It's the Representative

Right after Kim Rok-hee charged into the Window to slay the queen.

Outside the Window, the deputy tower master in charge of controlling the dome's interior was thrown into confusion by the unexpected situation.

“Aaaah~! Everyone! Hold the walls! The walls! They're breaking through!”

“Damn it, even if I wanted to stop them, I can't!”

“There are too many bugs!!”

The bugs moved with perfect coordination, splitting into escort and wall-breaching teams as if fighting desperately for survival. Some even charged straight at the fixers, ready to die just to buy time.

While the fixers were tied down, the bugs clinging to the outer wall finally punched a hole through.

It was still too small for their massive bodies to pass through, but if this dragged on, dozens—no, hundreds—would surely escape.

“This is bad…!”

Kim Rok-hee would definitely kill the queen and return from the Window. That much was certain.

But even if the queen died, the bugs remained. They had to wipe out every last one flying in the sky before the operation could end.

That was why they'd called in two thousand support troops in the first place. Who would've thought bugs could be this intelligent…!

The deputy tower master was tearing at his hair, blaming himself for failing to convince everyone to grind down their numbers first before closing the Window, when it happened.

Thud.

Thud-thud. Thud-thud-thud-thud! Thud!

The black cloud of bugs that had formed in the upper dome turned crimson in an instant.

It didn't take long to figure out what had happened. Countless carapaces and fragments mixed with blood rained down like hail toward the ground.

The deputy tower master, who hadn't been able to dodge in time, was pelted on the head.

“Ack, agh, ack.”

The same red shower fell on the fixers still fighting below.

“Kyaaah!”

“Everyone, duck!”

“Over here! This way!!”

After the chaotic crimson downpour finally ended, a heavy silence fell. The constant buzzing of countless wings had vanished completely.

The deputy tower master hurriedly wiped his face with a gloved hand, scanned the dome, and muttered,

“What the hell? What just happened…?”

Everything inside the dome—buildings included—was dyed bright red. The color was so overwhelming it hurt to look at.

‘Did they all die…? In one go?’

Even the Window that had been continuously spitting out bugs had gone quiet. Had every single bug inside the Window been wiped out too?

The deputy tower master rushed to the Window, wand raised, and carefully peered inside…

Thud!

“Kyaaah!”

“…! Tower Master!”

He collided head-on with Kim Rok-hee as she burst out. She caught the deputy tower master and slid across the floor with him. Her hands were empty. The queen's severed head was nowhere to be seen. Instead, her entire body was drenched in dark red bug blood.

“What happened? Why did all the bugs explode at once?”

“I… I don't know either. Did the bugs inside the Window explode too?”

Kim Rok-hee nodded. Moments later, the fixers from the Loki office came pouring out. The open Window closed on its own, and a system window appeared in front of it.

This system window should have been familiar, yet one detail left everyone bewildered.

‘The time penalty makes sense since the Cheong Clan Alliance dragged things out, but… this finisher… could it be?’

The letters were completely blacked out, as if someone had smashed the screen with a square object. Kim Rok-hee rubbed the unreadable characters with her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠finger and muttered,

“Has anyone here ever seen a finisher like this?”

“No, first time.”

“Maybe it's hidden by some kind of magical power?”

“No, that's impossible. We all know system windows can't be tampered with. The system just didn't output it.”

“The system is hiding it?”

Kim Rok-hee sighed deeply, rubbing her chin.

“I don't know… whether it's hiding it, or whether we simply can't perceive it.”

“Is this your first time experiencing something like this too, Tower Master?”

“No, it's not.”

Two years ago. While heading to Incheon as part of an operation support team assembled by the Administration Bureau, a Window had suddenly opened. Kim Rok-hee and several other fixers had landed to seal it quickly.

“We followed the usual red pillar of light that appears when a Window opens, and when we got there, it was exactly like this.”

Window conquest complete. Window frame preserved. Finisher unknown.

What mattered most was what they'd found inside the empty Window.

“The letters were garbled, so we couldn't tell if it was the same person, but the situation was identical.”

Kim Rok-hee remembered that scene vividly. Among all the Windows she'd conquered, it had been the first time she'd witnessed anything like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it.

“Unknown monsters lay scattered in a sea of blood as mangled fragments. Just like now.”

“Th-then, is it the same fixer who closed that Window back then?”

Kim Rok-hee nodded, agreeing with the deputy tower master's assessment.

“It has to be the same person. And judging by how easily they wiped out the entire swarm, they're at least Ga-class. If we're being generous, they could even be Special-class.”

“Special-class?! Why would a Special-class fixer come to a place like this…?”

“I don't know either. Deputy Tower Master, head back to the office and pull up the full list of everyone who participated today. The rest of you, help out wherever you can.”

“How should we filter them?”

“How? You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you?”

“Ah. Right! You saw them explode with a ‘thud’ and rain down!”

“Keep that in mind and compare. If we look carefully, we'll find an answer.”

Each fixer's abilities were valuable assets—essentially trade secrets. Even the Administration Bureau turned a blind eye to missing information after someone qualified as a fixer.

So cross-referencing profiles alone was like searching with one eye closed. But there had to be a clue somewhere. Fixers were the type who couldn't help bragging about themselves, so maybe the gallery held some trace.

At the same time, in front of Seoul Southern Temporary Hospital.

“What the hell is this?”

“Can't you tell by looking? It's someone who's dying!”

Woo Chun-yeob, summoned by Baek San-ah's urgent call, could only scratch the back of his neck. Cheong Ha-rin's injuries looked extremely serious as she lay on the ground, yet Baek San-ah hadn't taken her straight into the hospital. Instead, she'd hidden in a deserted area.

“Why aren't you going to the emergency room?”

“Because I don't have citizenship! I can pay the hospital bills, but without a guardian, they won't perform surgery right now…”

In the capital region, hospitals often refused surgery on patients without guardians. Saving someone with no family, colleagues, or acquaintances to return to was considered more trouble than it was worth.

The world really was harsh, but there was no helping it. With resources and Sephirah in short supply relative to the population, the city itself had made this ruthless choice for maximum efficiency.

‘Since her identification information isn't registered with the city, even Baek San-ah couldn't do anything about it.’

But if she'd accepted the representative position, she would have had a fake identity long ago. The terminal Woo Chun-yeob had given her included an ID card as well.

If she hadn't been so reluctant and had accepted his offer earlier, they wouldn't have wasted this golden hour.

“You become her guardian.”

“No, like I said, I'm registered as a pet, so that won't work.”

“Use the identity registered as the representative of the Ghost Office. You should be able to verify it with the terminal you have.”

Baek San-ah muttered with a dumbfounded expression.

“Wait, that permission you gave me yesterday included this too?”

“It was granted along with the representative authority. You just never paid attention, so it slipped by.”

“Normally you'd need a year of psychological evaluation after isolation ends before getting citizenship…”

The Byeoksa-bu, which answered directly to the Council of Five, outranked the Administrative Judiciary Bureau that handled identity management.

Realizing this belatedly, Baek San-ah showed uncharacteristic irritation. She'd always been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wary of the Byeoksa-bu, but today she truly couldn't hold back.

“……No, that's not the point. Damn Byeoksa-bu.”

Though her expression looked fed up, her body was already moving toward the emergency room. Saving Cheong Ha-rin took priority over resolving the questions that had arisen.

“Anyway, get the surgery started immediately. A precious life is slipping away.”

Baek San-ah immediately hoisted Cheong Ha-rin onto her back and sprinted toward the emergency room.

Watching her go, a question formed in Woo Chun-yeob's mind. Was this action born from cherishing all of humanity, or simply attachment to someone who could work in her place?

‘Calling it a noble sacrifice feels a bit much.’

He hadn't let on, but Woo Chun-yeob had already known everything when he arrived. After all, the neck armor on Baek San-ah contained not only an instant-execution function and GPS, but also a simple wavelength detector.

Combined with the report compiled by the Administration Bureau, those two pieces of data made Baek San-ah's decision crystal clear.

…

3) Window Da-112 grade elevation confirmed [Fixer Response Scale: Da → Na] [Qlipha Danger Scale: 05 (City) → 20 (National)]

…

Faced with an unavoidable situation, she had apparently pulled out the cross sealed inside her body. Baek San-ah had once said that what she sealed with the cross was “extremely precious,” so she wouldn't take it out unless absolutely necessary.

“Ah, should I call it a seal~? It's something incredibly precious to me, so I feel like I've layered two or three seals on it to prevent any problems~.”

“Precious, you say. Is it something harmful to humanity?”

“If I had to compare it to humans, maybe like a dolmen? Though you could technically use a dolmen as a blunt weapon if you really wanted to, but you don't, right~? I have absolutely no intention of using it for bad purposes either~.”

She had taken out that precious thing, and as she'd promised, she hadn't used it for any malicious purpose. Whatever the anomaly's standards were, by human standards at least, it had been the “right” use.

Most of the reactions from those who had actually experienced today's events on the gallery were full of praise.

As a member of the Byeoksa-bu, the last bastion of humanity, Woo Chun-yeob could never be absolutely certain that Baek San-ah was safe. But after half a year of surveillance, and with nothing but good deeds piling up no matter how much he dug, even his heart couldn't help but lean in a positive direction.

‘I suppose I have to trust her, for now.’

These good deeds would one day become a solid pillar of support for Baek San-ah. If they accumulated enough, they would become proof that Baek San-ah was a humanoid anomaly different from ordinary ones.

But for both Woo Chun-yeob and Baek San-ah, this wasn't entirely a good thing. Regardless of whether she earned humanity's recognition, it would actually become an obstacle to entering the City Center.

The people living in the greenhouse called the City Center were timid. They tried to keep their distance not only from Qlipha, but also from any powerful Sephirah that could become dangerous at any moment. Most Ga-class and Special-class fixers had never even set foot in the City Center because of their usual conduct—that alone was explanation enough.

Therefore, Woo Chun-yeob planned to report this incident as his own doing. When it involved a Byeoksa-bu agent, the Council of Five—the head of Seoul—would control the information. There was no better way to divert attention away from Baek San-ah.

From now on, Baek San-ah needed to keep her danger level low while accumulating the contributions necessary to enter the City Center. What mattered wasn't her personal strength, but the strength of the office she represented as its head. There was no rule that the representative had to be the strongest. Some representatives lacked absolute power but drew people in through their popularity and earned respect.

However, it would be difficult to keep reporting that he had been dispatched every time something like this happened. Even as a lawless and free Byeoksa-bu agent, he couldn't submit a report claiming he had done something that occurred at a physically unreachable distance.

‘I need one person to act as a screen in my place…’

At that moment, a name surfaced in Woo Chun-yeob's mind. Cheong Ha-rin. Recently expelled from the Cheong Clan Alliance. She had a strong desire to succeed and live well, and she was willing to work hard at anything. She was someone who could accept and understand if unexpected achievements fell into her lap.

Moreover, if she became famous, it would be possible to restore the tarnished reputation of fixers. She would become the “living conscience of the Cheong Clan Alliance.” As a bonus, she could also serve as the face of Baek San-ah's office to attract people. With her level of presence, it should be possible.

“…Alright. It's decided.”