The Managers
Quaaang—!
Only after visually registering his arm dangling limply did Cheolyoung Lee finally realize his bones were shattered. A despair far greater than the excruciating pain slamming into his frontal lobe engulfed him. Even with both arms intact, the power gap was insurmountable against a single monster. No human could defeat an adult male beastkin barehanded. And yet, two such ferocious predators loomed right in front of him. Moreover, the deference they'd shown to that colossal monster hinted they were highly intelligent beings.
Intelligent entities surpassing beastkin in raw strength. His right arm was already useless. There was nowhere left to retreat, nowhere to flee. If Cheolyoung crumbled here, the horrific fate awaiting his precious family was all too predictable. As he steeled himself for one final desperate stand, risking his life, the Black Orcs' lips twisted upward in clear mockery. Like prey on the slaughter block putting up a amusing last-ditch struggle for their entertainment.
Cheolyoung's wife, amid her paralyzing terror, covered their young daughter's eyes and clutched her tight. A futile gesture, she knew, but maternal instinct hoping to spare her child even a sliver less fear. And so they braced for the end.
But then.
“Management office. We announce. Are you. Visitors?”
A voice laced with alien dissonance echoed. Monstrous utterances stitched together forcibly from mere word meanings struck the Black Orcs from behind. The orc warriors whipped around in panic. No matter how careless they'd been, a warrior's instincts shouldn't have missed any presence. Cheolyoung and his wife also turned toward the voice.
There stood a bizarre figure in a cute animal mascot costume straight out of an amusement park. A doll-like entity with a mask resembling a childhood TV rabbit character, its arms hanging limply.
“Management office. Broadcast again. Visitors. Sign the. Guestbook.”
Thwack—!
The Black Orc on the right swung its axe before the words even finished. A warrior's instinctive strike sensing not prey, but an intruder. The axe blade smashed dead-center into the mascot's head. The mascot's head snapped fully to the right from the blow. But that was it. No gruesome spray of brains and blood—instead, the twisted neck emitted mechanical whirs as it slowly righted itself. The doll's eye holes flashed once its head stood straight.
“……Rude. Attacker of. Manager. Property damage. Elimination. Target. Prey.”
Creeeak—!
The mascot rabbit's fluffy pink belly split vertically like tearing flesh. From the gash poured dozens of tentacles soaked in dark crimson slime, snaring the Black Orcs in an instant.
Shwick—!
“Gurk!”
“Kraaang!”
Conical spines bristled densely along the tentacles. They pierced the orcs' tough hides, dragging them toward the doll's gut. Blood gushed from the perforated skin of the ensnared orcs, staining the floor red. The Black Orcs struggled desperately, but the tentacles' constricting force defied imagination. Overwhelming suction began devouring their flesh.
Krunch—!
The right orc's left arm wrenched grotesquely backward at the shoulder joint. Grind, snap—! Its scapula shattered, white bone shards erupting through rent muscle. Before it could scream in agony, the tentacle around its thigh twisted oppositely. Cr-r-rack! Thunk! The thick femur splintered like dry wood, folding the leg into a 'Z' shape. Heel jammed against the spine instead of the hip—an angle defying human cognition.
The other orc fared worse. Dozens of tentacles around its torso began rotating in opposing directions. Quajik, splurt—! Like wringing laundry, the upper body twisted clockwise, lower counterclockwise. Ribs crushed against each other, puncturing organs; from the torn abdomen squirted blood and filth like a squeezed wet rag. Their once-mighty bodies were mere crumpling pulp within the tentacles. The sounds of pulverized bones and mashed muscle filled the living room.
“Kuuuaaaak!”
The orcs' final screams muffled dully as their heads were wrapped and yanked into the belly.
“Excellent. Prey. Satisfaction. Achieved.”
With the doll's words, the Black Orcs' bodies pulverized completely, sucked into the mascot's gut. Shlurp—. The tentacles retracted in a flash, the split belly sealing flawlessly. Cheolyoung and his wife froze, forgetting to breathe at the horror transcending sanity. Thankfully, their blindfolded daughter missed the hellscape.
Hell…… This place is just hell.
Cheolyoung was convinced he'd glimpsed an abyss beyond human reason or comprehension.
“Then. Good work. Have a. Good day.”
The mascot bobbed its head in crude mimicry of human farewell and departed, leaving only profound revulsion and terror—like an abyssal creature aping humanity. Only after it vanished, long minutes later, did their daughter's voice shatter the silence.
“M-Mommy? Daddy?”
Cheolyoung snapped back at her trembling whisper. He and his wife hugged their child fiercely.
“It's okay…… You're safe now……”
His eyes vacant, he repeated the words mechanically, soul shattered.
Managers are executing the Managers' King's command.
Mission in progress...
The monitor displayed a "mission in progress" message, but there was no way to check details right now. I gnawed my nails in anxiety, staring at the screen.
“Right! CCTV.”
I definitely remembered seeing a CCTV option in the management window. Too frantic earlier to check everything, but my eyes had caught it. Without hesitation, I tapped [Race Management / Tax Settings].
Then, from the sub-items listed below, I found and clicked [Building / Facilities Management].
“This seems right……”
“Found it.”
As I moved to click the CCTV button, a strange doubt flickered through my mind. The residents had been complaining about no electricity or water for a while now, and the management window honestly showed them as 'OFF'. Yet my place had both running fine.
I tabled figuring that out for later. Priority was checking outside. Clicking the CCTV icon split the monitor into multiple feeds showing the building's areas.
“Huh……?”
No Black Orcs anywhere. Bloodstains dotted corridors, but the orcs themselves were scarce. Instead, mascot-suited figures roamed like they'd stepped from an amusement park: rabbit, squirrel, puppy, cat, bear, tiger, sparrow, elephant, hippo, eagle, crow, gorilla……
“Those are…… the building managers?”
Nothing like I'd imagined. A million light-years off. People in cute animal doll costumes?
“People…… right?”
Logically, no such mascot creatures existed, so they had to be humans. But if not—if something entirely else lurked inside those plush suits…… Too horrifying to contemplate. Just like me, a bug in a beautiful girl avatar, unspeakable horrors might coil within those dolls.
“Ugh, no, I'm originally human! What bug?”
Sometimes these deranged thoughts crept in. Mistaking myself for always having been a bug? Stuff like that. Gotta watch it closely.
“Oh? One left.”
Bottom screen, 1st-floor lobby: a massive Black Orc stood frozen, unmistakably huge even at a glance.
“Where'd the others go, leaving just that one?”
Before I could wonder, mascots from every floor converged on the 1st floor.
How strong are these managers, exactly?
Perfect chance to gauge our forces. No worry they'd lose to that giant orc. The vanished orcs meant managers had already 'handled' them somehow. Instinct screamed not to dwell on the details.
I peered at the monitor, eager to witness our side's might. But just as the managers reached the 1st floor, the long-locked security booth door burst open.
“Huh? Security uncle?”
The friendly old guard who always greeted me cheerfully when I popped out for smokes.
“Danger!”
Despite his age, the uncle was in killer shape. Rumor had it he'd competed in Mr. Korea back in his youth, a gym rat through and through. But that didn't mean he could take a monster. Facing that hammer-wielding behemoth defenseless? 100% fatal.
“Where've you been till now?!”
I flung open the chat window in a panic. Midway typing to redirect managers to the 1st floor—
“……Huh?”
An unexpected scene unfolded live on CCTV.