TAHBPC 04

Chapter 04

 But Not So Fast

There’s a saying that life is C (Choice) between B (Birth) and D (Death).

True enough.

The choice that led me to join this company was a real C-rapshoot.

“Ah, Employee Jeong. Did your visit to the HR Office go well?”

The moment I left the HR Office, I headed straight for the elevator.

By the time I returned to the office, completely drained, Manager Myeon was staring at me with all seven faces.

And there was only one answer I could give him.

“…I don’t think I’ll be resigning after all.”

“Oh? Did something happen?”

“It seems there was a mistake on the hospital’s side. Apparently her condition isn’t as serious as they initially thought.”

Apparently that was the correct answer.

Manager Myeon didn’t ask any further questions about the phone call.

Maybe they were simply short-staffed here.

“Indeed, that’s good news. Very good news. We finally hired a new employee, and for them to resign on their very first day… that would have been quite unfortunate.”

For a moment, it looked like the fifth face licked its lips.

Probably just my imagination.

When I replied with an awkward smile, Manager Myeon approached and patted my shoulder.

“You’ve had quite a few shocks today, so let’s call it a day. It doesn’t look like the others will be back anytime soon anyway. I’ll introduce you to the team tomorrow morning. Starting tomorrow afternoon, you’ll begin learning the actual work.”

“Go home…?”

I carefully glanced around the room.

Beyond the open office door, I could just barely see the hallway I’d walked through earlier.

“Is there another problem?”

“N-No, nothing like that. I was just wondering if I can simply leave?”

Manager Myeon nodded.

He was clearly suppressing laughter.

Like he was watching a clueless new hire struggle with something obvious.

I decided not to ask that thing how exactly one was supposed to leave work.

Still.

The fact that leaving work was even possible came as a relief.

Not telling the baby monster in HR that I wanted to resign had been an excellent decision.

If I’d said the wrong thing there, that crimson tongue probably would’ve sampled my flesh, and I wouldn’t have gotten off work at all.

“Hello. I’m Jeong Hae-il, the new employee assigned to Extraction Team 1. I came by to introduce myself and ask for your guidance.”

Not bad improvisation.

Being remembered as an overly polite employee was infinitely preferable to losing my life.

The baby monster had responded irritably that it could verify such information from its own office.

I’d maintained a calm expression and successfully escaped the HR Office.

Things had been a little shaky, but even the baby monster didn’t eat diligent new hires simply because they looked pale.

As for Lee Ji-hyeon…

Forget it.

Don’t think about it. Just leave.

I stood up, packed my bag as naturally as possible, and headed for the office door.

“Then I’ll be heading home now, as you suggested.”

Of the seven faces, Manager Myeon selected the friendliest-looking smile.

“Very well. Good work today, Employee Jeong.”

I bowed politely and headed toward the emergency exit at the end of the hallway.

For some reason, I didn’t want to use the elevator that had taken me to HR.

The day had been packed with impossible nonsense.

But still.

I had survived one day.

First, get out of the company.

Go home.

Rest.

Thinking only that, I opened the door.

Click—

Cold air rushed in.

Directly in front of me was…

Unfortunately.

My room.

The small but tidy studio apartment.

The neatly made bed.

The organized clothes.

Everything looked exactly as it had this morning, aside from the pitch-black darkness outside the window.

I slowly closed the door.

Then opened it again.

My room.

Closed it.

Opened it.

My room.

Again.

Again.

Again.

I stared blankly at the scene, as though it had been stitched into reality with needles.

The novel I’d left half-read yesterday sat neatly atop the shoe cabinet.

The goldfish in the tank opened and closed its mouth as always.

Since they had said they would pick me up for work, fine.

But could this really be called going home?

“Can we get out? Really? No…!”

I could feel the organization’s malice and mockery.

Resignation?

Clocking out?

Could anyone even leave this building to begin with?

No.

You couldn’t.

I shut the door and pressed the back of my hand against my forehead.

My forehead felt warm.

My hand felt ice-cold.

Was I actually going insane?

“Employee Jeong.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin and whipped my head around.

Manager Myeon was standing several paces behind me.

At some point, he had followed me.

All seven faces wore expressions of satisfaction.

As though they had finally witnessed my genuine realization.

One smiled.

One frowned.

One yawned.

And the most innocent-looking face spoke kindly.

“Because you are a valuable talent, I made special arrangements to improve your work efficiency. You no longer need to worry about commuting.”

Manager Myeon brought that pleasant-looking face closer and smiled once more.

Then he turned neatly and walked back toward the office.

As a working adult, I finally had to accept reality.

I was already home.

In a way that made escape impossible.

***

A new morning.

A leisurely awakening without sunlight or alarms.

I threw off the blanket and set my feet on the floor.

Leaving the warmth of bed was never easy.

Today, however, it was difficult for entirely different reasons.

Nevertheless, I got up.

Opened the cupboard.

Grabbed a bag of cereal I’d left two days ago.

The milk felt old enough that I couldn’t remember when I’d bought it, but it smelled fine.

“…Haaah.”

I lifted a spoonful into my mouth.

Crunch.

Crunch.

A normal sensation.

Sweet.

Crispy.

Slightly catching in my throat.

It sounded like a place where people lived.

Like the remnants of an ordinary life that hadn’t collapsed.

And neither had I.

I had woken up normally.

I was eating cereal.

I would soon go to work.

And somehow, I would survive within this organization and gain something from it.

Ding.

A push notification appeared on my phone’s black screen.

One message informed me that three million won had been deposited into my account.

A hiring bonus and work support allowance.

Another notified me that points had been added to a company shopping app I had no memory of installing.

But whether it was money or points…

Where exactly was I supposed to spend them?

“Well then, time for a shower.”

I forced myself to imitate Manager Myeon’s voice.

Experience had taught me that if I didn’t talk to myself when alone, things got worse.

I opened the bathroom door.

Washed my face.

Brushed my teeth.

Rinsed off quickly.

The reflection in the mirror looked paler than yesterday.

Dark circles hung beneath my eyes.

“It’s okay.”

Even as I said it, my voice trembled.

I dried my face.

Put on my shirt and slacks.

Then absentmindedly pulled back the curtain.

My lungs felt submerged in icy water.

I forgot.

Outside the window was still endless darkness.

No light.

No sound.

No shape.

Not night.

Not darkness.

Something that simply did not exist.

Everything beyond the window had been erased.

The outside of the world itself.

Slowly, very carefully, I closed the curtain again.

With nobody around, my hands were free to shake as much as they wanted.

Today’s attempt at escaping reality had failed.

The fact that my room existed behind a company door.

The fact that nothing existed outside the window.

This world was making one thing painfully clear.

It had no intention of giving me choices.

Then my eyes fell upon an employee ID card lying neatly beside my work clothes on the desk.

Had I left it there?

Jeong Hae-il

Sapilgwijung Co., Ltd. | Extraction Team 1

I quietly picked up the card.

My name and department were printed so clearly they resembled an epitaph.

“Sapilgwijung… Co., Ltd.”

I muttered the words repeatedly under my breath, as though attempting to brainwash myself.

Then I stepped toward the front door.

If there was nowhere to run and no time to run…

Then the only option was to go in.

Quietly, I turned the handle.

Click.

The moment the door opened, fluorescent office lights washed over my face.

A faint smell of dust.

The scent of cleaning chemicals lingering on the hallway floor.

The cold, organized air of an office space.

Beyond the door I had closed after work yesterday was, once again, the company corridor.

I took a single step forward.

Immediately, the fluorescent lights began switching on one by one.

Flick. Flick. Flick.

The electrical buzzing followed me down the hallway.

It almost felt like a warm welcome.

Like the world itself had prepared a place for me.

Had I already evolved to match this horrific company?

Or had I simply deteriorated?

Or perhaps adaptation required abandoning that distinction altogether.

I headed directly toward the office of Extraction Team 1.

The doorknob felt warm.

As though someone had just touched it.

The door slid open.

Inside was the same office as yesterday.

Manager Myeon was already seated, writing something.

One of his seven faces turned toward me and slowly curled into a smile.

“Good morning, Hae-il.”

Compared to yesterday, I wore my mask more naturally.

“Good morning, Manager Myeon.”

I bowed and walked to my desk.

It had begun.

A daily life I had never chosen.

A company life without alternatives.

Maybe, if I worked hard enough, I could survive one more day.

“Incidentally, Assistant Manager Son just went to the break room. He seemed quite excited after hearing a new employee had joined. Wait a moment and I’ll introduce you once he returns.”

“Yes, understood.”

I quietly unpacked my bag and steadied my breathing.

Right then, footsteps emerged from the break room.

Tok.

The first step was heavy.

Tok.

Tok.

Tok.

The leisurely footsteps approached.

The office door opened.

Naturally, I looked up.

And saw him.

A well-built man.

A neat black suit.

A red tie without a wrinkle.

Properly pressed trousers.

Polished shoes.

A mug in his hand.

The image of a perfectly ordinary office worker.

Except for one thing.

His head.

“Assistant Manager Son, over here. This is Employee Jeong Hae-il. Why don’t you introduce yourselves?”

Assistant Manager Son.

No.

Part of his name was missing.

It should have been Assistant Manager Head Son.

Because his head was literally a hand.

More precisely—

A giant fist.

A huge pale hand sat atop his shoulders where a head should have been, clenched into a boxer’s thick, powerful fist.

No ears.

No eyes.

No nose.

Only five curled fingers protruding upward like a twisted crown.

The hand moved.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

The thumb and index finger separated.

Then closed again.

The middle finger spread.

Then folded back.

Like a handshake.

Like a greeting.

Or perhaps like the motion someone made immediately before crushing another person’s throat.

“Ah, so you’re the rookie?”

Every hair on my neck stood upright.

The voice came from his head.

No.

Not from his head.

It was driven directly into my mind.

The sound never passed through my ears.

It forced itself somewhere between my inner ear and my brain.

Every syllable squeezed and injected itself into my consciousness.

Each time he spoke, the fingers of the fist twitched.

“Well, well. We finally got a new hire. Just call me Assistant Manager Son. Looking forward to working with you.”

As he approached, the giant fist atop his shoulders slowly opened.

Politely.

As though offering a handshake.

Not an actual hand.

His entire head was being presented toward me.

“How about a handshake?”

Suppressing my bewilderment, I extended my right hand.

That head-mounted hand looked fully capable of turning into a fist and launching itself into my face at any moment.

“Yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Jeong Hae-il.”

The moment our palms touched, I felt a disturbing warmth.

Then came pressure that no human being should have been capable of producing.

Creeeak—

Pain shot through my hand.

It felt as though a steel clamp were crushing every bone.

The force he naturally applied during a handshake existed on an entirely different scale from mine.

“You’ve got rough hands. Must’ve worked out a bit, huh?”

Unaware of my condition, Assistant Manager Son laughed heartily and slapped me on the back.

WHAM!

To him, it was probably a friendly gesture.

To me, it felt like all the air had been blasted from my lungs.

“Ghk—!”

Something cracked.

Maybe not a bone.

But somewhere in my brain, survival protocols were being activated.

Believing I could endure a full day had been arrogance.

…These monster bastards.

The sight of Assistant Manager Son’s giant fist-head tilting left and right was the last thing I saw before collapsing.