WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈
Chapter 68: Side Story - C-Rank Agent Kim Mi-ri, C-Rank Agent Shin Yeong-mun, Sarang Trading Company Investigation Mission!
──────
“Phew.”
Kim Mi-ri, dressed in a black suit, stood before the mirror. After washing her face, she slapped her cheeks to wake herself up.
“First mission! Let’s do this!”
『Excuse me, when are we leaving?』
At that moment, Shin Yeong-mun, dressed in the same outfit, poked his head through the restroom wall.
“Ah! You scared me! I told you not to pop up out of nowhere!”
『Come on, you can’t be an agent if this startles you.』
“Agent work is agent work, and getting startled is getting startled, okay?”
As she grumbled and headed outside, he floated after her.
“It’s our first mission.”
『Well, it won’t be difficult, so don’t be nervous.』
“If it were that easy, why would anyone in the world get nervous?”
After two years of training in an independent dimension where time flowed differently, enduring hardships beyond description, the two had finally become official Foundation agents.
『They wouldn’t give rookie C-rank agents a dangerous mission for their first assignment, would they?』
“I looked over the mission briefing. We just have to visit Sarang Trading Company, which is run by the External Special Advisor, and check whether there’s anything unusual about it. Still, I don’t know why I’m this nervous.”
『It’s because it’s your first time. Everyone gets nervous their first time. When I completed my first Yakuman tenpai, my hands got so sweaty I couldn’t hold my mouse.』
“There you go again! With that stupid Mahjong!”
『Why not learn it yourself? Learning Mahjong will change your life.』
“I’ve heard that so often, I already feel like a Mahjong expert. Not that I actually want to play.”
The living and the dead could never truly mix, but Kim Mi-ri had grown accustomed to the Anomalies with all manner of peculiar traits she encountered during Foundation training. As fellow trainees and fellow Koreans, she had become close with Shin Yeong-mun. The two had been assigned to Korea and sent on their first mission together.
“I felt awkward asking before, but how did you die, Mr. Shin?”
『Phew, you see, I was once at the peak of the underground Mahjong world. I gambled with my life at a table with ten billion won on the line, but my opponent cheated, so...』
The two rode in a vehicle toward Sarang Trading Company.
“What? You know the External Special Advisor?”
『When I first became a ghost, he was able to see me and interact with me. At first, he tried to exorcise me, but afterward he treated me well.』
“He doesn’t sound like a bad person. That’s a relief.”
The vehicle was specially designed to carry ghosts, and the two chatted pleasantly along the way.
“I wonder if my master is doing well.”
『If it’s that person, he’ll be fine. He’s strong, after all.』
“What’s the point of being strong? He lacks common sense, so who knows what he might do next?”
『He is a little strange. Still, he understands martial arts and chivalry, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.』
They had spent the two-year training period together and grown close, but the training had been so grueling that they had barely had time for small talk. Now, their chatter would not stop.
『By the way, why did you join the Foundation, Mi-ri?』
“Money. It felt like a waste to pass up a place with a salary in the hundreds of millions and great benefits. I never expected training to take two years, but luckily, the independent dimension’s timeline stretched out time. I didn’t age, and only two months passed in reality. What about you, Mr. Shin? You’re a ghost. You don’t need a good job, do you?”
『I joined because I wanted to feel alive. The Foundation can make things I can interact with even as a ghost, like these clothes and this car.』
“Ah! Now that you mention it, when I first saw you eating, I was so shocked. I never expected a ghost to be eating spicy seafood noodle soup. I thought that was a human brain and screamed.”
『A brain? I’m a ghost, not a zombie.』
As they talked, they soon arrived at the Foundation.
“Well, then...”
Shin Yeong-mun finished her sentence.
『Let’s get to work.』
＊＊＊
“Welcome. You’re from the National Tax Service, correct? We’ve been expecting you.”
Their job was not difficult.
“Here are Sarang Trading Company’s financial statements. Everything has been organized, so please take your time looking through them.”
Using the Foundation’s power, they disguised themselves as National Tax Service employees and carried out an actual inspection of Sarang Trading Company.
“Are you done?”
『Yes, the compiled results of Sarang Trading Company’s financial review just came in.』
Shin Yeong-mun removed his monocle. The monocle, which contained the Foundation’s automated calculation system, could summarize and display Sarang Trading Company’s current financial condition simply by scanning its financial statements.
『This structure can’t turn a profit. The benefits are too excessive. They only began last December, so it’s been just a month, but at this rate, benefit costs alone will reach tens of trillions a year.』
“What? Tens of trillions?”
『On the other hand, its revenue structure is 10% manufacturing, 30% imports and exports, and 60% other.』
“What’s included in other?”
『Fees from outside users of the welfare facilities. Outsiders can pay to use the facilities here, and that made up 60% of January’s net profit.』
“...What about maintenance costs?”
『It says they are all covered by funds invested by the chairman and new employee.』
“No, you’re either the chairman or a new employee. What is a chairman and new employee supposed to mean?”
『Who knows? Lee Seung-hoon does have some unusual traits. Let’s check out the welfare facilities first.』
Having escaped the mountain of documents, the two entered an elevator.
“Twenty-three days ago, they asked the External Special Advisor whether the threat of the Anomaly through Sarang Trading Company had been eliminated. The External Special Advisor replied, ‘The threat has been eliminated, but the company will be maintained for people’s happiness.’”
『Pouring tens of trillions into something every year for no reason is definitely suspicious, isn’t it?』
“The Foundation seems to be considering the possibility of an Anomaly that spreads through Mental Contamination and cannot be discussed outside. They suspect the External Special Advisor can’t explain the details, and that he’s raising employees’ happiness through welfare benefits to prevent the Anomaly from spreading.”
『I agree, but let’s take a look first. We should focus on the benefits.』
The two walked around the company and observed all sorts of benefits.
“Ah, that feels good.”
“This is heaven.”
“Argh! S-Stop! The soles of my feet are tearing! Ah! It hurts like hell!”
Employees rested while receiving massages and full-body treatments from skilled massage therapists.
“Ha ha! Manager Kim! You need to breathe in and out properly!”
“Hah! This is harder than I expected. Still, I can feel my stamina improving.”
“Come on! Assistant Manager Yoon! Put on a swim cap before getting in!”
Employees swam in an Olympic-sized indoor pool.
“This is what you call a three-cushion shot!”
“Wow! Director Kim, nice shot!”
“Hey! Assistant Manager Gwak! Don’t you know players rated under 300 are barred from massé shots!?”
“I won? Employee Yoon! Order jjajangmyeon! Hahaha!”
There were even employees enjoying billiards while chain-smoking in the indoor billiards hall.
‘What kind of company is this?’
All of it was happening at two in the afternoon, when everyone should have been busy working.
“...Should we look around some more?”
『...Let’s do that.』
The two continued on.
“Mmm! So this is Jersey pudding. It’s good.”
“Jersey really is delicious. Jersey, Jersey! But why is it called Jersey?”
“I heard Belgian chocolate was good, but it was true, wasn’t it? It’s nothing like Korean chocolate.”
“That’s because Korean chocolate is full of palm oil. Overseas, it probably couldn’t even be called chocolate.”
One floor was packed with food directly imported from overseas.
“Team Leader, Team Leader! There’s a Stop Lurker! Dodge, dodge!”
“Can’t you just avoid it by moving? Young people these days can’t even do that?”
“This time, I’m definitely getting some chicken.”
“Who ordered Chapagetti? That smell is insane. I should order some too.”
“I should too.”
“Me too. Chapagetti is a must at a PC café.”
Another floor was a PC café.
“This author’s previous work flopped, but the new one is pretty fun.”
“Who are the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan?”
“Wow, this hasn’t even been officially released here. How did they get it? It’s even translated!”
There were floors filled with comics and novels as well.
After looking through several floors, Kim Mi-ri left the building with an aggrieved expression.
“Ugh...”
『What’s wrong?』
“If I’d known this was coming, I wouldn’t have joined the Foundation! There was a company with a starting salary of 250 million won after tax and unbelievable benefits!”
『That wasn’t welfare. It was more like livestock farming, wasn’t it?』
“Seriously, this is so unfair. If I’d held out a little longer, I might’ve worked here too!”
『Come on, if that had happened, you would’ve been affected by the Foundation’s Cognition Alteration and thought it was just an ordinary major corporation.』
Shin Yeong-mun showed her what people were saying online on his personal smartphone.
[I wanna get a job at Sarang Trading Company! I heard the benefits are insane and the salary is crazy too?]
└[There’s no way in unless you get in through open recruitment. Or if your parents work there, you can inherit the job...]
└[Well, the benefits are crazy, but it’s Sarang Trading Company. It could be normal for them.]
└[Right, it’s Sarang Trading Company. I don’t think it’s anything special.]
└[How competitive will open recruitment be?]
└[I heard they randomly select working-age Koreans and send them invitations to interview? So every Korean between twenty and sixty is competition.]
└[That isn’t open recruitment. That’s just the lottery.]
『As you can see, there’s no way in except open recruitment, and the competition is fierce. More importantly, if you hadn’t joined the Foundation, you would’ve gone to university.』
“...Don’t hit me with facts. It hurts.”
Kim Mi-ri let out a long sigh.
“There are over a hundred floors in the building, but only thirty are for work. All the rest are welfare facilities. I guess there really is something going on.”
『I know. Hardly anyone seems to work, either. Maybe only 10% of the total workforce? Looking through the documents, they only have to work five days a month, then they can play in the welfare facilities afterward.』
“Phew, let’s look outside too.”
There were welfare facilities outside as well, including a zoo, a large hospital, parks where people could take walks, small ponds, fishing spots, and many other things.
“Let’s visit the amusement park last, then finish up.”
『It seems like there’s something going on, but we don’t know the exact details. We’ll have to write the report that way.』
Like Sarang Trading Company’s other welfare facilities, the amusement park could be used by outsiders for a fee. It was crowded with visitors.
“Mr. Shin, look over there.”
『Why?』
“Doesn’t that girl look suspicious?”
A cute girl with silver hair and red eyes stood there.
“Ttyu-ttai! Ttyu-ttai-ttai! Ttyu-ttai!”
Shin Yeong-mun immediately identified the girl.
『She’s holding an outdoor filming camera, so she’s an internet streamer.』
“She looks cute, so why does she talk like that?”
『Maybe it’s her concept? There’s a streamer whose entire concept is shouting only “Hoo!” Compared to that, this is nothing.』
“Ugh, they only shout ‘Hoo’?”
『Yes. It’s a streamer who has been shouting only that word for years.』
When the girl shouted something, the woman beside her answered for her.
“So-hee says that, as punishment for failing her last play-until-cleared challenge, she’ll take on the world’s scariest roller coaster, 「Hell-Paradise Drop」! That’s why she’s entered Sarang Trading Company’s amusement park!”
“Ttyu-ttaiiiiiii!”
“Hm? What did you say? If you cry or faint, you’ll do a haunted-house experience too?”
“Ttyu-ttai-ttai-ttai-ttai-ttai!”
Watching their skit, the two spoke.
“Just in case, what if that girl is an Anomaly that can only say ‘Ttyu-ttai’?”
『We learned not to jump to conclusions, and you’re already breaking that rule?』
“But we don’t know, do we? What if she really is an Anomaly? Maybe Sarang Trading Company is actually a facility meant to seal that Anomaly.”
『An Anomaly that can only say ‘Ttyu-ttai’ doesn’t sound dangerous at all. Still, being careful isn’t a bad thing...』
A step every rookie Foundation agent had to go through.
『Let’s tail them.』
Suspecting everything of being an Anomaly.
“For humanity!”
『For humanity!』
“And for my bank balance!”
『Don’t ruin the mood.』
＊＊＊
On a mountain peak two kilometers from Sarang Trading Company.
A woman over two meters tall looked down at Sarang Trading Company through miniature binoculars.
As she observed it for some time, someone suddenly appeared behind her.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“Baal.”
The woman, Asmo, lowered her binoculars.
“Did the work go well?”
“Yes, it went wonderfully. Take a look at this. It even made the news.”
The newspaper Baal held out carried a headline.
[Renowned French Chef’s Shocking Suicide Show Using Drugs and Hallucinogens! Customers Tore Apart and Ate Human Flesh!]
“As expected, the classic methods take time.”
“Well, the quality is good. But what are you looking at?”
“You’ll understand when you see it.”
Baal took the binoculars and looked over Sarang Trading Company.
“Oh.”
Baal exclaimed in admiration.
“What an excellent corruption system!”
Countless humans were falling into corruption.
They gave themselves over to easy wealth and a comfortable environment provided without having to work, while their will to improve themselves and strive faded away.
“Since Belphegor was punished, sloth has become a sin humanity is most wary of and despises, making it difficult to foster. This changes things!”
“But the loss rate is greater than expected.”
“Certainly...”
Not everyone beyond the binoculars had entrusted their lives to Sarang Trading Company.
Some were using this time to earn certifications or improve their credentials rather than play.
Some wanted to use the money they had saved there to build businesses of their own. Others were studying what they needed for their retirement and travel plans after saving enough money to live on for the rest of their lives.
“Some surrender themselves to comfort forever, but many see this place as a temporary resting place while they pursue their dreams.”
“It is the limitation of a system without powerful restraints.”
“No, isn’t that why it’s even better?”
Baal folded the binoculars.
“Souls that crawl into corruption of their own accord, without any restraints, and cannot escape it. How could the quality not be excellent?”
“Now that you put it that way, you’re right.”
“So, what do you think about Mr. Seung-hoon? I was right, wasn’t I?”
Asmo thought of Lee Seung-hoon and answered calmly.
“The moment he joins, he may become the second human-born company president in history.”
Footnotes:
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