Chapter 11
Chapter 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: New Employee First Day - Rules (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Phone ringing. Keyboard clacking. People rushing back and forth with stacks of documents.
Amid all that bustle, no one paid any attention to me or her.
It was as if the two of us existed in an isolated space, invisible like ghosts.
Everything up to this point was the same as before.
The only difference was that the Human-Faced Monkey that had been guarding the entrance was nowhere to be seen.
I'd never experienced it myself, but I knew it wasn't standing there at exactly 9 a.m. for any friendly reason.
I let out a small breath and nodded.
"From here on, we'll act separately. Desk assignments come first. I'll head this way. Kang Su-ji, you go that way."
She gave a short nod and stepped into the opposite hallway.
If my memory was right, her desk was number 27.
Assuming it matched the direction the orangutan monster had dragged her off in, she'd find it soon enough.
I crossed the hall toward the desk with my name on it.
Having found it once already, it was easier this time.
[13. Intern Kang Do-yoon.]
As I approached, I scanned the surroundings, but the replacement bastard who'd been occupying this spot earlier was gone.
The moment I pulled out the chair and sat down.
As if that were the signal, the people who'd been ignoring me until just now started talking to me one by one.
"You're the new hire, right?"
"Our department's buried in work. Honestly, we desperately needed more hands."
"You're lucky, though. The recent newbies have been too fragile—most don't last long."
I responded with appropriate newbie reactions, blending in.
"Yes, I'm the new hire... Please take care of me."
"Oh, right. Just tell me what to do, and I'll work hard."
As I gauged the atmosphere.
Ring-a-ding-ding—
Ring-a-ding-ding—
Even amid the office noise, the bell rang sharply in my ears.
My gaze shifted to the corded phone sitting plainly on the desk.
Ring—
The third ring overlapped, and the air turned icy cold.
Everyone focused on me, as if urging me to pick it up.
I slowly lifted the receiver.
—...You're too incomplete right now.
—...Why, why, why are your body's proteins... separated into carbs and fats.
—...Soon, we'll become one. It'll be perfect. Don't worry.
—...Now there's nothing missing. So...
The breath from the receiver rumbled low, scraping at my ear canal.
As if whispering not to me, but to my body itself.
—...Let's become one again.
An itchy sensation crawled through my body, and I instinctively raised my right hand.
That's when I realized.
My fingers... were separating.
Not the skin, but deeper layers.
Through the transparent cracks, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and pale bones were exposed separately.
Plip, plop—
My living flesh was disassembling like machinery, revealing its structure.
Like clay.
"......!"
I tried to inhale, but even my throat felt split into components by something.
The voice from the receiver burrowed into my ear again.
—...Soon, you'll be perfect.
***
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Returning to the last save point.]
[The most recent save point is AUTO SAVE 1.]
[New Employee First Day Anomaly]
[Death Type]: Decomposition.
[Tip]: Malicious complaint calls must be handled correctly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Blocked again.
A total of 13 times.
The number of times I've returned to this damn hall.
Eleven of those were because of that phone ringing from my desk.
Around the third repeat, I even cursed out the voice on the other end.
Past the fifth, I tried forcing politeness.
After the tenth, I ignored it completely.
And on the eleventh, I thoroughly ignored the ringing receiver despite my colleagues' piercing stares.
In that case, the bell grew louder—as if it couldn't possibly come from the receiver—until the Human-Faced Monkey from the entrance came charging in like a maniac and tore my body apart.
None of those choices were right.
Plus, no matter my reaction, the voice on the other end always ended with that damned line, oblivious.
You'll be perfect.
Let's become one again.
Just like with the Gyeonggwangju Station Anomaly.
The rules were unpredictable.
The Recorder's Pen only recorded my experiences.
It didn't reveal rules I didn't know.
The pen still hadn't activated.
Think.
It's not over yet.
This time, without even contacting Kang Su-ji, I browsed the gallery for hints while exploring, and spotted something odd.
No one knew how many times I'd entered this anomaly.
Or rather.
[Title: Know the anomaly the newbie just entered?]
-Writer: Veteran84
"New Employee First Day" Anomaly.
Real deal, only picking the tasty bits.
[Title: When are you going in?]
-Writer: DarkMeter
Why's he just sitting there?
[Title: Seriously hyped]
-Writer: Hell Hurts
Just passed out popcorn lololol
How'd they know I was bored?
It looked just like a live stream kicking off.
Thanks to gallery users spreading my situation in real-time, I caught on.
Just in case, I tapped the red-lit broadcast button at the top.
[Anomaly Broadcast: Code 6214][01:42:54]
[Anomaly Broadcast: Code 84214][52:42:54]
[Anomaly Broadcast: Code 120053][00:05:17]
[Anomaly Broadcast: Code 31][1352:42:54]
[Anomaly Broadcast: Code 2625][252:42:54]
Broadcast time: 5 minutes 17 seconds.
I'd returned to the office 13 times.
Even minimizing the math, 5 minutes × 13 = 65 minutes.
Over an hour.
[Veteran84]: No way, he beat me—who prepped a month in advance—into the next anomaly.
[CatThatCriesWhenConfused]: Nyaaong nyaaong nyaaong nyaaong—
[Hopeless Life]: Cocky after one lucky break lol. That's why kids don't cut it. Underestimating anomalies. Time to get wrecked and wise up.
ㄴ[Not Human]: Lol yeah, he'll snap out of it when half his torso flies off. But if your bro's right, he won't clear this round? That newb? Bet 10 coins on him losing, for your sake.
ㄴ[Hopeless Life]: Lmaoooo fuck. Raising to 1000. On that newbie failing lolololol
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Crazy bastards gambling here lololol Gallery level is unreal lololol
I shook my head at the dead souls betting on me.
More importantly, Hopeless Life.
Remember that one.
"1000 on him failing."
Practically praying for my death?
Not Human.
That guy's just a malicious spirit who loves stirring shit—too annoying to touch.
Even from another gallery, he's been at this crap so long it barely fazes him.
I'll just remember and repay in kind later.
Anyway, now it's clear.
My ability, "Auto Save."
It doesn't just rewind the timeline—it ignores the world's framework entirely.
An evil grin crept across my face unbidden.
"They won't remember anyway."
Can't ask the gallery questions without seeing the anomaly first.
I stood and headed outside.
Back to the start.
***
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Returning to the last save point.]
[The most recent save point is AUTO SAVE 1.]
[New Employee First Day Anomaly]
[Death Type]: Explosion.
[Tip]: Escaping an anomaly requires specific conditions. Why not focus on those?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
One step sideways.
Collision avoidance.
Talk to Kang Su-ji.
Build trust in the elevator.
Sprint to the office.
Find my seat in time.
The moment I sat, as colleagues approached to chat, I smiled and slipped in wireless earbuds.
Newbie essential gear.
They create an absolute barrier.
Not enchanted or anything, but the approaching staff's smiling faces hardened coldly.
It sure felt enchanted.
Not long after sitting, the receiver on the desk rang.
From the ring to the Human-Faced Monkey charging in, a few minutes remained at least.
Calmly, I picked up my phone.
[Title: Save the newbie!!!! Help!!!!!!]
-Writer: Newbie120053
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
I'll give all 200 coins. Swear on my rider number.
[Coffin Fairy]: ...Vibe shifted a bit?
[Dark Merchant]: You fucking anomaly spy?
[Lolsalpingbong]: Lmaoooooooooooooooooooo fuck lmao insane lololololol
[SpectatorWhyPossessed]: You possessed by Newbie120053's body too?
[Mackerel Eyes]: Stake my nick, that's an anomaly spy bastard. Real talk lololol
ㄴ[Real Ru]: That's mine! Fuck off!
ㄴ[OhoraDoctor]: Madlad lololol From the start, live streams can't be hijacked by anomaly spies no matter what lololololol Watching live rn, it's Mackerel Eyes?
As expected, reactions exploded.
Suddenly, the broadcast shows the newbie fiddling with his phone, posting?
Of course it'd draw eyes.
Bites started coming in fast.
[CatThatCriesWhenConfused]: Nyaaong nyaaong nyaaong nyaaong—
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Fuck this crazy cat spamming again. Piss off.
[Spectator No.1]: Lmaoooooooo PaCheonhwang hawking again. True veteran.
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Not hawking, giving a tip, idiots.
[Hell Hurts]: Lololol PaCheonhwang scamming the newbie again. Drops one rule tidbit and shakes for coins?
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Hey moron, if you can tell him, then do it. Quit barking.
ㄴ[Hell Hurts]: Nah. Can't. Munching popcorn rn. So damn good.
Veteran user with obvious insider vibes, sorting my post for me.
Felt it coming.
Sure enough, reply soon after.
[PaCheonhwang]: But fr? Coins just for a hint?
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: Of course.
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Just ignore it. Done.
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: Besides that.
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: ...? Uh... then pick up and ignore.
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: Tried it.
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: ?????? Wtf.
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: ...Then, aren't there employee rules or something?
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: Employee rules?
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Yeah. Usually. Companies have phone protocols. Deviate and you get fucked. Some standard format.
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: Oh...!
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Helpful?
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: Yeah
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: ...?
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: ...?
ㄴ[PaCheonhwang]: Now pay up.
ㄴ[Newbie120053]: Oh, right. One sec.
Two minutes passed right on cue.
Far off, the Human-Faced Monkey charged, swinging a file folder.
Checked [Anomaly Shop] with time left.
Coins spent there didn't restore—hilariously enough.
The shop's intro text wasn't bullshit: no magic or abilities work here.
Coins could've duplicated—shame.
Then, phone flashed with a gallery alert.
I checked the screen.
[PaCheonhwang]: Wha?! Hey! Fuck! Die after paying coins!!
I chuckled.
Why pay coins?
I precisely stuck my head out for the flying file folder.
A dull thud rang out, vision darkening.
On death, the chat, memories, promises—all vanish anyway.