Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau - Chapter 55

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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

Chapter 55: Chronos's Shield

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-Thump! Thump! Thump!

Its head bounced as it flashed a chilling smile.

How on earth had my eyes detected something different?

Had it noticed my gaze? It looked at me with a grin so wide its mouth seemed ready to split apart.

“There are far more optic nerves gathered in your eyes than in other people’s.”

In my eyes?

As I unconsciously touched my eyes, green liquid immediately shot toward my face.

-Thud!

Yoo Da-on swiftly stretched out an arm to block it.

-Sizzle...

A horrible sound came from her arm as something melted away, but she did not care. She kept her gaze fixed ahead.

“You can’t do that.”

“Seriously. You were a kid who could do nothing except die and come back to life. Now that your body heals a little faster, you’re acting like you’re something special.”

Thump, thump. The Neurologist continued speaking as her head bounced.

“Even so, you’re just a useless human who can’t die!”

“...”

Yoo Da-on abruptly froze at those words.

“So just give up already...”

Before she could finish speaking, her body was flung backward and embedded in the wall.

Jang Chae-yeon stood before me with a cold expression.

Anyone could see how furious she was.

“Do your job.”

Jang Chae-yeon held out her hand and looked at me.

“Find the exit and get us out.”

“Someone is talking here...”

“Shut up.”

-Crack!

With the sound of the air twisting,

-Bang!

It slammed into the wall again, and Jang Chae-yeon looked at Yoo Da-on with emotionless eyes.

“Don’t pay attention to it.”

Was that her way of being considerate?

“You rude little...”

“...Don’t touch her.”

-Boom!

Jang Chae-yeon extended her hand again, driving it deep into the wall. Then she turned her gaze back to me.

“Let’s go. Find the way. I’ll block anything that comes.”

“Don’t ignore me!”

With a splash, green liquid burst out, but Jang Chae-yeon merely waved a hand and knocked it away without paying it any attention.

“I’ll cover the rear. I can’t watch the front.”

“...”

Slap!

Song A-rin struck her own cheek hard enough to turn it bright red, then stared ahead with wide eyes.

“Then I’ll take the front.”

Her tone had completely returned to normal.

“Are you okay?”

“What do you take me for? I’m Song A-rin of the Management Bureau.”

She clearly did not seem to be over the shock yet.

She clasped her trembling hands together once, then gave a confident smile.

“This much is nothing. I’ll watch the front, so Black Hair, run. You keep thinking.”

“Understood.”

While Jang Chae-yeon continued holding it down, the three of us passed her and began running down the stairs.

“Don’t...!”

-Bang!

“Ignore...!”

-Boom!

“...Me...!”

-Booom!

“Unni!”

Every time the monster spat out a word, the sound of something shattering grew louder. Only after all of us had passed did Jang Chae-yeon forcefully extend her arm one last time, pushing it away before running after us.

We began running through that damned hallway again.

I quickly opened the manual.

[3-5. The location of the morgue is generated at random. It is generally recommended that you do not make loud noises, but if you are already being pursued, run first. We hope you find the morgue before you are caught.]

“You bitch!”

Soon, a voice filled with rage pierced my eardrums from behind.

Then several nurses appeared ahead of us.

“Nurses!”

“I know!”

Fortunately, we had someone who knew the nurses’ weakness and someone who could exploit it.

“Ms. Song A-rin! Their worst memories!”

The moment she heard me, Song A-rin’s eyes widened. The nurses let out silent screams, clutched their heads, and collapsed to the ground.

“So you had a plan after all!”

Song A-rin looked at me in apparent admiration.

Behind us, Jang Chae-yeon was too busy knocking away the liquid flying toward us.

Yoo Da-on, on the other hand, merely ran behind us with her head lowered.

I should do my job.

I thought as I ran.

What was a Hospital? Honestly, it was far too broad a concept. It was not easy to grasp the essence of a massive phenomenon rather than a single containment object.

Let’s think about it on a smaller scale.

What exactly had Gangseo University Hospital been created for?

To cure illnesses? But only horrible things happened here.

To create illnesses? That did not fit either. Too much of what happened here was too arbitrary.

I recalled what I had seen in the Hospital.

I raised my gaze to the ceiling.

Countless jellyfish drifting meaninglessly through the air.

And the jellyfish hanging from the patient’s neck.

Finally, the memories and emotions that had poured out when the jellyfish burst.

I felt like I was close to figuring something out.

After running for some time, Song A-rin shouted loudly and pointed ahead.

“Here!”

We came to a sliding stop before a sign reading <Mortuary>.

There was supposed to be a freezer inside.

I quickly opened the door.

“...What?”

I was left speechless by the enormous mortuary.

It felt like entering a huge athletic field.

Freezers lined the walls everywhere, so at least we would not have to worry about how to find a freezer door.

Of course, another problem was waiting for us.

“...”

The thing leaning against the wall and looking through a chart straightened up the moment we entered, then looked at us.

“So it was the Management Bureau scum after all.”

From within the pitch-black shadow, only his gums twisted as the Orthopedic Surgeon looked at us.

“And to think you were trying to take away the test subject we cultivated most carefully. That won’t do.”

“...”

Yoo Da-on clenched her fist beside me, while Song A-rin stepped forward as though to protect us and whispered to me.

“Hypnosis won’t work on that.”

When I turned around at Song A-rin’s words, Jang Chae-yeon was still engaged in a fierce battle behind us.

“Hah... Hah...”

She breathed roughly as she backed through the doorway.

Judging by the corroded edges of her clothes, Jang Chae-yeon did not seem able to hold out much longer either.

“Ms. Song A-rin, help Ms. Chae-yeon.”

“What about that thing?”

“I’ll deal with it.”

“...All right. If it’s you, you can do it.”

Song A-rin looked at me for a moment, nodded, and headed toward Jang Chae-yeon.

-Splash!

Once again, she knocked away the green liquid flying toward us.

“You annoying bitch! Unni, I really should kill you...!”

The Neurosurgeon, her entire body in tatters, emerged as though to surround us. As Jang Chae-yeon slammed her into the wall again, Song A-rin joined Jang Chae-yeon.

Song A-rin quickly drew a shotgun from behind her back and fired.

-Bang!

The Neurosurgeon’s upper body bent backward, then stopped.

Her joints had torn through her flesh and dangled loose, but the head in her hand remained fixed on Jang Chae-yeon.

“...You’re so noisy in my head...!”

As she screamed, Song A-rin took a precise firing stance and repeatedly drove bullets into her torso.

“Ha! You’re underestimating people from the Management Bureau!”

While the two of them held things off behind me, I looked at the doctor made of shadows.

He was still holding the chart as he looked at Yoo Da-on.

“We need to take our patient back.”

“Please buy me time, Ms. Da-on.”

I would analyze that thing now.

At my words, Yoo Da-on stepped forward and faced him.

“...It’s only a human body. It just can’t die.”

The Orthopedic Surgeon slowly continued.

“So what can you do, then?”

He extended an arm.

I quickly drew a pistol from inside my jacket and fired.

With the sound of cutting through the air, the bullet simply passed through the shadow.

I knew it would not work, but that was far too obvious.

Stay calm. Look carefully now.

But nothing happened.

The world merely grew darker.

No. The world had not grown darker.

All the light was simply gathering in one place.

I looked up at the ceiling.

Countless jellyfish began scattering.

Amid the murmur of people who seemed afraid of something, the jellyfish drifted away somewhere.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

With nothing but shadow remaining, the Orthopedic Surgeon watched the jellyfish scatter and murmured in an ecstatic voice.

“What do you think this is?”

“...Memories and souls.”

“I see.”

He turned his head toward me.

“Why do you think that?”

“I blew one’s head apart.”

Now I understood.

Gangseo University Hospital was not a place that researched illnesses.

This was a place that researched “souls.”

Flower Bud, the patient. Stem, with only its body left. Sunflower.

And the surgeries I could not understand.

At first, I thought they were simply the insane methods of people treating and researching illnesses.

But that was not it.

This place had been created to inflict pain from the beginning.

They subjected people who suffered that way to some kind of procedure, extracting only their souls and memories.

I did not know where that would lead, but at least I could infer that much.

“Well understood.”

As he nodded, a familiar window appeared before my eyes.

[Your understanding of the ‘Hospital’ increases.]

[Your accumulated increases in understanding are being combined.]

[Please wait a moment.]

Is that it?

What about Critical?

-Thud!

As I desperately waited for Critical, the ceiling collapsed and something enormous fell in front of me.

It was the giant monster that had chased us through the hallway earlier.

It swung its arm at me.

Yoo Da-on shoved me away and was flung into the wall with a loud crash.

-Crunch!

Yoo Da-on let out a scream as the sound of her bones being crushed rang out.

“...Ugh...”

She let out several groans and staggered to her feet again, while I could only roll across the floor to avoid its attacks.

-Thud!

I ran desperately.

It had not hit me yet, but that would only last so long.

The pressure from its descending fist made me stumble.

This was dangerous.

Even as Jang Chae-yeon and Song A-rin glanced this way, they were too busy blocking and knocking back the Neurosurgeon’s attacks.

In the end, this was a problem I had to solve alone.

-Bang!

“Argh...!”

Rocks sent flying as the floor shattered struck my entire body. The quake-like impact seemed to shake the ground, and I finally went down, unable to absorb the shock.

A fist came down above me.

This was the end.

I unconsciously closed my eyes, as though preparing for the pain to come.

Was I going to die like this?

I curled up tightly, preparing for the feeling of bones and flesh being crushed.

-Thud!

I heard the sound. But there was no pain.

“...Cough...! Cough...!”

Yoo Da-on was shielding me with her body.

Drip, drip.

She looked at me with a composed expression.

Blood poured from her mouth and nose, falling onto my face.

Yoo Da-on reached out and wiped away the blood flowing over my face. She smiled with difficulty, then forced herself back to her feet.

“I... I would have been nothing without Jae-heon.”

She steadied her swaying body and faced the monster.

“Even if I had escaped from here, I was destined to fall victim to a parasite.”

She coughed and raised both arms.

“Someone as insignificant as I am can be Yoo Da-on because Jae-heon is here.”

At her words, a window appeared before my eyes.

[Combination complete.]

[The Manual and your records are being combined.]

[Objects recorded so far: 2. Objects encountered: 5.]

[The maximum limit of Critical increases to 2.]

At the same time, the enormous monster raised its arm and thrust it toward Yoo Da-on.

“...Thank you.”

[Your mutual understanding with Yoo Da-on increases.]

[You have learned the Joint Skill ‘Chronos's Shield.’]

[Chronos's Shield: After you fix XX with your eyes, Yoo Da-on refracts that spot to block all damage.]

[Current duration: 3 seconds]

“Ms. Da-on!”

As though entranced by my call, she quickly came before me and spread both arms. The monster’s fist stopped in front of Yoo Da-on as though time had frozen.

“...Huh?”

As Yoo Da-on blinked and muttered, the manual began opening.

-Flap, flap, flap!

Then a page labeled “Gangseo University Hospital” opened in my hands.

So that was what I was supposed to do.

“From this moment on, I will update the information on the containment zone, ‘Gangseo University Hospital.’”

[Manual for Office Workers]

[Containment Zone, Gangseo University Hospital - Latest Revised Edition by Kim Jae-heon of the Human Resources Team]

Before I had even finished speaking, fields opened in the manual and began recording information.

“Object name: Neurosurgeon. It spews acid.”

[Neurosurgeon: It carries around a head and spits acid. Avoid fighting it from a distance.]

“Object name: Sunflower. It is strong.”