Chapter 243.1 |
An agent of the Disaster Management Bureau.
And the being his jakdu was pointing at.
Ho Yoowon.
A supernatural disaster.
“……”
“As soon as we’re back at the bureau, I’m filing the report. ‘Black-Tortoise Team 1 seeks formal approval to register the entity in question as a supernatural disaster with the aim of termination.’”
Agent Choi and Ho Yoowon locked eyes.
Between cold, set faces, the agent’s gaze burned.
“Let’s see if that insane cult company that grinds people up will keep bailing out an executive once he’s been tagged by the bureau.”
And.
“What, you’ll register me as a supernatural disaster and have the bureau manage me directly? Until I die? Until I’m terminated?”
The profane presence beyond the black smoke.
“That’s awfully cruel.”
It spoke in a smooth voice.
“A government agent threatening a civilian… It’s not like I killed anyone right in front of you.”
But Ho Yoowon’s eyes were flat.
“Someone had to die anyway, didn’t they? If the bureau does the choosing, does that make death not death? Does that make it rational?”
“……”
“While you’re in the business of selecting the ‘more acceptable’ dead… did you think something like me wouldn’t emerge?”
Ryu Jaekwan ground his teeth.
Then.
“Eh. So does that mean you’ll just kill whoeverr?”
“……!”
“We were just talking about how, if someone has to die, we won’t kill any good people. You’re the one who, without any agreement, went and shoved a person, Directorr.”
Brushing dust from herself as she walked up was Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae.
Ho Yoowon’s smile deepened.
“It sounds like you’re saying non-cooperation with the group is bad… That worries me a bit. You belong to the company. Are you allowed to defy your superior and make personal accusations?”
“Whyy? I didn’t attack you. And that’s a weird read. I’m just saying you did something bad.”
Lee Seonghae glanced at Director Ho as if baffled, then hopped over to stand by the employee.
“Also, I’m on leave so I’m not on the clock. It’s finee!”
“Wow. How brave.”
“Yup. Kinda my thing!”
“……”
“……”
“…Well, not that it matters.”
After weighing the scales, Ho Yoowon finally turned his head, choosing to ignore the annoying employee.
Toward 130666.
“Mr. Employee. Will you continue to accompany me for my project? As part of your duty.”
And, appended.
“And those folks keep interfering with your work… I’d like you to restrain them a bit. For security.”
“…!”
The agents’ expressions hardened.
The yellow lantern-light under the black shadow swept over the agents…
Then looked back at the director.
Denied
“…!”
Reason :
► Existing assignment (Church of the Luminous Unknown exploration) concluded
► Damaged uniform
Shall return to Isolation Room and report to the supervising researcher
Uniform?
At that moment, they noticed it.
From inside the employee’s coat, through torn fabric, something was seeping out.
Something amorphous.
Clotted, flesh-like masses, overflowing as if losing their form and forcing their way out.
130666 pressed the spot with a gloved hand and covered it with black mist, very much as if conscious of being watched.
Someone even caught a faint signal in between.
A trace of something like shame.
“……!”
Agent Choi’s eyes changed.
Hope.
“We can fix that uniform too.”
The employee’s gaze met his.
“Come with us. We’ll set you up real nice, even run a line for you. The workshop folks have serious skills.”
But.
Impossible
Reason : Proposal violates work rules
“…Work rules? Can you explain what that means in more detail?”
Impossible
Reason : Proposal violates work rules
“……”
“Hang on. Are you not considering switching jobs at all?”
The gaze dipped to Lee Seonghae.
Resignation impossible
Reason : Proposal violates work rules
“Not even resignationn? Eh, that’s…”
And before Lee Seonghae could finish, the employee turned his body.
He was about to leave immediately and head back.
Down to Daydream’s underground.
To the Isolation Room.
“…Wait!”
Agent Choi hurried forward and blocked the way.
“I’ll help you return.”
……
Question : Reason
“You pulled me out of the box,” Ryu Jaekwan spoke up.
“…! Right. We owe you.”
Accepting his help without hesitation, Agent Choi continued.
“We’re near Cheonan. Even if you quick-step it all the way to the Seoul HQ, it’s still hours on foot, yeah?”
Instead of his usual rebuttal, Ryu Jaekwan quietly stepped to his side.
“You don’t have a car, and you can’t teleport. Hm? We’ll take you.”
……
Silence.
And then.
Question : Means of transport
Gotcha.
“Were you worried we’d stick you on a bicycle? Nah. We’ll use something else.”
Agent Choi started walking, casually guiding him.
To the well.
“It’s a secret, but this well’s on a good spot. Ley lines run here, and back in the day the bureau used it as a corridor for emergency deployments to the provinces. They say it got sealed due to procedural issues.”
An added note, because of that numinous function’s symbolism, when this village became a supernatural disaster site, they’d also used it as an escape point.
“Remember? When you came for the village festival, you took the manual with the tips I wrote. It mentioned the well. Haha. How was it, reading that?”
After another beat of silence.
Unable to confirm
……
“That happens. Don’t worry.”
And…
“Anyway, we don’t use the well now… but if we send the agreed signal, the transit function should come back online, so let’s just go ahead and try it.”
Of course…
This was a lie.
‘Records exist, but there’s no way it would come back.’
The Disaster Management Bureau isn’t stupid. If it were a corridor that could be reactivated, they’d have moved it.
But it sounded plausible enough.
“I’m going to use that to move us. Close your eyes and when you open them, we’ll be in Seoul. Sound good?”
That won’t happen.
The plan was simply to put him down into the well, herd him into a space as enclosed as possible so he couldn’t run, and then use the transport ability.
‘A makeshift Glass Prison.’
…It was a method he’d rather not use if he could help it.
There was no other way.
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