Chapter 6: Anomalous Event (3)
A sticky strand of saliva dripped from the motorcycle helmet. The delivery guy slowly looked up. Han Mir, with a cruel, maniacal grin spread wide across his face, was staring down at him.
"Ah~ Now I get it."
The boy pressed his forehead against the motorcycle helmet and whispered in a dangerous voice.
"Now I understand everything. I know where the chicken went! Did you really think you could fool my eyes? Ah~ It's just that I've only been in the real world for a short while, so I didn't think of cases like this."
"……?"
The delivery guy, not understanding, slightly raised his head. Han Mir shook his head and then tapped the delivery guy's helmet with his finger.
"It's in there?"
"???"
The delivery guy frantically shook his head. Han Mir laughed with a "pish" and licked the surface of the helmet with his long tongue.
"Stop lying. You ate it. That's why I thought the chicken was gone—because you ate it all while delivering, you damn trash bastard!!! You dared to steal my chicken!!!!"
"!?!?!?!"
The delivery guy waved his arms desperately to show his innocence, but to Han Mir, whose eyes were already on the chicken, it was invisible.
This is dangerous. Looking at Han Mir's deranged eyes, the anomaly shuddered.
"Aang~ Don't resist. I know the chicken is in that helmet. That's why you didn't say anything—you're eating my chicken right now, right? Huh? Right?"
"!!!!!"
The shadow of the hand shape over the delivery guy. Han Mir's hand size was normal, but to the anomaly's eyes, it felt overwhelmingly oppressive, like a giant reaching out. In its mind, there was only one thought.
Death.
The anomaly, which brings despair by facing death to those who are the master of this space and instill fear that no one can escape, was on the verge of being devoured by the thick shadow of death.
Facing death, it could not accept it.
Just a little.
To be humiliated by a mere human?
To kill itself, the predator, just because it's prey?
Kuduk-!
"Eh?"
Han Mir briefly pushed away the delivery guy's hand. No, it was no longer the delivery guy.
It was stretching its body abnormally and wriggling like an octopus. Behind it, eerie tentacles whipped like whips, filling the surroundings with a sinister aura.
In an instant, the anomaly's body had swollen to the point where its head touched the ceiling. Its hands were so large they could pick up the boy entirely. It grabbed the boy with both hands and squeezed as if to crush him.
Han Mir smirked.
"Thief, now you're assaulting customers?"
Boom-!
Fragments of the anomaly's hand fell clattering to the floor. Han Mir's eyes flashed with red light as he approached the delivery guy's face.
The boy's fist rained down like a storm on the anomaly's massive body, striking it. The anomaly couldn't resist and its entire body shook, with countless holes punctured through its body.
"……!"
The anomaly couldn't properly steady itself. Black blood gushed out, and its grotesque appearance like a dried-out paper doll was no longer threatening.
The anomaly staggered and eventually fell backward. Han Mir grabbed the helmet with a hand dripping black blood.
The anomaly desperately squeezed out its last strength to survive. The tentacles and hands with holes rushed towards Han Mir's body, but they stuck helplessly and slid down.
It sensed death.
The strength was draining from its entire body. It no longer had the strength to even move a finger.
What is this?
How can a human exert such power?
No. It's not human.
The anomaly's body sloshed, and black blood spurted out through the holes.
This was the real monster.
Han Mir whispered in a eerie voice.
"Give me my chicken."
That chicken. What is it?
Kwaduk!
A huge crack appeared on the helmet, and the fragments fell clattering to the floor.
To torment me like this.
The helmet shattered, and at the same time, the anomaly's head burst. Han Mir was startled, his eyes wide.
"Eh!? I-I didn't mean to kill you!"
Tsu tsu tsu...
The anomaly's body became translucent and turned into light particles, disappearing in an instant.
"No!! Where are you going!! Give me the chicken!!!"
At the same time as Han Mir's cry, he returned to the original corridor. Lee Si-a looked around with a dazed expression. The endless corridor was not there, but a corridor that ends after a few steps. Warm sunlight streaming through the windows caressed her face.
Lee Si-a checked her pulse.
0 bpm. A comfortable number indicating complete safety.
"I escaped... Impossible."
She muttered to herself in a dazed voice.
It was the shortest record ever to escape an anomaly in just 30 minutes. Even more so, it was done by that foolish boy who was only screaming for chicken.
Han Mir, who had a power that couldn't be seen as the same human, was not human. He was a genuine anomaly, and even more overwhelmingly powerful than other anomalies.
Thinking that even a B-rank anomaly might not be able to handle it, Lee Si-a stared at Han Mir, who was going crazy over chicken.
"Chicken!!! Uwaaa! My chicken!!!!"
"That's an anomaly, you idiot."
Lee Si-a shook her head and stood upright in front of him. Han Mir clenched his fists and stood up and said.
"I know."
"Eh? You know?"
"Yeah. Just the vibe that it's not human is enough to know."
"Then why are you looking for chicken from an anomaly?"
"He's a delivery guy."
"Wha, what?"
"Whether it's an anomaly or not, it doesn't matter. That one is a delivery guy. Nothing else matters besides that fact."
A eerie light flashed in Han Mir's eyes.
"That guy had my chicken. So finding the chicken I ordered with my money is my rightful right. But, but!!!!"
Han Mir pounded his chest like an excited gorilla and shouted.
"The chicken is gone!! That bastard stole my chicken and ran away!"
"Hah, completely crazy."
Lee Si-a looked at him as if she couldn't understand. The attitude that it doesn't matter if it's human or anomaly as long as it's chicken delivery. It was so much that she wanted to see inside his head.
"Um!?"
At that moment, Han Mir's eyes flashed, and he turned his head towards the elevator.
Ding~
With the sound of the elevator arriving, the door opened, and the scent of chicken pierced the nose. There, a delivery guy was standing holding a freshly made, steaming hot chicken.
The delivery guy stood blankly for a moment, alternating his gaze between Lee Si-a and Han Mir, then lifted the chicken bag and said.
"Um, did you order chicken?"
******
The short sports haircut team leader Kang Him-chan with a scar near his eye shook the report towards Lee Si-a with an incredulous face.
"So, after making contact with the target, it got caught in the anomaly, and the target shattered the anomaly? And just came back?"
"Yes....... I have no excuses, Team Leader. Han Mir exceeded the human category. I couldn't suppress the target alone. Moreover, support is not available right now......"
"Haa, okay."
He lay on the chair tiredly. This place, the 7th branch of the Management Bureau, had much smaller facilities compared to other branches. After all, it wasn't made to manage anomalies, but to monitor anomalies that appear anywhere at any time.
Honestly, even if requesting reinforcements from other branches, deploying them in large numbers while avoiding citizens' eyes is a delicate situation. Unless it's an anomaly rampaging in the middle of the city, the upper management would be reluctant to expose it to the media.
That's why the order came to send Lee Si-a.
No matter how trained, Lee Si-a, a normal human, suppressing and bringing back an anomaly claiming to be a hero was impossible from the start.
In other words, to them, Lee Si-a was just an experimental mouse sent to see how the anomaly would react.
What was important to them was peace. They didn't care if a single surveillance agent died or not.
Kang Him-chan stared at the deflated Lee Si-a, then suddenly started flaring his nostrils.
"Sweep, what is this smell? Smells like chicken?"
"Yes, yes? What do you mean? Haha......"
Lee Si-a covered her glistening lips and avoided the gaze.
Ring ring!
At that moment, the phone on the desk rang.
Kang Him-chan answered the phone, gave a short answer, raised one eyebrow, and looked at Lee Si-a. Then he hung up the call.
He chuckled and said to Lee Si-a.
"You, you should go to school with that anomaly a bit."