Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Men #2
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"Hueeeek!!!"
The moment I opened my eyes, I clutched my head.
My brain.
Was my brain still attached?
Those Management Bureau bastards had ripped out my brain!
"Huff! Huff!"
Ragged breaths escaped me as my heart pounded like mad. I looked around. A room filled with crosses. It was the exact same room from that day I'd barely escaped the vampire.
"My room...?"
Was it really my room?
Was this truly my room?
The Management Bureau had extracted my brain!
My brain had been yanked out!
It had been pulled right out, just like that! I'd clearly felt my consciousness abandoning my body and becoming enslaved to my brain!
"Uoooooh!"
Maybe I was just a brain in a vat now!
"You crazy scientist fuckers!"
Those goddamn bastards might've zapped my brain with electricity to create this illusion!
"Ahahahaha!"
Strangely enough, I burst into wild laughter. Could the Management Bureau have sent a laughter signal to my brain? I rolled on the floor, laughing maniacally, before breaking down into sobs, tears streaming.
"You motherfucking shits!"
I could no longer trust reality.
Management Bureau!
What the hell were those transcendent, inhuman fuckers? This world had vampires and shady secret organizations like the Management Bureau!
Crazy Men in Black bastards...!
Were those Management Bureau pricks the so-called "Deep State"? Was all that internet conspiracy crap not the ravings of lunatics, but the truth?
My head felt like it was going to explode.
Those bastards could manipulate coins and stocks at will. They set traps with that shit. They were enormous powerhouses who could do crap like that just to hunt down people who could see the future.
"Never look at coins or stocks, and absolutely never touch them!"
The moment you use future info, they catch you.
There was a reason that scary Pierrot guy had turned into a comedian. With the Management Bureau watching like tigers with glowing eyes, of course he'd play nice.
Thinking about it, that Pierrot guy was always holing up in tombs. It was a bit eccentric, but essential if you wanted to protect yourself from the Management Bureau.
"Hoo, hoo...!"
Imagining fun stuff about the Pierrot guy calmed me a bit. I decided to check my status window.
—Flash!
[●Status Window]
Name: Kim Geunhong
Age: 24
...
...
...
Loop: 2
Death Count: 5
[●Collected Endings]
Only the death count had changed.
"..."
Seeing this somehow calmed me down. It was weird that a bizarre window floating in front of me brought calm, but its sheer unreality made it even more soothing.
Me, a brain in a vat?
At this point, with crap like a status window visible, everything was already fucked anyway. What did being a brain in a vat even matter? And even if I really was one, the brain would eventually die. Then the loop would end or whatever.
"Thanks, Taechang-a."
Status window, status window.
Finally calm.
I got up and stretched. But what the fuck? Why did my body reek of garlic so much?
"Oh."
I'd returned to that day when I fled the vampire and stayed up all night wide-eyed. Of course it'd be like this.
Back then, driven mad by fear, I'd rubbed garlic all over my body like a lunatic. Come to think of it, in the previous loop, I'd done similar shit preparing for war against vampires.
...Looking back, I was insane.
I'd seriously prepped for a holy war, draped myself in cross jewelry, and even got ridiculous cross tattoos. I always carried garlic, silver, and stakes in my bag.
Looks like the fugitive life had driven me nuts. Now that I'd looped, all that stress reset, and my mind cleared up?
I showered hard to wash off the garlic stench.
"Alright. Let's set some policies."
One thing was clear.
"No coins or stocks, ever."
Touch them and you're fucked.
"Next... well, the vampire, I guess."
The Management Bureau.
I'd just encountered those transcendent, inhuman fuckers and died, but that didn't make the vampire any less scary.
I still had to evade its pursuit. Of course, I couldn't act like an obvious vampire hunter like last loop.
"Those Management Bureau assholes... mocked me as a vampire hunter."
They probably had tons of info like that.
No, that's exactly what such a group would do.
Like the Men in Black.
They'd surely seen plenty of people like me, driven mad by vampires, turning into hunters.
"Be as cautious as possible. Evade without showing any madness."
But here's the problem.
Last loop, money wasn't an issue. I'd photocopied cash with coins. So even while pulling all sorts of stunts on the run, I never felt financially pinched.
But now I couldn't... so the fugitive life was gonna suck.
"Hmm."
What to do?
Fugitive life needs money. Plus, I couldn't work long in one place or find jobs around here.
"Guess I'll head to the provinces."
Yeah.
Go to the countryside, find a job with room and board. Manual labor gigs? Those are short-term friendly, so I could probably snag one.
"Job sites."
It'd been ages since I checked job sites. As I thought about searching for work, a sudden idea hit me.
Right now.
What if I searched the internet for Management Bureau stuff?
Would they detect my search history and come for me?
—Thump thump!
My heart raced, cold sweat dripping. Just thinking about researching the Management Bureau brought extreme tension.
"They'd... track me, right?"
Felt like they really would.
But damn it, I wanted to know about the Management Bureau no matter what. Sure, no secret org would post on the regular internet... wait.
"No. Wait. There is. There is info. Stuff I can check."
The internet is infinite.
And among it, there are truly bizarre sites. Boards overrun by lunatics. They yap all day about Deep State and aliens.
What if it's real?
Worth checking.
With that thought, I logged into the site.
[World Politics Bulletin Board]
This site was literally about "world politics."
The problem? "World politics" here was a mishmash of hyper-dimensional conspiracy theories, dismissed by normies as a loony bin fairy tale village.
Hardcore crazies lurked there, spouting weird shit nonstop, while outsiders visited to troll or vibe, playing along before leaving. Total madhouse.
Screw the preconceptions.
I read the posts more seriously than anyone. More than these crazies, even.
No.
These people weren't jokes. They were just like me—people who'd glimpsed the world's underbelly and suffered torment and madness.
-Lately, parasites keep coming out of my brain, any coping tips?
-In my view, the US presidency has never once since ancient times
-Gulf War UFO, found this on deep web
-These days. The state of affairs. Is not. Good.
-You agents know I know you're monitoring this board, right?
-My ears have bugs in them, but no one believes me
All titles were provocative.
Normally, I'd have enjoyed their worldview for kicks. Maybe shaken my head and bailed.
"I couldn't open my eyes before..."
Now I knew.
Truth hid here.
No need to search Management Bureau directly. They'd hidden among the crazies. Browsing this board wouldn't trigger tracking.
I opened every post in new tabs. Individually, most were meaningless—standard conspiracy fare anywhere.
But some grabbed my attention hard.
-Recently, men in black suits have been tailing me
-Agents are watching me, I'm telling you?
That was...!
Posts about eerie men in black suits and sunglasses!
Sure, the info wasn't super useful. Just rumors they dragged people off somewhere or erased identities without a trace.
"This is real."
Management Bureau agents exist. Probably some here had dealt with them.
I scrolled pages, focusing on keywords like "agents" or "black-suited men."
Read every post thoroughly.
Eyes burning, hunting for any scrap of info.
How much time passed?
—Knock knock.
A knock came.
"Anyone home?"
"What...?"
It was already late morning. I'd stared at the board all night. Too stimulating to stop...
"Anyone home?"
But who was visiting?
No delivery ordered.
—Rustle.
As I stood.
A ominous chill crept from my toes up—an illusion, maybe.
"Ha, haha..."
No way.
Right?
"Anyone home."
I crept to the door cautiously. Who was out there? Please be normal.
Thinking that, I slowly.
Peeked through the peephole.
"..."
Pitch black.
Nothing visible.
"I know you're in there."
"Huh?!"
—Boom!
The door burst open violently. Chain was on, but a strong hand reached in, twisted something like a steel plate, and snap—the chain broke.
"Wha-what?!"
Management Bureau!
It was them!
Had they tracked me just for browsing a board overnight?!
"No!"
Snapping to, I bolted to the kitchen for a kitchen knife. Meanwhile, the black-suited men invaded.
"Get lost, you fucking dogs!!!"
—Thwip!
Ah.
My body.
Falling.
Heart...
"Target eliminated."
.
.
.
[You died from a gunshot.]
[Death Count 5 → 6]
[Restarting.]