Management Records Bureau (1): The Anomaly
“Anomaly”?
It was the first time I had heard the term. I recalled the scene from the Black and White Army Alliance where the word “anomaly” had appeared. The modifier “anomalous” or “strange” was all that came to mind when thinking of the opponent’s martial arts. The anomalies I knew were not used as terms for systematic classification like spirits or outsiders.
The internet ghost stories from my Earth days came to mind. The term “anomaly” seemed more suited to creative ghost stories than the Murim world.
“...What is an anomaly?”
“The saying ‘The gentleman does not speak of anomalies, prodigies, strange events, or deities’ rings a bell, doesn’t it?”
“It was the Analects, I believe. Anyway, it’s a passage from the words of the ancient sages.”
I remembered the story of Confucius not discussing anomalies, prodigies, rebellions, or ghosts. I didn’t know the Analects in the Murim Alliance, but...
“You know it well. The one who possesses the ‘prodigy’ in that story is, of course, a martial artist. But is there only one? What about the other three?”
“I’ve heard there are quite a few cases of rebellions.”
I recalled the heretical sects in Murim that I had overheard. Strange fellows who, like the Yellow Turbans in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, tried to overthrow the current imperial court and were often suppressed.
“If you speak of such things lightly, you’ll be found by the imperial court.”
Whether it was a joke or serious, I kept my mouth shut.
As in martial arts novels, in the Black and White Army Alliance, once the officialdom and the alliance started to tangle, they were a bunch that would drag on endlessly.
I, a mediocre second-class martial artist like me, probably didn’t have the ears of the officialdom, but it wouldn’t do to scratch the scab.
“I don’t know where to start explaining this.”
Baek Sam-byeol scanned me from head to toe. He seemed to be gauging my qi.
“Are you still a second-class?”
“Yes.”
“Then, showing it directly and explaining would be faster. Come with me.”
He turned around again and started walking. I had no choice but to follow his back, tilting my head in confusion.
Naturally, questions arose.
Anomaly, and the Management Records Bureau — both names I’d never heard before.
I was a low-level member of the Murim Alliance, but that didn’t mean I knew everything. The unfamiliar name was probably because the Management Records Bureau was a secret organization. A group of that scale, with a “hall” in the name, hidden away. Even with the knowledge of the Black and White Army Alliance, it was hard to guess what kind of place it was.
Originally, in games, there were no concepts like rules or Management Records Bureau. A mysterious something was approaching that I had never encountered in games or reality. I pondered where the destination of Baek Sam-byeol’s path was.
***
Following Baek Sam-byeol’s footsteps, the place was filled with the scent of ink. Martial artists, more like scholars, were diligently looking at documents.
“The Rituals Department...?”
It was the department that handled events like martial competitions. It oversaw grand ceremonies, managed people, cooperated with the court, and handled complex administrative procedures.
“Huh? Didn’t you see it in the rules?”
“Rules? I barely had time to memorize the methods for dealing with anomalies.”
“The back of the rulebook cover has ‘Murim Alliance Rituals Department Rulebook Management Records Bureau’ written on it.”
“What? Why is such a secret organization attached to the Rituals Department?”
If it’s called “Rituals”, it sounds grand, but the main duties of the Rituals Department were etiquette. When the Murim Alliance leader made a procession, there were various procedures that had to be followed, like seating arrangements in processions, starting from the chief general under the leader. It didn’t seem like a place for a secret organization that had to be hidden even from fellow Murim Alliance members — it was too ordinary.
“Where in the Murim Alliance sees the most rules?”
“Ah.”
The Murim Alliance has various martial artists. Elders from famous sects like the Nine Great Families or Five Great Sects, or local tyrants who hold their heads high in their regions. Talented heroes who stick out like a sore thumb, with no backing but outstanding skill. The appropriate treatment the Murim Alliance should take for each individual varied from time to time.
If the three dukes of the Namgung family and the disciples of Hwasan sect attend the Murim Alliance meeting, who do you call first and who do you seat in the high seat? When a banquet was held to commemorate the extermination of a nest, who would be the main actor at the banquet: the sect leader of the local sect that handled the supply for the extermination operation, or the leader of the powerful army that beheaded the nest leader?
If it was the chief general of the alliance, he could quickly understand the complex old traditions and the current power structure of Murim and choose the most appropriate etiquette. But most members of the Rituals Department didn’t have the brain of a sage. Therefore, the Rituals Department lived with the rules, or in the Earth sense, the business manual, as their shield.
“The rules handled by the Management Records Bureau aren’t all about anomalies. There are many more on the ordinary side. Like the audience etiquette for the Murim Alliance leader.”
Suddenly, curiosity struck me. Even though I was a Murim Alliance member, I had never been close to the leader.
“What does the Murim Alliance leader’s audience etiquette say?”
“Make a good greeting.”
“Eh?”
“Make a really good greeting. Even at my age, I have to bow my waist in front of that stiff old man.”
Baek Sam-byeol had the appearance of a handsome young man, but with white hair and long beard, he looked at least in his seventies. Yet, every time I saw such a person, I had to bow to the leader. Was the leader’s personality weird?
“Except for being overly obsessed with etiquette, he’s not a bad person. Hmm, not bad.”
It seemed like there was a hidden meaning. Baek Sam-byeol, without raising his head, walked past the members waving brushes, gradually going deeper into the Rituals Department. On the door deep enough that even the sound of turning book pages couldn’t be heard, there was a sign saying “Archive Pavilion”.
Opening the lacquered doors below the sign revealed a sea of bookshelves filled with books. Each shelf had a label. Namgung, Zhuge, Wudang, Shaolin, etc. It seemed they had compiled personal records and etiquette rules for each sect. There were manuals on a scale of a decent-sized building. A sigh escaped my mouth at the vastness.
“...Do the Rituals Department members have to memorize all this...?”
Baek Sam-byeol, who heard my mutter, answered.
“Ah, this is the preservation archive. Because records of people from several generations ago were kept as reference materials, the volume has grown this much. The content that the practical workers have to memorize right now isn’t in this remote corner but in the center of the Rituals Department.”
He stopped in front of the bookshelf in the corner of the archive, pressed against the wall. Then, he picked up a few books one by one. The sound of clacking. With a creaking sound, the pages began to slide like a sliding door. Beyond the bookcase door, there was a staircase leading to deep underground. Glowing jade beads embedded in the wall flickered mysteriously.
“Mechanism...!”
The mechanism of Murim, which I had only seen through monitors or text, was right in front of me. At the moment of swallowing saliva with a strange mix of excitement and tension.
“Quickly come down. If you leave this open for too long, the heavenly insects will fall and the tension will be damaged or something.”
In an instant, a sense of reality seeped in like waves. I nodded emptily and went down.
***
This place is the Management Records Bureau.
The underground after descending the stairs felt like a modern library. Walls lined with bookshelves, a long table in the middle of a huge corridor. I could easily imagine the scene of people choosing books from the shelves and immediately sitting at their places to read. However, there was no one at the table of the Management Records Bureau. Only books and brushes. The brushes were floating in the air without a person, writing characters. The content of the rules was being engraved in the empty bookshelf.
I looked at the content of the book closest to me.
The Prayer Treasure Map (Human Rank Gui Anomaly).
A blank that transforms into a treasure map where the owner's desired thing is hidden. The destination of the treasure map is estimated to be randomly set.
The deeper the cultivation, the stronger the desire, the stronger the impulse to seize the treasure.
But in most cases, the treasure does not exist.
Therefore, the owner who arrives at the destination falls into a state of sudden anger due to the conflict between belief and reality, and the possibility of obsession also increases.
In the case of the previous owner, the sword saint's disciple, a case occurred where the sword saint's disciple set the destination of the treasure map and killed his family...
Turning my head to the other book, it was just starting to write “The Murderous Form Snow Ginseng”.
The handwriting was the same.
In the suffocating pressure, I opened my mouth.
“This is... what?”
“This is the draft of the rulebook. We summarize the key points and complete it as the rulebook.”
“This is not the content of the book. Someone who is writing this text.”
I looked at the brushes floating in the air again. The numerous brushes recording the drafts of the rules were each describing different anomalies, but the writing was always neat. Each brush had the same intention.
“Who is the person using such high-level void manipulation?”
Baek Sam-byeol laughed.
“You, your perception is quite good. Normally, when people hear the word ‘anomaly’, they imagine some anomaly that writes the rules for them.”
Damn it. Is this really a task made by a single void manipulator? How could one manipulate so many brushes so delicately. Such high-level void manipulation should be the talk of the town these days.
“But I can't tell you yet. This is a secret only known to the record keepers in the Management Records Bureau.”
Baek Sam-byeol, who had approached the corner of the table, moved the book in front of him to the side and sat down. The brush that was writing the text seemed to be annoyed, stained Baek Sam-byeol's white sleeve and followed the chased book.
“Hah, old man. Your personality is rough.”
Looking at the stained sleeve, Baek Sam-byeol clicked his tongue and offered his seat to me.
“Here, sit here.”
I sat on the chair and asked.
“Can I now hear an explanation of what the anomaly is?”
“Of course. I'll tell you about the anomaly.”
Baek Sam-byeol smiled wryly and added one more thing.
“And about you too.”