WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈
Chapter 65: Claiming Territory
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The Gangseo Branch Head was in a bad mood.
“We've lost contact with the cruise.”
“Then the CEO might really have been right.”
It did not sit well with her that her employee had even been brought up at a regular Branch Head meeting.
“The ‘Manual’ really is different.”
“It certainly is.”
Nor did she like how the other Branch Heads treated him more like a weapon than a person.
It was not that she held any special affection for him. What she disliked was their attitude.
The fact that the Management Bureau, which had been founded to save people, did not treat people as people.
And that was immediately reflected in her actions.
She put a little strength into her arm.
-Crunch!
The metal desk split in two.
“...”
“...”
The others stared at her.
“My apologies. I'm in a bad mood.”
At her calm words, the room fell silent in an instant.
“You were in the wrong here.”
A deep, dignified voice reprimanded them.
Once everyone had quieted down, the voice continued.
“I expect behavior worthy of Branch Heads. Especially from the Gangbuk Branch Head.”
“...Yes.”
The man answered in a voice that sounded sulky. The Gangseo Branch Head looked disapprovingly toward the source of the voice before turning her gaze back to the center.
“As the Branch Heads said, the personnel chosen by the Management Bureau's god... no, by the Management Bureau's will have finally all gathered.”
“...”
The Branch Heads fell silent.
“Some are already fighting far away, while others have barely awakened and are attracting trouble wherever they go.”
The Gangseo Branch Head thought of a man.
A man with an ordinary face and a tired-looking expression.
It was not because he was unlucky that trouble followed him. He was merely receiving challenges befitting his name and reputation.
-Click.
The screen turned on, revealing the silhouette of a man whose face could not be seen.
“Anyway, now that the ‘Manual’ has appeared, the Management Bureau's elite have all gathered.”
“A ‘Manual’ personally chosen by her... I am curious about what that ability is like. She has never done that before, has she?”
“Quiet.”
The man silenced their murmuring.
“Anyway, we will give everything we have. We have done so until now, and we will continue to do so.”
“...”
“Gangseo Branch Head.”
“Yes.”
“Provide him with as much support as possible. That is the greatest benefit and assistance the Management Bureau can offer him.”
“Understood.”
“The rest of you should also take good care of those in your charge. They are people we should be grateful for.”
“Yes!”
As their voices came together, the screen went dark again.
The Gangseo Branch Head rose from her seat.
Her narrow eyes opened as she looked around.
“Let's go back.”
“Yes.”
The man in sunglasses followed behind her.
What kind of support should she provide him with once they returned?
She had sent him on vacation, only for him to encounter a monster beneath the sea. She had no idea what kind of support would make people say that she had truly helped him.
With a quiet sigh, she headed toward her office.
* * *
The sandbank shrank every time the waves crashed.
As I watched the tide-like scene, another enormous sound made me turn my gaze.
-Smack!
The rock Jang Chae-yeon dropped hurtled toward its head, striking it with an impact that would have been enough to instantly kill an ordinary creature.
The problem was that the creature struck by that rock was not ordinary.
A wave as large as a house came crashing toward us.
“Stay close to me!”
I pressed myself against Jang Chae-yeon's side out of habit. When she stretched out her arm, a powerful shockwave burst forth and punched a hole through the wave.
-Boom!
A hole opened in the middle of the wave, and it passed us by.
My clothes, already soaked through, were hit by water again. On top of that...
“The sandbank got smaller again!”
“It did!”
We shouted over the roar of the rushing water.
There had not been anything that could be called a fight for a while now.
It simply sent massive waves at regular intervals, while we could do nothing but helplessly defend against them.
And every time we defended, the sandbank where we could stand only grew smaller.
How many times had we defended by now?
I checked on Jang Chae-yeon.
She was breathing hard.
She had been using her ability beyond her limits since yesterday, so fatigue must have caught up with her as well.
I looked back at the monster on the horizon.
Though it was much smaller than the one I had seen underwater, bullets had no effect on it. Since my only ability was seeing things, I could not think of a way to land an effective hit.
It felt like fighting a mountain.
Before I knew it, water had risen to our ankles.
I quickly stepped back.
Why was so much water rushing in?
Did it even make sense to use Critical on a creature like this?
I quickly looked at the monster now in view.
[Name: Young One]
[Age: Created 300 years ago]
[Trait: X]
[Talent: X]
[Background: Having been born not long ago, this creature is extremely excited for its first hunt.]
[Weakness: There are times when a difference in weight class makes fighting impossible. Consider this place's characteristics and what gives this creature strength.]
This was a mess.
I repeated the weakness that had come to mind when I saw the sky.
When the sea was no longer a sea.
What did that even mean?
I pulled the Butane Gas from my clothes, then put it away again.
Dry the sea with fire?
That did not seem easy.
I looked at the sea beyond us.
Then should we pour poison into it?
But could that really solve this?
I thought about the weakness again.
Its characteristics. When the sea was no longer a sea, it would lose its strength.
No, what did it mean for the sea to no longer be a sea? Was I supposed to play land grab or-
I looked at the water soaking the ground beneath my feet again.
Then an idea flashed through my mind.
“Ms. Jang!”
“I'm listening!”
“Do you know how to play land grab?”
Rather than answering, Jang Chae-yeon shouted back.
“Explain it clearly!”
“Let's fill it in with dirt!”
“...How far?”
“To the horizon!”
I looked around the sea.
It was a little too small to call a sea. If anything, it was closer to a lake.
According to my eyes, this was an outpost and a temporary place. In other words, this place was an otherworld.
And otherworlds were never large.
I pulled out the Manual from my clothes.
-Flap, flap, flap!
The Manual opened at a frantic speed.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[Y - Otherworld]
1. If you enter an otherworld, the first thing you must confirm is its size.
2. Otherworlds vary depending on the situation, but they are basically not larger than the Earth you know. Of course, they may be as large as Earth. If that happens, I wish you luck in advance.
3. The smaller the otherworld phenomenon, the higher the chance of resolving it. The larger it is, the higher the chance of death.
4. Common sense does not apply in otherworlds. Try many things.
5. Good luck.
When the sea was no longer a sea.
In other words, when the sea became land.
It was the most brute-force method, but also the most efficient.
[Critical: 1 -> 2]
A translucent window appeared before me. As I closed the Manual, a terrifying amount of dirt began floating above us. Put simply, it was more than enough dirt to fill a massive truck.
“I understand.”
Jang Chae-yeon raised both arms and began scooping up the dirt, filling in the sea.
“I'll finish this quickly.”
I followed her, using my hands to scoop dirt into the sea as well.
Amazingly, every time the dirt entered the sea, the sea vanished and a sandbank formed in its place, as if proving that what we were doing was correct.
So that was what it meant for common sense not to apply in an otherworld.
As long as it worked in our favor, we could only accept it.
In that short time, we had filled about one-third of the sea.
Of course, the monster was not going to just watch.
-Shhhhhh...!
Another wave rushed in.
Jang Chae-yeon stopped pushing dirt into the sea and raised her right arm.
Her face was pale.
“You don't need to.”
I lowered her raised arm and lifted my pistol.
Jang Chae-yeon was the core of this strategy. If she collapsed from overexertion, both of us would die here.
She had already blocked enough waves.
“Ms. Jang, fill it in as quickly as possible. Don't waste your strength.”
“Okay.”
She did not ask what I would do.
Trusting me completely, she continued pushing dirt into the sea.
I stood in front of her with my pistol in my right hand.
My left arm could barely move from the pain.
[Critical: 2 -> 1]
The world turned black and white as everything slowed down.
I stared at the house-sized wave.
Soon, I saw a red dot at its center.
-Bang!
As though possessed, I pulled the trigger.
The bullet tore through the air and struck the wave.
-Splash!
As though it had been nothing, the wave collapsed.
-Wooooong!!
I heard its cry. Was it panicking? It could be.
I knelt and continued filling in the sea with dirt alongside her. Compared to Telekinesis, what I was doing was not even a drop in the bucket.
We filled more than half of the sea.
Blood flowed from Jang Chae-yeon's nose, but she continued filling it in without caring.
“Hah... hah...”
“Just a little more...!”
“Okay...!”
Jang Chae-yeon staggered as she moved dirt, and I followed her lead.
Another wave came.
It was far smaller than before, but still beyond what a human could overcome through strength alone.
I raised my pistol again.
[Critical: 1 -> 0]
A single tiny bullet pierced the wave.
The massive wave collapsed helplessly again.
My hypothesis had been correct.
The monster was being pushed back, and the smaller the sea became, the weaker it grew.
“Just a little more!”
I encouraged Jang Chae-yeon as she breathed heavily and continued filling in the sea myself.
Soon, most of this place was filled with dirt.
In the end, the monster kept backing away from the rising ground until it stopped, as though it had hit a wall.
“...”
Jang Chae-yeon fell to her knees and breathed roughly. Then she looked at me before looking at the monster.
“...You can't... kill it alone, can you?”
“...No.”
I wiped away the sweat running down my face as I answered her.
I had no Critical left. I had used it all to stop the waves, and now all I had was an ordinary pistol.
But so what?
Critical was not my only weapon.
My eyes met Jang Chae-yeon's.
“...Carry me.”
With a faint smile on her tired face, she held both arms out toward me. I nodded and turned my back to her.
“Let's go.”
With Jang Chae-yeon on my back, I began sprinting across the sandbank.
Sometimes my feet sank into the ground, and my ankles twisted with sharp pain, but I did not care as I ran across the land that had once been sea.
-Wooooong!!!
It cried out loudly, as though making one final desperate struggle.
But what could it do?
[Coordinate Ripping -> 2 Uses Remaining]
The world turned into graph paper, and a crease appeared across its torso.
Jang Chae-yeon stretched out her hand and clenched it tightly.
Its body bent.
-Wooooong! Wooong!!
It screamed in pain.
[Coordinate Ripping -> 1 Use Remaining]
For the last time, a grid appeared across the world.
Jang Chae-yeon placed her hand against its head and clenched her fist once more.
-Boom!
With the sound of something bursting, its head disappeared.
“...Huff... huff...”
“Hah... hah...”
Only the sounds of our breathing could be heard in the silence.
The sea began disappearing.
Soon, Jang Chae-yeon and I were standing in the engine room.
I carefully lowered her and sat down on the floor.
“...I'm tired...”
“Me too.”
Neither of us could move a single step. Until Yoo Da-on and Song A-rin, who had regained their senses, came to get us from the engine room, all we could do was sit there and mutter about how tired we were.
* * *
“Wow! It's so pretty!”
The next day, seeing Yoo Da-on happily shout as she looked at the sea, I could not help but smile too.
Yeah, this was exactly...
“Mr. Jae-heon.”
“Yes?”
“Just... just in case. I'm only asking because I'm curious.”
“Go ahead.”
Yoo Da-on looked at me.
“Are you dating Ms. Jang?”
She always had a smile on her face, but her expression was like a glass mask that looked ready to crack at any moment.
Footnotes:
“Land grab” refers to a Korean territory-claiming children's game. The plan turns its name literal by taking land from the sea.
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