

[flowerclips]

THE HOSPITAL

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→ 12/3 LOCKDOWN

On the same night of the first snowfall in Hirajiro, a cold gust of wind blows through the town when the Lockdown begins. Although early, it appears that this may be the final dungeon that will contain the Daitengu. After all, the only reason a new dungeon appeared every other month was because the Daitengu was always defeated so late. Now that Yashiro-no-Shugosha has been killed, it only makes sense that a new dungeon has appeared immediately the following month.

Following the wind, it leads to the Hirajiro General Hospital. The dark windows are locked shut and reveal nothing but pitch darkness inside the building. The front doors are ajar and they give a loud unpleasant squeal when pushed open. This is it. It's the final dungeon. It should be the end, right?

Rei is no longer found in town.

→ FLOOR 1 - THE PEDIATRIC WARD

Descending the stairs to the first floor, a large sign attached to the wall reads "THE PEDIATRIC WARD". Underneath it, a rusty but otherwise colourful sign reads "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAY". With nearly half of the lights on, even with their erratic flickering and the nauseating pale blue hue that they give, it's easy to see the floor's surroundings. As appropriate for its name, bright and cheerful colours paint the walls, although parts are stained and chipped off, and giant stickers of various different animals line the hallways, albeit falling apart and torn. It's eerily silent, asides from faint sobbing that comes and goes from nowhere, but stepping with too much force on the chipped tiles will cause them to break and send a piercing cracking sound that echoes throughout the floor. If anyone is foolish enough to ignore the earlier warning sign and begin to run, a Shadow will seep through the fractures of the floor tiles.


ICHIMATSU
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
Attracted to loud sounds, these doll-like Shadows pop out of the ground and act as a physical stop for runners. If they're bumped into, even with the slightest touch, they let out a loud rattle that is followed by disgusting squelching. The doll begins to rise higher and higher until it takes a completely new form and reaches out with its arms to swipe and grab hold of Persona users. If caught, they pull their prey into their bodies and suffocate them in black rotten mud. If the runners are fortunate enough not to bump right into the Ichimatsu, it will simply let out a laugh then shrink back into the ground, awaiting the next time someone tries to break the rules. A broken Ichimatsu doll and mannequin arms can be collected as loot.

Although the ward is littered with doors, only a select few will open. A majority of doors are either locked, broken, or barricaded from the other side. Three will creak open for entry.



DOOR ONE


The first door leads to a pitch dark room. Any source of light is immediately rendered useless, only illuminating no more than what the source occupies. Before anyone can leave, however, a pair of invisible hands reach out and pull the intruders in, shutting the door behind. In the complete darkness, multiple hands push everyone seemingly further and further away from the exit until it's impossible to tell where it is. Left might be right and forward might be backwards. In the pitch dark, it's difficult to navigate, especially as the shoving is nonstop and inconsistent enough to prevent any preparation to fight back.

Numerous voices echo throughout the room, seemingly garbaged all together, but those with careful ears will differentiate four voice: the first, a woman, speaks about not needing a second child and that a second child is unwanted; the second, a man, rejects fatherhood and wants nothing to do with the unwanted child; the third, a man, refuses responsibility for another man's child and refuses to acknowledge them; and the fourth, a girl, spits venom about a bastard child and that she'd never be sisters with one. These voices become louder and louder the further somebody is pushed into the seemingly endless void. Escape or rot here until the Lockdown ends and spits you back out.


DOOR TWO

The second door leads to a long hallway with childish drawings and paintings lining the walls. The soulless eyes of the artworks seemingly follow those who wander down the hall, but when glancing at them, their eyes look away. Finally reaching another door at the very end, it reveals an arts and craft room. Small circular tables with matching chairs line the area, each littered with used crayons and markers, but nothing is up on the walls. Chipped and bleached paint covers them, leaving them empty, but for a single crude drawing in the center of the room. On closer examination, it's a crayon sketch of a blue monster. After staring at the picture, it begins to take a life of its own and form a new Shadow.



BLUEBELL
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
The hands and arms rip through the sheet first. Then its head. Then its entire body. The demon stands tall at seven feet and immediately moves to stomp on any nearby prey. By holding either the Persona or its user under their heavy feet, it rips and chews its victims with their sharp fangs before unhinging its jaw to swallow them whole. Stay behind and fight or run out of the room and down the hallway. It'll chase behind at an alarmly fast pace, but stop the moment it approaches the main exit. It slams itself against the door a few times, causing it to rattle, but eventually, it stops. It seems as if it cannot escape from this hallway. Sharp fangs and eyeballs the size of dinner plates can be collected as loot.

DOOR THREE

The third door leads to a playroom, containing numerous amount of toys. Upon entering, the door makes a loud audible click. Trying to turn the handle is fruitless as it has now been locked from the other side. Faint footsteps running away from the door can be heard from the hallway, but before anything could be done about the situation, the room is plunged into darkness. A grandfather clock rings out a chime before a thundering voice speaks.

"Oh, you silly little girl, did you lock me in? Did you forget that I know you hid a key in here?"

With every ten seconds that pass, the grandfather clock rings louder and louder until it becomes physically painful to listen to. Search around the room and find the key needed to unlock the door. Physically breaking it down is impossible as it is impervious to all kinds of attacks. The key is the only way to escape and looking through and in all the different types of toys will take time. It simply comes down to luck and, if by chance, someone takes the rabbit doll with "NIKO" written on the bottom foot and rips off its head, an old bronze key will be found. Use the key and unlock the door to escape, but for the unfortunate ones, once the clock strikes twelve times, they're simply trapped. The room falls into silence and the Doctor appears. Using its large clamps, it grabs hold of characters and laughs.

"Haha, you naughty children. Patients are not allowed to leave their rooms."

Those caught by the Doctor are then immediately knocked out before being dragged to the third floor...
The entrance to the second floor is locked with heavy bars that make it impossible to break down. A key is needed to open the gates and a simple lockpick won't suffice. For the fortunate ones who have found the key in the rabbit doll in the third room, the same key will work on the gate. The door swings open and allows passage to the next floor.

→ FLOOR 2 - THE ONCOLOGY WARD

The second floor is marked with another rusty sign that reads "THE ONCOLOGY WARD". Underneath it, another sign is posted that says, "SHHH, SILENCE PLEASE". Unlike the previous floor that was filled with colourful, abliet faded and dated, walls, the oncology ward is bleak and plain. Only a quarter of the lights are on, still taking on a sick pale blue hue and flickering without any sort of pattern, and paints the floor with a despressing outlook. In addition, unlike the previous floor that was devoided of wandering Shadows, two different types of enemies lurk down the hallways.


NOPPERA-BO
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
Although they're technically two separate Shadows, the patient and nurse are often seen together. If one is found alone, the other is not far behind. In fact, a majority of these Shadows travel together in groups, comprising as few as four or as many as twelve. Although they slowly lurch down halls and into rooms, they become extremely fast when reacting to sound. Even a tiny whisper will capture their attention and they will immediately track down the source. Should they find an individual, they use their vast numbers to grab hold and drag the captive to the third floor. Any sort of struggling is faced with an injection from the nurse that drugs characters to sleep or toxic fumes from the patients that render characters paralyzed. Syringes with drugs that cause sleep and give a boost of energy can be collected as loot.

Once again, the exit to the next floor is barred and nearly all of the doors in this ward are unaccessible. All, but three, refuse to budge due to either being locked, destroyed, or barricaded.



DOOR ONE


The first door leads into a regular private room with two beds that are laid side-by-side. It's a plain and empty room, but setting foot inside will cause the door to suddenly close. Standing in front of the exit is now a new Shadow, one that's surprisingly very human, with her hand on the lock.



YUKI-CHAN
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
A young girl, no older than nineteen and dressed in a hospital gown, stands in front of the now-locked door. With brown hair tied in a braid and thrown over her shoulder, she approaches with a hammar in hand. "You won't leave. You'll never leave. With extraordinary strength, she'll pin down the closest person with the intent of hammering their hands with nails into the floor. Anyone who interferes will be dragged away by another Yuki-chan. From the shadows, more and more Yuki-chans appear until the room nearly reaches max capacity. Using their fearsome strength and numbers, they pin down intruders and proceed to nail every part of their body into the ground. They can't be reasoned with and they will not stop until there is not a single spot left that they can't stick a nail into. Hammers and metal nails can be collected as loot.




DOOR TWO

The second door leads to another plain room with two side-by-side beds. Yet again, the door will be locked from behind and cannot be broken down. Searching for clues will reveal a short book about senbazuru: one thousand origami cranes. It details that an ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. As a result, those who fall seriously ill are often the recipients and/or creators of a senbazuru. Tucked in between one of the pages is a single crane that has already been folded, but flattened in the book. Looking through the drawers of the room reveals thousands of origami paper with instructions on how to fold cranes.

If it isn't obvious, a thousand cranes must be created in order to escape from the room. Whether they're perfectly folded or clumsily made, it does not matter. A thousand birds must be made and if characters succeed before they are kicked out of the dungeon or starve to death, the door will unclick and open. Just like the wish given after the creation of the senbazuru, absolutely nothing happens.

DOOR THREE

The third door leads to yet another empty room with two beds. On the bed furthest from the door, next to the window, a plastic ring lies on the pillow. A bronze key is tied to the toy with a string and by examining it, it appears to unlock the gate that leads to the third floor. However, the moment the ring and key are picked up, a dark shadow appears behind the holder.



JUON
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
This dark shadow has no defining features. Only comprised of black scribbles, this void simply moves to engulf characters in its embrace. Surprisinly fast, it swallows entire beings and puts its captive's mind through overwhelming feelings of despair and agony. As their minds go through their worst nightmares, infected characters will move on their own and proceed to attack others in the room. Those who are trapped under the shadow's influence will only return to normal after either being forcefully removed, being knocked out, or the Shadow being defeated. Nothing can be collected as loot.

Those with the key may proceed down to the third floor...

→ FLOOR 3 - THE SUGERICAL WARD

With a sign that marks the floor as the "THE SURGEICAL WARD", another sign underneath reads, "NO OUTSIDE OBJECTS". Before proceeding into ward, a small weight sensor is placed on the last step of the stairs and on the right, a garbage chute is affixed to the wall. Only those who throw everything asides from the clothing their back will be allowed to go through the gate. After disposing of everything, including their omamoris, the door will open and allow for visitors to go through.

Out of the previous floors, the surgical ward is the darkest one so far. Only a handful of lights are on, though these take on a sickly yellow tint and hardly flicker. In addition, the floor abandons the previous layouts and takes on a completely open concept with only two doors: the entrance and the exit. Large plastic sheets hang from the ceiling and the air is hot and sticky, filled with a terrible odour that is a mix between blood and rotten flesh. Occasionally, loud ear-piercing screams will be heard throughout the floor and those who were unfortunate enough to be captured on the previous floors, they will be brought down here for their operation.


THE DOCTOR
Type F.O.E.	Nulls Physical, Dark	Weak Light
The captured will be strapped to an operating bed with an overly bright light hanging over them. The Doctor parts the plastic sheets and stands before the bed, speaking in a thundering voice. "Don't worry, you're in good hands. I'll fix you up." Those who have been captured together or roughly around the same time will be placed in beds next to each other while the Doctor operates on one patient at a time. Cutting open his patients with various medical tools, he pokes and prods inside. He pulls and snips at organs, saws off limbs, drains the blood, and performs any sort of "surgical procedures" that he can get away with. Even if the straps have been pulled apart, the Doctor's large imposing size makes it difficult to resist. With the strength of a F.O.E., the Doctor will not submit to simple, weak attacks and with various medications in his pockets, he can heal himself at any given moment. Occasionally, the Noppera-bo nurses will come to his aid and fight alongside with him. It is best to avoid him rather than fight, though for the ones already captured... there's not much else to do, but scream.

As tempting as it is to rescue those who are undergoing the Doctor's cruel operation, without any omamoris or weapons, it'd be impossible to take him down. The best solution is to navigate through the floor while not attracting the attention of the Doctor or his nurses. When the F.O.E. isn't operating on a character, he'll tear apart various Shadows instead, occasionally throwing out pieces or entire bodies when he's finished. Nurses will roam the area to wheel in new patients strapped to beds and take the dead bodies out.

In each corner of the floor is a waste pile, containing dirty clothes, discarded surical equipment, and the occassional body part. Digging through them will prove fruitless as none of them will contain the key to the exit. The more daring ones who come to take a closer look at the Doctor, whether from the operating table or from the sidelines, will notice a string tied around the Doctor's ankle. The string holds a lock of hair wrapped around a bronze key. Grab this key and escape before the Doctor catches on.

→ FLOOR 4 - THE MORGUE

The final stairway has no lights. Going down the stairs will be a cautious task as there is no indiciation on where the end is, but upon reaching the bottom, a single light just barely shines on the last door. All the belongings that have been thrown into the chute from the previous floor lie by the door. Bolted to the front of the entrance, a metal plate reads "THE MORGUE" and a note is taped underneath it.

"To Niko-chan, please rest in peace, Yuki."

The final key is taped behind the note and can be used to open the door. Upon entering, the area reveals an oversized morgue with multiple lockers, each containing the name of every character in Hirajiro, including Rei's. On a gurney in the back of the room, Rei(?) sits in the back with Ananke, rabbits resting in their laps.

There is nothing else in the room.

→ ICHI NOTES

⬥ Characters who die in this dungeon may either wake up in the morgue and in their respective locker or thrown out of the dungeon once the Lockdown ends.
⬥ The level of gore and severity of the Doctor's operations will be left up to the player's discretion.
⬥ The Doctor may appear randomly throughout the floors, wandering around and looking for new patients. He may be fought but it will be difficult to kill as he will heal or retreat if he needs to.
⬥ Throughout the first three floors, ghosts of Rei may be found. On the first floor, she will appear as a young child. On the second floor, she will appear as a teenager. On the third floor, she will appear as a teenager, but with a shaven head. All three versions of Rei will never face the characters and immediately run away, fading into the darkness, if chased. Occasionally, she will scream and attract the attention of Shadows. If quietly followed without an attempt to capture her, she may lead to the correct areas that will contain the keys.
⬥ If your character really wants to get through an inaccessible door, just let me know and I will create a new horror scenario for you. I cut out a lot so I am filled with ideas for all these gremlins...
⬥ The top-level to speak with Shadow Rei will be unscreened once at least one character manages to get through the third floor and down to the fourth. Please let me know when that happens.
⬥ This dungeon will last until 12/14 at the latest. Please indicate dates in your top-levels to keep track.
⬥ Threads from this log may be used for the dungeon requirement for AC.
⬥ Have fun! Don't die.

Comments

12/10

[infiltrationtools]

[He's been working his way through this dungeon since the sixth... it became a lot easier once the Shadows thinned out. He's been starting to put a few things together. At first he was making his way down as normal, and arrived at the morgue one day only to find it completely empty -- but before Lockdown on the tenth Toki had explained to him where Niko was, and that she wanted to speak to all of them.]

[Kindness. Kindness. Kindness.]

[He finds his way to the door that Toki explained, admittedly nervous. He tries to keep his hands out of his pockets, having been promised that the Shadow does not want to fight, even though it makes him feel helpless. After a quick check of the area to make sure there are no Shadows to hear him, he speaks.]

Niko? Ananke? Are you here?

[flowerclips]

[ The room is nothing, but a small examination room meant for kids. The room is brightly coloured and there are stickers of animals that line the walls, but everything is peeling and breaking apart. Similar to the decaying condition of the overall hospital, this room is no exception. On the bed is Niko, sitting down on the edge, while Ananke sits in a corner. There are multiple rabbits lying around the room, but they too are lifeless. The mood is bleak and when spoken to, Niko looks up. ]

Hi, Akira. You can come in.

[infiltrationtools]

[Akira looks around when he enters. This place is... well, it's along the same veins as the rest of the hospital, but it seems wrong for someone as old as Rei to still be hanging around in a place like this. It gives him a sense more than usual that she's stuck in the past, somehow, remaining mentally in the state of being a child.]

[Suddenly he's also aware of the fact that he's never really had a heavy conversation with Rei of any time. Mostly they just talked about food, or were too shy to really talk at all like that one time they were all kids.]

[So this might go really poorly.]

[Akira remains standing, but he nods to both Niko and Ananke as he enters.]

I was told you wanted to talk to us.

[flowerclips]

[ She nods. ]

I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions before I made a decision.

[ She has not told anyone what the decision entails asides from those who have already spoken to her, but she doesn't elaborate. ]

Why do you continue to live and fight?

[infiltrationtools]

[...She doesn't say it, but also, it doesn't take a genius to figure that this decision is probably going to involve something bad happening to Rei. Or the rest of them, considering that loaded question.]

[Akira shifts his weight, subconsciously, so that he's planted more firmly on the ground.]

Because I won't just lie down and die.

I refuse.

[flowerclips]

[ She continues to stare at him with an empty face. ]

But why? What do you live for?

[infiltrationtools]

...Niko, I don't think I ever told you this.

But before I was here, I was subject to an experiment. A sociological experiment with a bunch of other strangers. The idea was to see how quickly and easily people would kill others to save themselves, when they're put in a position they can't escape.

I tried everything to stop it. I tried everything to break it down, save as many people as I could.

Kokichi Ouma died. Sasuke's brother died. Six other people died. Some of them came back here for a few weeks and died again. Because of the way it was set up, I was responsible for some of those myself.

[His voice is hard-edged, but not at Niko.]

Too many people have died for nothing, and I'm not letting it happen again.

Maybe that's what I live for.

[flowerclips]

[ She remains completely silent as he details his past experience. If she's shocked or horrified by any of it, she doesn't show it. It almost seems like she's indifferent to the entire thing, though that's not true. She listens carefully, takes in everything, and nods when he finishes. ]

So you live for others, to save them so there wouldn't be any more pointless deaths. That's rather self-sacrificial, isn't it? Do you have any meaning for yourself?

[infiltrationtools]

...What I want for myself...

[That's a harder question.]

Sure I do. Of course. But it's not good to be driven by selfish things.

[Taking on the burdens of others is a nice way for Akira to ignore the fact that he doesn't have any future goals for himself, and the main motivator that got him to this point was stubbornness and anger at the world that set out to wrong him and people like him. He only started to think about things like his future in Tokyo, and even then, 'his future' was secondary in importance to the work of the Phantom Thieves.]

[flowerclips]

No, it's not, but there should be a balance to everything. If you don't allow a part of yourself to be driven by your own motivations and goals, wouldn't you just be drifting through life? Guided by only the people around you?

[ She's not intentionally trying to make Akira irritated or anything. She just wants a discussion. ]

[infiltrationtools]

[Deep breaths.]

I'm not doing that. I help people because what I want is to help them.

[ ... ]

Arsène and I, both of us, we agreed that we need to get stronger. We're both too weak. And... we don't want the power to protect our friends, or anything like that... we're doing it for ourselves.

[Because they want to be the strongest. Because they don't want anyone to hurt them. Because they want to bring the pain upon others.]

[flowerclips]

[ That's a good reply. Niko stays silent for a few seconds. ]

... thank you, Akira, for letting me know about your thoughts. I will think over them.

[ It seems like she has heard what she needed from Akira. ]