Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Second Resolution #3
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The moment I selected the Ability Random Box.
[Ding!]
[You have acquired a new ability.]
[You can now obtain useful hints.]
"Whoa?! Useful hints?!"
For once, something normal—no!
Something actually proper had come up!
My heart started pounding.
[Ba-dump Ba-dump!]
Not from fear, but from excitement and surprise.
I could barely remember the last time I'd felt this way. It was genuinely shocking.
How great would it be if this happened every time?
Detection was total garbage, and Action Repetition was somewhat usable but didn't make much of a difference. But useful hints? This looked good just from the name.
Does this mean I can get hints related to resolving anomalies when I encounter them? If so, that would be amazing. Knowing just the hints could turn three deaths into one.
"If only I'd gotten something like this sooner!"
If this had been my first ability, it could've drastically reduced my Death Count.
Then it would've been SSS-grade Grong life from the start.
Still, I should be grateful it came now.
Not everything has to be bad and horrific. I'd just been anxious about that mail bomb threat moments ago, but now a usable ability had popped up, offsetting the fear somewhat.
"But how do I use it?"
Is it like Detection, where info pops up when I encounter an anomaly? If so, I probably can't test it right now. Too bad—I'll try next time. No way I'm testing abilities just to see what jumps out.
Honestly, I'm scared a ghost might grab my neck if I'm alone.
"Hoo!"
Still, my improved mood let me get some decent sleep.
Spandal in my dream had extremely long hair.
The next day.
I headed to the Management Bureau.
I couldn't even remember the last time I'd commuted like this. How could going to work once be so difficult and drawn out?
It felt like I'd been at the Bureau forever, but it hadn't actually been that long, and I wasn't even that familiar with the office building.
Giant apocalypse, vampire apocalypse... who knows how many years had passed.
"Good morning."
I greeted as I entered the Comprehensive Response Team office.
"Morning, morning. Grong's here?"
"Yeah."
Jamtree always arrived early.
"Want me to make you coffee?"
She stood up as she said it, but I couldn't let a senior make coffee for me right this second after arriving.
"No way I can make Jamtree Senior go through the trouble first thing. Let me make it."
"Sit down. The break room's my domain. Making coffee is my joy."
"But...! I want to make it for you!"
"Hehe, give up."
And so Jamtree made her usual sweetened condensed milk mix coffee.
The day really starts with coffee.
Sweet stuff isn't bad either.
"Tasty, right?"
"Heh heh heh, now it feels like the day's really starting. The sugar's waking up my head and brain."
"Yeah. Grong always gives such detailed impressions."
Jamtree smiled warmly at my words.
"Jaaldi Team Leader and Spandal don't give any reactions—it's no fun. They just say it's good."
"How can you drink this and have no reaction? It loosens me right up."
"That's exactly it! That's the kind of impression!"
Since neither of the other two had arrived yet, we passed the time chatting like that. Then the office door opened.
"Good morning!"
It was Jaaldi and Spandal.
"Good morning. Alright, sit down everyone—we're busy."
Did we have work?
I took my seat immediately.
"Spandal, Jamtree. Today we're handling perception interference management. Same as usual."
"Got it."
"Understood."
Perception interference management?
"Grong. Today's job is exactly that: management and monitoring. I was going to send you to support the Isolation Team today to get you up to speed, but the large-scale perception interference from the vampire incident has left a lot to clean up."
I could guess.
"Finding people where the perception interference didn't fully take hold?"
"Good intuition as always. Close enough. We need to stop 'rumors' from spreading online."
Internet monitoring duty, huh.
"This is crucial work. We can't have fake Management Bureau guys showing up for people where the interference is iffy."
"Whoa! You're right! If people who learned the world's secrets start acting up online and the fakes come knocking...!"
"They'd just vanish."
We had to prevent that!
"Spandal, show Grong how it's done."
"Grong, over here."
"Yes."
I moved right next to Spandal.
As expected, a nice fragrance wafted from her. Familiar, yet somehow still new. If her hair were long, I'd have reached out to fiddle with it.
"This program's it. Run it, and it'll identify posts from people suspicious about this incident. Delete them or edit the content."
"Huh? Delete or edit? Won't that make them go nuts, thinking they're crazy?"
My post got changed!!!!
The government's watching me!!!!
It was obvious that'd happen.
I knew because I'd been there. Their delusions become reality, they dive into places like the World Politics Bulletin Board, and end up getting visited by the fakes.
"Of course it would."
"Right? Better to delete the posts and go wipe their memories ASAP."
"Yeah. We'll do that."
"Huh?"
"I'll pass you the identified data, so track down their info. As fast as possible. Don't disappoint this senior, okay? You're a seasoned agent now, right?"
Such provocation.
"Hearing that, I can't hold back. Time to show my skills."
I immediately dug into the task and identified people's personal details and locations.
But going to people who've glimpsed the world's secrets as an 'agent'...
It felt eerily similar to what the fake Management Bureau did.
Of course, the fakes would kidnap them and yank out their brains. We just wiped memories, so it was definitely different.
Wait.
Yank out brains?
That was my preconception talking.
They wouldn't always do that.
Fake Management Bureau... Jinseop... maybe Jinseop got caught up in an anomaly and taken by them? Maybe he agreed to become an agent instead of getting his brain pulled?
They weren't 100% anomalies. With Jinseop there, there had to be humans.
I mulled that over but focused on the work, narrowing down a few people.
"These are the ones where perception interference didn't stick properly, right?"
"Yeah."
"Once compiled, print it out and bring it."
"Got it. Oh, Jaaldi Team Leader. So in the afternoon, we head out to wipe memories?"
"Another team's handling that. We're just doing this today."
Curious about the other teams too.
And so.
We spent the whole day monitoring the internet, identifying people where perception interference hadn't fully worked. Even for a city-wide incident, quite a few turned up.
"But Jaaldi Team Leader, with so many people questioning things on this scale, won't fake Management Bureau guys pop up everywhere?"
"Not necessarily. Multiples actually make them less likely to show."
"Really?"
"It's just stats. We don't fully grasp their appearance conditions either."
Whether they come or not is random, huh.
After wrapping up, I clocked out.
A totally ordinary office worker day.
How nice if every day were like this.
It had been a pretty laid-back day, so it felt somewhat healing.
Better than rolling through hellholes—smashing keys in a cool office was the way. Plus, Spandal was there for eye candy.
Even if my heart still felt uneasy.
Anyway.
Even for a seasoned agent like me, nonstop death and pain would drive anyone mad eventually.
I'll take it easy for a bit.
Stay cautious to avoid anomalies, slowly recover my battle-hardened mental strength. Gotta refresh to go the distance.
"Hmm."
What helps recovery?
Maybe pick up a hobby?
Ah...!
Right!
"Vampire hunters!"
To truly heal, hanging out with them would be best.
Spending good times together, swapping fun stories, cracking jokes, playing board games—my heart would fill right up, turning me into a mighty warrior of love who could conquer any trial.
So I started gathering info to find the vampire hunters.
Where to look?
The World Politics Bulletin Board, probably?
The instant I turned on my computer.
"Hup."
Someone was pounding on my front door. I hadn't ordered delivery.
"..."
This... Felt off. Specifically, it was exactly like that time long ago when I was devouring the World Politics Bulletin Board at home and fake Management Bureau agents showed up. For real? Had these bastards actually come for me? What did I even do? I grabbed my pistol while questioning it—the self-defense one from the Bureau. You've gotta carry at least that to keep face. Fake Management Bureau scum... you think I'll go down like old times? I'm Management Bureau agent Grong. Come in, and you're dead. The banging continued. But something was weird. This loud, neighbors should've come to check by now? It's an apartment. The ones across should hear it fine. I cautiously peeked through the door hole. Sound kept coming. Door shaking. But no one visible...
"..."
That's when black unease spread through my chest. Quietly, very quietly, I tapped the intercom to check the front CCTV. Something was there. ...A ghost-like thing with long hair hanging down. Oh, fuck... why the hell now...! [Ding!]
How long ago was the vampire angel bullshit, and now a ghost shows up?!
Hints!
Where's the hint?
Isn't this exactly when it should pop up?
[Ding!]
How is this useful, you piece of shit!
I pointed at the message window and mentally berated it. Not out loud, of course.
Act like I'm not home!
Pretend no one's here!
[Click!]
Suddenly, the front door opened.
[Whoosh!]
The disheveled-haired ghost darted in and grabbed my face.
.
.
.
[You were killed after your organs were stolen.]
[Death Count: 16(-1) -> 17(-1)]
.
.
.
"Fuck this!"
How long ago did my Death Count go down, and this bastard kills me again!
"Fine, you fucker! Let's do this!"
Bring it! I'm Management Bureau Grong!
You minor ghost shit, I'll kill you no matter what!
Roaring from the sofa in my regression spot—my home—I grabbed my phone.
"Spandal Senior! Help! There's a ghost at my place!"