Mirinae Villa

"Hey. You're just sitting there listening. Why are you raising your hand?"

In-seo needled me from the side.

A new hire sticking his hand up in a meeting full of team leads might have been out of line. But this was something only I could handle. I already had enough to go on.

I need to rack up more regressions.

It wasn't purely altruistic. Maximizing my regression count just felt like the right call — as many loops as possible, packed into the shortest stretch of time I could manage.

"If the Bureau's own hero is volunteering, we can trust him with it. Tell us if you need personnel."

"I'll go alone."

The people who could actually help me were already inside the anomaly. Anyone else ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would just get in the way.

"I'll head out first."

A seven-year-old kid wasn't going to last long in there. Every second counted. I went upstairs, grabbed the bare minimum of paperwork, and left the Management Bureau building.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm fine. I'll clear the anomaly and come back — wait for me!"

I shook In-seo off and went out alone.

"You don't know how?"

If they didn't know the way in, how was I supposed to get there? Tch. My mistake for trusting the gallery.

I scratched my head and sank into thought.

"I should go see the chairman."

Discuss the reward, lock down whatever leads I could. Two birds with one stone. I headed for the mansion where the chairman lived.

Hae-sarang Construction. One of the top five construction firms in the country. The recession had dinged their old prestige, but the money they'd stockpiled was still rumored to be enormous.

I pushed through the company front doors and rode the elevator up, hitting the button for the chairman's floor. A short wait later, I was there.

"Who are you?"

"I'm with the Bureau."

I held out my Management Bureau card. The chairman's secretary and I had already spoken.

"Ah — I'm sorry, but the chairman isn't in at the moment."

"Where is he?"

"He's at a construction site."

The secretary gave me the location. I went straight there.

A new-city-scale residential development in Gyeonggi Province. The chairman himself was out on a Hae-sarang Construction site.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

I knocked on the door of the luxury sedan parked in a corner of the site.

"Management Bureau. I'd like to discuss the matter of your granddaughter."

"Get in."

The door opened. I shoved myself into the car.

"There's something I'd like to settle first—"

"One billion won. After tax."

"Thank you. And if you could throw in a supercar on top of that?"

"Done."

A chairman's generosity, all right. He was promising me far more than the going rate for saving the world. I drummed my fingers and licked my lips.

"First, walk me through when your granddaughter went missing, and what was going on right before."

"Exactly as it says in the file. Cough, cough."

I checked the documents I'd already read several times on the way over. The granddaughter had vanished in her sleep at home. No warning signs of any kind. One moment she was there, the next she was gone without a trace.

She really just disappeared while sleeping at home?

Same story as the gallery users. CryingCatWhenShitSucks had said the same thing — closed his eyes, woke up inside the apartment.

Then there's no way in at all.

I fidgeted with my fingers, restless. Was there truly no method? Or maybe…

The granddaughter of Hae-sarang Construction's chairman had gone missing. The place she'd been taken to was Hae-sarang Apartment.

Clue acquired.

There had to be a connection.

I checked the photo the gallery user sent. It looked nothing like a construction site. Whatever this place was, it wasn't a worksite.

I went back to the sedan and put the question to him.

"Anything else you want to ask?"

"Have you ever made a deal with a devil or a god? Success in exchange for sacrificing a relative or family member later on?"

"I have not."

The chairman's face soured. Years of office politics had trained my eye for this kind of thing — that look was genuine.

So is the link between the granddaughter and the anomaly something else?

If it was a personal connection between an individual and an anomaly, there was no hole for me to slip through. That was what the Bureau taught. But I wasn't giving up.

"Tch. I'm getting in there no matter what."

There was a woman jogging around the apartment complex who looked delicious. CryingCatWhenShitSucks had said a beauty lived across the hall from him. I planned to fuck her raw until her insides were a mess.

"If anything comes up, I'll be in touch."

In the end, I got nothing useful from the chairman. Fine. There might still be a lead at the mansion where the granddaughter had vanished.

I took a taxi there. But the mansion held no real evidence either.

If I dig into anything connected to Hae-sarang Apartment, something might turn up.

I went back to the Management Bureau and ran a search — every scrap of information related to Hae-sarang Apartment.

There's nothing.

Still nothing. Just as the case seemed to be sinking into a dead end, a thought hit me.

There's more than one anomaly involved.

I went through the timeline of outside arrivals the gallery user sent me, piece by piece.

"Mirinae Villa?"

One name came up. Mirinae Villa. But a villa complex wasn't an apartment complex.

Check the intel first.

I pulled up everything on Mirinae Villa. The location was prime real estate in Seoul — the kind of spot that made residents salivate. The reason a rundown villa complex still hadn't been redeveloped was simple: the villa itself was an anomaly.

Management that had been running smoothly started to rattle last year. The timing matched what CryingCatWhenShitSucks had said.

"I should go check it out."

I had no idea what a villa complex had to do with an apartment complex. But this was the only solid lead I had. The only anomaly that lined up with the disappearances and CryingCatWhenShitSucks's testimony was this one.

"I'm going to Mirinae Villa. I need entry clearance."

I ran to the department head and asked for a permit.

"Why there? Does it have anything to do with your current assignment?"

"Yes. It does. If I die, just assume I died on the job."

"Fine. Here's your clearance. Do well."

"Ah — and I'd like to pick up a few extra items from Daejeon first."

I took the permit from the department head and bolted for Daejeon. The Magic Conch Flute's durability was already fully charged. After some deliberation, I secured my items and checked my loadout.

A handgun hung at my hip. In my wallet sat a flower bookmark that blocked mental attacks. Fully geared.

I ran straight for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠villa.

"Clearance confirmed. Opening the gate."

I returned the soldier's salute and stepped up to Mirinae Villa.

The autosave kicked in like a welcome mat announcing that anomalies lived here.

The moment I arrived, the anomalies threw me a warm welcome. I laughed off the mental attacks and walked slowly into the villa.

"Hey. Where's my hello?"

Killer Anomaly Number One came at me with a tool in hand.

Bang. Bang.

I put rounds through his forehead and chest and kept walking. Once suppressed, an anomaly didn't get back up.

"What the hell is this bastard? He killed the youngest?"

"Hey. Get out here."

Seven anomalies came boiling out with tools in hand. They still thought they were human — the realism was almost impressive.

"Die!"

They charged, tools raised, full of courage. The tools hit my body.

Thunk.

The replicated Shield of the Cross took every blow.

"Not even a scratch."

Their attacks did nothing. Mine did. It was a one-sided slaughter. I killed all seven and went upstairs.

If the intel was right, the core of the Mirinae Villa anomaly was on the fourth floor.

Crash.

I forced the front door and stepped inside. Dried blood, a rusted saw, the stench of rotting corpses — all of it clawed at my nose. This was where the killers had done their work.

Bang.

I fired without looking, straight into the spot where an anomaly was hiding.

Thud.

The shot anomaly collapsed to the floor. That was the last of the killer anomalies.

"Strong…"

The fallen boss killer muttered it. Armed with items, I could handle trash anomalies without breaking a sweat.

"I cannot win. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I will call another me."

So this was how the disappearances worked. I set my face and waited for it.

"…"

I blinked, and I was standing inside a brand-new apartment complex.

I left the comment for CryingCatWhenShitSucks and waited for him to come.