TL/Editor: raei
Status: 5/week mon-fri
Illustrations: posted in discord
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Peace returned to headquarters. The Warrior was dead. The mealworms were collected by whatever method the company used, as if teleported away.
Only surreal, painting-like ruins remained. Space was shattered in places, rebar slithered around like snakes, melted cars pooled in puddles, and concrete debris swirled through the parking lot.
The Ghost hunched their shoulders.
"It's almost become two-dimensional. I'm not sure if headquarters can be restored. It'll take a really long time."
This was due to the possibilities Yeonwoo had unleashed. The laws of the world had loosened, turning part of headquarters into something like a spatial anomaly.
Yeonwoo scratched his head.'The company will handle the cleanup anyway.'
It happened while fighting the Warrior. They couldn't blame him for this.
How would the company evaluate him? That was the only worry left in his mind. Thinking positively, his actions were close to heroic, but negatively, he was a walking nuclear bomb.
Spreading radiation-like chaos and creating dangerous elements like the mealworms.
'Even I think it's a bit much. It'd be unsettling if something like me existed in the world.'
Who knows when or where a critical failure of the dice might happen.
Just as Yeonwoo's expression turned serious:
Beep-
A mechanical sound came from the phone the Ghost was carrying. A message had arrived. The Ghost looked at their phone and sighed with disappointment.
"They're telling me to return now that the mission's complete. Ah, I wanted to snoop- I mean, look around headquarters more."
They hadn't completely fooled the company's eyes, leaving traces of unlocking security and accessing records. Evidence of the information they had secretly viewed remained clearly. 𝙍𝔞ＮộβЁＳ
It was fine to freely steal information when emergency alarms were blaring, but not now.
'Is that okay? Ah, well. This person seems like a Level 6 candidate too.'
Yeonwoo watched the slightly off-kilter Ghost, then relaxed.
They were even leaving an information thief like this alone. It didn't seem like they'd rashly contain or kill him just because he was a bit dangerous.
And suddenly, well-founded confidence filled Yeonwoo's face.
'Even if headquarters turns against me, well.'
Couldn't he survive well enough? He was specialized in survival, after all. Even for headquarters, dealing with him would be difficult.
Just then, the Ghost waved one hand shyly.
"Well, I'll be going now. See you next time if there's a chance."
"Take care on your way back."
It was time to part ways.
The Ghost left the wrecked parking lot naturally. They had barely taken a few steps when their retreating figure blurred faintly. As the distance increased, they faded from perception.
Yeonwoo let out a small sigh. His confidence vanished.
He slapped his own cheeks.
"Don't let your guard down."
Carelessness was danger.
Take the doomsday cultists, for example. He had underestimated them after killing the one with the Eraser, but suddenly the Warrior emerged at Level 6. Even though the doomsday cultists lagged a bit behind other top-tier groups, they had produced two Level 6 forces.
You never know how the future might unfold or how potential might explode.
After pacing around briefly, Yeonwoo made up his mind.
'The company is the best. Sticking with the company is safest.'
The company's military power and information network. In every aspect, it was better to stay with the company.
Yeonwoo looked for the elevator. He knew the code for the lab where Mark Jung had taken shelter in the ordinary room. He planned to go there and talk seriously.
After a few steps.
Yeonwoo suddenly jumped in fright. Something hit his foot and shot up.
"Ack! What the- ...it's rebar."
It was the rebar that had been slithering around like a snake. The rebar that had been struck raised its head, had a staring contest with Yeonwoo, then quickly turned away.
Yeonwoo rubbed his wide-open eyes. Then he hunched down and looked around sharply.
"It's dangerous here too. This won't do. Let's go quickly."
So Yeonwoo returned to the lab using emergency exits and elevators.
------
The lab was neater compared to the parking lot.
Books, computers, and odds and ends were scattered about due to the flood of mealworm heads, and pillars and walls were deformed from the pressure of the multiplying mealworms, but it was nothing compared to the chaos in the parking lot.
The mealworms had already been collected.
Yeonwoo cautiously stepped into the lab, then blinked.
"You're back? It seems the situation has ended."
He ran into Mark Jung, who had just come out of the ordinary room.
His clothes were neat. His complexion was normal. Unlike Yeonwoo, who was covered in dirt and dust from fighting the Warrior.
"..."
Yeonwoo looked down at a piece of glass on the floor. His face was reflected in the glass shard. A grimy, tired face.
Suddenly, regret washed over him.
'Ah. I should've just waited in the ordinary room.'
At least then he wouldn't have had a life-or-death battle with the Warrior. The company would have handled both the mealworms and the Warrior.
'No, that's not right. I wouldn't have reached Level 6 then. This is... this is good. I've done a service for the company. Right? That's right?'
As Yeonwoo tried to console himself, Mark Jung looked around the lab and smiled bitterly.
"The lab's a mess. It seems the experimental data was preserved separately on the server, but it's a shame about the damaged equipment."
Yeonwoo kept his mouth shut.
'If this is a mess, then the parking lot I saw...'
Yeonwoo, lost in useless thoughts, soon snapped back to attention. He lowered his voice.
"Can you contact the Director?"
"They're busy, constantly on the phone."
It was natural for the Director to be busy. Headquarters had been nearly half destroyed. They would need to tally the damage and make plans for restoration.
And maybe, perhaps.
'They might be evaluating me.'
A trace of tension flashed in Yeonwoo's eyes.
He imagined the Director in a dark meeting room. People discussing how to evaluate Yeonwoo, and the Director drawing their thumb across their throat.
- An anomaly that creates anomalies. A threat to humanity, so kill him.
Then Safety Measure 001 would suppress the dice, and the Ghost would approach with an ordinary bullet.
'No way.'
Yeonwoo, having imagined the worst case, shuddered. Just then, Mark Jung spoke:
"Try contacting them on your phone. They'll probably answer your call."
Because you're an elite agent of the company.
Yeonwoo hesitated for a moment, then got the number from Mark Jung and called the Director.
The ringing tone felt oddly unsettling. Yeonwoo swallowed hard. Then a voice came through. It was the Director's voice.
- Special Investigator Lee Yeonwoo. You did well this time. The experiment results are good, and the mealworms have high utility. Anyway, you don't need to worry, so relax.
The Director, truly busy, rattled off these words and hung up.
Yeonwoo stared blankly at his phone screen. A perfunctory response that came back without much effort. If they had intended to be hostile, they would have responded more sincerely to put him at ease.
'It's fine.'
The corners of his mouth twitched. He felt like he might burst out laughing. All his worries and anxieties disappeared. If that was the case, there was only one thing left to do.
'Let's get contained- I mean, isolated.'
He was already living in the investigation team's office without a home. This was a chance to get a house.
Mark Jung watched Yeonwoo strangely, then his eyes widened at Yeonwoo's next words.
Yeonwoo bit his lip hard to calm himself, then said seriously:
"I think I've caused a big accident this time. I created an anomaly capable of causing a doomsday scenario. I should be disciplined."
"It's fine since it was created through an experiment requested by the company."
Mark Jung replied immediately.
They couldn't hold him responsible for something that happened because headquarters ordered it.
But Yeonwoo shook his head.
"I broke a lot of the company's containment measures while escaping. Simple discipline isn't enough, I should be contain-"
"What are you saying! Why would we contain you!"
Mark Jung was alarmed. Contain? Yeonwoo? Sure, there was a plan, but in the current situation, they shouldn't even mention the word 'contain'.
Mark Jung guessed at Yeonwoo's psychology.
'Is he anxious because he created a doomsday-level anomaly? Afraid the company might deal with him?'
If so, he shouldn't stimulate that anxiety. He needed to reassure him with unconditional trust. One wrong move and he might explode.
'If Yeonwoo explodes now, can headquarters withstand it? I don't think so.'
The fate of headquarters rested in his hands. Mark Jung spoke desperately, almost pleadingly:
"Absolutely, absolutely not. That wouldn't be right. If anyone even mentions the word 'contain', I'll stake my life to stop them."
"But still-"
"No matter what accidents you cause, as long as you're a company employee, the company will never turn its back on you!"
The sound of their argument echoed through the lab, and soon, employees who had evacuated returned and noise filled headquarters as they investigated the scene.
------
The Director truly worked busily.
"A perpetual motion machine using mealworms? It shows the highest efficiency when cooperating with the Green Association? This isn't my department, so send it to another director."
"The headquarters relocation plan has been modified? ...When am I supposed to review all this? You look it over first and summarize it for me."
"Have we not figured out the movements of other groups yet?"
Facing a flood of reports and contacts, they clutched their throbbing head while floundering.
'I wish I had about five bodies.'
It was an impossible wish. Only humans could rise to high positions in the company, and even the use of anomalies for convenience was restricted.
Live life like other ordinary people, and don't lose your human sensibilities.
Just then, one secretary hurried over.
"Director, here's the Ghost's report."
"Give it here."
The Director immediately checked the elite agent's report. The hastily written report was quickly read.
'So Yeonwoo encountered and faced the Warrior. He created an opportunity for the Ghost to plant the ordinary bullet, and even dodged the final attack.'
The meaning was simple. Yeonwoo had reached Level 6. A Level 6 force had been born for the company.
But the Director, unaware of survival instinct, stroked their chin and muttered:
"The contamination speed is too fast... Is it the nature of the dice?"
How could a human who had obtained the dice less than a year ago become contaminated so quickly? Had the mist's contamination had that much effect? It should have taken at least a year, even at the shortest.
This was merely idle curiosity, and the Director moved on. There was too much work.
They looked at more reports that had come in during that short time. It was a report submitted by the research team studying [Project: Ordinary World].
"Now that we've acquired the fundamental technology, we need to research other foundational technologies necessary for our goal? Hmm, tell them to proceed."
The company moved ceaselessly, even today.
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