Chapter 39
After I said I only had a rough idea about the 606 Treaty, someone wrote and posted an explanation of entities that naturally break the rules, casually bending the setting in the process.
Since it was fairly long, to sum it up:
1. The information in entity reports isn't exact because it's based on experiments and survivor testimony, but every entity has its own rules and limits.
2. Since they're crammed onto such a tiny patch of land, the opportunities they get to act are limited.
3. Some entities fail to achieve their objective during their turn (killing, experimentation, stirring up trouble, etc.) and then rebel against the rules. Or rather, they just break them whenever they feel like it.
4. In that case, because it goes against their very reason for existing, the entity itself loses rank, making it weaker or adding weaknesses.
It was useful information.
Because both the fact that entities have absolute rules and the fact that weaknesses can be added were tremendously helpful pieces of information when it came to extending my lifespan.
I wanted to share it with the team if I ever got the chance.
“Gororong... gororong....”
But that thought quickly faded the moment I saw Kang Chae-young sleeping in a bread-loaf pose.
If I told the team this information, wouldn't they wonder where it came from?
Whether that was the team leader and the seniors or not, if the Management Bureau found out...
‘You'd regret it, wouldn't you?’
‘No, you'll definitely start regretting it from tomorrow.’
‘Soon enough, there'll come a day when you'll be begging me to renew the contract yourself.’
I thought of the mysterious big shot I had met before telling the old man's information in the interrogation room.
Come to think of it, I should've asked the team leader who that person was.
But I put it off because I didn't want to ask their name by saying, “Because you blew cigarette smoke in my face,” and then forgot about it.
Maybe because the things I'd experienced in the town where time had stopped had taken up so much space in my head.
The secret post I couldn't see, Scientist Madnificent, the suspicious Seoul Management Bureau, and the gallery users who all seemed to be Seoul locals.
I decided to put off asking about the rest of the loose ends until later.
Because the days were already getting long enough to feel like summer was on the way.
Of course I'd be lying down all day, but for some reason I felt like it'd be hard to fall asleep with the other two awake beside me.
I drained the strength out of my water-soaked sponge of a body, closed my eyes, and tried to sleep.
Hoping I wouldn't have another weird dream in the middle this time.
***
When I opened my eyes, I saw the now somewhat familiar hospital ceiling.
The moment I vaguely reached out toward the terminal on the nightstand to check the time, rubbing my heavy eyes—
Thump.
“Mm....”
What I felt in my hand wasn't the terminal I should've felt, but something warm and soft.
“Uh....”
When I turned my head to the left, Choi Yu-na was lying beside me, looking at me.
My hand was touching Choi Yu-na's cheek.
“…You're awake?”
“…Good morning.”
It had definitely been an ordinary three-bed hospital room.
There had been a nightstand and a partition on both sides before I fell asleep.
Since when had I been lying on a hotel king-size bed with my senior?
“Could you explain what's going on?”
“If you let me touch your cheek once.”
“Sure thing.”
Not long after I took my hand off Choi Yu-na's cheek, a tiny hand reached over and started touching my cheek this way and that.
She poked it with a finger, then started kneading and playing with it with both hands like mochi.
“At this rate, I think you've touched it plenty more than I touched yours.”
“That's a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
Without offering an explanation, Choi Yu-na stopped messing with my cheek and extended her left hand to point behind me.
When I turned around, Kang Chae-young was also lying on the same bed, her stomach exposed, fast asleep...
“Not her. Further back.”
Hmm.
When I looked a little higher, three straw dolls with their forms mangled and incomplete were pinned to the hospital wall on display.
The dolls Choi Yu-na had given me before we went into the operation in the Forest of the Faceless Ones.
Weren't they the degraded version of a Grade 3 entity that shared the lives of whoever held them?
An entity that had saved my life even though I had stayed in contact with the “Faceless Man” for over five seconds, despite the fact that touching him for three seconds was fatal.
Of course, that was only possible because Kang Chae-young and Choi Yu-na shared their life force with me, but it was still an incredible effect.
Though the sight of three dolls with their lower halves blown off, lined up side by side, was grotesque.
“We're donating the borrowed life force to restore them to their original state.”
“It didn't seem to do that back when it was Mokgujin, though.”
“Restoring them and then giving them back makes the ability better the next time we use it.”
“I see.”
When I looked closely, straw was slowly sprouting from the torn-looking cut surfaces.
“Will it reduce my lifespan?”
Choi Yu-na shook her head.
“If that had been the case, I'd have chosen something else. Probably just fatigue and more sleep.”
“No wonder I felt like my eyes wouldn't open properly even though I'd slept.”
I didn't think I could live out my full lifespan if I worked in the Management Bureau, but a longer lifespan couldn't hurt, so I sighed in relief.
“Thank you, senior. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be headed for the underworld by now.”
Choi Yu-na lifted the corners of her mouth, then stretched out her arm again and kneaded my cheek.
“If it had really been Mokgujin like you said, I might've woken up even easier.”
“Aigoo, you do hold grudges. You saw it too, senior. That guy was cheating.”
The reason they were able to join me just before the Faceless Man killed me.
We could tell who was being attacked with the straw dolls too, but it was because the photos the Faceless Man tore off to speed up happened to be theirs.
Because the two of them checked the photo that fell from the tree and ran straight to my side, I survived.
You could say it was lucky that the entity happened to tear off the two of their photos.
But if it had been luck, that variable wouldn't have happened in the first place.
Regardless of that, the senior kept treating me like a tactile doll.
I asked her to explain the current situation.
“Could you explain why the separate beds we had this morning ended up like this?”
“The closer the people sharing life force are, the faster the restoration speed.”
“That's a reasonable explanation. Is this a hospital service?”
“The team leader said she was bored being alone, so she set this up and told us to get better quickly.”
I had clearly seen with my own eyes that she left the hospital room in the early morning.
When had she come back and switched both the beds and the people around? I hadn't felt a thing while sleeping.
At this point, even if the day came when she said, “Ta-da! Actually, I was an entity~!”, I didn't think I'd be that surprised.
Anyway, after a little more cheek kneading.
“Huaaahm~.”
Kang Chae-young, who had been sleeping on the right, stretched and sat up.
As she stretched her arms, her patient gown rode up, exposing the already not-fully-covered expanse of her stomach...
“Ah, I slept well. Just when is oppa going to wake up....”
Kang Chae-young noticed me looking at her stomach.
In situations like this, what should I say so I don't cause a misunderstanding?
“It's been a while, senior.”
“Oppa!!!”
Kang Chae-young ignored my greeting and suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck.
Squeeze tight.
“Do you know how many days it's been since you woke up? I was so worried because even after using how many cover gels, you still hadn't woken up!”
The strength from the arms wrapped around me simultaneously squeezed the breath out of me.
Pat pat pat pat!
“That doesn't mean just patting my back while saying you're comforting me!”
No, I mean surrender, surrender!
Choked by an embrace disguised as a chokehold, I slowly lost consciousness and closed my eyes again.
***
A few days after all that had passed, one morning the three of us successfully got discharged at the same time, something even Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei couldn't pull off.
A total of two weeks of hospitalization.
During that time, I spent my days with person-shaped weights attached to both hands, dealing with the team leader who would come by whenever she was bored just to tease me.
I also heard quite a bit while I was out cold.
Like Minseo telling Kang Chae-young to pass along her thanks before her memories were erased.
That we had become the first case of returning from the “Forest of the Faceless Ones” with no deaths, civilians included.
And especially that, based on the testimony, my contribution was recognized as the biggest, and there would be some tremendous award at the Management Bureau level.
There were a few other awkward situations, like bathroom trouble and moments when it was hard to even look people in the eye, but we somehow got through them.
What was the point of making things awkward with seniors I'd be working with from now on?
“Then I'll be off for a bit.”
“See you later.”
“Take your time and come back slowly~.”
After saying goodbye to Kang Chae-young and Choi Yu-na, I headed to the psychological counseling room.
The reason for the summons was that I had taken medicine prescribed for medical use and used it out in the field.
How absurd.
If not for that, Minseo would have been put in danger because of me, or else she would have definitely been killed by the seniors.
Should I have somehow dodged the two of them, who wouldn't give me even a moment to use the terminal, and figured out the Management Bureau's fucked-up way of doing things in the Seoul area?
Creak.
When I entered the counseling room, a cheerful-looking Manager Kwak Chun-bong was just coming out of the room on the right.
“Good day, Manager.”
“Oh, you've been discharged, Employee Park Seong-bin!”
“Did you know I was hospitalized?”
“Of course. Whenever your team leader gets bored, she calls around everywhere looking for someone to talk to.”
Through the manager, I was able to hear how what happened in the Forest of the Faceless Ones had spread through the Gwanak Branch.
“Figuring out what the ordinary entities are, how to deal with them, updates on the variants... no, on the original's weakening and behavioral patterns too! You have no idea how much people in the branch are talking about you right now.”
It was the sort of achievement that, if someone else had pulled it off, I'd have been amazed too, so I couldn't exactly go, “Hm, that's all?”
“According to the materials your field response team brought back this time, once ‘the Forest of the Faceless Ones’ appeared, the survival rates of civilians and employees shot way up!”
That said, since it was something I had done, I couldn't stop my face from heating up.
When I saw Manager Kwak Chun-bong's face light up so brightly at the word survival rate, I couldn't bring myself to cut him off halfway.
So the manager's little patting session on me continued a bit longer.
If I only heard praise like this, shouldn't that be a gain? Still, my mood was basically zero either way, a wash.
I was glad I could skip the status report, but it was like hearing my mom praise her kid to relatives over the holidays right in front of me....
“Anyway, make sure you get your counseling properly, and if you need medicine, be sure to ask for more.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
After saying that, Manager Kwak Chun-bong patted my shoulder a few times with his thick hand and left the counseling room.
[As there are no waiting patients, please enter the room on the right immediately.]
When I walked up to the machine to take a number, a voice came from the reception desk.
It looked like there had been no one before me today, not even an entity, aside from the manager.
Creak.
When I opened the counseling room door and went in, the counselor who had seen me before, Cheon Jin-seong, was sitting there.
Should I try doing something nonhuman again like last time?
But I already got told not to do that last time, so why should I bother?
“Pattado~ pattado~ pattado~.”
Now, if only I could make my batta go ppalttak ppalttak!
“I already know your batta goes ppalttak ppalttak, so please sit down first.”
“Yes.”
Cheon Jin-seong watched my dance and song with total indifference, then casually told me to sit down.
It looked like I'd need to find an even crazier NewTube channel next time I came.
In other words, this meant I could no longer pretend to be a lunatic using this method.
“Let me see.... Although I diagnosed you to manage only Class 1 entities for the time being, the next entity you faced was Class 4... and then you immediately went on to handle a Class 3 entity.”
A sigh as heavy as the one I'd let out after losing all the money I put into stocks escaped the counselor's mouth and settled on the floor.
I felt pretty wronged.
Just hearing it like that made me sound like some troublemaker who ignored instructions.
“The former was a Class 1 entity management assignment, but an entity barged in; the latter I got caught up in while on patrol.”
“I know. I've checked all the management records. Of course I know it wasn't the employee's fault.”
Nodding while listening to my self-defense, Cheon Jin-seong then said something I never would have imagined.
“That's why I called you in today.”
“I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean.”
Cheon Jin-seong opened a drawer and took out several medicine bottles identical to the one she'd given me before, setting them on the desk.
“Since the ordinary entities in the Forest of the Faceless Ones have been confirmed to be hallucinations, there has been talk of making that medicine a standard supply item for Seoul-area employees.”
I couldn't help thinking this was the kind of information they could only update because it was a brand-new entity that had come over just a year earlier under the 606 Treaty.
In other words, it probably meant there were that few survivors in America, or that everyone had been wiped out.
“That's good news.”
“The problem is that, since the entity that produces the medicine has a daily output limit, it's been confirmed that the medicine assigned to the Gwanak Branch will be delayed.”
Cheon Jin-seong added, “Not to mention that it isn't the only thing that entity makes,” and pushed the bottles toward me.
To think they'd pack entities into the Seoul area and delay the medicine that was supposed to go to us.
My goodwill toward the Bureau dropped again at how brazenly they were going through with something even a shitty little company wouldn't do.
“These are extras. Please share them with your team members too.”
“Thank you. I won't forget this favor.”
“If you feel you owe me, since you're here anyway, why not get a few simple tests done?”
“They were telling me to come in late anyway.”
After pocketing the medicine bottles and finishing a few tests as Cheon Jin-seong instructed, I went back to the office.
“I'm back.”
“You're back? No problems anywhere?”
“They said I'm fine. Here you go, Team Leader.”
After responding to Choi Yu-na's greeting, I walked over to Imina and handed her the diagnosis form.
“They said you'd understand if I told you it was something only the team leader could see.”
“Ah~. It's probably because it contains updated information, so the security level must have gone up too. Got it.”
The team leader took the diagnosis form, read it, and soon after tore it to shreds and threw it in the trash.
I wondered what was written in it that made her shred it so thoroughly.
“It's nothing much. It says there's nothing wrong, but don't put it through the shredder.”
Weirdly old-school in some places. Thinking that, I handed out the medicine bottles to the team and started organizing the paperwork.
I probably wouldn't be dealing with entities for a while.
++++
[Management Bureau Psychological Counseling Room Diagnosis Report]
Client: Park Seong-bin (25)
Affiliation: Field Response Team
Despite being recommended for assignment to manage a Class 1 entity, this employee, due to an unexpected situation, consecutively participated in the management of Class 3 and Class 4 entities over a short period.
Although the red medicine was taken, some trauma related to pain appears to remain in the subconscious, suggesting that it has not been taken regularly.
However, due to direct contact with the “Faceless Man” in the “Forest of the Faceless Ones,” a mild mental contamination was observed that cannot be treated with the red medicine.
According to the diagnosis for “Rest Easy,” if entity counseling is conducted, side effects may occur to the personality, so natural recovery rather than counseling through an entity is recommended.
During the recovery period, there is a possibility that, without the person realizing it, the words inside them will spill out immediately or their body will react differently from what they think.
At present, this is not at a level where work performance itself is impossible, but if the same intensity of field experience is repeated, symptoms are likely to worsen.
Accordingly, it is recommended that the employee be excluded from missions involving entities of Class 3 or higher until the condition stabilizes.
[This diagnosis form is secured so that no one below team-leader level can read it. Please have Team Leader Imina handle it from here.]
Counselor Cheon Jin-seong
++++