Management Bureau Exploration
“Haaah.”
I sucked in a breath and sat up. The sensation of my arm being torn off was still vivid.
“Is something wrong?”
The reception desk lady tilted her head. Her voice slowly pulled my scattered mind back into place.
“No, it’s nothing. Just a second—I need to use the restroom.”
I turned to head back toward the elevator. The reception desk lady stepped into my path with a gentle smile.
“Where are you going?”
“Wh-why?”
I backed up, eyes darting. Had she caught on? Was this woman an anomaly too?
“The restroom is that way.”
“Ah. Right.”
Shit. I thought she was about to kill me.
I pressed a hand to my chest and bolted for the bathroom. Ding. I reached the elevator on the opposite side and hit the button for the lower floors.
I have to save people.
Priority zero—save people first.
Priority one—figure out how to counter the anomaly.
As the elevator carried me downstairs, I posted the question to the gallery.
Ding.
The elevator arrived at the first floor.
“I’ll show you the way.”
Eun-hwa was already being escorted by the reception desk lady.
Too late.
Too late to save anyone else. This loop, I wouldn’t be saving Eun-hwa.
I needed the countermeasures. Without them, I couldn’t prepare for the next loop.
“XX Villa, please.”
I climbed into a taxi and gave the driver the address of my studio apartment. The cab tore through the streets.
By then the taxi had arrived at my place.
“Thanks. Drive safe. Keep the change.”
I shoved a hundred thousand won at the driver and went inside.
“Hoo… hoo…”
I dragged every piece of furniture in the apartment over and barricaded the front door.
“That do it?”
I locked myself in the bathroom and opened the gallery.
I checked the time. By now the broadcast ghost story would have finished killing everyone and then some.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Someone was pounding on the front door.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The knocking came at steady, measured intervals. I huddled in the corner of the bathroom, shaking.
Shit, shit, shit. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
The end of this life was closing in. Whatever stood outside that door had come to kill me.
Fuck, why do I have to die? I just want to go back to when I didn’t know any of this.
The gallery users tried to comfort me. It didn’t help at all.
“Still. Gotta do what I can.”
I clenched my teeth and stood up. First—figure out who was outside the front door. I left the bathroom and switched on the intercom.
“Hello? Examinee, why did you flee without taking the exam?”
The reception desk lady stood right outside my door.
“I’m sorry. I suddenly felt sick.”
“Please open the door.”
“I really don’t feel well. I can’t.”
“Please open the door.”
“I said I can’t. Keep this up and I’m calling the cops.”
KRAK—
The door was wrenched open with brutal force. The reception desk lady jammed her fingers into the gap and forced it wide.
“AAAAAGH!”
That woman was not human. She was a monster wearing a human shape. And she had come to kill me.
I flung open the window and threw myself toward it—wait. Why was my body falling backward? No strength in my limbs. My body swayed, then crumpled to the floor.
Cause of Death — Myocardial Rupture
Returning to auto-saved checkpoint.
“Hoo—just need to hit the restroom real quick.”
I took the elevator down and sprinted to the nearest adult goods store.
“Ten of these, please.”
I pointed at ten real dolls. Same factory, same face—identical down to the last detail.
“And clothes too.”
I bulk-bought matching outfits to dress them in. Then I hauled the real dolls back to the company building.
Just as I expected. Nobody cares.
I’d left and come back, and not a single person paid attention. I wheeled a cart full of cargo right through the lobby, and no one so much as glanced at what was inside.
The Management Bureau had been consumed by an anomaly. Every “human” in this building was an anomaly performing humanity.
“Everyone, please clear the room.”
I arrived at the exam hall with the real dolls. The examinees were already inside. Ten minutes until the test started. I had ten minutes to set up the dolls and get myself out.
“Who the hell are you? You work here?”
“Yes. The exam venue has been changed. Please move to the room next door.”
“Ugh, making people go back and forth…”
The examinees grumbled as they got up. I herded them into the adjacent room and installed the real dolls.
“Hoo. Setup complete.”
One minute before the broadcast. I slipped out just in time.
“Mister, what’s that?”
Eun-hwa was watching me from the hallway.
“A real doll? Why are you putting real dolls in there?”
So she’d seen that far. Embarrassment took a back seat to worry.
“Keep quiet. Watch and you’ll understand.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into a corner. The hallway might still be within the anomaly’s range of influence.
“We will now begin the examination.”
“Would one of you kindly offer your right eye.”
The moment the words ended, the right eye of every real doll vanished.
It works.
Holy shit. It actually worked. I’d only half-believed it, and seeing it succeed in real time left me stunned.
“Please offer your right arm.”
“Please offer your left leg.”
“Please offer your left arm.”
“Please offer your left leg.”
“Please offer your torso.”
The anomaly, unable to distinguish humans from real dolls, methodically swapped out the dolls’ bodies piece by piece. Watching the laws of physics come apart made my jaw drop on its own.
“Mister… the real dolls are alive. They’re moving.”
Real-doll doppelgangers I made myself. Absolute top-tier? 🔥
I snapped photos of the moving real dolls and uploaded them to the gallery. The reactions were exactly what I’d expected—people furious that even the Bureau had fallen to an anomaly. DadJokeManager was reeling.
“Mister, what the hell is that?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
I pointed at the real dolls. Dolls moving exactly like real people.
“The real dolls are moving. And they’re using our names.”
“Mr. Kim Cheol-su?”
Creeeak.
One of the real dolls raised its hand. A name tag reading “Kim Cheol-su” was stuck to its chest. It didn’t look remotely human to begin with, yet the Management Bureau staff treated the doll as if it were a person.
“Ms. Seong Eun-hwa?”
“Mr. Seol In-yul?”
They called every name, including mine, right down to the last. No one opened their mouth in the face of that uncanny spectacle.
“Please follow me. We will now begin the orientation training.”
Ten dolls boarded the elevator and vanished.
“What was that? Why—why are the dolls moving?”
Only then did people start speaking.
“There’s a reason they pay so well. If you want to live, go home quietly. And forget everything that happened today.”
I pressed a finger to my lips.
“Don’t forget to keep quiet about this either. Secret agents will show up at your house otherwise.”
If they died, there was nothing I could do—I’d done everything I could. No one contradicted me. The sight of those real dolls moving had been that shocking.
“Take this elevator down. Don’t look back. Go straight home. And for a while, don’t leave your house.”
I called the elevator on the opposite side, loaded everyone in, and finally exhaled. Next step: find a way down to the basement.
“Mister?”
A voice I shouldn’t have been hearing came from behind me. I turned—Eun-hwa was poking me in the back.
“Why didn’t you leave?”
“I’m broke. I absolutely have to make that million won. And those dolls don’t scare me at all, okay? So… can I tag along?”
“Fine.”
I agreed without hesitation. Judging by how things were going, I’d get another chance to sleep with Eun-hwa.
I warned her enough.
Whatever happened from here on out was on her.
“Follow me. First priority is finding somewhere safe.”
I began exploring the interior of the Management Bureau. I pressed the elevator button.
“Um… hey?”
“What?”
“I spotted a weird sign over there earlier.”
I followed Eun-hwa’s finger. A single sign hung there.
“What the hell is this?”
Safety Shelter for Management Bureau New Employees
The wording practically screamed at us to come inside.