WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈
Chapter 23: Closure
──────
A long time ago, I watched a movie.
It was about a protagonist looping back to a specific point in time, trying to solve something over and over through that loop.
And right now, I felt like I had become that movie's protagonist.
-Clang!
Jang Chae-yeon used Telekinesis to deflect the slash aimed at Yoo Da-on's neck.
-Clang! Clang!
But with the slashes coming relentlessly, Yoo Da-on eventually stepped back with a sigh.
“This won't work.”
“...”
Jang Chae-yeon looked dejected.
She looked as though her pride had drilled straight through the Earth's inner core.
Understandably so.
She had messed things up twice in such a short time after coming here.
Clap.
When I clapped once, both of them turned toward me.
“Let's find another way.”
There was no point clinging to something that wouldn't work.
It was better to abandon it quickly and find another path.
“What have we tried so far?”
“...Following the manual and going around once, breaking through the walls, and forcing our way up.”
“That's right.”
Naturally, the first thing we did was go around while following the manual.
The thing whose waist had been snapped in half never appeared at all.
We went around two or three times like that, but we kept ending up in the same place.
Next, we tried breaking the walls.
Jang Chae-yeon smashed through them until her nose bled, but nothing came out.
I had hoped there might be another space beyond the walls, but there was nothing except endless concrete, so we gave up.
Lastly, dodging the blades.
The impressive show of feats Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon had been putting on until just now.
We would dodge the blades until the end, send Yoo Da-on up there, and wait for rescuers to arrive.
As you could see, it was impossible because there was a limit to parrying the blades.
“I can't think of anything else.”
Looking exhausted, Yoo Da-on perched on the stairs.
“...”
Jang Chae-yeon now looked like her pride had gone somewhere even deeper than the inner core.
In the end, as always, thinking was my job.
“I'll think about it.”
I began piecing together the information.
This was a place one could only get through by following the manual.
According to that manual, the three of us had become trapped here because we failed to follow it.
But calling this phenomenon something created by the manual felt slightly off.
What was a manual, fundamentally?
A manual was like a set of guidelines.
“If you don't follow the manual, something terrible will happen.”
The reason was the horrific outcome that came when you failed to follow it.
A clear example would be what happened if someone touched the iron door on Basement Level 1 while in a nonhuman state during the Dream of a Butterfly incident.
In other words, failing to follow the manual resulted in an irreversible event.
If this were really an ordinary Management Bureau manual, then the moment Jang Chae-yeon nodded, her neck should have been severed, leaving Jang / Chae-yeon behind. Or at least something equivalent should have happened.
I looked at the manual's title again.
[Manual for Those Who Failed to Follow the Manual]
It shouldn't have ended this gently.
A manual like this should never have existed in the first place. Instead of a punitive manual, there should have been some warning of an ending like, You may be trapped forever if you violate these rules.
“As you proceed further, information contamination has worsened, resulting in many casualties. Therefore, the Management Bureau has decided to establish new countermeasures.”
What if the manual I was looking at was fake? What if the information had already been contaminated?
Then what could I trust?
What else? My eyes.
I looked around the Basement again.
[Name: Basement]
[Age: -]
[Trait: Repeating Type]
[Talent: -]
[Background: Why are there always madmen everywhere who insist on making art out of humans? Even though those who blame their lack of artistic sense on their materials can never achieve greatness, he opens a workshop to prove his own stubbornness.]
[Weakness: This space will disappear along with its owner.]
Let's think about the Basement.
It would disappear with its owner.
In other words, the best way was to find the owner and beat the hell out of them.
The problem was that we didn't even know whether the owner was here.
The idea of finding and beating up an owner whose very existence we couldn't confirm was too much of a leap, no matter how I thought about it.
The weakness was the clearest thing we had right now, but it was also the most unrealistic.
That was the problem with weaknesses like this.
“...”
I read the words carefully.
Art. Materials. Workshop.
Museum.
An idea flashed through my mind like lightning.
When I sprang to my feet, a faint hope returned to Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon's eyes.
“Did you think of something?”
“I did.”
“Is it free-falling again this time?”
“No. We're going to break some artworks instead.”
The two of them tilted their heads.
* * *
In the end, the three of us were standing in front of the starting room again.
“Listen carefully.”
I gathered the two of them and began explaining.
“Our goal is simple. When we enter that room, we destroy everything we see.”
“Just break it?”
“Yes.”
“Even the ones doing Ganggangsullae?”
“We'll focus on those.”
“What?”
Yoo Da-on tilted her head, but soon nodded as if she understood.
“If Jae-heon says he has a plan, I'm sure he does.”
“...The moment we go in, both of you lie flat.”
Meanwhile, one person was practically ablaze with fighting spirit.
Hope returned to Jang Chae-yeon's eyes. She looked like she had finally found her chance to shine.
I opened the door.
The same darkness as before.
“Do we really lie down the moment we enter?”
“Yeah.”
Jang Chae-yeon widened her eyes and nodded.
At that determination, Yoo Da-on and I only rolled our eyes at each other before shrugging.
“I'll go first.”
As though it were only natural now, Yoo Da-on took the lead into the darkness.
“...Then I'm going.”
“Yeah. See you later.”
I followed Yoo Da-on inside.
The moment I entered, the darkness I had seen roughly three times before spread out before me.
I immediately jumped to the right and flattened myself against the ground.
Soon, everything around us became a complete mess.
-Boom!
-Thud!
-Crash!
Overwhelming brute force swept through the room.
The assorted junk inside flew everywhere.
“Gah, ngh?”
“Aahhh!”
The things doing Ganggangsullae were literally torn apart.
It was enough to call it a storm.
Even I got scared and covered my head with both arms.
After what must have been three full minutes, the storm finally stopped.
“...”
I looked around.
There was nothing left in sight.
Should we leave?
Half bent over, I hurried outside with small steps, hoping nothing would happen. There, I found Jang Chae-yeon drenched in sweat and Yoo Da-on fanning her with one hand.
“...Did we do it?”
“I think so.”
Leaning against the wall, Jang Chae-yeon took a deep breath.
Her white hair, damp with sweat, gave her a strangely alluring air.
I probably shouldn't look.
I looked away, then spoke again after Jang Chae-yeon had calmed down somewhat.
“Let's go.”
We passed through the familiar operating room and stopped before the stairs where Yoo Da-on's head had fallen off at least twice.
“...Are we going?”
Yoo Da-on nervously asked as she touched her neck.
“Not yet.”
I stepped forward and took out my gun.
Let's assume this place was a museum.
A museum could remain a museum because it had artworks in it.
Conversely, if all the artworks disappeared from a museum, it could no longer be called a museum.
We had destroyed two artworks so far.
But one remained.
There had been three real threats here.
First, the lunatics doing Ganggangsullae.
Second, the lunatic who thought they were a doctor.
Third...
I looked at the landing where Yoo Da-on's head had come off.
[Critical: 1 -> 0]
The world turned black and white, revealing the being hidden on the landing.
A huge human with a grotesquely twisted face.
It wore rags and held an enormous axe in one hand.
[Name: Executioner]
[Age: Created 5 years ago]
[Trait: X]
[Talent: Axe Wielding]
[Background: This thing guards the Basement and cleanly, precisely cuts off the necks of those escaping through the darkness.]
[Weakness: Be fast or strong.]
The space between its eyebrows glowed bright red.
-Bang!
Without hesitation, I fired.
The bullet pierced the spot between its eyebrows.
-Thud!
With a thunderous crash, the huge body tumbled off the landing.
-Crumble...
As something crumbled apart, the three of us found ourselves in the middle of the familiar Management Bureau subway.
“...Phew.”
It was finally over.
As I let out a sigh of relief, Jang Chae-yeon suddenly lowered her head.
“...I'm sorry.”
It seemed to be weighing on her quite a bit.
“Because of me, something that would've ended easily took a long time. I really have no excuse.”
“Well...”
We did take down the Ganggangsullae dancers easily thanks to her, though.
“I'll do anything. If you really want, you can hit me once.”
There wasn't even anywhere to hit.
Before I could say anything, Jang Chae-yeon continued keeping her head lowered.
The only thing with any surface area was her chest.
“Forget it-”
“I think that's fair.”
Yoo Da-on cut me off.
“...”
“It's best to settle things cleanly in times like this. Coolly!”
“Ah. Okay.”
Yoo Da-on looked at Jang Chae-yeon and held out her hand.
“Stand up straight.”
“...Okay.”
Jang Chae-yeon closed her eyes.
I had seen this scene plenty of times.
Usually, Yoo Da-on would hug Jang Chae-yeon and say it was okay, then the friendship between the two women would grow stronger...
Before I could finish that thought, Yoo Da-on swung her arm around a few times and drove her fist into the crown of Jang Chae-yeon's head at a perfect right angle.
-Crack!
“Gah!”
With a sound like something breaking, Jang Chae-yeon made a noise no human should make, crouching down while clutching her head.
“Be more careful next time.”
“...Y-yes...”
Yoo Da-on flexed her fist, her eyes gleaming, while tears welled up in Jang Chae-yeon's eyes.
She must have been holding a lot in.
Yeah. That was understandable. If someone had torn off my arm, ripped open my side, and twisted my neck one hundred and eighty degrees, I would've felt the same way.
Anyway, once again, again, again, we survived.
* * *
“...So, what would happen if I quit?”
“What are you talking about?”
Team Leader dropped the coffee he had been drinking.
[Name: Heo Chan]
[Age: 49]
[Trait: Complacency]
[Talent: Crisis Detection]
[Background: As the head of a household, he was working overtime again today to provide his family with their next meal when his job was put at risk.]
[Weakness: Let's keep things as they are.]
“If you quit, I die.”
“Then what can you do for me?”
“...O-Okay. I'll reassign you to paperwork duty. I'll reassign you, so please don't do this to me.”
I could rest for a while now.
As I happily thought that, a radio broadcast reached my ears from behind me.
<The musical “Red Lady” has recently become a nationwide hit amid explosive popularity. It is setting the greatest record in South Korean history->
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