Humans Are Originally Good (Side Story 2)

"Man at birth is good by nature."

That is what the old phrase means.

Ever since that day, I have carried those words close to my heart.

To become more like the one who saved me.

To never casually abandon someone the way that person refused to abandon me, giving me another chance to live.

And to look at others without prejudice, to act the way that person once did.

At first, I truly meant it. Or at least, when I first arrived at the Safety Team, I sincerely tried to live that way.

"Nova."

"Yes~"

"The newbies are coming."

I pushed myself up from where I had been leaning against the sofa.

A few weeks had already passed since I joined the Safety Team.

Right after being all but kicked out of Headquarters, everything had felt foreign, but by now I had adapted reasonably well.

Those bastards at HQ force-transferred me, slapped a nominal Grade 5 on me as compensation, and then had the gall to withhold new recruits for weeks. Did that even make sense?

Still, Team Leader Mir was as loud as ever. Senior Doyun still looked cold on the outside yet was full of quiet kindness. And I was still hugging Abraxas and smiling half-heartedly the same as always.

"Newbies?"

"Yeah."

Team Leader Mir waved a stack of papers. Her brown hair swayed over her shoulders.

"A few of the ones who just finished training are being assigned to our team."

"Wow~ So I'm finally getting juniors?"

"Looks like it. You're a senior now. Though you had plenty of juniors back at Headquarters, didn't you?"

"That's different~ Does this mean I get to be treated like a senior in the Safety Team now?"

Senior Doyun flipped through documents beside us and spoke without looking up.

"Before that, try acting like a senior in front of the newbies first."

"That hurts~"

"You're not injured."

Sometimes I genuinely couldn't tell whether that man was playing along with a joke or just hitting me with deadpan facts.

Even so, I wasn't in a bad mood that day.

New people were coming. Fresh faces joining us.

For some it would be a day of starting over; for others, a chance to turn their lives around.

But at the very least, I didn't want to leave them to die easily in this hell.

Just as that person had done for me back at Headquarters.

If I could save someone, I wanted to save them. I wanted to help everyone, regardless of where they came from.

The door opened and tense faces filed in.

There was one who looked like they came from the Backstreets, another who seemed to have rolled in from some Nest subsidiary, and one whose posture was so rigid they had to be from a Fixer Office.

Every origin was different.

Some Finger affiliates were obvious at a glance—probably mid-escape when they quit—and there were others who looked like former Fixers. A mixed bag, all of them.

Still, the first-day nerves were the same for everyone.

"Hi~ Looking forward to working with you. I'm Nova, your senior in the Safety Team~"

"Senior, my ass."

Senior Doyun muttered under his breath.

"Why? It's true~"

"Your behavior is the problem."

"So mean~"

Team Leader Mir watched us and laughed.

"Anyway, welcome. This is the Safety Team. The name says 'Safety,' but whether it's actually safe is another question."

"Team Leader...."

Senior Doyun cut in immediately.

"Don't say things like that on their first day."

"Why? It's the truth."

"Even if it's true, there are things you say and things you don't."

"Fine, fine."

Team Leader Mir shrugged.

"But I'll promise you one thing. Now that you're here, we won't give up on you easily."

At those words, the newbies' faces eased a little.

I smiled as I listened.

Yeah. That was right.

Let's make sure no more people like us are created.

The promise Team Leader Mir made, Senior Doyun agreed to, and I nodded along to.

Back then I still had no idea how heavy that promise would become.

The first day passed more ordinarily than expected.

I taught the newbies the basic procedures for managing Abnormalities.

How to write reports.

Checklist before entering a containment unit.

E.G.O equipment inspection.

Not to force yourself to endure when your mental state starts to crack.

To run when you need to run.

And never to make decisions alone.

"You know what kind of people die the most around here?"

When I asked, one of the newbies carefully raised a hand.

"The weak employees...?"

"Wrong."

I waggled a finger.

"The ones who try to act smart all by themselves."

...Like the old me.

A few of them laughed awkwardly.

I didn't mind that laughter.

It meant the tension had loosened a little.

"If you're scared, say so. If you can't do it, say you can't. It's not embarrassing. Dying because you were too proud to look stupid is the dumbest way to go."

I said it, and I think I meant it.

Senior Doyun drew up separate training plans.

He checked each person's stamina, reaction speed, and equipment compatibility, then scheduled everything so no one would be pushed past their limits.

He looked cold and rigid on the surface, but in truth he was more meticulous than anyone.

"Isn't this training load a bit light~?"

When I teased him, Senior Doyun answered without even glancing my way.

"Unless you plan to break them in the first week, this is the right amount."

"Wow~ So kind."

"Don't be sarcastic."

"I'm praising you~"

"Don't praise me in that tone."

Team Leader Mir was even more straightforward.

At lunch she dragged the newbies out and made sure they ate.

If someone's hands trembled, she quietly slid a glass of water over. If someone couldn't answer, she deliberately steered the conversation elsewhere.

Looking after complete strangers so casually—that was a real talent.

That was what I thought at the time.

And I tried to follow her example.

When a newbie froze in front of a containment unit, I stood beside them.

"Scared?"

"Ah, no."

"You're a terrible liar~"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. If you're scared, say you're scared. That way you live longer."

In the end the kid nodded.

I leaned against the wall by the door and said,

"Go in. I'll be watching from outside."

And I really did watch until the end.

The moment the work finished and they came out, the kid collapsed to the floor.

I smiled and held out a hand.

"You lived?"

"Yes..."

"Then that's enough."

Back then I believed words like that could save people.

That just knowing someone was there could let a person hold on one more time.

The Team Leader believed it. Senior Doyun believed it. And so did I.

That was how we sent off the first batch of newbies.

I thought it would go well. I thought life would end like a fairy tale with a happy ending.

It didn't...

And not long after, the first one died.

It happened during management.

The work result wavered a little, the response came too late, and the Abnormality did not wait.

By the time we went in for a rescue, it was already over.

I still remember the first newbie's name.

Their face, the things they liked, their family.

The way their hands trembled in front of the containment door at the end.

That day I wrote the report. A report listing the cause of death and requesting a new recruit.

As if I were simply ordering a replacement for a broken part.

I must have done the same thing countless times back at Headquarters, yet my chest felt heavy.

It stung like a thorn.

Senior Doyun silently organized the records. Team Leader Mir stood for a long time in front of the morgue.

No one joked that day.

The next day, just as requested, a new newbie arrived.

And we did the exact same things all over again.

We memorized names, trained them, helped when they made mistakes.

When they were scared, we waited.

So that no more people like us would be created.

We tried to keep that promise, stubbornly...

The second one died in an escape incident.

The third died from corrosion.

The fourth died trying to save a colleague.

The fifth survived but applied for resignation not long after.

If they had known what resignation really meant, they never would have...

Because they applied without asking us, there was nothing we could do.

The sixth one cursed us out.

"Who the hell do you think you are!!?"

The kid clutched a bandaged arm and glared at us.

"Why do you keep pretending to help?"

"It's not pretending...."

When Team Leader Mir tried to speak, the kid shouted.

"Just leave me alone!"

Our mouths closed.

"Whether I live or die is my business, isn't it? Why do you keep trying to save me however you want?"

No one could answer right away.

"Stop with the hypocrisy..."

Even Team Leader Mir paused for a moment. Senior Doyun's grip tightened on the report sheet.

I tried to smile.

Tried to brush it off the usual way.

I messed up... I should have looked after the juniors better.

But it didn't work.

Similar things kept happening after that.

Those from the Backstreets couldn't trust anyone's kindness.

Those from the Fingers calculated everything in terms of hierarchy and debt.

Those from the Nests treated our team like a temporary shelter.

Those from Fixer Offices believed they had been abandoned.

Some died.

Some left.

Some resented us.

At first I tried to understand.

Everyone had lived different lives, after all.

As that person had said, humans are originally good.

They just couldn't express it, I thought.

So I approached them more.

Explained more.

Waited more.

But at some point a thought crept in.

What am I even doing?

The hand I grabbed to save them was shaken off. The person I dragged out by force went right back in to die. The one I barely managed to save hated us.

Those who are going to die will die. Those who are going to leave will leave.

That fact slowly settled into my bones.

Team Leader Mir stayed the same as ever.

When newbies arrived she memorized their names.

If they cried she comforted them; if they tried to run she held them back.

Even when she was cursed at, she went looking for them the next day just the same.

Senior Doyun changed a little.

He still looked after people.

But he drew a line.

He told them only what was necessary and intervened only as much as needed.

Like someone who had learned that was the way to last longer.

I was worse.

At some point I stopped memorizing names.

Even if I learned them, I erased them quickly.

I stopped offering counseling.

Even if someone was trembling in front of a containment unit, I walked right past.

Even if I stood beside them, those who were going to die would die anyway.

Even if I waited, those who were going to leave would leave.

It was easier that way.

Once I admitted I had given up, it actually felt lighter.

That was why I hated the way Team Leader Mir sometimes looked at me.

She never said anything.

She just looked, and those eyes irritated me so much.

As if she knew exactly where I had gone wrong....

And as if she pitied me...

Then a year passed.

"Hey!! Nova!! How long are you going to space out!! Today's the day our new newbies arrive!!!"

"Haa...."

I lifted my head from where it had been resting on the desk.

"Coming~ I was just thinking about our cute little juniors~"

"Bullshit. You were sleeping, weren't you?"

"I was thinking with my eyes closed?"

"That's called sleeping."

Team Leader Mir was holding documents.

Senior Doyun was already organizing the welcome materials beside her.

Seriously diligent.

Doesn't he get tired living like that?

The door opened.

Two newbies walked in.

The first one I saw was a red-haired girl.

Her name ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was Yuri.

Pretty young... If she dies young it'll leave a bad taste...

Tense expression, hunched shoulders, hands clenched small.

She'll probably cry and make a fuss and die soon enough...

Beside her stood a black-haired boy.

His name was Han.

Rumor had it he was the newbie whose employee ID had an error. Even a Nest this big makes mistakes like that, huh.

Han was ordinary.

For someone from the City he looked strangely out of place somehow, but at the time I didn't bother thinking about it.

Just another weird newbie who showed up.

That was all.

"Um... please take care of us."

Yuri said quietly.

"Please take care of us."

Han bowed his head as well.

I waved a hand.

"Yeah~ Looking forward to it."

My mouth was smiling, but inside I felt nothing in particular.

More newbies. How long will these ones last.

A week?

A month?

If they're lucky, a little longer?

That was the end of it.

On her first day Yuri flinched at every little thing.

Han stayed strangely calm beside her.

It wasn't that he was fearless; unlike the other newbies, he seemed to already know what Abnormalities were.

An odd pair.

Still, I didn't pay attention.

Paying attention only made things annoying.

Memorizing names made it even more annoying when they died.

So I just smiled appropriately.

"Oh~ The newbies are working hard."

"Senior Nova..."

Yuri lowered her head.

"Don't tense up too much. The more tense you are, the easier it is to die~"

"Please don't say things like that..."

"She's not wrong, though..."

Han said from the side.

Yuri looked at him.

"Han..."

I snorted a laugh.

It was a little funny.

My internal evaluation of him rose a notch.

From "weird newbie who'll die soon" to "newbie who might live long enough to ease my discomfort a little."

On the third day I saw them eating together.

They were teasing each other, looking a little... closer.

On the fifth day.

They were looking over training materials together.

Han was explaining Abnormality information to Yuri.

That stuff wasn't even well-known at Headquarters. How did he know it?

Still, I let it slide. If knowing that helped them live even a little longer, it was good for me.

Then came the seventh day.

The Mercenary escaped.

Unfortunately, near the newbie sector.

Beeeeeeeep—

Red warning lights flooded the corridor.

Team Leader Mir's voice came over the radio.

Senior Doyun moved immediately.

I pressed the radio.

"Aww~ The kids will run away on their own."

A snicker slipped out.

"If they die, that was just as far as their luck was supposed to go, right?"

A short silence.

Team Leader Mir's voice over the radio dropped lower.

"No...."

It was the first time.

The first time Team Leader Mir had spoken to me like that.

Even though I had given up on the newbies and left them to fend for themselves, she had stayed quiet—until now, when she showed open hostility toward me.

It hurt.

Because it felt like I was drifting away from someone precious.

And because the cause was clearly me.

Because I was the one who had broken the promise.

Has she completely given up on me...

In that moment Han's voice cut into the public channel.

"Ah~ For real."

I grabbed Abraxas.

"This damn company never lets a person rest."

By the time Senior Doyun and I reached the Information Team's blockade line, the path was already sealed.

The Control Team bastards were holding the barricade, and Information Team Leader Seohyeok stood with his arms crossed, smiling.

"The Safety Team sure is in a hurry."

That face pisses me off every time I see it.

"The Training Team line got breached, you know?"

When I spoke, Seohyeok shrugged.

"I know."

"So what are you gonna do about it."

"Regulations are regulations."

Senior Doyun's eyes narrowed.

"There is no reason to waste time right now."

"I have a reason, though?"

Seohyeok smiled.

"If they're newbies, they might die, right?"

"This is that kind of place."

He was right.

The fact that he was right only made it more irritating.

I could have broken through easily enough.

Senior Doyun could have too.

If we put our minds to it, a blockade like this wouldn't take long.

But I didn't move right away.

Why?

Because it was already too late.

Senior Doyun must have thought the same, which was why he went along with it.

Gunshots rang out.

Probably the Mercenary firing.

Then the two newbies were most likely finished.

They were only Grade 2 at best.

Going now would just mean collecting corpses.

That was what I thought.

Then Team Leader Mir arrived.

Her expression was murderous.

"Hey. Move."

Seohyeok snorted.

"And if I don't?"

In the next instant a blue sword-light cleaved through the barricade.

Severed metal clattered to the floor.

The corridor fell silent.

Team Leader Mir glared at Seohyeok.

"I told you not to make me say it more than three times."

Then she ran.

Only then did I move as well.

Senior Doyun sprinted beside me.

We're late. We're definitely late.

But when we reached the scene—

It wasn't over yet.

Yuri was down.

Blood was visible.

Her shirt was soaked red.

Han stood in front of her.

Covered in blood, barely holding on.

His legs were shaking, and the hand gripping Confession couldn't steady itself.

The Mercenary was raising its axe.

To kill.

To finish it.

And Han did not run.

Why?

That was the first thought that hit me.

Why isn't he running?

If he abandoned Yuri he could have lived.

From that distance he could have fallen back.

Why is he still standing there?

For a moment a very old scene overlapped in my mind.

Me, walking in a daze toward the Apocalypse Bird.

The person who stepped in front of me.

My benefactor who pushed me aside and was torn apart in my place.

Even then I hadn't understood.

Why they didn't run when they could have lived.

Why they kept saying until the end that humans are good.

And why they never gave up on me until the very last moment.

I thought I had understood.

I tried to become like that person.

I tried to believe the words they left behind.

Even after coming to the Safety Team, even after meeting Team Leader Mir and Senior Doyun.

I had clearly sworn we would make sure no more people like us were created.

When did it start?

Those who will die.

Those who will leave.

Those who will resent us.

At some point I had started calling people that way.

When newbies arrived I thought about their survival period before their names.

When they died I thought about when the next newbie would arrive more than I felt sorrow.

Haa....

It's actually funny.

After hearing those words from the person who died to save me, I'm wasting the life that love bought me.

I told Team Leader Mir I would try again, so what the hell have I been doing until now?

The Han in front of me was still holding onto what I had thrown away.

If he left Yuri behind he could at least have saved his own life.

That kid didn't do that.

No—more precisely, he was making the same choice as the person I once respected.

My thoughts cut off there.

Team Leader Mir moved first.

Blue sword-light tore through the corridor.

The Mercenary's arm went flying.

Senior Doyun immediately drove Janseong home.

"Escape route blocked."

The black long spear pierced the Mercenary's leg and pinned it to the floor.

Its movement stopped.

I raised Abraxas.

Alright then, time to finish this.

I meant to speak the usual way.

But strangely my mouth moved late.

The scene in front of me kept lingering.

Yuri collapsed, and Han who held the line in front of her.

Even though he could have lived.

Even though he could have run.

The one who stayed until the end.

And over that, my former Team Leader's final moments overlapped.

This time I can't pretend I don't see it.

"Abraxas."

I gripped the barrel.

Take one week of my happiness.

Abraxas trembled low.

The contract was sealed.

My smile vanished.

One week of happiness doesn't look like much, but it's actually pretty expensive.

Way too generous for a mere WAW-class Mercenary.

Because these are feelings I only just found again.

Still, it was fine.

This time I was the one who had been wrong.

And this was also a belated atonement.

To that person, to the newbies I had turned my back on,

and to those two who were still alive.

Haa... Still, looks like I'll have to put happiness on hold for a while..

Can't go around worrying people for no reason.

"Deploy."

The Red Hooded Mercenary raised its remaining arm and pointed the gun barrel.

"Too bad for you~ You're already way too late~"

I pulled the trigger.

The sound that shook the corridor was closer to an explosion than a gunshot.

The bullet punched through the Mercenary's head.

Half its skull burst apart.

The Mercenary's movement stopped.

A moment later its body melted away like black mud.

And so the Mercenary incident was wrapped up—though not without the slightly less-than-minor follow-up of Han's corrosion afterward.

That dawn I sat face to face with the Team Leader.

Only one light was on in the office.

Senior Doyun had gone to organize the reports, and Yuri and Han were in the recovery room.

"Nova."

"Yes~"

"Why did you say that earlier?"

"Say what?"

"That if they die, it's fate."

I didn't answer.

The Team Leader sighed.

"You meant it, didn't you."

"..."

"Nova."

"Team Leader."

I spoke first.

"I tried hard at first too."

The words came out more easily than I expected.

"But it didn't work."

"Even when I tried to save them they died, when I helped they resented me, when I held on they pushed me away."

"After a while ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you start thinking, right?"

"Maybe leaving them alone is the right thing."

"Those who are going to die die, those who are going to live live."

The Team Leader said nothing.

"But today I saw."

"Looks like I was wrong again."

"Those two newbies...."

"Yuri was terrified like she was going to die, but she didn't run."

"Han could have lived if he abandoned Yuri, but he didn't."

"..."

"So thank you."

"For letting me know I was wrong."

"For helping me understand a little why the benefactor who saved me made that choice."

Silence settled for a while.

Team Leader Mir looked at me for a long time.

Then she spoke low.

"You only realized that now."

"You idiot."

I snorted a laugh.

The Team Leader sighed.

"I was really pissed."

"When I heard what you said earlier."

"I genuinely wanted to hit you."

"Yes~ I'm sorry."

"Don't joke around. I was serious then."

"..."

"But..."

The Team Leader paused for a moment.

"I'm still glad."

"About what?"

"It's not over yet."

"You weren't completely broken."

"So."

"Don't lose that feeling this time."

"You only just found it again."

The next day, a few nutritional supplements good for the body were left in front of the recovery room.

There were mental recovery drinks too.

They wouldn't know who left them.

Yuri looked around after spotting them.

"These... who..."

I spoke as I passed by.

"Huh~ Someone must've left them."

"Senior Nova..."

"What?"

"Did you maybe..."

"Why would I?"

I smiled.

"I'm not that nice a person~ I'm the one who told you to go die the first time we met~"

Yuri looked down at the drinks without a word.

Han glanced at me from the side for a moment.

Did he notice?

Well.... Doesn't matter.

After that I often went to the training ground.

Team Leader Mir worked Han and Yuri hard.

Yuri looked ready to cry most of the time, and Han clenched his teeth and endured.

"Yuri."

"Yes..."

"Pick up the twin swords."

"My hands won't go up..."

"Pick them up."

"Yes..."

Watching from the side made me laugh.

"Wow~"

"That's brutal."

Han looked at me.

"Aren't you going to stop her, Senior?"

"Why?"

I shook a drink can.

"It's fun~ And nice to watch~"

Han's expression soured.

Yeah, that face is more entertaining than I expected.

Truthfully I hadn't come just to tease them.

I was just worried whether those kids would be able to handle it.

I simply didn't say it out loud because it would sound weird.

One time after training Yuri's hands were trembling.

I tossed a mental recovery drink beside her.

Yuri caught it in surprise.

"Uh..."

"Leftover. I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gonna throw it out."

"It hasn't even been opened..."

"Then you throw it out."

"...Thank you."

"I said throw it out."

Yuri smiled a little.

Ah.... So she can smile.

A few days passed.

In that time Han and Yuri held on better than expected.

They didn't die and they didn't run.

They didn't resent us either.

If anything, they seemed to be adapting to this company more and more.

Whether that was a good thing, I still wasn't sure.

One night.

I was crouched in front of the vending machine.

In my hand was Enkephalin, my old friend.

I had cut back a little since the day of the Mercenary, but today I wanted to get drunk for the first time in a while, so I came back.

And true to this damn company, the effect was reliable.

"Senior."

I lifted my head.

It was Han.

"Yeah~?"

"Do you have time tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"There's something I need help with during the Mercenary work. I was hoping you'd come in with me."

I shook the can.

"Oh~ Then why not just take Team Leader Mir~?"

"...."

Even while saying that, I already planned to go.

Because he was the precious friend who had let me pick my dream back up after I forgot gratitude and gave up on everything.

Still, a little teasing was fine, right?

"Don't tell me~ You're finally planning to cause an accident~?"

Han was quiet for a moment.

So the kid can get flustered too...

Still....

"Alright, I'll go with you~ If a junior asks for help, of course you help them."