Chapter 19
“The reason?”
“Yeah. Why you deliberately came into the Administration Bureau.”
“I told you. My stocks crashed, so I couldn't live as a human....”
“Not how you got in. The reason.”
The senior's eyes, softened by the banquet, sharpened.
“I looked into your history up until before you went to the hospital.”
The senior took out a terminal and showed me a NewTube video.
[Damn, they said there'd be nothing at level 0.]
[I'm filming in real time to record the situation.]
“Hey, now.”
I reached out to grab the senior's terminal, but my hand sliced through empty air.
“You can't just go digging up someone else's dark past like that.”
“Why is it a dark past?”
“Because it feels like someone else is reading your diary from when you were young and stupid.”
“It hasn't even been ten days.”
“It's only been ten seconds since you said that, senior. Time really flies, huh.”
These days, regretting things by the second is apparently the trend.
“If me surviving that hell is proof, then dying should make me innocent, right?”
“There’s more.”
A photo on the senior's terminal.
It was the one in the isolation room, “Why Are You Luckier Than Me?”
“I heard you managed this thing.”
“Yes. The Administration Bureau didn't treat me like staff, so they shoved me in with the N-rank personnel.”
“Why did you think of tricking it first?”
Why, you ask?
“Because I have to survive.”
“Exactly.”
The senior put a spoonful of the after-dinner ice cream into her mouth.
“How did you start looking for a way to deal with the entity the moment you got the management order?”
[But what happens if the newbie gets caught hanging around the gallery?]
Author : Auto-Save Is Mandatory
Frankly, what you've shown so far doesn't look anything like a normal rookie.
The Administration Bureau staff aren't idiots, so would they really see some suspicious bastard like that as a sucker who came in through the human-rights-waiver track?
My answer is no.
Even I ended up getting individual psychological counseling after running into two level-2 entities.
Even with help from the forum, the things the newbie solved were on an exceptional level.
So take the hint and pretend to be crazy while I'm still being nice.
Screw up and they'll classify you as an ability user or tag you as a favored agent.
[Comments]
Forum Browsing Is Easy : What happens if you become a favored agent or an ability user?
ㄴForum Browsing For Pay : They cut your break time and work you to death, whether you're a favored agent or an ability user.
ㄴForum Browsing Is Easy : What's the difference?
ㄴForum Browsing For Pay : Salary.
My Dad Is a Martial Artist : Yeah, for real. The field response team is short on manpower as hell, so if you've got a strong mentality, they dump you into every trash entity.
Hound : You won't be able to quit until you die anyway, so at least get your fill of the perks early on. That's a real sweet tip.
The hot post I'd seen yesterday kept flickering before my eyes.
I'd even been trying to build up a bit of a foundation during my break.
Of all people, the one who got suspicious was neither the intel team nor HR, but Choi Yuna.
The world really doesn't go the way you want.
“Ah, I'm suddenly dizzy.”
“Don't even pretend later.”
There goes one dream.
“Does the team leader know too?”
“No, just me for now.”
If I didn't answer, even if the senior's ice cream melted completely, I wouldn't be able to get up.
I never thought the desperate struggle I made just to survive would come back like this.
I took a moment to gather my thoughts and opened my mouth.
“I don't know either.”
“You don't know?”
“It's true that I came to the Administration Bureau with a purpose. But there's one thing I'd like to correct.”
I powered on my terminal and opened the forbidden address for the first time in a while.
A blue screen showing -99.99%.
My stock situation.
“Stock crashes were not one of the methods I used to get into the Administration Bureau.”
The moment she saw the chart, the senior's eyes began to tremble.
“Your stocks... that's unfortunate.”
“Thanks.”
I'd prepared all sorts of things, but...
At a time when everyone else was making money, an entity had barged in and, of all things, only the stocks I bought ended up like that.
This was something I had to correct even if a knife was at my throat.
Who'd want to throw money on the ground?
“And the reason I came here is to find my family.”
“Your family? Who?”
“I don't know. I only know the Administration Bureau is connected to my family.”
After that, I explained my family history—or lack of it—to Choi Yuna.
That I'd grown up in an orphanage since before I could remember, and knew nothing at all about my family.
That the only thing beside me, left at the orphanage door, was a letter, and in it, the word “Administration Bureau” was written in letters only I could see.
That I looked into and prepared everything to join the Administration Bureau, but then my stocks tanked and I ended up coming in like this.
“I didn't really have any goal in life. So I figured I might as well try finding my family once, but I never thought it'd be harder than a reunion for separated families.”
I'd only heard about it as an urban legend; who would've thought I'd be sent to the Backrooms on my first day?
“I see.”
“Yeah. I had my own things I'd picked up, so I started with the little tricks first. Rule horror stories, quarantine fiction. Stuff like that is everywhere.”
“That alone doesn't explain how you adapted.”
“I can't explain that one either.”
What else could I say besides, "How did you manage those little tricks?" I had to ask, or I'd die.
Fortunately, the senior seemed to accept it for now.
“Sorry, I wasn't trying to question why you're still alive.”
“That's fine. This isn't a workplace where common sense works.”
“I won't ask any more.”
“Really?”
The senior stirred the ice cream that had completely melted into liquid with her spoon.
“Instead, make sure you tell me once it's certain.”
“Isn't that a flag?”
“What is?”
“No, never mind. I will tell you for sure.”
With that, I downed the plum tea whose ice had completely melted.
Refreshing, but with the ice gone, the flavor was kind of muted.
“Then you'll answer my questions too, right?”
“Yeah.”
“First off, why did the ABC seniors greet you so enthusiastically?”
‘Oh! It's Choi Yuna! We're lucky this time, aren't we?’
‘You're sticking with me again this time, right? Huh? We got the entity back thanks to me last time too.’
Their reactions weren't just the excitement of gaining one more staff member.
They looked like they were seeing a certified ability user.
The senior answered my question right away, without much hesitation.
“Because I'm an ability user.”
“An ability user? Is that wooden doll your ability too, senior?”
“More precisely….”
The senior explained that her ability was to create and use degraded versions of managed entities.
She said that when she did missions with the ABC staff, she used an entity that would take major injuries for her, and at the hospital, she used an entity that mimicked humans—the wooden doll.
“What are the limitations or costs of the ability?”
“You can use only one entity a day, and the ability is always a degraded copy of the original.”
[Mokgujin.txt]
“Read it. It's the original form of the entity used at the hospital.”
++++
[Entity Report]
Mokgujin
Grade: Level 2
Classification - Entity Type
'Mokgujin' is a wooden doll about 15 cm tall that was discovered at the ■■■ dojo in ■■ County, ■■ Province, China.
During the entity containment operation, it attacked the field response team while taking on the appearance of the head of the ■■■ dojo.
In that engagement, 2 field response staff members were killed and 13 were seriously injured, and the entity was only successfully contained after additional reinforcements were deployed.
If, while holding 'Mokgujin,' a specific target is recognized or designated, the entity transforms into the same appearance as the target within seconds.
During the transformation process, it was confirmed to reproduce physical characteristics such as clothing, build, age, and scars, but the mechanism behind the reproduction remains unknown.
Once transformed, 'Mokgujin' shows extreme hostility toward the original entity.
It then approaches the target and attacks physically, not stopping until the target dies.
The entity appears to possess physical abilities far superior to the original.
When it transformed into a martial artist, it was observed using that martial artist's techniques.
Once the target's death is confirmed, the entity ceases all activity.
It then stands motionless in place for about 10 to 30 seconds before returning to its original wooden doll form.
Discovery Circumstances
Investigation found that the headmaster of the ■■■ dojo used the entity on martial artists who visited to challenge the dojo, and all victims were revealed to have been killed by a being with the same appearance as themselves.
These incidents remained unsolved in the martial arts world for a long time, and as a result the ■■■ dojo gained a reputation as "the dojo that never loses" and "the undefeated dojo."
After receiving reports of the anomaly, the Administration Bureau conducted an on-site investigation and then carried out an entity retrieval operation.
The entity shows no separate autonomous behavior, and its activation conditions have also been clearly confirmed, so it is classified as not requiring any additional management measures.
++++
No wonder it smashed through the ward door and came running out at terrifying speed.
So that was the original. But something was strange.
“The 'Mokgujin' you used in the ward was two, right?”
“Right.”
There were two 'Mokgujin' imitating the rescue target in the ward.
That clearly contradicted the senior's claim that she could use only one.
“That's the ability of the Chungnam branch aces.”
“The ABC seniors?”
“Yeah. They don't know it, but they're ability users too.”
Ability users who don't even know they're ability users.
Is the Administration Bureau just a total mess when it comes to personnel management?
“I'll teach you later. If I say any more, I'll get scolded.”
“Scolded?”
“By HR.”
“Well, what can you do.”
If she'd get scolded for saying more, how could I possibly keep pressing her?
Someday I'd find out. No, please let that day come.
“Then what did the entity called the hospital director say when we left the hospital at the end?”
[He said to tell you, “The same trick won't work twice.”]
For a hospital that had let us leave so easily despite smuggling out two patients, it was surprisingly compliant.
And the hospital director entity, even though it knew we'd pulled a stunt, still let us off.
As expected, the senior didn't have even the slightest hesitation.
“My ability is one-use only.”
“Right?”
“So the imitated 'Mokgujin' can't turn back into wooden dolls.”
“Ah.”
So they hadn't just let us go.
The hospital had thought the transformed Mokgujin was a patient.
“Can entities be test subjects too?”
“I think they let us go because that was enough for them.”
Come to think of it, judging by the records, the price for rescuing a patient was only a body part.
Even with the Administration Bureau involved, if there were two intact human bodies, I think I'd have let them go too.
“Anything else you're curious about?”
The senior put another spoonful of the melted ice cream into her mouth.
“That's enough.”
“That's a relief.”
The senior spoke in a brighter voice than before.
“Thanks to you, I got to enjoy the rumored special meal.”
“If you have time, come again sometime.”
“Next time too?”
Because I still had plenty of special-meal vouchers left.
If need be, I could just chat a little more with Manager Kwak Chunbong.
And so the late dinner came to an end.
I’d meant to clear my head, but instead my thoughts got even more tangled; still, it wasn't a bad time.
At least Choi Yuna seemed to be on my side.
I thought that alone was a big enough gain.
“Next time, maybe I'll try eating the same menu as you, senior.”
For some reason, I felt like it might taste a little better than today.
And then, the next day.
[Team Leader Im Mina : Don't come to work tomorrow—go get psychological counseling~.]
The chance to act crazy showed up a little sooner than I'd expected.