Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: New Employee First Day – Rules (5)
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2024.04.21 Is this for real?
Who was it that said the early bird gets the worm?
I should've been told the worm gets eaten early!
Coming in early means you die early, damn it!!!!!!!!
I got here early, and there's no one around.
Why the hell isn't the elevator working?
I should've just said good work and gone home right then.
What kind of passion made me stay?
Elevator's busted? Fine, take the stairs!
Like hell you can! Why would I crawl into that shit?!
I climbed up once, but all the doors were locked.
Got this pointless stubbornness going.
Ended up climbing all the way to the top of this 15-story building.
Yeah. Doors won't open. Fuck this.
No shit.
Finally rode the stairs back down.
Did some morning exercise, got super tired, dozed off for a sec, checked the time—8:55.
Huh?
lolololololololololololololol
I was in the lobby, saw other people coming in, hopped on the elevator quick.
Up to that point, I thought:
No one on the first floor? What the fuck.
Elevator only goes to the 14th floor? What the fuck.
I was messing around alone like an idiot.
Went to the break room, and there's this monkey bastard sitting there.
At first, I thought it was wearing some doll costume.
I got thirsty and stood up for a sec, then the door opened.
The guy who came in looked totally normal.
Similar build to me, average neighborhood face.
Suit all wrinkled like he'd rushed over.
Why do I remember this so vividly?
He kept apologizing as he came in—that sticks in my head.
The monkey bastard approached him with his head bowed... and tore him apart with both hands.
...Until there was nothing left of him.
It didn't stop hitting.
That's when I knew.
At first, I thought they were ignoring me 'cause I'm the newbie.
That's how it usually goes, right?
Newbie shows up, gotta explain the rules, annoying shit.
I'm busy with my own work.
I thought it was just that.
...Really... thought it was... just that...
No more after that.
The building he climbed to was 15 stories.
But the elevator doesn't have that floor, it said.
I checked myself, same thing.
Elevator buttons go from 1 to 14 only.
No 15th floor.
That means the anomaly doesn't want anything getting to that floor, or they're hiding something there.
And the countless records in the letter proved it wasn't just a guess.
Floors 2 through 14, excluding the 1st floor lobby—all the same layout.
Human-Faced Monkeys wandering the offices.
Identical spaces, just different department names.
No need to check each floor one by one.
Where I had to go was decided.
15th floor.
...The top of this building.
***
The wireless earpiece in my ear blocked out people's approach like a barrier.
I stood from my seat and scanned the office.
If the guy's words were true, there should be an entrance to the emergency stairs on this floor too.
But all I saw were the same desks and partitions.
No matter how many times I circled the office, no door.
On the third lap, I finally figured it out.
A massive monkey.
Twice the size of the one guarding the entrance—a Human-Faced Monkey blocking the emergency stair door with its huge body, standing utterly still.
'They're straight-up telling me not to come in.'
Thanks to that, I was dead certain I needed to head to the 15th floor.
This place wasn't some spot where you grind hard and get to leave at 6 PM.
The letter said everyone who pinned hopes on clocking out met the same end.
Usually between 5:30 and 5:50 PM, 10 minutes before quitting time.
Assistants, section chiefs, managers—even same-level colleagues dumped extra work on you.
An impossible amount to finish on time.
No records in the letter after that.
I tried it just in case, but the result was predictable.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Moving to the last save point.]
[The most recent save point is AUTO SAVE 1.]
[New Employee First Day Anomaly]
[Death Type]: Overload.
[Tip]: You must complete all assigned tasks to clock out.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
This anomaly bastard has zero intention of letting anyone out easy.
Reasonable suspicion arose.
Either some black company got benchmarked by an anomaly.
Or maybe the black company itself turned into an anomaly.
That said, it's not like there's no way out.
Now was the time for me to borrow some power.
***
Suppression Team 'Kang Su-ji'.
Getting to the office was the same as before.
Except this time, I headed straight to her the moment I set down the receiver.
No hesitation.
Finishing the quota wouldn't let me leave the company anyway.
This was the first time facing Kang Su-ji directly since entering this space.
[27 Kang Su-ji]
When I reached her seat, what I saw.
Kang Su-ji, frozen in front of an Excel file, mouse stopped, sweating cold bullets.
Our eyes met, and she muttered low.
"..Alpha?"
I glanced at her screen.
She hadn't gotten extra assignments, but she seemed unable to leave the company from the start.
"Don't look!"
She tried blocking the screen with her body, but I'd already seen it all.
"Wh... what brings you here?"
Packed full of content.
Looks like she'd been clicking and entering each one manually up till now.
..Handcrafted?
More importantly, I checked her desk.
'That was potluck, huh.'
Unlike my seat, no receiver on hers.
From her actions, even if there was one, she probably wouldn't have made it.
'...Why do I feel ripped off?'
"I've come to share what I've figured out so far."
"Already?"
Considering how many times I'd died, yeah, already.
Rule 1. Arrival Time
1-1. New employees must arrive at their desks before 9 AM sharp.
1-2. At 9:00, the seat automatically transfers to a 'Replacement.'
1-3. If someone else is sitting in your seat, never make eye contact.
1-4. If eyes meet, 'assimilation' of existence occurs.
Rule 2. Phone Receiver
2-1. Pick up exactly on the third ring.
- First or second ring → Seen as impatient and rude.
- Fourth ring or later → Seen as disrespectful of the caller's time.
2-2. First words must state your department and name.
2-3. Always respond affirmatively to the other party. ("Yes, that's right"—no negatives allowed)
2-4. Never stay silent during the call. Indicate listening with short responses every 5 seconds at minimum.
2-5. Call time must not exceed 3 minutes.
2-6. Always end with a thank you.
Rule 3. Work and Clocking Out
3-1. You must complete all assigned tasks to clock out.
3-2. After 5:30 PM, colleagues and superiors dump extra work on you.
3-3. Clocking out on time is absolutely impossible.
3-4. 6:00 PM. Lights out across the building—existence erasure occurs.
Once I finished, I caught my breath and added.
"And besides that... if my guess is right, based on the victims' records. Floors 2 to 14 will repeat the same layout. So, the place we need to go—"
I smiled lightly at her blank stare and pointed upward with a finger.
"The floor that doesn't exist in the elevator. This building's 15th floor. That's where we head."
She stayed silent for a while, then spat out words like exhaling breath.
"Th... that you figured all this out in this short time?"
I'd have to play the competent agent again.
Genius cosplay.
"Clues were everywhere, wasn't hard to piece together."
"No way. I haven't figured out anything yet..."
At her hesitant voice, I continued.
"It's fine. Figuring things out is my role. Earlier you said you're from the Suppression Team, right?"
"Why do you ask?"
"From now on, I need your strength, Kang Su-ji, not mine."
The Kang Su-ji I'd seen was more combat agent than investigator.
Probably, since no other Suppression Team members were visible, she was the only one invited this time.
Seemed like she'd gotten some prior info before deployment, but anomaly emails come at most two days early.
No way she'd gotten proper training in that short time.
Hell, the idea of two days' training to neutralize an anomaly was nonsense to begin with.
Energized by my words, I took her to the spot I'd seen earlier.
***
Emergency stair exit.
Far off, a Human-Faced Monkey straight out of a movie stood there.
A human frame bulked with beastly muscle—swollen torso.
Thick shoulders and arms bulged like boulders, chest rippling grotesquely with each breath.
Teeth longer than a human's, fang-sharp.
Just standing there, its sheer mass crushed the space with pressure.
"Can you handle it?"
At my question, Kang Su-ji beside me steadied her breath shortly and replied.
"Hmm... Haven't seen its reaction speed or movements yet, so not certain... but I'll give it a shot."
No fear.
Excitement close to battle lust gleamed in her eyes.
Voice a bit thrilled, she said.
"Shall we?"
"Please do."
She approached the Human-Faced Monkey.
No—its size made Human-Faced Gorilla more apt.
As she neared the Human-Faced Gorilla.
The monster, staring straight ahead motionlessly, slowly turned its gaze to her.
"Em... emergency stairs... unavailable for... a while."
The monster's voice cracked unnaturally—other than size, no different from the Human-Faced Monkey.
She ignored it and kept walking.
Distance closing gradually.
Ten steps away, the gorilla's eyes flashed red.
Rooooaaar—
Its fist slammed the floor, cratering the concrete.
Strength beyond human imagination.
In an instant, two shadows crossed at speeds hard to track with the eye.
She moved, it moved—her blade whipped like lightning, shredding the gorilla's arm and shoulder.
Kwaaaang—
Metallic clash, sparks flying.
Brief exchange. But the outcome was clear.
The Human-Faced Gorilla's massive body staggered back.
She turned to me at the entrance and shouted short.
"Go!"
If things kept going like this, smooth sailing—
Bang!
She smashed through the locked emergency stair door and plunged in.
Soon, a heavy impact rang in my ears.
Bang— Bang— Bang—
Not just one.
Echoing from above and below the stairs, both directions at once.
Bang— Bang— Bang—
Then, the gorilla's low, beastly roar filled the entire stairwell.
Instinctively, I looked at her.
She looked back, let out a short sigh, eyes mixed with trust.
"...Uh... two or more is pushing it... blades are all spent too... for now—"
Heard this line somewhere before.
She grabbed my hand and bolted up the stairs.
"Run!"