Got the Ring
Anomaly Management Agency Central Control Room.
This place, assembled from the aces handpicked from branches around the world, received a flood of reports every single day.
From accounts of a colossal elephant appearing on the African continent, sending traditional tribes into terror.
To news of an anomaly entity sowing discord among people, caught trying to drive wedges between world leaders and swiftly subdued.
None of these could be brushed off lightly—each one posed a potential threat to the world.
With such critical matters pouring in nonstop, the staff here had grown numb to most anomalies.
A ghost showing up? Just par for the course.
Even footage of a monster with an unimaginably grotesque form ripping humans apart—they could munch on donuts without batting an eye.
But lately, even these elite aces in the Central Control Room were scratching their heads over one particular anomaly.
Anomaly-1004.
Outwardly cute, and above all, showing benevolence toward humanity—a bona fide angel.
Yet everything happening around her was anything but ordinary.
Take the emergency stairs, for instance, which had served quietly as a stable staircase until now.
After the angel passed through once, it had transformed into something like the gateway to hell.
If that were the end of it, they might've let it slide.
But the other side seemed to have taken a real interest in Anomaly-1004.
Just moments ago, everyone had freaked out over footage of a pomegranate popping up out of nowhere, slyly hiding among the angel's snacks.
"Persephone...?"
Dr. Camilla, overseeing the control room, sighed while clutching her documents.
Persephone from Greek-Roman mythology.
Known as Hades's wife and queen of the underworld, she was a pretty famous figure to the public.
Daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter, she'd been abducted by Hades to the underworld and forced into marriage.
She was eventually rescued, but the tale of her mistakenly eating Hades's pomegranate—and thus being bound to spend four months a year in the underworld—had spread far and wide.
"Why on earth is Persephone taking an interest in the angel...?"
Well, in an era teeming with all sorts of anomalies, even mythical beings from Greek-Roman lore popping up wasn't that strange.
But what concerned the Agency was precisely why she was fixating on the angel.
There didn't seem to be any obvious connection between Anomaly-1004, presumed to be an Abrahamic angel, and Greek-Roman mythology.
"Hmm..."
As she sipped her coffee and replayed footage of the angel shelling pomegranate seeds, her subordinate, Dr. Kato, sidled up cautiously.
"Um, Doctor?"
"Yeah? Find something out?"
"It's just my personal hunch."
"Go ahead, speak freely."
She kept some distance from his overly personal approaches, but as a mythology expert, he surely knew more than her, a biologist.
So she listened closely, only for him to offer a guess so simplistic it was hard to believe it came from a specialist.
"Maybe she just thinks she's cute?"
"...What?"
Camilla stared at Kato in bewilderment.
A mythical being of Persephone's caliber approaching her just because she's cute?
Camilla seriously considered firing Dr. Kato on the spot.
He'd delivered stellar results on various mythical anomalies so far, sure.
But that answer lacked any shred of rationality.
"The angel's cute, right? Plenty of staff even have her as their wallpaper."
"But... what if there's some mental attack or something..."
"That's the kind of cuteness that pulls you in even knowing the risks."
Kato handed her a document.
As Camilla read it, he elaborated.
"In Orphic traditions, Persephone has children, but in the more mainstream Homeric accounts, she doesn't."
"Hmm..."
"If we go by Homer, there's no kids between Hades and Persephone."
Camilla listened intently, tapping her desk—a habit when deep in thought.
"She has to spend at least three months a year in hell with Hades, no kids... so maybe she's latching onto a cute angel instead?"
"Like treating her as a daughter?"
"Could be."
Rationally, a deity of Persephone's stature wasn't likely to adopt an angel as a child just from one glance.
Especially since Greek gods were notoriously capricious, ruling it out entirely wasn't wise.
Camilla pondered briefly, then added his theory to the board report.
"Auuugh..."
After joyfully playing with my blocky game and finally completing the portal to hell.
In hardcore mode, where one death ends everything, hell was no place to tackle lightly.
Before diving into proper hell exploration, I entrusted my body to the massage chair for a quick break.
Every time I tried this thing, the effect was insanely good.
It kneaded my rock-hard shoulders from all that blocky gaming, loosening them up nice and gentle.
No pain, just pure refreshment.
"Haaaah..."
-Woof!
Baekgu stared enviously, but sadly, massage chairs were a human-only privilege.
I heartlessly monopolized it, averting my eyes from his pleading gaze.
Vrrrrm.
"Eeeeee..."
About ten minutes in the chair?
Hiss.
The containment cell door slid open, and Han A-young entered carrying some intriguing gadget.
Is it okay to come in so casually like this?
She'd relaxed a lot lately—no more heavy gear or entourages of agents.
Just two armed guards behind her.
Of course, they'd overpower me in a heartbeat, but I worried she was getting too careless.
I had no reason to attack her, but some other anomalies had dark energy so intense it gave me chills.
She couldn't drop her guard like that against them...
Maybe sensing my gaze, she patted my head.
"Don't worry. I follow protocol strictly with other anomalies. You're one of only two I visit personally—you and Anomaly-12."
Yeah, she's smart; she'll handle it.
I stopped fretting and asked,
"But wh-what's that in your hand...?"
"Oh, this."
Han A-young chuckled and approached.
She opened the white box in her hand.
Inside was a tiny ring, just the right size for my finger.
"Th-this... what iiiis it..."
I'd never worn a ring in my life, so I panicked a bit.
A ring out of nowhere...?
Seeing my face, she beamed.
"Anomaly-36. Y'know, the soccer ball."
"Ah..."
Soccer ball—right, the field got shut down, so I hadn't seen it in ages.
"A ring made from a new material extracted from Anomaly-36. Super tough, lightweight, and rust-proof."
"Ooooh..."
"Wanna try it on?"
I snatched the ring she offered.
A matte black band.
"Whoa... so cooool."
Up close, it screamed luxury—way beyond anything I could afford in a hundred lifetimes, with that iridescent sheen.
I carefully slipped it onto my finger.
It glided on perfectly, like it was made just for me.
"Whoaaa..."
Wearing it, the matte glow was insanely stylish!
"Baekgu, isn't it super cool?"
-Woof woof!
Baekgu barked spiritedly, like he'd clocked the ring's awesomeness too.
Han A-young glanced around, then whispered,
"Angel."
"Yesss?"
"If some bad guy—or maybe lady—tries to take you away."
"Nooo! Don't wanna! Don't do it!"
"Yeah... that's important, but throw that ring at the ground as hard as you can."
Chuck this precious ring...?
"Throwing it will let us help you."
I might have to toss this pricey thing.
It felt iffy, but if it meant backup in an emergency.
Better to hurl it boldly.
I nodded firmly.
"I'll toss it right awayyy!"