Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Reserve Forces Survey
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Several weeks had passed since Baal vanished. Fortunately, he hadn't shown up again.
[If you ever need anything, please feel free to reach out to us. We'll help with whatever we can.]
I stared at the business card he'd left behind before departing.
Three digits drawn in red.
'The number of the beast.'
He'd said all I needed to do was tear it up to use it. Not planning to anytime soon, I'd tucked it away at the very bottom of my business card case.
'Not sure if I'll ever need it.'
Hang on—exactly how was he supposed to help?
'Take on entities in my place? Share some crucial knowledge? Or maybe hand over some items?'
No clue. Guess I'd find out if the time ever came.
'More importantly, looks like no one's showing up today.'
I'd shipped out a massive wave of otherworlders just recently, so things had been quiet lately. Could've clocked out, but I fired up my laptop to squeeze in a bit more work.
'Time to gather some intel.'
Events from "Surviving Entities" were random by default, but you could predict locations and timings with the right information.
'Even with help from something like Dial TV, that's pure luck. News sites and the internet often proved more useful.'
Sifting valuable entity-related intel from the junk, memes, and fakes—that was the true measure of an entity hunter's skill.
"Hmm."
I delayed punching out and dove into the ocean of the web.
[Miracle diabetes cure 'Paranoma' leads to surge in full recoveries.]
[Olden & Switz Pharma, Paranoma's developer, sees stock skyrocket.]
[150x rise in just two weeks—fastest ever to Guinness records, more gains expected.]
'Diabetes, huh.'
I looked up diabetes patient numbers by country.
[China diabetes patients (est.): 141 million]
[India diabetes patients (est.): 110 million]
[US diabetes patients (est.): 30.3 million]
[Japan diabetes patients (est.): 10 million]
[Korea diabetes patients (est.): 6 million]
'No more money worries ahead.'
Good call buying more shares midway. From now on, no converting gold bars to cash—save them for dealings with the Almighty Gold Stock Company.
[CSAT day alarm clock terror—who's the culprit?]
[BJ Jjwaejae breaks 5K average viewers in first month, super rookie sensation.]
[French chef Georges Gishon captivates with new seasoning blends—gourmet journey to uncover his dishes.]
Nothing caught my eye.
'Keep digging.'
I checked YouTube news channels.
[Hell-level CSAT after 10 years—unprecedented controversy sparks lawsuits.]
['Is this even English?' Even native speakers shake their heads at 2024 CSAT English difficulty uproar.]
[Perfect score across all subjects from one student—top scorer emerges amid hell CSAT.]
CSAT season had just wrapped, so most news was exam-related.
'There it is.'
Scrolling on, a headline finally jumped out.
[Another reservist vanishes? Eighth disappearance already.]
I clicked the video. Short clip, just a minute long.
[On the 7th, Kim (surname withheld) heads home after reserve training. The moment he rounds the corner into an alley, he's gone.]
On screen, a guy in sloppy fatigues turns into the alley and vanishes.
[This marks the eighth reservist disappearance this year alone, ongoing since the first case with Lee (surname withheld) three months back.]
Three months ago—that's when the game went real.
'An entity at work.'
Which one? Keywords: soldier, disappearance.
'I think I know, but need a bit more to confirm.'
Then, someone knocked on the office door.
"Excuse me, is Fixer Lee Seung-hoon in?"
"Yes, right here."
It was the police.
"We'd like to request your assistance with an investigation."
＊＊＊
My reputation as a fixer had spread fast online. For about a month, communities buzzed with debates about me, but even that had died down lately.
'Boosting ads twofold paid off.'
Never expected the cops to come knocking first.
"Officer, mind if I see the CCTV footage?"
"Oh, sure!"
We were at Icheon Police Station—the substation nearest the latest reservist vanishing.
"Here it is. Rural bus stop, so quality's not great."
"No, this is plenty clear enough."
Focusing on the choppy, low-res feed, the officer spoke up.
"Uh, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon?"
"Yes."
"But... can you really solve this? I mean, internal chatter says..."
My fixer mystique seemed to inspire priest-like faith; he spilled investigation details and meeting notes.
"We local cops from all the vanishing sites got together to share intel. But the more we shared, the crazier it got."
"Like what, exactly?"
"CCTV shows nothing, but we had eyewitnesses."
The officer kept rubbing his nape.
"All of them said the same: the guy was doing a survey."
"A survey?"
"Yeah, pops up out of nowhere and approaches the victim."
"Same guy every time?"
"No, eight male witnesses so far—no identical sketches once."
Now I was sure.
"And then he vanishes right in front of them. Both the guy and the victim."
"Sudden disappearance."
"Honestly, inside we're suspecting serial killings. Brass ordered extra patrols and stakeouts in hot zones on reservist days. I was on stakeout the night of this last one."
"Did you witness it?"
"Yeah. Saw the exact same thing."
He rubbed his eyelids, like he couldn't believe his own eyes.
"Gone in a blink. Right in front of me, between one blink and the next."
"I see."
"Felt like I was possessed or something. No way regular cops can handle this—that's why I came to you, Mr. Lee."
"Thanks for the cooperation."
Reservist in fatigues, survey. Puzzle complete—confirmation locked in.
"No need for more CCTV."
"You can solve it?"
This was an entity abduction.
"Yes. Just sit tight and trust me."
＊＊＊
Entities in Entity Hunt included plenty made by devs, but user-created ones outnumbered them.
User-driven games like this had clear pros and cons.
Pro: Creativity no single mind could match.
Con: Overall quality dipped.
The con got mitigated by likes/dislikes. But not every user was an artist—they leaned on patterns for creations.
Entities based on myths or legends.
On real-life mysteries.
Twisted homages, clichés, and borderline plagiarism from other works.
"And ones drawn from personal experience."
This entity I knew well—even remembered the creator's own words on it.
[Spilling the tea on delayed discharge from reserves due to deadweight.]
Deadweight couldn't zero a rifle, fumble gas mask, knew zilch—dragged our whole squad to last discharge.
'Something like that.'
Creator cited it as inspiration right on the wiki.
"Entity name: 「Reserve Forces Survey」."
Hazard class. Targets reservists post-training, abducts them to unknown space based on survey answers.
'Good answers avoid abduction. But if nabbed, must perfectly fulfill its demands inside to escape.'
Key point: Satisfy it, and not just you escapes—everyone does.
"The army's all about collective responsibility, good or bad."
Clear one, free all. Sure, Entity Hunt's single-player, so no users means no escapes—but nets the "Messiah of the Deadweights" achievement.
"Hmm."
「Reserve Forces Survey」 only threatens specific types. Unlike others, doesn't kill abductees.
'Just endless mental torment.'
Zero threat to me. Unless I sought it out, I'd never cross paths.
"But I've been asked."
Duty calls.
"Knowing yet not acting isn't true knowledge; able to save but not doing so is the height of beast-hearted hypocrisy."
Problem was, I pulled out my mothballed fatigues and boots from the closet.
Name tag with private first class insignia.
Beside it, my discharge papers.
[Lee Seung-hoon]
[Rank: Private First Class]
[MOS: 1111]
[Discharge (Enlistment) Date: 19.05.16 (19.03.16)]
"Regrettably, I'm not a reservist."
And another hitch.
"Doesn't abduct you unless you've actually served, right?"
＊＊＊
Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province—arrived at today's reserve training site, scoped the area.
'Chilly.'
Northern spot, weather bit hard.
'They run reserves in this?'
Heard this period was makeup training for no-shows.
'Would love to actually do reserves for real...'
Sadly, can't disrupt busy folks. Decided to kill time near the training HQ till they wrapped.
"Uh, sir? Late check-in?"
A guard at the entrance approached me.
"You're late, but you can still join now."
"Isn't it no entry even a minute late?"
Never done reserves, but researched just in case—knew the basics.
"Normally yes, but skip this one and it's December next. More work for us..."
"Ah, got it."
Should refuse.
"I'll head in now."
Can't resist new experiences.
＊＊＊
"Uh, sir? Why'd you even come?"
"Wanted to experience reserves, so here I am."
"Good lord... I-I mean, don't ever do this again. You know this is trespassing?"
"Sorry."
Truly a shame—my illegal entry got busted after three hours.
"Was just about to fire rifles too."
My service was nothing but good times, so even others' hated reserves felt fun.
'Why do they all despise it?'
Just three hours, yet so enjoyable.
"Excuse me."
About to hide and wait for the entity, a man approached.
"Mind doing a quick survey?"
I gladly took the questionnaire from the stranger in old fatigues.
"Of course."