Chapter 18

Chapter 18. Welcome to the Special Management Bureau (3)

“If I become an agent, will I be placed under you, Mr. Cha Si-eon?”

“No. Mr. Seo Do-un will not be assigned to a team, but will instead perform an individual role.”

“Then I’ll consider it positively.”

“Pfft! Hrk, I’m sorry.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom burst out laughing while looking at his team leader, then hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth.

Cha Si-eon stared darkly at his team member with half his face damp.

When Kwak Jae-gyeom shrank back, deflated, Cha Si-eon turned to me just as he was.

But I, who was neither his subordinate nor his team member, could meet that gaze with dignity.

I had actually been worried.

If I became an agent, I might be placed on that team and have to serve under a vicious team leader.

It was not as if we had some grand ill-fated relationship, but for some reason, I disliked the idea of working under you. Yes.

So I had been a little uneasy about choosing “Become an Agent,” but now that the problem was resolved, I felt very refreshed.

Cha Si-eon, on the other hand, looked a little scratched.

“Do you perhaps have difficulty with group life?”

“No. I’m doing well in society.”

“If you need consideration, please tell me in advance.”

“No, this is already enough.”

“Then please review the contract.”

I dismissed Cha Si-eon’s provocation with a good-natured smile, and Cha Si-eon spitefully held out the contract.

---

■ Special Management Bureau Agent Appointment Contract

Article 1 (Contracting Parties)

Party A: Director of the Special Management Bureau

Party B: Seo Do-un

Article 2 (Contract Period)

The contract period shall run from February 19, 20XX until the appointee’s special circumstances (the forced inflow phenomenon into Special Management Zones) are resolved.

Article 3 (Work Details)

Assigned duties: Special Management Zone exploration and lifesaving

Work location: Special Management Bureau Analysis Team 5

Article 4 (Compensation)

Salary: 2,170,300 won

Allowances

① Hazardous Duty Allowance: 2,700,000 won

② Special Training Allowance: 1,250,000 won

③ Confidentiality Protection Allowance: 1,500,000 won

④ Mission Performance Allowance: separately calculated and paid upon mission performance

⑤ Fixed Meal Allowance: 100,000 won

---

Even looking at them again, the numbers were dazzling.

Of course, if I thought of it as the price of my life, I could not simply be happy.

But what was Analysis Team 5 in the work location?

“Didn’t you say I wouldn’t be assigned to a team?”

“Analysis Team 5 is not the department where Mr. Seo Do-un will work, but the department that will work on Mr. Seo Do-un.”

Mr. Seo Do-un is a person, so why is he being used as the object of work instead of the subject?

As I repeated Cha Si-eon’s words, my pupils shook.

“Team Leader, if you say it like that, he’ll misunderstand.”

At that moment, Kwak Jae-gyeom cut in and explained again.

“Analysis Team 5 is the department investigating the phenomenon of you getting dragged into Special Zones, hyung. It’s written as the work location because they’ll be in charge of you here.”

“I see.”

“You didn’t have some strange misunderstanding, did you?”

“For a very brief moment, I thought I was going to be subjected to human experimentation…….”

I spoke through clenched molars and smiled.

When I looked at Cha Si-eon in that state, he had an expression that said he had not said anything wrong.

Haha, look at that character.

---

Article 5 (Probationary Appointment and Period)

① The person appointed under this contract shall undergo a probationary appointment period of 3 months.

② During the probationary period, if the appointee is forcibly drawn into a Special Management Zone and their performance of duties is recognized as suitable, they shall be immediately appointed as a regular agent.

③ During the probationary period, if the appointee is not forcibly drawn into a Special Management Zone, or if their performance of duties is judged to be markedly unsuitable, they may be dismissed in accordance with relevant regulations.

④ If dismissal is confirmed, the appointee shall promptly return to society.

---

“In accordance with Mr. Seo Do-un’s hope that it may simply be coincidence, we included a probationary period. Salary will be paid normally even during the probationary period.”

Cha Si-eon explained on his own.

But if I was dragged into a Special Zone, I would immediately be appointed as a regular agent, while if I was not dragged in for 3 months, I would be dismissed.

Was this not too blatant?

“It seems the talent the Bureau wants is someone who gets dragged into Special Zones often.”

“That is one of the main reasons.”

At Cha Si-eon’s answer, I laughed softly.

Only now did I understand why Cha Si-eon had emphasized that I absolutely must not die in the hospital.

To me, the phenomenon of continuing to be dragged into Special Zones was a disaster.

But the Bureau seemed to consider it a hidden chance.

Seeing as they had even installed a dedicated department and were trying to recruit me.

It was quite irritating, but from my perspective, I would be fortunate if this at least blocked the outside wind.

If that was truly the case, then it was fortunate, but could I really trust this organization completely?

Would they suck out everything useful and throw me away like trash?

“You may resign at any time.”

As I glared at the contract, Cha Si-eon spoke.

“The Bureau is the same as an ordinary company. If the work does not suit you, you may quit.”

“……Is there any disadvantage if I quit?”

“If your period of service is less than 1 year, you will not receive a retirement allowance.”

At Cha Si-eon’s answer, I laughed weakly.

Then I signed the contract.

“A wise decision.”

“I really hope so.”

“It will likely feel slightly less unfair to die paid than to die unpaid.”

You really are rotten from the sprout.

I flared up and looked at Cha Si-eon.

At that moment, Cha Si-eon held out his hand.

I stared at that hand for a moment, then had no choice but to shake it.

But, hm.

I could not tell whether what I was holding was a human hand or a tiger’s forepaw.

It seemed I should just give up on strangling Cha Si-eon.

Cha Si-eon held my hand and spoke with an expressionless face.

“Welcome to the Special Management Bureau.”

In any case, it was a welcome.

---

When I had been running around inside the 「Hospital That Hunts Humans」, I had not realized it, but I was injured quite a lot.

Leaving aside the fact that I had been scraped and bruised here and there from rolling over piles of stone.

Metal fragments, stone fragments, and the like had lodged in my left shoulder and calf, so each had been stitched up with five or six sutures.

So, under the pretext of being on duty standby, I ended up resting for a while.

Sick leave the moment I was appointed. Being a public servant really was nice.

“This is the lodging you’ll be staying in, hyung.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom guided me to the lodging.

But the place we arrived at was far too grand to be called lodging.

It was just a perfectly nice home with a wide living room and several rooms attached.

On top of that, something I had only seen in photos or on screens was displayed in the living room.

Wel) Congratulations on Otter Agent’s appointment! (come

A colorful banner and gifts piled high beneath it.

In other words, it was a sight I had only seen in articles about celebrity birthdays and the like.

“What is all this?”

“Uh, I don’t know? Looks like S.O.C.H. prepared it.”

When I asked in surprise, Kwak Jae-gyeom also answered in surprise.

But S.O.C.H.?

Ah, Save the Otter Campaign Headquarters…….

“When did they do all this? Did these people run over the moment they heard from the General Affairs Division that you were signing the contract?”

“That is a real organization?”

“Of course. There are a lot of members, and everyone is completely serious.”

“I thought you people were short on manpower.”

“That’s why they grit their teeth and do this. What joy is there for people buried in work, unable to go outside, and only receiving a lot of salary? They just find an oxygen respirator and swarm around it like zombies.”

This guy was subtly sharp-tongued while smiling.

As he spoke, Kwak Jae-gyeom arbitrarily opened one of the gifts.

“Oh, is this handmade?”

At that sound, I grew curious too.

So I approached while imagining something like a knitted doll, but what actually came out of the box was a beautifully gleaming weapon.

……What should I call this? A dagger? A dirk?

“There’s a message too.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom held out a postcard with an otter holding a knife drawn on it.

On it, in neat handwriting, this was written.

-Praying for the extension of Otter Agent’s life☆

“Are they perhaps making fun of me?”

“It seems that way, but there probably isn’t any malice.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom roughly pushed the gift aside.

Then he crossed the living room and opened an inner door.

“Hyung, you can use this room, but if you don’t like it, I’ll change it for you. The room next door is mine.”

Don’t tell me you live here too……?

I wanted to ask that, but I gathered the last of my social skills and endured it.

But perhaps my feelings showed on my face, because Kwak Jae-gyeom grinned and asked back.

“Still, it’s better than living with our team leader, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

At my quick agreement, Kwak Jae-gyeom giggled even more.

I looked around the room I would be using.

The space had everything it needed.

There was also a large window, so I went straight to it.

From the place where I signed the contract to here, I had walked for nearly 20 minutes.

But I had only passed through indoor corridors the whole time, and had not yet gone outside the building.

So I opened the window to see what kind of place this was.

Looking out the window, I could see the building’s structure at a glance.

This building was shaped like a square with the center left empty.

So on the opposite side and both sides, I could see a gray building connected into one, and far below, there was a fairly wide garden.

When I lifted my head, beyond the outer wall of the building, I could see only the blue sky.

But for an early spring sky, it was strangely clear and high.

Then Kwak Jae-gyeom said,

“That’s an artificial sky.”

“What?”

Startled, I looked at the sky again.

That is an artificial sky?

Other than the sense of season being slightly different, I could not feel any wrongness at all.

“Why would they make something like that…….”

“As employee welfare. This place is underground, so people can’t see the sky.”

“This is underground?”

“Yes. You see it often in movies, don’t you? Underground air-raid shelters, bunkers, things like that.”

Is everything underground a bunker……?

If this was a bunker, then leaves were umbrellas and pebbles were walls.

When I was shocked by the Bureau’s scale, Kwak Jae-gyeom grew smug.

“There probably isn’t any facility in the Republic of Korea as expensive and safe as this one.”

I had no choice but to acknowledge that.

The dignity and trust given by the space before my eyes were that powerful.

And so, I once again felt the fact that I had entered a preposterous world.

---

The next morning.

Kwak Jae-gyeom knocked on my door and asked,

“Hyung, are you busy?”

As if I could be busy.

After breakfast, I had only been flipping through the Bureau manual a little.

When I opened the door and came out, Kwak Jae-gyeom gestured with his eyes behind him and said,

“A guest came. Do you want to meet her?”

Surely it isn’t S.O.C.H.

Feeling subtly guarded, I looked over Kwak Jae-gyeom’s shoulder.

And there, I found a woman with extremely two-sided characteristics.

The woman standing in the living room was a rare beauty with a gentle atmosphere.

At the same time, she was a critically injured patient with bandages and adhesive bandages stuck all over her body.

A neat main body in an oddly ominous state.

I looked at the woman, wondering what kind of person she was.

Then the woman smiled brightly and greeted me.

“Hello, Mr. Otter.”

I was wondering if she was S.O.C.H. after all when I suddenly looked at her in surprise.

The woman facing me was also wearing an eyepatch, so only one eye could be seen.

But that eye drew a gentle curve like a deer’s.

When I recognized the woman and looked startled, she smiled more deeply and said,

“This is the first time seeing you without the mask. I’m Baek Sa-ra.”

It was quite a sudden reunion.