Chapter 279
Chapter 279
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Guide
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"Team Leader, where are you going?"
"Just follow me."
The Team Leader starts leading me out without saying a word.
"What about the others?"
"Those three wouldn't help even if they were there. Not that they're useless, but it'd be better without them."
What the hell is he talking about?
But the Team Leader had such a serious expression that I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
"At least explain what it is. It's not dangerous, right?"
"No. Didn't I say I'd stake my life on it?"
As we leave the Management Bureau and head to the underground parking lot, the Team Leader speaks up.
"It's a story from when I was young."
"Yes."
"Even back then, I worked for the Management Bureau."
"I see."
I look at the Team Leader, whose head is now more than half bald.
Was the Team Leader really in HR even when he was young?
Not much is known about his past. He was always preaching to me about the importance of marriage and the joy of having kids.
"Once, when I was young, the Management Bureau's interior got breached."
"That happens every day."
Has there ever been a day when the interior wasn't breached? It'd be quicker to look for a safe day.
As I nod along to the Team Leader's words, he looks at me.
"Anyway, there was this guy I owed a debt to back then, and he asked for my help."
"Then how about we all go together, or get help from someone else?"
Or is there some reason we can't get help?
I've done similar things myself.
"..."
Without a word, the Team Leader holds out his hand to me.
I shake it, and he slaps my hand away with a smack, sighing with a tsk.
"Hand over your gun. The gun."
"No, Team Leader, you should bring your own gun."
Getting a gun from the Management Bureau is easier than buying coffee, so why take someone else's?
"I'm not going to use it. Leave it behind."
"...For real?"
He wants me to leave my weapon behind?
"That's a bit..."
"Trust me a little."
The Team Leader looks at me earnestly and nods.
"..."
Reluctantly, I hand over my gun, and he tosses it into the trash can.
Clunk! The gun lands inside.
"Jaeheon, do you know any martial arts or something?"
"No."
"Or hypnosis, telekinesis, or maybe you can kill people with your eyes?"
"No."
"So without a gun, you're nothing? Good."
The Team Leader smiles in satisfaction.
It stings my pride a little.
"No, what is this about? Huh?"
"You'll see when we get there."
The Team Leader nods.
"It's a house that changes based on your own physical strength."
"What, like a custom test?"
"Not a test. We just need to retrieve something hidden inside."
"What is it? Team Leader, you're not doing something shady behind the Management Bureau's back, are you?"
"I told you no. Get in."
The Team Leader sighs, opens the car door, and a cheerful greeting comes from inside.
"Hey, oppa!"
Park Ye-eun was waving with a smile.
"...You brought Ye-eun too? Planning to steal something?"
"There's a lot of stuff there."
"I figured you'd come, oppa! The Team Leader asked if I could fight or not."
Should I really learn some martial arts?
"What about the other three?"
"They were messing around with flashlights or something."
"What were they saying?"
"Why would I listen to that? You trying to get me in trouble?"
Park Ye-eun grins at me.
"Good job."
"Buckle your seatbelts properly. Especially you, Park Ye-eun. You need to do it right."
The Team Leader says that and starts the car.
Soon, with a powerful engine roar, the car takes off.
"Team Leader. If they want to hide it, they can hide it completely, and if the Management Bureau wants to find it, they can, right? Just tell us straight."
"..."
The Team Leader drives in silence, then looks at me in the passenger seat.
"You've seen the things in the Management Bureau's basement, right?"
"Containment Objects?"
"Yeah."
The Team Leader nods.
"Never thought it was weird?"
"What?"
"There aren't that many tool-type ones, are there?"
"..."
Yeah, there weren't.
The only tool-type Containment Object I used was a butane gas canister.
"There's a place where they collect those tool-type Containment Objects."
"I get it."
A place collecting tool-type Containment Objects. That makes sense. Though it's weird I didn't know about it.
"Then why are we going to find a person there?"
"My friend got trapped in there."
"Huh?"
"He needs a ticket to get out, but he dropped it."
"Can't he just tell the branch office?"
"If he gets caught losing it again, he's fired."
How many times has he lost it?
The Team Leader sighs and looks at me.
"Anyway, that place... well. Only people with low combat ability can enter. That's why I'm only bringing you guys."
Fair enough. Jang Chaeyeon, Yoo Daon, and Song Arin... even if Song Arin is a bit iffy, they might seem dangerous.
"So I'm okay, right?"
"Yeah, probably. When I thought about bringing the others, it gave me chills, but you and Ye-eun are fine, so that's why."
If the Team Leader guarantees it's safe, I can trust it.
The car speeds through downtown, turns into an alley, and stops in front of a rundown building.
The not-so-large building had [Ma's Pawnshop] written largely in front.
"This is one of the entrances."
The Team Leader mutters as he gets out, and I follow, holding my manual.
"It's okay to bring the manual, right?"
"I carried mine around and was fine."
If the Team Leader says he was fine...
I stare at the manual in my hand.
It'll really be okay, right?
-Shraaak!
As if reading my mind, the manual flips open.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[PMB - Manual Usage Scope]
1. The manual can enter all Management Bureau facilities.
2. Personnel holding this manual can do the same. Please enjoy exploring the Management Bureau within the scope of your safety.
3. If a guide ever shows up, welcome them warmly.
Okay, then. But what's a guide?
I follow the Team Leader and Park Ye-eun with the manual, and the Team Leader stands in front of the elevator.
"Let me see..."
The Team Leader furrows his brow, muttering, and pulls a piece of paper from his pocket.
"Ahem."
He reads it, then presses a button shaped like a paper, and at the same time, a beep sounds, followed by a fizzing noise echoing everywhere.
"Three floors house families, this floor the lonely ones. And on the first floor, we live."
The Team Leader clears his throat and says something, and with that, the elevator starts moving. Park Ye-eun's eyes sparkle as she looks around.
"Wow... whoa... it really feels like a secret organization."
"It is a secret organization."
She really acts like a kid sometimes.
I chuckle like an old man at Park Ye-eun, and when the elevator doors open, I look ahead.
"Let me see. How impressive..."
"..."
My words stop, and Park Ye-eun stares at the hallway ahead.
The hallway stretching before us looked so ancient it felt like I'd come to the wrong era.
"...Is this really the place?"
Park Ye-eun clings to my arm, and the Team Leader walks ahead casually.
"Yeah, it is."
With each step the Team Leader takes, the wooden floor creaks loudly.
"Why does this place feel so..."
"Old? Because it was made a long time ago."
The Team Leader shrugs at my question, and at the same time, a chill runs down my spine, making me look up.
"..."
Nothing was there.
"Oppa, did you feel that just now?"
"Yeah."
Park Ye-eun looks up at me, gripping my arm, and I nod back at her.
"Something's here."
"Yeah. There's something, but since you two are fine here, it's okay."
The Team Leader answers nonchalantly as he weaves through the hallway.
"Let me see. Here."
Soon, he stops in front of a wooden door, grabs the knob, closes his eyes then opens them, and roughly opens the door.
"..."
No one was there.
Only a single refrigerator sat inside.
"...Cold."
Park Ye-eun mutters, rubbing her arms.
She was right.
It was pretty cold.
"..."
The Team Leader stares at the refrigerator, then turns to me and Park Ye-eun.
"You two wait in the hallway."
"Huh?"
"I'm going inside the fridge for a bit."
At the Team Leader's words, I look at the refrigerator, and soon a translucent window appears.
[Name: Refrigerator]
[Age: Created 23 years ago]
[Specialty: Imprisonment]
[Talent: Imprisonment]
[Background: They used this refrigerator to escape.]
[Weakness: Just break it.]
While I'm reading the translucent window, the Team Leader opens the refrigerator door.
An unnaturally strong chill floods the room, and without hesitation, he steps inside.
"Wait in the hallway. If something happens, Jaeheon, handle it well."
"Yes."
"Going in."
The Team Leader disappears into the refrigerator, leaving just me and Park Ye-eun.
"Let's go out."
He said to wait in the hallway, so there must be a reason.
I take Park Ye-eun out, and we're back standing in the dark hallway, just the two of us.
"Oppa."
"Yeah."
As I lean against the wall to pass the time, Park Ye-eun looks at me.
"How's company life?"
"You're my boss, aren't you?"
What kind of weird question is that?
I look at Park Ye-eun in disbelief, and she gives an awkward smile.
"I don't have much to say... You know all about me already. And it feels weird asking about you."
I look at Park Ye-eun.
Still a young kid. But one who's been through so much.
She's probably better at giving up what she wants than voicing it.
Like with Ailin. She's better now, though.
What an adult should do in times like this is clear.
"Kid worrying about others already. Let me tell you about when I was young."
"Really?"
"Nothing much, really."
And so I start unloading stories on Park Ye-eun, from the Butterfly's Dream incident onward.
Park Ye-eun was a great audience.
She'd grip her hands tight and widen her eyes at the dangerous parts, and clap and laugh at the fun ones.
"Anyway, so—"
-Creeeak...
As I excitedly tell her about the theater director, the sound of a door opening echoes from far down the hallway.
"..."
"..."
Park Ye-eun and I exchange glances.
"Stay here."
"L-let's go together."
"It's dangerous."
"Being alone is scary...!"
Park Ye-eun clings tightly to my arm, and helplessly, I walk down the hallway with her.
-Creeeak...
-Creeeak...
The sounds of doors opening one by one grow closer.
And I don't have my gun.
I bite my lip slightly, and Park Ye-eun squeezes her eyes shut.
-Tap... tap...
It sounds like a child walking, and a small shadow appears.
Light shines, revealing someone.
"It's me."
A familiar voice rings in my ear.
Dark blue hair flutters.
In the form of a child, my childhood friend stands before me.
"I told you to welcome the guide if she comes."
She pouts her lips.