Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Poison Against Poison #2
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It just feels inhuman, nothing more.
I'd gone through all sorts of ghostly horrors underground and died five times, after all.
Honestly, I'm still utterly confused. If the Status Window message hadn't appeared, I'd probably be lost in madness right now, wandering in a space disconnected from reality.
In my current state of mind, I want to bolt upright even in my sleep and reject the Management Bureau outright.
But those horrific episodes have all become past events due to the loop... Today, all I did was bawl my eyes out while sniffing Spandal's scent, get help with low-risk containment duties, and greet the Containment Team.
If I had to sum up my impressions at this point, it'd be... uneventful.
"My impressions... To be honest, I was a bit shocked to learn that the Management Bureau is raising monsters underground. And actually working with them up close felt a little scary."
"Hoo, is that so."
"Yes. But I figure you'll get used to it eventually, right? I handled duties with the Tooth Tree and Tooth Fairy, and it wasn't hard at all. If anything, it made me want to learn more about the Management Bureau's secrets."
This was sincere.
Once you've joined the Management Bureau, there's no option to leave.
They say they can just erase your memories, but who knows how that would play out—and with loops in the mix, everything would probably get tangled up.
But man, I really don't want to do containment duties... Anyway. If I can uncover the Management Bureau's secrets, I'll have a clearer grasp of my situation. I've realized just how crucial information is—nothing else comes close.
"That's a solid impression. Good mindset for an agent."
"I must have a natural talent for being an agent."
"If you adapt quickly, that's a good thing. The truth is, we often get new recruits who get so scared just seeing low-risk entities that they request memory erasure."
"I can imagine."
Stepping into the underside of the world isn't something you do lightly. Getting frightened is the normal reaction. Only someone a bit off in the head could become an agent.
"But I'm different. I'll do this agent thing properly."
Jaaldi gave a faint smile at my words.
"Got it. Now that you're an official agent, I can share some more details."
"More details?"
"Naturally, we don't tell new recruits most of the information. Even regular companies are like that. What rookies can know is limited."
"Yeah... You're right. In a secret organization like this, it'd be even stricter. I really haven't been told much."
I'd picked up a few bits since joining the Management Bureau, but nothing truly useful about the world's secrets.
Was she going to tell me now?
"From here on, I'll fill you in more thoroughly. Jamtree. We're doing a team dinner tonight."
"Oh, really?"
"To officially welcome Grong."
Team dinner?
"Already? That's fast."
Spandal, standing behind me, chimed in.
"Wow. So you're throwing me a team dinner now that I'm officially recognized?"
"That's right."
"Heh heh heh. Thank you."
The words "team dinner" made me grin, but I couldn't shake off the question that bubbled up.
The incident underground.
Going through that had proven that activating the Reality Recognition Device and encountering the vampire wasn't complete fantasy.
But back then, I hadn't been called an official agent, and there was no team dinner. Jaaldi had just encouraged me, saying I'd done well, and sent me home early because seeing monsters must've been tough.
Even when going to catch the vampire... she'd said newbies like me wouldn't come along. I'd insisted strongly to join.
So what had changed this time to make me an official agent with a team dinner?
"Grong. Any preferences? I'll book the spot now."
Jamtree said from her seat.
"How about unlimited pork offal at Moran Market?"
"What?! No way! Grong?! For real?!"
"Kidding. Where do you usually go? I'm fine with anything—pick your usual spot. Isn't getting used to the team about that kind of thing?"
"Haa... You scared me."
Jamtree let out a breath and clutched her chest.
"Spandal. Poke Grong with a thorn. That really startled me. I thought you meant it."
"Grong knows how to joke around, huh?"
"Uh."
Spandal pulled a small spike-like thing from her fingertip and jabbed my side with it.
"Eek! Eeeek!"
She could make spikes like this too, not just thorns...!
—Whirrr.
And was it vibrating or spinning? The stimulation was intense. Getting prodded in the side like that was way too ticklish.
"Senior Spandal! Hold on! Stop! My bad!"
"Here good? Or here?"
"Nooo!"
It tickled so much I thought I'd die!
"That's enough. Let him go. Nearly gave me a heart attack. We traditionally go wherever the newbie picks... but this could've turned dangerous. Jamtree. Book our usual spot."
"Yes, yes."
I was looking forward to wherever we ended up.
"Anyway. Grong. I'll tell you more about the Management Bureau. Have a seat there first."
"Yes."
I sat as instructed.
"Grong. Want some coffee? What kind?"
"Thanks. I like mix."
"Oh, you're a mix guy? Finally, a fellow convert."
"Fellow? You mean Team Leader Jaaldi and Spandal like black?"
"Yep. Makes it boring. I'll make it right away."
Jamtree seemed to double as the office manager.
She soon brought the coffee.
Mix coffee is the best.
"Wow, looks tasty. Cheers."
"How is it?"
Hey, this place is a coffee haven.
"It's good. Better than what that old guy made for me back during my labor gig days."
"La, labor gig? What kind of comparison is that?"
"Day labor guys are ghosts at brewing mix coffee. Wow, it's really good."
"Grong compliments in such weird ways..."
About halfway through, Jaaldi sat across from me.
"That's sweetened with condensed milk. Don't drink too much or you'll gain weight."
"Oh, so that's the condensed milk flavor."
"Yeah."
Jaaldi stared at me with an expressionless face.
"Grong. In this short time, you've probably had a ton of questions about our Management Bureau. Right?"
"Yes. It's all pretty suspicious."
"Suspicious... Fair enough. But it has to be that way."
It has to be?
"You saw it in the underground containment facility—the Management Bureau uses anomalies."
"Ah."
"Special tech or methods? A lot come from anomalies. We collect and contain the ones we can control, then use their byproducts. That's how we fight even more anomalies."
"..."
"Modern tech alone can't cut it."
I nodded at that.
"Like poison against poison?"
"Exactly. Poison against poison."
Poison against poison.
"Anomalies, strange tales, bizarre phenomena, abnormal occurrences—they transcend common sense and perception. Some low-grade ones can be handled with brute force or simple gimmicks, but others? We might not even know how to solve them, let alone overpower them."
"And that's when you use them?"
Jaaldi nodded.
"Yeah. That's precisely when we use what the Management Bureau has collected."
"Like fighting anomaly with anomaly."
"Close enough. Of course, it's not perfect. Extremely unstable. It defies logic from the start. Still, when anomalies clash or interfere with each other... something happens. If that resolves it, we make it the official solution."
Something happens when they interfere.
That reminded me of something.
"So, Team Leader Jaaldi. Say someone’s possessed by a ghost. That’d be a bizarre phenomenon, right?"
"Probably."
"You could shoot the host, but that wouldn’t exorcise the ghost?"
"Unless it flees when the host dies. Here, the trick is exorcising while the host is alive."
"Right. So using an anomaly that drives out ghosts? That could work."
"Spot on."
Then...
In that underground madness... Gognija could communicate to some degree because he'd taken Cheongak Mary Hospital medicine.
Makes sense.
As Containment Team Leader, he'd be an expert in that area, using poison-against-poison principles to resist the darkness's madness. Like anomalies and strange tales neutralizing each other.
But if this theory holds...
The Management Bureau with the lights out... that really is a bizarre phenomenon. When it's eroded by one, Spandal turns into a monster, and contained entities break out en masse.
"That's how we use anomalies. And it doesn't just happen in containment cells. It applies to the whole Management Bureau building."
"Huh? You mean...?"
"On the big scale, the veil hiding the Management Bureau itself. Oh, ever thought about this?"
"Tell me."
"How we're awfully lax about recruiting newbies for a secret agent org."
True.
I'd thought that too.
Selecting agents for such a secretive group, and all I got was a simple check.
"It was definitely less rigorous than a pre-military physical."
"That's part of it. Testing and recording superpowers is a really bad idea."
"Why's th—?"
"Hard to explain. And being this lax means spies or fakes could slip in."
"I wondered about that too."
If we scouted someone who survived an anomaly but had turned into a monster? Wouldn't the Management Bureau just get hit?
Guess they had something for that.
"Even if a fake slips in, the Management Bureau knows."
"Using anomalies for that too?"
"Mostly. And it's not good to know too much about it."
What could it be?
This Q&A cleared up a few questions. Poison against poison—that's how the Management Bureau handles anomalies.
"You'll use anomalies too someday, Grong. Always stay calm and composed. The ones we use are controllable by default."
"No mistakes, and it's safe. Like handling a bomb, then."
"Good perspective. Any questions?"
Questions.
Perfect.
Still, I had to ask this.
I organized my thoughts briefly, then spoke.
"Oh, Team Leader Jaaldi. There was a rule about that. When the Management Bureau seems off or the lights go out. I'm curious about it."
"Hmm... Hard to explain the details."
"Just hear me out. I was thinking about it in the underground containment facility. On the surface floors, if all the lights go out, you could probably escape somehow. But underground? Tougher, right?"
"Ask the Containment Team Leader."
"Oh, I saw the escape device."
"Then?"
The lab's emergency exit.
Jaaldi knew about it too.
"If the basement suddenly goes dark, what then? Just use the escape device?"
The moment I mentioned the lights going out...
"..."
Jaaldi started staring at me intently.