Chapter 18
The leave I got after returning from Youngsaeng General Hospital was three days.
For a field response team short on manpower, it was long; for someone who had put their life on the line and come back, it was short.
Should I be grateful they gave me time off?
I’d heard that at some other Bureau, even if three or four people took down something close to a god-level aberration, they’d still show up for work the next day like nothing happened.
And that was even for office workers.
So even though it was a weekday, I was heading straight for the bed again.
[I donated blood, send this to the front page]
Author: ForumLurkingIsEasy
[Photo of the lunchbox Yu-na packed]
When I donated blood at the hospital, they gave me a homemade lunchbox.
They even hand out a lot of mobile game merch these days, so you should go give it a try too.
[Comments]
YaaComeAtMe: Killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill
ㄴEntityFetishist: One more outburst and I’m reporting you to the mods.
DadIsAMurimMan: His mental fortitude is top-tier, bb.
ㄴForumLurkingForPay: This bastard learned something weird again.
[That newbie is seriously impressive.]
Author: LoreTweaker
Backrooms for a week, with nothing learned on day one
Straight into luck-based gacha Russian roulette
Then all the way to a Level 3 hospital
Isn’t this bastard exactly the kind of talent the Bureau wants?
Even if you survive your first assignment, unless you get memory erasure, 80 percent end up with PTSD or turn into wrecks
What the hell is he? Why is he fine?
What if he’s actually the entity?
[Comments]
ForumLurkingIsEasy: You found me. That’s right, I am the very %^#*&$@
ㄴManageTheManagement: Entity cosplay is a one-month ban, though.
ㄴForumLurkingIsEasy: Sorry.
ㄴStuckAtHome: idiotㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Hospitals make me think of the old days]
Author: DarkSurgerySurgerySurgery
[Photo of a spine bone]
When I woke up after being classified as a patient in orthopedics,
the doctor was grinning ear to ear
and said, “This is your spine.”
I said, “What is this? Give it back,” and they ripped out my pelvis too.
What a memory.
[Comments]
WhiteHacker: What was it, and how did you survive?
ResidentGhostNo. 1: And in that situation, “give it back” lmao.
ForumLurkingIsEasy: What was it? How did you survive?
ㄴ(Author)DarkSurgerySurgerySurgery: The spine was in such good shape that they waived my hospital bill.
ㄴForumLurkingIsEasy: For real....
Lying there writing trash posts and forum-lurking like this, time just melts away.
Food? Dinner is enough.
It was a 24-hour cafeteria, so I could go whenever.
And at mealtimes, Manager Kwak Chun-bong always showed up on the tray.
It wasn’t pleasant to greet my superior’s body parts every time I ate.
Especially when the severed cross-section was still visible.
Thanks to that, I’d piled up a few special-meal vouchers, though....
It was still unsettling.
And I didn’t have anyone to go with.
All that meant I’d already spent a day and a half of my three days just lurking on the forums.
It wasn’t like I was only writing trash posts.
[Anyone used the dorm cafeteria special-meal voucher?]
Author: ForumLurkingIsEasy
The boss said it was to keep the other newbies from getting caught
because it comes plated together with the menu in the cafeteria.
I got one every time I reported it? Does this thing really give you a special meal?
Or am I the one being used as the special meal?
[Comments]
Hound: Your boss is awesome. I can’t use one without that, so save it for an anniversary.
OrphanCrusher: For real, it’s so good you could eat it with two others and not notice if your parents died.
GayAberrationYo: It’s insanely good.
ㄴResidentGhostNo. 1: What’s JMT?
ㄴGayAberrationYo: JMT.
ㄴResidentGhostNo. 1: ㅗ
[What am I supposed to do after three days off?]
Author: ForumLurkingIsEasy
I haven’t even seen the faces of the team leader and one team member yet,
Am I going to be sent on business trips all over the country like them too?
The bonus money is nice and all,
but my life is worth more than money, so can’t I just take the base pay?
[Comments]
EntityFetishist: Be glad it’s only domestic travel. When I was in, we did overseas business trips.
ㄴ(Author) ForumLurkingIsEasy: What do you mean? There’s no Bureau overseas?
ㄴEntityFetishist: Since the 606 Treaty, they’ve been dumping entities in South Korea, haven’t they? Didn’t they tell you that in training?
ㄴ(Author) ForumLurkingIsEasy: All I learned was “take pride in it” and “survive on your own.”
ㄴEntityFetishist: Don’t they include that in new-hire training anymore?
ForumLurkingForPay: It’s been ten years since the treaty, and there aren’t many people who went through the transition period, so they don’t bother explaining it.
I also picked up leads while gathering information like this.
Though most of it was just stuff I stumbled into by chance.
Buzzz.
My phone buzzed. A messenger notification, not the forum app’s vibration.
[Senior Choi Yu-na: What are you doing?]
The one who contacted me was Choi Yu-na. Come to think of it, the only person who’d contact me was my senior.
The team leader sent me a text after I got out of the hospital, thanking me for my hard work.
They said we’d talk it over in person and told me to rest up.
According to my senior, even personal matters are only talked about at work, or something like that.
They say they never contact people privately, to respect their team members’ privacy.
In every way, they were the model boss.
[Me: I’m lying down and resting]
[Senior Choi Yu-na: Have you eaten?]
[Me: I ate last night.]
[Senior Choi Yu-na: Come out. Let’s eat.]
[Me: It’s been ages since dinner time; you still haven’t eaten?]
[Senior Choi Yu-na: You haven’t eaten either.]
I didn’t really have a reason to refuse.
Besides, I still had things I hadn’t heard from my senior about the hospital.
Like the wooden doll that suddenly popped up, or how the hospital had let us off surprisingly easily.
We agreed to meet in thirty minutes, and I took two special-meal vouchers from my desk.
“You’re here?”
“Yep.”
She was dressed fairly casually, not in Bureau formal wear.
I’d thought my senior might wear a suit even on her day off, but she didn’t.
“It’s not like it costs you anything to eat, so why didn’t you eat?”
“I ran into Manager Kwak on the menu a few times, and it made me feel like I was working.”
“Ah.”
My senior nodded as if she understood.
“And you didn’t eat either, Senior?”
“I cooked for myself.”
“Then that means you did eat.”
“I didn’t eat dinner, so it counts as not eating.”
I went into the cafeteria with my senior, and neither of us said a word.
[Please follow the instructions and enjoy your meal.]
As soon as we stepped in, the chef appeared to greet us.
Why did the chef greet us every time we came in?
Fine-dining chefs usually only come out when they’re explaining the dishes, right?
Then again, maybe it was better if he didn’t come around while we were eating.
“I’d like to request the special meal.”
“[One voucher is enough for two people.]”
“Oh, right.”
It clearly said two people on the special-meal voucher, so why had I forgotten that?
The chef, with a demon-like face, took only one of the vouchers I held out and put it in his pocket.
“[We’ll serve you a course meal.]”
The chef said that and went back into the kitchen.
Squelch, squelch.
Since there were a few employees eating, my senior and I sat at a corner table.
“I wasn’t expecting the special meal, though.”
“I felt like I should repay you for the lunchbox.”
“Thanks. Thanks to you, I get to try the rumored special meal too.”
My senior lifted the corners of her mouth, clearly excited.
If it turns out good, I might have to save the vouchers for bribes.
Then I’d have to see Manager Kwak Chun-bong often.
[Appetizers are here.]
The table filled up faster than I expected.
“[For the gentleman, five one-bite dishes; for the lady, a Mediterranean salad.]”
“Thank you.”
“[Once you’re finished, I’ll bring the next course, so please relax and eat. Would you like wine?]”
“I’m fine. What about you, Senior?”
“Me neither. I want to focus on the food.”
After we declined the wine pairing, the chef disappeared again.
The appetizers were delicious.
The taste was so straightforward that even I, used to MSG and heavy seasoning, could tell it was good.
“It’s good.”
“Yeah.”
“But your menu is different from mine?”
“Is it?”
Unlike my appetizer, which was mostly bite-sized animal protein, my senior’s plate was all vegetables.
“What, is this customized?”
I’d read a manga where, once you reached the pinnacle of the Five Elements, you could tell what food the other person wanted.
Did the chef have that kind of ability?
“Want to try some?”
“You’re not supposed to share food.”
I silently pointed at the sign.
3. Food is always replenished so there is no shortage. Therefore, please do not share food brought by others.
“Even the special meal?”
“I think so.”
“[The special meal is fine.]”
Jeez, you startled me.
“[The special-meal rules don’t apply.]”
The chef who had just gone into the kitchen was suddenly standing beside our table.
“[So regular dishes can’t be shared, but special meals are fine.]”
“Thanks for the explanation.”
After I thanked him for the explanation, the chef went back into the kitchen.
Squelch, squelch.
Was it because the entity had vouched for it?
My senior speared a vegetable from her own plate with her fork and held it out to me.
“Ah.”
“I can eat it myself, you know.”
“Your arm’s going to fall off.”
That’s a bit much for a joke.
So I had no choice but to take a bite of the salad my senior held out.
A subtle taste from the light dressing and the hidden flavors beneath it.
“So this is the kind of taste you like.”
My senior took the beef tartare tart from the plate with the fork I’d already used and put it in her mouth.
“And you like flavors like this.”
“I do like my food a bit salty.”
At this rate, even if we got stranded later by some location-type entity, I didn’t think she’d scold me for putting my mouth on the water bottle.
We shared bites of the dishes that came after, too.
As we kept eating, I felt like I was getting a handle on my senior’s tastes.
By the time we’d finished the main course and only dessert remained,
my senior brought up the main subject first.
“You said you had some questions about the hospital mission.”
“Yes. There were too many things that didn’t sit right with me to just leave them be.”
The rest couldn’t be explained by saying we got lucky.
If it had just been luck, we wouldn’t have been classified as patients from the start.
“All right, ask whatever you want.”
“Thank you, then...”
“But I get to go first.”
My senior suddenly pulled rank.
“You’ve got questions for me?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s do a give-and-take.”
At most, it’d be about my personal info or the weird way I act when I use the forum.
“Why did you come to the Bureau?”
A heavy straight punch came flying at me from a completely unexpected direction.