Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Underground Mall
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The raid on the Management Bureau came to a close just like that.
The systems that had crumbled due to the previous isolation failure were fully rebuilt, and security was tightened to prevent any more Anomalous Artists or Advent of Chaos agents from sneaking in.
However, that didn't mean the wounds from the isolation failure were completely healed.
The Management Bureau operated as usual, but the people inside it couldn't.
And the one feeling the aftermath the most was, of course, Han Sohee.
"Hoo... There's just so much paperwork...?"
She pushed the stack of processed documents to one corner of her desk and slumped back in her chair.
Half the Management Bureau's staff had vanished due to the isolation failure. Even after gathering all the agents who'd been hiding throughout the research labs in the aftermath, there were still far too many empty spots.
The Management Bureau wasn't an organization that could just fill positions on demand.
"Korea's foremost secret shield, working in the shadows to protect the shadows."
...It sounded romantic put that way, but didn't it really just mean dying quietly in a place no one knew about?
And on top of that, the Management Bureau had one competitor.
Yeongil Pharmaceutical Company.
The only 'legal' private anomaly-handling organization in Korea.
Doesn't that make them allies?
On a macro level, sort of... but not when it came to competing for talent pools.
Unlike the Management Bureau, which offered patriotism and high salaries, Yeongil Pharmaceutical dangled something far more straightforward: the 'Wish Drug'.
A drug said to unconditionally grant any one desire you wished for.
A formidable rival in the fierce competition for talent in the narrow underbelly of the hidden world.
In such a situation, there was no way the Management Bureau could recruit new personnel immediately.
And the result of that was the towering pile of documents stacked right in front of Han Sohee's eyes.
Watching her suffer, I perched on the edge of the desk, swinging my legs idly.
"Aren't you going back?"
Instead of answering, I gave a light nod.
Honestly speaking, I was bored.
Even with a computer in the isolation room, for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to touch it.
In my previous life, I probably would've been content with that. But now that my body was younger, my hands just wouldn't go near computers.
"I'm bored."
Fiddling with the stack of papers, I asked,
"Want me to help?"
My body might be like this, but I still had the mind of a 31-year-old man, Baek Eunha.
My head was as sharp as ever, even if my body had shrunk...!
Ah, but was my head really unchanged? It felt like it was gradually adapting to this body. Still, it turned just fine when it was time to fight...
Well, as long as it worked when it mattered, that was fine, right?
So yeah, my head was still the same.
"Do whatever you want, dear."
The moment she replied, I proudly picked up a single sheet of paper.
And promptly froze.
"Uh...?"
The document I'd grabbed was a blank sheet of white paper.
Thinking maybe I'd picked the wrong one, I tried another, but it was blank too.
It wasn't until I picked up the third sheet that I understood why.
The documents were turning pure white the instant they touched my hand.
"If you could read them, that is?"
Han Sohee's eyes, shadowed with deep dark circles, curved into half-moons.
"These are documents that only I can see, once they reach this level."
"Eek."
I pouted my lips and gathered the three sheets, placing them back on top of the paper tower.
Suddenly, all interest vanished.
"...I'm going out."
With that, I hopped down from the desk where I'd been sitting.
I wasn't an isolation subject anymore anyway, and I'd even gotten official status as a Management Bureau collaborator... It was about time I went outside for a look.
Honestly, the Management Bureau was a boring place.
The same stark white corridors every day. The white ceilings I'd grown numb to. Isolation rooms so barren you had to rub your eyes to find any distinguishing features.
There were no windows to let in warm sunlight, no potted plants to soften the sterile atmosphere.
Because of that, my sense of time was starting to feel off.
Being able to roll around freely in my room was nice, but doing it in a place without sunlight had completely wrecked my internal clock.
"Do I need some kind of pass to go out?"
"No. Don't you have your Management Bureau collaborator badge?"
"Ah, right."
[Anomaly Management Control Department Official Civilian Collaborator: Baek Eunha.]
Golden letters gleamed over the premium black card.
"That's your research lab key. It gives you Level 3 access to move around inside the labs, but..."
Han Sohee's gaze swept over me once.
I was in the middle of turning my body translucent to leave the director's office.
"Sigh, it doesn't seem like that matters much to you."
"Ahaha..."
As I laughed awkwardly, Han Sohee continued.
"It'll look like a normal card out there. Your reward for helping with the Management Bureau raid and the isolation failure is loaded onto it too."
"Oh..."
I examined the card closely.
Looking closer, the badge had transformed into the shape of a normal kid's card.
"How much is on it?"
At my question, Han Sohee spread all ten of her fingers wide.
10? Not ten thousand won, obviously—just meaning 'a lot'? Wait, but... how much was 'a lot' exactly?
Rewards in the game had been experience points and gacha currency, not cash, so my sense for this was way off.
"Hmm, ten million...?"
"Wrong."
Han Sohee said that while folding her fingers one by one.
"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand..."
"Eh...?"
Each finger she folded added a zero.
And the final amount was...
"One... billion won?"
Money I'd never even touched in my previous life.
My hand holding the card started trembling.
"Don't shake, dear."
At that moment, a warm hand enveloped my trembling one.
"If you'd stayed put, the Renaissance Virus would've been released. That would've triggered a D-grade scenario right in the middle of Gangneung, home to 200,000 people."
D(disaster)-grade scenario, or catastrophe-grade scenario.
This level meant several cities getting wiped out.
"We would've had to isolate not just Gangneung, but Yangyang, Donghae, Pyeongchang, Jeongseon, Hongcheon, Sokcho, Goseong... all cities with over a million people combined."
The 'Renaissance Virus' was a highly contagious bastard.
She added that while gently stroking my head.
"So solving an incident like that single-handedly naturally comes with rewards like this. Even for us, isolating multiple cities at once and tampering with the memories of 50 million citizens isn't easy."
Even amid all that, she didn't say it was impossible.
The thought crossed my mind.
"So spend it freely. It won't matter."
"Oh..."
Honestly, the amount still didn't feel real.
I'd never handled even 100 million, let alone a billion.
Still, if she said so, it was probably fine.
With that in mind, I turned my body translucent again.
"Then, I'll be back after heading out!"
"Go ahead."
Han Sohee, who'd smiled and returned to her seat, suddenly turned back to me as if remembering something.
"Oh, wait."
"?"
"Tell me roughly when you'll be back, even if it's just an estimate. You might get caught up in an anomaly."
Anomalous phenomena occurred far more frequently to people who knew about anomalies. It was one of the unsolved mysteries whose cause hadn't been pinpointed.
That was why the Management Bureau always emphasized time.
If someone was even a little late, the odds of them being entangled in an anomaly skyrocketed.
"Hmm, I plan to be out for about six hours."
I deliberately gave a generous estimate.
So they wouldn't send people looking if I was a bit late.
"Got it."
Han Sohee turned her gaze back to the documents.
I gave her a light wave and ghosted through the door out of the director's office.
"Huuuup..."
I took a deep breath.
Mixed in with the city's asphalt scent was the salty tang of the sea.
The sunlight was warm, the breeze cool. The sky held that clear, piercing blue unique to early autumn, filling my chest with openness just from looking at it.
"Puhah...!"
Exhaling, I lowered my gaze.
The bustling city filled my vision, and without realizing it, my mood lifted.
"People really need to get out sometimes, huh?"
Right?
I asked Peanut, wriggling in my pocket, and walked along the sidewalk blocks for a bit.
Honestly... I hadn't planned what to do.
I'd just come out because staying cooped up in the all-white Management Bureau world was driving me nuts.
Today, I'd walk around a bit first. Ah, maybe buy some clothes?
I needed some loungewear.
This navy skirt and beret weren't bad, but wearing them to lounge in bed felt off.
Plus, the Management Bureau food was honestly tasteless.
Even public institution cafeterias couldn't escape that curse, it seemed.
So my first destination was a supermarket.
The moment that thought hit me, I remembered something I'd forgotten.
"Ah, phone."
Come to think of it, I didn't have a phone.
And I didn't know Gangneung geography well.
What? Didn't I see it a lot in the game?
That was only around the Management Bureau. Naturally, a game couldn't replicate reality 100%, so the 'Gangneung' in the original was mostly fabricated outside the Bureau and key areas.
Should I go back and ask for a phone...?
As that thought crossed my mind, I spotted a shabby sign for an underground mall.
"Hmm..."
For now, check there, and if not, head back?
With that in mind, I headed toward the supermarket—no, the underground mall.
Honestly, up to that point, I hadn't thought much of it.
An entrance right in the middle of a crowded street, plain for anyone to see.
No one coming or going, but right in front was a busy plaza. I figured it was just a slow time.
So even as I pushed open the glass door of the underground mall, with its white LED lights and faint upbeat music leaking out, I didn't think much.
I noticed the anomaly the instant I stepped inside.
The moment I blinked, the lights whooshed out.
The cheerful song cut off abruptly, and the glass door slammed shut violently.
Beyond the glass wasn't the noisy city plaza, but a gloomy ruin.
"...Eh."
Tadak-tadak-tadak-!
From far off, the sound of something scuttling rapidly on four legs approached.