AnomalyLivingAGoodLife359 (2)
The next day, in the Containment Facility Director’s office.
Woo Chun-yeop had gone to discuss extending Baek San-ah’s containment period, only to be saddled with an unexpected task.
“…Pardon? You want me to take her outside?”
“Yeah, yeah. Take her out for a bit. She needs some fresh air every now and then. She’s been cooped up behind those walls for half a year—must be suffocating.”
“The same person who told me not to trust anomalies and warned they’d cause a major incident someday is now saying this…?”
“……How long have you been here, Team Leader Woo?”
“Today marks one year and six months.”
The director soon muttered something unintelligible while stroking his chin.
“…Has it already been over two years? My sense of time these days is…”
“Two years?”
“Yeah, never mind. Anyway, take her out. On your way back, stop by Mayhem Donuts and grab a Deluxe Package. Use this to pay.”
Something flew through the air and landed on Woo Chun-yeop’s palm.
It was a slender cylinder the size of a cigarette—a terminal derived from Sephira, now used worldwide in place of phones, payment systems, and more.
He had meant to discuss extending Baek San-ah’s containment, but that conversation had become impossible. The director grew extremely irritable when hungry.
Bringing it up now would only earn me a scolding.
Though several points felt suspicious, Woo Chun-yeop had no choice but to leave the office. Given the circumstances, he needed to stay compliant. Reporting anything could wait until after the outing.
More than a hundred meters underground beneath the Containment Facility building.
In the deep isolation chamber designed for instant sealing during emergencies, the girl in Sector A floated in midair, idly kicking her feet while giggling.
She was probably doing what she loved most—browsing the gallery.
As he approached, the previously dim panel lit up and displayed various pieces of information. All of it had been officially recorded after Woo Chun-yeop reported it to his superiors.
Sephira-4-Vegan
- Height: 1.39m
- Weight: Minimum 0kg ~ Maximum untraceable
- Classification: Sephira-Hesed (4)
- Danger Level: Undetermined
(View detailed information)
*This anomaly has not been fully classified. The data is based on measured readings and visual observations, and may be revised at any time.
Her body drifted horizontally through the air. Her black hair, longer than she was tall, spread out beneath her like a blanket. Her purple eyes sparkled as they stared at the terminal screen.
Right now she looked every bit the anomaly, yet when standing on the floor she could easily pass for an ordinary girl who knew nothing of the world. Half a year ago, when she first arrived here, even Woo Chun-yeop had nearly been fooled.
He had tensed up, wondering if she was trying to deceive him, and conducted verification far stricter than usual. That was how her one-year containment period had been decided…
「Long live my friend, the suit guy~!」
Starting with that reaction—thanking them for containing her—she had spent the past six months living like a complete shut-in from before the anomaly outbreak. At first he suspected it was an act to lower his guard, but after watching her for half a year, he was certain.
「Isn’t your daily routine just eating and browsing the gallery? Don’t you get tired of it?」
「How could I get tired~? Every single day some new idiot shows up on the gallery~.」
She was the very embodiment of the words “laziness” and “gluttony.” That was Baek San-ah.
Her desire to go to the Core City just to eat real chicken had already grown hazy after only six months of this idle life. She never harmed humans. If anything, it felt like humanity might go extinct first while she simply continued living this way for tens of thousands of years.
Thump. Thump.
When he knocked on the transparent barrier, Baek San-ah spun around. Her voice soon came through the speakers on either side of the field.
[What is it?]
She clutched the budget terminal they had given her three months ago. Her gaze kept drifting toward it—she clearly couldn’t wait to get back to browsing.
Woo Chun-yeop spoke.
“We’re going outside. Get dressed.”
He operated something on the panel. A white full-body suit, moto jacket, and Velcro boots dropped into the isolation chamber.
Baek San-ah stared at the clothes scattered on the floor, her movements sluggish. She clearly didn’t understand what was happening.
[Are you… kicking me out…?]
“Please don’t jump to conclusions.”
[But I haven’t been allowed outside even once in six months. And right after I applied for an extension, you suddenly want to take me out? That’s… that’s…]
“It’s just an outing. You already know we have no reason to deliberately expel you.”
[Oh, right. I’m just a budget bonus.]
Describing herself like some kind of buff was comedy in its own right. Woo Chun-yeop sighed.
“The director probably wants you to get some air because it looks like you’ll spend your entire life holed up in your room otherwise.”
[Ah, aaah, that was a direct hit to the bone just now.]
“You don’t even have bones.”
[You saw right through me… I’m embarrassed.]
Even while complaining that it was a hassle, Baek San-ah obeyed the order. As she slipped her legs into the tights, the metal expulsion collar around her neck—large enough to encircle her head—caught the light and gleamed.
[By the way, what’s with these clothes? They feel like they erase your presence or something~?]
“It’s an anomaly wavelength-blocking suit. Plenty of fixers will hunt anomalies indiscriminately for money, so this is to disguise you.”
[But don’t I already look human without this?]
“Scanners register you as an anomaly.”
[Only the fixed scanners at places like the Containment Facility, right…?]
“…Some people carry portable ones in the back of trucks and scan on the move.”
[Whoa, that’s creepy.]
Baek San-ah had already finished changing. Normally her black hair covered her like clothing, so this was the first time her figure had been visible since half a year ago. She had the same frail build that looked like it would snap if touched.
No one would suddenly attack this little girl who didn’t even emit an anomaly wavelength.
…Still, I should at least confirm a few things.
The director’s earlier reaction had been far too suspicious. Woo Chun-yeop, who had wandered battlefields of both humans and anomalies, couldn’t ignore it. It felt like something was about to happen—something he wasn’t supposed to know about.
People said the true mark of a Seoul salaryman was not caring about the outcome of orders from above, but unfortunately Woo Chun-yeop wasn’t selfish enough to live that way.
「The app I got from God suddenly turned off earlier.」
More importantly, Baek San-ah—who always operated from an untraceable IP—had apparently made a mistake today and exposed hers. There was a chance some hardline fixer who had identified the Containment Facility IP might launch an attack.
“Come to think of it, I never had the chance to ask until now. Do you have any combat ability?”
[I’m a mosquito. I’m good at sucking blood. Though I don’t really want to suck human blood. Why do you ask?]
“I need to decide who to protect first if an emergency occurs—you or me.”
Perhaps because she understood her own position objectively, Baek San-ah gave an almost enlightened reply.
[? Why would you protect me? I’m just an anomaly that wastes food expenses and internet fees. Just protect yourself, Team Leader~.]
Not every anomaly friendly to humans had utility. Sephira-Hesed types like Baek San-ah were especially like that—obedient and dependent on humans, harmless yet useless, like pets. Just as she said, there was no need to protect her.
[Why are you hesitating? My life’s tougher than you think. Prioritize yourself, Team Leader.]
But a Hesed-type shouldn’t display such a relaxed attitude when sensing a threat. While human classification standards weren’t absolute, fear or a plea for protection should come first.
As expected, it’s not that she’s weak—it’s that she has no will to attack or resist.
Just as he had suspected during the interview, she probably wasn’t a weak anomaly. She had called her own power a “dolmen” and said there was no reason to wield it. It seemed she was only suppressing her strength because she wanted to go to the Core City.
Still, if she had no will to attack, that was fine. No matter what happened, he could handle it instead of her.
Yeah… let’s just get through this quietly…
The ceiling of the isolation chamber opened, and a blessed cross fell toward Baek San-ah’s head—the final aggression check in the outing protocol.
Thud. The cross bounced off her forehead. Baek San-ah let out a strange cry and curled up, sweating profusely.
“Hwaaaah…”
Representative, Vice-Representative, and Action Captain—three people who had formed the fixer office Cheong Clan Alliance simply because they all shared the surname Cheong.
Since the three of them had gathered with confidence in their abilities, the office had been fairly well-regarded right after the anomaly outbreak when countless offices were springing up. Their specialty had been “gates” and similar windows.
However, with the appearance of anomalies in the form of martial arts manuals, magic books, weapons, and equipment, the Cheong Clan Alliance’s presence—built on pure physical ability and strategy—began to shrink. Pushed out from the heart of the city, they now found themselves in the outer districts. If things continued this way, the name “Cheong Clan Alliance” might soon disappear from the city’s officially recognized fixer office list.
The nation’s leaders, having once lost nearly half their territory during the anomaly outbreak, had long since given up on protecting the weak.
“I’ll follow the Representative’s orders, but… this is really going to be okay, right?”
“Don’t worry, Vice-Rep. If this operation succeeds, we’ll be fine for five years.”
“The fact that we have no other options is what really grinds my gears…”
Still, there was always a way to survive. They had used donation money from locals—meant to support anti-anomaly operations—to purchase equipment, then resold it on the black market at near-new prices. With that money they bribed the higher-ups. Thanks to that, the Cheong Clan Alliance could now claim management rights over this district for the next five years.
Which meant they couldn’t let AnomalyLivingAGoodLife359 live.
They had tried to buy time and endure, but she had tried to expose their secret. Because of her, talk about the Cheong Clan Alliance was still circulating on the Fixer Gallery.
Fortunately, the Containment Facility director was someone who could be reasoned with. After slipping him some money, an opportunity for AnomalyLivingAGoodLife to go outside had quickly appeared. As the facility’s only Sephira, there was a 99.9% chance the small girl walking alongside Team Leader Woo Chun-yeop right now was her.
After reviewing the route, Representative Cheong Jin-soo sent a radio transmission through his terminal to his subordinates in position.
“I’ll brief the operation outline again. I’ll separate the target from her escort, the Vice-Rep will shoot the target, and the Action Captain will retrieve her.”
For the three of them—who had handled all sorts of bizarre missions involving anomalies—this was simple enough to make them yawn. That was why none of them anticipated anything going wrong.
Even if something unexpected happened, it would be with the escort, Team Leader Woo Chun-yeop—not with Baek San-ah.
They succeeded in spilling coffee on Woo Chun-yeop. They succeeded in leading him toward a crowded coin laundromat. Once the Vice-Rep shot AnomalyLivingAGoodLife with a tranquilizer dart and the Action Captain retrieved the unconscious girl—
[Rep……resentative………!]
It should have been over.
Suddenly the Vice-Rep collapsed. They had clearly heard the tranquilizer dart fire, Baek San-ah’s head had tilted slightly as if hit, and blood droplets had even splattered—yet…
[Representative, the target is gone. The Vice-Rep is down!]
Baek San-ah had vanished from sight in that brief moment, and the Vice-Rep was unconscious.
“Vice-Rep, Vice-Rep. Answer me!”
Cheong Jin-soo’s voice rose in panic. Woo Chun-yeop, who had been waiting for the one-minute cleaning cycle on his jacket to finish, asked,
“…Did something happen to your colleague?”
“Ah, well. Yes. Something came up………”
A chill ran down Cheong Jin-soo’s neck.
Colleague? He had never mentioned having a colleague.
Ding!
Woo Chun-yeop put his freshly cleaned, warm jacket back on. His right hand naturally moved toward his waist, hidden beneath the jacket. The hand that had been moving inside the jacket as if gripping something suddenly stopped.
“I see.”
“It seems something really did happen to your colleague, Representative Cheong Jin-soo.”