Chapter 8

Chapter 8 . I Thought I’d Escaped (3)

Ta-da-da-dum—!

A familiar piece of classical music flowed out as the screen brightened.

Then a snake wearing a scarf suddenly popped into the center of the screen.

Of course, it was not a real snake, but something like a cartoon character.

The snake opened and closed its mouth as it spoke.

-Citizens, hello. I am Agent Mumu, here to help you return home.

-First, we sincerely congratulate all of you watching this video on your safe return!

The reptile that introduced itself as “Agent Mumu” struck its own body with its tail.

PAT, PAT, PAT—!

Don’t tell me that’s supposed to be applause?

No, if they were going to make an animal mascot, couldn’t they have used something with front paws, like a tiger or a bear?

Why a snake?

It was absurd from the very beginning, but I silently watched the video.

-The Special Management Zone where you briefly stayed is a space that is still under research, and safely controlled by the Government of the Republic of Korea!

-However, very rarely, accidents occur in which ordinary citizens flow into it. We offer our deepest sympathies to all of you who were caught up in this disaster.

Agent Mumu bowed its head.

Then it spun around once, changing the atmosphere.

-Now, from here on, we will inform all citizens of a few precautions for returning to your daily lives!

Wait.

So what is a Special Management Zone?

Don’t tell me that’s the end of the explanation.

-First, all information regarding Special Management Zones, hereafter Special Zones, is a state-designated secret. So it is best to quickly forget the things you experienced there.

-If you convey information about Special Zones to others, you may be punished for the crime of leaking national security secrets!

-Furthermore, you must not leave traces in any form whatsoever, whether writing, drawings, video, code, or any other method, on paper, electronic devices, communication media, and so on. Please be especially careful, as personally producing or possessing records about Special Zones may also be punished!

-If a problem occurs, the compensation paid to you will also be recovered. So let us all take care to avoid any unfortunate incidents!

This was not even hiding the fact that they were shutting our mouths……?

There was no need to know what a Special Zone was, and I was not supposed to tell anyone what I had seen, not even write it in a diary. Wasn’t that what it meant?

On top of that, how would they know if I secretly wrote it in a diary and punish me?

As if answering my question, Agent Mumu added this.

-For the purpose of managing secrets, monitoring will be conducted for a certain period after you return home.

-This is a measure for the safety of our society, so we ask for the cooperation and understanding of all citizens.

That reptile, whether it was Snake-Snake or Mumu or whatever, bowed its head again.

No, this isn’t right!

This is openly saying they’re going to monitor us, isn’t it?

Is this something they can get past by making an animal character bow a few times?

Meanwhile, Agent Mumu suddenly flopped over as if it had fallen ill.

-After returning home, PTSD symptoms may appear.

-If insomnia, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, panic, or suicidal impulses that you did not previously have persist for more than two weeks, or if phenomena such as bodily deformation, encounters with strange creatures, or abnormal abilities appear, please do not seek a medical institution. Instead, write “Agent Mumu, help me!” in the memo app of a mobile phone under your own name.

-Then Mumu will hear your voice and become your strength!

It was getting worse and worse.

Now they were saying they would look into other people’s phones too?

No, before that, were the things it listed really ordinary PTSD symptoms?

What the hell was bodily deformation? Encounters with strange creatures?

-Citizens, you have truly been through a great deal.

-Mumu and the agents will do our best today as well so that all of you who overcame this disaster can return to a safe daily life!

Agent Mumu saluted with its tail.

Ta-da-da-dum—!

The classical music from the beginning played again, and Agent Mumu disappeared into the darkness.

The screen turned off, and the surroundings grew bright with fluorescent light.

But I sat there blankly in that state.

What did I just watch?

It had been strange from the beginning, and especially bizarre at the end.

As I sat frozen, the topknot man waiting beside me held out a clipboard.

“This is a confidentiality agreement. Once you sign it, we will send you home.”

Feeling utterly sick of this, I looked back and forth between the man and the clipboard.

Several sheets of paper were clipped to the board spread out before me.

When I roughly flipped through them, they contained almost exactly what Agent Mumu had just said.

I did not want to sign at all, so I asked the topknot.

“Do I have to do this?”

“You do.”

“What if I don’t?”

“We will prepare a space for you to stay until you sign.”

What a polite way to say they would lock me up.

I looked at the documents with a sour expression.

Then the topknot man hinted,

“The compensation payment confirmation is also on the back of the confidentiality agreement, so please sign that together.”

……This bastard, using money on people again.

I narrowed my eyes at the man’s obvious intention.

And my hand quickly signed.

Right. What was the point of groaning over this here? Let’s just go home quickly.

When I finished signing, the man collected the clipboard and said,

“Thank you for your cooperation. Please rest assured that we are careful to ensure the monitoring does not violate the rescued person’s privacy.”

“Yes, I’m sure you are.”

When I answered halfheartedly, the man handed me a bottle of water.

My throat had already been dry for a while.

Without much suspicion, I accepted the water bottle and drank it straight down.

As I quenched my thirst and set the bottle down, the man began rambling again.

“We have emphasized this several times, but please maintain confidentiality. Even if information about Special Zones is disseminated, it will immediately be controlled by monitoring agents. Therefore, it will benefit both parties if you do not make any unnecessary attempts. We also do not recommend opening a mobile phone account under a borrowed name for the purpose of avoiding monitoring. Whether it is under a borrowed name or a second borrowed name, if it is an electronic device used by Mr. Seo Do-un, it will all be included within our monitoring range. Lastly, if you have committed any crimes within the past six months, we recommend turning yourself in before the police contact you. We will overlook one or two minor offenses, but if a serious criminal act is confirmed, we will also take lawful measures in accordance with our guidelines.”

What the hell is he saying to a decent citizen?

The words fuck off rose all the way to my throat.

But what is this?

I felt my eyelids gradually lowering.

My body also grew heavy, like cotton soaked with water, and my head turned hazy.

What the hell? Why am I suddenly so sleepy……?

On the verge of collapsing at any moment, I looked at the man.

But the expression of the man looking down at me was nothing if not indifferent.

If a person suddenly staggered, one would normally be flustered…….

Wait. Don’t tell me?

At the suspicion that flashed through my mind, I looked back at the water bottle I had drunk from.

There was an empty water bottle on the desk, but no cap.

The cap had already been open when the man handed it to me.

There was enough circumstantial evidence, but I still wanted to believe in people, so I asked.

“Surely not……?”

“It is a safe drug. Please sleep at ease.”

“You……!”

The bastard who talked about crimes drugged someone else’s water?!

I wanted to condemn him with everything I had.

But no voice came out.

I simply lost my grip on consciousness and fell into a comfortable dream.

---

A ceiling.

A very familiar ceiling…….

Having just woken up, I stared at the ceiling with bleary eyes.

Then I sprang up in shock.

“Hurk!”

Where am I?

My room?

Unexpectedly, I was lying in my room, on my bed.

What happened? Why am I lying here? Was it all a dream?

I could not distinguish where reality ended and the dream began.

So I was frantically looking around when the clothes I was wearing entered my sight.

A gray tracksuit.

Clothes I had never bought, ones I had received from that suspicious place.

It wasn’t a dream.

Feeling as if I had been bewitched, I got out of bed.

When I came out into the living room, there was a box I had never seen before sitting on the floor.

I did not want to touch it with my hands, so I kicked it lightly with my foot and knocked it over.

Then a note and bundles of fifty-thousand-won bills spilled out all at once.

I picked up the note first and read it.

It said this.

-This is 50% of the assessed compensation. Please note that the remaining amount will be paid after a certain period of monitoring.

I threw away the note and counted the cash that had spilled out.

“Ha…….”

The amount of cash scattered across the floor was exactly one hundred million won.

---

“Assistant Manager Seo, did you buy a new keyboard?!”

“What would Assistant Manager Seo buy?”

When the senior associate in the seat beside me spoke loudly, the manager in the seat in front of me also poked his head over the partition.

So I showed them off my new item.

“Ooh…….”

“Ooooh……!”

True slaves to print.

It was not a watch or wallet, but a keyboard, and they were this excited.

The senior associate beside me looked over my brand-new keyboard and asked,

“What’s going on, Assistant Manager? You suddenly changed your phone, bought a new tablet, and now that you’ve come back from the dead, has your desire for things exploded?”

“Senior Associate Yang, that’s a bit harsh.”

The manager in the front seat cut in as he took my brand-new keyboard.

“No, that’s not it. Do you think this is because he wants things? Assistant Manager Seo got that this time. You know, injury payout.”

“Manager Jo, what do you mean, injury payout?”

I corrected the vocabulary of the gentlemen on my team.

But they only cackled in pairs, and I also gave a faint laugh along with them.

My coworkers currently believed that I had been in a traffic accident, had spent three days in a coma, miraculously woken up completely fine, and received a considerable settlement.

From beginning to end, it was a ridiculous misunderstanding.

But I had signed a confidentiality agreement, so I could not correct this fabrication.

Ten days had passed since I went through that nightmare.

Today was the fourth day since I returned to work.

I was doing better than I had expected.

First, I treated it as if I had gained some vacation and rested well for a few days.

Since a lump sum had rolled in, I bought the things I had always wanted.

I also returned the favor to the coworkers who had filled my absence during that time.

Fortunately, I did not have any PTSD symptoms.

Sometimes, when the tragedies I had seen in the Special Zone came to mind, cold sweat flowed, but if I endured for a few seconds, I soon shook them off.

The real problem was the thoughts that repeated even while I laughed and chatted with people at work.

What exactly is a Special Management Zone?

How does such a space exist?

And the identity of those people who claimed to belong to the government is…….

……In other words, questions and curiosity that would not easily subside.

“Assistant Manager Seo, what time are you heading out today?”

At the voice of the senior associate beside me, I suddenly came to my senses.

When I checked the clock, it was already time to leave.

“Ah, I have a lunch meeting, so I have to leave now. I’ll be out on business!”

I had been lost in other thoughts, so I hurriedly gathered my things and stood up.

This must be why that topknot had kept emphasizing confidentiality.

It seemed there would be quite a few people who turned this bizarre secret over and over in their heads alone, then abruptly exposed it.

To be honest, I was like that right now.

-Has anyone ever entered a place called a Special Management Zone?

-There really are other dimensions in the world.

-If you have a friend around you who suddenly went missing, please contact me!

I wanted to post something like that on the internet.

But if I did, I would probably pay the price Agent Mumu had mentioned.

Ah, stop thinking about useless things and just work.

Today was the day of the author meeting that had been postponed last time.

At the author’s request, we had agreed to meet at Yongsan Station.

Since I had brought the company card, I needed to eat something expensive and delicious, but I had not been around there much, so I did not know where was good.

As I traveled by subway, I searched for decent places nearby.

Soon, I got off the subway and went up into the station.

“……Huh?”

But when I absentmindedly came up to ground level, I froze where I stood.

The place where I had gotten off was definitely Yongsan Station.

But the place I had arrived at was the 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」.