The Management Bureau
Ah… morning already.
I opened my eyes in the small hours before dawn. The sun hadn't risen yet. First thing I did was pull up the gallery.
Now I get why GhostStoryNSFWPoster's anomaly was so damn strong (12)
Can we go home now? (11)
Is my mom okay? Please answer if you're awake (5)
But why is your nick GhostStoryNSFWPoster? (11)
Dawn has broken. Let us give praise (12)
Every single hot post was about me. I tapped the most recent one.
Looks like the terror of hundreds who died in the subway accident condensed into an anomaly.
An anomaly born from the concentrated death-fear of hundreds of people — that's why the difficulty was so high.
And when you asked for a name, the conductor panicking in reverse? Probably because he didn't have one.
"Anomalies have that kind of power?"
Twisting a fate of death and forcing survival. Absolute power, almost godlike.
If I'd just tried a little harder, could I have saved the others too?
The thought crossed my mind — if I'd dragged a few more people out of that ghost story, maybe more would still be alive.
"Nah. Four was already a lot."
Saving four people had been hard enough. The number of women I could carry in both arms maxed out at four. Blame my narrow shoulders.
"I'd like to be discharged."
My body was in peak condition. I'd check out before the full medical leave ran out and burn through my first vacation in five years.
Gonna have to hit the Management Bureau too.
I needed to save my Ghost Story Gallery friends. So much for enjoying that sweet vacation to the fullest.
"If you need your hospital records, you can pick them up at the front desk."
"Sorry?"
"You're not planning to sue the government?"
According to the nurse, filing a lawsuit against the government could net a considerable settlement. Nosy of her — but the good kind of nosy.
"Yeah, I'll look into it when I get the chance."
Right now I had something more urgent. Head to the Management Bureau and request help. Saving the gallery friends would take the Bureau's resources.
From what I heard, she hit it off with the students sharing her ward pretty quick. She's eating well, no major injuries.
I boarded the bus and typed up a gallery post. Best way to browse the gallery — no phone in hand, no risk of anyone catching you at it.
Subway freaks me out so I took the bus. Fuck it — buses only from now on.
Praise for me, rolling in. A satisfied smile crept onto my face all on its own.
"Mom, that guy's smiling at empty air."
"Don't make eye contact."
From now on, I wear a mask. Smiling at nothing made too many people clock me as a lunatic.
"We're here."
The bus stopped. I stood before a massive building — a tower thrusting into the sky right in the heart of Gangnam, Seoul. This was the place that managed anomalous phenomena.
"Hello. I was referred here."
I walked up to the reception desk and delivered the prepared line the old man — the former Bureau deputy — had taught me.
She's gorgeous.
The woman at the desk was stunning. After Eun-hwa, those two college girls, and Maman had raised my standards, she still managed to please the eye.
"Who referred you?"
"This person."
I handed over a slip of paper with the name Lee Gukdo written on it. The moment she took it, the receptionist's face changed.
"Ah — I'll show you up. Please follow me."
She stood and led the way. I followed her into the elevator.
Come on, say something. Anything.
I wanted to fuck her. Barely out of a near-death experience and my libido still hadn't cooled off.
I want her. Sex. Sex. Sex.
Ding.
Right as my brain was about to explode from raw lust, the elevator stopped. I stepped out the open doors in a hurry.
"Where are we?"
"The testing hall. Please wait here a moment."
Auto-save complete.
Huh? What was that?
Something had brushed past my ear. I dug a finger in and looked around.
Weird. The old man specifically said I'd get a meeting with the Bureau Director…
This didn't match the intel he'd given me. Instead of stewing alone, I decided to ask him directly.
Didn't even catch a glimpse of the Director?
Did they process Gukdo as dead?
Did the receptionist not know who he was?
She's the strongest?
I pictured the receptionist. The most beautiful woman I'd ever met. That she was the strongest person in the Management Bureau was hard to believe.
I'll read the room and decide from there.
I sat down and killed time on my phone. First stop: the news.
I can see it now.
A world that had been invisible to me just days ago. Apartments collapsing because someone skimped on rebar. Accidents with mass casualties, one after another in recent weeks.
All of it was cover. Cover for the anomalies.
These incidents were fabrications the Management Bureau had staged to bury the truth. Now that my eyes were open, I could see what was really there.
Joining the Bureau means fighting these things for a living.
Anomalies like the one I'd met on the subway, back to back. But that was fine. With infinite regression, death held no fear.
Annual salary seventy million won. Performance bonuses every year. An apartment in Seoul. Free dormitory after ten years of service.
Another fact that crushed the fear: they handed out employee apartments within commuting distance of Seoul. Units worth tens of billions of won, free of charge. I'd grit my teeth and take that apartment no matter what.
Thud.
The testing hall door opened and shut.
Eun-hwa?
Seong Eun-hwa — the woman who'd given me her virginity — walked into the testing hall.
"This is the easiest side gig ever. A million won just for taking a test? That doesn't even make sense."
Ah. So she'd come here for a part-time job. Rotten luck. She'd fled one anomaly only to walk straight into another. I offered her a silent prayer. This place was not the easy gig she thought it was. It was a madhouse where you had to survive brushes with death.
If things go sideways, maybe I get another taste of Eun-hwa…
The erection wouldn't go down. The prospect of having her again had me wound tight with excitement.
A few more people filed in after her — elderly, young, middle-aged, college students. All ages, all genders. The small testing hall filled to capacity.
"You here for the side gig too?"
The middle-aged man beside me struck up a conversation.
"Yeah."
I wasn't here for a side gig — I was here to request help — but I couldn't say that, so I lied.
"A million just for taking a test. Sounds too good to be true, right?"
"Haha, yeah, it does."
"What if it's a scam? Or a pyramid scheme?"
"Then we demand the manager or we run."
We killed time talking.
"Ksssh. The examination will now begin."
A broadcast announced the start of the test. Every participant sat down and waited for the proctor to enter.
"We will now explain the first examination."
Mannequins?
Mannequins stood in the center of the hall. Ten examinees. Ten mannequins.
When did those get here?
I hadn't seen them come in.
"Extract the eye of any person in this room and present it to me. Failure to complete the examination will result in a penalty."
When the broadcast ended, no one spoke. The content of the test was that deranged.
A joke? Or a real exam?
My first thought was anomaly. But this was the Management Bureau. An anomaly infiltrating the Bureau's core? That made no sense.
What happened next proved me wrong immediately.
"AAAAAGH—!"
"AAAAAGH!"
Their eyes just got ripped out.
"Penalty applied. Extracting the eyeballs of all examinees."
It really pulled out their eyes. Not fake. A real anomaly.
The mannequins have eyes now.
The right eyes of all ten mannequins had appeared. Stolen body parts were transferring onto them.
"Next examination. Sever the right arm of an examinee."
"Wait — wait, this is insane. I'm leaving!"
The middle-aged man beside me lost all reason, foaming at the mouth as he bolted for the exit.
"Anyone who rises mid-examination is disqualified."
His body crumpled. Crushed like an aluminum can. A doppelgänger identical to him appeared among the mannequins.
Shit.
My right arm was severed. My vision blurred, then went completely black.
Cause of Death — Shock from blood loss
Returning to auto-save point.