Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau - Chapter 24

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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

Chapter 24: Act One

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My memories of childhood are a little hazy.

Other people say they remember things from kindergarten, but for some reason, I can't remember anything from before elementary school.

Still, there was one thing I remembered. I had a very close friend.

She was a girl who liked wearing black dresses.

I remembered having fun playing with her, but honestly, I couldn't remember what we had done together at all.

There was something she had said to me, too. But I couldn't remember that either.

What had she said back then?

Surely...

“What do you think?”

“Pardon?”

What kind of sudden quiz was this? I was terrible at things like this.

Yoo Da-on cheerfully spun around in front of me, making me stop thinking and look at her carefully.

“...”

“...Well?”

What was different?

I stared at Yoo Da-on.

Her black hair flowed down like a waterfall, her black eyes still shone with curiosity, and finally, the lines of her body. I had seen her clothes get torn so often that by now, I could more or less picture her naked body.

“...Nothing looks different.”

“Really? Yes!”

She actually seemed happy.

As I looked at her as if she were ridiculous, she finally noticed my expression and let out an “Ah” before explaining.

“My new clothes arrived today.”

“New clothes?”

“You know, the clothes I said I ordered back then.”

“Ah.”

She meant the clothes that wouldn't tear.

It was a relief, but also a little disappointing.

“I was worried. I thought they might look different.”

“Ah. If that's what you mean, I don't think you need to worry.”

A suit was still a suit. How different could it be?

But Yoo Da-on didn't seem to think so. Her expression was extremely serious.

“Want to tear them?”

“Are you crazy?”

There was nothing a grown woman wouldn't say in an office.

“Want me to tear them?”

Jang Chae-yeon, unable to hold herself back, cut in.

Team Leader kept glancing over at us.

“No, I'm seriously telling you to try tearing them.”

“Should I really tear them?”

“Yes!”

Yoo Da-on nodded confidently.

In the end, I had no choice but to take out a box cutter and hold it against Yoo Da-on's stomach.

If I didn't do it, Jang Chae-yeon looked like she really would tear them.

“...Here I go?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

She was really cheerful.

Yoo Da-on nodded, and I drew the blade down lightly, but hard enough that it should have torn the fabric.

-Rip.

Nothing happened.

Was this what a soft steel plate would feel like? The clothes were soft, yet firm. It was a contradictory description, but it fit perfectly.

“...What is this?”

I kind of wanted some too.

“I heard the Management Bureau's Research Team made them using a new material.”

“A new material?”

“They didn't tell me what it was! They said it was better not to know.”

“Ah.”

Right. Sometimes ignorance was bliss.

News began playing again from the radio Team Leader had turned on.

What was Red Lady, anyway? Why was it doing so well?

Team Leader would know more about this than I did.

“Team Leader, do you know Red Lady?”

“It's been really popular lately. They say that once you see it, you can't stop yourself from going back for a second, third, or even more viewings.”

“How good does it have to be for people to say that?”

“I don't know. I don't like it.”

“Are you jealous?”

“It's not that.”

Team Leader furrowed his brow with a serious expression.

“It creeps me out.”

Watching a balding, potbellied man in his forties frown seriously creeped me out.

“Anyway, I don't think I'll go see it. I don't think I'll let my kids see it either.”

Seeing Team Leader speak so strongly made me feel strangely uneasy.

I wouldn't watch it either.

Not that I could in the first place.

How was I supposed to get tickets to a show that sold out in one second?

I should just get some coffee.

“Team Leader, can I go to the cafe?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Team Leader nodded as he reopened the game on his phone.

Wasn't this place way too slow, though?

* * *

Leaving Yoo Da-on behind to organize documents, Jang Chae-yeon and I walked down the hallway together.

“...”

The silence was suffocating.

“...Ms. Chae-yeon.”

“Yeah.”

Jang Chae-yeon answered without even a second's delay.

“There was something I was wondering about.”

“Tell me.”

“Are we being watched?”

“...?”

Jang Chae-yeon looked up at me with a puzzled expression.

“Out of nowhere? Do you feel something?”

“No. Not at all.”

There was nothing visible to my eyes.

Still...

“I mean, is it really okay for them to leave me, Ms. Chae-yeon, and Da-on like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well... the three of us aren't exactly normal. Immortality, Telekinesis, things like that...”

“Ah.”

Jang Chae-yeon nodded as if she finally understood.

“Don't worry.”

“About what?”

“The Management Bureau is always devoted to humanity. That includes us.”

“Pardon?”

“And there are far stranger people in the Management Bureau than us.”

“Stranger people?”

“Do you know the ace of the Gangseo Branch Containment Team?”

“There are aces?”

“That person's the strangest.”

“Pardon?”

“The people in the Gangdong Branch Containment Team and Research Team are all oddballs too.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's hard to explain. You'll understand when you see them.”

Jang Chae-yeon moved right next to me and looked up at me again.

The scent of soap wafted up.

“Is that all?”

“Yes. More or less.”

“Then let's go.”

We walked on with Jang Chae-yeon pressed right beside me. She didn't move away until we reached the cafe.

“Oh.”

The moment we entered the cafe, I came face to face with someone somewhat familiar.

“It's someone from the Human Resources Team.”

Wavy purple hair and purple eyes, along with the tight jeans and white T-shirt she was still wearing.

“I was about to come find you.”

Song A-rin, whom I had seen once after each of the Dream of a Butterfly and Cube incidents, narrowed her eyes at me.

[Name: Song A-rin]

[Age: 21]

[Trait: Hypnosis]

[Talent: -]

[Background: Possessing incomplete hypnosis abilities, she has no choice but to be sensitive about everything. Even so, the Management Bureau is the only place where she can belong.]

[Weakness: When she's being difficult, just give her a knock on the head.]

“Whatever it is, if you're calling me into the field, I'm not going.”

“Oh, really?”

“Honestly, I've already gone twice.”

Three times if I included the Basement, but I decided not to mention that.

I really felt like I would get arrested if I said it.

But why was she speaking casually to me when she was twenty-one?

Come to think of it, Jang Chae-yeon was twenty-five and spoke casually to me too.

What rude people.

“You really won't go?”

“I really won't.”

“Damn it. It's kind of urgent.”

“I told you to call the whole Containment Team. I heard the Gangseo Branch Containment Team has an ace.”

“That one's a lunatic.”

“What about the other Containment Team personnel?”

“About eighty percent of the Management Bureau's Containment Team personnel have already been deployed.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

Song A-rin sighed and shoved her hands into her pockets.

“Because there's a major incident.”

“...What is it?”

“I can't tell you. No, more accurately, it's better for your brain if you don't hear it.”

If she put it that way, it was probably better not to ask.

“...So, will you really not help?”

“...Honestly, isn't this a bit much? We're in Human Resources.”

I had already been through life-threatening situations twice.

“Well, that's... true.”

Song A-rin sighed.

“I'll be honest. Because of a certain incident, there are very, very few people left in the Management Bureau who can resolve anomalous phenomena.”

“...”

“Please understand why I won't tell you. The moment you hear about it, you'll get dragged in too, and we don't want that.”

“...”

“But incidents happen every day, and we're starting to become seriously short-handed.”

“...”

“So no matter how hard we try, we can't stop everything that keeps showing up. This incident in particular looks like it could get even worse. If things go wrong, countless people could be in danger.”

After saying that, Song A-rin ruffled her hair with both hands.

“I'll pay you as much as I can. Not exactly whatever you want, but as much as possible. So please help.”

[If you can help, help the others. Don't overdo it. But I believe you'll do well.]

A child's voice surfaced in my mind.

“...”

A migraine flared up.

“Just this once. Really.”

“...! Thank you!”

Song A-rin's expression brightened. Then it crumpled again.

“Then I'll give you this.”

Song A-rin handed me a slip of paper.

This was... a ticket?

“It's a ticket?”

“It's a ticket for Red Lady.”

That musical?

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Let's watch it together. Just the two of us.”

Jang Chae-yeon flinched behind me.

“Just us?”

“No one else. Only you and me.”

“...All right. Sure. But is that all?”

“I hope so too.”

Song A-rin answered dryly and rose from her seat.

“Tomorrow at seven in the evening. We're sitting next to each other, so see you there.”

“Wait-”

Before I could even finish speaking, Song A-rin strode outside.

“...Are you going?”

Jang Chae-yeon stared at me, and I eventually had no choice but to sigh.

“I guess I have to.”

* * *

The next day, I told Team Leader I was taking the day shift off before heading to the theater.

A pistol Team Leader had given me rested inside my jacket.

I had no Critical left, but this should be enough somehow.

I had told Jang Chae-yeon and Yoo Da-on to come rescue me immediately if I didn't show up for work by tomorrow morning.

Both of them readily agreed.

It had been a long time since I had walked through the city.

Normally, I was working overtime, and lately, I had only been going out on field assignments. I couldn't remember the last time I had walked through a crowded street on such a bright day.

I pushed through the crowds toward the theater.

Theater, theater...

It wasn't hard to find.

There were countless people standing in front of it.

“...”

It was quiet.

Countless people stood in front of the theater waiting for the doors to open, yet I couldn't even hear the murmur of conversation.

It was as if they had all been bewitched and forgotten how to make a sound.

What was even more frightening was that countless other people passed them by as if it were completely normal.

It seemed I was the only one who found it strange.

“Isn't it strange?”

The voice I had heard yesterday spoke beside me.

Song A-rin stood with her hands in her pockets, staring ahead.

“That nobody notices.”

“...”

“Let's go.”

The doors opened, and people poured inside.

Only the sound of rushing footsteps filled the air. Nobody shouted or spoke.

“We first detected the anomaly during the third performance.”

Song A-rin began speaking as we walked.

“Normally, we would've handled it immediately. But like I said, we don't have enough people right now. Our huge mistake was thinking the musical was simply doing well.”

“Hah.”

“This musical can brainwash people.”

Song A-rin sat down.

“So we needed someone with a strong Mental Barrier, but every single Containment Team member with a strong Mental Barrier has been deployed.”

I sat beside her.

“I don't have a Mental Barrier, but I can put myself under hypnosis before anything happens.”

The curtain rose.

“So you were the only one.”

Music began, and Song A-rin looked at me.

“For a while, I'm going to be out of it. Otherwise, I'll be affected too.”

“Wait-”

Her eyes soon grew unfocused.