5
Chapter 5
It's his first job, obtained at thirty. Will he be able to adapt well to the company?
A sloping road located halfway up a mountain.
Screeech—
A green bus came to a precarious stop in front of a peeling station sign. Lee Yeon-woo, wearing a tight, old suit and carrying a backpack, stepped off alone through the clattering rear door.
Vroom—
As the bus rattled away, belching exhaust, a cool mountain breeze swept past, brushing against his sweat-beaded forehead. Lee Yeon-woo spun around from where he stood and surveyed his surroundings.
It was a remote mountain village, far beyond the city center.
Lush green trees grew everywhere, and the old black asphalt road was cracked in various places. It was a mountain path where not a single person was in sight, nor even a passing car.
No matter how he looked at it, this didn't seem like a place where a new employee training session would be held.
'Is this the wrong place? There's not much time left until training starts. Am I late for my first day? No, that can't be right.'
The sweat from the heat faded, replaced by a fresh cold sweat. A chill ran down his spine.
Hurriedly, Lee Yeon-woo pulled his mobile phone from his suit pocket and re-read the text message sent by the company. Due to the harsh sunlight, he turned the screen brightness to the maximum, shading the phone with his hand.
It was a long set of instructions.
Squinting his eyes, Lee Yeon-woo quickly dragged his thumb across the screen, searching for only the important details.
[New Employee Training Guide]
The text stated that the training would last for one week. It also told him to bring daily necessities and comfortable clothes.
The directions had been precise. It said the place was to the right of the Jungsangol Stop.
"Jungsangol. I got off at the right place. But where is the path?"
Looking up at the station sign, Lee Yeon-woo quickly shifted his gaze toward the path to the right. He scanned the edge of the road as if licking it with his eyes.
"Ah. There it is."
He found the path.
It was a dirt road without even a layer of asphalt. A hidden path overgrown with green weeds, with only two ruts carved by car tires.
Lee Yeon-woo hurried his footsteps forward. He walked for a while, staining his polished black shoes with yellow soil.
Beyond the bend in the road, he saw a building and some people.
'Is that the place...?'
A wall surrounded by barbed wire. With two guards standing at the entrance like a military base and a barricade blocking cars, it looked exactly like a checkpoint.
Lee Yeon-woo hunched his shoulders. His pace slowed. He looked back and forth between his phone and the building.
'This doesn't look like the Baekbeom Culture Research Institute.'
The security was far too strict for a culture research institute. The atmosphere was grim, not cultural at all.
Meanwhile, he grew closer.
His eyes met the two guards, who were wearing jet-black masks and sunglasses.
A strange tension filled the air.
"...."
"...."
"...."
A guard wearing a bulletproof vest, with an expandable baton and a taser gun strapped to his waist, glared at Lee Yeon-woo. The guard in front slowly shifted his hand to grip the taser gun, while the one behind brought a walkie-talkie to his face.
Step, step—
Intimidated, Lee Yeon-woo hunched his back and approached them with his hands clasped.
Suddenly, the guard whipped out the taser gun, aimed it at him, and shouted loudly.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Hands up! Move and I'll shoot!"
Startled, Lee Yeon-woo immediately threw his hands up. His voice sounded aggrieved.
"Excuse me, I just wanted to as-"
"Shut up! Make a sound and I'll shoot!"
"No, wait."
"I'll shoot!"
Click—
The taser gun was aimed precisely at his head. A blue spark flickered. Lee Yeon-woo clamped his mouth shut.
At the same time, he felt that he had come to the right place.
'They said this company stops those kinds of exams. This seems right. That taser doesn't look like a normal one, either.'
"Check with the security office!"
"I was about to."
Kzzzt—
Static crackled as the guard turned on the walkie-talkie. Lee Yeon-woo, who had been lost in thought, jumped reflexively. It sounded like the noise he had heard during the Human Qualification Exam.
It happened in that instant. Startled by Lee Yeon-woo's reaction, the guard accidentally pulled the trigger.
Zzzap!
Blue lightning flashed. It happened in a heartbeat. A blue snake-like current wrapped around Lee Yeon-woo's entire body. He couldn't even scream properly. He could only manage a strangled groan, his teeth chattering.
"Ugh-gh!"
Thump!
He collapsed backward, his limbs shaking violently.
As if it were no big deal, the guard indifferently began speaking into the walkie-talkie.
"This is the main gate. A suspicious person has approached. Please confirm identity."
- Hold on.
Whirrr—
A CCTV camera rotated, capturing the convulsing Lee Yeon-woo in its lens. After the lens zoomed in and out several times, a voice came through.
- He's human. Not an Anomaly. He's not carrying anything dangerous, nor is he a member of a hostile group.
"He's a civilian," the guard with the walkie-talkie reported.
Upon hearing this, the guard who fired the gun scratched his head with the handle of the taser gun.
"Ah, damn it. Did he just wander in by mistake? I'll get chewed out if I use too much memory eraser."
- I don't think you need to worry about that. He's the new employee scheduled for training today.
"A rookie?"
"You mean a new employee?"
The guard who fired the taser looked at Lee Yeon-woo, his head snapping quickly in confusion. He was still convulsing from the electricity. The bold shouting from before had vanished, replaced by a tentative, shrinking voice.
"Wait. Uh. Weren't all the rookies already here? People from the military, the police, the NIS, the fire department... even that person called a survivor came recently."
- His record says he's a survivor too. I can't believe we hired two of them. Anyway, deal with him and let him in.
Kzzzt—
The guard who had put away the walkie-talkie spoke.
"They said it's up to us. You're the one who shot him, so you handle it."
"Ah, damn it."
Strolling over, the guard held the taser gun toward Lee Yeon-woo. The blue snake-like current still wrapping around him was smoothly sucked back into the device.
"Ugh!"
"Are you alright? Are you awake?"
He grabbed Lee Yeon-woo's shoulder and shook him back and forth. His rolled-back eyes returned to focus, centering on the guard's mask and sunglasses.
"Um, I'm sorry. You're here for the training, right?"
"Ack!"
Lee Yeon-woo bolted upright and hurriedly scrambled backward. He didn't even have time to care about the dirt and dust on his suit. Blood rushed to his pale face, and just as a scream was about to burst from his wide-open mouth...
"I'm so sorry! We've all got a bit of PTSD. We've had some weirdos approaching us lately, so our nerves are shot. My sincerest apologies!"
"...."
The guard bowed at a right angle. The taser gun hanging loosely in his holster dangled. The scream that had been climbing up his throat retreated.
Perhaps because of the electric shock, Lee Yeon-woo's mind felt sharper than ever. He thought to himself:
'Is this some kind of personality test? No, that's impossible. What kind of company fries you on the first meeting?'
Still, it wouldn't look good for a brand-new employee to throw a fit on his first day.
Lee Yeon-woo forced the corners of his mouth up.
"Ha. Haha. It happens. I went through a strange exam recently, so I jump every time I hear static. You know, like a soldier who's seen combat jumping at loud noises. I understand. Of course I do. Hahaha."
He smiled as he reached out with a vein-popping hand to help the guard stand back up. The suit, riddled with burn marks and smelling of ozone, was clearly reflected in the guard's sunglasses.
***
"Training! You're here for training! Let's get you there before you're late! Go through that passage, and there's a two-story building on the left! That's where the training is!"
Following the awkwardly shouted directions, he passed through the checkpoint and the Baekbeom Culture Research Institute came into view.
A two-story building on the left. A three-story building on the right. Nothing special. Even the few people walking around looked ordinary.
'If I wander off, I'll probably just get shot by another taser.'
Step, step—
He went straight to the two-story building. As soon as he entered, he saw a piece of A4 paper stuck firmly to the hallway wall.
[New Employee Training Room]
[ ---] ]
Following the arrow, he arrived at the door of a small classroom in the corner of the first floor.
In front of the door with the A4 paper marking it as the new employee training room, Lee Yeon-woo checked his mobile phone. 8:50 AM. He wasn't late.
Brush, brush—
Dusting off the dirt, Lee Yeon-woo took a deep breath. His heart suddenly began to race. He couldn't seem to calm down. Anticipation and anxiety filled his mind.
Could he do well? Having lived as a civil service exam student, he had never experienced a real professional environment.
Then, a hollow laugh escaped him.
'I already got hit by a taser to start things off, so is there anything left to worry about?'
"Huu."
Exhaling a short breath, he gripped the handle and opened the door.
Slam—
He stepped through the wide-open door and found himself at the front of the room. It was a small classroom with eight desks. He could see the people who had arrived first, scattered across the room.
Five people. One woman and four men.
A staff sergeant in military uniform with a short haircut.
A young man in a police officer's uniform.
A young man wearing a T-shirt and jeans.
A young woman dressed in a neat suit.
A middle-aged mister in a worn-out suit.
They all put down the phones they had been looking at and faced Lee Yeon-woo, giving short nods in greeting.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"Ah. Hello."
Lee Yeon-woo wondered why everyone was so polite, but then he realized it was only natural. They were colleagues, after all.
Lee Yeon-woo also gave them a polite bow.
"Yes, hello."
As he sat in the only empty seat right in the front, he heard a man's puzzled voice from behind.
"Aren't you an employee here?"
"Pardon?"
A random question. Stopping mid-way while putting down his bag, he turned around to see the staff sergeant pointing at his clothes with a peculiar expression.
"Your clothes."
Dust and burn marks. Clothes that gave off a strong scent of ozone. To anyone, he looked like a field worker who had just come from a rough job.
Lee Yeon-woo gave an awkward smile.
"I also joined the company this time."
"Then why are your clothes...?"
"I got hit by a taser at the main gate."
"Ah."
An awkward exclamation. The gazes that had been fixed on Lee Yeon-woo dissipated. The sound of people tapping their phones resumed, steady like the ticking of a clock.