?????

At last, I returned to the Administration Bureau.

The towering building looked incredibly familiar and comforting.

This place was practically my hometown.

But then,

Now it looked a little awkward.

Because I saw two buildings joined together.

"The positioning is perfect. If the fake Administration Bureau building were right next to it, the balance would be just right."

"Haa... Of everything I’ve gone through to get here, this is the most unsettling. Anyway, do as I say. Understood?"

"Yes."

From here on, I had to follow Jaaldi's instructions.

I went back to the office with her.

"Ah, Grrong!"

The moment I stepped in, Jemtree greeted me.

"You made it back alive!"

"I was so worried when I lost contact with you!"

"Thank you so much for worrying about me."

With this kind of welcome, it finally felt like I was home.

"But you were with Team Leader, weren’t you? Since you went together in the first place, there was no need to worry..."

"That’s one thing, but!"

Spangdal-sunbae said something sharp, but Jemtree cut her off immediately.

"Grrong, after the report later, can you tell me what happened?"

"Understood."

For now, I went to my desk, took off my suit jacket, and hung it up. While I was doing that, I caught Spangdal-sunbae looking at me with a strange expression.

She must have been bothered by the sharp remark she’d just made.

"Spangdal-sunbae... were you not worried about me?"

So I spoke with a dejected look, and Spangdal-sunbae's eyes widened in alarm.

"A-ah, no. That’s not what I meant. Common sense says that if you went with Team Leader, it could be dangerous..."

"But I was missing! That’s too much!"

"W-wait, that’s not what I meant..."

"Ugh!"

Watching Spangdal-sunbae fidget nervously, I stood up as if hurt. Anyway, I’d missed that reaction. I finally felt like I was really back. The parallel world, the stitched world—it had all been way too confusing.

"Spangdal. If the newbie went through all that trouble, give them a proper welcome."

"..."

"Grrong. Let’s just write the report. Follow me."

"Yes."

I went off with Jaaldi to write the report. She’d be the one taking mine and submitting it upstairs anyway, but I still had to write it.

"Team Leader. First of all, wasn’t the starting point of this whole mess the Sejeonggae mod?"

"I was ignoring it because it stopped being important halfway through."

"To be honest, I’m the same. The Sejeonggae-related matter is interesting too, but compared to everything else it’s minor. Still, we do have a connection. Would it be all right if I sent the mod a message? Just saying the missing friends seem to have gone to another world."

"Hm... there’s no need to cut the connection, so that much should be fine. Go ahead."

"Yes."

I immediately opened the chat window and sent a message to the mod.

-I visited the location in question. The missing fixed-nick users are presumed to have been transferred to another world.

That was the end of the message. I’d call them later. Besides, I’d already confirmed that my true friend Kim Seongjin was alive, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

"Are you done writing?"

"Yes."

I handed over the report.

Anyway, the report was something Jaaldi and I had agreed on. The gist was that we had been spirited away to a parallel world and escaped through Cheongak Mary Hospital.

There, Jaaldi had left me in a safe place and acted on her own. During that process, only she learned about the fake Administration Bureau.

I’d been officially ruled out as having anything to do with it.

"This should do. I’ll submit it as is."

"Then I’m completely out of it, huh."

"Right. Anyway... good work. You can clock out now."

Clocking out?!

I wanted to shout that I was clocking out straight into Jaaldi’s arms, but that would make me insane.

"Yes! Thank you, Team Leader! Then I’ll head back now!"

I returned to the office again.

"Done? Drink this."

"Oh, thank you!"

When I got there, Jemtree made me coffee.

"I’ll drink this before I go."

"What? You’re clocking out?"

"She says I worked hard and told me to go home."

As I said that, I looked over at Spangdal-sunbae.

"..."

She looked restless, as if she had something she wanted to say. But in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to speak to me, and pretended not to look my way.

That kind of side of her is adorable.

"Anyway, here’s what happened."

And so I told Jemtree what I’d been through. Of course, I told it exactly as it was written in my report.

"A space similar to a parallel world...? That’s unusual. What kind of anomaly would that be?"

"I don’t know either. Team Leader said it was dangerous, so they stuck me in a hotel and went out alone to do who knows what."

"Hotel?"

"Hotel?"

Both of their gazes turned toward me.

"Ah, a place to stay."

"Hmm."

Why are you looking at me like that?

"I’m glad there wasn’t anything dangerous. Then see you tomorrow."

"Yes. Take care, seniors. I’ll head out first."

Let’s clock out for the day.

I’m exhausted to death, physically and mentally.

* * *

I bought beer and went home. Premium Malts. I can’t live without it.

After collapsing onto the sofa and sleeping like the dead to recover my stamina, I immediately ordered chicken, took a long shower, and came out.

—Ding-dong.

I heard the sound, but pretended not to.

I’d asked them to ring the bell, leave it at the door, and go. Besides, I hate the sound of the doorbell.

I went to check the intercom, and there was nobody there.

I grabbed a knife and a pistol.

I looped a bundle of garlic over my hand.

I put a stake in my pocket.

With a basin of salt and red beans at my feet, I opened the door.

No ghosts, no vampires, and no fake Administration Bureau agents.

After confirming it was safe, I brought the chicken in, set it on the table, and tore into it with beer.

Kha!

That’s the taste.

The taste of this absurdly garlic-heavy chicken completely clears my stress. What was this chicken called again? Extreme Onion Supreme Chicken? Not bad.

Finished it off.

Good.

Then let’s check the inventory.

I opened the inventory right away and took out the GPS item.

It was a GPS device with a slightly old feature-phone look to it. What on earth made this count as an item and unlock the inventory feature?

The Singing Flower, the Vampire Angel’s Heart—those both felt like the kind of things that would definitely screw me over the moment I used them.

But this GPS doesn’t really seem like that.

I carefully pressed the button.

—Beep.

The screen lit up.

[My location : 89732154]

"Huh?"

What is this?

My location?

Some strange numbers popped up, but I can’t interpret them. I thought maybe it was latitude and longitude, but it doesn’t seem like that either. Besides, latitude and longitude aren’t even showing up right now.

So I pressed the button a few more times.

[Map]

A map appeared.

"Map?"

The thing shown on the screen.

No way, could this be my house?

It looks kind of similar, doesn’t it?

There’s even a compass function at the top.

"..."

Wait... this is a little unsettling.

Could this really be all there is?

—Beep-beep-beep.

I tried exploring by pressing all sorts of other buttons, but as expected, nothing fucking came out!

"Ah, fuck! It’s always like this, always! Not a single day has ever been different!"

"The status window, the items, all of it is bullshit!"

"Every last one of them is useless, this fucking thing!"

Angry, I flopped down and flailed my arms and legs like a child.

My meaningless location-display function.

And the map function.

Could I make use of this?

"Hm?"

Maybe this still works even when I get caught up in an anomaly? If that’s the case, it might actually be useful.

I guess it depends on how you look into it.

I fiddled with the GPS some more.

—Ding-dong.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"..."

Feeling my heart go cold, I stood up. Knife, pistol, stake, garlic bundle, basin of salt and red beans. I gathered everything and checked the intercom... Spangdal-sunbae, at this hour?

Why is Spangdal-sunbae here?!

I opened the door right away.

"Spangdal-sunbae?"

"Um... hi? I’ll come in first."

"Ah, I haven’t cleaned the place yet..."

I let her in for now.

"What brings you here?"

The moment an important guest came inside, a powdery floral scent began to fill the room. My home was starting to be dyed with Spangdal-sunbae's color.

"Um... Grrong. What I said earlier..."

she said, a little hesitantly.

"What you said earlier?"

"It wasn’t that I wasn’t worried about you. It’s just that you went missing together with Team Leader, which means something happened during the mission, right? And with Team Leader, of all people."

She started explaining with great earnestness.

"What I meant was that in a situation like that, there’s no need to worry too much—it doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried about you..."

"Kyaa! Did you come all this way just to tell me that?! Were you worried I might have misunderstood Spangdal-sunbae’s kind heart?!"

"W-wait? Kind? I didn’t say that much."

"Thank you, Spangdal-sunbae! Of course I knew that already! I didn’t misunderstand you at all!"

How am I supposed to hold this in!

"A-ah, s-stop...!"

And Spangdal-sunbae even patted my back.

"This is difficult... really... Anyway, what I wanted to say is that if you’re with Team Leader, there’s no need to worry too much... Besides, if I really hadn’t been worried, do you think I’d have acted like that when you came back from the human-flesh factory?"

That’s right.

Spangdal-sunbae was the first to come over and calm me down when I returned from the human-flesh factory.

"Of course! I understand that feeling! Back then I was alone, but this time I went with Team Leader, didn’t I!"

"Right... if you know that, could you move back a little?"

"Yes."

"Then I’ll go."

So she really came just to say that?

How can someone who always acts so sharp-tongued have such a deep heart?

"Where are you going? If you came here, you should do what you came to do."

"What? W-wait?"

"There’s this much beer!"

"Haa... you have to go to work tomorrow, don’t you? No. Agents aren’t supposed to drink recklessly, you know? Stop drinking."

"Huh? Wait a minute."

Spangdal-sunbae started clearing my table. While I was still dumbfounded, she finished cleaning up, washed the dishes too, and put on her shoes.

"An agent has to stay in top shape at all times. Don’t binge drink."

"Ah... yes."

"Then see you tomorrow."

"..."

Spangdal-sunbae left.

Leaving only the scent of flowers behind.

* * *

My days as an agent started again.

I went to work and did my job. That was my daily life. Between the human-flesh factory matter and everything that had come up because of the vampire incident, there was a lot to do.

Normally I’d have been focused on that, but right now I wanted to talk to Jaaldi about what happened last time. But I hardly had a chance to do that. She said she was looking into it herself, too.

"How is that guy doing now?"

"He’s still on standby. There’ll be time soon, so wait a bit. Don’t contact him recklessly."

"Yes."

Looks like I’ll have to wait a little to meet Jinseop.

"Haa."

I also wanted to meet Teacher Kim Seonghan, and Salhyeong and the nun too. Since I’d come into the Administration Bureau, I couldn’t move around freely, so it had become really hard to get a chance.

Well, it can’t be helped.

This is a necessary choice, too.

Leaving that regret behind, I went to work again today.

What kind of work would I be doing today?

"Hm?"

Did I come a little early?

No one was in the office.

I sat at my desk and started getting ready for work when the door opened.

"Huh? Grrong’s here first?"

"Jemtree-sunbae! Good morning!"

"Hehe, I really like this spirited greeting. You’re having coffee, right?"

"I’m already getting withdrawal symptoms."

"I’ll make it right away!"

Jemtree-sunbae went straight to the break room and made coffee for me.

"Heh heh heh, these days I can’t work unless I drink this."

"Haa, I wish Team Leader and Spangdal would say that too."

"I’ll say it for them instead. But what’s that?"

"This?"

Jemtree-sunbae took something out of the box she’d been fiddling with.

"Headphones?"

They were headphones.

White headphones.

"Aren’t headphones cute?"

"Yes. They’re cute."

I didn’t really find them cute, but if someone asks whether they’re cute, you just say they’re cute.

"Do they suit me?"

Jemtree-sunbae asked after putting on the headphones.

"Hehe, they suit you. You look like a very intellectual musician."

"This is what I’m talking about. Everyone should react as well as Grrong does."

With a faint smile, Jemtree-sunbae stood up from her seat.

"Grrong, you should try them on too."

"Yes."

"Here, sit down."

Jemtree-sunbae came up behind me and put the headphones on me.

"How are they?"

I’ve worn earbuds plenty in my life, but I’ve almost never worn headphones, so I can’t really tell whether they’re good or bad. Still, Jemtree-sunbae seemed to have bought these recently, so I should say they’re good.

"Ohhh, is this a premium item?"

"A premium item... it is pretty valuable."

"As expected. The fit does seem a little better."

"Does it?"

Jemtree-sunbae fiddled with my hair.

"So, Grrong. How was it there?"

"Huh? Where?"

"The parallel world. It must have been fascinating."

"Well... it was a little different, so it was unsettling. But the idea of coming back through the hospital was pretty amazing. I never thought it would actually work."

"Right. I never thought that would be possible. It really is amazing."

"Yes. It is."

"But wasn’t there anything else amazing?"

"Something else amazing?"

I don’t remember there being anything especially amazing.

"Yeah. You know, that thing."

Jemtree-sunbae said.

"How could the two Administration Bureau buildings be one?"

"Huh?"

Wait a second.

How did Jemtree-sunbae know about that?

"Grrong."

Into the body...

"I’m really sorry."

I can’t get any strength into my body.

"Team Leader liked you too. I mean it."

—Tzzzt.

A strange sound came from the headphones.

.

.

.

—Ding.

[You have permanently gone missing.]

[Your existence disappears.]

.

.

.

[Ending - Missing Person]

.

.

.

[Proceeding to the next loop.]