Chapter 259
Chapter 259
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: Lizard Manager's Return
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I met Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon, who had escaped from the Groom horror tale, the very next day.
It was a gathering with agents who had obtained permission for a short outing near the suburbs for the purpose of stabilizing my condition (condition: no people nearby), and to discuss future countermeasures.
There was already someone at the destination, the dilapidated pavilion in the park.
Ho Yuwon.
"Welcome, Deer!"
The director who had somehow gotten ahead of us again and claimed the spot, knowing we would discuss matters related to the Seogwang Special City exploration.
And sitting upright right next to Ho Yuwon was a figure.
"You said you needed additional personnel for the exploration project? It seemed the person had been eagerly awaiting a meeting with you, Deer, so I brought them along right away."
"Yes. I've returned to the company."
Circumstances suggested he had sought me out right on the day of his rescue, but he had timed it considerately to allow a gentle meeting given my situation.
'Truly a manager of this era...'
The owner of character unlike a certain director.
Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon showed not a hint of agitation even upon seeing me in my thoroughly bizarre Security Team state.
He had seen this form before when we entered the Jolly Theme Park Resort last time, and even then, the Lizard manager had recognized me and treated me exactly the same.
Just like now.
"Any unusual matters with Deer after your return?"
"Confirmed."
And even Deputy Eun Ha-je joined the conversation as if it were nothing.
"Wow, long time no see, and your face is just glowing, Manager. Ah, it's a figure of speech. Figure of speech."
"? Yes."
This was as warm and friendly as Lizard-style conversation got.
However, it seemed rather eerie to the agents...
Agent Choi barely managed to join in.
"Whew, yeah. You look so sharp, citizen."
"Yes."
"...Haha, you remember us, right? We're the agents who suddenly dropped into your headquarters~ Thanks for taking the rescued kids to the bathroom."
"Yes."
"......"
"......"
"Grape. Does this person really intend to join the exploration?"
This was less a question and more an expression of dismay, but the Lizard answered honestly.
"Yes."
"......"
"......"
Agent Bronze finally spoke up.
"D-Do you know exactly what you're agreeing to?"
The Lizard answered matter-of-factly.
"No."
…!?
Heh heh heh...
Before Agent Bronze could grow more confused, I projected text with smoke.
"Yes. In return for the assistance Deer provided in my rescue, I judged it ethically appropriate to accompany a similar rescue operation. Exactly what tasks will be performed in the process will be determined later."
In short, it was to repay my help.
'Manager...!'
From my position, having already received escape compensation from the extraterrestrial reptiles including himself, it was both grateful and deeply moving.
And it seemed the nuance penetrated the Lizard speech pattern to reach the agents as well.
"...Tsk."
"See?"
Deputy Eun Ha-je nudged Agent Choi, who wore an expression of 'he's not bad?'
And I chimed in.
Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon had even been covering my rent!
"Oh? Paid the rent?"
Yes!
I desperately expressed with smoke: 'When I received the Wish Grant, I entrusted all remaining items to Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon and asked him to cover the rent with them if possible.'
'Renting storage space, so calling it rent fits.'
"Wow, we knew the manager had money, but to go that far for Deer? And now that Deer's back, you're not even billing them?"
Exactly, Deputy Eun Ha-je. That's precisely the admirable part...
"I see. I'll do it now."
......
......!?
"The converted value of the items Deer entrusted for disposal has been deducted for last month. Current accumulated debt is 2.3 million won."
Ah.
"......"
"......"
All eyes turned to me.
I desperately projected smoke.
Please.
Just wait a bit until I squeeze money out of Ho Yuwon.
And moreover.
Manager can receive it too, so please.
"Yes."
Thank you!
And Ho Yuwon, watching all this, smiled and spoke.
"What a heartwarming sight. If you carry out the exploration diligently, we'll of course pay the allowances."
"Ooh~ As expected of a Daydream director. That personality of only looking after your own company people. Nice!"
"A civil servant forbidden from side jobs greedily chasing extra pay... such a brazen, two-faced attitude befitting the Disaster Management Bureau."
"Calling it a side job is unfair. Making money from supernatural disasters is standard agent practice anyway, tsk... Well, let's say it's helping troubled citizens."
For all his words, Agent Choi didn't seem to actually intend to take the money; it was just to preempt Ho Yuwon from demanding bureau equipment or gear for the exploration.
'Wrapping things up before heading out.'
Before re-entering Seogwang Special City.
Indeed.
With the Lizard manager recruited as additional personnel, and the sharp hostility toward Ho Yuwon somewhat concealed, the situation was sorted.
Explanation of Seogwang Special City to Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon was also complete. So now, truly, the rescue operation was about to launch.
That was when 'that' remark came from Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon, who had grasped the full situation.
"...Additional personnel?"
"Yes."
Additional personnel recommendation.
And that person was...
"Baek Saheon?"
"Yes."
"...Deer's colleague? That slimy, finicky guy."
"Yes."
"What exactly is his profile?"
At Agent Bronze's question, Deputy Eun Ha-je rested her chin on her hand.
"Hmm, boomer type. Doesn't 'Daydream Corporation employee' bring up biased stereotype keywords in your head?"
Crazy personality, self-preservationism, egoism, slyness...
I could already guess what words were flashing through Agent Bronze's mind without him saying them...
And.
"Because he possesses the abilities needed for the exploration."
"Hmm, could you elaborate?"
"Yes."
"......"
"......"
"Uh, um. Please tell us?"
"Yes."
Only then did Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon begin explaining. Agent Choi somehow looked even more worn and tired...
Yeah. Good to know it has that effect at least...
"I've understood the exploration site consists of garrotes that induce strangulation, suicide corpses, trees, and thick fog indiscernible to the naked eye."
"Correct."
The explorers' faces who had met death side by side in that eerie fog of Seogwang District, chased by the garrotes, slightly hardened.
"Thus, recruiting someone with suitable vision to distinguish those elements in the fog would make maneuvering for the group much easier, I predict."
"...!"
"So, does this Baek Saheon have suitable vision?"
"Yes."
I immediately recalled.
Baek Saheon's trait.
"...!!"
"Extracting only the eyeball and implanting it into one of the explorers would be difficult, so I propose recruiting the person themselves."
People's expressions changed.
They realized it was quite plausible.
"Hmm. Certainly... Bureau gear of that type mostly borrows the vision or senses of enlightened beings."
"Yes. In a situation where an entirely new body part is implanted, the judgment is likely to register as the person themselves."
But Agent Choi shrugged.
"Someone with that personality gonna join a rescue op?"
That was.
"Oh."
Ho Yuwon smiled faintly under everyone's gaze.
...The expression Deputy Eun Ha-je had once worn when requesting to recruit Assistant Manager Lee Jaheon, placing hopes on this fox, was there.
'Needed for Seogwang Special City exploration? Of course, consider it done—I'll kidnap them right away.'
Yes.
That expression.
'Fuck!'
Baek Saheon was cursing inwardly.
No, he could only curse inwardly.
Gagged and hooded with cloth, he was being transported somewhere!
-Junior Baek Saheon, Director Ho is calling for you.
When he went up to the director's office at that request, this madness ensued.
'...Am I fucked?'
The instincts of someone who worked at a deranged horror company screamed.
Worried he might be dragged to the research team, he fidgeted in cold sweat seeking an escape timing—just a few minutes.
Transport stopped, and the cloth over his head was removed.
"...!!"
And what appeared before his eyes.
'Wh-what is this.'
The Fox Counseling Room.
Precisely, masked people sat at the waiting room table in the Fox Counseling Room.
Two were familiar.
Lizard mask and Rosefinch mask.
'W-wait a sec.'
One was someone who had gone missing and returned yesterday, the other had already quit long ago.
At that point, a thought crossed Baek Saheon's mind.
'Director Ho's project team?!'
The existence of the 'project' rumored only among Director Ho's inner circle. It had reached even Junior Baek Saheon's ears.
'Are they drafting me for the project?'
But the next moment.
Baek Saheon recognized the attire of the two sitting in the table's shadow.
'...Disaster Bureau!'
Government agents, right. But...
The agents were wearing masks.
'What the hell.'
-We can't expose agent identities to humans unreliable to that degree.
-Then why don't you wear masks too?
-Oh.
Thus, they had hastily procured them.
The two wearing Hahoe masks—gentleman and butcher side by side—looked extremely suspicious, but in another sense, strongly evoked Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau agents.
Anyway, the mere sight of Daydream employees and bureau agents sitting together amicably was shocking enough for Baek Saheon.
But.
"Goat Junior."
"......Yes."
The one Baek Saheon was most conscious of in this gathering was Director Ho at the table.
Sitting with his usual eerily youthful face smiling, his eyes oddly gleamed with ecstasy.
Baek Saheon was familiar with those eyes.
The eyes of a zealot with their goal within reach.
"We've gathered today to make a good proposal to you, Junior."
"...A proposal, you say."
"I'm running a small project, and I'm selecting someone to join."
As expected.
"Congratulations. Saheon, you're now part of the project team."
Suspicious.
'Not even a formal assignment, introducing it like this?'
Doesn't it feel cultish?
He heightened his wariness further, but for now, desperately forced a smiling face.
Had to play along.
"Thank you for thinking well of me, Director!"
"No need to thank me. Shall we have you greet your teammates?"
What greetings, you fucker.
Baek Saheon turned his head to look at them, feeling the urge to spit on that face oblivious to hardship, mingled with fear.
Even though everyone wore masks anyway, he looked especially at the two agents, not the two familiar ones.
"......"
Then, suddenly realized.
Under the table, one masked agent was clenching a fist while looking at him.
As if recognizing him.
But that gesture felt less like an agent facing a Daydream employee, and more like someone encountering an unexpected figure...
......!
"You."
Baek Saheon whipped around to the agent.
"You're the agent from Jisan Village back then, right??
"......"
The one in the butcher mask looked at Baek Saheon.
An unlikable aura emanated from their whole body, but it didn't matter.
Baek Saheon blurted out the question he couldn't hold back.
"Where's the other agent who came with you then?"
"......"
"The one who pulled the golden rod."
"No reason to tell you."
You bastard.
Of course. They were the agent who tried to leave him in the village. Obvious. Cares only about their own business, breaks promises, flip-flops—a real asshole.
Hard to believe fellow agents could differ so much.
Especially compared to 'that' agent who communicated with him via paper boat.
"......"
That agent wouldn't dip into something this shady.
'Seems like they're collaborating with Director Ho.'
No matter how you look, something's off.
Thus, Baek Saheon roughly grasped the situation. Or thought he did.
"Ah, the last one has arrived."
Creeeak.
The counseling room door opened, and before it appeared—
"......!!"
Black smoke, gas mask, countless branching horns, yellow gas lantern. Black workwear, full uniform.
It was the Security Team monster.
'F-fuck, fuck.'
A watchdog to keep employees from fleeing?
"Goat?"
"Y-yes."
Baek Saheon pretended to wipe sweat, bowing his head slightly to tilt his eyepatch and gauge the opponent's threat level...
......
"...!!"
Mermaid Graveyard and now again.
Encountered once more in an unidentified bizarre form.
Goosebumps rose all over his body.
'Definitely not human.'
Cat, child, and now Security Team's bizarre entity—Kim Sol-eum approached the table.
Flinch.
Baek Saheon nearly jumped from the table but barely composed himself, avoiding eye contact and staring under the table.
'You fucker.'
Clearly trying to keep his identity hidden and mouth shut again...
"Ah, Goat knows this one too, right? The employee you knew as Junior Deer."
"...?!"
"Colleagues, right? Chat it up."
Wa-wait.
"You two will now be on the same team, exploring the same Darkness together."
Baek Saheon screamed silently.
"Well then, shall we begin the exploration."
Second Seogwang Special City Entry Attempt
⏰ 30 Minutes Before Start