TAHBPC 01

Chapter 01

Very few things in this world ever go according to plan.

Life is full of variables in the first place—that’s what makes it interesting, isn’t it?

Every morning, we take a step forward toward somewhere.

We check train schedules, set alarms, organize our tasks in our heads, and walk out the door.

Yet somehow, we rarely end up exactly where we expected.

A crowded street, a sudden downpour, an unexpected phone call—these little detours reshape the scenery of our day.

Variables always arrive with two faces.

One is the face of chaos.

The other is the face of opportunity.

That’s why, even while hesitating before a crowded intersection, there are moments when we excitedly press the accept button on an unexpected proposal.

Perhaps our lives shine brighter not because of our plans, but because of the split-second ingenuity we show when those plans fall apart.

And so, though plans crumble, something new begins to grow in their place.

Sometimes, it even turns out to be a better path.

We call it “coincidence.”

More poetic people call it “fate.”

That’s what life is.

The more tightly you try to control it, the more it slips through your fingers.

The more you entrust yourself to it, the more unexpected places welcome you.

In the end, what matters is continuing forward despite being shaken.

So today as well, let us quietly welcome the unexpected variables.

They just might make our lives more beautiful.

Fuck that bullshit.

Variables are the spice of life?

Unexpected events make life richer?

That’s the kind of nonsense only idiots who have everything going for them can afford to say.

Sure, those words probably sounded pretty inspiring to someone like me yesterday evening—a guy about to start his first day at work.

But right now, I’d happily kick those sentences into a trash can.

…What the hell is this?

I had straightened my collar, suppressed my oddly nervous excitement, and opened my front door.

What I should have seen was the familiar hallway of my apartment building.

The usual fluorescent lights. A few delivery boxes lying around.

Instead, what unfolded before me was an office.

And not an ordinary office by any stretch of the imagination.

A furry arm suddenly jutted into view.

Attached to it were ten thin flesh-pillars that vaguely resembled fingers, tapping rhythmically against a wall like someone playing a piano.

A creature with a cluster of purple tentacles instead of a head stood holding a cup beneath a vending machine.

In another corner of the hallway, someone dressed in a suit was hurrying along.

Everything above the waist was folded flat like paper.

As though the image of a person had been printed onto a sheet and folded up.

“…”

I remained frozen in front of my doorway.

The monsters dressed as ordinary office workers went about their morning commute as if nothing were strange.

No foul stench.

No exposed flesh.

No blood.

It looked exactly like a normal workplace.

Except for the fact that I seemed to be the only human there.

“…Am I dreaming?”

The muttered groan that escaped my lips was swallowed up by the simultaneous blinking of countless eyeballs belonging to an employee passing by.

How exactly had I ended up employed at a company crawling with monsters?

Honestly, I have no idea myself.

To explain that, I need to go back a little.

My life plan had originally been simple.

Study reasonably hard.

Get into college.

Graduate without incident.

Find a respectable job and earn money.

Looking back, I thought I was following that ordinary path pretty well until I got accepted into university.

Even when I became a non-commissioned officer, I considered it just one of life’s many coincidences.

Then everything broke.

Literally, in an instant.

I saw something I was never supposed to see.

Heard words I never wanted to hear.

And afterward, I couldn’t say anything at all.

Well, that’s all there is to it.

I have no intention of going around telling people the real reason.

The important thing is that I left school, completed my military service, returned to civilian life, and became a job seeker.

The problem was that job hunting turned out to be far more brutal than expected.

Resume rejection.

Interview rejection.

Endless revisions of cover letters.

A bank account balance shrinking in direct proportion to the passage of time.

Even while preparing for employment, missing rent meant getting kicked out, and running out of money meant going hungry.

One day, after yet another interview that I’d already lost count of, something caught my eye on the street.

A small rectangular card lying on the pavement.

Black.

Without any gloss.

Its edges warped as if mold had eaten away at them.

A business card.

Ignoring it would have been the smartest decision of my life.

Instead, I picked it up.

The company website address printed on it.

The moment I visited the site, a giant slogan greeted me.

Sapilgwijung Co., Ltd.

Now Hiring

Starting Salary: 68 Million Won

100% Interview Acceptance Rate

Over five million won a month.

The moment I saw that sentence, I was hooked.

Whether it was a scam or a kidnapping operation didn’t even matter.

At that point, I would’ve gladly accepted either, as long as money started appearing in my account.

I sent over the self-introduction letter I always kept prepared and called the number on the card.

When I asked if an interview was possible that day, I was directed to a shabby building on the fourth floor.

No signboard.

No intercom.

A half-open door with the smell of mold wafting out.

Everything about it screamed that something was seriously wrong.

But people are funny.

Once you’ve invested even a little time and effort into something, it’s surprisingly hard to back out.

I’ll just take a quick look and leave.

That was what I told myself as I stepped inside.

Looking back, maybe I was completely insane.

Or maybe, from that moment onward, my decisions weren’t entirely my own.

A small interview room.

The fluorescent lights flickered.

The air carried a sticky smell that was somewhere between oil and mold.

At the center sat a man in a suit.

Or rather, something similar to a man.

At first there had definitely been one face.

Yet every time it turned its head, another face appeared.

A face beside a face.

Beside another face.

And another.

A smiling face beneath a sleeping face.

A crying face beside that.

Pale faces, each carrying different expressions and breaths.

“Mr. Jeong Hae-il? You’re here for the interview, correct?”

One of the many faces spoke.

Someone had definitely spoken.

But I couldn’t explain exactly which mouth the voice came from.

“I’m Manager Myeon, head of Extraction Team 1.”

One of the faces smacked its lips as it spoke.

After that, my memories became hazy.

I vaguely remember looking over documents while listening to the bizarre voices of those bizarre faces.

I think I even signed some sort of agreement.

Why hadn’t I refused?

“Excellent. We’ll contact you within a few days. Once we do, come in immediately. I look forward to working with you, Employee Jeong Hae-il.”

The last thing I remembered was the monster smiling kindly with seven faces.

Then I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, I was back in my apartment.

And when I looked beside me, I found myself holding not only the business card I’d picked up, but also an employee ID card I’d never seen before.

Employee Jeong Hae-il

Sapilgwijung Co., Ltd. | Extraction Team 1

The unpleasant employee card.

The mold-smelling business card.

I desperately wanted to believe it had all been an extraordinarily vivid nightmare.

A hallucination created by an exhausted brain.

Then, a few days later, my phone chimed.

The moment I saw the message, I had no choice but to accept reality.

[Caller ID Blocked]

You may begin work tomorrow.

We’ll come pick you up in the morning.

Come pick me up?

I couldn’t even remember where the company was.

Searching for the website again yielded nothing.

No records existed.

So in the end, I had no choice but to believe.

Believe in that mysterious promise.

And pray this bizarre coincidence wouldn’t completely ruin my life.

And now, this was what I was looking at.

I took a deep breath.

An unfamiliar hallway.

An indifferent stream of commuters dressed in business suits despite clearly not being human.

Ah. It’s a dream.

I gripped the doorknob.

Hoping to see my apartment hallway again, I carefully closed the door and reopened it.

Nothing changed.

The employee covered in blinking eyeballs was still walking away.

“Employee Jeong Hae-il.”

A chilling voice sounded beside me.

I forced myself to stay calm as I slowly turned my head.

After checking my reflection in the glass wall and fixing my expression into a blank mask, I finally looked over.

Pale skin devoid of blood, like waterlogged plaster.

No eyes.

No tongue.

Only bottomless black holes where features should have been.

And attached to the writhing mass of flesh were seven faces.

A screaming face.

A panting face.

A crying face.

A giggling face.

Among them, one face with a gentle appearance smiled at me like an ordinary office superior.

“First day at work, right? Is something wrong?”

It was him.

The monster from the interview.

The seven-faced creature that had interviewed me and made me sign those papers.

A scream surged up my throat.

I bit down hard on my tongue and forced it back down.

The taste of blood filled my mouth.

If I scream now, it’s over.

Instinct told me that much.

Drawing attention here, or provoking these monsters, could only end badly.

I swallowed.

As naturally as possible.

As expressionlessly as possible.

The absurd sight of the seven-faced monster made whatever remained of my sanity creak and groan.

“Yes. It’s just… my first day, so I’m a little nervous.”

One face giggled.

Another nodded sadly.

But the most human-looking face maintained its gentle smile.

“Everyone is. The first day always makes people nervous.”

He spun something resembling a keycard in his fingers and gestured for me to follow.

“So, Employee Jeong. Do you remember my name?”

“Y-Yes. Manager Myeon, right…?”

“Good. Today I’ll give you a simple tour of the company. You’ll learn the details gradually. Ah, and could I borrow your phone for a moment? We need to install a security app.”

I handed over my phone and followed him.

My heart still felt like it would explode.

Thankfully, my legs weren’t shaking enough to be obvious.

We passed through hallways filled with monsters.

Rode an elevator.

Descended for what felt like an eternity.

And when the doors finally opened…

The first thing that hit me was the smell.

Fishy odors.

Mold.

Burning metal.

Burning rubber.

Perfume.

Raw eggs.

Scents that should never have mixed together tore into my nostrils.

Manager Myeon casually returned my phone and continued walking.

The inner corridor pulsed like wet flesh.

Even the lights blinked like giant eyeballs staring at me.

“The core responsibility of Extraction Team 1 is dimensional entity management.”

Manager Myeon’s voice echoed through the corridor.

“We safely store dimensional entities as company assets and retrieve only the amount required when needed. That’s our internal work.”

“…Dimensional entities?”

“You’ll meet them soon enough.”

He stopped before a massive sealed metal door.

The words Extraction Chamber D Sector were engraved across its surface.

Manager Myeon pressed his keycard against an oversized access panel.

The lock disengaged.

The heavy door slowly opened.

Something emerged from the gap.

A presence that clearly wasn’t human.

Moist breathing.

Unfamiliar cries.

Whispering noises.

All of it poured into my ears at once.

Even the air entering my lungs felt like stagnant, rotten water.

I unconsciously tried to step backward.

But froze.

My legs wouldn’t move.

It felt as though something beyond that doorway had nailed my feet to the ground.

When the door fully opened, I saw endless rows of transparent containment chambers.

Inside them were monsters packed shoulder to shoulder.

Things made only of arms.

Floating faces.

Shadow-like beings drifting beneath fluorescent lights.

Every single creature turned its head toward me.

Toward the unfamiliar outsider.

I bit my lip, trying to suppress the goosebumps spreading across my body.

I couldn’t even breathe.

The countless eyes beyond the glass blinked in unison.

It felt as though they were calling my name.

Then Manager Myeon’s voice whispered beside me.

“Welcome to Sapilgwijung Co., Ltd., Employee Jeong. We sincerely welcome you.”

All seven faces burst into laughter simultaneously.

And as if echoing him, the monsters inside the containment chambers screamed.

A tidal wave of sound.

Not crying.

Not screaming.

Not laughing.

Something else entirely.

As though every noise humanity could never imitate had been mashed together and unleashed at once.

Amid that whirlwind of madness, one thought became crystal clear.

My life…

Was absolutely, catastrophically fucked.