The Research Division (1)
“Ah! Now that I think about it, you said you were waiting for Team Leader Kwon, right? She should be here soon. I just saw her heading to the administrative department with Senior Hae-jin, so she’s probably going through the entry procedures for the research division. I heard you came here for an examination too. Am I right?”
She was the one who broke the awkward silence first. When I nodded right away, the woman rested her hand on her chin as if pondering something for a moment.
“Hmm… Usually, a simple scanner elsewhere is enough for awakening tests. I wonder why they’re sending you to the research division, which is so hard to get into. I’m guessing they want a detailed examination. Your hair color changed, after all, and your case is a bit special, Seoah.”
She stared at me with eyes full of curiosity as she spoke. Meanwhile, my face filled with unease at the unexpected truth I’d just heard. I was already nervous enough about getting examined in this body, and now it was a detailed scan on top of that. Reality was far too harsh.
The fear about my identity, which I’d barely managed to suppress with that guy’s reassurance, came rushing back, and my eyes were instantly clouded with terror. Noticing my expression, he burst into a bright laugh.
“Ahaha! No need to be so scared~ It’s not like getting a shot or anything painful. You’ll just feel like you took a short nap, so it’ll be over before you know it. Relax.”
…That wasn’t the problem here. I swallowed the words I couldn’t say and glared at him with his carefree face. Of course, given my current appearance, his assumption made sense. But I was already uncomfortable about the examination, and now I was being treated like a child on top of it, so I couldn’t help feeling resentful.
If that guy had been beside me right now, what would he have said? He’d probably have sighed and told me I was worrying over nothing again. But I had plenty to say on that matter too. No matter how you looked at it, I was clearly a magical beast right now—a slime girl, at that. And this place was basically a den of hunters who specialized in dealing with magical beasts. It was like walking straight into a tiger’s den. Trusting a single reassurance and letting my guard down was nearly impossible.
Still, there was nowhere to vent that frustration, so I had no choice but to swallow it down. After taking a deep breath to calm myself, I decided to change the subject.
“Um… I suddenly got curious. What kind of procedures are needed to enter the research division?”
“Oh, right. This is your first time here, so of course you wouldn’t know. Since we’re stuck here anyway, how about I explain the company’s structure while we wait?”
She seemed to have decided to stay a while. She set the documents she’d been holding down nearby, cleared her throat lightly, and began speaking slowly.
“First, do you know the company’s name? It’s Council, a security specialist that guarantees citizens’ safety from the various disasters caused by gates. They have branches across the country, but the internal structure is similar everywhere. Administrative, Investigation, Subjugation, and Research. Those four departments form the core of operations. The administrative department monitors gate activity in their assigned regions, assigns grades, and decides whether the company handles it directly or outsources it to smaller external parties. The investigation department looks into crimes committed by awakened individuals or strange occurrences inside gates. The subjugation department, as the name suggests, handles high-grade gates that external parties can’t manage—the so-called active field team. And finally, the long-awaited research division. They specialize in analyzing and studying the new phenomena that appeared after the Great Disaster—gates, magical beasts, and awakened people. Representative achievements include technology that converts magic stones into energy, scanners that identify awakened abilities, and radars that track gate formations. These are collectively called ‘new technology’ when combined with general science.”
I nodded silently as she calmly explained each point. My eyes held no surprise at the new information. I was grateful she’d taken the time to explain, but I already knew all of it. Even as a porter, I’d worked in the gate industry long enough to know the publicly available details about the security company that oversaw everything. But if I showed that I knew, it would look suspicious, so staying quiet was best.
While she paused to catch her breath, he took over.
“Among them, the research division is especially mysterious. Unlike the other departments, it’s located underground, and even company employees can’t enter without a special pass—let alone outsiders. That field… especially anything related to new technology… has a lot of classified information, so security is particularly tight.”
This time, it was definitely news to me, so my interest was piqued. I hadn’t expected the research division to be underground. The very fact that there was a massive underground space beneath this branch was new information. The company must have been carefully preventing that fact from leaking out.
“Honestly, I’ve been here a year already and I’ve never once been to the research division~ So how should I put it… It’s close, but not easy to reach? That kind of expression fits perfectly. I’m actually jealous that you get to go in! When you come back, you have to tell me all about it.”
He stared at me with sparkling eyes. The woman beside him let out a sigh at his childish behavior. For a short while after that, I chatted with the two of them. The conversation mostly consisted of me asking questions about the company and them taking turns answering. Even though most of it was information I already knew, there were quite a few interesting details mixed in, so it wasn’t boring at all.
A few minutes later, she finally appeared in the office. She looked like she’d rushed over. Her eyes met mine immediately. The two people beside me noticed as well and spoke with voices full of regret.
“It’s a shame, but I guess we have to part ways now. It was fun for the short time we had. This big sister’s name is Lee Da-eun from Investigation Team 5. Let’s meet again if fate allows.”
“Kuh! Cutting in line after butting in midway… Well, whatever. I’m Baek Seon-woo, also from Investigation Team 5 with this guy. If you ever have business in the investigation department, look for big brother Seon-woo first! If I’m off duty, I’ll come running right away.”
It was obvious both of them had slipped personal feelings into the way they referred to themselves. Still, I offered a small smile and said my goodbyes. Regardless of the content, thanks to them I’d managed to pass the time in an uncomfortable situation without too much trouble. Approaching a troubled child first and striking up a conversation showed they had pretty good personalities. Maybe it was also thanks to my changed appearance…
Suddenly, the words that guy had said inside the tent last night came to mind. Looking at it this way, becoming like this didn’t seem to have only bad sides. I roughly organized my stray thoughts and stood up right away. From here on, things were most important. Depending on the results of the upcoming examination, my future direction would probably be decided. I loosened my tension slightly and stepped forward. There was no hesitation in my movement.
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Unlike when I first entered, there were almost no people in the hallways leading to the research division. The few I did see were all company employees—there wasn’t a single outsider. That was only natural, in a way. I couldn’t remember exactly which floor this was, but it was definitely quite high up. Since we’d come this deep into the company building, it would have been stranger to see outsiders. Plus, the corridor we walked down with him was so quiet that the only sound was our footsteps. With so few people around and such silence, it gave off an unsettling feeling.
But right now, something else was bothering me more than anything. Walking beside him, I frowned at the subtle glances I kept feeling from the side. His blatant gaze had been continuing since earlier. He kept opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, then closing it, over and over. After several repetitions, the one waiting—me—was starting to go crazy. If he had something to say, he should just spit it out already. Why was he hesitating so much? I couldn’t understand it at all. If he was going to give up, he should just stop completely. At first I’d just been watching, but now it was so frustrating I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
That indescribable atmosphere continued even after we boarded the luxurious elevator deep inside the building. Inside the elevator rapidly descending, the tension felt even stronger because of the enclosed space. Finally, unable to bear it anymore, I opened my mouth and broke the uncomfortable silence.
“…Did you have something you wanted to say earlier?”
“!....”
He flinched for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected me to speak first. At that quick reaction, I ground my teeth inwardly. And since I’d gone out of my way to prompt him, my will to hear whatever business he had burned fiercely. With my urging gaze added to his existing hesitation, he finally opened his heavy mouth.
“I was just… wondering what you talked about with those two.”
Even after saying it himself, he seemed embarrassed and scratched his head while looking away. I, who had naturally assumed it would be something serious from his attitude, froze like stone for a moment. Wait, he’d been agonizing this much just to ask that one thing? The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but fortunately they didn’t come out. No matter how much I looked, there wasn’t a single trace of falsehood on his face. At that point, I naturally understood one thing—the fact that he wasn’t used to talking with young children at all.