The Anomaly Wannabe of the Fixer Gallery
The Ganghwa Island Changro Warehouse Incident.
I pulled out only the juiciest bits from the articles and dumped them all here.
I saw her during the ability assessment before. She looked super depressed after hearing her results, right?
Maybe she really wanted a Ga-grade but got Na-grade instead? Whoa.
“So? What do you think after seeing all that?”
“Um… I’m still kind of dazed… hehe…”
“Same here. I never expected the person who got so badly injured during that Window incident to come back this strong.”
When Kim Rok-hee closed the gallery, the terminal projected Cheong Ha-rin’s employment contract into the air.
Looking at the distribution ratio written there, Kim Rok-hee explained.
“For now, the split is seven for you, Ha-rin, and three for the office. I didn’t just decide this arbitrarily. It’s based on your recent achievements and the office’s existing rates.”
“Seven is more than enough…! I thought I’d get way less since I’m basically a newbie…”
“You know the representative is currently missing, right? That means changing the rates will be difficult. Keep that in mind.”
Cheong Ha-rin, who had been clapping excitedly, asked again with a slightly dazed expression.
“Uh… missing?”
“That’s what Baek San-a, the only one who knows the representative, told me.”
But when Cheong Ha-rin tried to tell the truth—that San-a was the one who had hired her—her mouth stopped.
‘I don’t know exactly what she’s thinking, but she clearly hates being in the spotlight…’
Just from the way she’d pushed all the credit for the Ganghwa Island incident onto her, it was obvious San-a wanted to stay as far away from attention as possible.
Cheong Ha-rin might have terrible luck, but she wasn’t clueless. She roughly understood what kind of attitude she needed to show from now on.
“Yeah, well. I’m already satisfied with the current rate, so there’s no reason to change it.”
“Okay. Then I’ll send this document to Baek San-a. Once she signs it, you’ll officially become a fixer for this office.”
“Wow…! Finally…!”
How hard had it been?
It had only been a little over a week since she decided she wanted to work with Baek San-a.
In that short time she’d already gotten dragged into two anomaly incidents.
She really couldn’t have had worse luck.
‘But… I ended up working with San-a… and I’m going to make a lot of money… hehe.’
However, it was still too early for her to let her guard down.
As if she knew that perfectly well, Kim Rok-hee dropped a sharp remark.
“By the way, Ha-rin. Be honest with me. You didn’t clear out Changro’s Ganghwa branch by yourself, did you?”
“Y-yes? N-no, I did it myself…?!”
Kim Rok-hee let out a small laugh. Her eyes were chilling, as if they could see straight through Cheong Ha-rin.
A shiver ran down her spine and she trembled.
“There was someone incredibly strong. They must have shown up to rescue the kidnapped Baek San-a.”
“…Y-yes?”
“It’s fine. You can tell me. I have no intention of telling anyone else about that person either.”
“Uh…”
Even though she thought Kim Rok-hee was seriously misunderstanding something, Cheong Ha-rin’s mouth moved on its own.
If she really wanted to hide what kind of person Baek San-a was, it was better to play along.
“Yes… That’s why I want to get stronger too. If things keep going like this, people will eventually realize I’m actually useless…”
“Heh…”
Kim Rok-hee let out a low chuckle. Her eyes gleamed dangerously.
“I don’t know why they’re avoiding me so much… but it’s incredibly suspicious.”
“S-suspicious?”
“Of course it is. They keep causing these massive incidents but never show their face.”
“Hmm. That’s true.”
Most of it applied perfectly if you replaced the subject with Baek San-a, so Cheong Ha-rin unconsciously nodded.
Mistaking it for agreement with her own theory, Kim Rok-hee continued.
“Window Da-112. The one who burst all those bugs there is the person I’m looking for. Whether they’re Ga-grade or Special-grade, I have no idea what their name, gender, or appearance is. An absolute powerhouse.
They only appear around Baek San-a, their pet, and only during crises? Yet Baek San-a claims she’s never even seen them. I’m dying to know what kind of story is behind all this.”
“Just from what you’re saying, it sounds like Daddy Long-legs…”
“Right! Daddy Long-legs. Maybe the person I’m looking for is actually the missing representative of this office? That would be pretty romantic too…”
As she listened to the story, a thought naturally occurred to Cheong Ha-rin.
‘Becoming the Magic Tower Master wasn’t a coincidence, huh…’
This person was turning thirty next year.
To anyone looking, she gave off the vibe of a dreamy teenage girl who loved fantasy novels.
Cheong Ha-rin barely held back her laughter and looked away.
If her thoughts were discovered, it wouldn’t end with just a scolding.
Kim Rok-hee, who had been imagining her ideal future colleague with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them wide.
“Hey, Ha-rin. For a while, can you take me with you whenever you go out?”
“…Huh? Why?”
“What do you mean why? This incident made huge headlines. There’s no way Changro is going to sit still.”
Kim Rok-hee mimed shooting herself in the temple with her thumb like a gun, as if to scare her.
Bang.
“That’s how criminal organizations are. Changro stayed hidden pretty well until now, but this time they got their tail stepped on hard… And the stuff they found on Ganghwa Island was no joke.”
“Ah, you mean the drug. The one that gives superhuman strength and night vision but is extremely addictive… I heard if you take a few pills you turn into a demonic beast right away…”
“Yeah. Our country’s anomaly crackdown is insanely strict so distribution is difficult, but apparently overseas the volume is enormous.”
“But criminal organizations can’t use portals. How did they distribute it overseas?”
“Who knows? They must have a method, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it.
Anyway, you need to be careful, Ha-rin. I heard the guys they caught are so scared of their boss that they swallow suicide pills. Do you really think a boss like that would leave you alone?”
“R-really?!”
“Catching a criminal organization gives massive contribution points, but the chance of retaliation is disgustingly high too. That’s why most people avoid touching them.”
Kim Rok-hee winked.
“But since you bravely took that risk, I can’t just sit back and watch. I’ll help you, so make sure you don’t stay too far away from me for long.”
“Y-yes ma’am!”
“While we’re at it, want to do some training? If you need a sparring partner, I can help.”
“I-I’d be incredibly grateful if you would!!”
Several hours later, in the office’s secret room.
I had only woken up when evening was almost over. Looking at the contribution points displayed on my terminal, I couldn’t stop smiling.
“This is crazy, this is crazy~.”
Chicken Time Office Current Contribution: 1,665
“I didn’t know returning a Sephirah stolen by criminals would give contribution points too.”
It was still a long way to a hundred thousand, but the important thing was that I’d earned sixteen hundred without really doing anything.
I just went to find Cheong Ha-rin, clicked auto-defense, and somehow got trapped inside the Hexahedron. But just like what happened inside the blood donation bus, all the crucifix seals in my chest came undone and the cube surrendered on its own.
Auntie Rok-hee handled all the annoying paperwork.
Cheong Ha-rin brought in all the jobs.
All I did was fight a little. Wasn’t this basically infinite energy?
I had single-handedly solved humanity’s energy crisis!
‘Housekeeper-nim has surprisingly good survival skills.’
If her survival ability went up even more, wouldn’t it be okay to let her get dragged into more dangerous missions and incidents?
That way I could earn a huge amount of contribution points in one go.
How could I raise her survival ability?
The fastest way was to share some of my blood with my kin, Rubina. But if I increased it carelessly while Cheong Ha-rin still didn’t have full control over Rubina, she might end up getting devoured instead.
It was what the Fixer Gallery often called a ‘Living Sephirah’—in short, turning into an anomaly.
‘Feeding her demonic beast blood is probably the quickest way.’
I had already been thinking about giving her some blood anyway.
Unlike me, who could eat garlic, walk in sunlight, and carry crucifixes without needing to drink blood, she would have to consume blood like mana for her shield if she wanted to live like a normal human.
It would probably hurt when she was in sunlight, ate garlic, or didn’t have her shield up.
Thankfully she was half-blood, so it balanced out.
The human part of her halved those problems.
Still, this was ultimately expanding her anomaly side.
It would naturally raise the chance of her becoming a Living Sephirah.
Of course, there were ways to overcome that risk.
“I guess I’ll have to make her drink it directly… Is that okay?”
If Cheong Ha-rin drank my blood straight, it could reduce the influence of becoming an anomaly.
When a human body tastes the unpleasant flavor of blood, it naturally does a reality check.
But it definitely wouldn’t be easy.
She’d have to drink raw, unprocessed blood, not something processed.
How did I do my first blood drinking again?
I hallucinated buying cola at a fast food place, right?
I kept thinking this cola is so good while sucking on the straw, but it was actually my proboscis stuck in someone’s skin.
It was so shocking I still can’t forget it.
“…If I make her crave blood, she’ll probably resist less.”
Since I gave her some of my blood during the kin contract, she shouldn’t feel the urge to drink for a while…
I’d just have to watch carefully and force-feed her when she started feeling blood thirst.
“Since she’s become a blood relative, she has to go through the initiation rite…”
If I threatened that she’d die if she didn’t drink it, maybe she’d believe me.
…Wait, she really would die, so it wouldn’t even be a lie?
Ziiing—.
I was laughing at my silly worries when the terminal rang.
I immediately pressed the call button.
“Aigoo, my dear Byeoksabusa~.”
[Are you suffering from a terminal illness that prevents you from showing up on camera?]
“Ah hehe. Is it because it’s a secret base? Were there that many cameras?”
[It’s fortunate that you looked completely different from usual. My neck is stiff from editing all the footage with you in it.]
“Wow. As expected of the King God Busa. Thanks to you, sir, I can stretch my legs and walk around freely.”
[You always say your thanks so politely that I can’t even get mad…]
“Nyehehe.”
I knew I could count on you, Byeoksabusa!
Baek San-a, with Woo Cheon-yeob as her backer, was invincible!
[Anyway, I called because I have something to tell you.]
“What is it, what is it.”
[Do your power seals come undone automatically when you enter an anomaly zone?]
“Pffft.”
What the hell, how did he know?
I don’t think I gave him any information that would let him figure it out?
[Judging by your reaction, it seems I was right.]
“Ah, no~ That can’t be~.”
[It’s already too late. I did think it was strange how easily you escaped the Hexahedron in the footage.]
“Ughhh, this is why I hate sharp-eyed Byeoksabusa!”
But it was fine.
Even when Cheong Ha-rin formed the zone and connected an IV line to me, he didn’t know the seals came undone, right?
Since one secret was still safe, getting caught on one thing was okay.
“So why are you bringing this up?”
[There’s one mission I need you to take on.]
“Ugh~ Sounds annoying~.”
[Even if it’s related to the life of the person who feeds you?]
“Damn it, who is it? I’ll snap their neck right now.”
A photo soon arrived on the terminal.
When I saw it, I could only tilt my head in confusion.
It was a shaky photo taken in a dark place.
The head was obscured by shadow so it was hard to see clearly, but the long neck and big, round, shining eyes definitely didn’t belong to a human.
Yet the torso was human.
What the heck.
[This is the chairman of the Changro organization. Name and age unknown, but we judge him to be at least Ga-grade if evaluated as a fixer.]