WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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

Chapter 15

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Ever since finding the note, Jang Chae-yeon had become extremely cooperative with us.

“Want me to lift it?”

“Ah, yes.”

A rumble sounded, followed by fragments of stone.

Jang Chae-yeon only crossed after Yoo Da-on went first and I followed behind her.

Thanks to that, finding our way had become so easy that it barely even felt necessary anymore.

“I’ll take the lead.”

Whenever we walked outside, Yoo Da-on led the way.

“Then I’ll bring up the rear and watch our backs.”

“Then... I’ll look for dangers from the middle.”

Jang Chae-yeon stood behind us, leaving me naturally positioned in the middle.

It was a strange formation. A man in the middle, with women in front of and behind him. What kind of formation was this supposed to be?

Yoo Da-on strode confidently ahead, Jang Chae-yeon cautiously scanned the area behind us, and I watched our surroundings from the middle.

It was quiet, but that did not mean the exploration was completely safe.

Sometimes rubble beneath our feet collapsed, and sometimes fragments of buildings fell from overhead.

If it had been just Yoo Da-on and me, either my head would have been crushed, her head would have been crushed, or she would have pushed me away and her head would have been crushed.

Thud!

A brick fell, narrowly missing Yoo Da-on’s head.

“...Ah, thank you.”

“I just did what I had to.”

Whenever Jang Chae-yeon casually flicked a finger or shifted her gaze, the stones mysteriously avoided all three of us.

I felt strangely moved.

This was the real deal!

If it had been just Yoo Da-on and me, I would have been much tenser, and there probably would have been more bloodshed no matter what happened. Yet having Jang Chae-yeon with us solved things this easily.

While I was walking along with those useless thoughts, Yoo Da-on’s small “Huh?” made me stop.

“...Can you see something over there?”

Standing beside Yoo Da-on as she pointed into the distance and narrowed her eyes, I narrowed mine as well.

I could see something.

“People...?”

There were people standing there.

I squinted at them.

[Name: Cube (Human)]

[Age: -]

[Traits: Single-Use]

[Talent: X]

[Background: These things, once human, lost their sense of self after a long time and chose to become dependent on the Cube.]

[Weakness: No different from a human’s weaknesses.]

They wore rags and wandered around while quietly making noises.

Even the rain was pitch-black. It looked like a scene straight out of a horror movie.

Occasionally, I could hear the words they muttered.

“Hello nice to meet you let’s keep it up today.”

“Don’t want to go to work want to go home.”

“Have a hot dog it’s tasty.”

“They seem human!”

“...How can there be people here?”

Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon still seemed not to realize what they were. No, why could they not hear them?

I quickly raised my hand to silence the two of them.

“...They’re not human.”

“Yes...?”

“Are you sure?”

“No, can’t you hear them talking?”

The two looked confused.

“...I saw it.”

“Okay.”

At my words, Yoo Da-on immediately took up a ready stance. Jang Chae-yeon still looked as though she did not understand what I meant.

“...Still, I trust you.”

There was no time to explain all of this.

Jang Chae-yeon watched me for a moment, then nodded as if she understood and turned forward again.

“Do we have to pass through there?”

“...Probably.”

“What if we go around?”

“It would take too long. There’s no need to waste time.”

Jang Chae-yeon nodded at my question and answered. Compared to when she had been screaming like an idiot earlier, she was much more dependable now.

“Let’s break through.”

“How?”

“Let’s force our way through. Since you’re on the Security Team, buy us some time up front while Chae-yeon-ssi sends them all flying from behind.”

“...Chae-yeon-ssi... Fine.”

Jang Chae-yeon fell silent before nodding.

Do women these days not like having ssi attached to their names? Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon were both making such a big deal out of it.

“Chae-yeon-ssi can’t use her ability continuously. There’s roughly a three-second cooldown, so Da-on-ssi and I will hold out during that time. I’ll leave the basic cleanup to you.”

“...! When did you...!”

“I told you my eyes are good.”

Jang Chae-yeon raised her voice, lowered it again, worked her lips, then shut them in a straight line and stared ahead.

“And Da-on-ssi, tell me if you feel like you’re about to die. I’ll hold them off while you regenerate.”

“Ssi...”

“Da-on-ssi?”

“...Ah, yes, yes. Then I’ll leave the gun to Jae-heon-ssi.”

“Will you be okay?”

“I can handle myself in a fight, you know?”

Yoo Da-on cheerfully raised her fist. She did not look very reliable at a glance, but knowing she had Immortality made her incredibly dependable.

Before moving, I checked the pistol I had.

There were still bullets left. Three magazines.

As long as I did not use them all, we could manage.

“Good. ...Then let’s go. Da-on-ssi, please lead the way.”

At my signal, Yoo Da-on started running ahead, and their attention turned toward her.

“Delicious fish and chips cheap!”

“There’s no company dinner today!”

The human-like things rushed at us, shouting bizarre nonsense.

Yoo Da-on expertly threw a punch at the ones approaching her.

Crack!

Its jaw twisted as it fell.

The ones charging from behind were sent flying into the distance with a single gesture from Jang Chae-yeon.

Bang!

I ran hard behind Yoo Da-on and fired my gun as well.

“...You’re a good shot?”

Jang Chae-yeon panted as she ran close behind me.

“I guess I am.”

I could not understand why I had said that.

It felt as though my eyes were automatically correcting my aim. Like I had aim assist in a game.

I definitely had not felt this way the last time I fired a gun.

Crunch.

One of them bit Yoo Da-on’s neck, blood spraying from the wound. But without caring, she swung her other fist into the jaw of another one rushing at her.

My bullet lodged in the head of the thing biting her neck as if it had been drawn there, and its teeth fell out. Then Yoo Da-on’s torn-up neck returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

The distant enemies either collapsed or were sent flying with a gesture from Jang Chae-yeon.

Every bullet I fired lodged in an enemy’s head. The enemies flew away with a gesture from Jang Chae-yeon, and Yoo Da-on put her body on the line.

I was overcome with emotion.

One tank, one ranged DPS, and one debuffer, sub-DPS, and scout.

We were no longer a no-DPS party.

We were the perfect damage-dealing party.

I only had a moment to savor that feeling before I began to see the end of them.

I took a breath and shouted.

“Prepare to break through!”

Yoo Da-on gritted her teeth and started running. We followed behind her again.

Countless hands tangled around her legs and clung to her shoulders and waist.

“Uh...”

“Wait.”

Yoo Da-on began to lose her balance, and the path she had forced open began to close.

At that moment, Jang Chae-yeon passed me, opened her eyes wide, and placed a hand on Yoo Da-on’s back.

Boom!

Crack!

Yoo Da-on’s body arched like a bow as she flew forward.

She was like a human cannonball.

...No, I did not think her waist had merely bent. I thought her spine had broken.

Yoo Da-on, now a human cannonball, plowed a straight path through the monsters and literally crushed them. Only after breaking through did she roll across the ground and come to a stop.

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The breakthrough was successful.

Only,

“...No...”

“She won’t die.”

Yoo Da-on’s waist was folded in half, and Jang Chae-yeon looked at me as she spoke without emotion.

“...Agh...”

Yoo Da-on began to groan. Soon, her waist started returning to normal.

“...She died, though.”

“But we got through.”

“Do you know how unpleasant that feels?”

“It was the best method.”

Naturally, Yoo Da-on protested to Jang Chae-yeon as soon as she revived. Jang Chae-yeon calmly brushed off her complaints.

“Do you hate me?”

“No. But I have no reason to like you either.”

“Jae-heon-ssi! This person is bullying me!”

“Please stop fighting.”

Had we not just fought our way out of that?

My head hurt. My head really hurt.

Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon started bickering almost immediately after surviving, and it finally ended when Jang Chae-yeon said, “Okay. Sorry.”

We had successfully made it through, and there were no major threats as we started walking again. Enemies appeared from time to time, but we got past them by ignoring them, shooting them, or having Jang Chae-yeon blow their heads apart with Telekinesis.

“...How are your eyes?”

Once things had settled down somewhat, Yoo Da-on came up beside me and asked worriedly.

Come to think of it, I had forgotten about that.

I blinked and looked around.

“...Huh?”

“What is it?”

“I can’t see them anymore.”

All the descriptions that had filled my vision until just a little while ago had disappeared.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Maybe not.”

“...It’s here.”

As Yoo Da-on and I whispered while walking, Jang Chae-yeon’s words made us stop and look ahead.

Before us was a massive black square.

“This is...”

“The Cube.”

At Jang Chae-yeon’s words, I stared quietly at the Cube.

[Name: ? ? ?]

[Age: ? ? ?]

[Traits: ? ? ?]

[Talent: ? ? ?]

[Background: What was being pieced together in someone’s head caused the plan to go awry.]

[Weakness: ? ? - - Let them enter.]

What was this now?

No matter how hard I squinted, I could not see anything else.

“Can you see anything?”

“...This isn’t a Cube.”

“...Then what is it?”

“...”

Being pieced together.

I remembered shooting Jang Chae-yeon in the forehead.

“I think this thing is... damaged.”

“...?”

Both of them looked completely confused.

“Well. We’ll find out when we see it.”

Maybe because I had already seen something speak in place of my eyes once, this was no longer very surprising.

In the first place, it was something damaged by the bullet I had fired. If that was the case, we had a chance.

It did not seem as though there was no way forward.

“Let’s go.”

“Without preparing?”

“Have we not caught our breath already? It’s not like we can go get more weapons.”

“That’s true, but...”

“Let’s go.”

It was not like we could receive support from the Management Bureau anyway.

When I started walking, Jang Chae-yeon followed behind me. Yoo Da-on eventually followed us too, saying, “I’m coming too!”

And so, the three of us stepped into the Cube.

Footnotes:

-ssi is a Korean name suffix used for polite address. The awkwardness around it is intentional, as Jae-heon uses it with both women.

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