I Got a Girlfriend
Time passed.
Saturday arrived.
Saturday was the Day of Earth — the day the living were buried in the ground and offered up as sacrifices to the god.
Only after twenty-one people had been buried in the soil did the god's wrath finally subside. To avoid becoming a sacrifice myself, I sold out the people in my own room. I kicked the vacant-eyed humans staring blankly into empty air and hurled them into the pit.
These people have already been eaten by the abyss. They're already dead. Already dead.
I brainwashed myself, trying to ease the guilt. But even that couldn't make the guilt disappear.
Sunday arrived.
Sunday was the Day of the Sun — the day the monsters of the cult grew stronger. Empowered monsters prowled the corridors. Anyone caught so much as chatting was dragged off and made a sacrifice.
Monday arrived.
The day the moon rose three times larger than usual. Monsters appeared mid-sleep and jolted people awake. Fake drumbeats echoed as well.
Tuesday arrived.
The day fire was summoned to purify wicked energy. A massive blaze was lit, and five humans were thrown into the flames. The guilt in my chest swelled even larger.
I don't have a choice.
I threw people into the fire while clinging to that mental victory. Those people were already dead. Corpses whose souls had been stolen by the light. I rationalized my actions through self-indoctrination so vicious it was almost pathological.
Wednesday arrived.
The day sacrifices were drowned. With my guilt completely gone, I offered them up with my own hands.
Fuck…
I hated the version of myself that was growing used to murder. Even buried in mental gymnastics, those people were unmistakably human.
I don't have a choice. There are two people beside me I have to keep alive.
There were two people at my side I had to protect. I wasn't sure whether they were monsters or human, but I chose to believe they were human. Only then could the things I had done be justified.
"Hic…"
But endless justification led to the worst possible outcome.
Kim A-rang was claimed by a monster and died. Kim A-rang, transformed into a monster. I sat down and shared a meal with the thing he had become. It felt like walking on thin ice.
"I'll figure out a way to escape somehow. Yu-na, I'll get you out no matter what."
The only survivors left were Lee Yu-na and me. I held her and made a vow. Gather the bare minimum of information, then run. Only then would their deaths mean something.
"It's him."
But Lee Yu-na couldn't hold out. Her finger pointed straight at me.
"He left without offering any prayers."
She snitched on everything I had done to the cult's core members. Eun-hwa and the other upper ranks of the cult closed in around me.
"I did well, right? I can be saved, right?"
"Yes, Lee Yu-na. You will be saved."
Don't say that with Eun-hwa's face. I exploded at the monster — but my mouth was sealed shut, and no sound came out.
"Let's go offer a sacrifice to the god."
Bound hand and foot, I was dragged down the corridor.
Thursday was the Day of Wood — the day people were dropped alive into a pit as offerings to the god. I was brought before the enormous pit dug at the center of the cult.
"Throw all the sacrifices in."
On cue, I was hurled into the pit. My body plummeted endlessly downward. The darkness of the bottomless abyss wrapped around my flesh and soul alike.
I gained nothing.
I had offered up other people's lives, and I had nothing to show for it. I'd spent everything on self-justification and died for nothing. Feeling my body come apart, flesh and soul dissolved into the dark. My sense of self grew faint. I was trapped in the darkness for so long I nearly lost my mind.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
"Khhhk—!"
Back to square one.
A monster furiously ringing the doorbell. What the hell was the Management Bureau doing inside that anomaly? What happened to Eun-hwa?
I bolted to the bathroom and threw up everything in my stomach. Once my gut settled, thinking got a little easier.
Fuck. I can't solve this alone.
I'd walked into the anomaly full of confidence, only to realize I could never clear it by myself. I needed at least a team-leader-level colleague to have any shot. The presence of the Management Bureau inside the anomaly was something a fresh hire like me couldn't begin to understand.
I need to cross-check whose story is right.
I had to directly compare what Old Man Padak had said against Team Leader Seo In-seo's account. Padak's information was wrong often enough that cross-verification was frequently necessary.
Pick up. Please pick up.
I called Team Leader Seo In-seo. The phone rang exactly twice. She answered the moment I dialed.
"Team Leader! Can you come here right now?"
"Why all of a sudden?"
"I'll explain later! Just get here!"
I cast Summon Seo In-seo.
Twenty minutes and she should be here.
I'd heard where she lived from her own mouth. Close enough to arrive in twenty minutes.
"…"
After calling her, self-loathing hit me hard. Was this really the right call? Was it right to drag Senior Seo In-seo into danger just to save Eun-hwa?
No matter what happens, I just can't let myself watch Team Leader Seo In-seo die.
I clenched my teeth hard enough to draw blood. I didn't believe in infinite regression. Even if you came back, dying was still dying. Whatever happened, I just couldn't let Team Leader Seo In-seo die. I resolved to clear the anomaly this loop.
"Come in."
I let the cult figure inside. Naturally, she held out a survey form.
"I'll take the survey. My wife will be here any minute. We'll fill it out together."
"Is that true?"
I bought time until the Team Leader arrived.
"What's going on?"
"Is this your wife?"
The Team Leader arrived a full ten minutes earlier than expected. The anomaly casually held out the survey form, and the Team Leader froze in confusion.
"Suddenly calling me your wife… isn't that a little fast—"
"Team Leader! I love you! Please go out with me!"
No time for a proper explanation. I pulled her into my arms and shouted that I loved her. Surprise confession attack — sow chaos!
"Y-you mean it? I like you too."
The effect was incredible. I'd been bracing to talk down a woman glaring at me with pure disgust, and then— wait, for real? I genuinely didn't think that would work.
The Team Leader wrapped her arms around me and whispered that she loved me. I never imagined someone as tall and beautiful as her would accept a confession this reckless.
Huh? I have to send someone who likes me into a death trap?
And not just any death trap — one I was walking into to save another woman. Was it right to stake my girlfriend's life on that? I was a genuine piece of garbage. A real piece of shit.
B-but I still have to save them. Kim A-rang and Lee Yu-na can't die.
I decided to become something that only barely counted as human.
"Excuse me? Are you going to take the survey or not?"
The anomaly pressed us. The whites of her eyes were vanishing, and her voice was steadily becoming something less than human.
There's no other way. I'm a Management Bureau agent — people come first.
Self-justification complete. First, I'd ask Team Leader Seo In-seo for her consent. If she refused, I'd find some way to clear the anomaly alone.
"Th-that is… Team Leader? This woman is an anomaly. Remember the strange woman I told you about?"
"You mean the anomaly that took your part-timer?"
"Yes. If you refuse her survey, you get dragged off to a weird cult for 're-education.'"
I explained everything I understood. Anyone who didn't take the survey was taken to the cult for re-education in the name of salvation. Anyone who answered the survey diligently was judged fully re-educated — and then eaten by the anomaly.
"…You're putting me in danger to save a part-timer?"
She was disappointed. Hurt sat plain on the Team Leader's face. I didn't want to let down my first girlfriend.
"We can get out alive. Please trust me, Team Leader."
I took Seo In-seo's hand. We could come back without dying. I could swear it on my soul and my entire life.
"Alright. But if we don't make it out of that anomaly, you're taking responsibility?"
She said yes!
"Excuuuse meee?"
At the same moment, the anomaly's patience hit its limit. Her words stretched and warped. She looked ready to explode.
"P-please hold this anomaly down."
"Got it."
While the Team Leader pinned the anomaly, I undid my belt.
"This woman is ridiculously strong. What's the plan?"
"This is the plan."
I dropped my pants. My erect cock sprang free, pointing at the ceiling.
"Hey, are you insane?"
"This is the surest way!"
When a safe path existed, there was no reason to take risks. I stripped the anomaly's panties and drove into her still-dry pussy.
"Wha… ahh—"
Her voice went slack and drawn-out. Even a people-killing anomaly couldn't keep her wits when she was getting speared by a thick cock.
This is the most reliable method.
I fucked the anomaly raw, and we entered the cult. I had no intention of taking any other route — only the sure path.
It was best to conserve the Conch Flute's durability as much as possible. Even after regressing, durability that had already been spent never recovered.
"This feels weird. Having sex in front of your girlfriend isn't exactly normal, is it?"
Team Leader Seo In-seo complained. That pouty face of hers was cute.
"I'm sorry. But there's no other way."
I answered while pushing my cock deeper. Her once-tight insides grew slick with precum and her own juices. Thrust, rock, cum. After repeating the same process a few times, we were somehow inside a car.
"Where is this?"
"I was just walking down the street—"
Panicked voices rose around us.
"Quiet. All of you have been kidnapped by a cult."
I lowered my voice and calmed them down. I knew now. These people weren't anomalies. Getting every last one of them out alive was part of the Management Bureau's job. I had to take them with me and escape the anomaly in a single run.