WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈
Chapter 25: Intermission
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S#. 2 Small Village (Night/Exterior)
A man walks alone, anxiously looking around.
Kim Jae-heon: I can't make heads or tails of what's going on. (eyes widening)
The man's focus grows hazy as though he were staring intently at something invisible in midair, and he begins talking to himself.
Kim Jae-heon: I can't even see anything.
Kim Jae-heon: What is this situation in the first place? Was I sucked into another dimension like the Cube?
As he mutters to himself, the entrance to a village suddenly appears before him, and he stops.
Kim Jae-heon: A village...? Wasn't this just a road a moment ago? (looking around in confusion)
Someone calls his name.
Kim Jae-heon: Who's there?
The man searches the area.
Kim Jae-heon: I can't see anything.
The man frowns.
???: Over here.
A young girl in a black dress appears. The man freezes at the sight of her.
Kim Jae-heon: You...? (staring in shock)
???: It's been a long time. (smiling softly)
Kim Jae-heon: Why are you still the same...
???: Is that really what you're most curious about after seeing me again? (giggling)
Kim Jae-heon: Then what else am I supposed to be curious about?
???: Hmm, something friendly, like asking whether I've been well?
Kim Jae-heon: I don't feel like joking around right now. Something's wrong with this place. My eyes, too...
???: They aren't working well, are they?
The man pauses and looks at the girl. The girl smiles.
???: They can't be. But don't worry.
Kim Jae-heon: How do you know about my eyes? When I met you, my eyes were definitely fine. (his voice full of suspicion)
???: No, they weren't. (closing her eyes and shaking her head)
The girl looks up at the ceiling over the stage.
Her water-colored hair flutters in the wind.
???: You're talking as if there were something wrong with your eyes only now.
Kim Jae-heon: (silent)
???: You've always been you. And no matter what happens, you'll still be you.
Kim Jae-heon: You. (his expression turning serious)
Step. Step.
The man turns toward the footsteps, his face going pale with fear.
The man grabs the girl's hand, but she shakes her head and steps back.
???: I didn't come here to run away with you. (still smiling softly)
Kim Jae-heon: What does that mean? Do you know about this? (urgently)
???: Of course I do.
The girl covers her mouth and laughs like an adult. Shock crosses the man's face.
Kim Jae-heon: You...
The man stares above the girl's head.
???: Now that you've seen everything, can I tell you my story?
The girl takes the man's hand and points toward the audience seats.
???: Don't forget the exit. And good luck. I'm always watching from nearby.
The girl glows black and vanishes like crumbling dust. The man looks around.
Kim Jae-heon: Hey! Where did you go? Hey! (shouting urgently)
Step. Step.
The man stands still and turns around.
Kim Jae-heon: This is insane. (his voice full of shock)
The man turns and runs as fast as he can.
S#. 3 Forest (Night/Exterior)
Kim Jae-heon: Huff... Huff... (breathing heavily)
The man runs while looking behind him, then trips over a stone and falls.
Kim Jae-heon: Argh! (screaming in pain)
The man rolls down the forest path, but looks back, pants for breath, and runs downhill again.
Step. Step.
Kim Jae-heon: Damn it. Damn it. (muttering constantly)
The man runs desperately until he reaches a dead end. Tall stone walls surround him.
Kim Jae-heon: No. (his expression full of despair)
Someone emerges from the shadows before him.
Step. Step.
Kim Jae-heon: A way. A way. There has to be a way...! (clawing at his head)
The man keeps staring into the air, then curls up as though fear has consumed him.
The Red Lady appears before him.
The man freezes in terror.
Thud. A book falls from the man's inner pocket.
His eyes move to the book.
[[[Please kill yourself immediately.]]]
The man hesitates after reading the words. He searches his clothes, but cannot find his gun.
The Red Lady comes closer.
The man approaches a nearby cliff wall and begins slamming his head against it.
Kim Jae-heon: Ah! Please! Die! Please! (smashing his head against the cliff in a frenzy)
The man continues slamming his head against the wall.
(SFX) Thud. Thud.
Kim Jae-heon: Ple...ase... kill me...! (blood running down his head)
(SFX) Something cracks.
The man collapses. His forehead is caved in.
The Red Lady stops.
* * *
“Gasp!”
My heart felt like it was about to burst.
I shot up from my seat, then immediately dropped to my knees.
What had I just seen? What exactly had happened?
I quickly touched my forehead.
It felt completely normal.
Thank goodness. It wasn't broken.
Let me think about what had just happened.
I had definitely been... suddenly on a road, then suddenly in a small village, and then...
My head began to throb.
I remembered meeting that child.
I remembered what the child had said to me, too.
But I had seen something on that child. What exactly had I seen?
I couldn't remember.
It was as though someone had plucked only that fragment from my memory.
“...”
No. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember.
After trying several times, I realized it was pointless and gave up.
Let's think about something else.
The Red Lady.
That memory was vague, too.
To be precise, I remembered the Red Lady. The problem was that I couldn't remember what it looked like at all.
But I could say one thing for certain.
I had been afraid.
It was pure fear.
All that remained was instinctive terror toward something whose appearance I couldn't even remember.
Was I the only one who had woken up?
I looked around.
All the audience members had their eyes closed.
On the stage, the actors who had greeted us earlier stood like broken dolls.
I looked at Song A-rin.
Her eyes were still open but unfocused, and she showed no reaction.
“Hey. Wake up!”
I grabbed Song A-rin by the shoulders and shook her.
She didn't even twitch.
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder.
“...”
A chill ran down my spine as I turned around.
A person with their neck bent ninety degrees was looking to the side as they spoke.
“Gueeests, taaalking in theee theeeater is prooohibited uuuntil intermission begiiins.”
“...”
I had no Critical left, and all I had was a gun.
Of course, the gun probably wouldn't work.
For now, I had no choice but to play along.
When I nodded, the person turned around and left.
But there was another way to contact them.
I secretly took out my phone.
Maybe Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon could help if I contacted them now.
<Out of service area.>
The signal bars had been crossed out, and the message wouldn't send.
“...Hah.”
A curse rose to the very tip of my throat before I swallowed it down.
Could I get out?
For a moment, I worried about leaving Song A-rin here, but it wouldn't be too late to think about that after I found the exit.
I carefully stood up.
The thing that had stopped me earlier immediately came over.
“Gueeests, leeeaving the theeeater is prooohibited uuuntil theee intermission begiiins.”
“...Understood.”
There was nothing I could do.
In the end, it seemed I would have no choice but to sit here until the intermission began.
Then I had no choice but to trust my eyes once again.
First, I examined the person standing on the stage like a doll.
[Name: Troupe Actor]
[Age: 22]
[Trait: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: He once dreamed of becoming an excellent musical theater actor, so he decided to take on a new musical called Red Lady. However, what awaited him at the end was not becoming an excellent actor, but becoming a slave of the Troupe.]
[Weakness: He is merely an ordinary person. If killed, he dies.]
“...”
I looked at the person whose neck had been bent ninety degrees earlier.
[Name: Troupe Guard]
[Age: 22]
[Trait: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: He only applied to Red Lady because he wanted a part-time job. No one could have known that it would end with him becoming a guard who was neither human, monster, nor anything else.]
[Weakness: He is merely an ordinary person. If killed, he dies.]
They were all just people.
People who had once been ordinary.
I didn't know what this “musical” was, but surviving it came first. After that, I needed to stop this musical from being performed.
But how?
“Argh!”
Song A-rin suddenly screamed and opened her eyes.
“What, what is this? What happened? Why? How...? What...?”
She soon clutched her head and began muttering to herself.
“...”
“Ahhh!”
I tapped her shoulder, and she screamed loudly.
“Ah, what the... Ah...! Ah...”
She looked at me, and her breathing gradually calmed.
“...Did you see it?”
“...You too?”
Our eyes met.
“The Red Lady. Do you remember it?”
“...”
Song A-rin's expression turned serious.
“...No.”
She shook her head.
“I don't remember anything. How can that be?”
“Me neither.”
“How did you get out?”
“...Suicide. I slammed my head against a stone wall. What about you?”
“...I killed myself too. I jumped off a cliff.”
Our gazes met as a bell rang through the theater, drawing our attention to the stage.
<It is intermission time. Audience members, please rise from your seats.>
“Gasp!”
“No!”
“Save me!”
“Stop!”
Screams finally erupted from the audience, which had been silent until now.
The people seemed to have regained their senses and were trembling in fear.
Some were crying, while others muttered incoherently as if they had fallen into a panic.
It was as though a mass hypnosis had been lifted.
<From this moment onward, audience members who have exhausted all their chances will join our Lady.>
“Join the Lady? What does that...”
Bang!
Before Song A-rin could finish speaking, the person beside her exploded.
An audience member vanished in a spray of blood.
Blood splattered across Song A-rin's clothes, and her expression stiffened.
Bang!
“Ahhh!”
“Stop!”
“Save me! Please! I'll do anything!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
People exploded.
Those screaming and those who still had their eyes closed alike exploded.
Blood stained my clothes too.
After several explosions, around twenty percent of the people in the theater had disappeared.
A mechanical voice came from the speakers.
<The musical will resume in fifteen minutes. This time, you cannot escape through suicide. I repeat. This time, you cannot escape through suicide.>
The smell of blood stabbed into my nose.
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