TAHBPC 10

Chapter 10

I Was Just Starting to Get Used to It

Several repetitive days passed.

Every time an extraction was completed, money was deposited into my bank account under the name of hazard pay, and notifications about welfare points kept arriving.

I’d only been employed for a few days, and I was afraid asking where those benefits could be used might get me physically beaten, so I never brought it up.

Still, humans really are creatures of adaptation.

Now, whenever I opened the office door in the morning, I automatically lowered my voice. I could endure all seven of Myeon Manager’s faces turning toward me at once without trembling, and I had become the kind of person who gratefully accepted coffee from a superior whose head was literally a fist.

For some reason, I had begun to vaguely understand that these people(?) wouldn’t tear me apart for no reason.

Every so often, Myeon Manager would say I needed more experience and send me on additional tours of Zone B.

Whenever that happened, I walked the corridors beside Chief Sik, listening to chains drag across the floor, and found myself locked in staring contests with dozens of eyes beyond steel containment doors.

Sometimes they were literally staring contests.

Some dimensional entities wouldn’t react unless you looked directly into the mucus-like gaze they projected.

Anyway, I was currently standing in front of Containment Chamber D-11.

My actual job wasn’t extracting from B-Class entities—it was working with D-Class entities.

The entity’s name was The Silent Swan.

It was an incorporeal entity with no fixed form that periodically emitted waves of cold air from within its chamber.

If you knocked in a specific rhythm within the designated time window, resonance would occur and energy would be extracted.

Tap. Tap. Tap…

I had memorized the rhythm.

This was my fourth time performing the procedure.

The entity resembled a collection of silent white particles floating in space, though sometimes the faint outline of a smiling mouth would appear in the air.

Whenever that happened, cold sweat still ran down my back.

But at least I didn’t throw up anymore.

The urge still occasionally rose to my throat, but now I could force it back down.

The most useful skill I’d learned at this company was how to control my own internal organs.

“You’re doing great, Haeil.”

“Haeil is the future of our team.”

These days, Son Assistant Manager said things like that whenever he saw me.

It wasn’t unpleasant, but compliments delivered by a fist instead of a face still created a certain emotional distance.

Even Chief Sik had become gentler now, growling in softer tones while lightly patting my back.

Though sometimes those pats still rattled my spine.

I’ve gotten used to it. Almost… well…

As I prepared for the second sequence of knocks, I thought:

It’s hell, but I’ve adapted.

That was when it happened.

[BEEEEEEEEEP———. BEEP. BEEEEEP.]

A bizarre metallic siren echoed throughout the extraction facility.

Honestly, I would have preferred a fire alarm.

This wasn’t fire.

It wasn’t water.

It was something else entirely.

It was my first time hearing it in person, but Son Assistant Manager had mentioned it before.

“If a siren ever goes off in the extraction facility, it means something has opened somewhere. Haeil, you’re a good runner, right? Then run as fast as you can.”

The sound wasn’t heard through the ears.

It crawled up through the spine.

The facility ceiling began trembling faintly, and red emergency lights at the far end of the corridor started spinning.

I reflexively turned around.

Chief Sik was there.

Silent.

Motionless.

Staring in a single direction.

I followed his gaze.

Beyond the massive blast doors lay Zones C and B.

And beyond those, areas even more dangerous.

What suddenly happened…?

I’d only just gotten used to Zone D.

I looked down at the tablet in my hand.

The screen was dark.

My reflection stared back at me wearing an unfamiliar expression.

It seemed to be saying:

Maybe it’s still too early to get comfortable.

The siren sounded again.

This time it felt close enough to burst my eardrums.

[Special Dimensional Entity Containment Released. All Chambers Open. All Personnel Immediately Initiate Suppression Protocol.]

“What kind of insane—?!”

I stumbled backward and pressed myself against the containment wall.

I had definitely heard that correctly.

All chambers.

Open.

Every single one.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

A massive shadow rushed past behind me.

I turned toward the sound.

Chief Sik.

His chains arced through the air.

Without the slightest hesitation, the beast-like supervisor was already sprinting at full speed.

As the blast doors opened automatically, crimson warning lights exploded across the corridor.

His mane and chains whipped behind him as he disappeared into the deeper sections.

Far away, I caught a glimpse of white and gray colliding.

I watched for a moment, then forced myself to breathe.

Go back to the office.

Whatever else was happening—

I was absolutely certain that if I stayed here, I would die.

I started moving toward the facility exit.

The way out was close.

My brisk walk became a jog.

Then—

“AAAAAAAHHHH!”

A scream echoed through the corridor.

At the same moment—

CRUNCH!

The sound of metal being crushed came from directly ahead.

I stopped instantly.

Something stood in the middle of the hallway.

Something shaped like a human.

No—

Something that merely resembled one.

It wore an oil-stained suit.

Black spirals twisted from both shoulders, extending into the air.

Its face was blank.

Literally blank.

No eyes.

No nose.

No mouth.

Just smooth skin covering the entire face like a white mask.

What… is that…?

The thing slowly tilted its head.

A buzzing sound filled the air.

It took a step toward me.

Ripples spread across the smooth white surface.

The flesh shifted.

For an instant, wrinkles identical to my own face appeared before disappearing.

Like it was warming up before imitating me.

I desperately searched my memory.

Fragments of manuals surfaced.

[Containment Chamber C-2]

Entity Name: Nameless One

Entity Code: C-2

Type: Biological / Composite (after synchronization)

Warnings:

• Do not maintain eye contact
• Direct confrontation may cause personality collapse
• Symptom manifestation possible
• Emulsifying agents required

The fragments of survival knowledge surfaced just as I realized my tablet had been crushed in my hand.

Nameless One.

A being that created cracks in a person’s identity and occupied the body through those cracks.

The problem was—

I was looking directly at it.

If I looked away, my mind would collapse.

If I kept looking, my personality would be eroded.

Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!

Nameless One took another step forward.

A mouth appeared where there had been none.

The skin split vertically down the center.

A black opening pulsed.

“Found you.”

My own voice emerged from inside.

It entered directly between my eyebrows.

“This place doesn’t suit you.”

THUMP.

My heart shook.

“You should run away again. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”

THUMP.

My brain shook.

“You’ve already felt it. You and this place don’t belong together.”

THUMP.

“There must be somewhere that fits you better. Somewhere meant for you. That place is—”

My lungs shook.

Every word was my own thought.

The deepest, weakest scraps of desire hidden inside me.

Cracks opened in my identity.

No. I don’t…

Don’t what?

Something soft and hazy rose through my mind.

My frightened expression appeared on its face.

Reason?

Manuals?

This place only offered accidental death or inevitable death.

Everything was nonsense.

I was breaking apart.

Struggling desperately.

Just like always.

The moment that realization struck—

I charged into the wall.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG! BANG!

I slammed my head into it over and over.

Pain shot through my nervous system.

My mind snapped back into focus.

The words from psychology textbooks became sharp fragments, shredding Nameless One’s voice.

I pressed the agony of my splitting forehead into my scream.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!”

My roar thundered through the corridor.

“Doesn’t suit me?! ME?! THIS PLACE?! Telling me to leave again?! GET LOST!!”

CRACK.

It felt as if my skull was being torn open.

Nameless One flinched.

Its face split.

I kept shouting.

“NO!! THIS PLACE FITS ME PERFECTLY!!”

Like a lunatic, I grinned and stepped forward.

My eyes bulged as I stared into its shifting face.

I ripped apart my miserable past and shoved it into the realm of objective analysis.

“I WAS BROKEN FROM THE START! WHAT DO YOU MEAN A PLACE THAT FITS ME?! I’M AN ORPHAN!”

“You’re a failure. Trash.”

“I STUDIED MY ASS OFF AND STILL HAD NO MONEY!”

“A bachelor’s degree isn’t enough. You’ll need graduate school, Haeil.”

“I RAN TO THE MILITARY AND GOT THROWN OUT! THEN I CAME BACK TO SOCIETY AS AN UNEMPLOYED HIGHSCHOOL GRADUATE!”

“Sergeant Jung Haeil, it hurts. Please save me, Sergeant Jung Haeil.”

As the thing dredged up foul memories that clung to me like rot, I pounded my chest and screamed.

Depression.

Frustration.

Defeat.

They wrapped around me like comfortable armor.

“A GUY WITH A HAND FOR A HEAD! A BASTARD WITH SEVEN FACES! A CRAZY VAMPIRE! A CHAIN-DRAGGING BEAST! THEY’RE ALL PERFECT! THEY FIT ME EXACTLY!”

The skin covering Nameless One’s face began cracking down the middle.

I looked ready to grab it by the collar.

“I AM THE PERFECT EMPLOYEE FOR THIS INSANE COMPANY CALLED SA-PIL-GWI-JEONG CO., LTD.!!”

THUMP.

Nameless One staggered backward.

A drone suddenly descended from the ceiling.

[Target stabilized. Remaining energy: 15%. Automatic retrieval initiated.]

Apparently my life had been so thoroughly soaked in misery that there wasn’t any room left for it to squeeze inside.

Only after I watched Nameless One dissolve into mist and get sucked into the drone did I collapse.

The strength drained from my arms and legs.

My heart was still pounding.

“Haa… haa…”

I sank to the floor.

I was reaching toward the pocket holding my bone pen to treat my injured forehead when—

A rustling sound echoed from far away.

Is Chief Sik coming back?

For the first time, the thought made me happy.

I turned with a bright smile.

“…Huh?”

My vision blurred.

No.

It was collapsing.

As if someone had poured thick oil directly into my eyes.

The world began smearing and melting.

Light and color blended together.

The emergency lights spread into sickly blue-red streaks.

Like paint dissolving in rain.

The walls melted.

The floor unraveled.

The red light spread like exposed brain matter.

“Why? What? I already finished it. It’s over.”

I blinked.

Then blinked again.

Each time, I could see less.

I knew.

My eyes were melting.

“U-AAAAAHHH!!”

The realization ignited my entire body.

I covered my eyes with both hands.

I had to block my vision.

Had to shut it out.

SSSSSZZZZT.

“Ghk— GAAAAAAAHHH!!”

The stench of burning rubber filled my nose.

The smell of flesh cooking rose simultaneously from my eyebrows, cheeks, and the backs of my hands.

Even my hands were melting.

Skin collapsed like softened wax.

The flesh beneath turned bright red.

This wasn’t a hallucination.

The pain was too vivid.

The heat burrowed into my bones.

I couldn’t even scream properly.

The pain bypassed my vocal cords and struck directly at my brain.

I’m dying.

I’m really dying.

THOOOOOM—

Space compressed.

Air folded inward.

And from the center—

Something appeared.

Long.

Thin.

Silent.

Without making a sound, it waved elongated limbs.

Its body shimmered like torn black plastic.

Even through melting eyes, I locked gazes with it.

Blood poured from my ears.

My teeth trembled one by one as if screaming.

That thing, too, was an existence capable of destroying human perception through sight alone.

I slammed my face against the floor.

I couldn’t even scream.

My tongue was melting.

I finally understood.

How a person could die.

How life ground down both the human heart and its ending.

And at the very moment that strange clarity arrived—

KRAAAAAAAAAAASH!!

The ceiling exploded.

The corridor screamed.

Steel tore apart.

Something enormous crashed down through the ceiling.

The pain vanished.

Or rather—

It cooled.

The agony in my melting hands faded.

The burning heat spreading through my eyes transformed into cool air carrying the scent of fresh grass.

Through my blurred vision, I looked up.

And saw it.

Beyond Nameless One.

Beyond the nightmare that had manifested there.

A gigantic root system crushed it beneath its weight.

Dense.

Rough.

Intricate.

Monstrous roots.

As though they had erupted from the earth itself, piercing through concrete and steel.

They tore apart the entity’s flesh.

Crushed its heart.

A shriek like a twisted melody filled the space.

The roots writhed like living creatures.

And at the end of those roots—

Beyond the tangled vines and knots—

Someone stood there.

At least the upper body looked human.

Wearing a suit.

A neatly buttoned black shirt.

Gold buttons on the cuffs.

Polished shoes.

A carefully arranged green necktie.

And skin made of solid bark.

Long teal leaves cascaded to the waist like hair.

Branches grew from the chest, shoulders, wrists, and neck visible between the suit fabric.

Moist green eyes were embedded between the knots crossing the face.

Every one of those eyes blinked at me simultaneously.

My entire body trembled beneath that gaze.

My vision was still blurred.

My tongue remained dry.

Cold sweat soaked my skin.

He lowered his head.

The gesture was calm.

Natural.

One hand hung loosely like a branch.

The other rose to his chest, long fingers moving gracefully.

“I heard your aspirations clearly.”

His voice was low and damp.

Like something whispering between ancient trees at midnight.

Not language.

The resonance of centuries-old growth rings splitting apart.

He slowly raised his head again.

Wooden eyes pierced straight through me.

“Nice to meet you, Employee Jung Haeil.”

I didn’t need anyone to tell me.

The person I’d only heard about until now—

Director Mok had finally returned.

And he was every bit the monster I had expected.