Chapter 30

Chapter 30 . Where Corpses Run (2)

And so, back to today.

Inside the 「Membership Warehouse Mart」.

The gunfire that had been raging beyond the storage racks had quieted before I knew it.

The explosions had also been silent for a while.

However, my possession, Kwak Jae-gyeom, was still busy.

“Everyone, give your interim reports.”

-A-4, no traps.

“Yes, please stand by for a moment.”

-B-7, we’re screwed……. We used up even the borrowed dummies, but we couldn’t finish.

“Then let’s stop there. If the trap density is that high, there’s no meaning in finding a green zone.”

-Z-0, Jae-gyeom. These guys won’t give us memberships? When I try to just take them, they get angry.

“I think it’d be better to hand that over to the Exploration Team. Don’t fight the 「Employees」, just check how many memberships there are. I’ll go with Do-un hyung later and try swiping them.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom radioed the agents scattered around the mart while typing on his laptop.

Tap, tatatatak—

As if he were coding, complicated English letters streamed in under Kwak Jae-gyeom’s rapid typing.

A short while later, when something began loading, Kwak Jae-gyeom sent another radio message.

“I’ve finished compiling the data. Hyungs, please take a break and stand by until the analysis results come out.”

Oh…….

I looked at Kwak Jae-gyeom in admiration.

Then Jae-gyeom felt my gaze and turned to look at me.

“What?”

“You guys really are special agents, huh……?”

“Hyung, our training is seriously brutal…….”

“I didn’t know. I only found out today.”

“That’s really too much.”

What Kwak Jae-gyeom and the Response Team agents were doing right now was Special Zone stabilization work.

The Bureau’s Special Zone explorations proceeded through step-by-step cooperation among several teams.

The first stage was stabilization work.

It meant identifying and eliminating risk factors inside the Special Zone in advance, laying the foundation for other teams to operate.

The ones in charge of this tough work were the Response Team.

And right now, I was fairly surprised by the Response Team’s performance.

I had thought of them as a frustrating organization that used the manpower shortage as an excuse to do nothing but stare at manuals and monitors.

But these people, when they worked, really did their work properly.

On top of that, even Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had mostly been frivolous at home, looked quite professional right now.

His appearance in black special forces gear with a submachine gun slung over him was rather intimidating, and now that I saw him like this, his physicality was not ordinary either.

Right, he had only been overshadowed because Cha Si-eon was too overwhelming. This guy was still an agent too.

“Ha-ma!”

But Agent Kwak Jae-gyeom shouted toward somewhere again.

Why has he been looking for Ha-ma so much since earlier?

Puzzled, I followed Kwak Jae-gyeom’s gaze.

At the far end of the aisle, someone was approaching us.

It was a woman with bobbed hair.

Unlike the fully armed Response Team agents, she wore a light work uniform.

Tucked under her arm were a bunch of things like rolled-up posters.

And more than anything, she was so small that I could not tell why she was called Ha-ma.

The bob-haired woman strode toward us.

Then she shoved Kwak Jae-gyeom’s face away with her palm.

“Move. Don’t get in the way.”

A voice exquisitely mixed with fierceness and indifference.

But Kwak Jae-gyeom did not even blink.

“What are you saying? I was here first.”

“Do I care?”

“Why are you walking around alone? It’s dangerous.”

“My team is over there, okay? Ah, seriously, you’re dead!”

The woman snapped back sharply, then burst out in anger.

Because Kwak Jae-gyeom had wildly mussed up the top of the woman’s head, which barely reached his chin.

When her neat hair was disheveled, the woman flew into a rage and swung her fist.

CRACK—!

But an improper sound rang out.

Kwak Jae-gyeom had raised his arm to block, and unfortunately, his hard arm guard collided with the woman’s fist.

Oh dear, that must hurt.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

When the woman’s expression turned solemn, Kwak Jae-gyeom explained.

But that did not help…….

The woman even threw down her things and began beating Kwak Jae-gyeom.

Impressive. To think she could beat up someone carrying a gun like that.

And Kwak Jae-gyeom, dressed like special forces and merely getting hit, mm.

It seemed fine if he got hit a little more.

Seeing as he was laughing with his guard up.

Are they friends?

Ha-ma really did have a face as young as Jae-gyeom’s.

On top of that, her black bob had seemed ordinary at a glance, but looking again, only the inner part had been dyed blue.

What was that called? Two-tone dyeing?

It was a style with as much personality as Kwak Jae-gyeom’s bleached blond hair.

Putting it all together, these two were peers whose relationship seemed bad but good.

Even now, this was closer to playing than fighting.

But, kids, is it all right to play around here like this……?

Unable to grasp the atmosphere, I awkwardly watched the two young people.

At that moment, Ha-ma, who had been busy beating Kwak Jae-gyeom, noticed me.

“Huh?”

Ha-ma stopped the assault at once.

Then she made an expression of wondering whether she was right, before suddenly going, Uh, uh, uh, and widening her eyes.

“Aren’t you Otter Agent?”

A wetland creature had recognized another wetland creature…….

When I was flustered, Kwak Jae-gyeom cut in.

“Hey, don’t touch my hyung.”

“Get lost. Why is Otter your hyung?”

You are both wrong.

I am neither your hyung nor an otter.

Ha-ma hit Kwak Jae-gyeom a few more times and finally shoved him away.

Then she replaced her fierce face with a shy one and bowed to me.

“Hello, Agent. I’m really a fan…….”

“Yes……?”

If one receives a greeting, returning the greeting is human decency.

But because I had heard something too absurd, I was left speechless.

A fan? Why on earth?

At that moment, Miss Ha-ma abruptly showed me her wrist and said,

“I’m in S.O.C.H. too!”

Around that wrist was a flat bracelet.

It was a silicone bracelet printed with an otter drawing.

“……What is that?”

“Limited merch for first-generation members of S.O.C.H. I made this myself.”

“Uh, really?”

Forgetting that I had been awkward the whole time, I asked back in surprise.

I had a fairly discerning eye for merch too.

Because publishing companies often produced it as part of marketing.

Even to my eyes, Miss Ha-ma’s bracelet was quite high quality.

You might say it was merely a silicone bracelet, but look.

This otter drawing used no fewer than four colors, including the outline.

To reproduce such a vivid otter on slick silicone with four-color printing, this was clearly the work of a skilled person.

“Which vendor produced this?”

“It’s self-produced. I did everything from design to production myself.”

“You self-produced this?”

How? The equipment alone should be no joke.

At my reaction, Miss Ha-ma, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly startled and introduced herself.

“Ah! My name is Ha Yu-ju. I’m on the Fabrication Team.”

The Fabrication Team? Ah, then I understood.

The Bureau’s Field Operations was composed of four teams.

The Response Team, which was deployed to crisis situations and Special Zone stabilization work.

The Exploration Team, which deeply investigated the operating principles of Special Zones.

The Control Team, which measured and monitored the internal environments of Special Zones.

And the remaining one was the Fabrication Team.

“I designed this too. Would you like to see it?”

Miss Ha-ma, Ha Yu-ju, picked up the posters she had thrown down and unfolded one.

It was a product flyer commonly seen in marts.

But instead of product descriptions, these words were written there.

---

■ Escape Directives for the 「Membership Warehouse Mart」

One. Take only 1 membership card placed below.

Two. Move while avoiding areas where traps have been installed.

Three. Purchase 3 items and submit the receipt to an 「Employee」.

※The items whose prices have been confirmed so far are as follows.

1. Cobb salad – 1 fingernail (「Coupon Book」 discount price applied)

2. Strawberry trifle - 200ml of blood

3. Variety cookies – 1 silver ring

(Additional updates scheduled)

---

Its appearance was clearly a flyer, but the contents were Survival Rules.

And yet it had been made so well that it did not feel out of place.

When I showed admiration, Ha Yu-ju excitedly showed me another one.

“And this is a banner to set up in the trap sections.”

---

Caution! Stop First!

There are traps installed where you are standing.

This is a real dangerous situation, so please move carefully according to the rough map below.

---

This too was a banner that could perfectly well exist in a mart.

Even so, the message, completely different from the design, read without any sense of wrongness.

The rough map and movement direction also stood out clearly.

“You really made this well.”

“Wow, really? We worked incredibly hard on this. Since they said these were rules Otter Agent figured out, we really put our heart into every stitch!”

“These flyers and banners are self-produced too, right?”

“Yes. Because of security, we can’t use private vendors.”

“You must have worked hard making all of this.”

“Oh, not at all. It was really fun work. We’ve had so little work lately that we were bored.”

“You had no work?”

“Yes. If those guys don’t give us work, our team has nothing to do.”

“Hey, if you say it like that, it makes our team sound like we’re just playing around…….”

Kwak Jae-gyeom, whom Ha Yu-ju had pointed to as “those guys,” grumbled softly.

Well, that made sense.

The Response Team had to work hard first before the Fabrication Team would have work to do.

Because the Fabrication Team was the department that produced and placed Survival Rules.

Couldn’t they just roughly print and scatter Survival Rules?

No, they could not.

“They have to be this level of quality to remain in place, right?”

“Yes. If there’s even a slight sense of foreignness, they notice quickly. Then the entities come and tear everything down.”

At my question, Ha Yu-ju nodded vigorously and answered.

It was said that entities inside Special Zones did not like objects from outside.

So if they saw something suspicious, they frequently damaged it or removed it.

Instead, even if it was an outside object, if it blended well with the surrounding environment, they failed to notice and passed it by.

That was why the Bureau had a separate department for making Survival Rules.

Because precise Survival Rules capable of deceiving a Special Zone’s eyes were necessary.

As I nodded in deep impression, Ha Yu-ju suddenly lit up her eyes and said,

“Agent, is there any merch you want?”

As if there would be?

“For reference, our team leader is the first-generation president of S.O.C.H.”

That is excessive TMI.

“We’ll be recruiting third-generation members soon. Are you perhaps interested in our activities?”

Ha Yu-ju spoke with glittering eyes.

I had been a little startled because she had beaten Kwak Jae-gyeom earlier, but Ha Yu-ju was an ordinarily lively person.

Only, her tension was a little too high for me to keep up with…….

As my energy gradually drained, Kwak Jae-gyeom cut in.

“Aren’t you busy?”

“Tch.”

“Wow, look at her expression change.”

“Agent, I’ll send you a S.O.C.H. merch set later. There are keychains, magnets, and name tags too.”

Ha Yu-ju, with a regretful face, promised a later date.

It seemed Ha Yu-ju was the kind of person who enjoyed fan activities themselves.

I was apparently merely being used for that.

……What a relief.

Ha Yu-ju, who had returned to her main job, unfolded a poster with us behind her.

Then she looked around as if searching for a suitable place.

“Want me to help?”

“Hold this and stand there.”

When Kwak Jae-gyeom stepped forward to help, Ha Yu-ju readily entrusted it to him.

As expected, these two really are close.

The problem was that because I was tied to Kwak Jae-gyeom by the wrist, I had to move with him too.

At this rate, who was whose possession…….

Kwak Jae-gyeom and I walked around side by side holding the poster, and Ha Yu-ju kept taking pictures of it with a camera.

A little while later, Ha Yu-ju came over and showed us the photos.

“Is this okay?”

“It looks too much like a corner.”

“I’m trying to make it visible right away from over there.”

When Yu-ju pointed toward the aisle, Jae-gyeom’s gaze followed.

They look like university students doing a group project.

I was watching that sight warmly.

Suddenly, the surroundings went dark.

At the same time, a sense of wrongness wrapped around my entire body.

The air had changed without any process.

No way.

I raised my head.

Sure enough, the space had changed.

But I was not alone.

“……This really works.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom smiled with a troubled face.

Then he frowned toward Ha Yu-ju, who stood beside him.

“Why did you come along?”

It seemed he had spoken meanly on purpose so Yu-ju would not be frightened.

But his voice was full of dismay, so it had the opposite effect.

On top of that, Ha Yu-ju, who had been caught up without any warning, had already turned white.

“Hey, Ha-ma…….”

Kwak Jae-gyeom called her again, but Ha Yu-ju grabbed her left arm and screamed.

“……!”

In the scream I had heard for the first time in my life, I clearly saw it.

Ha Yu-ju’s severed arm, and the blood gushing violently from the cut surface.