Chapter 56
The day I came out of Bonhyang Haewondang was worthy of becoming a personal holiday.
Because it was the first time I'd returned to the Management Bureau without suffering a single injury.
How had my shallowest injury until then been having my left forearm torn off?
If Smiler had bitten off even my left shoulder back then, I would probably be living quite comfortably in the afterlife by now.
Or I might have been writing shitposts on the Management Bureau Gallery while waiting for a rookie like me to arrive.
I wonder what happened to them.
In any case, the good news was that I wasn't lying in a hospital bed and could still walk around just fine.
“Let's begin the disciplinary committee.”
The bad news was that a disciplinary committee was being held for me as the price of spilling information about the Management Bureau to the hall master while infiltrating Bonhyang Haewondang.
Branch Director Park was sitting in the center of the conference room.
To the left were Imina, Choi Yuna, and Kang Chae-young, who had returned from managing Immortality General Hospital, along with Yoo Se-chan and the other Field Response Team members.
To the right were Research Team Leader Choi Min-su and several people I had never seen before.
The scene before me was something I had only seen in games where you became a lawyer and shouted, “Objection!”
In a room designed more like a courtroom than a conference room, with me, of all people, in the defendant's seat.
“The subject is Park Seong-bin, who was assigned the recent infiltration mission at Bonhyang Haewondang.”
“Yes.”
“I see you know you've done something wrong, judging by how deeply you've lowered your head.”
A sarcastic voice came from the front, but I couldn't bring myself to look up confidently.
That was because the smooth, shiny, round part of Branch Director Park was reflecting the light fiercely toward me.
It was fine if I was misunderstood, but the truth couldn't come to light.
That would be too much.
“Your ears should still be working, so I'll explain the grounds for your disciplinary action. If you have an objection, speak after you've heard everything, when you're given time to do so.”
Apparently finished interpreting my posture, Branch Director Park began explaining the outline of the Bonhyang Haewondang incident.
The attack by the Entity Liberation Headquarters that had prompted the infiltration had been contained, and the Shamanic Council was cooperating to defend against any follow-up attacks.
After the personnel sent in once I had escaped the scene monitored the hall master, they found that something had infiltrated the hall master's home on the night before the news of his death broke.
The conclusion reached after the Research Team examined my testimony and the broken SoulOrb found at the scene was rather surprising.
For one thing, it was certain that Bonhyang Haewondang was one of the Entity Liberation Headquarters' major operations.
The hall master's SoulOrb had been a duplicate, and the entity had been destroyed as the price of excessive use, causing its host, the hall master, to die in payment.
Apparently, contract-type entities that demanded one's life as collateral were so common they practically rolled around underfoot.
“However, one thing remains unclear: what wish did he make that allowed him to kill himself without causing us any harm….”
“Exactly. Usually, the personnel involved in an operation suffer casualties.”
“Shh! I told you to say things like that when the Field Response Team wasn't around!”
“Is it okay if the Security and Support Teams are here?”
At Branch Director Park's words, whispers began spreading through the conference room.
That was understandable, since I had said that I couldn't remember anything that might have been used to interrogate me about my meeting with the hall master.
With it already established as fact that the Seoul Management Bureau was suspicious, there was no need to bring up the Gallery as well.
“According to the operation report, when you left the hall, you informed Yoo Se-chan that surveillance personnel had been assigned to you.”
A man's voice came from the right rather than Branch Director Park's side.
Judging by his dark navy uniform and the baton and radio at his waist, he appeared to be from the Security Team. He probably wasn't a rookie like me if he was senior enough to offer opinions midway through the proceedings.
“You yourself also said that you had leaked the information. Doesn't that mean you provided it of your own free will?”
“The moment I inhaled the incense, I lost control of my body. Fortunately, my consciousness remained, which is why I was able to remember it.”
“Incense intended for hypnosis just happened not to erase Employee Park Seong-bin's consciousness, huh? If that's true, I'd like to recruit you to the Security Team rather than the Field Response Team.”
It was a sudden recruitment offer from the Security Team leader disguised as sarcasm.
I wanted to take out the red pill in my pocket and show it to him, but I didn't.
‘The problem is that the entity producing the medicine has a limit on its daily output, so the medicine allocated to the Gwanak Branch is definitely going to be delayed.’
Only Counselor Cheon Jin-seong knew that the Field Response Team at the Gwanak Branch had spare red pills, since he was the one who had given them to us.
“Oh my? Isn't it poor professional ethics to poach another team's employee when the team leader is sitting right here, Security Team Leader?”
“The Security Team has plenty of talent, too. Should we poach a few of yours?”
Imina and Choi Yuna answered the Security Team leader's recruitment pitch for me.
Come to think of it, that person was the Security Team leader.
Was everyone really that idle? Why had so many team-leader-level personnel shown up to discipline a single rookie?
“Quiet.”
At Branch Director Park's single, thoroughly irritated word, the conference room fell silent again.
“You people must have it easy, discussing whether the subject of a disciplinary hearing has useful abilities. At this rate, I'll recruit the next rookie from the Entity Liberation Headquarters or Unquestioning Obedience.”
People moved around within the same industry, after all. As a pure-blooded Management Bureau employee, Branch Director Park didn't seem to know that.
“According to his testimony, Employee Park Seong-bin handed Bonhyang Haewondang information about the Gwanak Branch Field Response Team and the entities he had personally participated in managing. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“You committed such a shameless act that even a memory wipe to nothingness would be insufficient, yet you still have the nerve to stand there so brazenly.”
Damn, what a bastard. I almost said, ‘Though I did spill it of my own free will, how dare some Heihachi act like he can take credit for the ancestral spirits' help!’
I didn't argue. It wasn't as though I had the right to.
Regardless of my intentions or the outcome, it was true that I had deliberately spilled my team's information without being hypnotized.
Ultimately, I had sold the Field Response Team's information to save my life, and it remained true that the situation had been resolved smoothly because I was lucky.
Perhaps my thoughts had shown on my face, because a rotten smile spread across Branch Director Park's face.
“Your offense is serious, but the Management Bureau is an extremely merciful place, and in consideration of your past achievements, we're willing to let you off with a limited memory wipe before you resign….”
“I object!”
Kang Chae-young's sudden, lively cry filled the courtroom.
Attorney Kang Chae-young, huh.
Maybe I wasn't going to receive a limited memory wipe, but a memory wipe to nothingness….
“Are employees allowed to interrupt a branch director?”
The branch director seemed displeased at being interrupted while he was enjoying himself.
Kang Chae-young endured the branch director's gaze for a moment, then….
“Team leader! You said all I had to do was shout!”
“That's because your voice is the loudest on our team.”
“Then why are you just sitting there?”
“Because this reaction is fun to watch.”
Imina stepped forward, taking Kang Chae-young's gentle pats on the shoulder.
Her face wore the languid, smiling eyes she always showed at the office.
Behind her stood Yoo Se-chan, dark circles hanging from his deeply sunken eyes all the way down to his lips.
Was it really all right for him to be here instead of going to the hospital in that condition?
“You know that even team-leader-level personnel can't shield someone from leaking information, don't you?”
“That depends on what information it was, doesn't it?”
“Insolent….”
“The Field Response Team can't survive without being feisty~. Ms. Choi Yuna?”
“Yeah.”
At Imina's call, Choi Yuna took something out of her arms.
In her hand was something resembling a square box with several arms attached to it.
“Th-That! Why is it here!?”
“I heard Employee Choi Yuna could copy entities, but it's true?”
“Please no, not that, please no, not that, please no, not that, please no, not that, please no, not that, please no, not that!!!”
The people on the right reacted as though they were having seizures at the sight of what Choi Yuna was holding.
“If you lie, I'll take one fingernail at a time….”
“That's right. You remember what happened when you joined, don't you?”
The Security Team leader let out an exclamation, and Imina answered him with a sly smile.
“As everyone knows, if you lie while holding that, it hurts a lot, right?”
And that “thing” was now in my hand, passed over through Choi Yuna.
“Then shall we begin the interrogation?”
“I know I'm not exactly in a position to say this, but interrogations are normally done to someone other than me….”
“You need to be acquitted, Park Ppit-pi.”
Yoo Se-chan, who had been standing behind Imina, said that in a feeble voice.
“Tell us again what information about the Management Bureau and our team you gave the hall master.”
“Understood.”
“Wait, if you have that tool, shouldn't you ask something else first…!”
Branch Director Park's voice revealed his panic. I didn't know how the situation was going to unfold, but there had to be a reason my teammates had stepped in like this.
I didn't delay any further and testified about everything I'd discussed with the hall master, leaving out the part about the Gallery.
Exposing my orphan history with my own mouth in front of Management Bureau employees.
How the inside of the Management Bureau building was much larger than the outside.
How the Field Response Team had a tremendous amount of work but absurdly few permanent members by comparison.
And this is what happened to me in the Backrooms. The moment I first entered the Backrooms, every nerve in my body went taut. Because I never thought I'd actually visit the Backrooms I'd only ever seen on wikis….
Just before I began describing my second day in the Backrooms.
Crack!
A long crack spread across the square box in my hand.
The several arms attached to the box all trembled at once.
Apparently, being an inferior version meant that the length of conversation it could accommodate was limited.
“Stop! I'll ask another question. Ask an important question before the entity breaks!”
Branch Director Park's desperate voice tried to stop me from recounting my life story.
But what could I do? My story was almost over anyway.
“While I was describing the second day, the hall master stopped me, so I brought the explanation to an end.”
Crunch!
The inferior version of “If You Lie, I'll Take One Fingernail at a Time” shattered across the floor like a figurine thrown by a nephew visiting for the holidays.
“My ability has verified that nothing Employee Park Seong-bin has said so far was a lie, Branch Director.”
“……”
“And it seems that what Employee Park Seong-bin said cannot be considered a leak of information. Is that not so?”
Choi Yuna looked at Branch Director Park with a sharp gaze.
“In the first place, our employees are constantly assigned to entity management, voluntarily or otherwise, except during the brief period when they're resting after joining….”
The ache surging through my chest was proof that I'd lived diligently as a wage slave.
“We barely received any training about the Management Bureau because of the way we joined, let alone a proper handover, you know?”
“Other than that method, there was no way to escape without causing casualties.”
Yoo Se-chan and Imina approached from either side of Choi Yuna, and the three of them stared at Branch Director Park.
Although it did sound a little off—as if I were an ignorant fool who couldn't learn anything, or an incompetent idiot with no way to survive except by leaking information.
The fact that the Field Response Team trusted me felt incredibly reassuring.
“Therefore, the Field Response Team objects to the disciplinary action proposed by this committee!”
After Kang Chae-young's shout, the team members returned to the left side of the conference room where they had originally been sitting.
“…Does anyone else have anything to say?”
Branch Director Park's gaze shifted toward the people on the right.
The employees from the other teams were busy avoiding his gaze, while the Security Team leader bit his lip.
Only the Research Team leader kept moving his lips as though he had something to say.
But that lasted only a moment. Choi Min-su also turned his head away.
And finally, Branch Director Park sighed and lowered his head as well.
“I have no choice but to side with the Field Response Team's decision not to provide an employee hired through the human-rights-waiver track with the minimum information needed to prevent information leaks.”
His sarcasm was an art form. He'd make a killing selling twisted doughnuts at a traditional market.
“Employee Park Seong-bin.”
“Yes.”
“This disciplinary committee was convened to punish Employee Park Seong-bin, but since he has no reason to be disciplined, there is no need for everyone to waste any more time. Isn't that right?”
“Yes.”
“Therefore, we'll change the committee's direction and award you a branch-level commendation.”
What was this sudden change of attitude?
“No actual leak of classified information has been confirmed. You also brought back information about Bonhyang Haewondang and SoulOrb in the process.”
The branch director flipped through one of the documents laid out as reference material.
“And you even eliminated the Seoul hall master and destroyed the SoulOrb duplicate….”
Branch Director Park's face twisted into an expression full of irritation. It was one I'd seen before.
The same expression he'd worn when he had blown cigar smoke continuously into my face.
“As of this moment, Employee Park Seong-bin of the Gwanak Branch is granted two weeks of leave and will then return to work. In addition, the grade of the entity he will receive as a reward is being raised by one level. That is all.”
As though he had said everything he needed to, Branch Director Park hurried out of the conference room.
Only the delighted Field Response Team members and the other teams, left stunned by how abruptly the situation had been wrapped up, remained in the conference room.
“Good for you, Park Ppit-pi.”
At the same time as Yoo Se-chan said that, he slid into a chair.
“You'll probably receive an entity powerful enough to guarantee your life.”
“If you did good work, you should get a reward, of course!”
“Congratulations~.”
I let out a sigh of relief as the team members approached me, all wearing bright expressions.
What scared me most wasn't that bald man's disciplinary action, but whether these people would hate me.
I had nearly died, and would probably nearly die many more times in the future.
But the fact that, at least when I made it back alive, I now had people I could lean on…
“…Anyone up for the Management Bureau cafeteria's special meal?”
…was an unbelievably happy thing, something I had almost never felt in my life.