To the Bureau

After I agreed to cooperate with the Bureau, I floated a request to Geum Bitnari.

Couldn't we stop by a restaurant nearby on the way?

Let me eat something. Please.

According to Error, I was a body that could keep living without food... but the hunger still registered, vivid and completely pointless.

"Ah... come to think of it, you did say you were starving."

Geum Bitnari already knew I was hungry. Of course she did. She'd been watching the stream.

"Understood. We'll stop at a restaurant on the way, then."

"Thank you."

We didn't leave immediately.

According to Geum Bitnari, her job was to escort me to the Bureau. The containment agents were a separate team, and we would only set out once they arrived.

While we waited for the containment agents, Geum Bitnari tapped at her phone and asked me a question.

"Yeoul. I'm searching for a decent restaurant nearby. Did you have anywhere in mind?"

"No. I hadn't thought about it."

"Then I'll keep looking. Please let me know if there's anything you'd like to eat."

"Nothing's really jumping out at me. Just pick something, Agent."

Geum Bitnari nodded. Here's hoping she picked something good.

While Geum Bitnari focused on hunting down a restaurant, I was browsing the chat — and the viewer claiming to know where I lived jumped out at me.

"Huh? How did you know I live in Guri-si?"

That was the last thing the viewer posted before getting kicked. I hadn't been the one to ban them. The manager, then.

"Good call."

The little incident passed. Before long, Geum Bitnari lifted her head and looked at me. Apparently the search had turned up a restaurant that looked promising.

"Yeoul. There's a newly opened Chinese place nearby, and their signature dish is brisket jjamppong. Would brisket jjamppong be all right?"

"Brisket jjamppong? Not bad."

Not long after we settled on a restaurant, people in black suits and black sunglasses arrived at my apartment. I'd left the front door open in advance.

The containment agents took one look at me, pulled off their sunglasses as if they'd rehearsed it, and spent a long moment staring at my face in open, vacant admiration.

I understood their reaction completely. That was the normal reaction. I'd spent a long time staring at myself in the mirror the first time, too.

After we left the apartment, we rode in Geum Bitnari's car for about ten minutes and arrived at a Chinese restaurant that had opened recently. I'd asked for permission to film. The owner agreed with almost alarming enthusiasm.

The moment we sat down, Geum Bitnari ordered two bowls of brisket jjamppong and a large plate of Dongpo pork.

"The Dongpo pork is a bit expensive..."

"Don't worry. I'm paying."

"Oh, are you? Then I'll eat well. Thank you."

Whew. So it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't going Dutch. That was a relief. Donations or not, a luxury dish like Dongpo pork had been sitting a little heavy on my conscience.

While we waited for the food, Geum Bitnari and I each held our phones and watched the chat. Ah — and I'd already agreed to hand over the phone once we reached the Bureau.

"The viewer count keeps climbing."

"It really does. It just won't go down."

Even after I'd escaped the Distorted World, the numbers had kept rising. Normally, once the sensational content ended, the audience would start to bleed away. I was the exception. My face itself was the sensational content.

I killed time reading chat at a leisurely pace, and at last the brisket jjamppong arrived. The Dongpo pork, they told us, would take a little longer.

I demolished the brisket jjamppong in no time. Whew. I was going to live. Having actual food in my stomach improved my mood considerably.

A little more waiting, and the Dongpo pork came out too. Geum Bitnari had two pieces and declared herself too full to continue, so I neatly finished off the rest.

The brisket jjamppong and the Dongpo pork were both far better than I'd expected. A thoroughly satisfying meal. This place was the real deal.

I didn't feel full. The hunger had simply gone away, that was all. If I'd wanted to, I could have kept eating forever. Not that I planned to.

"You eat remarkably well... I'm glad it suited your taste."

After the meal, we stood up from the table and settled the bill at the counter. Geum Bitnari paid, of course. I just stood behind her and watched the transaction with a vacant stare.

We said goodbye to the owner and stepped out of the restaurant — and Geum Bitnari, who had gone out ahead, turned back to face me.

"Yeoul. I would appreciate it if you ended the stream now."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

"Could I keep streaming until we actually enter the Bureau?"

"...That would be rather difficult. I apologize."

Well. There was probably a reason.

I decided to be cooperative this time, too. She'd bought me brisket jjamppong and Dongpo pork, after all.

"Everyone."

I looked down at the smartphone in my hand and called out to the viewers. A goodbye was in order before I ended the stream.

"That's all for the broadcast. There's nothing to gain by being uncooperative."

"Ah. And to everyone who stayed with me in the Distorted World today — thank you, truly. I felt a lot steadier because of you."

"Well then. I'll be off."

With that, I ended the stream.

Somewhere deep in Gangwon-do, by the look of it.

We arrived at the Distortion Phenomenon Management Bureau, South Korea Branch. It was a different location from the one I'd looked up in the passenger seat. Apparently the address the public knew was a decoy branch.

We entered the Bureau building and took an elevator down into the basement. Then we walked a long corridor, and walked it some more, until we came to a tightly locked door.

Geum Bitnari undid a manual locking mechanism, then held her agent ID to the reader beside the door.

The door opened onto a room that looked, unmistakably, like an interrogation chamber. A desk in the center, a chair on either side, a mirror set into one wall.

The atmosphere inside wasn't gloomy, though. If anything, it was rather bright.

Geum Bitnari showed me in.

"Please have a seat here and wait a moment."

She said this, then perched herself on the edge of the desk. So I wouldn't be waiting alone.

A brief silence settled. I glanced at Geum Bitnari and found her gaze fixed on the mirror. Was someone watching from the other side, the way they did in a real interrogation room?

That was the thought in my head when a stranger's voice spilled from a speaker in the ceiling.

"Looks like the verification is done."

"What verification?"

"It means they have confirmed whether you are an ordinary human... or a Distortion Entity."

"...Excuse me?"

A deep rumble shuddered through the room. The mirror began to split, sliding apart to either side. Beyond it sat another room entirely — and from that room, someone walked slowly across the threshold into mine.

"A pleasure to meet you."

"I am Kim Dalgyal, Special Interrogator of the Distortion Phenomenon Management Bureau, South Korea Branch, and a Grade 5 Distortion Entity."

From the neck down, an ordinary human body. From the neck up, a monstrous living thing fitted with a single gigantic eyeball.

The Distortion Entity stopped in front of me and held out a hand, offering a handshake.