Chapter 130

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

The evening Kim Sol-eum agreed with the Director to infiltrate the Disaster Management Bureau as a spy.

At the same time, in the company housing, Baek Sa-heon was enjoying a very comfortable private life recently.

It was all thanks to the fact that his damn psychopathic roommate had gone missing!

‘I knew that bastard would die after acting up like that.’

Baek Sa-heon wore a triumphant smile.

Although the crazy leader of Group D, who looked exactly like that psychopath, had persistently requested interviews about the ‘Tamra-Bound High-Speed Rail’ from him several times.

And because of that, the terrible… pollution had intensified, but it had calmed down a lot now. He no longer vomited or suffered a mental breakdown just by thinking about that Great Talk… fuck, whatever it was.

Thanks to that, he was able to access the Fox Counseling Room.

And for free, at that!

‘It’s a benefit you can only get once you become a supervisor… but this exchange rate isn’t bad.’

Thanks to the Group D manager handling it for him, receiving the nameplate for the Fox Counseling Room separately like this was a clear gain.

Furthermore, didn’t the counselor in that ghost story give another nameplate every time one received counseling? With the ‘treatment’ he received from the company, he could use this ‘until he recovered moderately.’

‘I could even slip it to someone else once in a while while using it?’

If he played his cards right, that was.

‘Until my promotion to supervisor… I can milk this for at least three more months.’

For now, he was going to use it one more time today.

Humming to himself, Baek Sa-heon hung the nameplate on the door of his already dead roommate’s room to visit the Fox Counseling Room once more.

And he opened the door…….

“Ah. They say they’re closed today.”

“…?!?!”

A dark-haired employee with a cool impression stood beyond the door and spoke casually.

And he walked out of the door.

A familiar face he wouldn’t be able to forget even in his dreams.

That was, that was….

“K-Kim Sol-eum.”

The former roommate, who had been processed as missing and dead, smirked upon seeing him.

Huh?

Uh, uh?

“……?!?”

Baek Sa-heon began to doubt seriously.

‘I-Is this a dream?’

‘Did I fall into a hypnosis-type Dark?’

‘Otherwise, why is this crazy bastard, who went missing and was even processed as dead, coming out of the Fox Counseling Room door right now…?’

Thwack.

Baek Sa-heon slapped his own cheek.

It stung.

First of all, it was not a dream.

‘Dammit.’

And he felt a pitiful gaze looking at the fool who had punched his own face.

“Well… I understand why you wanted to get counseling.”

“…!?”

“But even if you go in now, they’re closed, you know? Take off the nameplate and go in next time.”

Thud.

Kim Sol-eum stepped completely out of the room and closed the door.

Then, exerting clear physical force, he ripped off the nameplate attached to the door that was once his room and threw it at Baek Sa-heon.

“…!”

He caught it in his confusion.

“But… of all times, you opened the door just now?”

“…….”

“I didn’t expect to see your face like this.”

Baek Sa-heon swallowed.

At the same time, his brain began to spin rapidly.

In this absurd and unexpected situation where he found himself asking what on earth was going on, he realized one thing for sure.

A dense halo shining through the eyepatch as if shooting outward.

Warning alarm.

-You saw something you shouldn’t have seen.

The fact that an employee processed as dead was standing perfectly fine before his eyes meant there was a conspiracy at the company level, or even higher.

‘They even used me as the witness of his disappearance…!’

Baek Sa-heon swallowed, trying not to recall the terrible p-p-p-pushing he had suffered while trying to track down Kim Sol-eum’s whereabouts after he disappeared from the restroom.

His head was in turmoil with anger and dizziness, but a warning struck his mind before that.

‘…Wait, but right now, seeing this crazy bastard alive and well here…’

Me,

is it okay for me to see it?

“…….”

“…….”

The most certain way for that psychopathic bastard to deal with me was….

-Silencing by murder.

‘Ah, no way!’

Baek Sa-heon quickly corrected the absurd thought that had crossed his mind reflexively.

Why would anyone bother to do such an inefficient thing in modern society?

‘That bastard has my brainwashing fountain pen…’

The item he had exchanged for his eyeball. Baek Sa-heon clenched his fist.

Right. Surely he would brainwash me and leave. He could just make it so I hadn’t seen anything and leave. Since there was such an easy and simple method, there was no need to go the long way around…

“You want me to erase your memories with the fountain pen, don’t you?”

“…!!”

“I’m not going to.”

In Baek Sa-heon’s head, coping methods that could be used immediately—punching, using dedicated equipment, reporting, begging—flashed by in an instant.

And the moment they came to mind, they were all discarded.

‘N-No.’

If he acted rashly, there was no telling what would happen to him.

Although he hated to admit it, that bloodless and tearless bastard, true to being a psychopath, was highly capable.

To avoid getting caught up and dragged down into the abyss or dying, he had to keep his cool.

What on earth did he want?

Did he really plan to kill…

‘…No!’

A reassembled sentence flashed like lightning in Baek Sa-heon’s mind.

-There is something he wants.

That bastard must be confronting me because there is something he wants!

Baek Sa-heon finally calmed down.

And barely, to show composure, he crossed his arms.

“…Supervisor, it seems there is something you want.”

“Indeed.”

Just as I thought!

“…Ah. Or do you perhaps need my witness account, Supervisor? Just like when you went missing! Like, reporting to the company that I feel like I saw Supervisor Kim Sol-eum in the company housing…”

“No.”

Damn it.

Barely swallowing his curses, Baek Sa-heon looked at the other party with the most nonchalant face possible.

Kim Sol-eum was also gazing at Baek Sa-heon intently.

Looking closely, the other party was indeed wearing a suit, but his hair was slightly trimmed, and he had a splint on one of his arms. It meant he was not in a completely ‘fine’ state.

‘Where did he get hurt?’

Besides, the suit itself was also slightly different.

It was strange. It seemed more expensive and stylish than what a regular office worker would wear, with a fit meant for show….

‘Like something one would wear on a broadcast….’

…Huh?

It was the moment some strange link was about to flash in his mind.

The other party brought up something that could absolutely not be ignored.

“You seem to have a greed for items.”

“…!”

“Proper ones, not useless dregs. Hypnosis, suppression, healing… Do you want to have more of those useful items?”

The desire and need that surpassed everything else flashed at the very top of Baek Sa-heon’s priorities.

Baek Sa-heon abruptly raised his head.

Kim Sol-eum was smiling.

“Then from now on, tell me regularly what happens in Daydream Co.”

“…….”

What the other party proposed was a deal.

An information trade.

“…Are you talking about something like… the high-grade Dark exploration manuals held within the company?”

Kim Sol-eum looked at him with an absurd expression. Right, no matter how crazy he was, he wouldn’t demand secrets of the Field Exploration Team…

“Why would you try to tell me something so boring?”

“…….”

“Rumors circulating in the company are fine, personnel appointments, employee gossip is also good. Just bring information that you think ‘would be valuable to an insider.'”

“…Why?”

“Because I’m curious?”

“……!!”

“No, because I got fired and can’t hear them anymore, so I’m bored.”

No, fuck!

Baek Sa-heon felt like he was going to go out of his mind.

If it had been anyone else, it would obviously be an indirect way of expressing that they didn’t want to tell, but the other party was Kim Sol-eum.

‘That bastard seems to be genuine!’

It was even harder to read him because he genuinely seemed like a nutjob trying to listen to company gossip for dopamine…!

‘Ha….’

“So. Are you going to bring information and exchange it for items?”

“Information,”

…….

…….

“Well… I can bring it.”

Baek Sa-heon thought.

‘What do I care?’

If I get caught by the company?

He could just say he was blackmailed or brainwashed.

Anyway, as long as it wasn’t selling masks and collectors, the company tended to look leniently on whatever the Field Exploration Team did.

Answering an ex-employee asking about the ‘company atmosphere’ was nothing!

Although the company was ‘misunderstanding’ that this ex-employee was dead, honestly, did he care?

No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem like this company would discipline him over something like this.

‘It’s not like I’m selling information to the Disaster Management Bureau, either.’

After all, he wasn’t at the manager rank, and he wasn’t on the research team to leak development know-how.

‘Good.’

No matter how much he thought about it, this was a deal he should accept.

…Although he hated to admit it. Kim Sol-eum… was not the type to play tricks on people or insult them by not giving the promised reward in these kinds of matters.

‘Let’s do it.’

Let’s take the bite first!

The moment he saw a place to stretch his legs, a slick smirk returned to Baek Sa-heon’s face.

“But, Supervisor. No, oops, you’re not a supervisor anymore, are you?”

“…….”

“Anyway, I don’t really know what you trust in me to entrust this to me…. I might tell a lie out of fear, you know.”

It meant he wanted some items in advance if they were to build trust.

Kim Sol-eum smiled broadly.

“You’re going to lie? That sounds fun. By all means, try it.”

“…….”

Not a chance.

‘Bastard.’

“But if you bring more fun and interesting information, the items I give you will naturally get better, won’t they? That’s the basic rule of commerce.”

“…!”

It meant that if the information was solid, he wouldn’t treat it lightly.

In the end, Baek Sa-heon broke into a cold sweat and offered his hand with a smirk.

“All right. I’ll bring it back nicely. That ‘interesting information.'”

“Sure.”

Kim Sol-eum accepted the handshake.

In that way, Kim Sol-eum successfully planted a very calculating spy for information inside the company.

‘Whew.’

I lived!

Kim Sol-eum let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

‘Unofficial information source… secured.’

Director Ho had deliberately mentioned ‘the colleagues you’ll work with’ to subtly create an atmosphere preventing him from grasping the situation, but Kim Sol-eum knew.

That he and his colleagues were under completely different conditions.

‘I am the only one who is officially a dead person.’

Furthermore, I resigned.

What that meant was that all natural routes to keep track of company news were blocked off.

‘And Director Ho is a boss who will happily exploit my isolation in terms of information.’

Kim Sol-eum accurately remembered Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je’s remark.

-I don’t know what the other team members are doing in this project. Director Ho doesn’t even allow employees with different duties to speak to one another.

He would absolutely never look out for him of his own accord.

Therefore, he needed another line.

‘But Group D won’t work.’

No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed Director Ho had already figured out that connection. Delivering the nameplate through Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je was too blatant.

That was why he had been planning to target Baek Sa-heon or Kang Yi-hak anyway, and the situation had turned out very well.

‘To be honest, as for Kang Yi-hak… she feels like the type who would sell out all my information in an instant if someone who pays more comes along.’

Just thinking about it brought out a cold sweat.

In that sense, Baek Sa-heon, who feared him moderately while remaining wary of others and possessing a powerful survival instinct, was the right card.

Kim Sol-eum scanned his former roommate, then nodded his head.

“Then I’m off.”

“Pardon? Well… you must be busy.”

Kim Sol-eum nodded at Baek Sa-heon’s soulless words.

“I have work to do.”

There were less than a few weeks left until he would be deployed to the Disaster Management Bureau.

‘It’s tight.’

He had to prepare from now on.

A new character suitable for a Disaster Management Bureau agent, not a rookie employee of Daydream Co.!

* * *

February 22nd.

“Agent Bronze. The personality and aptitude test for rookies is ready.”

“Yes.”

Ryu Jae-gwan, an agent of the Paranormal Disaster Management Bureau with the code name ‘Bronze,’ stood in front of the glass window holding the documents.

In fact, the glass window was one-way; to the people standing on the other side, it would appear as just a mirror.

And waiting there were candidates who would soon become the new agents of the Disaster Management Bureau.

A strange determination was written on the faces of those sitting around the room with expressions of tension.

All that remained was the personality and aptitude test.

However, this was also the most important gateway.

‘If they fail the personality and aptitude test, they will return home having even forgotten that they took the exam.’

They wouldn’t even be given a chance to prepare again.

Because there was no point in them trying.

It meant they possessed a temperament unable to handle working at the Disaster Management Bureau, or held immoral ethical views.

They could absolutely not work here.

“…….”

However, knowing that most of those who applied here had their own stories, Ryu Jae-gwan inwardly hoped that many of them would pass the test safely.

Especially so for applicants who were looking for missing relatives, or applicants who had a paranormal disaster they absolutely wanted to eliminate.

“Let’s begin.”

“Yes!”

However, because he was by no means the type to grade generously, this hope was not expressed outwardly at all.

The assistant interviewers grading with him merely swallowed and remained conscious of ‘Agent Bronze.’

‘I heard the passing standard is really strict.’

‘The applicants in this room are a bit unfortunate.’

They started the personality and aptitude test according to Agent Bronze’s instructions, exchanging glances.

-“Group Da, numbers 1 through 4. Please step forward.”

An announcement broadcasted in the room beyond the glass window.

The four final interviewees whose names were called walked to the center of the room.

Number 1, age 25, with obvious tension. Number 2, age 38, looking calm but pale. Number 3, age 31, with burning eyes. And….

“Pffft!”

“A-Agent?”

Ryu Jae-gwan hurriedly suppressed his cough.

For a moment, he thought he was mistaken, but the image formed beyond the glass window did not change at all.

The bizarre and good-natured figure he had unexpectedly seen several times inside paranormal phenomena over the past half year.

‘…Agent Grape!’

Kim Sol-eum.

He, who used to be an employee of Daydream Co., stood on the opposite side of the mirror, adjusting his glasses with an awkward, shrinking expression!!

As candidate number 4 of Group Da for the Paranormal Disaster Management Bureau agents.