On the evening of the day Kim Soleum agreed with Director Ho to infiltrate the Disaster Management Bureau as a spy.
At the same time, in the company housing, Baek Saheon was enjoying a very peaceful private life lately.
It was all thanks to the disappearance of his damn psychopath roommate!
‘I knew that bastard would end up dead, acting out like that.’
Baek Saheon wore a satisfied smile.
Even though the crazy leader of Group D, who looked exactly like that psychopath, had been persistently requesting interviews about the ‘Tamra-bound Express Train’ several times.
And although that had caused a terrible… deepening of contamination, it had calmed down a lot now. He no longer vomited or had a mental breakdown just by thinking about the Great Talk… f*ck, anyway, that thing.
Thanks to that, he was able to access the Fox Counseling Center.
For free, that is!
‘Normally, this is a welfare benefit you only get once you become an Assistant Manager… the exchange rate isn’t bad.’
It was a clear gain to receive the Doorplate for the Fox Counseling Room separately like this, thanks to the Group D Section Chief processing it.
Moreover, doesn’t the Counselor in that ghost story give out one more Doorplate every time he receives a consultation? With the ‘processing’ he
received from the company, he could use this ‘until he recovered moderately.’
‘Maybe I can even sneakily pass it on to someone else once in a while?’
If he played his cards right, that is.
‘Until my promotion to Assistant Manager… I can milk this for at least another three months.’
For now, he was going to use it one more time today.
To visit the Fox Counseling Room again, Baek Saheon hummed as he hung the Doorplate on the door of his already-dead roommate’s room.
And as he opened the door…….
“Ah. It’s closed today.”
“…?!?!”
A black-haired office worker with a cold impression stood behind the door and spoke nonchalantly.
And then he walked out through the door.
A familiar face he thought he would never forget, even in his dreams.
That was, that was….
“K-Kim Soleum.”
His former roommate, who had been processed as missing and deceased, looked at him and smirked.
Huh?
Uh…?
“……?!?”
Baek Saheon began to have serious doubts.
‘Is-is this a dream?’
Did I fall into a Hypnotic Darkness?
Otherwise, why would a crazy bastard who went missing and was even processed as dead be coming out of the Fox Counseling Room door right now….
Thwack.
Baek Saheon slapped his own cheek.
It stung.
At least it wasn’t a dream.
‘Damn it.’
And then he felt a pitying gaze looking at the idiot who just punched himself in the face.
“Hmm… I can see why you wanted to get counseling.”
“…!?”
“But I told you, it’s closed if you go in now. Take the Doorplate off and come back later.”
Thud.
Kim Soleum stepped completely out of the room and closed the door.
Then, exerting clear physical force, he tore the Doorplate off the door that was once his room and threw it at Baek Saheon.
“…!”
Baek Saheon caught it reflexively.
“But… you just happened to open the door right now?”
“…….”
“I didn’t expect to see your face like this.”
Baek Saheon swallowed hard.
At the same time, his brain began to spin rapidly.
In this absurd and unexpected situation where he had to question what was going on, he realized one thing for sure.
A thick Halo shining through the eye patch as if shooting out.
A warning alarm.
—You have seen something you shouldn’t have.
The fact that an employee who was processed as dead was standing perfectly fine in front of him meant there was a conspiracy at the company level, or even higher.
‘They even used me as a witness to the disappearance…!’
Baek Saheon swallowed hard, trying not to recall the terrible m-m-m-m-pushing he endured while trying to figure out the whereabouts of Kim Soleum, who had vanished from the bathroom.
His head was in a whirl of anger and dizziness, but a warning hit his mind first.
‘……Wait, but right now, seeing this crazy bastard alive and well….’
Am I,
Allowed to see this?
“…….”
“…….”
The surest way for that psychopath bastard to deal with me is….
—Murderous Eradication.
‘N-No!’
Baek Saheon quickly corrected the preposterous thought that flashed reflexively.
Why would anyone do something so inefficient in modern society?
‘That bastard has my Brainwashing Fountain Pen….’
The Item he had exchanged for that eyeball. Baek Saheon clenched his fists.
Right. He’ll surely use the brainwashing and leave. He can just make it so I never saw him and walk away. There’s such an easy and simple way, there’s no need to go the long way….
“You want me to erase your memory with the fountain pen, don’t you?”
“…!!”
“I’m not going to.”
In Baek Saheon’s head, usable coping mechanisms—punching, using Exclusive Equipment, reporting, begging—passed by in an instant.
And they were all discarded the moment they came to mind.
‘N-No.’
He didn’t know what would happen to him if he acted rashly.
He hated to admit it, but like a true psychopath, that bloodless and tearless bastard was quite resourceful.
To avoid getting swept away into the abyss or dying, he had to remain calm.
What exactly does he want?
Don’t tell me, he really plans to kill….
‘……No!’
A sentence reassembled in Baek Saheon’s mind like a flash of lightning.
—He wants something.
That bastard must be facing me because he wants something!
Baek Saheon finally calmed down.
And barely, he crossed his arms to show he was at ease.
“…Assistant Manager, it seems there is something you want.”
“Hmm.”
As expected!
“…Ah. Do you perhaps need my witness testimony, Assistant Manager? Like when you went missing! Like, reporting to the company that I feel like I saw Assistant Manager Kim Soleum in the company housing….”
“No.”
Damn it.
Baek Saheon, barely holding back a string of curses, looked at the other with the most composed face possible.
Kim Soleum was also staring blankly at Baek Saheon.
Looking at him now, although he was in a suit, his hair was cut a bit short, and he had a splint on one arm. It meant he wasn’t in ‘perfect’ shape.
‘Where did he get hurt?’
Moreover, the suit itself was slightly different.
It was strange. It was a fit that seemed more expensive and stylish than what a regular office worker would wear, almost like it was for show….
‘Like something someone would wear on a broadcast….’
…Huh?
It was the moment when some strange connection was about to flash.
The other person said something he could never ignore.
“You seem greedy for Items.”
“…!”
“Not the husks, but real ones. Hypnosis, subdual, healing…. Do you want to have more of those useful Items?”
A desire and need that surpassed everything else flashed at the top of Baek Saheon’s priorities.
Baek Saheon snapped his head up.
Kim Soleum was smiling.
“Then, from now on, tell me regularly what’s happening in Daydream Inc.”
“…….”
What the other offered was a deal.
An information trade.
“…Something like the High-Grade Dark Exploration Manuals kept within the company?”
Kim Soleum looked at him with an absurd expression. Right, no matter how bold, he wouldn’t ask for Field Exploration team secrets….
“Why would you try to tell me something so boring?”
“…….”
“Rumors circulating in the company are fine, personnel appointments, employee gossip is good too. Bring me whatever you think would be ‘information valuable to an internal employee.’”
“…Why?”
“Because I’m curious?”
“……!!”
“No, I got fired, so I’m bored because I can’t hear any more.”
Oh, f*ck!
Baek Saheon felt like he was going to go crazy.
If it were anyone else, they would obviously be indirectly expressing that they didn’t want to tell, but this was Kim Soleum.
‘That bastard actually sounds sincere!’
He seemed like a real nutjob who would listen to company gossip just for the dopamine, which made it even harder to figure him out…!
‘Sigh….’
“So. Are you going to bring information and exchange it for Items?”
“Information,”
…….
…….
“I… can bring it.”
Baek Saheon thought.
‘Who cares?’
What if the company finds out?
He could just say he was threatened or brainwashed.
The company tended to look leniently on whatever the Field Exploration team did as long as it wasn’t selling masks or Collectors.
An ex-employee asking about the ‘company atmosphere’—answering that was nothing!
Even if the company ‘misunderstands’ that the ex-employee is dead, honestly, is that my business?
No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem like the company would issue disciplinary action for something like this.
‘It’s not like I’m selling information to the Disaster Management Bureau, either.’
He wasn’t at the Section Chief level, nor was he on the research team so he could leak development know-how.
‘Fine.’
No matter how he looked at it, this was a deal worth taking.
……He hated to admit it. But Kim Soleum… was never the type to pull pranks or insult people by not giving the promised reward in things like this.
‘Let’s do it.’
Let’s take it for now!
The moment he saw a place to set his feet, the slickness returned to Baek Saheon’s face.
“But, Assistant Manager. Oh, oops, you’re not an Assistant Manager anymore, are you?”
“…….”
“Anyway, I’m not sure what you trust in me to leave this to…. I could be scared and tell lies.”
It was a hint to give him some Items in advance if he wanted to buy trust.
Kim Soleum grinned.
“You’re going to lie? That sounds fun. By all means, try it.”
“…….”
Not a chance.
‘You son of a bitch.’
“But if you bring more fun and interesting information, the Items I give you will naturally be better, won’t they? That’s the basic rule of business.”
“…!”
It meant that if the information was solid, he wouldn’t treat him poorly.
In the end, Baek Saheon smiled and held out his hand while breaking into a cold sweat.
“Fine. I’ll bring you ‘interesting information.’”
“Sure.”
Kim Soleum accepted the handshake.
In that way, Kim Soleum successfully planted a very quick-calculating information spy in the company.
‘Whew.’
I survived!
Kim Soleum let out an inward sigh of relief.
‘Secured… an unofficial informant.’
Director Ho had deliberately mentioned ‘colleagues to work with’ to subtly create an atmosphere that prevented him from grasping the situation, but Kim Soleum knew.
That he and his colleagues were under strictly different conditions.
‘I’m the only one who’s officially a dead person.’
Furthermore, I’ve resigned.
What that meant was that all natural routes for grasping company news were blocked.
‘And Director Ho is the kind of boss who would happily exploit the fact that I’m isolated in terms of information.’
Kim Soleum remembered Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s words exactly.
—I don’t know what other team members are doing on this Project. Director Ho makes it so employees with different responsibilities can’t even talk to each other.
There was no way he would look out for him on purpose.
So he needed another line.
‘But Group D won’t work.’
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed Director Ho had already grasped that connection. Delivering the Doorplate through Assistant Manager Eun Haje was very blatant.
So he had intended to target Baek Saheon or Kang Yihak anyway, and the situation played out perfectly.
‘Honestly, Ms. Kang Yihak… might sell all my information in a heartbeat if someone who pays more shows up.’
Just thinking about it made him break into a cold sweat.
In that sense, Baek Saheon, who was appropriately afraid of him while also being wary of others and having strong survival instincts, was the right card.
Kim Soleum looked over his former roommate and nodded.
“Then I’m leaving.”
“Huh? Well… I guess you’re busy.”
Kim Soleum nodded at Baek Saheon’s soulless words.
“I have work to do.”
There were less than a few weeks left until he would be deployed to the Disaster Management Bureau.
‘It’s tight.’
He had to start preparing now.
A new character, fitting for an Agent of the Disaster Management Bureau, not a new recruit of Daydream Inc.!
February 22nd.
“Agent Bronze. The preparation for the new recruit aptitude test is finished.”
“Yes.”
Ryu Jaekwan, an Agent of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau with the Codename ‘Bronze’, stood in front of a glass window holding documents.
In fact, the window was one-way; to the people on the other side, it would appear as just a mirror.
And there, candidates who would soon become new Agents of the Bureau were waiting.
A strange resolve was reflected in the faces of those sitting around the room with a sense of tension.
All that remained was the aptitude test.
However, this was also the most important gateway.
‘If you fail the aptitude test, you leave and even forget that you ever applied for the exam.’
They weren’t even given a chance to prepare again.
Because there was no point in the challenge.
It meant they were either someone who couldn’t handle working at the Management Bureau or had an immoral ethical view.
They absolutely could not work here.
“…….”
However, knowing that most of those who applied here had their own stories, Ryu Jaekwan inwardly hoped that many people would pass the aptitude test safely.
Especially the applicants who were looking for missing relatives, or those who had a Supernatural Disaster they desperately wanted to eliminate.
“Let’s begin.”
“Yes!”
But since he was never the type to give generous scores, this wish was not expressed outwardly at all.
The assistant interviewers who were grading with him merely swallowed hard, conscious of ‘Agent Bronze.’
‘I heard the passing standards are really strict.’
‘The applicants in this room are a bit unlucky.’
They exchanged glances and began the aptitude test according to Agent Bronze’s instructions.
—Group ‘D’, numbers 1 through 4. Please step forward.
An Announcement Broadcast came from the room beyond the glass window.
The four final interviewees who were called stepped into the center of the room.
No. 1, age 25, clearly looking nervous. No. 2, age 38, looking calm but with a pale face. No. 3, age 31, with eyes burning with fire. And….
“Pfft!”
“A-Agent?”
Ryu Jaekwan hurriedly suppressed his cough.
He thought he had seen wrong for a second, but the image formed through the glass window did not change at all.
The strange and kind person he had unexpectedly seen several times within Supernatural Phenomena over the past six months.
‘…Agent Grapes!’
Kim Soleum.
He, who had been an employee of Daydream Inc., was standing on the other side of the mirror, adjusting his glasses with an awkward, shrinking expression!!
As Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau Agent candidate Group ‘D’, No. 4.
Discussion