Chapter 40
Gyaaaah! Hiiik!
Sudden death sent me into a panic. I had died because my head had been ripped off? The sensation of my neck bones creaking was vivid, and nausea surged up. I flailed around, trying to put my head back on.
"My head!"
Of course, my head was still attached... Realizing that, I felt confused.
What on earth was that?
I received ordinary basic training for Containment Team duties from Senior Spandall. I made no mistakes. The Tooth Tree and the Tooth Fairy were no different. I handled everything perfectly and showed what I was capable of.
Then, all of a sudden, Senior Spandall's head came out of the gift box the Tooth Fairy had given me, and Senior Spandall's headless body ripped my head off.
"Cough, cough!"
Just as I was about to cough and feel fear all over again at the fact that I'd died once more, I heard a voice.
"Are you all right? What's wrong?"
"Y-yes...?"
When I raised my head, Senior Spandall's face came into view.
Though I'd only known her a short while, it was the same expression I'd kept seeing. A smile-like look that somehow gave off a sly sense of hidden intent.
"..."
What the hell is this bitch...
What the hell is with this woman!
Was she not just a weird senior, but some kind of suspicious thing? Since when had this been the case? A bizarre phenomenon? Had I suddenly gotten caught up in one? If so, when? Had I been the one caught up in it? Or had Senior Spandall been caught first and killed me?
Dangerous.
Whatever it was, being with this woman was dangerous. I needed to get out right now or report this situation. Thinking that, I looked for a way to escape.
But.
"W-what is this..."
This was the Management Bureau's underground containment room.
I was on the elevator with Senior Spandall. I'd looped back to the point where the door opened and I was just about to step out.
There was no escape route.
None.
Only by taking the elevator back up.
"Senior. Wait a second. Let's head up a floor."
Just as I reached out to press the floor button,
—Snatch.
Senior Spandall grabbed my wrist.
Then she brought her face right up to mine and said,
"Why did you suddenly scream and thrash around?"
"...Senior Spandall."
"Speak."
"Th-that...!"
"Why did you do that? Hm? Do you have some secret you can't tell anyone? Hm? You do, don't you? Want to tell just me? Tell only kind senior me your secret. Hm? You know something, don't you?"
The hand holding my wrist moved to my head.
"Is there a secret in this brain?"
"Shit!"
I shook off Senior Spandall and kicked off the ground.
If there was no escape route, I just had to create one.
"Groong. Where are you going? Don't you hate your senior's lessons? You need to learn containment work."
"Shut up, you monster bitch!"
"Today we're going to learn the Tooth Tree and Tooth Fairy duties. Aren't you interested? We need to gather a ton of teeth, make dentures, and supply them to dentists. That's how we fund the Management Bureau. In crime dramas about serial murders, they use real teeth, you know."
"Shut up already!"
I don't know where it all went wrong.
But if I stayed here and panicked, all I'd do was increase my death count.
I absolutely, absolutely couldn't let my death count go up any more!
Just that alone is 2,000 points, and you're telling me to die more?!
—Tap-tap-tap!
I ran down a pitch-black corridor with not a single speck of light. It was too dark to make anything out. On top of that, strange sounds were coming from all around.
—Haaaaah!!!
—Aaaah. Aaaah. Aaaah.
The monsters' eerie howls.
And not only that, I could hear human voices too.
—Excuse me. Please let me out.
—Mr. Geunhong! Mr. Geunhong! I'm here!
—Aaaagh! Save me! Save me! Save meee!
Was I hearing things? Running as I was, I looked left and right. Every wall of the corridor had containment room doors, and the sounds were coming from inside them. Were people in there shouting? Or was I being swallowed by some strange phenomenon and hearing hallucinations?
—Whirrrrr!
—Kikikikiki!
A sound like a sharp machine spinning. Then, along with horrifying screams, a grotesque cry like a person being torn apart burst out... Someone was dying in there!
Someone inside the containment room was being tortured to death!
"Huff, huff!"
Fear surged all the way up to my brain.
Where the hell is this place?
Was this even the Management Bureau's containment room to begin with?
At this point, this was a hell where people were tortured!
I had no idea where I was.
The dark corridor stretched on endlessly.
That was when.
—Jiiing.
—Pudadadak!
The door in front of me opened, and a large number of Tooth Fairies burst out from inside. A horrifying horde of monsters with terrible teeth flew straight at me.
-Emergency situation reported.
-Emergency situation reported.
-Emergency situation reported.
Hearing the sirens, I screamed.
"No!"
If those things bit me, I'd be dead for sure! Not just dead—the flesh on my entire body would be torn away, and every bone would be gnawed down to the marrow!
I'd only just come back to life a few minutes ago. I couldn't die like that again...!
—Fwoosh!
I turned around and ran.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Why was this happening?
I had planned to relax in the safe haven of the Management Bureau and deal with the aberrations.
I was too complacent.
Just because I'd entered the Management Bureau didn't mean the world's bizarre phenomena would disappear!
I hated how naive I'd been!
—Pudadadak!
"Stop chasing me!"
The Tooth Fairies were right on my heels. I couldn't be torn apart alive. Even in terror, I moved to survive, and soon I spotted an open door.
A containment room door.
"Inside...!"
Should I go in? Since it was a double door, if it hadn't opened that far, I should be able to hide there. Besides, seeing it open, there was a chance whatever had been inside was already gone.
Either way, if I kept going like this, the Tooth Fairies would catch me. After a brief moment's thought, I took the gamble and went through the door.
And I closed it.
—Bang, bang, bang!
The Tooth Fairies were pounding on the door like crazy. Had they flown into it and crashed? I backed up and checked whether the door would open or not.
"Huff, huff...! It won't open!"
Though I could hear the pounding, the door didn't open. I confirmed that the containment room's double door was shut and sat down.
"Huff, huff...!"
My heart was pounding as if it would burst. Fear and confusion were eating away at my brain. Honestly, the last time I'd felt this much fear was when I was at the hospital.
I had been in a safe place called the Management Bureau with an experienced senior, and then suddenly I ran into a bizarre phenomenon. The gap between those two states was far too large.
"What do I do now... No. Can this even be solved in the first place?"
I calmed my fear and took stock of the situation.
I didn't know the reason or the cause. It happened suddenly, I died. And then I ended up like this again. A situation where I didn't even have the bare minimum of information. I tried using my detection ability, but nothing came up.
I figured the only way to solve it would be to do something while dying. My ability is built that way to begin with. I have to figure things out from zero by dying again and again.
But.
"Do I have to die again...?"
That made no sense.
One death is 2,000 points...!
And on top of that, who knew what penalty I'd get if I died again?
This situation felt incredibly malicious. It was as if something was trying to push my death count higher.
"K-k-kh! Th-there...!"
While I was clutching my head, a voice came from inside the double door.
It sounded like a human voice. I cursed inwardly. There was another aberration inside the containment room.
"H-hey! Is someone there!"
"What...?"
A voice full of fear.
A voice that really sounded like a person was shouting.
"..."
I felt confused.
"If someone's in there, please open it...! There's no time!"
If.
If I were the me from before I unlocked the status window's abilities.
I would have opened the door without hesitation to get information and check who was inside. But now, I couldn't do that so recklessly.
Whatever was inside... to put it bluntly, it was very likely to be the kind of aberration that pretends to be a person to make you open the door.
"I know someone's in there! Open it! Open it already! Hurry up!"
Inside the double door, someone was howling.
—Pudadadak!
Outside the front door, the Tooth Fairies were going berserk. No. That probably wasn't all. More aberrations... and maybe even the unhinged Senior Spandall could show up.
If that happened, it was over.
Maybe it would be better to check inside after all.
"Wait."
What if that was a trap too?
Come to think of it, the fact that the door here was open was suspicious too. What if whatever was inside was the cause? What if it had created this bizarre phenomenon just to make me open this door?
Nothing was certain, and everything was vague. It felt like the world itself was trying to deceive me.
—Pudadak!
But I was being forced to choose.
"Groong. What are you doing, barging in on your own like that? Hurry up and open the door. Put my head back on."
"Shit!"
I didn't hesitate for long. The moment I heard Senior Spandall's voice from outside, I chose to open the double door. If that monster did something, I'd have my neck ripped off and die again.
—Jiiing.
When the door opened, I could see someone in the middle of a room where darkness had settled.
It was a man bound to a chair.
A man in a black suit and sunglasses.
Like.
A fake Management Bureau agent.
"You...?"
The suited man raised his head and looked at me.
"I, identification... not in the database, y-you! You're a rookie Management Bureau agent! That's right!"
The suited man shouted in shock.
How did he know that?
I silently glared at him, and he went on.
"You've only recently become an agent of this Management Bureau...! Get a grip! There's no time! This is your last chance! This is a fake Management Bureau! You've been hired into a fake Management Bureau!"
"What?"
What is this?
"Untie me right now! I'm a real Management Bureau agent! We have to solve this situation! Hurry!"
The suited man struggled and thrashed. Since he was restrained, only his chains clattered.
Amid the fear and confusion, the confusion only grew stronger.
"You're really an agent of the Management Bureau?"
"Yes! There's no time to explain in detail! Untie me now!"
I didn't have enough time or evidence to make a judgment.
I quickly ran the calculation through my head.
"Then answer me."
I asked, to verify whether he was telling the truth.
"Do you know Department Head Lee Do-hyeong?"