Chapter 32: Surveillance Report No. 7 — Subject: Intern Ne Job
(Arc 2: Audit from Heaven – Continuation)
The Department of Form Evolution was quiet that morning, but not to Yue. She heard everything — every flicker of divine quill, every unstable signature of living paperwork — through the enchanted Mirror of Observation in her office.
The reflection shimmered, showing Ne Job bumbling through his "orientation" inside the department. He wore his new badge upside down, chatting animatedly with a stack of documents that appeared to be… flirting back.
Yue pinched the bridge of her nose. "Observation note… subject continues to exhibit statistically impossible levels of confidence despite measurable incompetence." She scribbled that line into her report.
Behind her, the office was filled with sealed scrolls marked TOP SECRET: ROYAL DIRECTIVE. Princess Ling had given Yue full access to monitor Ne Job — under the condition that no one, not even Lord Xian, knew.
Yue tapped the mirror again, zooming in. Ne Job had accidentally fed a Form Prototype 44-C a cup of divine tea, and it was now sprouting wings. The lab supervisor screamed while Ne Job took notes, muttering something about "creative expansion of office boundaries."
Yue exhaled. "At this rate, we'll need a containment priest, a psychologist, and possibly an exorcist."
Her eyes flicked to the second section of her desk — a locked compartment containing Ling's sealed scrolls. She hesitated before unlocking one. Inside, written in elegant royal script, were the real orders:
> "Track behavioral anomalies. If the ink within Subject Ne Job begins to glow, report immediately. He carries a fragment of the Forbidden Manual's essence."
Yue frowned. "So it's true… the pen wasn't cursed. He is."
As she watched, the mirror's glow flickered. For a brief second, Ne Job looked up directly — as if sensing her gaze through the magical link.
His usual grin vanished. His eyes shimmered faintly with golden ink — the same hue as the ancient seals used in divine law.
The mirror cracked.
Yue jumped to her feet. "What—?"
Static filled the reflection, then stabilized — Ne Job was back to normal, now wrestling with a flying document and shouting, "Bad Form! Sit!" like nothing had happened.
Yue slowly sat back down, heart pounding. Her quill hovered above the parchment, but she didn't know what to write.
Finally, she penned only one sentence:
> "Surveillance Report No. 7 conclusion — The fragment is awake."
A sudden knock on the door startled her. It was Lord Xian's aide, holding a formal notice.
"Assistant Yue, Lord Xian requests your presence. Immediately. He says it concerns… the Treasury Princess."
Yue froze. So Ling's cover might already be cracking.
She sealed the mirror under a charm and whispered to herself, "Ne Job, don't do anything catastrophic while I'm gone."
In the mirror's dim reflection, unseen by Yue, a faint golden sigil appeared behind Ne Job's desk — glowing, shifting, and spelling a single word in forbidden script:
"REWRITE."