Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Singularity
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Anomaly Management Control Department, Gyeonggi Province Branch.
The moment I saw that nameplate, my mind blanked out for a second.
"Huh?"
The Gangwon Province Branch was already half-destroyed.
In a containment failure situation like that, there was no way the identity verification system would be working properly. That was why I'd been able to get to Isolation Team 3 so easily.
But a fully intact neighboring branch's containment team was a different story.
"Identify yourself!"
"Uh... I'm Baek Eunha, a civilian collaborator?"
"There's no one by that name on the Management Bureau's civilian collaborator list."
...Meaning excuses like that weren't going to fly.
In an instant, twenty rifles were aimed at my throat.
The cold touch of the gun barrel pressing against my jaw made goosebumps rise involuntarily.
"..."
A jumble of thoughts raced through my mind in that brief moment.
A physical way out of this? Sure, I had one. I could just call Peanut.
The guns might look scary, but they were loaded with non-lethal suppression rounds, not real bullets. A few hits wouldn't kill me.
But... if I did that, my relationship with the Management Bureau would go straight to hell.
And that wouldn't be good at all.
The extremist international artist community, Pietà.
The corporation that did anything and everything as long as it made money, Yeongil Pharmaceutical Company.
The machine cult insisting the whole world must merge with machines, Arcadia.
The anti-Management Bureau terrorist group that split off from the Bureau itself, Advent of Chaos.
The doomsday cultists who believed the end was inevitable, so let's hasten the destruction and build a new world, Terminus.
Every faction outside the Management Bureau... they were all out of their minds.
I didn't want to end up homeless, or captured by villains and used for world-ending schemes.
None of those outcomes appealed to me.
"...New anomalous entity detected. We'll secure it and transport to the Management Bureau Gyeonggi Province Branch."
They must have taken my silence the wrong way, because the gun barrel pressed harder against my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw other agents approaching.
That was the exact moment Han Yura entered the room, leading a woman in a lab coat.
"Hold on!"
"...?"
All eyes turned to Han Yura.
She held a pistol in one hand and lifted her ID badge hanging around her neck with the other.
"I'm Han Yura, leader of Isolation Team 3 from the Gangwon Province Branch of the Management Bureau."
"I'm Park Cheolmin, leader of the 27th Mobile Special Task Force from the Management Bureau Gyeonggi Province Branch. What's this about?"
"This kid's the one who personally opened the control room on underground level 15. The Management Bureau's main system identified her as human."
"And?"
"Whatever her true identity is, the fact that she helped us doesn't change. No need for containment."
"..."
Park Cheolmin's eyes scanned Han Yura from behind his pitch-black mask.
Then, as if she wasn't worth talking to, he abruptly looked away.
"...We'll figure that out after securing her. If it's an anomaly, we contain it. If civilian, memory wipe and release. Escort her!"
"Eek..."
The gun pressed against my throat again.
I furrowed my brow and kept thinking.
Coming to the Management Bureau voluntarily and getting slapped with an anomaly judgment and contained were worlds apart.
The treatment you'd get was completely different right from the start. Like the difference between surrendering and being arrested—if you got contained like this, you'd end up locked in a much higher security level facility.
And of all places, it had to be the Gyeonggi Province Branch, infamous for being the most heavy-handed.
If they dragged me there, I might be stuck in a blank white room with nothing until the original story ended.
"Hey, bring the anomaly suppression collar! It's been a while since we padded the stats!"
Should I risk screwing up my relationship with the Management Bureau and call Peanut anyway? Or use the Renaissance Virus to brainwash them?
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
"Hold it."
The sharp click of a pistol's safety disengaging rang out.
Without hesitation, Han Yura aimed her pistol at Park Cheolmin's head. The cold barrel pressed firmly into the back of his skull.
"Management Bureau Regulation Article 1, Section 1. Always prioritize the lives of citizens."
"...What the hell are you doing?"
"The Gangwon Province Branch's main system identified this kid as human. Per Bureau regulations, if you take one more step... I'll open fire to protect a citizen."
The moment Han Yura finished speaking, the Isolation Team 3 agents all raised their guns.
Though his expression was hidden behind the mask, he had to be pretty flustered, right?
Only after confirming that did I finally relax.
If the Mobile Special Task Force were regular soldiers, then the containment team stuck 24/7 to anomalies were the special forces.
There was no way they'd casually proceed with containment in front of them.
I let out the tension and soothed Peanut, who was fuming in my pocket.
"She might be strong enough to fool the Management Bureau's main system."
"Which is exactly why I can't let you take her. You planning to drag a dangerous anomaly out of the Bureau into downtown Gangneung? You're insane?"
Han Yura glanced around and issued an order.
"Unauthorized use of anomalies on civilians results in immediate on-site execution! I'll take responsibility, so open fire if those bastards move even an inch!"
"...All units, lower weapons."
Only then did Park Cheolmin back down.
The gun barrel aimed at my Adam's apple slowly lowered, and the encircling soldiers pulled back.
As I rubbed my throat, I saw Han Yura lowering her pistol.
"Isolation Team 3's Han Yura... I'll remember you."
Park Cheolmin growled the words as he stared her down.
"I'll report this to the Management Bureau Council and the Presidential Office. If anything happens, it's on you."
"Yeah, whatever."
Han Yura didn't even glance at him as she walked over to me.
"Sorry, you must've been scared."
"No, not really."
To be honest, it was a little frightening when the guns were pointed at me.
But I didn't feel like my life was in real danger. I'd started to realize I was a proper anomalous entity myself now.
More than that... something felt off.
Even if the Gyeonggi Province Branch was a bit heavy-handed, they didn't usually go this far, did they?
Wondering if I'd misremembered the original story, I asked.
"Are all the Gyeonggi Province Branch folks like that?"
"No? They can be aggressive, but they wouldn't just shove guns in a civilian's face like that. That's why I stepped in."
So it wasn't a problem with my memory after all.
Were those guys just unusually obsessed with their performance metrics? Or was something else going on that I didn't know about?
Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury to ponder it.
The woman who'd been watching the situation walked up to me.
The woman, wearing a lab coat over a gray sweater, tilted her head slightly as she spoke.
"Well, now that the situation's sorted, shall we get to the main topic?"
The first thing that caught my eye was her lustrous hair.
A few strands of black hair cascading over her shoulders draped across the pronounced curves of her chest, drawing the gaze irresistibly.
Her red eyes had a languid look that didn't suit the blood- and plaster-strewn scene at all.
The nameplate on her chest reading 'Gangwon Province Research Director Han Sohee' gleamed under the lights.
Han Sohee, Han Yura.
Both with black hair and red eyes.
Related, maybe?
"Fake civilian collaborator, Baek Eunha?"
"Eek..."
Unfortunately, it seemed everyone had overheard what the Mobile Special Task Force guys said.
[So, you failed to secure the 'Singularity'?]
"...I'm sorry. There were surviving containment team members."
As the sun set, deep in the mountains of Gangwon Province.
Twenty soldiers gathered in a clearing stretched long with sunset light.
Clad in pitch-black body armor, helmets, and visors—fully equipped special forces. The Management Bureau Mobile Special Task Force insignia on their left arms was their only identifier.
"Yes. We confirmed the Singularity itself. Just as you described, Leader."
Park Cheolmin continued the call, placing his right hand over his insignia. With a bit of force, the Velcro-attached patch shook loose.
"Plan A failed, so we'll go with Plan B."
The patch tore off, revealing the second insignia beneath.
A blue-and-red swirl centered on a pitch-black dot, resembling the taegeuk but depicting all-consuming chaos.
The other twenty soldiers ripped off their patches in unison.
"No need to worry. We can easily subdue and capture one little kid."
Park Cheolmin said that as he pulled an ampule from his pocket.
A small ampule with colorless gas swirling inside.
CA-2B-17
Cognitive Dissonance
An odorless, colorless, extremely dangerous neural disruptor.
It could render even ordinary agents—or anomaly users—unable to grasp their surroundings for at least an hour after a single inhalation.
The weapon that would let their small group of twenty breach the Management Bureau.
"But... to use this, we'll need someone to draw the Management Bureau's attention."
The recent intrusion had only been possible because of the containment failure.
Lightning wouldn't strike twice.
[Don't worry about that. We're not the only ones grinding their teeth at the Management Bureau.]
"You mean?"
[Not long ago, 150 anomalous artists were massacred in Korea. Because of that, the international artist community, Pietà, is preparing revenge. Coordinate with them.]
"Understood."
Park Cheolmin nodded and gripped the ampule tightly.
"Everything for the day chaos descends."
With that, the comms cut off.
The twenty soldiers melted into the darkness.