Day One in the Labyrinth
"That concludes the orientation for new employees."
Angela's introduction video, which had felt as though it would never end, finally finished.
"We will now distribute employee ID cards to the new staff."
The screen at the front went dark, and a line of office workers in black suits filed in, each carrying a thin card case in hand.
A faint stir rippled through the air of the auditorium. How to put it — the feeling that we were finally, truly joining the company?
For people of the City, landing a job at a Wing was nothing short of a complete reversal of fortune. Of course, knowing every last secret of Lobotomy Corporation, I felt no excitement whatsoever.
Of the employees who had joined alongside us, fewer than ten percent would survive until White Nights and Dark Days. And those mere branch workers would never even become Librarians of the Library — they would be buried in a collapsed branch. Knowing their fate, and knowing that I now shared the same predicament, I could only feel sorry for them — and for myself.
"When your name is called, please step forward and receive your issued employee ID."
One by one, names were called, and people walked up to the front. Then came the call for Yuri. The girl in the seat beside me flinched, scrambled to her feet, and hurried forward.
A moment later she returned, a black employee ID card in her hand. The Lobotomy Corporation logo, the employee code, the assigned department — the card looked for all the world like a military dog tag, a single mark to distinguish us from the countless corpses.
Yuri gazed down at it with a look of quiet wonder.
"...It's pretty."
Pretty enough, sure. The problem was that it was essentially a ticket into a coffin.
I glanced sideways at her ID.
At that moment, a staff member looked my way.
"Employee code LC-W-9723."
What? Why call me by code instead of name?
Feeling distinctly uneasy, I walked forward. And the moment I took the ID card in hand—
"...Huh? Is this right?"
Something was wrong. The name field — only that part — was smeared as if black ink had bled across it. As though someone had deliberately erased it. The photo, the employee code, the department field — all of those were fine.
But the name alone — as if I were a stranger who did not belong here — only the name was blurred, like ink had been splattered across it.
"Um... the name section on this..."
"There is no issue. It was issued in a normal state."
"Excuse me?"
"Next employee."
Just like that, the conversation was cut short. Hold on — how was this normal?
I returned to my seat and looked down at the ID again. There were definitely characters there, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't read them properly. Even with ink splattered across it, some of it should have been visible — yet it felt as though my brain itself was refusing to recognize the text.
"What is this?"
Yuri tilted her head beside me.
"...Is it defective?"
"Seems that way... Can you read my name at all, Yuri? Of all things, only the name..."
"I'm sorry... for some reason, I can't seem to make it out either..."
So is it because I'm not a native of this world?
"We will now begin departmental assignments."
With the announcement, the auditorium doors opened. I rose slowly from my seat.
This was the real beginning. The life inside that hellish company I had watched countless times from the other side of a screen.
"W-we should go, right?"
"If only we stay behind, I think things will get even worse."
"R-right... I suppose so...?"
Yuri gave an awkward smile. We blended into the crowd and walked out of the auditorium.
The corridor was quiet. Too quiet. Stark white walls. Fluorescent lights stretching on without end. And from somewhere, the hum of machinery.
Honestly, the atmosphere alone made it feel like a research facility. The problem was that I knew far too well what this place truly was. Beyond those walls were Abnormalities — monsters that could kill a person in any manner imaginable.
"It's enormous."
Yuri muttered, looking around.
"I've never even joined a company before, let alone a Wing..."
"Ah..."
Right — she really was a genuine new hire. I glanced at her for a moment. The tense expression, the tablet clutched tightly in her hands, the uneasy look in her eyes.
She'll end up rolling all the way to Limbus Company later. And eventually become an I'm-so-sweet-apple.
A strange feeling settled over me all of a sudden.
"Um..."
"Yes?"
"Why did you join, if you don't mind my asking?"
Yuri blinked at the question.
"They said it was stable... And for an ordinary person like me, getting into a Wing was never supposed to be possible in the first place..."
"Wings don't let just anyone in, after all."
Yuri smiled a little more quietly.
"My parents were happy about it, too...."
"...."
I shouldn't have asked. This was Lobotomy Corporation. Stable, my ass. Resignation was impossible — the real worry was whether you'd even stay alive.
Just then—
"Oh." A light voice came from behind us. "These the new kids?"
I turned. Short brown hair, crimson eyes, a coat thrown loosely over a black uniform. She looked no older than her late twenties at most. There was something peculiar about her presence — a carefree air that could easily fool you into underestimating her. But this was Lobotomy Corporation. No ordinary person survived here. She was crazy in her own way, no doubt...
"Safety Team?"
"...Yes."
Yuri answered first. The woman glanced at our IDs and nodded.
"That's right."
Then she turned around as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Follow me."
...That was it? No explanation at all?
I locked eyes with Yuri. She looked a little flustered too. Without a word, we followed her.
Even as we walked the corridors, the woman's expression never changed. A distant THUD!!! rang out. Somewhere, the sound of a clown mixed with the screams of office clerks. A red warning light on the ceiling flickered briefly. She didn't react to any of it.
Wow. She's genuinely unhinged. So this is what seniority looks like.
"Ah... right."
The woman walking ahead suddenly turned around.
"I never introduced myself."
She gave a casual wave of her hand.
"Mir. Safety Team Leader. Just someone who got here a few years ahead of you."
"I'm Yuri, a new employee."
"I'm... for now, new employee Han..."
"Your name is Han? I only just realized..."
Yuri whispered under her breath.
"Yeah, yeah, don't be so tense. At the end of the day, you and I are just the same — pitiful humans trapped in this place."
Mir laughed lightly.
"And around here, if you stay tense too long, you burn out first."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the sound of metal scraping against metal echoed from far away. Yuri and I both flinched at the same time. Mir, however, remained completely unfazed.
"That's still one of the okay sounds. Aside from the one I personally manage in this branch, even if something escapes, it's no big deal. Only the clerks end up dying, after all."
What counts as a not-okay sound, then? True to someone who'd put in real time at Lobotomy, she didn't even seem to regard the clerks as human beings.
A short while later, we arrived before a massive iron door.
FACE THE FEAR, BUILD THE FUTURE
Easy for you to say — you watch from a safe place behind a Cognitive Filter. The ones who die are the agents... no, us...
A low mechanical whir. The iron door slowly opened.
The interior was more ordinary than expected. Walls lined with countless monitors, neatly arranged desks, even the warm scent of coffee. But two empty seats stood out immediately.
Yuri must have noticed them too, because she spoke quietly.
"There are empty seats...?"
For a brief moment, the air went still. Then Mir spoke as if it were nothing.
"There used to be five of us. Now it's three..."
Ah.
"Two of them died not long ago."
Yuri froze. But Mir's face remained utterly unbothered.
"Well, that's common around here."
That is not reassuring in the slightest.
"Still, this is good news."
Mir looked us over with a quick sweep of her eyes.
"This batch of new hires looks decent. The last ones couldn't even fill those empty seats for two weeks before they all died."
That makes it even more terrifying.
"Anyway, self-introductions first..."
Mir perched herself on the edge of a nearby desk.
"Things I like: the three essential nutrients of Cityfolk — caffeine, alcohol, and Enkephalin. Things I hate: overtime and shifts without extra pay. Hobby: surviving."
"…."
"I'm not joking."
That wasn't funny.
"Your turn."
Yuri flinched, then carefully opened her mouth.
"Um... I'm Yuri. I look forward to working with you..."
"That's it? Seriously?"
"You're really wound up, huh."
"Ah, n-no... it's just...."
"It's fine. Everyone's like that when they first get here."
"At first they're all full of hope, then the moment they hit the corridors they sense something's off. It's always the same repertoire with new hires."
Then her gaze shifted naturally toward me.
"And you?"
"...Just this and that. Lived an ordinary life in an ordinary household, then a Wing employment offer came in, so I showed up. Isn't that the same old repertoire too?"
"Ooh... you might adapt pretty well."
Mir narrowed her crimson eyes with interest. A predator's gaze, fixed on prey, settled on me.
"But you're being awfully vague. Nothing else?"
"Nothing particularly special about me."
"Hmmm...."
Mir rested her chin on her hand and stared at me intently.
Hold on. Why is she looking at me like that? When a superhuman Grade V employee stares at you that way, it's terrifying.
"Eh, whatever."
Thank god. No further comments — looks like I didn't get marked.
"Anyway, I'll issue your gear first."
Mir opened a steel cabinet behind her. Inside, black uniforms and E.G.O equipment were arranged in neat rows.
Familiar. Far too familiar. The ZAYIN-grade gear you only use at the start of the game before discarding it later on.
But seeing it in person felt strangely different.
"These are temporary — your predecessors' equipment hasn't been transferred over yet. What you'll actually use going forward will be issued tomorrow, matched to the Abnormalities you'll inherit from them. For today, make do with these. New hires always start with the easiest Abnormalities anyway."
"Are we... really putting this on and going to meet Abnormalities?"
"Yep. Pick something quick."
Mir answered as if it were nothing.
"If you want to resign fast, don't put it on. You'll die quicker that way and get to leave both this life and the company."
Ah, thank you. Truly invaluable information... damn it.
Among the equipment were various subspecies gear that never appeared in Lobotomy Corporation proper — but I managed to find the set belonging to One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds, the very first Abnormality that appears at headquarters, our lord and savior.
Better the genuine article than a knockoff...
"Yuri! How about this one? It looks strong just from looking at it, doesn't it?"
"D-does it...? I-if you say so, Han, I'll try it on..."
We quickly strapped the equipment over our existing suits and finished preparing in no time.
"I-it's heavy..."
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it soon enough."
I'd rather not get used to it...
"Also — the codes for the Abnormalities you'll be managing temporarily today will come through on your tablets, so get ready. Starting tomorrow you'll handle the ones assigned to the Safety Team, so practice on the easy ones and prepare thoroughly. I've got my own management work today, so I'll be heading out. Do your best, and stay alive until the end of your shift. Don't die."
As silently as she had first approached us, she vanished beyond the corridor in an instant.
Ding.
At that moment, both our tablet screens lit up simultaneously.
Ah... it was here. It had really come. My heart dropped into my stomach.
Please be One Sin, or Fairy Festival. Anything else is fine — just not WhiteNight...
I slowly scrolled down the screen. And then—
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds
"Huh...? Wait a second... I... might actually be lucky."
My historic first Abnormality was One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds.