WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Surviving as an Office Worker at the Anomaly Management Bureau ◈
Chapter 7: Adult Form
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It didn’t take long before I could walk again.
“Thank you.”
“I should be the one thanking you.”
I pulled free of Yoo Da-on’s support to show her I was all right.
“Uh, are you okay? You can stay like this a little longer.”
“I’m fine. There’s no need for you to support me.”
“Hmm.”
Yoo Da-on looked around before nodding.
“The place you mentioned earlier was the containment room for Dream of a Butterfly, right?”
“That’s right.”
“But how did you know its name?”
“Ah, that’s...”
As we checked the containment room nameplates one by one, I started explaining what had happened to Yoo Da-on.
I’d formed several hypotheses, and as my understanding increased, I’d been able to see more information. That was how I’d managed to save Yoo Da-on as well.
Yoo Da-on examined the nameplates one by one as she listened, then spoke as if she found it fascinating.
“Your ability is developing. I heard that every so often, there are people whose abilities develop.”
“If it was going to develop, it could’ve done so sooner.”
At my complaint, Yoo Da-on muttered regretfully.
“I wish I had more abilities too.”
“Isn’t being unable to die good enough?”
“What good is that? Just not dying doesn’t let me do anything. Even if I sacrificed my life a hundred times, I couldn’t kill the monster Jae-heon... defeated earlier.”
Yoo Da-on looked at me apologetically, then seemed to think the mood had gotten too gloomy and brightened again.
“Well, saying this won’t change anything. Shall we hurry up and find it?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
I could see how that would be frustrating.
At first, I’d thought, Not being able to die? That’s completely awesome. But that only applied to people living ordinary lives. In a shitty situation like this, where one misstep could get you killed, it was just an unlimited retry ticket.
...That sounded pretty overpowered when I put it that way.
No, I could think about that useless stuff later.
Let’s think about the adult form.
“Employee Da-on.”
“...Just Yoo Da-on or Da-on is fine.”
“Okay, Da-on. Um, what did it feel like when you were parasitized?”
“What did it feel like?”
At my question, Yoo Da-on put a hand to her chin and began to think.
“It felt like something was tickling inside my head. Not that my head was itchy, but that the inside of my head was literally itchy...”
Tap, tap.
Yoo Da-on curled her hand into a fist and lightly tapped her head.
“It was hard to think properly... and I couldn’t speak well.”
“Hmm...”
“And there was a really sweet smell, I think... I should’ve remembered it better. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. But a sweet smell?”
“Yes. Like... candy... This is the smell I can smell right now...?”
Yoo Da-on stopped mid-sentence, closed her eyes, and began sniffing.
“This smell... Can’t you smell it?”
“A smell?”
I followed Yoo Da-on’s lead and sniffed, but I couldn’t smell anything at all.
“I can’t smell a thing.”
“Really...?”
I couldn’t smell it, but Yoo Da-on could?
“Can you tell which direction it’s coming from?”
“Yes, just a moment...”
With her eyes closed, Yoo Da-on took the lead, sniffing like a drug-sniffing dog.
“I think... it’s this way...”
Had something changed?
I discreetly looked above Yoo Da-on’s head.
[Name: Yoo Da-on]
[Age: 23]
[Trait: Immortality]
[Talent: -]
[Background: Though she does not yet know it, she, who was parasitized by something horrific, can now make full use of that experience and ability.]
[Weakness: She has begun trusting you. At this point, if you stabbed her in the back, she’d be caught off guard. Of course, she would come back to life.]
Is this supposed to be weakness advice? Ridiculous.
I looked away from the weakness section’s nonsense and examined the background more closely.
Make use of that experience.
What exactly did that mean?
“The smell is strongest here... I think...”
Lost in thought, I raised my head at Yoo Da-on’s words and looked ahead.
A half-crumpled steel door. Beyond it lay an unlit interior that gave off the unmistakable feeling that anyone who entered wouldn’t die peacefully, along with the sound of something dripping.
Hoping it wasn’t the case, I checked the containment room’s name.
[Containment Chamber CA137-Life of a Butterfly / Dream of a Butterfly]
Ah.
“This is the place...”
“...”
Yoo Da-on looked like she really didn’t want to go inside. Don’t make that face. I really didn’t want to go inside either.
“...We have to go, right?”
“...You lead.”
“...I was going to lead anyway.”
Yoo Da-on shot me a slight glare and started forward. But what could I do? If something pierced my head the moment I entered, that would be the end of me.
Fortunately, the moment we entered, no disaster occurred involving Yoo Da-on’s head or another body part exploding.
“...I can’t see anything.”
Yoo Da-on muttered as she took a step forward. I followed her into the room.
She was right. The room was shrouded in darkness, as if the lights had gone out, and I couldn’t see a thing.
“...Did the lights go out?”
“I think so. Let’s wait a moment.”
I considered taking out my phone and turning on the flashlight, but I was afraid something might happen if I did. Instead, I stood perfectly still until my eyes adjusted to the darkness.
“...Can’t you hear something?”
Yoo Da-on lowered her voice as much as possible and tapped my arm.
A sound?
I opened my eyes wide and listened.
-Thump, thump.
Something was pulsating. The pulses were far too heavy and slow to be a heartbeat.
“What about the smell?”
“...It’s strong. It’s like someone coated the entire room in honey.”
Yoo Da-on murmured.
As my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, I began to make out the room around us.
Ordinary walls. Naturally, there were no windows. There were no decorations inside, either.
It was truly a room built solely for containment.
There was only one difference.
-Thump, thump.
A massive cocoon sat in the middle of the room.
A silkworm cocoon roughly the size of two people pulsed, secured to various points on the walls by yellowish threads.
“...What is that now?”
I quickly looked at the cocoon.
[Name: Life of a Butterfly-Pupa (Adult Form)]
[Age: ???]
[Trait: ???]
[Talent: ???]
[Background: After the Management Bureau prevented it from becoming an adult form for a long time, this entity has finally escaped the Management Bureau’s interference and gathered enough nutrients to become an adult form.]
[Weakness: This is not yet an adult form. However, it does not seem that you have much time. You appear to have a chance only if you interrupt this sleep.]
“...”
Was that the adult form?
“What... is that?”
“The culprit that’s been putting us through hell.”
“...I was hoping it wouldn’t be.”
Yoo Da-on sighed.
“Do you have a good plan?”
“Should we start by shooting it?”
Yoo Da-on looked at me after hearing my suggestion, then shook her head.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
“But I can’t think of any particularly brilliant plan right now.”
“I think I might know something.”
Yoo Da-on continued uncertainly, trailing off at the end.
“Maybe... something happened when that monster went into my body earlier and then came out.”
“Something?”
“Um... How should I explain it? Right now, that monster... feels familiar to me.”
Yoo Da-on stared at the cocoon.
“Like seeing someone I’ve known for a long time.”
“...”
Was she being mind-controlled?
If so, I couldn’t see a way out of this situation.
I clenched my fists, and perhaps noticing my tension, Yoo Da-on quickly continued.
“That doesn’t mean I feel any familial affection toward it or anything. It’s more like I might be able to use this...”
“How?”
“I think I can wake it up. If I’m right, I think it feels something similar toward me too.”
“...”
I silently looked at Yoo Da-on.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It will be, right? Unless it’s stupid, once it wakes up and sees me, it’ll realize I’m human.”
“...”
“Still, it’s okay.”
As if telling me not to worry, Yoo Da-on briefly took my hand in the darkness before letting go.
“It’s to resolve this situation too, but if that’s the easiest way, then we have to do it. And I’m grateful. Honestly, if you’d abandoned me, this would’ve been an unexpectedly easy problem to solve. But you thought about me.”
“...You knew?”
“My memories are a little scattered, but yes.”
I couldn’t see clearly in the darkness, but I could tell she was smiling.
“It sounds funny when I put it like this, but you staked your life on me.”
Yoo Da-on spoke gently and began walking.
Step, step.
“Then I should stake my life on you too, Jae-heon.”
[Your understanding of Yoo Da-on increases.]
[Yoo Da-on’s ability is awakened by you.]
Yoo Da-on placed her hand on the cocoon.
Before long, the cocoon came undone, and something slowly descended through the air.
It was a butterfly.
No, it was far too grotesque to call a butterfly.
It had butterfly wings, but where its face should have been, there were no eyes, nose, or mouth.
Its unnaturally long arms hung loose, and where its legs should have been, there was a butterfly’s body.
The butterfly turned its face toward Yoo Da-on.
[Name: Life of a Butterfly - Incomplete Adult Form]
[Age: ???]
[Trait: Parasite Creation]
[Talent: ???]
[Background: This entity had one foot in great evolution, but that evolution was obstructed by a mere creature.]
[Weakness: A butterfly that cannot leave its pupa through its own power is bound to die without ever spreading its wings.]
Then it shivered its wings and swung its arms.
Yoo Da-on’s lower body was torn away.
Blood sprayed everywhere as Yoo Da-on was split in two.
However, she didn’t move from where she stood.
Instead, she reached out and grabbed the adult form’s arms.
A translucent window appeared above her head.
[Name: Yoo Da-on]
[Age: 23]
[Trait: Immortality]
[Talent: Regeneration (Pending)]
[Background: Having rejected death, she becomes entangled in strange incidents from her first day at work. However, after meeting someone unlike the many people who used her simply because she could not die, she wishes to stake her life once more.]
[Weakness: -]
Time around her began to reverse.
As though the dead had come back to life, her severed body reattached itself as if nothing had happened.
Yoo Da-on, whole once more, held the monster’s arms and smiled at me.
“What do you think?”
Watching her, I gave a thumbs-up.
“That’s fucking cool.”
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