Dungeon (4)
Poison gas had spread through the company. It leaked out from cracks in the building connected to the underground, and several employees who inhaled it passed out on the spot. They were rushed to the hospital immediately.
The truth was a bit different, but anyway.
That was the official public announcement. Yu-hwa and I ended up getting examined at the hospital as patients too.
"The checkup shows no issues with your health."
"That's a relief."
"It's strange... Everyone else is complaining of dizziness."
Of course, we hadn't actually inhaled any gas, so there were no problems. Yu-hwa and I were able to get right up from the hospital beds. The doctor seemed puzzled by it, but you can't exactly force healthy people to stay, right?
"What now?"
"Let's go visit some colleagues."
We could've checked out right away, but the doctor blocked us from leaving, citing precautions against any accidents. Stuck spending time in the hospital, we decided to use it visiting our coworkers.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. What about you guys?"
"We were on a higher floor, so we're good."
"That's lucky."
We visited Nam Bu-jang first, but his wife and kids were already there, so we just gave a quick greeting and left the room.
Next was Kim Gwa-jang's room. When I opened the door, there he was—pale as a ghost, hacking and wheezing.
"Hello..."
"How're you feeling?"
"The worst... My head... Urp!"
"Here's a bag! Take the bag!"
Yu-hwa panicked at his wretched state and fussed over him, but I just gave him an odd look.
Something's off.
Yeon Dae-ri, who hadn't spent much time around Kim Gwa-jang, didn't notice, but as a fellow newbie from the same intake who'd shared plenty of time with him, I could tell.
That's his lying tone.
Whenever he got bored, he'd prank me—quiz me on trivia, then feed me a convincing fake answer when I guessed. I fell for it a few times at first, but once I caught how his voice pitched subtly different when he lied, I never bit again.
"Want me to call the doctor?"
"Nah, that's fine... The doc's busy..."
"Hm."
I considered calling anyway, just in case, but Kim Gwa-jang shook his head with that subtle smirk. Lately, he'd been flashing it a lot—that secretive smile hiding something. Voice, smile, the works. This guy was absolutely faking it.
"We'll get going then."
"Rest up, Gwa-jang-nim!"
"Take care..."
No point sticking around once I knew he was fine. About to head out to see the others, that's when Kim Gwa-jang suddenly handed me something.
"Take this..."
"What's this?"
"It's Lee Gwa-jang-nim's."
A small ornament of some kind. When I asked what it was, he just shook his head and shoved it into my hand anyway. Baffled, but I left the room first and took a closer look.
"Uncle's?"
"Not mine."
"Whose then?"
It was oddly shaped—an iron wolf's face, but with freakishly long teeth. Just as I wondered who might've dropped it, a matching pattern flashed in my mind.
That pattern from back then...
The guy I'd run into at the abandoned factory last weekend. I remembered this emblem on the red uniform of that bastard.
And I can feel mana too.
Not just that. This thing pulsed with a strange mana—not the pure kind from Yu-hwa, but something filthy and sticky. Just like the rat woman's.
Putting it together, the rat woman was with the Cheon-do-hoe, and their ritual tied into the Four Perils.
"Jeez."
I tossed the ornament into the air and caught it, letting out a hollow chuckle.
Kim Gwa-jang had definitely been kidnapped by Go-seo and dragged to that altar. How the hell did he snag this in the chaos? I wanted to chalk it up to him being a regular guy, but he kept dropping hints he wasn't. What a troublesome coworker.
Anyway.
At this point, my next move was clear. The recent string of major incidents and deaths? Cheon-do-hoe's doing. Their goal? Probably summoning the Four Perils. Operating around Incheon, their presence alone kept putting me and everyone around me in constant danger.
Time to wipe them out.
Kill them?
Seems like it.
Oh yeah~ lol
For a while, it looked like I'd be rampaging exactly how Shin-nim wanted.
The Management Bureau. Any group obsessed with urban legends or anomalies has probably heard of it. A shadowy organization operating behind the world's curtain, controlling and eliminating weird phenomena. That's the gist of the rumors.
But almost no one seriously believed the Management Bureau actually existed. Makes sense—hardly anyone buys into anomalies, so who would believe in some covert bureau lurking in the shadows?
...For some reason, the internet had a decent number of believers. But to regular folks, the Management Bureau was just fictional.
Surprisingly, though, it was real. Anomalies lurked on society's underbelly, preying on humanity even today. And the Management Bureau stood against them, protecting mankind.
"..."
Today's big incident alone proved it. A mage had tried some evil ritual in a company building in Incheon. The barrier was so subtle they were late to notice. Nearly caused multiple deaths and let the ritual succeed.
"That was close."
In the police-controlled building, in the parking lot known for the gas leak, a woman sighed.
Her look was striking—black suit, black sunglasses. Most unique was the pistol holstered at her waist. In gun-banned Korea, openly packing heat like that screamed unusual affiliation.
"Cleanup's done."
"Good work."
Then a man approached from behind. Same black suit, but even stranger: a massive greatsword slung across his back. Anyone seeing them might think it was a 007 set. But for them, it was everyday wear—they didn't bat an eye and kept talking.
"So, what do you think?"
"About what?"
"This incident. What's your take, Bu-jam-nim?"
The woman stroked her chin at the man's question. Her face was tense. Was she naturally icy, or hung up on something? Either way, she was troubled.
After a few minutes, she finally spoke.
"Too many weird things. Not just one or two."
"Figured as much."
The culprits were the Cheon-do-hoe cult, zealots worshiping the Four Perils, hellbent on drowning the world in chaos. They'd torched that factory recently too. Today, they targeted this company—using employees as ritual fodder, planning to collapse the building for secondary casualties.
"And a third party intervened."
"A seriously strong one."
It wasn't the Management Bureau that stopped the Cheon-do-hoe plan. By the time they arrived, it was over. Yokai and mage dead.
Who the hell stepped in?
"Not suspicious about the insect shaman?"
"If it was him, there'd be survivors."
"Ah..."
A few suspicious signs: upper-floor employees hit by unidentified magic, insect anomalies on the stairs. Seemed like that famous insect shaman's work, but not confirmed.
"More than that. Can't you feel it?"
"...Yeah."
The biggest red flag: an unidentified presence in the underground parking lot. Long gone, faint traces from yesterday, but clear to seasoned agents like them. Magic had been used here. A mighty entity had appeared.
"Haa... Who the hell this time."
Some third party with serious power showed up, but no clue who. Too many possibilities: Company, Witch Society, New Cult, Worshipper sects, etc. Whatever group, she wouldn't be shocked.
"Bleak."
She pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit up. So many groups threatening humanity, but the Management Bureau lacked the punch to strike first. Showing up late for cleanup and info control—that was their limit.
Suddenly, doubt crept in. Always playing catch-up? Hard to claim they protected humanity proudly.
"Might as well mutual destroy."
The rampaging Cheon-do-hoe lately, the mystery intruder today—if only they'd fought and wiped each other out. She saw even gods as anomalies. But today, she decided to pray—just once.