Countdown to the Intruder Wave
What the hell is this?
A suspicious countdown. Roughly eleven hours remained. I pulled out my phone and checked the current time.
It's 12:05 right now.
So something was going to happen around eleven tonight. What could it be? There was no point agonizing over it alone. I decided to ask the people who knew way more than I did.
After listening to BloodDemon's suggestion, I immediately called up the interface.
I am not a status window. I am the Growing Universal Interface.
The name's too long. Let's just call you Status Window.
Sigh...
Anyway, I understand what the user is curious about.
Oh, so you can tell me?
I already provided the information. However, due to the user's low stats and rank, you cannot view it yet.
What? So I was too weak and it got censored?
Correct.
However, I believe I can provide a simple hint. Would you like it?
Of course. I'll take anything.
Hint: Preparation is necessary.
That is all.
This is the hint...?
I asked a few more times, but the interface refused to say anything else on the subject. Still, I took even this much and went back to the gallery members.
A raid? This isn't a bank. Are robbers going to break in or something?
“Whoa.”
I had to catch the anomalies that ran away, drag them back by the collar, and then fix up a building that was on the verge of collapse. And while I was doing all that, apparently random robbers would show up saying, Hey, you should hit this place too, lots of loot. They even made house calls.
“This really is a god-tier game.”
I slowly absorbed the gallery members' advice. Using that and the information I already had, I came up with a pretty decent plan.
“I have one question.”
It still wasn't certain. But if this countdown really was the time until the raid they mentioned...
“If I kill the enemies that raid us, do I get experience?”
This guy! Does he think this is some kind of burning event?! If things go wrong, you die. The only reason I could think like this was because I knew I wouldn't die.
“Think about it. That time is exactly eleven at night. The manual said that from then on the security system attacks without distinguishing friend from foe.”
The security system ran from 11 PM to 5 AM the next day. I didn't know exactly what it was, but the fact that it warned agents not to go out at night because it couldn't tell friend from foe probably meant its power was no joke.
Luckily my prediction seemed correct. The security system was powerful enough to pulverize most intruders.
“Then isn't this actually good?”
They were spouting useless nonsense again. I was about to close the gallery window in satisfaction when—
“A reasonable point.”
I'd been screwed over in the tutorial too. It would be stupid to assume it wouldn't happen here. It was smarter to assume it would and prepare.
“But I've already thought that far ahead.”
There was no way I'd relax and trust only the security system. If it got breached, I would die. I briefly explained my Plan B in the replies.
The gallery members showered me with praise.
*
Today's lunch was stir-fried pork rice bowls. I ate deliciously with my senior in the company cafeteria and returned.
“I was going to prepare it for you...”
My self-proclaimed wife looked a little disappointed, but what could I do? The chef's stir-fried pork was far better than the three-side-dish grass meal that made me want to flip the table. Instead, I turned on my Holy aura to raise her favorability and gently held her hand. She forgave me.
Thanks to that, I earned yet another round of praise.
During afternoon work hours after lunch, my senior taught me basic company common sense and work procedures.
“I was right to explain it again~ You've forgotten everything, haven't you~?”
“I'm sorry. I'll make sure to memorize it properly this time, Senior.”
“Mmm, it's okay~ The first day must have been so chaotic~ And the next day... things ended up like that~ So it's not our junior's fault~”
Ah, how kind and gentle. As expected, only Senior could be like this. Of course she was an anomaly too, but she wasn't hostile toward me and didn't look grotesque like the others, so it was fine for now.
“Now that you've learned the basics~ Tomorrow we'll learn about managing the anomalies, writing manuals, and how to extract essence~ For today, it's about time to head out~!”
“Head out? Already?”
It was only four in the afternoon.
“Mmm~ The Bureau always had pretty early closing hours~ Some people live in off-site housing too~”
So not everyone lived in the dorms. I wondered what the Bureau had been like in its glory days. From what Senior told me, they used to pay extremely well. It really was a shame it had collapsed.
“I'll finish organizing these documents and then leave~ Good work today~?”
Senior patted my head affectionately again. I couldn't just leave her there alone.
“No, I'll help!”
I stuck right beside her, helped out, and we left together.
As we rode the elevator, I hesitated when I tried to warn her about what was coming.
It's still not certain. It's only a possibility, right?
Besides, this was supposedly the first "raid" since a player arrived at the branch according to the game system. Senior probably had never experienced it before. It would be weird if I spoke as if I knew everything.
So I changed what I was going to say.
“Senior.”
“Mmm? What is it~?”
“Make sure you lock your door properly at night.”
They said that as long as you kept the dorm door closed, you'd be fine. Of course Senior was an anomaly herself, but something stronger than her might infiltrate.
But then.
“Hmmm~ Are you worrying about me right now~?”
She seemed to have taken it in a completely different way.
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
“As expected, you're such a good boy~ Still, if our junior comes to visit, I'll welcome you anytime~”
“Oh, really... Wait, what?!”
“Hehe~ Just kidding~ If you enter the women's floor without prior permission from Operations, you could get in big trouble~ So you can't come~? If something happens, call me instead~”
“O-of course.”
After that, I finished dinner, returned to my room, and made sure to lock the door properly. I placed my baton and taser within easy reach by my pillow. Just in case, I also kept my Holy skill's aura active.
It wasn't because I was scared. Really. It was just that something unexpected might happen.
*
On a wooded hill on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province, a man wearing hiking clothes and glow sticks climbed the mountain while staring at his selfie stick and muttering nonstop.
“I'm telling you, right? I went in, and then the ghost I ran into at school did this—”
He was an internet broadcaster. Specifically, he mainly did mystery thriller streams exploring abandoned houses and buildings at night. Today he was planning to visit an old warehouse on a mountain that a subscriber had recommended. He was almost there.
“This is the right way, yeah?”
“I came during the day to scout and the road along the slope was blocked by a huge water tank or something. So I came around from the other side— Whoa.”
The man slipped and lost his footing for a second.
“I'm fine, I'm fine. See? No injuries. Okay! This must be the place, right?”
When the man shone his flashlight, he saw a two-story abandoned building that looked like it had been carelessly slapped together, and next to it two vinyl greenhouses that were completely torn up and left to rot.
“I don't know what it was used for, but it looks like it's been abandoned for a while. The composition is perfect for a thumbnail... Ah, got it.”
But then the chat exploded.
“What? What are you talking about? Is something there?”
“No, what are you saying there's—
At that moment, something moved quickly in the darkness.
“Hm?!”
The man swung his flashlight around, but he couldn't find anything suspicious.
“I'm telling you I really don't know! How would I even bring an actor out to a place like—”
Then.
Tap. Tap.
Something touched the man's shoulder from behind. His whole body broke out in goosebumps and he froze. Then—
“I-is someone there?”
He slowly turned around. Or tried to.
“Stay—still—it—won't—hurt—much—?”
“What—”
Stab!
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!!”
He dropped both his flashlight and selfie stick. The camera ended up pointing at the ground, so the viewers couldn't see what happened. For a while the chat was flooded with messages like He really prepared a lot amid the sounds of flesh tearing and bones breaking.
But the screaming didn't stop quickly. When something touched the camera and the screen spun around violently, an indescribably horrific scene was captured.
The screaming finally stopped. The man, whose neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, picked up his phone. Something seemed to be crawling inside the cloudy pupils reflected in the camera. And as if to prove none of this had been staged—
The broadcast ended abruptly. Whether the viewers were panicking or not, the man threw his phone to the side and tried to fix his clothes with hands that no longer moved properly. His fingers were fused together and wouldn't spread. His face was distorted and two antennae sprouted from his head, yet—
“I—am—clearly—human—”
He insisted he was definitely human, making wet choking sounds. Then he returned to the abandoned building, roughly pinned a name tag to his chest, and shouted.
The name tag belonged to a Bureau agent; the name and face were unrecognizable beneath the dried brown blood.
“Revenge—I—will—return—!!!”
With that scream, the man ran off on all fours.