Chapter 129

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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A short while later.

I called the number I received from Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je.

The in-company number connecting to Director Ho’s private office.

[Hello.]

“…!”

“Good evening, Director Ho.”

From the moment the call connected, the bosses kept their mouths shut and maintained silence.

I continued speaking as politely as possible without wavering.

“This is Supervisor Kim Sol-eum, who went missing a month ago. I am contacting you since I barely managed to come out of the Dark.”

[Wow. Hello, Sol-eum! Have you been doing well for the past month?]

…An eerily calm greeting returned.

On the contrary, it sent shivers down my spine that he spoke in a slightly pleased and warm tone, as if talking to a customer contacting him after a long time.

Because this was absolutely not a reaction one could have when an employee processed as dead suddenly calls.

‘He is not normal.’

Director Cheong Dal-rae would have been better, but she wasn’t in a situation to be contacted right now.

So I listened closely to Director Ho’s words.

[I’m so glad you didn’t pass away. It feels good to see you are safe.]

“Thank you.”

[But aren’t you in a difficult situation? It seems you will suffer a large loss of points if you return just like this….]

He knows everything indeed.

‘He’s talking on the premise that the company will bill me for the costs.’

While he could easily prevent it if he was a director of the Development Department, Director Ho only spoke as if worried and seemed to have no intention of helping at all.

Of course, I didn’t even expect it.

What I resolved to do was….

“Yes. That’s why I have something to say.”

I paused for a beat on purpose and asked calmly.

“Director. Is the proposal you made previously about joining the project still valid by any chance?”

…….

[Wow, Sol-eum.]

[You made a truly great decision!]

A bright voice rained down on my ears.

[You want to join my project and set conditions to process all of your disappearance for the past month as some sort of confidential duty that occurred while conducting the project, so that there is no loss of points, right?]

Goosebumps rose all over.

Next to me, Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je clenched her fist.

[What a great idea!]

I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘thank you’.

Beyond being glad that we communicate well, he feels like some sort of monster.

[And of course, it’s possible.]

“Thank…”

[So from now on, Supervisor Kim Sol-eum is a member of Director Ho Yu-won’s newly established project team, and this is clearly an acceptance that remains as a call record. Welcome!]

“…….”

I feel like I’m just on the verge of completing a contract in spite of myself, after being forced to look at a defective property for five minutes and stamp my seal.

“Thank you very much for your generous words. However, I was merely trying to ask for your opinion, and did not express my intention to participate immediately….”

[Ah, that could be so.]

[Then shall we meet once?]

“…I would be very grateful if you did, but as you know, under the circumstances, it is difficult for me to visit the company right now.”

[Ah, as expected, right? I also thought it would be nice to meet elsewhere anyway.]

Unbelievably generous words came out.

‘…Where is he proposing to meet?’

It was when I was vaguely imagining a private room dining spot.

[Fox Counseling Room.]

“…!”

What?

[How about it? Wouldn’t it be warm and nice?]

[I will send the doorplate through Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je.]

“…….”

We slowly looked back at Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je.

‘She clearly said she received a task to move around avoiding the employees.’

Director Ho acted as if he knew the assistant manager was in this place, just like that….

[I would be grateful if you could wait a little.]

“…Yes. I am the one who is grateful.”

Ending with a kind and polite farewell, the phone call with the director finished.

And immediately after.

Bzzzzz!

Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je’s phone rang.

The assistant manager immediately showed us the name displayed on her smartphone and then answered.

[Director Ho Yu-won]

“…….”

“Yes. Yes…. Mmh. Understood. I will return immediately.”

Click.

“You heard that? He is no ordinary person.”

Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je pulled the smartphone away from her face in disgust.

“The Fox Counseling Room of all things… He’ll talk slickly about how ‘Sol-eum might be struggling due to pollution, so receive counseling and let’s talk at the same time’, but in truth, he is trying to dominate the atmosphere.”

“…….”

“Roe Deer.”

Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je lowered her smartphone with a grim expression.

“My firm opinion is that even if it takes a bit longer, it’s better not to do Director Ho’s project. Though the points are a waste… Damn it.”

In the end, the assistant manager ruffled her hair and sighed.

It must be because she knew that to the Field Exploration Team members, points were no different from their lives and were extremely precious….

“I will bring the doorplate for now, so don’t yield easily. Evade well here and there and don’t get dragged along by the director. …You are quite eloquent anyway, so I believe in you.”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“I will go and listen to the talk carefully.”

“Sure.”

A short while later.

From Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je who had returned from the company, I received the item Director Ho promised.

A doorplate that was quite familiar by now.

Fox Counseling Room

‘Phew.’

“Roe Deer. If the atmosphere looks bad, just run out!”

“Thank you, Supervisor.”

Receiving encouragement and advice from my bosses, I hung the doorplate on an arbitrary door.

And after a very long time, I opened the door of the Fox Counseling Room and stepped inside….

Creak.

“…….”

Previously, a locker room had definitely appeared here, but this time, a different space was visible instead.

‘A waiting room?’

It was a small space where one could wait while chatting or take psychological tests before receiving counseling.

Although the ivory-colored space, equipped with a few tables and chairs made of Hinoki wood, had a cute and simple charm, the door leading to the counseling room was firmly closed.

And a notice posted on the door.

Closed today *^^*

(Please take the doorplate back!)

‘Wait, if this is the case….’

Tap, tap.

“Hello, Sol-eum!”

I almost fainted.

I turned my head. A young man with the impression of a good-natured person who tapped my shoulder was visible….

Director Ho bowed toward me with a good-natured smile.

“It was perfect that today happens to be the day the Fox Counseling Center is closed! No other people will come in either. How is it, are you alright?”

“……Yes. Thank you.”

How on earth does Director Ho know that the counseling center in the ghost story is closed.

‘It seems he is hinting that he has some sort of connection with the Fox Counseling Room.’

For now, let’s not dig into this point unnecessarily.

I must definitely focus on the point.

What I need is point recovery.

“Then shall we sit?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

At any rate, sitting in a comfortable waiting room chair, I faced the director.

It wasn’t a very realistic scene.

‘Phew.’

I brewed a green tea tea bag provided in the waiting room and placed it in front of the director. Although the director offered words of thanks, he didn’t bring up anything more and just smiled broadly.

‘Meaning he won’t start the conversation first.’

If so.

“Director. Thinking that a lacking person like me is joining the project, there is something weighing on my mind….”

“My goodness, to think that way. What exactly is weighing on your mind? It definitely sounded like you had the intention over the phone.”

Let’s be calm.

‘The current me is an outsider processed as resigned.’

To put it bluntly, if I don’t return, I just become a civilian, so the director’s pressure is not as strong as before.

It was right to say what needed to be said.

I spoke with my hands clasped.

“Yes. I’m afraid of dying.”

“…!”

“Losing points is painful, but it is of no use if I die before gathering all the points.”

“Ah.”

“If it is more dangerous than the existing Field Exploration Team, doing the project feels like a very fearful thing…. I am also considering simply returning or resigning.”

“I see. Wow. You are truly smart!”

“…….”

Is he being sarcastic?

But the director merely answered sincerely with an indecipherably kind expression.

“And I think it’s a good question point. ‘Is Director Ho’s in-company confidential project more dangerous than the Field Exploration Team?’”

“…….”

“My answer to that is….”

Director Ho smiled broadly.

“’It is not dangerous.’ In fact, the survival rate might be higher.”

“…!!”

“Ah, of course, depending on the task, a more dangerous case could occur probabilistically… but at least the task I am proposing to Sol-eum now is definitely not it.”

“…You wouldn’t be able to tell me concretely, of course.”

“That’s right. This is all the words I can offer.”

Director Ho looked at me as if pitying, and added in a soft tone.

“However, I think I can give you a firm answer that it is a task with a higher survival rate in a rather better situation than before!”

“…….”

“So, are you joining the project now? For your information… from next time, our personnel will be completely finalized, so we likely won’t be able to take in new people.”

He is completely nailing down that this is the last opportunity.

Staring at Director Ho, I dragged out time for a few seconds as if deliberately agonized, and then….

nodded.

“I want to do it.”

“Oh! Excellent.”

Not ‘I will do it’, but ‘I want to do it’.

Words that allow me to pull my foot out at the last moment if needed. Fortunately, however, Director Ho applauded and was pleased.

He was so pleased that he refilled the warm water himself and placed the green tea in front of me.

I wasn’t grateful at all and felt chilled to the bone….

“You made a truly great choice. Really, I told you that the working conditions have rather improved.”

“…Working conditions, you say.”

“Yes. You will be more comfortable.”

The director drank the green tea and smiled with his eyes narrowed.

“Since you were in the Dark for a month, you must have suffered severely, so I thought it would be hard for you to enter high-grade Darks again.”

The director spoke in a good-natured tone.

“I thought, why not try doing something fun.”

Somewhere,

it was a subtle nuance.

“…A fun job, I see.”

“Yes! So, the task Sol-eum will do is….”

And the absurd ‘task of Supervisor Kim Sol-eum’ came out casually.

“To infiltrate the Disaster Management Bureau.”

“…!!”

“Do they call this a spy too?”

Director Ho winked.

“Infiltrate as a rookie agent with a very clean identity who passed the public exam… and live mixed among them, spending time as an agent.”

Good grief.

“And you just need to bring back information regarding a certain supernatural disaster managed there. Simple, right?”

I swallowed my saliva.

“What kind of supernatural disaster do you want me to find?”

Director Ho raised his eyebrows slightly, then smiled good-naturedly again.

“Instead of arguing about how to do it, you ask about the target first. As expected.”

“…….”

“That’s or I will let you know in due course. For now, infiltrating successfully is what is important but….”

Director Ho stared at me with a strange look.

“In my opinion, there seems to be no better suited person than Sol-eum.”

“…….”

Was I caught by any chance.

That I had quite a bit of contact with the Disaster Management Bureau.

And that I possessed an item belonging to that side.

I tried hard not to be conscious of the Silver Heart still in my pocket.

‘Director Ho seemed to hate the Disaster Management Bureau tremendously.’

For now, let’s keep my mouth shut.

Because Director Ho’s shocking remarks did not end here.

“And thinking you might be lonely alone, other people will also be deployed together.”

What?

“…Who, you say?”

I briefly recalled Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je, but a completely unexpected answer returned again.

“Supervisor Sol-eum’s two peers.”

“…!!”

“Would you like to see?”

I checked a page of documents handed over by the director, where everything was blurred, allowing only the confirmation of names and affiliations.

Field Exploration Team Group R Go Yeong-eun (Employee)

Field Exploration Team Group F Jang Heo-un (Employee)

…Among my peers, two names that seemed to have been selected solely for personalities the Disaster Management Bureau would accept were written there…….

“Now, Sol-eum.”

Director Ho smiled broadly.

“I’ll look forward to your wonderful performance as a Disaster Management Bureau agent spy!”