Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 004
Chapter Title: Agent Lee Chang
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A disheveled man in a rumpled suit appeared right after I thought everything was finally over.
His face heavy with exhaustion, he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a battered metal case that resembled a cigarette pack. But what he drew out were a few crudely rolled cigarettes, lacking even a filter.
He pinched one between his fingers, stared at it for a moment, then casually dropped it to the ground with a soft thud.
Sizzle—
Grayish smoke erupted from the cigarette, expanding with ferocious speed into a towering cumulus cloud in mere seconds. Before I could blink, my entire field of vision was drowned in ash-colored haze.
...A smoke bomb?
The smoke completely enveloped the convenience store entrance and the surrounding street, perfectly isolating the site of my desperate struggle with the monster from the rest of the world.
At its center, the faint silhouette of the man gradually drew closer.
Warning bells blared in my head. To untangle the knotted threads of my thoughts, I desperately replayed the recent events. Just minutes ago, this man had been chatting casually with the police who had their guns trained on me, looking ready to pull the trigger at any moment.
The tense standoff dissolved like a lie the instant he appeared, and the intimidating cops tucked tail and withdrew like well-trained hounds. That meant he was at least the on-site commander, or more likely someone of much higher rank.
But that didn't mean I could let my guard down. There was no guarantee he'd be unconditionally friendly toward me.
For all I knew, he might see me—who had just taken down the monster—as an even greater threat and be the special operative sent to neutralize me.
Keeping all possibilities open, I cautiously backed away from the monster's corpse, its body a mangled mess of blood and flesh.
The fire extinguisher in my hand still felt heavy. The cold touch of the dented metal was the only thing reminding me this nightmare was real. With wary eyes, I scanned the scarred man from head to toe.
Tinkle.
He pushed open the convenience store door, one hand still stuffed in his pocket.
He didn't spare me a glance as he lowered his head to inspect the monster's corpse.
"Wow, that ghoul's head is completely pulverized. Even if you smashed garlic with a mallet, you couldn't do it this thoroughly."
Ghoul?
Is that what the monster was called?
The way he named it so casually suggested he already knew all about such creatures.
I tightened my grip on the extinguisher and asked,
"Who are you? Do you know what that monster was?"
The scarred man looked up at me. Meeting his impassive, unfathomable eyes sent a chill racing up my spine.
"Isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself before prying into someone else's identity?"
I was momentarily speechless.
He had a point, but was this the time for etiquette? I fumbled for words.
"Uh..."
"Never mind. I wasn't expecting it anyway."
He waved dismissively, cutting me off like I was a nuisance, then pulled a worn ID from his pocket and flashed it briefly. It vanished too quickly to read properly, but I caught a glimpse of a gleaming golden guardian lion emblem.
"National Anomalous Entity Management Bureau, Exorcism Squad 1 Chief Lee Chang. That'll do for now."
Management Bureau. All I knew was that it was a secretive agency under the National Intelligence Service. No one really knew what they did exactly, but it confirmed the scarred man was government.
I mumbled awkwardly,
"...I'm Kim Woojin, class of '27, Korean Literature Department at Korea University."
"Yeah, I already know."
Then why'd you ask? Irritation bubbled up inside, but now wasn't the time to quibble.
Lee Chang rubbed his eyelids wearily, then looked at me.
"Let's move first. This isn't a good spot for a chat."
I glanced alternately at the blood pooling on the floor and the corpses of the part-timer and monster sprawled atop it.
"What about the bodies...?"
"The cleanup team will handle that later. Just follow me and don't worry about it."
There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his tone.
Something about this National Intelligence Service guy rubbed me the wrong way.
What if I followed him and ended up dragged to some basement, force-fed soup through a tube like in the movies?
Those cinematic scenes flashed through my mind.
As if reading my thoughts, Lee Chang turned and said,
"What, you think I'm gonna grab you and torture you?"
"Well... after what just happened, anyone would be suspicious, right?"
He paused thoughtfully, then nodded.
"Fair point."
Then he jerked his chin toward my hand and the extinguisher, both caked in the monster's blood and gore.
"But doesn't seem like something a guy who bashed a ghoul to death with a single fire extinguisher should be saying."
He wasn't wrong. I had confidence I could survive most situations with just my body.
Heck, I'd just turned that monster's head to mush with the extinguisher. That fact gave me a sliver of confidence.
After a moment's hesitation, I set down the extinguisher and decided to follow him meekly.
Lee Chang pulled a piece of gum from his pocket and tossed it to me.
"Chew this before we go."
"What's this?"
"It's gum that blocks facial recognition while you chew it. If you, a murder suspect to the public, just walk out scot-free, it'll cause headaches."
Gum that fools facial recognition? No way something like that exists.
But after witnessing a blood-sucking monster in the flesh, I couldn't rule out unreal gadgets like this.
After a brief hesitation, I unwrapped it and popped it in my mouth.
Fortunately, it tasted like ordinary grape—sweet and tart in perfect balance.
As I chomped away, we stepped out into the thick smoke, and something incredible happened.
The cops who had guns aimed at me moments ago, ready to shoot, and the onlookers surrounding the scene didn't recognize me at all. They treated me like just another passerby.
Amazed, I glanced around before following Lee Chang into a sleek black sedan with heavy tint.
About five minutes later, we arrived at an ordinary cafe near the university district.
I'd expected some dark basement or at least Management Bureau HQ. I couldn't hide my bewilderment. Reading my expression, Lee Chang asked from across the table,
"What's with the face?"
"I thought we'd go somewhere more discreet."
His face blank, he replied,
"You've watched too many movies. I picked this place on purpose so you wouldn't freak out if I took you somewhere shady."
"That's..."
True enough; I had no comeback. He added,
"Security here's tighter than it looks, so quit worrying needlessly."
As we settled in, a staffer brought two iced Americanos without us ordering. He set them down silently and vanished back to the kitchen. The cafe filled with soft jazz and the rich aroma of coffee.
I spat my gum into a napkin and took a sip of the Americano. The bitter chill soothed my scorched throat. Setting down the glass, I cut to the chase.
"So, what exactly was that monster I killed?"
Lee Chang finally spoke.
"A human infected by Blood Ghost blood. Different cultures call it different things, but we just say ghoul for convenience."
A human infected by Blood Ghost blood. So that means...
"Blood Ghosts are real too?"
"Yep."
His answer was sharp as a knife—short and to the point.
I couldn't tell where reality ended and joke began. It felt like a hidden camera prank, but after facing and killing a monster for real, I couldn't just deny it outright.
I'd always been a hardcore skeptic, dismissing all supernatural nonsense. But the evidence before my eyes and this man's words left no room for denial. My head throbbed with confusion over how to process it.
I asked again.
"So what exactly does the Management Bureau do?"
"We protect the lives and security of South Korean citizens by handling anomalies, legal issues tied to them, and so on. Think of us like the Men in Black from the movies."
Thirsty from talking, he gulped down his Americano, slammed the glass down with a clink, and continued.
"On that note, I've got a proposal."
"Proposal...?"
Lee Chang leaned forward slightly over the table, staring straight at me.
"How about joining the Management Bureau?"
I stared blankly at him, at a loss for words.
Join the Bureau?
Is that something you say to a civilian who just fought a man-eating monster?
"...Why me?"
He chuckled incredulously at my question.
"Guts to face a monster head-on without flinching, balls to stand tall against armed cops, and strength to smash a ghoul with nothing but a fire extinguisher. That's more than enough raw material for one of our agents. Of course, we'd need formal field evaluation for the details, but the initial data's outstanding."
Listening to him brought the convenience store fight rushing back.
Unlike with humans, I didn't need to hold back against the monster. No, I couldn't. I had to pour every ounce of power into obliterating it.
That sense of release was, honestly, incredible. The thrill when my muscles screamed and the crunch of bone transmitted through my fists. I almost wanted to feel it again.
But at the same time, risking my life for that rush seemed idiotic. I'd survived today by luck; no guarantee for next time. What if I ran into something stronger, like a Blood Ghost?
After agonizing, I asked cautiously,
"What if I say no? Any downsides?"
"None. We chalk today up to nothing, and you go on living your normal life."
He waved lazily. His nonchalance only fueled my suspicion.
"What if I go blabbing about the Bureau or anomalies to everyone?"
For the first time, he grinned with genuine amusement.
"In this day and age, who believes hearsay without proof? You'd just get labeled a nutjob."
True. The Bureau would clean up all evidence. No way to back up my story.
I pondered long and hard. Stable civil servant life, or perilous agent work where death lurked around every corner? Neither was an easy choice.
"...Can I think it over a bit more before deciding?"
"Take all the time you need."
Like he'd been waiting, he pulled a wallet from his inner pocket and handed me a plain business card with just a phone number and name.
"Call when you've decided."
With that, he drained the last of his coffee, set the glass down, and left the cafe. The door chime marked his disappearance.
Alone now, I alternated stares between the card he'd given me and the empty glass on the table.
Grrrowl—
Suddenly, a loud rumble shattered the silence—from my stomach.
Come to think of it, after checking out of the motel, I'd gone straight home without eating anything.
Fighting a monster and interviewing with a secret agent, I'd barely noticed the hunger.
"...Should've asked for food instead of coffee."
Regret washed over me, bitter as the coffee's aftertaste.