The Containment Director's Unpaid Intern Program
The Response Bureau welcomes you. 'There was definitely a door here, wasn't there?'
The syndicate member hurled the spine-chilling phone away and returned to where he'd started. The door he'd used to enter this place had vanished without a trace.
Stepping deeper in search of richer, purer mana had been his undoing.
Riiiiing—
The phone rang.
He couldn't see the caller, but he had a pretty good idea what it was. He squeezed his eyes shut and flung the device aside.
Arrogant. Reckless.
Because he'd only ever entered anomaly spaces that followed clear, established rules, he'd come to underestimate the world itself. To him, anomalies had always been things you could neutralize simply by following the right pattern.
The Response Bureau had poured blood, sweat, and tears into optimizing their survival manuals so even civilians could escape. Yet he'd convinced himself it was all thanks to his own talent. That was his fatal mistake.
Even so, he refused to give up. His education might have been lacking, but he knew every anomaly space had an escape method. So he pressed on, slowly walking toward the end that had already been written for him.
He walked down a path he couldn't name. Identical corridors. He'd lost all sense of direction long ago.
Now he no longer knew where he'd come from or where he was supposed to go. The endlessly repeating environment dulled the senses.
'Will I ever get out?'
There was no immediate, lethal danger that could kill him in a single moment. Just a slow, creeping anxiety tightening around his throat.
Riiiiing—
The phone rang. He tried to ignore it.
A long corridor stretched ahead. On both sides stood iron-barred cells. Next to each one was a document labeled Containment Procedures.
'Don't look inside.'
He repeated it to himself over and over because it was important. Just seeing them had shattered his hope and will to live. Inside were entities whose very method of imprisonment defied understanding.
He closed his eyes, staggered forward.
Riiiiing—
The phone rang.
He no longer threw it away. Another one always appeared in the next corridor anyway.
He kept walking.
Something passed behind him.
When he turned, there was neither trace nor figure.
Riiiiing—
The phone rang. He tried not to pay attention, but the ringing grew faster, louder.
At first he could ignore it.
Now he wanted to ignore it.
But the longer the sound continued, the harder it became.
Again, something passed behind him.
When he turned, strands of brown hair lay scattered on the floor.
Riiiiing—
The phone rang.
He answered it.
Even after whipping his head around, he saw nothing.
He hung up in a fit of irritation. Then, like a frightened animal trying to look tough, he blustered.
"Fuck this. You think you can toy with me? I'll bury you somehow. I'm the bastard who survived staring down a diver in the sewers!"
Something pricked the man's cheek. His body froze as he slowly turned his head.
There was nothing there.
Only blood trickling from the cheek pierced by some invisible sharpness.
"Just kill me already!"
His words echoed uselessly in empty air. No one answered.
In the repeating void, both his body and mind were slowly worn away. No matter how much he walked, the same scenery greeted him. No matter what he did, it was the same.
The same corridor always waited for him.
"Aaaaaagh!!!"
The man screamed in terror and ran.
The same corridor always waited for him.
He tried leaving marks and taking new paths.
The same corridor always waited for him.
"At least ring the damn phone!!!"
His hollow cry reached no one.
The same corridor always waited for him.
A few sporadic rings, dozens of furious howls spinning through the air, and finally silence fell over the containment facility.
"Kid's completely lost it. What the hell did you do to him?"
There didn't appear to be any serious physical injuries. He was simply mentally eroded, creaking like a machine with its battery removed.
He'd expected the man to go wild at the legal chance to leave the isolation chamber, but he'd been surprisingly docile. As expected of Mary.
The man before them was alive, but he didn't look like he'd ever regain his sanity. He seemed too mentally fragile to use as staff. Using the new skill he'd acquired, Jeongchan sent him outside.
Ejection - 10 Coins
Allows the user to eject any target contained within the isolation facility to the outside.
Not long ago, a notification had arrived saying the isolation facility would open to the outside world.
The isolation facility will now open to the outside.
Intruders may now enter the isolation facility.
Intruders will steal the facility's mana and may even attempt to kidnap anomalies.
Stop them and seize their energy.
Thanks to warning the anomalies in advance and preparing, they'd easily repelled the intruders this time. There was nothing more they could do if stronger ones came. Unless they contained even stronger anomalies to manage, that is.
Every anomaly space had an escape condition. The containment facility where he resided was no exception.
Please state the escape conditions for the isolation facility.
The first was to do nothing and simply leave. It had been prepared in case of accidental victims. While such cases were rare, it was possible for someone to get unfairly dragged in.
The second was to steal all the mana from the isolation facility.
It wasn't something he'd decided. If the facility's mana ran out, it would lose the power to maintain itself. The anomalies in the containment cells would be released in the process and chaos would ensue, but that was the intruders' problem. He'd have to recapture the anomalies again, but that sounded like it could be fun in its own way.
The last was to manage every single anomaly in a fully contained state.
If you managed the anomalies and kept them in good condition, their overall state would improve and the amount of mana the isolation facility could absorb would increase. If that amount was sufficient, the facility would allow you to leave.
It was essentially an unpaid internship system created with the intention of hiring suitable candidates as staff.
Originally only he could move around excluding the anomalies, but thanks to the facility opening to the outside, he could now bring people in.
The isolation facility grants the director personnel authority.
The director may use this authority to bring people into the isolation facility.
It was a kind of invitation that only worked if the other party accepted. He had the invitation, but he was disappointed he still hadn't found anyone who understood the charm of anomalies.
'It's not an easy thing, is it?'
He kept trying to make the ghosts understand the charm of Mary and the other anomalies, but all he got every time was deleted posts. It was all because photographs couldn't capture their true charm.
'If that's the case, maybe I should make one?'
Just then, suitable candidates began arriving at the containment facility one by one.
There were no sudden, accidental victims.
They were members of the Amryu Association's Turbulent Wave faction. Every one of them had come with the intention of harming him. It seemed they held a grudge because he'd turned the sewers upside down and ruined their drug business.
He looked over the captured syndicate members. Like the thugs they were, their eyes were full of murderous intent. They spat at him every time they saw him and hurled every curse and insult imaginable.
They seemed extremely angry. Usually doing something pleasant helped relieve anger. He should let them experience something pleasant too.
He approached them and asked.
"Do you guys like anomalies?"