Should've Done It With the Manager Before I Died
"That's all."
I clutched my throbbing head. Even now, the thing was scrambling my memories.
I can't see a body. What kind of anomaly is this?
Other anomalies at least had a visible form. This one had neither substance nor shape. An anomaly of a type I had never encountered in my life.
Information first.
My regression count had climbed to forty-one. A solid, comforting number — like a bowl of hot soup. Using one run purely for intel was fine.
"Where did Eun-hwa and In-seo go?"
"Eun-hwa vanished saying she desperately needed the bathroom. In-seo left to look for you. Looks like neither of them made it into the bunker."
So that was it. If In-seo died, I'd have a stake in that too.
Was that broadcast real?
I felt no real fear that In-seo was dead. I was already certain the broadcast itself was a lie. Both In-seo and Eun-hwa had survived.
"Then that broadcast just now was probably the anomaly's doing as well."
"Yes. That's my guess."
"Shall we head outside?"
"Let's."
The broadcast was false. In rule-based ghost stories, following the rules kept you off the anomaly's menu. But sometimes you became prey even when you obeyed.
Even odds. Fifty-fifty.
Follow the rules and die, break them and die — both were on the table. Sitting still and waiting was not in my nature.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
With attention drifting away from the entrance, now was the moment to open the door and get out. The instant my hand closed on the shelter's door handle—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The thick steel wall shuddered. Someone was pounding on the door from outside. Every eye in the room snapped toward it.
"Hey, yellow monkey, what are you doing over there?"
The glory of the land of the free, where casual racism was just part of the scenery. My listening comprehension was garbage, but I got the gist.
"Shut up."
I drew the pistol from my waistband and leveled it. Day one of my American visit, and I had already mastered the local dialect. Whoever draws first wins. The people fluent in American conversation raised their hands without a fuss.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
A steady, rhythmic knocking.
"Please help me."
"Help me!"
Faint voices carried through. Voices begging for help — more than one. At least two people. We had to get them inside before the anomaly took them.
"I've got the civilians covered, Manager. You can open the door."
"No. We wait."
"Why?"
Her call was different from mine.
"Those people out there feel like the anomaly too."
When you're trapped in a shelter, someone always comes knocking. But were the people outside actually human? More likely looters or killers. Maybe monsters. I explained that this might be a classic nuclear-apocalypse cliché given form as an anomaly.
"If that broadcast we just heard was a real ghost story, then whoever's out there is almost certainly the anomaly."
"...Let's wait until they move on, then go."
We decided to hold off on opening the door. Whether those people were real or not, you didn't sacrifice the many to save the few. That was the mindset a Management Bureau employee was supposed to have.
Ugh. My head.
The mental manipulation was kicking in again.
I opened the gallery and wrote a post. Lurking was second nature by now — even if my memories were completely wiped, checking my own posts would tell me that memory manipulation was in play.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Help me!"
"Please help me!"
"Help me!"
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The knocking multiplied. Too many to count by ear. How many of them were circling the fire door? At least ten.
Hearing the voices, one woman bolted forward.
"What is she saying?"
"She says someone outside is someone she knows."
Cold sweat ran down my back. If the people outside were real, I was about to become an accessory to murder.
What do I do?
I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. Of course, I already knew what I had to say.
Bang!
"Back off!"
I fired the pistol into the ceiling. A real gun — not an artifact — roared. The aftershock of the blast rang in my ears.
"None of you bastards outside are getting into this shelter."
I twitched the muzzle in a clear threat. No matter who was out there, not a single one of them was coming through that door. Under my razor-edged warning, nobody dared make the first move.
"Help me..."
"Is anyone in there?"
But when In-seo's voice came through the door, my breath stopped.
It's fake. That voice is fake.
It was a perfect match for In-seo's voice. And right after it came Eun-hwa's.
Fake. Fake. Whoever that is, it's fake.
Didn't it seem convenient? In-seo and Eun-hwa's voices, right on cue. It was doing this deliberately to rattle my mind. That confirmed it — the thing outside the door was the anomaly.
Manager Kim Yul-ryeong must have reached the same conclusion; she kept her mouth shut too.
"Help me..."
"Anyone..."
"Me..."
Thud... thud... thud...
The knocking gradually thinned out. The anomaly had given up and left.
"Open the door. We're going."
I gestured with the pistol still trained on the civilians. The General Manager moved and unlocked the bunker's heavy steel door.
Kuuung.
The door swung open with a grinding roar. We backed out through it.
Kwaang.
I shoved the thick fire wall shut. The others who had scrambled after us bolted the door from the outside.
"Get out of here."
The words came through the door. We were already planning on it.
"We got lucky."
Lucky not to catch a bullet in the land of firearms. I'd been half-expecting a hole through my skull.
"It's an item effect. Agents' uniforms carry an intimidation enchantment. Cuts down on unnecessary friction with civilians."
"Does the effect scale with rank?"
"It does."
First reason to climb the ranks: get issued an insanely cool suit.
"Let's move. Making contact with the U.S. branch comes first."
I fell in behind Manager Kim Yul-ryeong.
Woooooom. Wooooooom. Woooooooom.
The power must have been cut — I couldn't see an inch ahead. Clink. Clink. Shattered museum glass rattled in the broken windows.
"Shh. Quiet. There's sound coming from outside."
At her word, I stopped. Faint noise was drifting in through the windows.
Thud. The broadcast cut out with a wet crackle. Listening to the Manager's translation, I sank into thought.
An anomaly that spreads through broadcasts...
A foul, oppressive feeling pressed down on my chest.
I cleared that. I definitely cleared it.
It was similar to the mannequin anomaly I'd wiped out with the Causality Regenerator. According to what my father-in-law had told me, it should have taken at least ten years to reconnect with reality. So why was it showing up now?
Is there something I don't know?
Was the mannequin anomaly just that much stronger than the Cursed Child?
What even is this? What the hell is going on?
Terror crushed down on me. As a counter-reaction, I started getting hard. I did not want Manager Kim Yul-ryeong seeing me like that. I forced the erection down.
"Excuse me — could you help me, please?"
A voice came out of the dark. If this was the mannequin anomaly, the smart move was not to respond.
"Ignore it."
I had no idea who it was. Anomaly or human — either way, we didn't have the bandwidth to help strangers right now.
"This way."
I followed the Manager. Having her with me steadied my nerves. The sense of security was on a completely different level from traveling with In-seo.
So this is what it feels like when the General Manager is driving the bus?
A whole different tier from a team leader. The comparison to In-seo came naturally.
I love you, Manager!
I felt genuine affection for General Manager Kim Yul-ryeong.
Thud. Thud. Kuuung.
A low vibration rolled through the floor. At her hand signal, I stopped.
What the hell is that?
A strangely shaped human figure came toward us, hauling a statue on its back. It set the statue in a corner and withdrew.
"Ah... ah... ah..."
"In-seo?"
The statue looked exactly like In-seo. Her lips were twitching.
"Eun-hwa?"
"Mister... it hurts... it hurts..."
Beside her stood a statue of Eun-hwa.
"Ugh... World-Destroying Class anomaly. We have to resolve the current situation..."
I could hear a quiet muttering from next to Eun-hwa. The voice was familiar.
"Manager Kim Yul-ryeong?"
It was the General Manager's voice. She had been turned into a statue and put on display in a corner of the museum.
"Why is the General Manager—?"
I stood in front of her statue, staring blankly. My reason was slipping. Hadn't she been right next to me until a moment ago?
I looked toward where the General Manager actually was. Her face was hidden in shadow.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Manager Kim Yul-ryeong asked as if she had no idea.
Wait. What was I about to do?
Hold on — what had I been trying to do just now? My head was empty. The thoughts wouldn't connect. I'd been about to do something, and I had no idea what.
"You don't remember anything? We were trying to escape the anomaly."
"How do we escape?"
Manager Kim Yul-ryeong was the General Manager who oversaw the entire Exploration Department. If anyone knew the way out, it was her.
"Put the gun to your temple and pull the trigger."
Ah. Of course. If I did what the Manager said, we'd get out.
I pressed the muzzle to my temple and squeezed the trigger.
Bang.
The bullet punched through my skull. Red blood painted the floor.
"Hah—!"
I came to. I was back at the moment of boarding the plane. I had regressed. I let out the breath I'd been holding and raked my hands through my hair.
Fuck. I should've groped the Manager's tits and died.
If I'd known she was the anomaly, I wouldn't have hesitated. I'd just wasted a golden opportunity.