76
Chapter 76
"So, this is the footage from that time."
"Ah, yes. It's the CCTV Screen recording the office during the incident."
Natsuko continued to question the man next to her with an expressionless face.
"Who else has seen this besides me?"
"Just the two of us, me and the Guard who was on duty in the CCTV room at the time."
"What happened to the Guard?"
"He seemed to be in severe shock, so we decided to let him rest at home for a few days. I gave him paid leave at my own discretion."
"Right, well...... Understood. You can leave now."
"Ah, yes. And please be careful when watching that video. It doesn't seem to have any mental effects, but the contents are incredibly gruesome."
"Mhm."
The man who was with Natsuko left the room, looking extremely nervous.
His movements suggested he didn't want to spend another second near the video playing in front of her.
Natsuko sat quietly in front of the computer and stared at the file on the desktop.
The CCTV footage recording inside the Basement during last night's gruesome incident.
Natsuko quietly pressed the play button.
Soon, what appeared on the Screen was the Basement where the incident had occurred.
'Is that the Employee?'
An Employee who was visibly restless immediately caught her eye.
He had probably discovered that...... Undersea Type B-Rank Hunter.
Because it was filmed from the side, unfortunately, the computer Screen he was looking at couldn't be seen from that angle.
'Should I add more CCTV cameras?'
The man continued to fidget and show obvious signs of anxiety, eventually ending up calling his Superior.
And then his Superior came and looked at the man's Screen.
"■■■■■■■■!!"
He started shouting something wildly.
It was a silent video, so it was impossible to tell what he was saying, but that wasn't a problem for Natsuko.
'Lip Reading.'
[ Activating Skill, 'Lip Reading'. ]
"Th-this is......! Hey!! Everyone, come here and look at this!!"
And then, clatter-
Everyone in the office, even the Guard keeping watch at the door, was called over to peer at the Screen together.
At this point, Natsuko felt a significant sense of incongruity.
It's completely understandable for a subordinate facing an unexpected situation to report it to their Superior.
However, for that Superior to suddenly call everyone over and make them watch the Screen together? This was undeniably an absurd situation.
'He was bewitched by something.'
As far as she knew, the person in the position of 'Superior' wasn't such an idiot to make such an irrational judgment in this situation.
Then there was only one answer. He was possessed by someone in the video.
If so, that would explain it.
'No, that's not right.'
Even if that were the case, questions still remained.
When a Mental Barrier Skill and a Mental Attack Skill clashed, the result was calculated like 'subtraction'.
For example, if someone had a barrier Skill at a level of around 60 and received a Mental Attack with an intensity of 80, they would be bewitched by an amount of 20.
At this point, an unsolvable question arose.
As far as Natsuko knew, the Mental Barrier levels between the 'Superior' and the Employee who called him were vastly different.
If the 'Superior's' Mental Barrier was around level 50, that meant the Employee's was around 10.
If a Mental Attack that made such a Superior momentarily make an irrational judgment—that is, a Mental Attack of around level 51—was flowing out of the Screen, then the Employee who received that attack with a Mental Barrier of 10...
'It would be normal for him to immediately go crazy and rampage, commit suicide, or show some kind of extreme behavior.'
There was no way he could have just 'fidgeted in his seat and called his Superior.'
Furthermore, even until the Superior looked at the Screen and gathered the others, he didn't show any particular abnormal behavior.
He just stamped his feet as if he were anxious.
Besides, the full-fledged Mental Attack hadn't even begun yet.
Natsuko recalled the words of the Subordinate Employee who handed her the video.
"It seems he was bewitched by a Mental Attack at the 5 minutes and 58 seconds mark of the video. Before that, there were no particularly noticeable abnormalities."
This '5 minutes and 58 seconds mark' was, of course, the exact moment our Yoo Parang took out the Kraken and decided to give the machine a few taps.
"Haa......."
Natsuko slumped deeply into her chair, clutching her forehead.
Her Head hurt.
Why on earth did this person called the 'Superior' act like this?
Just a momentary error in judgment?
A Mental Attack with varying intensities depending on the person?
Or perhaps, did a Mental Attack that ignores the Status Window and Mental Barrier even exist?
'No.'
Natsuko shook her Head back and forth.
There was no way such a thing existed.
A subtle Mental Attack where the intensity applied differently to each person.
At least this seemed the most plausible.
While this was also unprecedented in history, it was still a much more commonsensical explanation than the other two.
As for the nature of the attack, well, it must have properties similar to Charm.
So it is highly likely that the Employee called his Superior and asked him to watch it together, and the Superior, upon seeing it, called all the employees and asked them to watch it together.
The very faint distortion of thought that occurred in such a chaotic situation must have made them unaware that this was a Mental Attack.
'As a result, they all gathered to watch the video, and a gruesome outcome followed?'
Natsuko rewound the video slightly and paused it at 5 minutes and 50 seconds.
'Lip Reading.'
[ Activating Skill, Lip Reading. ]
"Damn it!! Isn't there a Self-destruct Button or something?!"
"Why would we even build something like that!!"
"Wh-what the hell is she doing right now?!"
"U-uhhhhh!!"
"Aaaaargh!!!"
The shouts of bewilderment soon turned into screams filled with Pain.
This was the situation at 5 minutes and 57 seconds.
And then, at 5 minutes and 58 seconds.
"■■■■■■■■■!!!"
'Wh-what the. Lip Reading.'
[ Skill, Lip Reading is already active. ]
"■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!!!!!!"
Everyone simultaneously clutched their Heads and screamed.
They grabbed onto anything solid nearby and banged their Heads repeatedly. The wall, the Floor, the computer, the Head of the colleague next to them.
They squeezed their eyes shut and jammed their fingers into their ears. As if they didn't want to see, as if they didn't want to hear.
Blood flowed out. From every Hole in their bodies.
Some frantically gnawed at each other's wrists with their Teeth, pulling out strands of Blood Vessels and laughing as they tied them together.
The Superior stopped looking at the Screen as if he had made up his mind and headed toward the center of the room.
And then, crack, snap! Cr-cr-crunch!!!
He wildly bent his own limbs in the opposite direction.
Even though it should be biologically impossible, the Superior didn't stop and wildly bent his limbs with all his might.
His waist, his neck, and various other parts.
Twisting every Joint in his body, he displayed his own twisted art in the center of the room.
Eventually, the Superior became a ball.
By bending and folding his own Joints, he turned into a bizarre shape, as if someone had put him into a ball-shaped mold and compressed him.
The other employees seemed impressed by the sight, walking over to the Superior and attempting to bow to him.
Those whose bodies were relatively intact were able to bow without issue, but the majority could not.
However, since they had already been repeatedly banging their Heads and poking all sorts of Holes in their faces, it seemed impossible to maintain their posture, causing them immense struggle.
But soon, as if one Employee had found the answer, he bizarrely bent his Joints again.
His limbs into reverse Joints, his waist backward as well.
Even his neck, backward with all his might.
Thus, creating a bowing posture with his belly facing upward.
As if arguing, 'This is also bowing, so it doesn't matter.'
The other employees who had been struggling to bow saw this and began to bow as well.
With joyful faces. With happy faces.
With the faces of those who had been saved.
And within the room, everyone's movements stopped.
A ball made of a Human was in the exact center of the room.
Completely surrounding it, the Believers were bowing.
Only the fluorescent light in the middle of the Sanctuary was turned on, making it seem as if the ball crumpled from a Human was being blessed by a holy light.
And then, the door opened and the man who had handed over the video entered.
The Guard on duty must have been terrified and called him, and upon receiving the report, he went in to check the situation.
At that point, the video ended.
"......."
For a moment, Natsuko quietly stared at the paused Screen.
Truly, she never dreamed she would use such an expression, but...
"......This is crazy."
Natsuko had no choice but to voice her impression in a low whisper, accompanied by a sigh.
Was this not purely the level of a Monster?
Even Natsuko herself wasn't confident in inflicting this level of Mental Attack through a Screen.
Was an attack this powerful even a strength permitted to Humans?
'I should let Seo Sunwoo know as well.'
If it was a Hunter with this powerful of an ability, there was a possibility that even Seo Sunwoo would be in danger.
No, perhaps he was already being attacked.
A slight chill ran down the back of Natsuko's neck.
For Seo Sunwoo to be bewitched by her and turn into her enemy again. Just thinking about it was a terrifying situation.
'No. Sunwoo is still maintaining his sanity. He isn't bewitched. If there are signs, I just need to prevent it beforehand.'
She picked up her Cellphone right then and there and called Seo Sunwoo.
About 30 minutes later, Seo Sunwoo appeared in the Association President's office, took the USB, and disappeared.
'That's done.'
If it was Seo Sunwoo, he would watch the video she gave him and take appropriate measures on his own.
Natsuko whistled in satisfaction.