Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Frozen Human Meat Factory #5
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Another world adventure.
Just hearing the words makes your heart race with excitement. It sounds like you'll slay monsters, level up, and have the time of your life.
"Fuck."
The problem is that my heart's pounding purely out of terror because all that's out there are horrific monsters.
I can't accept this kind of isekai.
Still, let's think positively.
Maybe it's because the trend has passed, but I've heard that modern isekais have no dreams or hope. It's usually about grinding away in a painful medieval fantasy world just to scrape by, getting tormented by some weird witch.
Well, even in a world like that, it'd probably be fun to go on a group trip with my vampire hunter buddies.
Anyway.
I kept my guard up in all four directions, scanning my surroundings while using the piles of cover scattered here and there to move.
This place seems to be factory grounds. There's a factory and a cannery. That means besides those butcher monsters outside, there are probably civilian monsters living normal lives.
This is literally a parallel dimension where monsters live.
Which ultimately means taking out the butcher monsters in this factory wouldn't accomplish anything. Kill them, and police monsters would show up. Kill those, and maybe an army of monsters comes next.
The key isn't defeating them.
It's finding a way to escape.
As I wandered around looking...
—Ding ding ding!
I heard a bell-like chime I'd never heard before.
I immediately took cover and observed the situation.
"..."
After a short wait, butcher monsters started emerging from the factory. Dozens of them... Could this be the signal for break time?
Are they all coming out to catch their breath?
Up close like this, they don't look all that different from humans despite their monstrous appearance. That's a good start. I've gained useful info on break times.
If I'd been inside, I would've gotten caught in the stampede of monsters pouring out under the guise of a break.
I hunkered down like a dead mouse.
—Thud thud.
The butcher monsters passed by nearby, but... thanks to the scent enchantment, they didn't notice me.
How much time passed?
—Ding ding ding!
The bell rang again.
The monsters headed back into the factory.
Looks like break time's over.
I waited until they were all inside before stepping out. Thank goodness for that pile of waste.
Alright, time to resume exploration.
Right now, I'm Alice.
Alice in a wonderland gone wrong.
"..."
Should I head out of the factory grounds? I'm curious what's outside. Maybe they have cars or something they drive around in.
As I moved with those thoughts...
—Rustle.
I sensed a presence.
"...!"
I instantly drew my pistol and whipped my head around, aiming toward the sound to find its source. A monster? No. Their builds are bigger than humans. It couldn't hide. Then another type of monster?
As I thought that...
"D-Don't shoot!"
The ground opened like a lid, and a person climbed out from inside!
"I'm human, hu-human! Not a monster!"
What the hell is this guy...?
I approached while keeping my pistol trained on him.
"What are you?"
A person?
No way, a survivor from this factory?
There are survivors!
What incredible luck to survive here!
He must have written something in the notebook.
What loop number?
Either way, high chance he has useful info.
"Survivor! I'm a survivor! Don't shoot! Hic, sniff! It's been forever since I saw another person...!"
But he looks completely unhinged.
Like a homeless guy evolved into a wild man. Hair all over the place, face pitch black with grime. Eyes darting wildly—definitely not right in the head.
"You can't stay out there! Come in...! They could show up any second!"
The man spoke while trembling.
It does seem safer inside his burrow than out in the open.
But I can't trust him... He claims to be a survivor, but I don't know his deal. If he's someone who woke up in the factory bathroom and survived, how the hell has he made it this long?
Even so.
"Got it."
This is intel.
I approached him.
Plus, if he really is a survivor, I can't just leave him.
"Come in! Come on in!"
He welcomed me like crazy. Must be starved for human company and lonely as hell.
He stepped aside a bit and held the lid.
I glanced left and right before entering the burrow.
Once inside the dark hole, he closed the lid behind me.
Pitch black.
—Flick!
Light suddenly came on.
He held some strange tool in his hand.
"This your hideout?"
"Y-Yeah! I made it!"
Digging under the factory grounds and making a lid for a little hideout... impressive survival instinct. That glowing tool looks unusual. Something he found here?
"Heh, heh, heh... Wow, a real person...! Ha, haha!"
He rambled as he stared at me.
"Sniff! Hic! Sniff! I don't even know how long it's been!"
Laughing, crying, shaking.
Natural reaction.
Surviving this insane world would drive anyone mad. I let him calm down quietly.
Come to think of it, this is my first time encountering a civilian caught up in an anomaly like this as an agent. How should I handle it? Reveal my Management Bureau status?
After about five minutes of thinking while waiting for him to settle...
"Survivor, right?"
"Yeah!"
"You saw the notebook?"
"Yeah! The notebook! You saw what I wrote?!"
"Lots of people wrote in it. What number are you?"
"Number 5...! I'm 5!"
Number 5?
Ah!
Number 5, the sharp one!
A Sejeongge user too!
"The one who said to erase personal info?"
"Yeah! That's me! I wrote last, right? Said I'd find the factory gate!"
Definite match.
Number 5 said he'd gathered info and was heading outside the factory. Then 6 showed up, so I figured he died, but he's survived here.
"You wrote to meet on Sejeongge! You know Sejeongge?!"
His eyes lit up as he spoke like an old friend he hadn't seen in decades.
"I know it. Use it often."
"Whoa...! See? Stuff like this really exists in the world! Haha! You, you! Fixed nick? Or anon? If fixed, I might know you...!"
Most users I saw on the board were anons.
"Fixed nicks get tracked."
"Right! But the way you talk, you know stuff but you're not a real fixed nick!"
"Real fixed nick? What's that mean?"
"U-Us! Real fixed nicks use the board but also secret messengers! If you were one, you'd get an invite link!"
"..."
Sejeongge had that too?
"To dodge the Management Bureau."
"Yeah! Yeah! To avoid the Bureau! If they catch you, you're gone—poof! Huh?!"
His eyes suddenly widened as he chattered excitedly.
Then he breathed raggedly and yelled in fear.
"Black suit, pistol—you're not from the Management Bureau, are you?!"
"Calm down. I'll explain. First off, yeah, I'm from the Management Bureau."
"Aaah!"
"Quiet."
I reached out and clamped his mouth shut.
Number 5 in the notebook seemed ice-cold rational, but now? Nothing like that.
"The Management Bureau you know—what's it like? An org that grabs people who uncover world secrets, right?"
"Th-That's it...! Tons of my buddies vanished! Holy shit! A real Bureau guy shows up!"
"Calm down. That's just urban legend bullshit."
"Wha...?"
"There are two kinds of Management Bureau in this world. One's like you said: hunts down people who learn world secrets and eliminates them. We call that the fake Management Bureau."
"Fake Management Bureau...?"
His eyes bulged.
"I'm from the real Management Bureau. We war with those fakes and protect victims like you."
"Th-That's how it was?!"
Yeah, shocking.
I was shocked at first too.
"So you can trust me. I'm Grong, real Management Bureau agent. Code name. What's your name?"
"I'm Kim Seong-jin... R-Really? About the Bureau?"
"Yeah. But that's not important now. You. How've you survived this long? What'd you eat? How much time's passed? Answer."
"Uh, well..."
Kim Seong-jin scratched his head.
"F-Food's everywhere on the ground...? Like those meat weeds..."
"Like the fuzzy tufts?"
"Yeah! Edible! Ha, haha... Weird, right? But gotta eat! Starve otherwise! I'd dieee! Waaah!"
He suddenly freaked, clawing at his hair.
I muffled his mouth again.
"I get it. Survival choice. Nothing weird. I understand. I'd do the same."
"Ah, aa! Sniff!"
"Lots of people make tough calls to survive. Focus on the fact you lived. That's what matters most."
"Kuh...! Sniff, hic!"
Who knew I'd do counseling.
Kim Seong-jin sobbed for a good while, emotions overflowing.
I waited silently.
Still.
He could eat those fuzzy weeds.
"But Kim Seong-jin. Water? Where'd you get water?"
"Hoo... B-Behind the factory, there's a waste dump... N-Not totally filthy water. So I could drink it..."
"Good job. How long you been here since arriving?"
"Dunno... Forever... So long..."
Enough time to go mad.
But that madness let him build the hideout and survive on weeds and wastewater.
In this insane world, madness isn't optional.
It's required for survival.
Number 5 indeed.
As the notebook showed, he's got survival will and smarts.
"Couldn't go back to that bathroom? You could've written more in the notebook."
"I did! But couldn't write anything!"
"What?"
"I-I wrote that and went out. To learn about this world. But I failed... Felt like I'd get spotted. P-People can't explore this place anyway? And! Scared to re-enter the factory! So I hid nearby... Lived like that."
Rambling.
"Went back to the bathroom once. But couldn't write... It was updated to 7 already... Th-Think my turn passed, so no more writes."
Seong-jin gnawed his thumb.
"Supernatural notebook after all."
Seems it has usage rules.
"Yeah! Can't even take it outside!"
"Tried that. Wouldn't let me."
"Right right! A-Anyway! You're a Bureau agent! Here to save folks like us?!"
Finally, a positive light on Seong-jin's face. The look of someone grasping a sliver of hope from utter despair.
I...
Haven't found an escape yet.
Not here to save. Got dragged in.
"..."
Thought about what to say.
My decision: team up with him.
He's been here ages, knows more than me.
"Yeah, here to save you."
"Ah, aa! Finally! Finallyyy! I can get out!"
"Wait. I'm looking for escape too."
"Wha...?"
"Tons of anomalies like this. Not just human meat factories—horror hospitals too. As agent, I get deployed, find escapes. Rescue victims, make rulebooks for future folks."
Not a lie.
That's our job.
"Same here. So let's team up. Find escape together. After, our Bureau can memory-wipe you. Forget the horror, back to society. Got it?"
"Yeah, got it! Got it! Whatever you say! Got it!"
He nodded furiously.
"Sniff! Thank god...! Didn't wanna die here! G-Grong, right? Don't leave me! I'll do anything! Take me when you escape! Please! I wanna go home...!"
"Got it, calm down. Kim Seong-jin. We're both Sejeongge users. Let's combine forces."
"Y-Yeah! I'll work hard! B-Bureau agents use Sejeongge too..."
"Surprisingly good stuff. Fake Bureau posts too. Oh, wanna know about you Sejeongge users."
"I-I don't know much..."
Not important now.
"Not asking now. Focus on escape. So Kim Seong-jin. Tell me everything you've learned surviving here."
"I-I'll tell! Tell everything. I know lots. Stuff I figured out here."
He started talking, shaking dandruff from his hair.