Chapter 17

Chapter 17. Welcome to the Special Management Bureau (2)

-We think you’ll continue being dragged into Special Zones from now on.

This sentence is an informal colloquial expression.

“From now on” is a syntactic compound indicating temporal repetition.

“Continue” is an adverb indicating the persistence of an action.

Since similar meanings overlap, deleting one of the two is better for sentence concision.

“-We think” is a sentence ending that implies conjecture.

Because it tends to evade responsibility for the explanation, it is inappropriate as an official expression.

Also, specifying the subject allows more intuitive delivery of information and can minimize confusion.

Taking these points into consideration, the sentence can be revised as follows.

-Mr. Seo Do-un will continue being dragged into Special Zones.

……Once I fix it, it’s just Cha Si-eon. Damn it.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

When I stayed frozen still, Kwak Jae-gyeom asked.

But instead of answering, I thought calmly.

What did I do wrong?

Over the past few days, I had assumed God existed and flipped him off. Was it because of that?

Surely not. If God exists, he probably isn’t that petty.

Then was it because I survived by a once-in-a-lifetime chance, yet kept obsessing over Special Zones?

But I said I’d cherish my daily life……?

No, more importantly.

Why did Cha Si-eon and Kwak Jae-gyeom talk around this one sentence so much?

Ah, they built it up because they thought I might not understand.

You have to know what hell is before being dragged there can scare you or not. Damn it, damn it.

“Hyung, Do-un hyung?”

When I kept my mouth shut, Kwak Jae-gyeom called me.

So I cut off my thoughts and asked shortly.

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“What basis do you have for deciding my future like that?”

“Ah, that. Hyung, your current state is very special. Your numbers are clearly normal, and there’s no trait alteration either, but you seem more contaminated than most contaminated people. In other words, you’re presumed to be bonded to Special Zones in a pattern completely different from existing diagrams…… would you understand if I put it that way?”

“Do you think I would?”

I unintentionally asked back with contempt in my voice.

If someone rattles off strange settings only they know and tells me to understand, am I supposed to?

That is the kind of mistake a novice author would make, and I do not have the leisure to tolerate it right now.

At my cold immediate answer, Kwak Jae-gyeom scratched his head.

“Then I’ll explain what contamination is first. Hyung, you remember the Survival Rules you saw in the railway station, right? In the precautions, it said not to eat, drink, or read anything in a Special Zone.”

Of course I remembered.

When I chewed out Cha Si-eon about writing the Survival Rules properly, I had pointed out exactly that part.

---

Within Special Zones, all acts of consumption, including eating, drinking, or reading, are strictly prohibited.

Such acts may cause severe damage to your body and mind.

---

“That warning was made because of contamination. If Special Zone substances are injected into the body, or if the senses are exposed for a long time to things like writing, pictures, or sounds inside a Special Zone, contamination can occur.”

“What happens if you’re contaminated?”

“It differs depending on the situation, but you remember the short, plump friend we met in the hospital Special Zone, right?”

“You mean Orange?”

“Yes. That friend changed very individually at the end, didn’t he? That was also a kind of contamination.”

At those words, I faintly stiffened.

At the final moment, Orange had transformed into something that could not be called human.

Don’t tell me I’m going to become like that too?

When I went pale, Kwak Jae-gyeom hurriedly explained.

“But physical deformation like that only happens in truly extreme cases. That friend directly injected a Special Zone substance into his body, so that happened. Not everyone changes like that just because they’re contaminated.”

“……That injection was a mission you people ordered him to do.”

“Huh? Ah, right. Hahaha, I don’t know. We’re the Response Team, and that was the Exploration Team’s doing.”

Do not laugh, you neighbor of devils.

“So are you saying I’m contaminated too?”

“We don’t know that yet.”

“You don’t know?”

“Contamination, as defined by the Bureau, is ‘all types of trait changes that occur under the influence of a Special Zone,’ but we don’t see any such changes in you yet, hyung.”

“Then aren’t I normal?”

“That’s right. If you hadn’t been dragged in again this time, we would’ve thought you were normal and moved on too.”

What nonsense has he been spouting since earlier…….

“Ah, wait a second. Hyung, do you know you’re really scary when you stare with a straight face?”

For some reason, Kwak Jae-gyeom complained with an aggrieved expression.

But I was not particularly staring with a straight face.

I had only been looking at him in the sense of, Say something that makes sense.

“There was a similar case before. Only one person, but they say his contamination level was normal, and he had no trait changes either, yet for some reason, he kept getting dragged into Special Zones. More than twenty times, with intervals as short as two days and as long as three months.”

“What happened to that person now?”

“He died in the line of duty while devoting himself to the nation and its people. He was a Bureau agent.”

At Kwak Jae-gyeom’s calm explanation, I was once again left speechless.

Thinking about it, it was only natural.

Being dragged in more than twenty times meant escaping more than twenty times.

That was an achievement difficult for an ordinary person to accomplish.

And it was a reality difficult for an ordinary person like me to accept.

“So you’re saying I’m going to keep getting dragged in like that too?”

“That’s what we’re estimating.”

“Isn’t that too much of a leap? This time, getting dragged in again really might have been coincidence.”

“That’s right. So if you don’t get dragged in, we’ll be delighted, and since we don’t know, we should prepare.”

Delighted? When I don’t know what’s going to happen to me?

When I grew heated, Kwak Jae-gyeom quickly added,

“And as a rule, contaminated people or suspected contaminated people are quarantined by the Bureau. This is a measure for the safety and peace of our society!”

……When he put it that way, I had nothing to say again.

Whatever else might be true, if there was a possibility I could become like Orange, then staying here was right.

“Still, hyung, your case is a little different, so once the detailed examination results come out, you’ll probably be able to stop by home sometimes or go out.”

“If I’m fine, you should obviously send me home. Why are you saying I can stop by sometimes like it’s a favor?”

“Ahaha, you’re incredibly sharp.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom laughed cheerfully, and I only let out a long sigh.

After hearing all this, my situation felt terribly frustrating.

It was not certain, but it seemed I would be dragged into Special Zones again.

It was not certain, but I might be contaminated.

Both involved my life, so I could not brush them off carelessly.

Damn it, trials may come in life, but this is too much.

Pitying my terribly tangled future, I asked again.

“Then how am I supposed to prepare? If I really keep getting dragged into Special Zones.”

At my question, Cha Si-eon took out a small box as if he had been waiting.

When I received and opened it, a smartwatch was neatly placed inside.

“It is a watch with communication functionality. Put it on right now.”

I put the smartwatch on my wrist as instructed.

“Unlike ordinary communication devices, it can receive signals even inside Special Zones. Wear it at all times, and do not take it off even when sleeping or washing. When the time comes to replace the battery, we will give you a new one.”

Even when washing…….

At those words, a terribly chilling assumption came to mind.

If I suddenly fell into a Special Zone while completely naked and washing.

In that case, what would happen to my social life?

I silently broke out in a cold sweat, and Cha Si-eon continued.

“From now on, if Mr. Seo Do-un is dragged into a Special Zone, we will deliver the Survival Rules through that watch.”

So this was like the device police give to people under personal protection.

But was that the end of the explanation?

They just deliver the Survival Rules and that is it?

Thinking, Surely not, I asked back.

“And the rescue team comes afterward, right?”

“No.”

No?

“Due to internal circumstances at the Bureau, we recommend self-escape for citizens who flow into Special Zones. Therefore, it is realistically difficult for the rescue team to deploy every time Mr. Seo Do-un falls in.”

“Then you’re telling me to escape alone?”

“For now, yes. However, there is something we would like to propose to Mr. Seo Do-un regarding that.”

After declaring they would abandon me, what frozen-to-death proposal could they possibly have?

Feeling irritated, I looked at Cha Si-eon.

But unexpected words came from his mouth.

“Do you have any intention of serving as an agent of the Special Management Bureau?”

An agent of the Special Management Bureau?

Who? Me, a humanities person down to the bone?

“What is that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”

“If you do, we can regard Mr. Seo Do-un, when dragged into a Special Zone, as an agent isolated during exploration.”

“And if you regard me that way?”

“It becomes possible for us to rescue you directly.”

Then I’ll do it.

The words nearly popped out the moment I heard rescue.

But I swallowed the premature excitement that had risen to my chin and asked back.

“Why are you suddenly making that offer?”

“The Bureau highly values Mr. Seo Do-un’s abilities.”

“I have a glass body with a herniated disc…….”

“Mr. Seo Do-un’s memory, judgment, and decisiveness are objectively excellent. Your terrible physical strength can be improved as much as needed.”

Terrible? I did not go that far.

Not that his way of speaking mattered when he was opening a path to survival for me.

But it was such an ideal offer that it instead felt suspicious.

I suspected Cha Si-eon’s true intentions and quietly asked,

“Is the reason the rescue team can’t directly rescue citizens because of a manpower shortage?”

“That is one of the main reasons.”

“So you are recruiting talent?”

“Similar.”

“If you have an agent in the organization who keeps getting dragged into Special Zones, wouldn’t that increase your workload, not your manpower?”

Cha Si-eon, who had been answering like a machine, glanced at me.

“What is your real purpose in offering me an agent position?”

When I looked straight at Cha Si-eon and asked, a short smile appeared on his gloomy face.

Why is he smiling?

Was he embarrassed because he had been trying to coax me roughly and it did not work?

As if my guess was correct, Cha Si-eon spoke as though laying it out.

“The agent Jae-gyeom mentioned earlier explored Special Zones by reverse-exploiting the phenomenon of being dragged into them. As a result, there were many accomplishments. So we are hoping that Mr. Seo Do-un will play the same role.”

“You said that person died in the line of duty.”

A heavy silence flowed.

But only for a moment.

SLAP, SLAP, SLAP—!

Kwak Jae-gyeom unfolded some documents in perfect order.

And Cha Si-eon spoke solemnly.

“These are the terms of appointment to the Bureau.”

Urgh, khh……!

I groaned like an evil spirit drinking holy water as I looked at the contract.

No, is money important right now?

That is all hazard pay!

I knew that in my head, but to a poorly paid editor, the contract terms were too dazzling.

No, no! Get a grip anyway.

My life is at stake, so let’s keep my head and weigh this properly.

Not Become an Agent

1. If dragged into a Special Zone, survive on my own.

2. I have the smartwatch and only need to focus on getting out alive.

3. Even if I go home, I may get dragged in again, so I can’t keep working at the company.

4. Unemployed with a career gap.

5. I have the 100 million won received as compensation, but I don’t know when I’ll die.

6. Possible to spend wildly and die, no future.

Become an Agent

1. If dragged into a Special Zone, agents come to rescue me.

2. Instead, I have to do something they tell me to do.

3. Even if I don’t get dragged into a Special Zone, I receive a salary.

4. I become a public servant.

5. I have 100 million won in cash at home and also receive a salary, but I don’t know when I’ll die.

6. At a glance, I’m obviously going to get rolled around, but at least there is some possibility of survival.

Both are truly awful.

Still, if I had to choose, “Become an Agent” was probably better.

But there was still a problem with that side that bothered me greatly.

“What are you even thinking about, hyung! Save the Otter Campaign Headquarters fervently welcomes Seo Do-un!”

I do not need that.

I ignored the absurd attempt at persuasion and looked at Cha Si-eon.

Then I asked bluntly.