Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 160. Extension Approval Application
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Before I could even open my mouth to decide, the announcement started playing.
[Those of you standing here are the top performers from the Gangseo Management Bureau.]
The broadcast began introducing people in a dry, emotionless tone.
[These are reliable individuals, so please go with whoever you want.]
Park Ye-eun, who was listening to the announcement beside me, tilted her head and whispered to me.
"But how do we choose? Us?"
"Probably like that?"
[Selecting partners will proceed by respecting mutual opinions.]
[The side choosing a mentor can make the first proposal, and the other party can accept or decline.]
[Of course, the mentor side can propose first, in which case it proceeds in reverse.]
Got it.
To be honest.
There's really no need to agonize over this at all.
Hypnosis? Roll over and win.
Telekinesis? Roll over and win.
Immortality... can't win by rolling, but I can't imagine Yoo Daon beating Ahn Sanghyeon by rolling either.
In other words, my decision is—
"Team up with me."
Before I could speak, Jang Chaeyeon walked right up to me with firm steps and looked at me.
"I'm good at this stuff."
"Um, Chaeyeon."
Does she have no pride?
"I'm good at it too!"
Yoo Daon came down as well and started waving her hand.
"No cutting in line."
"There are no cutting rules, right?"
The two started bickering playfully,
and...
Song Arin was watching me from the platform with a complicated gaze.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh."
"Pardon...?"
I walked past the two and up onto the platform.
Song Arin's eyes widened.
"Y-Yeah. Well, I have some talent of my own, so—"
I passed by Song Arin.
Song Arin gasped as if she'd stopped breathing, and Park Ye-eun, who had been sticking close to my side, turned around to look,
and then...
"Ugh..."
muttered something under her breath.
"Oppa. Don't look back no matter what."
"Why."
"Don't you know your head's getting pierced from behind right now?"
"Oh. Because I didn't team up with them?"
"Yeah."
"Hey. They're not the type who can't find teammates without me. We're all elites in our own right."
These are people who've survived countless brushes with death. Underestimating the HR Team like that would be a problem.
"Should we just not say anything?"
And why is she like this.
Surprisingly, no one approached Ahn Sanghyeon.
Whether out of awe or some other reason I didn't know, I couldn't tell.
"No, Kim Jaeheon!"
He saw me and grinned brightly.
"What's this? Are you thinking of teaming up with me...!"
"Yes."
"Wow! This is truly an honor! Teaming up with the star of the HR Team—what an honor!"
He glanced behind me with a smile.
"...Oh."
His smiling face stiffened slightly.
"Kim Jaeheon."
"Yes."
"Don't look back."
"Huh?"
"Hahaha! Let's go!"
Then he turned around laughing again and started walking.
What the hell is behind me...
"Ow!"
As I tried to turn around, Park Ye-eun hurriedly pinched my side.
"Don't look back."
"Got it."
Our team was the first to select a mentor.
[Those who have selected a mentor, please proceed through the door in front.]
We opened the door, and Ahn Sanghyeon stepped forward.
A dark corridor stretched out before us.
"What should we do?"
Ahn Sanghyeon looked at me.
I met his gaze and thought it over.
Overwhelming force.
That's what the HR Team lacked most.
That's why we'd always had to rack our brains or try impossible methods just to survive.
Sometimes, trying a different approach is good.
"Roll."
"Pardon?"
"Destroy everything in front of you."
A glint appeared in his eyes.
"Really... that's all I need to do?"
"Yes. That's it."
"Things will get broken."
"Not my problem."
The Management Bureau will foot the bill.
"The Branch Chief will get mad."
"Not my problem."
If they had a problem, they shouldn't have made this guy a mentor.
"The others won't be able to take the test properly."
"Isn't that good?"
Everyone passes. Happy ending.
"Really... can I?"
He looked at me with manic glee in his eyes.
I'd sensed it last time we met, but this guy was a little off.
He seemed to enjoy destroying things.
"Do it."
He grinned.
"Got it!"
He curled into a ball.
The man became a single ball.
"Haha... hahaha...!"
The moment he kicked off, flames erupted on the floor, and he shot forward like a bullet.
-Boom!
"Eek!"
Park Ye-eun screamed beside me.
"Haha! Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
Something pitch-black lunged out ahead, but it shattered on contact with him.
Obstacles appeared, but they broke.
The walls caved in.
Flames rose from the floor.
The path he passed through, laughing all the way...
"Oppa."
"Yeah."
"Is this really how we're supposed to clear the test? Is this what the examiners intended?"
"Even if you go the wrong way, as long as you end up in Seoul."
The path was devastated, but completely clear ahead of us.
*
"You, stay."
"But Branch Chief, this was Kim Jaeheon's—"
"I said stay."
The first to greet us as we finished were a few people with grim faces and the Branch Chief, who was holding his smartphone and bowing his head.
"But Kim Jaeheon asked me to—"
"Would you die if Kim Jaeheon told you to?"
"No."
Ahn Sanghyeon lay there utterly wrecked.
He looked at me.
A desperate plea for help.
"Branch Chief, I asked him to—"
"Shut it."
"Got it."
I didn't think I could help.
We waited for the others, watching him get smashed again.
Soon, the others started arriving one by one.
Yoo Daon, Jang Chaeyeon, Song Arin.
The three had such a vicious aura that the people behind them just quietly bowed their heads and followed.
"Wow, did they have to ruin the mood like that?"
"Oppa, you really need to stay quiet."
Park Ye-eun smacked my arm.
*
And so the test ended.
There were various reasons, but the biggest was that Ahn Sanghyeon had smashed the entire test site, and second was the Branch Chief's strong opinion.
Something about not wanting to do it anymore.
I don't know about others, but honestly, for me, it was like therapy.
It might sound crazy, but after dealing with so many anomalies and containment objects, this test?
It was easy—practically nothing.
Anyway.
"Congrats on regular employment."
"Thanks!"
The next day, I nodded to Park Ye-eun on the way to work, and she smiled back.
"Still, I'll try not to take you on field work as much as possible."
"Huh?"
"When you're a bit older."
I looked at Park Ye-eun pouting her lips.
"Then I'll think about it."
"...Got it."
No matter what, taking a minor on field duty isn't right.
If it's urgent, maybe.
With Park Ye-eun chattering beside me, we entered the office.
...
...
...
The three of them stared at me blankly.
"What's up?"
...
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me, then turned away.
"If that's how you feel, then fine."
Yoo Daon looked deflated too.
"Yeah. I need to do better."
Song Arin was...
...
deflated as well.
...
"Say something, oppa."
Park Ye-eun smiled at me.
A smile like a little devil.
"Your unnies are disappointed in you, right?"
"Be quiet for once."
Leaving the laughing Park Ye-eun behind, I looked at the others.
"Everyone."
They turned their gazes to me.
What should I say here.
-Tap tap.
Park Ye-eun poked my back and whispered.
"Say we'll go eat something delicious separately next time."
"...Separately?"
"Absolutely separately."
...
"Now."
Park Ye-eun grinned and poked my back.
Fine. I'll play along.
"Everyone, next time I'll treat you all to something delicious—separately."
Like this would get me forgiven—
"Got it."
"Anything Jaeheon wants to eat is fine by me!"
"W-What... I wasn't really mad. Just thinking about other stuff."
Jang Chaeyeon answered without hesitation, Yoo Daon beamed, and Song Arin twirled her hair while mumbling.
"It worked?"
"If something big happens from now on, call me. How's that, oppa?"
"You're hired."
"Yes!"
Park Ye-eun waved happily,
and—
The door burst open as the Team Leader entered.
"I got mail on the way here today. Daon, you have a letter... What's going on?"
The Team Leader blinked at me.
"I don't know."
"Really? Looks like you're the problem to me."
"I didn't do anything."
Everything's always my fault.
"Anyway. Daon."
"Yes, Team Leader."
Yoo Daon shook her head and approached him.
"You've got a letter."
"A letter? I don't think I have anything coming."
Yoo Daon muttered as she tore open the envelope.
...
Her expression hardened.
Jang Chaeyeon, standing beside her, glanced at the letter in her hand,
and then...
"...Come here."
She looked at me.
Unlike her usual self, her face was full of worry.
"What's that?"
I went to Yoo Daon's side and looked at the letter.
The attached paper caught my eye.
[Sender: Gangbuk Special Hospital.]
"Team Leader."
"Y-Yeah."
He seemed to sense the mood and blinked.
"Don't leave Daon alone. Ever."
"O-Okay."
"Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon came to my side.
"Stay here with her."
"You can count on me."
Next.
"Arin."
...
Song Arin looked at me.
"Go get the Branch Chief."
"...Got it. I'll do it."
Song Arin left.
"Park Ye-eun."
"Y-Yes?"
Park Ye-eun, who had been staring blankly at the paper, looked at me.
"Come with me."
"W-Where to?"
"To pack gear."
And finally.
"Daon."
Yoo Daon looked up at me.
Terror filled her face.
"It's okay."
I spoke to Yoo Daon in a firm voice.
"We've got you."
-Flutter...
The torn letter fluttered away in the wind.
