Chapter 06

 D-7 — Anemone’s Monologue

“Y-Yes, please take care of me.”

I forced my frozen knees to move and barely managed to straighten my posture as I spoke.

Manager Batori stared at me for a moment with apparent interest, then smiled, the lips beneath her eyes stretching into a long crescent.

Whether it was a gesture of welcome or a pre-meal greeting was still unclear.

“Hehe… Your complexion is quite neat. The faces of those who remain here for long tend to fade rather quickly. I hope you can keep that initial brightness for a long time.”

“Th-Thank you…”

I felt like I should respond somehow, but no appropriate words came to mind.

Watching me trail off, Manager Batori covered her mouth and smiled sweetly with her eyes.

Her movements were truly so graceful that they seemed less human because of it.

Her neck, waist, shoulders, even her fingertips—

Every motion resembled brushstrokes painting through empty air, lighter than the air itself.

“…By the way, Son Daeri. Have you shown him the other blood relatives yet?”

“Assistant Manager Mok will be back from vacation soon, and Team Leader Sik will probably meet him before leaving work this evening.”

Her voice was soft yet cold as it slipped into my ears.

Like refined ice gently brushing against skin before ultimately cutting through it.

After hearing Son Daeri’s answer, she took a sip of some unidentifiable drink resting on the railing of the containment chamber and slowly nodded.

Beneath her long eyelashes, her dark crimson eyes gleamed even brighter.

“Good. Then later, let us have tea together and talk.”

She slowly raised the tablet in her hand up to her face.

Even the slightest movement of her wrist was elegant.

Had I not witnessed her tearing apart her own flesh and grotesquely transforming moments ago, she might have been the most beautiful being I had ever seen.

“Now then, I am busy… Continue without me.”

She turned away.

As though her words, her steps, and her gestures were all lighter than air itself.

Beyond the massive containment chamber, something colorless writhed like a beating heart.

The squirming mass possessed a form, yet was impossible to interpret.

Countless eyes—or holes—or emotions—or diseases.

I couldn’t tell what any of it was.

While those bizarre traits pulsed and fluttered, she observed it calmly as if admiring a work of art.

The moment my gaze attempted to follow hers and comprehend it—

“Haeil-ssi.”

Son Daeri spoke from beside me.

“Ah, yes, Son Daeri-nim.”

“Let’s start your first practical lesson. Since Department Head Myeon already mentioned it, we’ll begin with something easy. Let’s visit one of the tamest Dimensional Entities.”

I slowly nodded.

Son Daeri’s hand—no, his head—the fist above his shoulders—no, his head…

I didn’t even know anymore.

Whatever it was, it snapped its fingers heavily with a thunk!

“Follow me.”

We began walking through the corridors of the Extraction Room.

The hallway was even quieter than before.

The air carried traces of machine oil, faint disinfectant, and something resembling a mixture of meat and dust.

It wasn’t strong enough to sting the nose.

Instead, it crawled along the spine like a snake.

While we walked, Son Daeri suddenly spoke.

“You know, looking at it earlier… I think Manager Batori really likes you, Haeil-ssi.”

I reflexively gave an awkward smile.

“Really? I’m honored.”

Internally, I felt more like burying that honor underground.

The woman’s beautiful face surfaced in my mind.

Glowing skin.

Elegant fingertips.

Calm speech.

And then the splitting face.

The eyes emerging from within.

The enormous tearing mouth.

…Likes me? Seriously? Doesn’t she mean it the same way someone enjoys an appetizer before dinner?

“Manager Batori doesn’t talk to just anyone like that.”

Son Daeri tilted his hand-shaped head slightly as he continued.

“Once you get used to her way of speaking and her atmosphere, she’s actually a pretty good boss. How should I put it… she quietly takes care of her team members. Though sometimes she does look like a mosquito sucking blood.”

Not “looks like” one. She was literally drinking something that looked like blood…

I maintained my smile.

“That’s reassuring to hear. I’ll do my best going forward.”

I said that, but inside my head I was replaying the sight of her face splitting apart, revealing that enormous mouth, and those crimson eyes devouring me.

Following behind Son Daeri, each step made my stomach churn.

Yet I never allowed my polite smile to crack.

Being cheerful and courteous was essential for survival.

“D-7 should be a good place to start. D-7 is the entity code. Its designation is Anemone’s Monologue.”

The image of an anemone flower immediately came to mind.

It did not fit this bizarre place whatsoever.

“Is it… safe?”

“Yeah. It’s docile, gentle, and reacts predictably. As long as you follow the procedure properly, it’s very efficient.”

Procedure.

A word I’d heard many times already.

The fact that something in this incomprehensible place actually followed clear rules helped me regain a little composure.

“For reference, this entity responds when you accurately recite a specific recorded phrase. It’s a kind of ritual. Think of it as reciting poetry.”

Phrases.

Poetry.

Rituals.

The words seemed even less fitting.

Sensing my confusion, Son Daeri waved his hand-shaped head slightly.

“Don’t worry. Just follow the manual. The manual.”

We arrived in front of Containment Chamber D-7.

A thick observation window was installed in the door, but the interior was obscured by a dense mist-like barrier.

Even so, I could feel something waiting for me beyond that door.

I slowly inhaled.

Behind this door awaited the first Dimensional Entity I would ever encounter.

“Ah, before you go in, read this.”

Son Daeri handed me a sheet of paper from the desk beside the containment room.

I nodded briefly and lowered my gaze.

[Dimensional Entity Management Profile: D-7]

Entity Name: Anemone’s Monologue
Entity Code: D-7
Type: Composite Type (Biological / Conceptual)

Threat Level: D-Class
(Includes risks of cognitive contamination and unconscious imitation)

Details

Ritual-Based Interaction

This entity only responds while cognitively connected through a ritual involving the repeated recitation of specific phrases.

Cognitive Parasitism

While cognitively connected, the entity transmits signals directly to the manager’s cerebral cortex without requiring vocal organs.

During this process, it attempts to synchronize the manager’s thought patterns with its own, ultimately leading to parasitic integration.

Extraction Mechanism

Immediately after establishing a cognitive connection through the designated ritual phrases, energy is extracted from the resonance produced between the entity’s signals and the manager’s brainwaves.

Management & Extraction Manual

• Minimize visual and physical contact with the entity.
• Containment chambers must utilize reinforced glass at least 20cm thick and maintain a one-way observation structure.
• During extraction, treat all signals except the ritual itself as environmental noise. Unconscious imitation is prohibited.
• If cognitive contamination is detected, immediately cease extraction and leave the containment chamber.
• Time spent inside the chamber must never exceed two minutes.

Special Recommendations

• During extraction by newly assigned managers, assign a secondary manager capable of maintaining linguistic consistency to counter cognitive contamination.
• If signs of synchronization appear (auditory hallucinations, disordered thoughts, etc.), immediately remove the individual from duty and conduct a psychological evaluation.

I swallowed hard.

Son Daeri added an explanation.

“Finished reading? This is considered one of the safest entities on our team. Its reaction rules are just a bit strict. You have to recite the designated phrase exactly.”

“What phrase?”

“Here.”

The Post-it note he handed me contained a simple three-line sentence.

You cannot see me.
I do not see you.
We do not resemble one another.

“Just repeat it three times. Pitch matters too, so try following after me.”

Son Daeri tilted his head—or rather, the hand serving as his head—and began reciting in a slow, flat, mechanical tone.

Suppressing my curiosity about how he produced sound without any vocal organs, I adjusted my voice and repeated the lines after him.

Yet Manager Batori’s breath-like voice still lingered in my ears, causing a faint tremor in my speech.

A moment later, the containment chamber door slid open.

“Go in. Don’t stay inside longer than two minutes. Once the door opens, come right back out.”

I simply nodded.

The reality that I was about to perform an actual extraction filled me with tension.

Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck.

Something was waiting inside.

As though it had been waiting not specifically for me, but for anyone at all.

The moment I stepped inside, my vision warped.

The containment chamber resembled the inside of a glass sphere where light itself had become distorted.

Every surface was vague like fog.

The ceiling, walls, floor—even my own shadow seemed detached from reality.

And directly ahead stood a head.

A severed human head rested upon a metal pedestal.

Yet what bloomed from it was not pain or agony.

It was flowers.

Three massive blossoms emerged from its eye sockets and mouth.

They resembled anemones, though their petals were longer and thinner.

Blood-red spots dotted every petal.

Despite the complete absence of wind within the sealed chamber, the flowers swayed gently.

The moment the door shut behind me, every petal turned toward me simultaneously.

Clutching the tablet Son Daeri had given me, I began reciting the phrase as calmly as possible.

“You cannot see me.”

“I do not see you.”

“We do not resemble one another.”

My voice nearly cracked, but I successfully repeated the three lines three times.

When the third repetition ended, a faint click echoed from the chamber wall.

“Phew.”

Relieved, I looked toward the door.

But it remained closed.

Do I need to do it again?

Since the observation glass only allowed viewing from the outside, I couldn’t see how Son Daeri was reacting.

Then suddenly, the atmosphere inside the chamber changed.

…

There was no sound.

No voice.

Yet the three anemones above the severed head began writhing simultaneously.

Their petals trembled.

The face, lacking lips or vocal cords, whispered something.

Not words.

Not thoughts.

A sensation.

Something seemed to be forcing its way up from the deepest layers of my unconscious.

There was a sentence.

You are looking at me.

A sentence I had definitely heard before.

A sentence I somehow already knew.

I am looking at you.

We resemble one another.

These were phrases.

Yet instinct sealed my mouth shut.

It was trying to implant them into me.

Trying to make me repeat them.

Unconscious imitation is prohibited.

The warning struck my mind like a hammer.

An instinctive certainty told me I must not repeat those words.

I consciously erected a wall against the flower’s whispers.

“N-No… You cannot… see me.”

No… You can see me.

“I… do not see you.”

I… want to see you.

“…We do not resemble one another.”

…We should resemble one another.

I was no longer certain whether the words leaving my mouth belonged to me.

They felt as though they were rising from somewhere much deeper—not from my brain, but from my organs.

Then, suddenly, the anemones stopped.

Inside each blossom, densely packed stamens writhed like tongues before freezing completely.

The blood-red spots on the petals stared at me like eyes.

Then slowly closed.

The atmosphere inside the containment chamber gradually settled.

Within the countless tubes lining the walls, the reddish fluid flowing through them suddenly flared with brilliant blue light.

The entire network pulsed as though a heart had contracted violently.

The liquid surged forward at a much faster speed, flooding the transparent pipes with dazzling radiance.

A humming engine-like sound reverberated throughout the chamber.

Then a mechanical voice emerged from a ceiling speaker.

[Energy extraction complete. Containment status maintained.]

With the hiss of escaping air pressure, the door swung open.

I immediately ran out.

The back of my neck felt as though it were burning, but I didn’t look back.

As soon as I exited, Son Daeri’s fist-shaped head opened wide and spoke.

“Oh, not bad at all for your first time.”

Outside the chamber, I stood gasping for breath.

My fingertips trembled.

My stomach churned.

He flexed his fist once and nodded.

Then, after a brief pause, he chuckled.

“That little guy can be annoying sometimes.”

“…What?”

I was still breathing heavily.

“The summary manual I made only mentions it briefly. The original version includes footnotes and examples explaining what it means when it twists sentences or manipulates a manager’s language patterns.”

Wait.

So the single sheet of A4 paper he gave me wasn’t the original?

It was a summary?

One he personally made?

“In other words, it tries to induce unconscious imitation. You could call it a little prank.”

Son Daeri raised the thumb on his head.

The absurd gesture somehow carried a hint of genuine delight.

More precisely, he seemed amused that I’d followed the manual to the very end despite the situation.

“Good work, Haeil-ssi.”

He slowly approached and patted my shoulder.

With his actual right hand.

Not the one attached to his head.

“New hires these days all have good instincts. They usually figure things out on their own. That’s why I thought you probably didn’t need the thick original manual. Looks like my faith wasn’t misplaced!”

The fist-shaped head clenched and relaxed once again as he spoke.

The praise carried unmistakable malice.

What would’ve happened if I’d failed?

…You bastard.

The fact that I was beginning to wonder whether there was an actual skull and brain inside that fist-head probably meant I was gradually adapting to this insane environment.

Fear of this absurdity was slowly being layered over with anger.

“You handled it skillfully. Like a veteran.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

“Congratulations. To be honest, it was a bit of a test. But after seeing that… everyone will probably acknowledge you right away.”

My head was burning.

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

And beside me stood a monster of a supervisor praising my mental fortitude.

A supervisor whose head was literally a hand.

I pressed my dry lips together and bowed politely.

“Thank you for your kind words… Son Daeri-nim.”

And inwardly, I muttered:

Resignation.

I want to resign.

But I had no desire to see that baby monster from Human Resources ever again.

Forcing a smile, I nodded.

“It’s all thanks to you, Son Daeri-nim. I’ll… work even harder.”

Ah.

Lee Jihyun-ssi.

Are you happy wherever you are?

Because this place… doesn’t seem very happy at all.