The Last Coffee Break
Finally, I returned to the Bureau. Seeing the towering building filled me with a strange mix of joy and nostalgia. This place was practically home to me. Yet now it felt oddly unfamiliar. I knew why. It was because I'd seen two buildings standing side by side.
"The positioning is perfect. If the Fake Bureau building were attached right next to it, the whole structure would look much more balanced."
"Haa... That was the most unsettling thing I've dealt with on the way here. Anyway, do as I said. Understood?"
"Yes."
From now on, I had to follow Jaaldi's instructions. I returned to the office with her.
"Ah, Grong!"
The moment we entered, Jamtree greeted me warmly.
"I'm back alive!"
"You have no idea how worried I was when we lost contact!"
"Thank you so much for worrying about me."
Receiving such a warm welcome finally made it feel real that I was back.
"Why are you with the team leader? You went together, so there was no need to worry..."
"That's true, but!"
Spandal started to say something sharp, but Jamtree immediately cut her off.
"Grong, tell me what happened later when you're done reporting?"
"Understood."
I went to my desk, took off my suit jacket, and hung it up. As I did, I caught Spandal staring at me with a strange expression. She was probably bothered by what she'd almost said earlier.
"Senior Spandal... You weren't worried about me?"
I asked with a gloomy face, and her eyes widened in panic.
"N-no, that's not it. Logically speaking, if you went with the team leader, there shouldn't have been any danger..."
"But I went missing! That's too much!"
"Look, I didn't mean it like that..."
"Ugh!"
Watching Spandal fidget helplessly, I stood up with a sulky expression. I'd missed this kind of reaction. Now it truly felt like I'd returned. Parallel worlds and stitched worlds had been far too confusing.
"Spandal. If the rookie went through trouble, you should at least welcome him back."
"..."
"Grong. Write your report. Come with me."
"Yes."
I immediately followed Jaaldi to write the report. Even though she would submit it on my behalf, I still had to write it.
"By the way, Team Leader. Wasn't the starting point of this incident the Sejeong-ge thread?"
"It became completely irrelevant midway, so I stopped paying attention."
"Honestly, same here. Sejeong-ge stuff is interesting, but compared to everything else, it's relatively light. Still, since there's a connection... Would it be okay to send a message to the OP? Just that the missing users seem to have gone to another world."
"Hmm... There's no need to sever the connection entirely. That should be fine. Go ahead."
"Yes."
I opened the chat window and sent a message to the OP.
-I visited the location. The missing users appear to have been transported to another world. This will be the last contact. I'll call you later.
After all, I'd confirmed that my true friend Kim Seong-jin was alive, so there wasn't much to worry about.
"Done?"
"Yes."
I handed over the report. It had been written in coordination with Jaaldi from the start. The core was that we had tripped into a parallel world, passed through Cheongak Mary Hospital, and escaped. In the report, Jaaldi left me in a safe place and acted alone. Through that process, she alone learned about the Fake Bureau. I was established as completely uninvolved.
"This should work. I'll submit it as is."
"This means I'm completely uninvolved, right?"
"Yes. Anyway... You worked hard. You can go home now."
Go home! I wanted to shout that I was going home to Jaaldi's embrace, but that would make me sound insane.
"Yes! Thank you, Team Leader! I'll be heading out then!"
I returned to the office.
"Done already? Here, drink this."
"Oh, thank you!"
When I arrived, Jamtree had made coffee for me.
"I guess I'll have to drink this before leaving."
"What? They told you to go home?"
"They said I worked hard, so I should go home."
As I spoke, I glanced at Spandal.
"..."
She looked restless, as if she had something to say, but in the end she couldn't bring herself to speak and pretended not to look at me. That kind of reaction was adorable.
"Anyway, this is what happened."
I told Jamtree about what we'd been through. Of course, it was the same story written in my report.
"A space similar to a parallel world... How peculiar. What kind of anomaly could it be?"
"I don't know either. The team leader said it was dangerous and left me at the hotel while she went out alone to do something."
"Hotel?"
"Hotel?"
Both of them turned to look at me.
"Ah, the lodging."
"Hmm."
Why were they giving me such suspicious looks?
"I'm glad nothing dangerous happened. See you tomorrow then."
"Yes. Good night, seniors. I'll be heading out first."
Time to go home. I was exhausted both physically and mentally.
I bought some beer and returned home. Premium Maltz. I couldn't live without it. I collapsed on the sofa and slept like the dead to recover my strength, then ordered chicken, took a long shower, and came out.
—Ding-dong.
I heard the bell but ignored it. I'd asked them to ring and leave it at the door. Besides, I hated the sound of doorbells. I checked the intercom. No one was there. I grabbed my knife and gun. Hung a bundle of garlic on my hand. Put a stake in my pocket. Placed a basin of salt and red beans at my feet, then opened the door.
No ghosts. No vampires. No Fake Bureau agents. After confirming it was safe, I brought the chicken inside, set it on the table, and devoured it with beer.
"Kah!"
This was the taste. This inhuman garlic chicken flavor completely relieved my stress. What was the chicken called again? Extreme Onion Supreme Chicken? Not bad. I finished everything.
"Alright."
Time to check the inventory. I opened it and took out the Item GPS. It looked like an old-fashioned feature phone. What on earth made this thing an item that unlocked the inventory function? The Singing Flower and the Vampire Angel's Heart felt like things that would screw me over the moment I used them. But this GPS didn't give off that vibe.
I carefully pressed the button.
—Beep.
The screen turned on.
[My Location: 89732154]
"Huh?"
What was this? My location? Some strange number appeared, but I couldn't interpret it. I thought it might be latitude and longitude, but it didn't seem to be that either. Besides, my actual latitude and longitude weren't showing up. So I pressed a few more buttons.
[Map]
A map appeared.
"A map?"
What was displayed on the screen... Was that my house? It looked somewhat similar. There was even a compass function at the top.
"..."
Wait... This was making me uneasy. Was this really all it did?
—Beep beep beep.
I tried pressing various other buttons to explore, but nothing useful came up.
"Ah, fuck! It's always like this, always! Not a single day goes by normally!"
The status window was the same. The items were the same. Everything was bullshit! None of them were useful, these fucking things!
Angry, I lay down and flailed my arms and legs like a child. An incomprehensible location display function. And a map function. Could I even use these?
"Hmm?"
Maybe this would work even if I got caught up in an anomaly? If so, it might actually be useful. It depended on how I used it.
I fiddled with the GPS some more.
—Ding-dong.
Right then, the bell rang.
"..."
Feeling my heart sink coldly, I stood up. Knife, gun, stake, garlic bundle, salt and red bean basin. I grabbed everything and checked the intercom...
Spandal in the middle of the night? Why was Spandal here?!
I opened the door immediately.
"Senior Spandal?"
"Um... Hello? I'll come in for now."
"Ah, the house isn't cleaned up..."
I let her in anyway.
"What brings you here?"
The moment the precious guest entered, the room started to smell like her. My living space was being dyed in Spandal's color.
"Um... Grong. About what I said earlier."
She spoke hesitantly.
"What you said earlier?"
"I didn't say that because I wasn't worried about you. It's just that you went missing with the team leader, which means something happened during the mission, right? And with the team leader, no less."
She started explaining earnestly.
"In that kind of situation, there's no need to worry much. That doesn't mean I wasn't worried about you..."
"Kah! Don't tell me you came all the way here just to say that?! Because you were worried I might have misunderstood your kind heart, Senior Spandal?!"
"W-wait? Kind? I didn't say that much."
"Thank you, Senior Spandal! Of course I know that! I never misunderstood you at all!"
How could I hold this in!
"Aah, g-get off...!"
Even as she said that, Spandal patted my back.
"This is troublesome... Really... Anyway, what I wanted to say was this. If you're with the team leader, there's no need to worry much... And if I really wasn't worried, would I have acted the way I did when you came back from the meat factory?"
That was true. Spandal had been the first to come and calm me down when I returned from the meat factory.
"Of course! I know that feeling well! Back then I was alone, and this time I went with the team leader!"
"Right... If you understand, could you get off me now?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll be going."
She really came all the way here just to say that. How could someone who always acted so prickly have such a deep heart?
"Where do you think you're going? Since you're here, you should do what needs to be done."
"What? W-wait?"
"There's so much beer here!"
"Haa... You have to go to work tomorrow, don't you? No. Agents don't drink recklessly. You should stop drinking."
"Huh? Just a moment."
Spandal started clearing my table. While I stood there dumbfounded, she finished cleaning, did the dishes, and put on her shoes.
"Agents must always maintain their condition. Don't drink too much."
"Ah... Yes."
"See you tomorrow."
"..."
Spandal left. Leaving only her scent behind.
My days as an agent began again. Going to work, doing my job. That was my daily routine. There was so much work because of the meat factory incident and the vampire situation. Normally I would have focused on that, but right now I wanted to talk to Jaaldi about what happened last time. However, there was almost no opportunity for that. She said she was still looking into it herself.
"How is that friend doing now?"
"He's still on standby. He'll have time soon, so wait a little. Don't contact him recklessly."
"Yes."
It seemed I'd have to wait a bit before meeting Jin-seop.
"Haa."
I wanted to meet Teacher Kim Seong-han too, and also Slayer and the Nun. After joining the Bureau, I couldn't move freely anymore, so it was really hard to find opportunities. Well, it couldn't be helped. This was also a necessary choice.
Leaving that regret behind, I went to work today as well. What kind of work would I be doing today?
"Hmm?"
Did I come early? There was no one in the office. As I sat down and started preparing for work, the door opened.
"Oh? Grong came first?"
"Senior Jamtree! Good morning!"
"Huhu, I really like that energetic greeting. Want some coffee?"
"I'm having withdrawal symptoms right now."
"I'll make it quickly!"
Jamtree went straight to the break room and made coffee.
"Hehehe, these days I can't work without this."
"Haa, I wish the team leader and Spandal would say that too."
"Instead, I'll tell them for you. But what's that?"
"This?"
Jamtree took something out of the box she'd been fiddling with.
"Headphones?"
It was a pair of headphones. White headphones.
"Aren't the headphones cute?"
"Yes. They're cute."
I didn't particularly feel they were cute, but when asked if something was cute, you just said it was cute.
"Do they suit me?"
Jamtree asked while wearing the headphones.
"Hehehe, they suit you very well. You look like an intellectual musician."
"See? Everyone should have reactions as good as yours, Grong."
Jamtree smiled and stood up from her seat.
"You should try them on too, Grong."
"Yes."
"Here, sit down."
Coming behind me, Jamtree put the headphones on my head.
"How are they?"
Even though I'd worn earphones plenty of times in my life, I'd almost never worn headphones, so I couldn't really tell if they were good or not. Still, since Jamtree had just bought them, I should say they were good.
"Ooh, are these high-end?"
"High-end... They are precious."
"As expected. The fit feels pretty good."
"Right?"
Jamtree fiddled with my hair.
"By the way, Grong. How was it there?"
"Huh? Where?"
"The parallel world. It must have been fascinating."
"Well... It was a bit different, so it was unsettling. But the idea of escaping through the hospital was pretty interesting. I didn't think it would actually work."
"Right. I never thought that would be possible. It's really fascinating."
"Yes. It's fascinating."
"But wasn't there anything else fascinating?"
"Anything else fascinating?"
I didn't remember anything particularly fascinating.
"Yeah. You know, that thing."
Jamtree said.
"How could two Bureau buildings become one?"
"Yes?"
Wait a minute. How did Jamtree know about this?
"Grong."
My body.
"I'm really sorry."
I couldn't put any strength into it.
"I really liked both you and the team leader. Truly."
—Zzzzt.
A strange sound came from the headphones.
You have been permanently missing.
Your existence is disappearing.
...
Ending - Missing Person
...
Proceeding to the next loop.