I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

Team Leader Park Cheolwoo carefully opened the old door of Room 302.
With a creaking sound, the dust-covered hospital room was revealed.

A faint light seeped through the torn curtains, but the room was still mostly dark and gloomy.
The four beds were partially broken in places, and shards of glass and unidentifiable debris were scattered across the floor.
"The signal is definitely coming from inside this room. Everyone, spread out and search. And remember—stay cautious at all times."

Park Cheolwoo spoke while confirming that the detection device in his hand was still emitting a strong signal.
Just to be safe, I checked the map in my head—but thankfully, there were no red dots visible on this floor.
We began spreading out to search the hospital room.

I checked the beds and underneath them. Seo Jihyun examined the wall by the window and the broken glass nearby. Han Sora inspected a toppled cabinet in the corner and the floor around it.
The team leader searched near the entrance while keeping an eye on the hallway at the same time.
We had to thoroughly search the room for the item—whatever it might look like.

"Ow!"
Just then, Han Sora let out a small cry from near the cabinet.
It looked like there had been a sharp tile shard on the floor where she’d absentmindedly placed her hand.

A small drop of blood formed at the tip of her finger and fell.
Han Sora furrowed her brows in irritation.
And that was the exact moment it happened.

The instant she bled, one of the old drawers right next to her suddenly began to shake and rattle.
Clatter, clatter...
"H-Huh...?"

Clunk!
A drawer flew open, and something like a bundle of white bandages shot out with lightning speed.
"Wha...?!"
The bandages began to unravel, writhing like a living snake, and darted straight toward Han Sora.

Before she could even react, the bandages quickly coiled around her arms and torso.
"Kyaaah! What the hell is this...?!"
Han Sora struggled in a panic, but the more she moved, the tighter the bandages constricted her.

Her arms were already pinned by the bandages. There was no way she could free herself on her own.
"Sora!"
"The item... it's activated!"

Park Cheolwoo and Seo Jihyun shouted at the same time in response.
Seo Jihyun quickly pulled a small knife from her waist, and the team leader shouted despite his panic.
"D-Don't move recklessly! Everyone, back off for now...!"

I held my breath at the scene unfolding before me.
No red dots had appeared on my mental map. This wasn’t a monster—it was a literal, dangerous “item.”
The team leader’s warning that an item could be more dangerous than a monster depending on how it was handled had come true.

The bandage continued to tighten around Han Sora, and her face turned pale from pain and fear.
The team leader’s warning echoed in my ears—it could become even more dangerous if we provoked it carelessly.
The bandages had begun to wrap not just around her arms and torso, but were now climbing up toward her neck and face.

“H-Hrk...”
With her chest and neck tightly compressed by the bandages, Han Sora looked like she could barely breathe.
“S-Sora!”

"This isn't working! I'm cutting it!"
We couldn't just stand there watching.
Park Cheolwoo and Seo Jihyun rushed in at the same time.

Park tried to pull the bandages off with his bare hands, while Seo Jihyun attempted to slice through them with her sharp dagger.
But the bandages were far tougher and more durable than they looked.
Even with the team leader’s strength, they didn’t budge. Seo Jihyun’s blade only slid along the surface or left the faintest scratch.

“Kh...!”
“It’s not cutting!”
Shfff!

Crack!
As if reacting to their attacks, part of the bandage shuddered, then split and shot out—starting to entangle the limbs of the other two.
In a matter of seconds, all three team members were on the verge of being completely ensnared.

...I have to do it!
I cast aside my hesitation.
Saving my teammates came before hiding my strength.

I stepped forward and grabbed the thickest part of the bandage coil wrapped around Han Sora with both hands.
Despite looking like mere strips of cloth, the texture was more like tough leather.
No wonder Seo Jihyun's little knife couldn’t cut through it.

But that wasn’t a problem for me.
I took a deep breath and pulled on the bandages with all my might.
Crackkk!

Rippp!
There was hardly any resistance.
Just like tearing tissue paper, the bandages that had seemed so tough and firm were ripped apart powerlessly in my hands.

As I exerted overwhelming strength, the entirety of the bandage wrapped around Han Sora was shredded and unraveled in an instant.
The strands that had started to wrap around the others dropped limply to the floor as if drained of life.
The thing that had writhed so violently just moments ago now lay strewn across the floor—just a bunch of old, filthy bandages.

“Khak...! Haaah... haah...”
Han Sora collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
Red marks stood out vividly on her neck and arms.

Park Cheolwoo and Seo Jihyun checked their own limbs in shock, then looked back and forth between the torn bandages and me.
“Th-thanks, Minjun... seriously... I thought I was dead…”
Han Sora managed to say through ragged breaths.

“Really… thank you, Minjun-ssi. That could’ve been bad.”
Team Leader Park Cheolwoo also let out a deep sigh of relief.
His voice still trembled slightly.

“Haa... haa...”
Seo Jihyun looked at me silently for a moment, then gave a short nod.
That seemed to be her way of expressing gratitude.

This was exactly the danger the team leader had warned us about with “items.”
An item without a proper use could be just as dangerous as a monster—or worse. We’d just experienced that firsthand.
For a while, we said nothing—just stood catching our breath, staring down at the pile of torn bandages on the floor.

The hospital room was even more chaotic now after the commotion.
We caught our breath, then stepped out of Room 302.
The team leader carefully packed the fallen bandages into his bag.

I wasn’t sure if that bag itself was an item, but he finally let out a breath, saying it should be fine now.
Once we stepped into the hallway, Han Sora, massaging her injured finger, spoke up.
“It popped out the moment I started bleeding, didn’t it? Totally scared the crap out of me.”

“Can’t say for sure, but it’s highly likely this item reacts to blood. We’ll need to be careful.”
Seo Jihyun added in a matter-of-fact tone.
Park Cheolwoo nodded grimly.

“We’ll have to be more cautious from now on. Let’s move slowly.”
Everyone agreed and began walking down the hallway again.
Maybe because of the earlier chaos, no one said much.

Then suddenly, Han Sora glanced at me and spoke up.
“But seriously, Minjun, you were amazing! Honestly, I thought we were all gonna die just now. How did you tear it apart like that in one go?”
At her question, I could feel both Park Cheolwoo and Seo Jihyun’s eyes subtly turning toward me.

My heart sank.
Here it comes...
I shrugged as naturally as I could and replied.

“I was just really freaked out and wasn’t thinking... Maybe I just happened to grab a weak spot or something?”
I laughed awkwardly and deflected.
The three of them were silent for a moment.

Park Cheolwoo simply turned his gaze away and focused on the item detector, while Seo Jihyun continued to stare at me through her glasses.
Their expressions didn’t look like they believed me.
It felt like they’d picked up on the fact that I was hiding something.

But none of them pushed further.
“Anyway, thanks to you, we survived! You’re our lucky charm, rookie!”
Han Sora, as if trying to lighten the mood again, gave my arm a playful nudge and spoke cheerfully.

Even though she knew my excuse was fishy, she didn’t dig any deeper and played along.
“Glad everyone’s safe. Let’s keep being careful.”
Team Leader Park Cheolwoo cleared his throat and awkwardly wrapped up the situation.

Seo Jihyun continued watching me for a while longer, then turned her attention back to monitoring the surroundings.
They didn’t ask any more questions about what just happened.
Maybe they were getting used to how bizarre this world was.

Maybe it was because I had saved them.
Or maybe... they thought digging deeper wouldn’t do anyone any good.
Whatever the reason, it seemed they’d decided to let it slide.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
They might’ve caught on that I was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) hiding something…
But I didn’t regret it.

Even if the same thing happened again, I would’ve still saved them.
“The next target looks like the staff lounge over there.”
At the team leader’s words, we tensed up again and started walking.

There was now a subtle tension within the team, but our mission wasn’t over yet.
We once again stepped into the dark corridor of the abandoned hospital.
***

“Phew.”
We secured the second item without any issues and exited the hospital.
On the way out, Han Sora yelped again when she caught sight of the doctor monster, but aside from that, everything went smoothly.

The second item was a small teddy bear that followed sounds.
I wasn’t sure why we needed to retrieve something like that…
But it might’ve had some hidden ability, so we took it anyway.

As we stepped outside, the leader of Team 6 approached us.
“We heard a loud noise earlier—everything alright?”
Since the hospital was deserted, the noise during the bandage incident must’ve echoed pretty far.

I quickly glanced at Park Cheolwoo for a cue.
“Oh, one of our members cut her finger and made a bit of a fuss…”
“Haha, sorry~ It stung pretty bad…”

Han Sora laughed shamelessly and showed her finger at Park’s comment.
The wound hadn’t been deep to begin with, and it was already healing well.
“...I see. Yeah, that happens.”

The Team 6 leader looked at Han Sora with an exhausted expression, then said they were going to start pulling out too, and turned back toward their vehicle.
Park Cheolwoo and Han Sora had kept the incident with the bandages completely hidden.
“Let’s head back too.”

“Yeah.”
We gathered our gear and headed toward the car.