Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Let's Go on an Adventure
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Opening the internet browser brought up a strange community site on the bulky CRT monitor screen.
Out of curiosity, I clicked on a random post.
📰 Breaking News Has anyone seen the new anomaly entity??? 💬 Comments — 1 I heard a new anomaly came in today. Anyone see it? — 2 ↳ Reply It was humanoid. Looked like a little girl. — 2 ↳ Reply She was wearing a dress and looked super cute. — 1 Who the hell is 2? Anomaly pervert or what? — 2 Then does that mean there's someone working here who's not an anomaly pervert? — 1 You're the only anomaly pervert here, 2... — 3 Rumor has it she said her goal is to help people? — 4 ↳ Reply This is true. Official announcement should be up soon. — 5 These types are the worst. Another weirdo shows up. — 6 Lmao fr, looks like a little girl but says her goal is helping people? This one's gonna blow up and take out a whole city lololol — 7 6, you new? Rampage talk is taboo here, so don't bring it up again. — 6 Sorry. I'll be careful from now on. A bizarre community I'd never seen before filled my eyes.
It resembled the blue community I used to frequent before falling into the Backrooms, yet felt subtly different.
Everyone seemed to be talking about me, so I decided to leave a comment myself.
Gazing down at the keyboard, I typed out a comment one key at a time.
⭐ Top Comment — 99999 Honeslty, the new anomaly seeems cuuute?? Hangul still wasn't familiar, and typing on the keyboard felt awkward, so there were a ton of typos.
But it was legible enough, so it should be fine.
The moment I posted the comment, replies started flooding in.
— 6 What the hell is this??? — 1 Why'd this one jump straight to 99999? — 7 Whoever wrote this comment, report it to the higher-ups immediately. — 8 There's more comments than research institute staff lol what is this Seeing everyone react so enthusiastically to my comment made me feel good.
I should post more often from now on.
I was playing around with the computer when suddenly the doorbell rang from the visitor entrance.
Static crackled from the mic, followed by a voice coming through from somewhere.
"Hello, I'm the researcher assigned to your care. I need to do a quick check-up. Is it okay if I come into the room now?"
A woman's voice, thick with exhaustion, rang out.
Not sure how to respond, I glanced around and spotted what looked like a CCTV camera in one corner of the ceiling.
Staring at the surveillance camera, I raised both arms and formed circles with them to signal it was okay to enter.
Soon, the triple-layered entrance opened one by one, and a young woman stepped into the room.
She had long brown hair cascading down and wore a white lab coat.
Her face was quite beautiful, but the dark circles and weary expression made her seem more pitiful than pretty.
"Hello~. Mind if we chat for a bit?"
"Sure, that's fine."
Even though she'd already asked permission before entering, she asked again now that we were face-to-face.
There was no proper seating for guests in the room, so the woman sat cross-legged on the floor.
I followed suit, settling lightly onto the room floor.
"My name is Lee Se-hwa. Nice to meet you."
The woman who introduced herself as Se-hwa bowed her head politely.
"How should I talk to you? I heard Kim Hyun-seong uses casual speech with you."
"Whatever's comfortable for you. I don't mind."
"Okay then... I'll use casual speech. That cool?"
Se-hwa's faint smile stood out sharply against her tired face.
I nodded slightly to show it was fine.
"First off, the institute needs to give you a nickname. Hyun-seong suggested 'Black Princess.' How's that sound?"
"Sounds good."
I didn't really care what they called me, but I was satisfied to learn why Hyun-seong had called me 'Princess.'
Apparently, I looked like a princess to him.
Seeing my approval, the woman jotted something briefly on the papers she'd brought.
"Next is your purpose. You said you want to help humans, right?"
"Yes."
"Mind if I ask why?"
Saying I wanted to help humans had just been a spur-of-the-moment fib to fit the situation.
Admitting it was a lie now might get me kicked out of the institute.
I didn't want to lose my home, so I'd have to keep up the pretense for a while.
"I just want to help because I want to. Is that not a good enough reason?"
"Ahaha, sure, that's fine. We get a lot of those here at this institute..."
Se-hwa let out a hollow laugh, as if she was used to it, and noted something on her papers.
Her face looked somehow sad as she stared at the documents, but I couldn't figure out why.
"Next up is the physical contact test. Is it okay if I touch you, Princess?"
"Where?"
"Hand or face, something like that. Just a light touch. To check your health."
I silently extended my right hand, and Se-hwa reached out with both of hers, carefully kneading my hand.
She spread and bent my fingers, stroked the back of my hand, and kept at it for a good while.
Eventually, she leaned in cautiously and slowly brought both hands toward my face.
I just stared at her blankly without reacting, and she gently touched my cheek.
"Ahh~ wanna try?"
After pinching and prodding my cheek for a bit, Se-hwa opened her mouth wide and said.
"Ahh~."
Not knowing what was going on, I mimicked her, and Se-hwa pulled out a palm-sized mini flashlight like you'd see at the dentist and shone it into my mouth.
She examined every corner of my mouth before sitting back down.
"Thanks for cooperating. I need to log this, so hang tight for a sec. Oh, right. You and Hyun-seong seem to get along. What do you think of him?"
"That old guy kept trying to touch me."
My deadpan response made Se-hwa's hand, which had been busily writing, freeze.
She glanced up cautiously and looked at me.
"Uh... w-what do you mean by that?"
"He tried to touch me whenever he got the chance. He clearly likes little girls. Well, aside from that, I don't hate the old guy or anything. I don't really think about him at all."
Se-hwa's eyes shook wildly, her lips twitching.
She seemed to wrestle with something, then shook her head slightly and focused back on her papers.
Once she finished writing, Se-hwa said her goodbyes, promised to come back tomorrow, and left the room.
I was alone again.
I rolled around on the bed, savoring the plush comfort I'd missed for so long.
After that, I browsed the staff community on the computer or bounced around on the bed to kill time.
As time passed, boredom started creeping in more and more.
"Maybe I should go out?"
Unable to beat the boredom any longer, I decided to head outside.
I approached the entrance and grabbed the handle.
"How the heck does this open? Hmm... whatever."
The handle was weirdly shaped, impossible to open normally, so I just applied some force and ripped the door open.
I didn't want to break too much and get kicked out, so I only cracked the other double doors a little.
With that, I set off on my adventure outside the room.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [New Anomaly Entity Primary Investigation Report (Summary)] Code Number: AS-L-326 Alias: Black Princess Grade: Undetermined The entity appears as a young girl wearing a gothic-style dress. Most physical features, including oral structure, closely resemble those of a human, but it possesses reverse eyes without sclera. It claims its purpose is to help humans but provides no reason for this. There is also a tip that it can ■■ ■■, but this has not yet been verified. Given its ability to communicate smoothly, its risk level is expected to be low. Estimated Risk Level: Very Low "Phew. Finally done."
Se-hwa stretched after finishing the report.
She tilted her coffee mug to wet her throat and scanned the calendar to check tomorrow's schedule.
"Tomorrow's tests are physical resistance measurement, strength check, and ability examination. Hope she doesn't mind the needle."
Se-hwa recalled a former colleague who'd been killed by an anomaly while injecting it—humanoid type.
Whether fortunate or not, this anomaly seemed docile, so there was no need for a proxy unit, nor any chance of approval for one.
All the scheduled tests would have to be done personally.
"For an anomaly, she was pretty cute..."
She was used to seeing grotesque horrors that made her want to vomit just looking at them.
She should've been tense and scared, but for some reason, she looked forward to seeing the Black Princess tomorrow.