There Are No Normals Here
After a series of twists and turns, we finally reached our destination. Emerging from the maze-like corridors, the place that greeted us was worth every bit of the trouble. Countless monitors spread out in a wide fan shape from the entrance. The overall space was dark, yet the light from those screens illuminated the entire area so brightly it felt almost blinding. I couldn’t close my mouth at the sheer grandeur of the sight.
A quick glance at the monitors suggested they served some kind of surveillance role. They displayed not only the interior of the underground research wing but also various locations inside the building above ground. I had seen something similar once as a child—the command center of a massive spaceship from an old sci-fi movie. The scene unfolding before me was every bit as imposing as that fictional setting.
Behind the monitors, people hurried about without pause, each absorbed in their own tasks. They paid no attention to us newcomers. I stood there dazed by the vast, ant-like activity for a long while until a man wearing black sunglasses approached.
He looked us over in turn, then bowed politely. “Welcome to the Research Department. The team leader is waiting over there. Please come with me.”
With those words, the large man turned and began walking away. I felt a flicker of doubt at his greeting. The facility was impressive, but it didn’t feel like a mere research wing. It seemed more like the central command hub of an entire organization. Still, there was no time to dwell on it. Following the man’s lead, my companion naturally started moving, and I quickly fell in step behind him.
My attention shifted to the sunglass-wearing man walking ahead. From the black earpiece in his ear and the array of equipment he carried, he appeared to be security personnel. He looked undeniably strong. The image of the old man from the party—similar in build—flashed through my mind. Absorbing him had given me a substantial amount of experience. If I devoured someone who seemed even stronger than that old man, how much more experience would I gain…?
The thought surfaced unconsciously, and I shook my head sharply. I had been forced into giving up my humanity, but that didn’t mean I intended to become a monster. Besides, despite his appearance, he might actually be a mage who wielded magic. Picking a fight with a powerful ability user without knowing their capabilities would likely end with me being reduced to dust before I could even react. My companion had repeatedly emphasized that while this body possessed remarkable vitality, it was far from invincible.
As if sensing my gaze, the man glanced back over his shoulder. Fortunately, I had already turned my head aside, so he noticed nothing. We passed through the bustling personnel and moved deeper into the facility. Though we had to walk again, the surroundings offered plenty to look at, making the journey far more tolerable than before.
After navigating the complicated passages, we arrived at a room whose first impression was striking. The moment the door opened, a powerful floral scent hit us, announcing its presence from the entrance. At first I wondered if someone had overdone it with air fresheners, but I soon realized that wasn’t the case. Flowerpots lined every corner of the room. What began as one or two quickly multiplied the more I looked around. If not for the research equipment and documents scattered throughout, I might have mistaken the place for a greenhouse.
We crossed the chaotic, disorganized mess and ventured deeper inside until we finally found the woman in another room at the back. The first thing that caught my eye was a massive screen glowing brightly against the dark surroundings. The vivid moving figures and subtitles at the bottom made it obvious we were looking at a movie. At the center of the screen rose a dark silhouette—clearly an audience seat.
Despite the fact that we had knocked upon entering, the occupant showed no sign of having noticed. In the awkward silence, the bodyguard who had guided us took the initiative. He approached the side of the seat with practiced ease, as though this wasn’t his first time, and bent at the waist. The movie paused immediately. The chair, previously facing forward, slowly rotated until it faced us, and at last I came face-to-face with the owner of the voice I had heard in the corridor.
Wild hair cascading to her waist, a white lab coat, heavy dark circles beneath her eyes, and vacant, unreadable pupils. To top it all off, she held a bag of shrimp crackers in one hand and wore a headset on her head. Up to that point, she was the very picture of a classic hikikomori girl. Yet she possessed one feature that completely overturned that impression: skin so pale it was impossible to imagine she was Korean. It looked as though she had never once been exposed to sunlight since birth. The sight was genuinely shocking. Her features themselves were beautiful, so the disheveled appearance somehow added a strange, reversed charm.
The woman, who looked nothing like an ordinary person, set the snacks on the nearby table and removed her headset. Leaning back in her chair, she crossed one leg over the other and regarded us with a bright smile. “Whoa~ You got here way faster than I expected. Sorry, I was so focused on the movie I didn’t even realize someone had arrived. I was actually watching a new release right before I heard you were coming.”
“……”
Her first impression was anything but ordinary, and her opening line matched it perfectly. Normally, if guests were arriving, wouldn’t one at least prepare? On top of trapping us in that bizarre space and making us suffer for no reason, her hospitality was this half-hearted. She was the textbook example of someone who acted as though no one else existed beneath her notice. I couldn’t help feeling irritated, and judging by the look on my companion’s face as he stared at her, he felt the same.
The atmosphere in the room grew tense. Only then did she seem to realize something was wrong. She laughed awkwardly and quickly averted her gaze. “Ahaha… Why are we like this, Team Leader Kwon? That earlier thing was just a joke! I was simply curious how someone as strong as you would react to the device.”
Though she tried to smooth things over, his expression remained severe. Deciding that silence wouldn’t help, he let out a deep sigh, placed a hand on my shoulder, and extended it toward her. “…Fine. Even if I’m used to it, you should at least apologize properly to this child. I knew the trick behind that space, so it was fine, but she was genuinely startled.”
Caught off guard by his sudden action, I found myself locking eyes directly with her. She leaned forward in her chair, studying me intently. Because she remained seated, our gazes met almost on the same level. Refusing to look away and lose whatever strange contest this was, I stared straight back—only to regret it bitterly seconds later.
“!!……”
A chill ran down my spine. Her eyes, seen up close, were so unsettling that the word “creepy” barely did them justice. They were on an entirely different level from the gaze of the woman named Lee Hae-jin I had encountered before. At least hers had carried a hint of goodwill. The eyes before me now held the opposite: cold, inorganic, devoid of emotion. They didn’t look like eyes that belonged to someone observing another human being. They resembled the gaze of a mad scientist examining a captured test subject. I couldn’t believe such a crazy woman actually existed. Any normal girl would have fainted on the spot under that stare. To look at a person as though they were an object… she was clearly not sane. I wanted nothing more than to slap that face away, yet I couldn’t lay a hand on someone who appeared to hold a high position here. It was maddening.
At that moment, she reached out. A pale, slender hand drew closer. Like a snake’s tongue, it made me suck in a sharp breath. But what happened next made me raise an eyebrow.
“Oh… It really is gray. And natural, not dyed…! From the color, it doesn’t seem like albinism either…”
She muttered in a trance-like state while gently running her fingers through my hair. Combined with the curious murmurs, my suspicion gradually hardened into certainty. So this woman had been staring at me with that horrifying gaze simply because my hair fascinated her. The realization loosened the tension in my body, though one fact remained crystal clear: regardless of her intentions, she was definitely not normal. That predatory look from moments ago had been the real thing.
She continued examining my hair for a while longer, but it didn’t last. Thwack!
“Ow! What the heck was that for?”
She clutched her head with both hands and looked up. At the end of her gaze stood my companion, arm raised in a knife-hand strike. “…Who told you to observe? I told you to apologize. That incurable researcher disease of yours is still going strong. It’s a sickness, plain and simple.”
He regarded the sulking woman with a look of utter exasperation. She finally seemed to remember herself, turned back to me, and offered an awkward smile. “Sorry, sorry~ I guess you could call it an occupational hazard for researchers. Ahem! Anyway, I’m really sorry for the prank earlier, including that last bit. Please forgive me, little one!”
She pressed her palms together and winked. I hadn’t expected a grown woman to make such a gesture, and goosebumps prickled across my skin. In her own way, she was quite the formidable opponent. I thought of the other woman probably slaving away at her desk right now and couldn’t help but wonder—why were there no normal women in this entire company? The thought made me chuckle inwardly. Then again, if I included myself in the “women” category, the most abnormal one here was probably me.
Meanwhile, without waiting for my reply, she kicked off with both feet and sent her chair sliding backward. The room’s back wall split open, swallowing the massive screen. The previously empty space transformed as a large table and chairs rose from the floor. Finally, the lights brightened, completing the change. In an instant, the small theater had become an ordinary private office. I was speechless at the unbelievable sight.
The bodyguard, catching her signal, quickly exited the room. With only the three of us left, the woman seated at the head of the table smiled broadly at me. “Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet. This big sister is Jeong Ha-yeon, chief of the Research Department at the Council’s Northern Branch. Most people just call me Team Leader Jeong or Dr. J. But don’t get the wrong idea, okay? I know I get that a lot, but I’m a pure-blooded Korean.”
I had more or less expected it, but hearing the confirmation directly felt different. This was yet another ridiculously important figure.