Tearing Open the Paper's Backside: My First Anomalous Escape
The reverse side of that paper laid bare a monstrous method for escaping the first anomalous space.
A notebook filled with the desperate records of stranded survivors.
A munchkin-style rampage by a Response Agency employee.
The gap between them left my mind feeling like it had blasted off to Andromeda.
The former meant I had to cobble together an exit strategy, while the latter—not only did it not appeal to me, but I seriously doubted it was even feasible.
Eh? Didn't everyone here live like I did? I thought these were my seniors.
So everyone just hunkered down comfy in one spot, auto-hunting anomalies that came to them?
Truth be told, my thinking aligned with Search Squad Member's. Somehow meet the ward chief, get sent to wherever my resident registration was based, and handle the rest on the fly.
I missed Mary.
Time to hustle there as fast as possible.
Back on the second floor.
I scanned every complaints window first. They all gave off gray auras. No real interest.
No women?
Window 4 was at least a woman. Looked like she had about twenty fingers, and it was the only one with a black aura. Sadly, not my type.
The complainants looked human enough on the surface.
A middle-aged man in modified hanbok, a middle-aged woman decked out in the holy trinity of red glasses, red puffer jacket, and red gloves, and a grandma using her stroller as a cane—all brimming with black auras.
They screamed "don't touch."
[Unmanned Ticket Dispenser]
I pulled a ticket.
White. An unreadable number.
Tore it up.
I was after the black ticket. Needed to meet the ward chief first.
"Tickets are black. Everyone get this? Ward chief suddenly calls me. Off for a personal chat. Hope it works."
White. Pass. Pulled another.
About 30 tries in?
"Sir, please stop yanking tickets like crazy."
The gray staff were darkening bit by bit.
Bzzz—
Finally, black ticket.
As I grabbed it, the glaring stares from the windows halted, and the complainants' expressions shifted.
"Want me to teach you how to whistle?"
"Hungry? Auntie'll feed you at home if you hand over that ticket."
"Can this young man yield to this old lady? I'll grant one request."
They were smiling, but I could see the auras lurking behind. Only the grandma felt friendly toward me.
"Thank you. Got any requests?"
[Grandma] Likes respect for elders and humility. Weakness: Propriety, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom.
"No, I'll yield to you, ma'am."
"What manners for a youngster these days. Hohohoho."
I figured there was a reason 17 failed to escape after the personal meeting, so I wanted to scout the ward chief first. Absolutely not because I'm a grandma lover.
The ward chief appeared.
[Ward Chief] Shows courtesy to jurisdictional complainants. Doesn't feel the need for non-complainants.
Grandma and ward chief were in a full tussle.
"Why not? The next neighborhood does it!"
"Ahaha. Even so, we can't."
Grandma fumed; ward chief handled it routinely.
"Ma'am, anything else?"
"Nah. Guess I'll come back tomorrow."
Heading out, she spotted me.
"Wait, now there's one. Send this young man back home. Rare polite one."
Ward chief eyed me like a bug.
"Him? Got it. Easy enough."
Snap of fingers, and I shifted. Opened my eyes to the real Ingim-dong Community Center I'd aimed for.
Straight to the Response Agency, handed over the notebook, explained the info I'd gleaned, my escape method, and the stranded survivors' details. Clean rundown, so they didn't grill me long.
Processed my freelancer app on the spot, gave exam date. Said the notebook was big intel—reward coming soon.
Then followed the address for Item 4, grabbed the stuff inside. The bed I wanted was there too.
Contain an anomaly in the Containment Facility. (1/2)
Time Limit: 7 days.
Success: 5 coins. Failure: Erosion of the Facility Director.
Not intentional, but having snagged one anomaly early gave me plenty of time. Meant ample playtime with the new catch, Iyang Goyanggo.
The anomaly Iyang Goyanggo has fully submitted.
Acquired 1 coin.
Acquired Soul ImprintIyang Goyanggo's Night Vision.
Unlike Mary's Broadcast, whose effects I couldn't yet grasp, this one intuitively sharpened my night vision. Pupils shifting goat-like? Not bad.
First time seeing them this worried. Might need to take on work sooner than thought. Hope the Agency rates me well.
Exam to pass first, and seeing a 9th Grade flip a building didn't look easy.
*
"Senior Taewon, you see this?"
Response Agency 8th Grade officer Nahee called to Ha Taewon. The paper she held was a rulebook based on past cases and Jeongchan's survival method.
If you're reading this, you're somehow in the Ingim-dong Community Center. Please follow these rules for your sake.
1. Head to the second-floor complaints room. Use the elevator for stairs—alone.
2. Keep issuing tickets from the unmanned dispenser until you get a black one. Within 30 tries.
3. Once you have the black ticket, politely yield to the seated grandma. She'll meet the ward chief.
4. Sit where the grandma can see you well. She'll ask the ward chief to send you home. He will.
"Saw it. Found a left-behind notebook first—made the simplest, clearest rulebook."
"Right? Barely any rules, super clean. Took over 85 more deaths to nail this one."
"Others are worse. Places with thousands dead aren't rare."
"True, but still."
"Something bugging you?"
"Finding such a clean escape is tough even for 9th Grades. Black ticket makes sense—it's in the cases. But yielding to the grandma?"
"Must respect elders a lot."
"Not like someone who beats everyone up."
"Talking about me?"
"Joking~"
Ha Taewon glared coldly; Nahee stuck out her tongue and grinned sheepishly.
"Taking the 15th Grade exam soon."
"15th? That's it?"
No big deal. Just tests if you keep your sanity after anomalies and anomalous phenomena.
Plenty failed that, but for a solo escaper from an anomalous space? Cakewalk.
"He'll pass easy. Which is why—can I have this newbie on my team? Short-staffed. I'll raise him good."
"......Do what you want."