Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Reluctant Chief Researcher
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Name: Mun Woo-seok.
Age: Twenty-six.
New researcher at the Tale Management Bureau.
These three utterly ordinary sentences used to describe me perfectly.
Well, precisely speaking, they used to.
Because now...
"You're a genius!"
"You made this yourself?"
"You're our hero!"
"Thank you, sir!"
...I'm being hailed as a genius researcher by total strangers.
Sure, it was just adding one word—"genius"—to those three sentences, but that single word packed a hell of a punch.
I'd gone from web novel opening bait to overnight victim, and at first, I thought,
'Hey, this might not be so bad after all.'
The task had come from the Headquarters Chief's heavy-handed orders, but the dopamine rush from all the praise was more intense than I'd imagined.
Of course, that dopamine turned into some nameless hormone just thirty minutes later, creeping toward depression in pill form.
"Mr. Woo-seok, it's an emergency! Over here!"
Judging by his outfit, he looked like a doctor.
"This way!"
Do they even have patients in shady back alleys like this?
"Mr. Woo-seok, truth be told, I'm from Daehan Pharmaceuticals. Any interest in working with us?"
I knew it!
This guy acted like he was the first, but it was already the fifth one since I clocked in this morning.
Tale Management Bureau items were never supposed to go public, so when the creator suddenly popped up, companies came drooling.
"Sorry, but I'm committed to the Bureau. Please leave."
Translation: Get lost before I report you to the Bureau.
Pharma execs or whatever—amazing how they only think about profits even with the capital in ruins.
Maybe it wasn't that rare.
Even that island nation down south had half of Tokyo crushed two years back, debating a capital move. And mighty America lost a star from its flag eight years ago.
Still, with people dying like this...
"Please. Just think about it once."
This one's persistent.
But even if he begs, I can't help.
Hell, I'm more curious about these pills than he is.
If I could've made them, I'd have shoved past the senior chief researcher the day I started.
They were on another level.
Minor scratches healed over with fresh pink skin. Viruses? Gone clean.
No side effects either. No wonder everyone's losing it.
Where the hell did the Headquarters Chief get these?
Did the now-missing senior chief researcher make them?
Or some other hidden genius?
Who knows.
"Haa..."
I shooed away the fake doctor and slumped onto a nearby rock.
What now?
It was only a matter of time before they realized I was just a figurehead.
Would the Chief shield me?
Headquarters Chief.
Headquarters Chief.
...
"Ah, you fucking Headquarters Chief! Why'd you dump this on me? I just wanted to be a salaried slacker!"
"A salaried slacker, huh? That bad?"
"Obviously. Every office worker's dream."
"Haha. Fair enough."
Who's that?
"Even the Chief hates it that much?"
"..."
A deeply familiar man's voice.
Well, looks like salaried slacker's out—salary's gonna go boom instead.
An arm lightly drapes over my shoulder.
Its gentle touch belies the iron grip pressing down.
"Guess I need to hear why our genius researcher is complaining."
"No, Chief. It's nothing."
"No, no. Speak freely."
"I think I've made a huge mistake."
"Good. Let's do better."
The Chief rarely shows his face due to risks, so why crawl out today?
Damn this fate.
"So, what brings you to this dump?"
"I looked into you personally."
How?
"No girlfriend, don't meet friends often."
Still mad about me cursing you earlier?
Why pick on me?
The words nearly spill out but stop at my throat.
"Which means you check all the boxes."
"Boxes for what?"
The Chief flashed a kind smile that somehow felt ominous.
"Here to congratulate you this time."
"Congratulate... me?"
"Yep. For our Mun Woo-seok, now senior chief researcher."
"Pardon? Who's the senior chief?"
Yoon Seo-yeon was missing, sure, but still...
"Ah, your predecessor an issue? Nah, he's fine. Similar to you anyway."
"Huh?"
"No need to worry about him."
The Chief spoke softly.
"Anyway, that's that. Now you're destined to lead the Bureau's secret projects as senior chief researcher."
"Wait, that salaried slacker bit wasn't a lie—"
"Truth is, those pills came from a deal with a tale."
The Chief kept smiling.
My mouth twisted the other way.
In other words, on the verge of tears.
"Oops. Now you know the secret—you're in it till the end."
Drip—
My tear finally fell with a crystalline ping.
It was summer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Leaning against a building that looked like it was filming an apocalypse flick—top half gone like some civil war hit—Park Se-jin's face was etched with worry.
Was the worry from a longtime friend's betrayal?
No one knew, not even Se-jin herself, but this time, the reason felt crystal clear.
"This pill is the pinnacle of tales and science!"
Scientists bouncing around excitedly—who knew what was so great about it when the country was one step from collapse.
"Senior Researcher Mun Woo-seok! Just a quick talk!"
"Scram! It's a secret!"
And Mun Woo-seok, the researcher they were chasing.
In this mess, only one phrase fit Se-jin's lips.
"What a clusterfuck."
Civilians writhed in agony from injuries or grief—normal people couldn't comprehend these guys.
Before that, who the hell was Mun Woo-seok anyway?
Showed up at dawn with Momentary Dream, suddenly claiming to be the maker under friendly subpoena.
No prior chatter meant it was orders from on high, but even that didn't make it easy to swallow.
"Told us never to let it slip."
As long as the tale deal stayed hidden, they figured it was fine.
"Haa..."
Kim Do-hyun—who was in decent shape—had been called away ages ago, leaving things quiet, but no urge for a smoke.
Se-jin closed her eyes.
Her waist, patched with simple painkiller pads, still throbbed. Fatigue weighed on her eyelids.
But even now, rest evaded her.
"Tale Merchant."
He'd sparked this incident, but the real fault lay with the Bureau for missing the spy—so not a core issue.
Se-jin's worries stemmed elsewhere.
"What if..."
What if Horrifica tried visiting the Tale Shop?
This case showed they valued it highly.
They'd planted a spy here before, just watching. Now? Might actually go.
To Se-jin, the Merchant wasn't outright evil, but no saint—chaotic at best.
In short, he might deal with Horrifica no problem.
"They've got our business card, so they won't find it easy."
Lost in thought, Se-jin sensed footsteps.
"Do-hyun, you back..."
It wasn't Do-hyun in front of her.
"Hello. Mun Woo-seok."
"What brings the new senior chief researcher here?"
"Ah, no need for the title. You know I didn't make those pills. And I'm just a newbie—casual speech is fine."
Mun Woo-seok couldn't hide his aggrieved expression, like he'd been wronged.
"Sigh... The Chief assigned me to this."
"The Chief did?"
"Yeah..."
Se-jin watched him silently.
"..."
"Doesn't seem like he's lying. Just here to say hi?"
"No, it's not that."
Mun Woo-seok hemmed and hawed before spitting it out.
"He wants me to check out the Tale Shop with you..."
"What?"
"Something about a researcher's eyes on the Tale Shop..."
Se-jin silently wished the poor newbie eternal rest.
"But the shop's probably closed today anyway."
"Really?"
Hope flickered on Mun Woo-seok's face.
"Yeah. The card says—"
Tale Shop
Hours: 12:32 PM ~
"Huh? Why's it open?"
Drip—
Mun Woo-seok's second tear soaked the ground.
Still summer.