Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Stuffed Friend's Office Debut
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-A spy. Ah, yes. A classic, enduring archetype that gets audiences' hearts racing in absolutely any era.
-The sheer catharsis of the narrative twist! The moment where the mysterious, powerful identity of an individual who seemed entirely ordinary is dramatically revealed to the world!
-Isn't it the absolute perfect occupational role for my highly talented friend?
He he.
On my morning commute to work, I entered the imposing headquarters of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau while listening to Brown's relentless, lively commentary vibrating against my chest.
'Good thing the Bureau's standard-issue tactical jacket has deep front pockets.'
The plush doll was completely covered by the heavy pocket flap, which also served to obscure its long rabbit ears, so it wasn't noticeable to a casual observer at first glance.
I maintained a carefully crafted aura of normality, casually greeting the passing agents as I crossed the massive main lobby of the Bureau.
-Oho, a highly specialized entry method utilizing a hidden structural entrance. The classic, undeniable cliché of a secret agent. They seem like an organization that truly understands the romance of the genre.
-Come now, let's see exactly where Mr. Deer's assigned workspace is located. I am looking forward to the set design!
The morning was starting off surprisingly well. Brown gave a genuinely decent aesthetic score to the Bureau's hidden labyrinthine entrances, and a passable, if somewhat lukewarm, rating to the interior architectural design.
'Well, I'm glad to hear you at least tolerate it.'
I responded internally with appropriate casualness, took the secure elevator down into the sub-levels, navigated the sterile bureaucratic hallway, and swiped my credentials to open a heavy security door.
Thus, the designated waiting room for Xuanwu Team 1 came into view.
And then...
-......
'Brown?'
-Oh, I see. It appears they have cleverly redecorated a leftover, temporary storage space into something that loosely resembles a plausible break lounge.
-Ha ha. Mr. Deer, it's highly amusing how you have learned to aggressively cut corners and slack off in the time since I last saw you! I assume you sneak in here for a short, unauthorized rest before heading to your actual, official workplace?
'No. This is it.'
-Hm?
'This is literally my assigned workplace.'
There was absolutely no response from my nice friend.
-...Are you utilizing this pathetic space to psychologically coax vulnerable visitors into extracting highly classified information? If so, it is a masterful, deceptive use of an unofficial break room...
No.
'This really is my official, government-mandated workplace.'
-Friend, what exactly do you do in here all day?
'I sit on the sofa and wait.'
Again, absolute silence from the nice friend. The psychic connection felt so dead he might as well have flatlined...
-Oh! Oh, I see. You have playfully deceived me.
Eek!
'Then, if we get an emergency call, we deploy. We go out to actively rescue civilians caught in all sorts of bizarre, lethal disaster situations.'
-Aha.
'So this room is just the standby waiting room.'
-Ha ha ha. So the actual, grueling physical work hasn't even begun yet.
-Oh, you truly fooled me! That was quite an amusing bit of improvisational banter, friend!
'Right? Ha ha ha...'
Cold sweat violently trickled down my spine.
Yeah, hanging out with Brown always felt exactly like this... constantly walking a razor's edge. Whew.
At that exact moment, my right hand, still safely tucked inside the tactical pocket, moved stealthily.
I formed a firm thumbs-up... then aggressively flipped it upside down, slamming my thumb downward.
"......"
Yes. I completely understand.
-Very well! Then I suppose this specific environment isn't the absolute worst spot for a solo rest before the carnage begins!
'It's the shared team waiting room.'
-......
'It's totally fine. Everyone here is fun and they're genuinely good people.'
Brown seemed slightly, visibly shocked by the depressing reality of my employment, but it couldn't be helped. He was probably internally comparing this depressing bunker to the massive corporate pharma company that had given him a sprawling, luxurious private office...
-...Understood. And precisely how many personnel currently operate alongside you in this space, Mr. Deer?
'Ah, there are exactly three of us assigned to the roster right now... but only two ever actually come to use the waiting room.'
I looked over at the battered whiteboard mounted on the waiting room wall.
It was covered in fading, handwritten notes from the people who had passed through Xuanwu Team 1 over the years.
'...Originally, about seven people worked in this specific room.'
This was simply historical knowledge I possessed from the wiki.
In the Darkness Exploration Records, the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau's emergency dispatch rescue squad—specifically the prestigious headquarters' Xuanwu division—had once been massively expanded to a total of seven operational teams.
But shortly afterward, due to a highly classified, catastrophic incident in the field, half the personnel had died violently or gone permanently MIA, and the division was brutally consolidated back down to just three teams at one point.
'It was a truly chilling, bureaucratic horror tale.'
Anyway, there had been a very specific historical period when the Bureau was actively and aggressively recruiting fresh meat to fill the gaps... and it seemed like now was exactly that time.
-That is a profound relief. Whew, seven full-grown adults crammed into this rundown, depressing room? What are they, a troupe of third-rate, failed comedians?
"......Hm."
I just gave a dry, wry smile.
Then, after some brief thought, I picked up a dry-erase marker from the whiteboard ledge and left a line myself.
[People worthy of respect.]
Thinking of the early wiki days, honoring the original members of the Disaster Management Bureau and the doomed Xuanwu Team 1.
-Oho, you left a written message? Oh my! A spy's covert trace... Now I am intensely curious. Could you bring me slightly closer so I can examine the text in more detail?
It wasn't anything grand or revealing, but.
"Sure."
It wasn't hard. I casually took the stuffed doll out of the front pocket and held its soft body with both hands, bringing it close to the whiteboard so it could "see"...
Click.
"Grape, you're in early again today? Last night, did you manage to sleep well—"
Agent Choi, entering the room, locked eyes with me.
And then his gaze immediately dropped to see the stuffed doll clutched in my hands.
And then he saw my hands politely, carefully propping the doll up against the whiteboard as if I were showing it the writing.
Ah. Aaaah...
"G-Good morning, Agent Choi."
"Yeah. Good morning to you too. But... uh, are you actively donating a plush doll to our waiting room decor? I mean, sure, why not. It's cool."
"Ah, no, it's not that..."
-Hoo?
I hunched my shoulders defensively and hurriedly scooped Brown up, frantically stuffing him back into the front pocket.
But Agent Choi stopped me.
The veteran agent's sharp eyes scanned the phrase I had just written on the whiteboard.
"Nah? No, no, it's totally fine. Kids these days keep stuff like this around all the time for selfies or whatever—leave something cute and take a proof shot."
I hurriedly scrambled to respond in character to Agent Choi, who was now randomly rambling about how even someone like Grape probably does SNS, but all internal Bureau photos are heavily classified, so I should think of it like working for the NIS, etc.
"No. This is just, um, a friend I always carry around with me to calm my nerves."
-Pleased to meet you! Oh, that horrific scar on your neck looks quite dashing. I would absolutely love to hear the highly entertaining story behind how you got it sometime.
"...A friend?"
"Yes..."
At that exact, agonizing moment, Agent Bronze opened the waiting room door and entered.
"Hello, sirs..."
"Jaegwan! Come over here! The maknae brought a doll to work!"
"A doll?"
Agent Choi hastily grabbed the collar of Agent Bronze's jacket and dragged him over.
This was becoming incredibly burdensome.
-My goodness, isn't this the highly amusing serial killer character from the mountain lodge? ...Aha! Could it be you successfully infiltrated this organization under the pretense of accepting his relentless, psychotic recruitment attempts?
No. I was dragged in and photographed because I looked highly suspicious on a crime scene...
-Well, regardless of the method, not bad at all. Having your two sidekicks actively assisting you!
No. They're literally my government bosses...
Meanwhile, my two superior agents were peering down at Brown with intense curiosity.
"Wait, he says he always carries it, but how come we've never seen it before today? Jaegwan, did you ever see it during the operation?"
Agent Bronze's expression instantly turned highly odd.
He was definitely remembering the multiple times he had bumped into me in the field before, when Brown was actively hanging outside my clothes or ominously poking out of my pocket...!
'But if he testifies to that now, it'll definitively confirm I've possessed an unlogged anomaly for a while!'
I rapidly intervened to spare the agent the internal bureaucratic conflict.
"Ah, my old friend got torn by accident due to a mistake I made... so I had to remake him recently."
"......"
Agent Bronze's expression grew even stranger, contorting into a mask of pure confusion.
He seemed to mutter the word "friend" a few times to himself, attempting to process the logic, then finally asked.
"No way... did you actually physically make that 'friend' during your scheduled break time?"
Surprisingly, that was technically the truth.
"Yes, that's right! Ah, well—I didn't hand-sew it myself, I just bought the base from a store, but..."
"......"
"Grape, constantly calling an inanimate doll a 'friend' is exactly how you get a ghost maliciously attached to it in this line of work..."
"Go get the mission documents."
"Eek!"
Agent Bronze violently kicked Agent Choi's butt, and they both hurriedly left the waiting room together.
Then, turning back briefly, Bronze looked at me with a strained, kindly expression.
"The New Investigation Unit just called for Agent Grape. Any active distress signals should be routed through here, so don't worry about the monitors and go ahead."
"Pardon? Oh, okay."
And they vanished down the hallway in an instant.
Thud.
'Whew.'
It was an incredibly good thing they didn't pry any further.
Otherwise, if the atmosphere had gotten any more suspicious, Agent Choi might've instinctively whipped out his paranormal horror detection gear and scanned me... hm. That could've been a catastrophic close call.
Though Brown confidently boasted that he could spoof his signature so no human device could ever reveal what he truly is, it was always better to be operationally safe than sorry.
'I thought it would be strategically safer to show him off naturally from the start, establishing a baseline of normality, rather than desperately hiding him and getting caught later.'
But I absolutely did not expect the interaction to go down like this.
Is this... good?
-A 'friend'? What kind of place is this "New Investigation Unit" anyway?
'Ah, let's go check it out.'
Anyway, since they officially called me down to the New Investigation Unit, I figured I would pop over and see what they wanted.
I moved with Brown securely in my pocket, passing through the Bureau's actual, highly active staff areas—essentially a labyrinth of sterile, bureaucratic office corridors. And...
-My word, I deeply wish this was merely a comedic sketch corner... My poor friend has clearly fallen victim to a horrific employment scam.
"......"
In the discerning eyes of a mass media horror emcee birthed from a flashy, hyper-capitalist era, these sterile, 21st-century government facilities must have seemed hopelessly outdated and functionally substandard...
Fortunately, something else soon caught Brown's predatory interest.
My fellow corporate spy colleague standing right in front of the New Investigation Unit office.
Go Yeongeun.
"Agent Grape!"
Go Yeongeun, who had waved happily upon spotting me, gave me an incredibly odd, complicated look as I approached and she saw the stuffed doll resting on my chest.
"You're... still carrying that thing around?"
"......Yes."
Come to think of it, Yeongeun had seen the 'nice friend' version of Brown quite often during operations.
Even in that lethal exhibition horror, the Mansion of the Blind, she had probably caught glimpses of me actively using Brown to manipulate the mood and sway Baek Saheon a few times.
Anyway, Brown apparently had vastly more presence than I thought, and she was doing her best to play along with the madness.
'Ugh, I figured the small keychain size made it unnoticeable...'
In this horror world, entirely run by a deranged pharmaceutical company, people casually carried around everything from cursed rabbit feet to bloody mummy bandages.
And with everyone in the company routinely wearing bizarre, psychological animal masks, I figured a simple stuffed doll keychain was perfectly harmless camouflage.
Hm. Apparently not...
Still, Go Yeongeun was remarkably kind as always.
"I-it's still very cute! I think you picked a good one."
-Oh my, someone with a genuine eye for quality talent. Good taste in an audience is always an entertainer's greatest joy.
Anyway, everyone is relatively happy, so that's good. I smiled politely and opened my mouth.
"Thank you. Does Agent Parkha perhaps have a similar doll...?"
"Oh, no thank you. No need."
"......"
No, I was going to ask if she currently owned one. A doll keychain...
Cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
Ah, it seems the bunny doll aggressively stands out far more than expected.
'This is no good.'
I quickly asked Brown for his understanding, then aggressively pulled the tactical pocket flap down further to hide the doll's shape as much as physically possible.
"Agent Grape! Over here for your official statement... Oh? That's cute. Did your little sibling give it to you?"
"Oh my, what's that? A plushie?"
But even so, whether because it actively wriggled or intentionally peeked out, it became the focal point of small talk fodder several times throughout the day...
And the grand finale occurred after I finished giving a simple, redacted statement at the New Investigation Unit and returned to the Xuanwu Team 1 waiting room.
Click.
"Grape!"
The two veteran agents already relaxing inside jumped up immediately when I entered.
And Agent Choi was grinning so brightly it was actively suspicious.
......?
"Sorry about earlier! I was a bit harsh to Grape's little friend! I mean, calling it a ghost? That was super rude, right?"
-Hm. And now they are desperately trying to save face and be polite. I shall accept it graciously.
"I-It's totally fine."
What the hell is this?
Anyway, now I knew for a fact the stuffed doll stood out more than expected, so I desperately needed to do some damage control and manage the narrative.
I quietly sat on the edge of the sofa and muttered.
"I-I'll make sure to carry it discreetly from now on so it doesn't stand out, so if it's a bit uncomfortable, please bear with me..."
"Ha ha ha, what are you saying? Nonsense. Of course our Grape's friend can stay in our waiting room."
Suddenly, Agent Choi threw a heavy arm around my shoulder and proudly showed me something.
"Here, this is friend's designated spot."
Resting on the plush armrest of the window-side sofa was a neatly folded handkerchief. It was a standard-issue, Bureau navy agent handkerchief...
'......'
No, really.
What is this bizarre atmosphere?
-Ha ha, your kindness is deeply appreciated, but I shall decline! I brought my own personal handkerchief... oh dear, where did it go? Strangely, I can't seem to find it!
I'll buy you a new one later, just hush for now!
"Th-Thank you..."
I couldn't resist the oppressive, weirdly supportive mood, and gently placed Brown onto the folded handkerchief.
Agent Choi, still smiling kindly like a saint, asked.
"What's our little friend's name?"
"B-Brown."
"...But it's pink?"
"Pardon?"
"Ha ha ha, just kidding. That happens! People's hearts are totally free to choose, right~"
"Yes... thank you."
What the absolute hell is going on?
I looked frantically to Agent Bronze like I was silently begging for help, but when our eyes met, he simply forced a highly strained, agonizing smile.
It seemed like he was desperately trying to look warm and supportive...
'......??'
I sank even deeper into utter confusion.
"Here, take this too. It's a diary strap, but I bet it'd look cute tied to the ear."
Thus, Brown successfully blended into the Xuanwu Team 1 waiting room without drawing any hostile suspicion, even securing a premium cushion spot by the window...
'...??'
And the bizarre, underlying cause of this entire situation was finally revealed when I checked the division's encrypted group chat.
"......"
Agent Bronze...!!
-With that operational context in mind... hm. I shall give this place a solid 39 points out of 100.
After work, on the way back.
I hurried my exhausted steps toward the motel while listening to Brown's surprisingly generous architectural score for the Disaster Management Bureau.
Excluding a very short, routine dispatch in the afternoon for a low-grade supernatural disaster, it was a relatively plain, uneventful day shift, so my physical condition should have been totally fine, but...
'I'm utterly exhausted...'
I was mentally drained from processing too many variables, and to top it all off, my "traumatized character traits" had been forcibly added to the bureaucratic script at the last minute without warning...
'Ugh.'
I just want to rest.
'...Maybe I'll book a room and sleep somewhere a bit nicer, just for tonight.'
Walking through the darkening, twilight streets, I began actively searching for alternative, higher-end lodgings on my smartphone...
Bzzzzt.
A sharp vibration and a secure popup notification flashed on my phone.
A text.
"...!"
It was the Security Chief.
This was the very first time he had initiated contact since he handed me the burner smartphone.
And he actually got the classified information?
I hurriedly typed a reply in a panic.
But minutes passed with absolutely no response.
"......"
And then, much later.
A deep, terrifying chill ran down my spine.
I immediately hit the call button. But he didn't pick up.
'What the hell.'
The call signal is definitely going through—why isn't he answering the damn phone?
The '1' notification vanishes from the texts. Meaning he read it.
'Wait. He said... he's going out?'
I hurriedly narrowed my active lodging search strictly to the immediate area around Daydream Corporation and frantically booked a self-check-in unmanned motel.
I immediately sent the address, room number, and encrypted entry code via text.
Then I dashed straight back into the subway system.
Heading directly to that self-check-in motel near the company.
A short while later.
"...?!"
Opening the heavy motel door and walking inside, I witnessed a scene I could never have possibly predicted.
"Mmph!"
Gwak Je-gang was brutally bound and lying face-down on the floor.
And sitting directly on top of him, physically restraining him, was the Security Chief.
And then...
"D-Deer."
Park Minseong, the section chief, turned to look at me, sweat pouring profusely down his face in absolute terror.
He was wearing a fully kitted Daydream Security Team uniform.
"......"
What the absolute hell is this mess?