An agent of the Disaster Management Bureau.
And the being his Executioner's Sword pointed to.
Ho Yuwon.
Supernatural Disaster.
"...."
"As soon as I return to the Bureau, I'll have to write up a report. 'Team Hyumoo 1 aims to conclude this Supernatural Disaster by seeking official approval for its registration.'"
Agent Choi's and Ho Yuwon's eyes meet.
Between their coldly set faces, the agent's eyes burn.
"Let's see if that crazy cult company, the one that grinds people up, will continue to protect a director targeted by the Disaster Management Bureau…"
"…Ah."
And.
"You intend to register me as a Supernatural Disaster, so the Disaster Management Bureau can directly manage me? Until I die? Until it's concluded?"
The malevolent entity beyond the Black Smoke.
"You're truly too much."
It spoke in a smooth voice.
"Government agents threatening civilians… I haven't even killed anyone in front of you, you know."
However, Ho Yuwon's eyes were calm.
"Someone had to die anyway. Does death cease to be death if the Disaster Management Bureau chooses who dies? Does it become rational?"
"...."
"While selecting people who are better suited to die, did you think someone like me wouldn't appear?"
Ryu Jaegwan gritted his teeth.
Just then.
"Huh? So you can just kill anyone?"
"...!"
"We were talking about not killing good people if someone has to die, but you were the one who started hurting people without any agreement."
Approaching while dusting himself off was Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae.
Ho Yuwon's smile deepened.
"It seems you're saying it's bad not to cooperate with the group… I'm a bit concerned. You belong to a group called a company, but is it okay to not cooperate with your superior and make personal accusations?"
"Why? I didn't attack you, Director. And your interpretation is strange. I'm just saying you did a bad thing."
Lee Seong-hae looked at Director Ho as if she didn't understand, then lightly hopped over to stand next to the employee.
"And I'm on vacation, so I'm not working, which is fine!"
"Wow. You're brave."
"Yep. I tend to be a bit like that!"
"...."
"...."
"...Well, it doesn't matter, though."
Ho Yuwon, who had been weighing his options, eventually turned his head, ignoring the bothersome employee.
To 130666.
"Employee. Will you continue to accompany me for my project? As part of your duty."
Adding a request.
"And those people over there keep interfering with my work… I'd like you to subdue them. For security."
"…!"
The agents' expressions hardened.
The yellow lantern beneath the black shadow looked at the agents, then…
…looked into the director's eyes.
Refusal
"…!"
Reason:
▶ Existing task (Nameless Brilliant Cult investigation) concluded
▶ Damaged uniform
Will report to the assigned researcher after returning to the containment room.
Uniform?
At that moment, people noticed.
Something was leaking from inside the employee's coat, through a tear in the fabric.
Something amorphous.
Clumps of flesh-like matter, overflowing as if trying to escape their form.
130666 pressed the area with a gloved hand and covered it with black mist. As if consciously trying to hide it.
Some also read a faint signal from within.
A hint of… shame.
"...!"
Agent Choi's gaze changed.
Hope.
"We can fix that uniform too."
The employee's gaze fell upon him.
"Let's go together. They'll give you a really nice one, won't they? The artisans at the workshop are truly skilled."
However.
Impossible
Reason: Proposal violates work regulations.
"…Work regulations? Can you explain that a bit more?"
Impossible
Reason: Proposal violates work regulations.
"...."
"Wait a minute. Do you have absolutely no intention of changing jobs?"
The gaze looked down at Lee Seong-hae.
Resignation impossible
Reason: Proposal violates work regulations.
"Resignation is also not allowed? Huh, that's…"
And before Lee Seong-hae could finish, the employee turned their body.
As if about to leave the spot and return.
To the Daydream underground.
To the containment room.
"…Wait a moment!"
Agent Choi rushed forward, blocking the way.
"I'll help you return."
....
Question: Reason
"You pulled me out of the box."
"…! Right. I have to repay you."
Ryu Jaegwan quickly offered his help as Agent Choi continued.
"This is near Cheonan. Even if you use teleportation, it'll take hours to walk to the company in Seoul, right?"
Ryu Jaegwan, instead of his usual retort, quietly stood by his side.
"You don't have a car and can't teleport, right? Huh? I'll give you a ride."
....
Silence.
And.
Question: Method of transport
Got it.
"Were you worried I'd ride a bicycle? Nah. I can use something else besides that."
Agent Choi casually began to walk, as if guiding the other person.
Towards the well.
"This is a secret, but this well is in a good spot. Ley lines flow here, and it used to be a passage the Bureau used for emergency dispatch to local areas back in the day. They blocked it due to procedural issues."
He added that due to its symbolic significance of its spiritual function, it was even used as an escape route when this village became a Supernatural Disaster.
"You remember, right? When you came to this village's festival, you even took the manual I wrote tips in. The well was mentioned there too. Haha. How was it then, reading it?"
After another silence.
Unknown
....
"It's possible. Don't worry."
And then…
"Anyway, we don't use that well now… but I think the transport function will reactivate if we send a promised signal, so let's try using it for once."
Of course.
It was a lie.
'There are records of it, but it's impossible for it to reactivate.'
The Disaster Management Bureau isn't foolish; if it were a passage that could reactivate, they would have moved it.
But it was a plausible story.
"I'm going to try moving with it. You'll be in Seoul when you open your eyes. Okay?"
He wouldn't do that.
He just intended to put them in the well, corner them in a place as enclosed as possible so they couldn't escape, and then use his transport ability.
'Makeshift glass prison.'
…He wanted to avoid that method if possible, but…
There was no other way.
"Using that well won't result in your identity being handed over to the Disaster Management Bureau or anything. I swear on the Goblin Lantern."
He could make any oath.
Because there would be no need to use the well in the first place.
'…Did they notice?'
It was possible. This damn Hubae was always annoyingly perceptive at precisely these kinds of points…
He was truly suited for the job of an agent.
'Please.'
The fact that the person called Director Ho was just standing there was also unsettling. He expected him to interfere or make a move to take the employee himself, but he was strangely quiet and docile.
And Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae following them also felt off.
But he couldn't tell them to stop. He couldn't let them notice anything strange.
Agent Choi's nerves were on edge as he moved his feet.
Behind him, Ryu Jaegwan would be preparing the Makeshift glass prison he carried.
'Thank you, Jaegwan.'
He deeply felt that his Hubae, who lacked talent for lying and had just returned, was quickly preparing to assist him.
Agent Choi continued to walk.
Thump.
Thump.
With the sound of his footsteps, the well drew closer…
"Here."
Ryu Jaegwan quickly tore off the blocked top of the well.
…The humid, trapped air escaped, leaving a strange smell.
Agent Choi took a breath and looked back at 130666… no, Kim Soleum, with a smiling face.
"…It'll be difficult for me to go in first, right? I'll go in first and show you it's safe. Look. There might be something else."
The gas mask silently watched Agent Choi.
Agent Choi grinned and stepped into the well.
'The footrest… it's still there, thankfully.'
It hadn't collapsed.
He carefully wedged his feet into the well's wall, descending as quickly as possible.
To lure the other party without variables.
And when his feet finally touched the bottom of the well.
"Oh! It looks like it'll work! Come down."
At that shout, the horned being peered inside.
"…I'll try sending the transport signal as soon as you come down."
Please.
....
Clack.
Black walkers descended, climbing the well walls.
The smoke pooled on the ground, but 130666's body, as befitting a supernatural phenomenon, arrived in the well in a form that strangely defied physical standards.
'Haa….'
A wave of nausea, or something similar, passed through Agent Choi's throat, but he didn't have time to focus on it now.
'I have to succeed.'
For a more convincing act, he reached into the black smoke and placed the Goblin Lantern on the floor in the center of the well.
As if sending a real transport signal.
In reality, it was an implicit, different signal.
To Ryu Jaegwan.
"Alright, then…"
Jaegwan and I must capture this thing together now.
But it was at that moment.
Light burst from the Goblin Lantern placed on the floor.
"…!!"
Wait a minute.
'This is….'
This is what you see when the transport signal activates at a place where ley lines truly converge.
Is this really going to transport?
'To where?'
And the strangeness didn't end there.
Within the black smoke, a light similar to the one from the lantern shone from 130666's body.
A small rectangle from an inner coat pocket.
"…?"
130666 also took it out, as if to check.
It was… something in the form of an employee ID. But it wasn't from Daydream.
The company name written on it was…
'Pleasant Research Institute…?'
At that moment.
The light intensified.
"…!"
Even those watching from outside fully sensed something was amiss.
'Damn it!'
Ryu Jaegwan hesitated for a moment, but then gritted his teeth and leaped into the well. He couldn't let just those two transport.
And Lee Seong-hae, who had been lingering nearby, followed.
"Oh."
Sensing the unusual situation, she jumped into the well to 'help' the good people.
After all, it was her day off, so she had plenty of time!
And so, a moment later.
When Ho Yuwon, who had quietly approached the well, lowered his gaze into it, he saw this scene.
"Ah."
There was nothing in the well.
Ho Yuwon gripped the stone at the well's entrance tightly with hands filled with elation.
·
....
It's dark.
It's noisy.
Muscle aches and the sensation of bones aching from sleeping in the cold make a person miserable.
I must be lying on some concrete floor… but I'm so incredibly tired that I can't possibly open my eyes…
Tiredness?
"…!!"
I suddenly opened my eyes.
My neck felt damp, as if I'd had a chilling nightmare. I wiped away the cold sweat with my hand and sighed.
"Hoo."
....
…Wait a minute.
'…My voice.'
I… I made a voice.
"…!!"
And my hands, they're bare hands. Hands with fingernails, knuckles, and fingerprints, ordinary hands. I fumbled with them. There's hair, cold sweat, teeth, and a face…
I lifted my head and looked around.
A silhouette reflected in the dark glass window right next to me is visible.
"…A person."
It was me.
I stared blankly at my human form reflected in the glass.
I had no idea what was going on.
So, a moment later, I realized.
That several familiar people were lying collapsed around me.
And…
That this was a subway platform.
"...."
I staggered to my feet. The station name, hidden by a pillar, came into view…
Segwang Transit Corporation
Segwang Station
"...!!"
That's when I realized.
This is the subway in Segwang Metropolitan City.