Fight Poison with Poison (2)

All I can think is that this is utterly inhuman.

After all, I'd already gone through all sorts of ghostly nonsense underground and died five times over.

Honestly, I'm still utterly confused. If the status window message hadn't popped up, I'd probably be losing my mind right now, convinced I was wandering through some space out of sync with reality.

At this point, I feel like I'd wake up in the middle of the night and want nothing to do with the Administration Bureau.

But all those horrible incidents had already been consigned to the past by regression... Today all I did was blubber while breathing in Spangdal's powdery scent, do low-risk containment work with help, and greet the containment team.

If I had to sum up how I feel at this point, it's been pretty smooth.

"As for my impression... Honestly, I was a little surprised to learn that the Administration Bureau was raising monsters in its underground levels. Working face-to-face with them was a little frightening, too."

"Oh? Is that so."

"Yes. Still, once you get used to it, it's fine, isn't it? I went and handled the Tooth Tree and Tooth Fairy duties, and it wasn't difficult. Rather, I found myself wanting to learn more of the Bureau's secrets."

I mean that sincerely.

Either way, once you've entered the Administration Bureau, leaving isn't an option.

They say they can just wipe my memory, but I don't know how that would even go, and with regression in the mix, I get the feeling everything would just get tangled up.

Still, I really don't want to do containment work... Anyway, if I can uncover the Bureau's secrets, I'll be able to understand my situation more clearly. I've realized far too keenly that nothing is more important than having information.

"That's a fine impression. A good mindset for an agent."

"I guess I'm just naturally cut out to be an agent."

"If you adapt quickly, that's a good thing. In fact, it's not uncommon for rookie agents to panic at low-risk entities like that and request memory erasure."

"I can believe that."

"Stepping into the hidden side of the world isn't something you should do lightly. Being terrified is the normal reaction. Only someone a little strange can become an agent."

"But I'm different. I'll do my job as an agent properly."

At my words, Jaldi gave a faint smile.

"I see. Now that I can call you a full-fledged agent, I can tell you a few more detailed things."

"Detailed things?"

"Obviously, most information isn't given to rookies. It's the same in ordinary companies. There's only so much a newbie is allowed to know."

"That... yes, I suppose so. In an organization this secretive, it would be even more extreme. It's true I've barely heard anything at all."

I had picked up a few pieces of information after joining the Bureau, but none of them were especially useful for understanding the world's secrets.

"Was he going to tell me now?"

"From here on out, I'll explain things in more detail. Jamtree. We're having a team dinner today."

"Oh my, really?"

"We need to give Grong an official welcome."

"A team dinner?"

"A dinner already? That's fast."

Spangdal, who was standing behind me, said.

"Wow. So you're treating me to a dinner because I've officially been acknowledged again?"

"Yeah."

"Heh-heh-heh, thank you."

The mention of a team dinner made me smile, but I couldn't shake the question that had come to mind.

What happened underground.

That experience did prove that the incident where I activated the reality-recognition device and even met the vampire hadn't been a complete hallucination.

But back then, I hadn't been told I was a full-fledged agent, and we didn't have a team dinner. Jaldi had simply praised me for my efforts and sent me home early, saying it must have been hard after seeing a monster.

Even when we went to catch the vampire... he said he wouldn't take me along because I was still a rookie. I only went because I insisted hard enough.

What on earth had changed since then that I was now being recognized as a full agent and even getting a team dinner?

"Grong. Is there anything you like? I'll go reserve a place for the dinner now."

Jamtree, who had taken a seat, said that.

"How about all-you-can-eat pork offal at Moran Market?"

"What?! No, no! Grong?! Seriously?!"

"I'm joking. Where do you usually go? Anything's fine with me, so I'd like to go where my seniors usually go. Isn't getting used to the team supposed to be about that?"

"Haah... You scared me."

Jamtree exhaled and placed a hand on their chest.

"Spangdal. Poke Grong with a thorn for me. That really startled me. I honestly thought you were serious."

"So Grong can joke around too?"

"Ah!"

Spangdal pulled a tiny thorn-like protrusion from a fingertip and jabbed my side with it.

"Eeek! Hiiik!"

He can make little protrusions like that too, not just thorns...!

ㅡWhiiing.

On top of that, I couldn't tell whether it was vibrating or spinning, but the stimulation was way too intense. Being poked in the side with that made me unbearably ticklish.

"Senior Spangdal! Wait a second! Stop! I'm sorry!"

"Do you like it here? Or here?"

"Aaah, no!"

I'm going to die from the tickling!

"Enough, let him go. Good grief, that almost scared me to death. We usually used to go wherever the rookie wanted... but if we did that now, it could really turn into a dangerous situation. Jamtree. Book the usual place."

"Yes, yes."

I'm looking forward to seeing where we'll go.

"Anyway, Grong. I'll tell you more about the Bureau. Sit down over there first."

"Yes."

I went and sat where I was told.

"Grong. I'll make you some coffee. What do you like?"

"Thank you. I like instant mix coffee."

"Oh my, you're a mix-coffee person, Grong? Finally, I have a comrade."

"A comrade? Do you and Spangdal like black coffee, team leader?"

"That's right. That's why you're no fun. I'll make it right away."

Come to think of it, Jamtree seemed to be handling the bookkeeping role too.

Then Jamtree brought out the coffee.

Mix coffee is the best.

"Wow. This looks delicious. I'll enjoy it."

"How is it?"

Oh, this place really knows how to make coffee.

"It's delicious. Even better than what the ajusshi there used to make for me when I was doing construction work."

"C-Construction work? What kind of comparison is that?"

"Construction-site guys are basically pros at making mix coffee. Wow, this really is good."

"Grong's compliments are weird..."

Once I was halfway through it, Jaldi sat down opposite me.

"That's sweet because it has condensed milk in it. Drink it in moderation, or you'll gain weight if you have too much."

"Ah, so that's the condensed-milk taste."

"Right."

Jaldi stared at me expressionlessly.

"Grong. It's only been a short time, but I think you've probably had a lot of questions about our Bureau. Am I right?"

"Yes. It's definitely very suspicious."

"Suspicious... yes, that's true enough. But it can't be helped."

"Can't be helped?"

"As you saw in the underground containment facility, our Bureau makes use of anomalies."

"Ah."

"Special techniques and methods—many of those come from anomalies. We collect and contain anomalies we can control, and use their byproducts. That lets us fight even more anomalies."

"..."

"Because it would be impossible with modern technology alone."

At those words, I nodded.

"Is it a kind of fighting poison with poison?"

"Yes. Poison against poison."

Poison against poison.

"Ghost stories, uncanny phenomena, abnormal occurrences—these are things that transcend common sense and perception. Some low-grade entities can be handled with brute force or simple gimmicks, but others can't even be solved by force, let alone have a known solution."

"That's what you use in those cases?"

Jaldi nodded.

"Yes. That's exactly when we use the things the Bureau has collected."

"Like using one anomaly to deal with another."

"More or less. Of course, this isn't perfect either. It's extremely unstable. It's not a logical method to begin with. Still, when one anomaly meets another, or when they interfere with each other... something is bound to happen. If that resolves the problem, then we treat it as an official solution."

Something happens when they interfere, huh.

Hearing that reminded me of something.

"Then, Team Leader Jaldi. For example, say there's a possessed person. Wouldn't the ghost itself count as an abnormal phenomenon?"

"I suppose so."

"Even if you could shoot the person dead, you wouldn't be able to drive the ghost out, right?"

"Unless it left when the host died, yes. In that case, the key would be to remove the possession while keeping the person alive."

"Right. In a case like that, if you used some anomaly that drives out ghosts, you could exorcise it that way, then."

"Exactly."

Then...

So then... in that underground madness, the reason Gognija was able to communicate at least somewhat was probably because he had taken medicine from Cheongak Mary Hospital.

Come to think of it.

He's the head of the containment team, so he'd be very knowledgeable about that sort of thing, and he must have resisted the dark madness by using the principle of poison against poison. Like one phenomenon neutralizing another when an anomaly and a ghost story meet.

But if this theory is correct...

Then the "Administration Bureau with the lights out" is... literally an abnormal phenomenon. If it gets eroded by that phenomenon, Spangdal would turn into a monster, and the entities under containment would all start escaping.

"In this way, we make use of anomalies. And that's not something that only happens in the containment rooms. It applies to the entire Bureau building."

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

"At the biggest scale, there's the veil that hides our Bureau. That too. Ah, have you ever thought about this?"

"Please tell me."

"That we take in rookies far too casually for a secret organization."

"That's right."

I had thought the same thing.

They were recruiting agents for a highly secretive organization like the Bureau, and I'd only taken a simple screening test.

"It was definitely less strict than the medical exam you take before joining the army."

"There's a reason for that too. Checking and recording psychic powers is a very ill-advised thing to do."

"What exactly...?"

"That's difficult to explain. And with things being this loose, spies or impostors could get in."

"I thought of that too."

If they scouted someone who had survived an abnormal phenomenon, but that person had actually turned into a monster-like existence, wouldn't the Bureau just be completely fooled?

That's what I thought, but apparently there was something else going on.

"Even if such a fake got in, the Bureau would know all about it."

"Is that because you also use anomalies for that?"

"Mostly. This is also not something you'd want to know too much about."

What kind of method could it possibly be?

This exchange of questions and answers did clear up a few things. Poison against poison—if you look at it that way, that's probably how the Bureau deals with anomalies.

"From now on, Grong, you'll be using anomalies too. Always act calmly and stay composed. The things we use are, by nature, things we can control."

"So as long as you don't make a mistake, it's safe. If you think of it like that, it's not much different from a bomb."

"That's a good way to see it. Do you have any other questions?"

A question.

Good.

Still, I should know this.

After spending a moment organizing my thoughts, I opened my mouth.

"Ah, Team Leader Jaldi. There was a rule like that, right? The one about when the Bureau seems strange or when the lights go out. I have a question about that."

"Hm... Those are things whose exact reasons are hard to explain."

"Please hear me out first. I was thinking in the underground containment facility—if you're on the surface floors, you could probably get out somehow even if all the Bureau's lights went out. But underground, that'd be a bit difficult, wouldn't it?"

"You can ask the containment team leader about that."

"Ah, well, I did see that there was some kind of emergency escape device."

"Then?"

The lab's emergency escape device.

Jaldi also knew about that.

"If the lights suddenly go out in the basement, what do we do then? Do we just use that escape device to get out?"

The moment I mentioned the lights going out.

"..."

Jaldi began staring straight at me.