Chapter 182
Chapter 182
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 182. What She Sees
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To dig into the incident, we first had to look into why the Gangdong Branch's Management Team had ended up like this—and sure enough, the problem was the containment object confiscated by the church.
That containment object was the only cross left.
They were still piecing together the reasons why, but the general consensus was that someone in management had made a wish on the cross during handling, which summoned the priest and wrecked the Management Team along with a bunch of other departments.
Anyone exposed to the cross or who met the priest soon transformed into devout believers, rotting the Gangdong Branch from the inside out.
The problem was that hardly anyone realized it.
A few people, aside from the old man we'd met, had vaguely caught on and tried to fix it, but they either fell under the cross's sway after seeing it or got purged by the priest.
Naturally, this story caused a huge stir within the Management Bureau.
Word was, the fallout was on par with the Butterfly's Dream incident.
First, the fact that the Management Team hadn't noticed despite being brainwashed for quite some time.
And second, that some unknown team from the Gangseo Branch had resolved the whole thing single-handedly.
Fortunately, the rumors hadn't spread too far.
*
Gangseo Branch Director's Office.
In the sunlit room, the old man sits in a chair, looking at me.
"Sorry about this. At my age, my joints ache too much to stand for long."
The old man bows his head slightly to me in apology.
"It's fine."
After the incident wrapped up, everyone else except me had been sent home.
Everyone except one person: Song Arin.
She'd been ordered to wait in the HR Team office.
Normally, the Song Arin I knew would've thrown a fit about why she had to, but this time she just quietly nodded, which worried me for some reason.
"We at the Gangseo Branch HR Team are always grateful."
The old man who had been grilling the director smiles kindly at me.
"You've stepped up and resolved so many incidents personally."
"One hundred seventeen... one hundred eighteen...!"
"This is all thanks to the HR Team. Shall I send over a plaque?"
A plaque? God, no.
"If it's not too much trouble, I'd appreciate it if you kept this quiet."
To be honest, I was already getting dragged into enough incidents as it was. If rumors started flying that the Gangseo Branch HR Team were miracle aces, my life would get several times harder.
"Ah, if that's what you want, of course we'll oblige. We'll wrap this incident up nicely."
"Thank you."
"One hundred seventy-seven... one hundred seventy-six..."
...
I couldn't help glancing at the director behind him, doing push-ups in perfect form.
I'd stopped him from banging his head, but the old man's firm resolve for disciplinary action showed no signs of wavering.
"Louder!"
"One hundred eighty! One hundred eighty-one!"
"...Sir, and one more thing, if you could?"
"Oh, of course. I could grant a hundred such requests."
The old man who'd been glaring at the director just moments ago turns back to me with a kindly smile.
"The director didn't do anything wrong, really. He's always trying to look out for you all."
He'd even begged me multiple times to take a break and come back later.
"...He's a good man."
The old man's smile deepens.
"As they say, a good person spreads good influence wherever they go..."
"No, really."
Why won't you believe me?
"Up."
"Yes, sir!"
The director rises from his push-ups in perfect form without a drop of sweat, despite going at it so fast.
"You've got a great subordinate there. Cherish it for life."
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
It was making even me uncomfortable just hearing it.
The director stands behind me, not even glancing my way.
To be frank, this was scarier than the cross.
"You must have a lot of questions."
The old man clasps his hands and looks at me.
"What would you like to know?"
...
Honestly, I had questions galore.
"Hmm..."
As I pondered how to address this old man, he smiled and nodded.
"Call me Headquarters Chief."
"Got it, Headquarters Chief."
Where to even start.
"How will this incident be handled?"
Without losing his kindly smile, the old man continues.
"To be frank, incidents from containment object management failures happen all the time inside the Management Bureau."
Fair enough—it was the same with Butterfly's Dream.
"The issue this time is that it just had to be a 'church' object."
...
Church.
I'd heard about them since Eileen, but this incident drove it home.
They were a real pain.
"Kim Jaeheon, you've met plenty of groups and containment objects by now, so you know most of them have their own goals."
The Headquarters Chief mutters as he looks at me, and—
*Zing!*
The migraine hits briefly, and panoramic visions flood my eyes.
"Extremists. They usually start with Act 1 and 2, build to Act 3, then bring change to the world with their grand finale."
Countless people move like puppets.
"Hospital. They claim it's for disease research, but their real aim is crafting the perfect 'human'... Honestly, even I don't fully get it yet."
Countless people get devoured by a massive monster.
"What else did you run into? Ah, Aestheticists. ...These guys are the worst. Incomprehensible, unpredictable. Monsters hiding behind the mask of art, killing people."
Visions play before my eyes.
A woman with a mannequin's body walks by, meets my gaze, smirks, swings her arm—
The vision cuts off.
The old man sighs.
"And the church."
No vision this time.
"Their goal is to bring God down to earth."
Terrifying just hearing it.
"The Management Bureau's holding them back as best we can, for now..."
The old man blinks, and the visions in my eyes cut off with a touch of migraine.
"Sorry. Your mental barrier is so strong, it must've been uncomfortable."
The old man bows his head slightly in apology.
"...It's fine."
So he just pierced right through my mental barrier.
"Kim Jaeheon, you're pretty much the top star in our Management Bureau right now."
The old man nods as he looks at me.
"We're always grateful."
He bows his head to me.
"Anything else you're curious about?"
...
One more thing.
"...What happened to Kim Wanwoo?"
The regressor.
I hadn't heard anything about him since his involuntary resignation.
"Kim Wanwoo, eh?"
The Headquarters Chief smiles at my question.
As if he'd seen it coming.
He glances at the director, who clears his throat and taps my shoulder.
"Mind if we head to headquarters to show you?"
"...Sure."
The Headquarters Chief nods.
"Here's my contact."
He hands me a piece of paper.
...
I reach out and take it.
Blank white paper, nothing on it.
I look at the paper, then at the Headquarters Chief, and he chuckles merrily.
"Everyone gives me that look the first time they get my card. That's why I can't stop the prank."
...
"I'll come when you need the card."
He smiles and waves.
"Sorry. I'd love to stay longer, but I've got something else to check right away."
"No problem. You're busy, I'm sure."
If the director's this swamped, how bad must it be for the Headquarters Chief?
I'm never climbing the ladder.
"Thanks for understanding."
He smiles.
I blink,
and the old man in front of me is gone.
...
What was that, warp?
I'm staring blankly at the chair when—
"Let's go."
The director says as he opens the door and steps out.
I hurry after his quick strides.
"Director."
"Yeah."
"Um, are you... mad?"
No way someone his age would get mad over that, right? Out of everyone I've seen in my 250+ years?
"I'm mad."
He is.
The director turns to look at me.
"I'm so wronged I could go crazy. What are you gonna do about it?"
"Can't help you there."
I'm just as wronged.
"Seriously, how do we keep you out of incidents... Chain you to the room?"
The director says it shamelessly with a straight face.
I follow him,
and he stops in front of the HR Team office.
Come to think of it, why'd they tell only Song Arin to stay?
As if anticipating my question,
the HR Team door opens, and Song Arin steps out.
Her hollow expression shifts between me and the director.
Our eyes meet on her utterly exhausted face.
"...Arin, you okay?"
"...I'm fine."
"Shall we move on?"
The director asks Song Arin gently.
"...I'm okay. It's better here than home right now."
She mutters as she stands beside me.
What did she see there?
Or...
...
Hypnosis lifted.
Myeongil Apartment.
Did the cross undo all abilities, including Song Arin's self-hypnosis?
Her face from staring at the camera feed flashes in my mind.
I glance sideways at Song Arin.
She's standing beside me, expression dark.
"...Shall we go?"
"Kids these days are tricky..." the director mutters as he starts walking.
With her in front, Song Arin and I fall into step.
"Arin."
"Yeah."
"If something's tough, tell me."
...
She looks at me.
"...Suppose."
"Yeah."
An inexplicable emotion crosses her face.
"Suppose."
"Yeah."
"You're not as good a person as I think you are. What then?"
...
What do I say?
I look at Song Arin.
A translucent window floats above her head.
[Name: Song Arin]
[Age: 21]
[Trait: Hypnosis]
[Talent: Manipulation]
[Background: Nothing in this world is eternal. Running away your whole life just means the longer you delay, the greater the pain you'll have to face.]
[Weakness: Deny it now. Deny the life she's lived. Accuse every righteous word she's ever said of being hypocrisy and press her on it.]
I force my gaze down from the translucent window and meet Song Arin's eyes.
"I—"
"We're here."
The director looks at us both.
A steel door with no handle.
...
Before I can finish, Song Arin steps forward, closes her eyes slightly,
and—
*Creak...*
The door opens.
"Kim Jaeheon."
...
The director looks at me.
"This is top-secret, never to be leaked. Your mental barrier blocks memory wipes, so I'm bringing you here purely on trust. Understand that."
"...Got it."
"Talk, and it won't end with discipline. For real."
The director says that and enters the room.
I follow behind her.
In the dark room, a bubbling sound echoes.
*Click.*
Song Arin, standing by the wall, turns on the light.
...
No sign of Kim Wanwoo.
Just a small tank with a brain floating in it, wrapped in electrical wires.
*Crackle!*
Sparks occasionally erupt from the wires,
"Don't look."
Song Arin covers my eyes.
"Nothing good comes from seeing it. It'll ruin your appetite."
She mutters in a flat voice.
"Information extraction in progress."
The director nods at the brain,
and—
*Crackle!*
The electric noise echoes through the quiet room.