Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 005
Chapter Title: Practical Evaluation
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A week had passed since that day.
Fortunately, the police didn't burst in and slap cuffs on me like I'd feared. It looked like Lee Chang, the guy I'd met back then, had cleaned up the mess neatly.
I turned on YouTube for the first time in ages, and a news story popped up about the incident I'd caused. It was about a gas leak explosion at the convenience store that killed the night-shift clerk and two customers on the spot.
The screen showed the wreckage of the store cordoned off with police tape and firefighters bustling around, but that was it. Nothing more.
Just in case, though—and entirely separately from that—I holed up in my studio apartment for the entire week.
I naturally quit the night counter gig. I just fired off a text saying circumstances had come up and I was done. The motel owner transferred my remaining pay the very next day, sharp as a tack, like he'd been waiting for it.
Maybe he'd grown numb to employees bailing from that place.
Truth be told, it didn't matter either way. Even if it was just because of what that woman in hanbok had said that morning, I had zero intention of setting foot in that sketchy neighborhood again.
The moment I parted ways with Lee Chang, I headed straight to a big supermarket nearby. I loaded up a cart with instant noodles, ready meals, canned goods—you name it—enough to last me a comfortable month at least.
Thanks to that, I spent the whole week rotting away like a total shut-in. The only things rolling around my dark room, which barely saw any light, were empty plastic water bottles and ramen cups crusted with dried red broth. I couldn't be bothered to clean them up, so I just left them be.
The one thing I did all week was comb through internet communities high and low.
The main search terms I hammered into the search bar over and over: 'Management Bureau', 'anomalous', 'anomaly'.
I pounded the keyboard and clicked the mouse nonstop while awake. But the portal sites only turned up conspiracy nuts' ramblings and baseless rumors.
Stuff like the world being totally controlled by Freemasons or Illuminati secret government ops, or aliens who'd come to Earth ages ago hiding out running fried chicken joints in our neighborhoods—pure drivel from people without a shred of grip on reality.
After days of digging, I finally slipped into the deep web via Tor. Anonymity seemed guaranteed there, and the vibe was a step up.
There were definitely people dropping hints that they knew something about anomalies. Most info was locked tight, though—you had to buy tiered memberships with crypto or verify as an industry insider to access it.
Membership started at a whopping 0.1 Bitcoin.
"Bullshit."
Burn sixteen hundred bucks for a few scraps? Even scraping together every cent from my part-time gigs and the government's independence grant, soul included, I couldn't touch that.
Still, I didn't give up. I pieced together the fragments I'd scavenged with my own experiences and came to my own conclusion.
This world had anomalies—things called 'anomalous entities' that normal folks didn't know about and human common sense couldn't grasp. And there were secret groups like the National Anomalous Entity Management Bureau that Lee Chang belonged to, standing against them.
Ignorance is bliss, but now that I knew, I couldn't go back to my ordinary life. It felt just like Neo swallowing that red pill against his will.
I scratched my unkempt head furiously and finally made up my mind.
Instead of running or turning a blind eye, I'd dive headfirst into this world properly.
The reason was simple. Even if I crammed for the Grade 9 civil service exam and passed, there was no guarantee I wouldn't run into anomalies again.
Hell, stumbling into them clueless might be even riskier. Sure, I had the strength to smash a monster's head with a fire extinguisher, but what if physical attacks didn't work?
Better to be the hunter than live as prey wondering when it'd get eaten.
With my decision to enter the shadows set, I contacted Lee Chang first thing.
The line didn't ring long. After two tones, a voice dripping with irritation came through the receiver.
[Looks like you've made up your mind?]
He spoke like he already had my number saved. I swallowed dryly and replied.
"Yes. I'll take that offer you made me back then."
[Figured as much.]
Lee Chang's response held zero surprise, like he'd known from the start I couldn't refuse.
[Straight to business. To join us, you need to go through a simple procedure.]
"Procedure... like a hiring exam?"
Lee Chang snorted at my question.
[Hiring exam. Yeah, you could call it that if you wanna get fancy. No resumes or interviews. Our work isn't pen-pushing desk jobs.]
A faint crackle hissed over the line—what the hell did he even do?
[It's a basic practical evaluation. To check if you're cut out for our line of work or just a muscle-headed tin can. I acknowledge your brute force and guts for smashing a monster skull with a fire extinguisher, but real fieldwork isn't solved by that alone.]
"What's the exam involve? Anything I need to prep?"
[Prep? Just bring your body. We'll handle the rest on-site.]
His answer was as curt as ever. To me, his tone sounded like 'survive if you can'.
I paused to choose my words before asking,
"When and where?"
[Three days from now, Our Hope Hospital in southern Gyeonggi. Address incoming via text. Oh, and you might die during the eval, so tie up loose ends. If you have any.]
Die during the practical evaluation?
What kind of test was this?
His parting shot was pure mockery. But it wasn't wrong, so it didn't piss me off.
An orphan with no friends? Loose ends weren't on the menu.
More than that, his blatant gall at needling people was just absurd. But now wasn't the time for petty grudges.
[Any more questions?]
"...If I pass the practical eval, is there a reward or something?"
Silence hung on the line for a beat.
[Survive that, and you'll probably get around 500.]
"Five million won?"
[Fail to survive, and it's zilch. Got it?]
Dangling five mil for the practical eval? That screamed danger.
Back out now?
No, decision made. Couldn't chicken out.
"Just one more thing..."
[No questions? Hanging up. Busy.]
The call cut off before I finished.
Tu, tu, tu...
The dry tone buzzed in my ear. I stood there blankly, phone in hand.
Still, from his cynical attitude just now, I gained one solid certainty.
Working under that guy, at least I'd never hear any romantic bullshit. A weird kind of reassurance.
I had three days to tie up loose ends. Not that there was much—basically just applying for a leave of absence next semester.
Korean Lit wasn't my thing anyway, and I saw no future in it. The prof's talk of filling my empty soul didn't fill my empty bank account.
That 'starve-to-death major' nickname wasn't for nothing.
I'd figured passing the civil service exam might at least get me a rice bowl, but now even that was off the table.
Joining the National Anomalous Entity Management Bureau meant stable income. Plus, a place to use my natural constitution? Couldn't ask for a better gig.
Three days later, I headed to the exam site.
The venue was Our Hope Hospital in southern Gyeonggi. I took an intercity bus to get there.
I stared blankly out the window as familiar cityscapes faded into unfamiliar rural ones.
After several transfers, I reached a bus stop near the destination just as the sun began to set.
Under the blood-red evening glow, the long rural road without a single streetlamp felt downright eerie. Even the crickets chirping all around sounded ominous.
'Perfect spot for ghosts.'
Luckily, a taxi idled at a stand by the stop, emergency lights flashing, waiting for fares.
The cabbie, a kindly faced uncle type, glanced at me in the rearview and asked,
"Where to?"
"Our Hope Hospital."
"Pardon? That place... hasn't it been closed for ages?"
His voice carried clear doubt.
"Yeah. Got some business there."
He didn't pry further, shrugging it off like no big deal and turning the wheel smoothly.
"What, one of those trendy YouTubers or something? Locals steer clear with all the creepy rumors."
I turned to gaze out the window instead of answering.
The taxi climbed a rough mountain road, barely paved, for quite a while.
In the silence, it reached the mountainside. Finally, the driver pulled over in the middle of the road, saying he couldn't go farther.
"Just keep walking up that way. Any deeper and turning around gets dicey."
I paid and stepped out. As he drove off, kicking up dust, the driver rolled down his window with a loaded warning.
"Don't know what you're up to, but get out before nightfall. That place... dangerous in all sorts of ways."
"Thanks for the advice."
The taxi vanished in a cloud of dust, leaving me alone.
A hazy mist—or smoke?—shrouded the hospital area.
The sun had dipped fully behind the peaks, and twilight was crashing down at a hair-raising pace.
Flashlight on, I followed the smartphone map up to the hospital. At the end of the steep path loomed the massive, grotesque silhouette of the building.
As I neared the entrance, bright lights caught my eye. Others were gathered there too—probably fellow exam takers.
First to stand out was a guy in pricey outdoor gear, about my age, shivering like he was freezing despite the heat.
Next to him stood a middle-aged woman in mourner's robes. Real shaman? She clutched a bell and fan, staring intently at the hospital with a grave expression.
A bit apart, an old man sat. Dressed in shabby modified hanbok, he had a long object wrapped in newspaper across his knees. A sword? He just glared silently, full of complaint.
Finally, a man in his forties, decked out like special forces, fiddling with some weird detector.
Looks like I was the only one who'd shown up in a suit for the 'hiring exam'.
I loosened my sweat-soaked tie a touch and stepped toward the group at the entrance.