Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Director General
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The Management Bureau appeared perfectly fine on the surface right now.
The entrances opened normally, reports piled up as usual, and the agents' movements were holding steady enough.
But the truth, known only to the high-ranking executives, was different.
The System's output speed had noticeably slowed.
It wasn't just lagging a bit—its computational processing itself was flickering on and off at regular intervals.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Operating normally.] At first, everyone thought it was just a brief glitch.
But the System wasn't an artificial intelligence.
It was an Artificial Anomaly.
As a machine-type anomaly, it had low variability and was stable, but that didn't mean it stuck rigidly to predictable machine-like patterns.
An anomaly was still an anomaly, no matter what.
It always carried at least a minimum degree of variability.
Yet the current System was displaying a pattern that looked more like a mechanical error than any variability.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Currently under investigation.] ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Operating normally.] Even when the questions changed, the System's responses followed an almost fixed format.
This was blatantly abnormal.
A true anomaly would at least react in some unstable, varied way, but the System was repeating in an overly rigid, formulaic manner.
The high-ranking executives ran the numbers.
If this state persisted for just one more month, over half of the System's functions would shut down.
That meant about seventy percent of the Management Bureau would grind to a halt.
That day, the top executives' meeting was called.
The conference room was heated from the start.
"We need to raise the alert level to Stage 4."
"Stage 4 isn't enough. At minimum, Stage 5."
"Stage 5 right now would just cause chaos. First, we need to identify the cause—"
"Is that petty chaos the issue here? The System—"
Voices overlapped, piled on, and surged over one another—the room was already beyond control.
Papers crumpled, faces flushed red, and if fists hadn't stayed put, it would've been a full-blown marketplace brawl.
That was when it happened.
"Quiet."
A single short word sliced through all the noise.
Everyone fell silent at once, their gazes snapping to one spot.
Hon Saegyu, leader of the Emergency Anomaly Suppression Team.
She had the petite build of a middle schooler and a babyish, cute face.
But no one dared dismiss her.
Unlike typical companies or organizations, the Management Bureau's hierarchy ran desk jobs < production roles < field ops, and Hon Saegyu was one of the absolute peaks of field ops.
She spoke again.
"I'm pressing the Director General call button."
The room didn't just quiet—it froze solid, turning icy cold.
No one could brush off those words lightly.
The button's name sounded ridiculous, but what it meant was something so horrific it was hard to even imagine.
In the midst of it, the relatively new team leader— a rookie by bureau standards despite seven years on the job—raised her hand.
She still had that fresh-faced vibe and a quirky way of speaking, always ending her sentences with "da."
"Speak."
"The Director General call button? Is that really so scary, da?"
Her words dropped, and the red-haired, scaly-skinned female high executive next to her raised her eyes in utter disbelief.
"Hey, you still haven't finished the manual?"
"I've read up to Class 2."
"Ugh... Class 1 is the most important, and you skipped it?"
The rookie team leader cried out in protest.
"No way! When am I supposed to read over 3,000 pages? I've done half!"
The female executive stared at her in shock.
"...You actually read it all? Most people just ask the System for a summary."
The rookie blinked in confusion.
"...Da?"
The room's tension cracked just a bit, a crude chuckle rippling through amid the strain.
But it didn't last.
The other executives cautiously spoke up.
"Still, calling in the Director General is..."
"That's a bit much..."
"It's like using a cattle butcher's knife to kill a chicken, isn't it...?"
The scaly woman let out a deep sigh.
"Haa... You all have no idea what's going on, do you?"
Her expression turned grave.
"This could take us back ten years."
A good number of executives gasped, stifling screams.
Ten years ago.
The era when modern ghost stories from urban legends exploded alongside modern crime aftershocks, World War II remnants, and anomaly spread via the internet's boom—all at once.
Anomalies rampaged wildly, tens of thousands of new ones spawning daily, workload overflowing so you could work 72-hour days and still fall short.
A hellish time when ten percent of agent deaths were from overwork.
Back then, field ops positions were always packed.
Because desk jobs were pure torture.
Remembering that era, the executives shuddered.
Someone muttered in disbelief.
"That's... a huge leap, isn't it...?"
The scaly woman's voice didn't waver.
"I'm certain."
Everyone (except the rookie) knew she possessed precognition, so no one pressed further.
Hon Saegyu raised her hand.
"This isn't the time for endless meetings. Let's vote now."
Ballots dropped into the box one by one.
The final tally:
In Favor: 30 Opposed: 1 Abstain: 1 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ It was the moment Hon Saegyu's hand hovered over the Director General call button.
Someone grabbed her wrist.
Hon Saegyu froze in place.
It wasn't just because she'd failed to sense the approach—that alone would be shocking.
No one but one person ever got that close to her like this.
"Secretary? How...?"
Hon Saegyu's face twisted in an instant.
The executives, seeing her expression, instantly grasped the implication.
The Director General's secretary had appeared out of nowhere.
Which meant...
"Di... Director General...?"
In a flash, every executive in the room shot to their feet.
Chairs scraped back with loud bangs.
The rookie team leader was the only one clueless about the situation.
The scaly female executive, who'd been trembling moments ago, grabbed and shook her.
"G-Get up quick! You idiot!"
As the poor executive forcibly yanked the rookie to her feet, the elevator at the far end of the conference room began descending slowly.
Someone's gulp echoed through the entire room.
-Gulp.
And then
-Ding!
The elevator doors slid open.
She appeared at the same moment.
Director General Jeong Honbin.
Long hair with a subtle green sheen.
Silky strands cascading naturally from shoulders to waist.
Perfectly tailored black suit gleaming with polish.
Cold, beautiful eyes peering through glasses.
A neat smile that somehow carried an eerie menace.
Unlike her refined face, her gait and presence left no gaps whatsoever.
The Director General strode straight to the head seat without so much as glancing around and sat.
She lightly raised her right hand without a word.
The secretary reacted immediately.
As if understanding the gesture perfectly, she produced a document bundle from somewhere.
Seeing that, the rookie team leader gawked at the magical sight—then jolted when she realized her own desk was suddenly empty.
'When did she take it!?')
The Director General skimmed a couple pages and faintly furrowed her brow.
"What is this? You didn't run a System summary?"
The secretary replied cautiously.
"The System isn't functioning normally right now... so you came in person."
"Ah, right."
The Director General scratched her head casually and gestured.
"Guide me to the System core."
"Yes, Director General."
The secretary stepped behind her to lead the way.
The executives, sweating bullets as if it were the most natural thing, followed.
The rookie stared blankly at the scene before muttering softly.
"...Da?"
Hearing that, the female executive grabbed her by the hair.
"Argh, you worthless rookie! Follow us!!"
"Ow! Hey, da!"
With the rookie being dragged out last, their footsteps led straight to the portal room.
Passing through the portal, the Director General and her entourage arrived in the central sector housing the System core.
A massive barrier and layers of machinery enclosed what should have been the System's nucleus.
The Director General frowned the instant she saw it.
"This is supposed to be the System core?"
The secretary looked equally grim.
"This... isn't it fake? We should track it down immediately—"
"No, it won't make a difference."
The Director General spoke calmly.
Her tone wasn't mere confidence—it was the certainty of someone who already knew the answer.
Seeing her eyes, the secretary said with deep respect.
"Could it be... you already know who stole it?"
She nodded.
"Yeah. There's not many who'd pull off something this bold, covet the System, and not bat an eye at antagonizing humanity..."
The Director General's eyes gleamed coldly.
"Not many at all."
"As expected...!"
The secretary's loyalty spiked sharply.
Meanwhile, the rookie team leader huddled a bit apart, forlornly rubbing the swollen spot where her hair had nearly been yanked out.
That's when she spotted a small scrap on the floor.
It was tiny, but scanning the floor, it was impossible to miss—a memo sheet, still warm like it'd just been printed.
Written on it:
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Gone to find love. So don't poke around in strict places, Director General. -System] The rookie team leader stared at it blankly before muttering.
"...Da?"