WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈
Chapter 35: Method Acting
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People really were fickle. Give them a week off, and they started to let their guard down.
And I was paying the price for it in full.
“You should’ve run away.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
I answered Yoo Da-on as she adjusted her clothes.
This could never happen again.
“I’m ready.”
I had been repeatedly whipping my careless mind back into shape when Yoo Da-on’s words brought me back to reality.
Yoo Da-on nodded and straightened her clothes.
We did not have much of a plan yet, so we agreed to be as careful as possible.
“We don’t know what might be outside the door. We don’t even know whether this is an anomalous phenomenon in the first place.”
“Don’t worry.”
Yoo Da-on grasped the doorknob and flashed a bright smile.
“I can’t die, remember?”
That was exactly the problem.
After Song A-rin, or whatever had disguised itself as Song A-rin, left, Yoo Da-on and I concluded that we needed someone capable of delivering actual firepower.
If everyone nearby, including the owner of the mountain lodge, had lost their minds, someone had to subdue them.
“My room is two doors to the right of Chae-yeon’s room, so the moment we leave, we’ll rush into the second room on the left.”
“If the door is locked, we just break it down, right?”
“If necessary.”
Yoo Da-on nodded again and looked at me.
“Tell me when you’re ready. I’ll open the door.”
“I’m ready.”
Before I had even finished speaking, Yoo Da-on grabbed the doorknob, opened the door, and shot off toward Jang Chae-yeon’s room.
Did she secretly work out or something? She was seriously fast.
I marveled inwardly as I followed after her.
-Bang!
With the sound of something breaking, Yoo Da-on kicked the door open. Jang Chae-yeon immediately ran out and looked around.
“Where are the enemies?”
“None yet.”
“Song A-rin knocked on my door earlier. Something was off about it.”
“She knocked on your door too? How did you know she was someone else?”
“She called my name like we were close.”
That was an extremely personal method of identification.
“What do we do? Clear them out?”
“Can you?”
“If they’re all ordinary people, it won’t be difficult.”
Jang Chae-yeon looked around and raised a hand.
“I could bring down the whole building.”
“Let’s hold back for now, since we can’t see the team leader or Song A-rin.”
What if the two of them got caught up in it?
Jang Chae-yeon lowered her hand with a disappointed look and turned to me.
“You made a plan, right?”
“You left the planning to me?”
“No. But you made one, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
At some point, I seemed to have become the planner and leader whenever trouble broke out.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll keep it brief.”
Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon stood around me and nodded.
“First, we do not go outside. Avoid looking outside as much as possible.”
I recalled what the mountain lodge owner had said.
“And the nighttime view of the forest is absolutely magnificent!”
“Also, don’t trust anyone except the three of us now. If you see Song A-rin or the team leader, suspect them first.”
I recalled what happened earlier.
When Yoo Da-on, Jang Chae-yeon, and I used the stairs, there had been noise.
But when the team leader and Song A-rin walked, there had been none.
I did not know whether the two of them had been someone else from the start, or whether they had been assimilated or brainwashed by something.
There was no harm in being careful.
“Be especially careful around Song A-rin.”
If it was merely something imitating Song A-rin, there was no need to worry. But if Song A-rin had truly been brainwashed, that changed things.
A brainwashed person with Hypnosis. If Yoo Da-on and Jang Chae-yeon fell under it, there was no way I could hold out.
“Mental attacks are tricky.”
“If I blow up my own head, could I break free from the brainwashing?”
Jang Chae-yeon nodded as if she understood, while Yoo Da-on began considering a bizarre solution only she could use.
“Fine, I understand. So what are we going to do?”
“We need to find the cause first. There’s still too little information.”
Even if we had suspicions or evidence, we still lacked a clear reason for why this incident had happened.
Was there some way to get more definite information?
“It would be nice if someone just gave us information at a time like this...”
“That’s it.”
“What?”
Yoo Da-on muttered in frustration, and hearing her words, a method came to mind.
“Let’s go ask directly.”
“You’re having another weird idea, aren’t you? Like with the Cube?”
Yoo Da-on looked thoroughly sick of it.
But what could I do? Yoo Da-on was always the one who gave me good ideas.
“Chae-yeon, do you know where Song A-rin’s or the team leader’s room is?”
“...No. I don’t remember.”
Jang Chae-yeon slowly shook her head.
“Then we’ll make them come find us...”
“Who, me?”
Song A-rin’s voice came from behind us. I quickly turned around.
Song A-rin was looking at the three of us with a bright smile.
“You were looking for me? Why?”
I checked above Song A-rin’s head.
[Name: Song A-rin]
[Age: 21]
[Trait: Hypnosis]
[Talent: -]
[Background: After going through twists and turns she cannot understand herself, she joined the Human Resources Team as a parachute hire. She is already having a terrible time at the workshop.]
[Weakness: A stronger brainwashing is needed to break the brainwashing.]
My temples began to throb.
If even I was feeling this bad, the two behind me must have already been hypnotized.
I quickly rolled across the floor. Just as I expected, Yoo Da-on’s fist swept through the spot where my head had been, and the wall of the mountain lodge was deeply dented.
Still lying down, I rolled to the side and desperately racked my brain.
A stronger brainwashing is needed to break the brainwashing.
How was I supposed to brainwash someone? I didn’t have any brainwashing ability...
...Wait, I did?
A translucent window automatically appeared before my eyes.
[Method: You can perfectly assimilate with someone and imitate their traits. Your appearance does not change.]
[Method: 1]
Perfectly assimilating with someone.
If I copied that person, would that not break the brainwashing?
There was no time to think.
I sprang to my feet and invoked Method in my mind.
Something different began to appear in my vision.
A thick purple thread protruded from above Song A-rin’s head.
When I moved my eyes to the left, the thread moved left. When I looked right, it moved right.
I instinctively understood.
If I connected this thread to someone, Method would link to that person.
Then I just had to connect it to myself...
...How was I supposed to connect it to myself?
Naturally, without a mirror, I could not see myself with my own eyes.
I hurriedly lowered my head and looked at my chest, but as if refusing me, the thread only bounced off my chest.
This was an unexpected problem.
Without even having time to dwell on it, I rolled across the floor again and turned my gaze toward the other two.
I had no choice. I had to connect it to one of them.
As I desperately willed it to connect to either of them, the thread shot forward.
“Ah!”
“Urgh!”
The thread pierced Jang Chae-yeon’s head and melted out of sight.
Her body shuddered as though she had felt a chill. In contrast, Song A-rin froze in place with her eyes wide open.
“...Ugh...!”
Had she woken up? Yoo Da-on groaned while clutching her head.
“I was trying to kill myself, but my body wouldn’t listen.”
“At least you tried. That’s fortunate.”
“...Why are those two like that?”
Yoo Da-on tilted her head at the two frozen people, and I could only give a vague answer.
“We’re about to find out.”
Jang Chae-yeon was the first to come to her senses.
“...It feels like someone put cold ice inside my head.”
Jang Chae-yeon shook her head with a deep frown.
“Are you all right?”
“Sorry. I’m not used to mental attacks.”
“...You.”
As I checked Jang Chae-yeon’s condition, the Song A-rin we had been waiting for started functioning again. Jang Chae-yeon and Yoo Da-on stared at her tensely.
“...Were you always this handsome?”
“...Have you lost your mind?”
The first thing Song A-rin said after coming to her senses was nonsense while pointing at me.
“No, wait. What did you do to my head?”
“I did do something.”
“Tell me. No, don’t tell me.”
Song A-rin covered her face with one hand and lowered her head.
Her earlobes had turned bright red.
“I don’t know what you did, but I can’t control my feelings right now. I’m really grateful that you woke me up, but have someone else ask the questions for me.”
“She says she wants you to ask.”
At my gesture toward Song A-rin, Yoo Da-on began asking questions with a reluctant expression.
Song A-rin soon recovered her composure and slowly began answering. She still had her back to me.
“First, someone knocked on my door. When I opened it, there was a person whose presence felt really wrong.”
“Someone with a long neck and hair covering their face?”
“That’s right. And please, don’t talk to me. I’m begging you.”
Song A-rin placed a hand over her chest and took several deep breaths.
“Anyway, that person waited in front of my door until I came out. They said something and held something out to me... Then I came to, and this had happened.”
“What did they hold out?”
“Please... don’t talk to me...”
Song A-rin flinched as she answered. Across from her, Jang Chae-yeon’s expression grew colder by the second.
That made me want to see her face.
“...Phew. If I remember correctly, it was something like a statuette.”
A statuette.
“Chae-yeon, the Mountain God incident is over, right?”
“According to the records, the incident was closed.”
Then why did I still feel so uneasy?
At least we had a target.
“Let’s catch that woman.”
“...”
“You’re not going off alone, are you, Song A-rin?”
“...I’ll come.”
Song A-rin pulled something from inside her clothes and held it out. She was still facing away from me.
“What is this?”
“Your gun. You left it behind.”
“Why did you take it, Song A-rin?”
“Just in case.”
Seeing her hold out the gun with her back turned, I suddenly felt playful.
“Thank you.”
I walked over, took the gun from Song A-rin’s hand, then grabbed her shoulders and met her eyes.
“!”
Song A-rin’s face turned bright red. Unable to say anything, she staggered backward, hit her head against the wall with a thud, then crouched down while clutching her head.
“Ugh...”
“...Don’t forget that the situation is serious.”
Jang Chae-yeon spoke in a sulky voice, then strode ahead.
This was fun.
After looking at Song A-rin trembling while holding the back of her head, I straightened up and put the gun inside my clothes.
We had found our first target. Once we caught that woman, we could get some answers.
I looked toward the wall Jang Chae-yeon had broken earlier.
First, we would find that woman. Then, we would get as much information about this situation as possible.
The sky was completely clear, but not a single ray of moonlight shone in from beyond the wall.
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