WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈

Chapter 1: The Life of an Office Worker

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“Team Leader, I’ve finished organizing this month’s payroll for the Risk Management Team.”

“You need to check it again. Two people died yesterday because a Managed Object escaped, right? I’ll give you the deceased employees’ details. Check them, change the payroll entries to condolence payments and compensation, then send them to the bereaved families.”

“If they don’t have any family again, should we just donate the money?”

“Yeah. No other procedure is necessary.”

“Yes, understood.”

With a sigh, I sat back down and began revising the spreadsheet.

There used to be a saying going around.

“What if the world we live in is actually full of monsters and superpowers, and there’s an organization of people secretly managing it behind the scenes? What if they conceal the monsters’ existence, and are willing to commit every evil imaginable and grind up human lives to do so?”

The short version is, it does exist.

“Team Leader, how did they die this time?”

“I heard the two of them accidentally entered a room where you die if you can’t do xx.”

“Ah, the room wasn’t properly managed? But why did the two of them kill each other?”

“They didn’t get along.”

“Good grief.”

“If we went into that room together, you wouldn’t kill me, right?”

“I guess the room would know better than I would.”

“Look at you, not saying no.”

I carried on working while joking around with my team leader in our small office.

It had long since gone dark outside, and the clock read eleven at night. At an hour anyone would call real overtime, the two of us were mechanically putting together payroll records.

That was right. The so-called transnational Management Bureau truly existed, and I worked for it.

But my job wasn’t anything difficult, like saving people or managing anomalous objects.

Even if someone died tomorrow, this was still an organization, and there were people who worked here. They were assigned work, did it, and received a salary for it.

Payroll officer for the Management Bureau’s Human Resources Team. That was my job.

Compared to going out, losing arms and legs, and dying at the drop of a hat, this was a very happy job. There was a little overtime, though.

When I looked at my team leader in the middle of working, a translucent window appeared above his head.

[Name: Heo Chan]

[Age: 49]

[Trait: Complacency]

[Talent: Crisis Detection]

[Background: As the head of his household, he works overtime again today to provide a meal for his family.]

“What? Did I write something wrong?”

“No.”

The middle-aged man with a full head of hair looked at me with a puzzled expression. I shook my head as though it were nothing, then turned my gaze to the small mirror at my desk.

[Name: Kim Jae-heon]

[Age: 27]

[Trait: -]

[Talent: Insight]

[Background: His eyes are different from everyone else’s.]

Ever since I took the college entrance exam, I had been able to see things like this.

If I had been younger, I might have gone around telling everyone about this ability. Fortunately, perhaps because I was old enough to know better, I didn’t talk much about it.

Instead, I diligently tested my ability, investigated it on my own, and wondered whether it might hold some greater power.

In conclusion, nothing changed. All I could do was learn a person’s traits, talents, and one facet of who they were. That was it.

I couldn’t look at someone’s information and change their abilities, nor could I invest in them. I could only see a little better.

That was why it didn’t help much in my life. Well, it did help in a few ways.

I could figure out what kind of person my seniors in the military were beforehand and have an easier time than everyone else. I could also tailor my studying to a professor’s preferences, study less for midterms and finals, and still get good grades.

But compared with the superpowers I knew of, those were truly insignificant things.

So I had planned to quietly live my life, using this ability to make my working life a little easier. At least, that was what I thought until I graduated from college, completed my military service, and began preparing for employment.

Even so, there were people who came looking for me.

They appeared out of nowhere, took me away, locked me in a room, and questioned me in detail about my ability. Then they suddenly offered me a job. They called themselves the Management Bureau.

“How would you like to work in Human Resources?”

“Out of nowhere? This is a lot to take in...”

“Here is the annual salary.”

“Come to think of it, that doesn’t sound bad.”

The amount was too large to refuse. I probably wouldn’t get into a major corporation anyway, so perhaps this was an opportunity God had given me.

And since it was Human Resources, I wouldn’t have to do anything that could get me killed. When I thought about it, this wasn’t a bad workplace at all.

“Team Leader, I’m finished.”

“You checked everything, including the deceased employees, right? Then go home first. I still have some paperwork, so I’ll work a little longer before leaving.”

“Yes.”

The moment I said, “How could I leave? I’ll stay too,” I’d be drinking soju and eating blood sausage soup with this old man until dawn before going home. The hardships of being a family man and advice from a senior in life would come free of charge.

I quickly nodded, stood up, packed my laptop, and slung my bag over my shoulder.

“I’ll be going first.”

“Yeah. Get home safely.”

I bowed and was about to leave when my team leader called me back.

“You brought the manual, right? You can’t leave without it.”

“Do I look like an idiot to you, Team Leader?”

There were no employee ID cards here.

Instead, we were only given a small notebook labeled [Office Staff Manual]. I had no idea what insane thing they had done, but this was my identification and employee ID. It was also a magical manual that explained what to do in an emergency.

Of course, there was no reason for me to ever use it. What could possibly happen to someone in Human Resources? The biggest thing I could experience was overtime due to an incorrect payroll payment.

“Anyway, I really am leaving now.”

“Yeah, go.”

After saying goodbye and closing the door, I found myself in an ordinary office hallway.

But beneath this building was a containment facility that held things beyond our understanding, as well as humans who sometimes threatened humanity.

Naturally, that didn’t feel very relevant to me. I was only an employee in Human Resources.

At least, that had been true until now.

I mechanically pressed the elevator button. Even if I went home now, I’d only sleep, wake up, and come back to work, so getting home quickly was my highest priority.

With a clunk, the elevator rose and soon reached my floor. Its doors opened.

A man stepped out.

He wore an ordinary suit, complete with a tie, and walked past me.

Even if it was the end of the month, was he coming to work at this hour because it was a shift change for the Security Team?

Thinking something so pointless, I passed the man, pressed the button for the first floor, and hit the close-door button.

Then, as always, I unconsciously looked at the man. A translucent window began to appear above his head.

[Name: ? ? ?]

[Age: ? ? ?]

[Trait: Mimicry]

[Talent: Acting]

[Background: This person is wearing human skin.]

“...What?”

I muttered as I pressed the close-door button. At those words, the man was about to turn around when the doors closed, and the elevator began descending.

My heart began pounding madly.

What was happening? Why was this suddenly happening? Had containment failed this badly? Could I really go home now?

As I hurriedly sorted through my thoughts, the elevator reached the first floor.

Ding.

The doors opened, revealing a quiet hallway.

First, I needed to go to the Security Team.

With trembling hands, I reached into my inner pocket and pulled out the Office Staff Manual. Then, as if it had found the section I needed, the manual opened.

[Manual for Office Workers]

[D. Crisis Situations]

1. If something happens, go to the Security Team and explain the situation. The Security Team’s location is as follows.

Reading the manual, I slowly walked toward the marked location.

Soon, a sign reading [Security Team] greeted me.

When I slowly opened the Security Team’s door, a large man stared directly at me.

“What is it?”

“Uh...”

Before I could speak, I unconsciously looked above his head.

[Name: ? ? ?]

[Age: ? ? ?]

[Trait: Mimicry]

[Talent: Acting]

[Background: This person is wearing human skin.]

“...It’s nothing.”

“Pardon?”

The man looked at me suspiciously.

“Actually, I heard a coworker I’m close to was working the night shift today, so I came to tell them I was leaving first... But I guess the schedule changed.”

“I see.”

The man stared at me.

“Then... I’ll be going.”

I bowed and quickly stepped outside.

My hands were damp with cold sweat.

I moved away from the Security Team as quickly as possible and looked at the manual again.

[Manual for Office Workers]

[D. Crisis Situations]

1. If something happens, go to the Security Team and explain the situation. The Security Team’s location is as follows.

1-1. If you judge that the Security Team is not the same kind of human as you, leave quietly without being noticed.

1-2. There may be other Security Teams that can help you besides the one on the first floor. Go to the third floor and contact the Security Team Leader. However, if you judge that there is a problem with the entire branch, skip this procedure and carry out procedure 1-3.

1-3. Go to Basement Level 1. In an emergency, office workers are also permitted entry.

“Basement Level 1, Basement Level 1...”

I hurried toward the elevator.

Bang.

I heard a door open from the direction of the security office.

My pace naturally quickened, and my eyes moved to the next section.

[Manual for Office Workers]

1-4. The elevator to the basement is normally blocked. The emergency code for office workers is as follows.

Press [3rd floor~7th floor-2nd floor~9th floor-emergency button twice] in order.

I headed for the elevator, now moving as though I were half running.

I soon reached it, pressed the open-door button, and quickly began pressing the floors.

Third floor, seventh floor, second floor, ninth floor, then the emergency button twice.

The footsteps were drawing closer.

[The doors are closing. Destination: Basement Level 1.]

Then the doors closed, and the elevator began descending into the basement.

“...”

I opened the manual again.

[Manual for Office Workers]

2. Upon arriving in the basement, walk straight ahead. No matter what you see, you must continue forward. At times, you may think that you are walking to the right or left, but that is an incorrect thought. Trust only your senses.

“Damn it.”

Did they really have to make it like this? Couldn’t they have used an easy mechanism like, “Just walk straight ahead”?

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but far more time passed than it took to go down to the first floor before the elevator doors opened.

“...”

Before me stretched a clean yet complicated hallway, without a single door in sight.

I opened the manual again.

[Manual for Office Workers]

2-1. Proceed. No matter what there is, you must proceed.

Ah, this was really scary.

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