WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈
Chapter 59: Cruise
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Luxury.
There was simply no other word for it.
“Wow...!”
Yoo Da-on had done nothing but marvel since we arrived, but instead of thinking she was overreacting, I could only think that it was entirely understandable.
Chandeliers glittered beneath golden lights on the ceiling. The marble floors were clean enough to reflect my face, and people dressed in elegant suits bowed to welcome us.
A luxurious hall with chandeliers occupied the first floor, while a red carpet covered the stairs leading up to the second and third floors. It was designed so much like a high-class hotel that I was left speechless.
“Welcome!”
This was a little overwhelming.
I looked around.
I thought I might actually feel threatened if we were the only ones here, but fortunately, quite a few people were walking around nearby.
I spotted people I had seen once or twice while passing through the Management Bureau, as well as people dressed like they were simply wealthy.
As I carefully looked over the people around us, I realized that they were looking us over too.
Of course they would. A man and three women were standing awkwardly in the middle of the place.
Though perhaps that was not the only reason.
“Let’s go see the rooms! The rooms!”
“If we don’t each get our own room, I’m seriously reporting this to the Human Resources Team.”
“We are the Human Resources Team, though?”
“Do you have to argue over every little thing?”
Yoo Da-on and Song A-rin eagerly hurried toward the rooms. Jang Chae-yeon followed the two, then turned back to look at me.
“Let’s go together.”
“Yes.”
Jang Chae-yeon walked alongside me.
“Is this your first time somewhere like this, Ms. Chae-yeon?”
“It’s my first time on a cruise.”
“Then... you don’t like luxurious things?”
“...I’m not particularly interested in them.”
After a brief silence, she looked up at me as if gauging my reaction.
“Does that bother you?”
“No. It’s not about liking or disliking it...”
What could I say about someone’s personal preferences? I did not particularly care either way.
Since I started working at the Management Bureau, especially with all the bizarre incidents I had been caught up in lately, the balance in my bank account had been increasing noticeably.
Jang Chae-yeon was probably the same. Even if she wanted to indulge herself, as long as it was not an absurdly expensive amount, she could probably buy whatever she wanted.
We continued toward the rooms, making meaningless conversation.
The room was just as lavish as the lobby.
The fact that each of us had been given a private room showed that the Management Bureau had really put some effort into this.
I looked around the room behind Song A-rin.
A huge bed, a bathroom, even an extravagant mirror. It had everything.
“It’s really nice.”
Song A-rin nodded in satisfaction as she looked around her room, then stared intently out the window.
The endless sea stretched out before us.
“It might be a little scary to look at alone before going to sleep.”
“Ask Ms. Chae-yeon or Ms. Da-on to sleep with you.”
“Why would I call them? I’d rather camp out than share a room with White Hair, and being around Black Hair makes the atmosphere suffocating.”
“Ms. Da-on?”
I thought of Yoo Da-on. She was sociable and seemed like she could get along with anyone without trouble.
“...Right. Anyone else in the world might know, but you have no choice but not to. Black Hair hides it so well.”
Song A-rin sighed and shrugged as she looked at me.
“What is it?”
“Forget it. I’m a woman who respects people’s privacy.”
“No, what is it?”
Song A-rin did not answer my question. She merely waved her hand as though telling me to leave.
In the end, she never answered, so I had no choice but to leave.
So where was my room?
As I wandered around looking for it, Yoo Da-on came running up to me.
“Mr. Jae-heon!”
“Yes?”
“Look at this. It says a famous recital and the Troupe are putting on a concert too.”
Yoo Da-on’s eyes sparkled as she handed me a sheet of paper.
When I looked closely at her, she tilted her head and met my gaze.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
What could someone like this possibly be hiding? Song A-rin might know how to use Hypnosis, but she had no eye for people at all.
Thinking that, I read the paper Yoo Da-on had handed me.
As expected, it was written in lavish lettering.
<An Unforgettable Luxury Concert>
There was nothing here that was not luxurious.
The word theater brought back unpleasant memories, but I pushed them into a corner of my mind and handed the paper back to Yoo Da-on.
“We have plenty of time. Let’s take our time looking around.”
There was no need to see it immediately. If we did and something happened like it had at the theater last time, we would not even have time to prepare.
Thinking like this, I really had become a Management Bureau employee.
With an indescribable feeling, I watched my coworkers go about their business before heading outside.
I should get a sense of the layout, then clear my head a little.
I passed through golden corridors.
A restaurant that was still empty.
A central hall full of people chatting.
A theater with a <Preparing> sign hanging outside it.
A gym... a swimming pool... an arcade... There really was nothing it lacked.
They had made it so you could do everything on the ship.
Soon, the ship began to move with a grand sound, and I headed up to the deck.
A lukewarm breeze brushed across my face.
A revolting fishy smell stabbed into my nose.
I frowned without realizing it and looked around, but there was no one nearby.
Was it just the smell of the sea?
There were not many people on the deck yet, so I had plenty of time to enjoy my thoughts alone.
I rested my elbows on the railing, looked over the endless horizon, and opened the manual.
Let’s see. Surely there was a section in the manual related to the sea.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[SB - Surviving After Falling into the Sea]
1. While working at the Management Bureau, you may occasionally become stranded in the open sea.
2. In such cases, find something you can climb onto as quickly as possible. Management Bureau employees are still human, and hypothermia is the most common cause of death.
3. Do not remain in the water for long. If you feel that there is something beneath the sea, refer to [SY - Survival at Sea].
I read through the manual carefully, then shook my head.
I really must be developing an occupational habit. How long was I going to keep looking through the manual and making myself worry, even during breaks?
I snapped the manual shut and gazed at the deep navy sea before heading back inside the cruise ship.
Perhaps because the ship had departed, the inside of the cruise was even livelier than before.
Wealthy people who seemed to know each other stood around with wine glasses that I had no idea when they had acquired, chatting happily. Occasionally, people who looked ordinary walked away from the scene, seemingly intimidated by the atmosphere.
“Excuse me.”
“Ah, sorry.”
As I watched the scene without much interest, someone passed beside me and asked to get through. I stepped aside and gave a small nod.
The same revolting fishy smell drifted through the air.
I turned my head without thinking and looked at the person who had passed me, but he had already disappeared.
Just in case, I focused my eyes and looked around, but everyone was an ordinary Human.
“...What are you doing?”
I turned around at the same emotionless voice as always while narrowing my eyes and continuing to search the area.
Jang Chae-yeon was staring at me.
“...Don’t you smell something fishy?”
“Fishy?”
At my words, Jang Chae-yeon closed her eyes and sniffed the air.
“...I don’t.”
“That’s strange.”
But as she said, there was no smell at all now.
There was only the mixed scent of expensive perfume and alcohol.
“You don’t know of any containment objects that smell fishy, do you?”
“...Hmm. No.”
She furrowed her brow as though thinking for a moment, then shook her head.
“It’s too difficult to narrow down. It’s a smell the Containment Team encounters more often than you would think when working near the sea.”
“I suppose so.”
“But I’ll be careful. Should I tell the others too?”
“Please.”
Jang Chae-yeon nodded slowly, then looked at me as she started toward the rooms.
“Don’t worry about it too much. We came here to enjoy ourselves, after all.”
“...Yes.”
“And there are Management Bureau employees here too. If something happens, they’ll respond as well.”
“That’s a relief.”
Jang Chae-yeon gave a small smile and nodded.
“I’ll go tell them first.”
She walked lightly toward the rooms. After watching her back, I looked forward again.
Would it be all right?
* * *
In the end, we could not find the source of the fishy smell.
“That fishy smell.”
“Do you know anything about it?”
“Well... the sea has always been more of an unknown territory to humanity than land.”
Jang Chae-yeon quickly brought the other two over. Song A-rin shrugged as she answered my question.
“The Management Bureau does not interfere much with containment objects in the sea either. More precisely, it can’t. Most humans have difficulty breathing underwater.”
Unless you were someone like the head of Gangseo Branch, she added.
Song A-rin nodded and hummed to herself several times.
“...I don’t know. What am I supposed to figure out when you give me one keyword, fishy smell, and expect me to deduce something?”
She roughly scratched her head.
“I’ll be careful for now. If an accident happens on this ship, we’ll die like dogs with nowhere to run.”
“I’ll be careful too.”
Yoo Da-on nodded as she answered.
“Yes. Please do.”
“Of course, there are some Management Bureau people among us, so I’ll give them a heads-up too.”
Song A-rin sighed deeply and stood up.
“I really hope this ends without anything happening.”
“I feel the same way.”
Song A-rin snickered, waved her hand, and headed elsewhere.
“...Then I’ll go tell people too.”
Jang Chae-yeon rose after her, then headed in the opposite direction.
I watched the two of them.
They each approached someone and began speaking. The people smiled as they listened, then their expressions gradually stiffened.
I stood up too.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to look around.”
“Should I come with you?”
“No. Ms. Da-on, please enjoy yourself.”
Maybe I was overreacting.
I looked around.
Right. I had been through too much of this. I was definitely overreacting...
Then a name caught my eye.
[Name: X X-min]
[Age: 23]
[Trait: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: He was merely an employee working here. Until the sea came to him.]
[Weakness: He is only an ordinary person. If killed, he dies.]
I shot to my feet.
“Ms. Da-on. Please come with me for a moment.”
“Yes.”
Something was happening.
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