First Mission (2)
Yu Seo-yeong headed to the secretary's office on the 98th floor.
It's so quiet.
The secretary's office used to be bustling with people even before you stepped inside. After all, the workload for the secretary of Seol Hwi—one of only three 1st-grade hunters in Korea—was always overflowing.
But now, it was filled with nothing but silence. The chairman herself had fired all the secretaries.
Yu Seo-yeong pushed open the door to the secretary's office without a second thought. As a veteran who'd worked alongside Seol Hwi for years, her mind wasn't shaken by something as trivial as a mass firing of secretaries.
"What the—?!"
But the moment she opened the door, she recoiled in shock, her instincts kicking in.
The interior of the secretary's office looked perfectly ordinary. Neatly organized files and books. A floor that gleamed as if it had just been cleaned. It was the epitome of a well-maintained large office.
Yet Yu Seo-yeong, a 3rd-grade hunter with superhuman senses, saw through the facade.
Something's off.
A sense of wrongness she couldn't quite put into words washed over her.
Steeling herself, Yu Seo-yeong stepped inside. She tossed the binder of documents she'd brought onto a random desk and proceeded cautiously to the center of the excessively pristine secretary's office, where she activated her mana detection.
It was the thorough scan of a former major.
The result was, as expected.
Nothing.
Airborne mana saturation: 0.0%. Sure, there might be trace amounts too faint for her to detect, but it didn't matter.
It's far lower than the natural airborne mana saturation rate.
A level that couldn't occur without deliberate interference.
And how long ago was this place cleaned?
Yu Seo-yeong swallowed hard and ran her finger across the smooth desk. Not a speck of dust clung to her fingertip.
She checked her phone for Secretary Seo's arrival time. As the field team leader, she had access to his check-in records in case of emergencies, thanks to the secretaries' direct reporting privileges to the chairman.
8:10 a.m.
She glanced at the wall-mounted digital clock.
It's around 2 p.m. now.
Six hours.
And as someone from a military background trained in tracking, Yu Seo-yeong knew no one had entered this room for at least three hours.
A blatant anomaly.
She didn't deny her instincts. The inexplicable repulsion lingered.
Calmly, she wandered the secretary's office. That's when she realized just how absurd the situation in this "ordinary" space was.
Books and files. The books neatly lined on the shelves wouldn't budge even a millimeter no matter how hard she—a 3rd-grade hunter—tugged at them. They were as if fixed in space itself.
Of course, her specialty wasn't physical strength, but she still had the baseline power of a 3rd-grade hunter. Even with enough force to rip steel, the books didn't so much as twitch. Clear evidence of some ability at work.
And that wasn't all.
With trembling eyes, Yu Seo-yeong approached the mystery beverage on the one desk that showed signs of use.
She touched it lightly.
"...It's cold."
The drink was ice-cold, as if freshly taken from the kitchen. The ice cubes and fruit inside were perfectly intact.
Despite being left at room temperature for at least three hours.
That's when instinct hit her with the truth, sending chills down her spine.
Did he cover the entire room with his ability...?
Even amid the confusion, Yu Seo-yeong calmly assessed Secretary Seo's power.
Hunter ranks were determined by the Causality Interference Index (CII). The ability to perform acts impossible in this world—like breathing fire from one's hands or conjuring barriers from thin air—how naturally and powerfully one could manifest them.
Having run the calculations, Yu Seo-yeong gazed in disbelief at the seemingly ordinary secretary's office.
Every object in this vast space is fixed in place. And judging by the drink, it's not just positional anchoring!
Temperature was molecular motion. The law of increasing entropy. One of the universe's most solemn and rigid principles. Ice melts, freshness wilts, dust gathers on paper.
Yet the fruit in the drink was vibrant, the open documents spotless as if freshly dusted.
Ice that should have melted into water within an hour at most had stayed perfect for three hours at room temperature. And that was the minimum—possibly four, five, even six hours or more.
The secretary's office was roughly 120 pyeong. An ability that held the physical coordinates of such a space in place, down to the molecular level. And without the overwhelming mana saturation that accompanied massive ability use.
It meant one thing.
He did all this using only internal mana circulation.
Unimaginable mana control and ability manifestation efficiency. What if an overwhelming genius poured effort into it on top of that?
"......"
And what, exactly, was Secretary Seo—Seo Han-gyeol's—hunter rank?
Yu Seo-yeong quickly scattered her speculations. Better not to know truths too heavy to bear. And since she already did, she had to pretend ignorance with all her might.
Unless Secretary Seo brings it up first, I shouldn't ask about his rank.
With that resolve, she decided to email the handover documents and turned to leave the secretary's office.
"Hm? Team Leader Yu?"
A chillingly cold voice came from behind her.
The creak of muscles she'd relied on her whole life.
Yu Seo-yeong prayed her face looked normal as she turned. Seo Han-gyeol, in his neat suit, was looking at her with evident curiosity.
* * *
I racked my brain over the two dismissal notices the chairman had handed me.
What do I do with these?
Kang A-ram should be fine. She's young, looks innocent. If I appeal to our shared newbie status and beg her tearfully, maybe she'll stamp them without fuss?
Plus, a 7th-grade hunter at her age has a bright future. She'd find work anywhere, no need to stick in an evil organization like this.
If I could, I'd beg her to leave this den of villains and start a new life.
"The problem is this one..."
Gwak Du-chil. Rough-looking middle-aged guy. And his offenses weren't minor. Civilian murder, no less.
In the proposition "hunter kills civilian," I'm the civilian in charge...
Wh-what if Du-chil snaps and tries to kill me?!
Things had twisted into this mess, but I didn't want to die. I still had anime episodes to watch, games to play! And that new release I'd been hyped for back home—probably out earlier here.
Too early to die!
No choice. If it came to it, I'd grovel flat on the ground. Spare my life, please...
Lost in worries, I arrived at the secretary's office before I knew it.
Then I spotted Team Leader Yu inside through the slightly ajar door.
What's Team Leader Yu doing here?
I wondered briefly, then it hit me.
She's here to check if I slacked off!!
Good thing I'd cleaned right after arriving today. Mom's habit of smacking my back into shape was paying off here.
I called out to her with a composed face. The office was spotless, and I'd memorized the manual from yesterday while jotting notes.
"Hm? Team Leader Yu?"
"!!!"
Nothing to fear!
Well, I was still scared. To an unemployed otaku NEET like me, a max-level career woman like Team Leader Yu was terrifying...
Electric vs. Ground type matchup.
Team Leader Yu whipped around with the face of a kid caught red-handed.
I had no idea why, so I kept a poker face.
Team Leader Yu wouldn't do anything wrong.
In my worldview, she was the perfect elite.
Then I noticed the handover binder on the desk.
Aha! She's worried if I got the handover properly! Embarrassed 'cause she was gonna sneak it out and got caught!
Classic Team Leader Yu. Skilled and kind-hearted. If I see layoff signs later, I'll tip her off secretly. This is an evil org—run while you can.
Finally understanding, I relaxed. I stepped inside naturally and picked up the manual she'd brought.
"This is the handover document and additional manual, right? You were about to deliver it to me?"
Thank you!
I flipped through it with an inner hehe. Full of useful, practical tips.
Yep yep. Team Leader Yu for the win.
"...I deeply apologize for my unnecessary meddling, Secretary Seo. I had no intention of disrupting your organization or invading your domain. If the handover isn't needed, feel free to discard it immediately."
Team Leader Yu's face stiffened as she bowed deeply in formal apology. So polite it was embarrassing to watch.
??? This treasure? Why?
I was utterly baffled.
"You have no reason to apologize. Your concern is valid, and I know how to accept good intentions."
Argh! This psycho act!!
My half-ingrained psycho role slipped out rudely again.
Desperate to salvage, I bowed back hastily.
"...What's this about?"
"Thank you, Team Leader Yu Seo-yeong. Providing additional info for smooth operations is most welcome. And humans should be grateful for help received. So, thank you."
Team Leader Yu's eyes widened at my words, as if realizing something. She muttered softly.
"...Emotions, ...traits.... ...?! Law... one-on-one exch...!"
My ears weren't great, but her expression brightened.
Ah! We finally connected!
"...Yes. I accept your thanks clearly."
"I'm glad. It feels like we've formed another point of rapport, Team Leader Yu."
For a split second, her wavering gaze landed on the dismissal notices in my hand. Then she bit her lip.
Hm?
"...If I may be so bold, the dismissal targets have families and loved ones too. Even if they're trash better off dead, life has value."
"? Yes."
"Don't go for 'disposal' over 'dismissal' just because it's inefficient."
??? Excuse me? What?
I was floored by Team Leader Yu's sudden outing of the disposals.
She's worrying about the wrong people! I'm the one in danger. They lose jobs; I lose my life!!
—Can't say that, so I nodded blankly with my now-familiar emotionless face.
"I'll consider it."
"Yes. That's enough."
Enough for what?!
I piled up worries like a mountain inside while seeing her off with a pristine exterior.
Alone in the secretary's office, staring at the dismissal notices on the desk, I could only sigh.
How am I gonna fix this...?