Chapter 119

After a heavy silence, Kwon Mu-seop opened his mouth.

“Does that mean Team Leader Kang was alive until June 5?”

“According to the medical examiner’s judgment, yes.”

At the researcher’s words, my heart dropped with a thud.

But before that agitation could spread through my entire chest, the researcher added,

“However, from our perspective, it is a little different.”

“What do you mean, different?”

“First, the deceased was found 2 years after his disappearance. However, his nutritional state was very good, and his muscles had hardly atrophied. If he had survived on 「Imitation Rice」 like the other deceased, he should have been found in a state of starvation.”

“…….”

“Furthermore, the state of his clothing is the same. There were torn and contaminated parts, but there was no wear or old grime. Clothing worn for 2 years without changing cannot be like this.”

Yes.

The state of Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol when I found him had been too clean.

For someone who had survived in that isolated place for nearly 2 years.

“So according to our estimation, perhaps the deceased had been preserved in the state he was in at the time of disappearance.”

“Preserved?”

“Yes. Otherwise, it cannot be explained.”

For muscles not to atrophy, one had to eat sufficiently and move around.

But if he had moved like that while wearing only a single set of clothes for 2 years, those clothes should have become rags from bodily fluids and friction and given off a foul odor.

However, Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol’s bodily condition and the state of his clothing had both been good.

As if time had stopped for him alone.

As if he truly had been preserved somewhere.

The researcher continued the explanation.

“And we found bruises in a connected form on the back of the head, the left upper arm, and the right thigh. According to the medical examiner, they seem like traces of rolling down a steep slope while unconscious.”

“When were those injuries made?”

“These also appear to have occurred around June 5.”

At the researcher’s words, gazes gathered on me.

As if asking whether I had seen Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol fall.

But I had not seen anything.

Back then, I had been running over 「False God」’s bone joints and had no time to look around.

“You said the place where Team Leader Kang was found was beneath the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda. Then may we take the slope Team Leader Kang rolled down as the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda?”

“Yes, we are also estimating that.”

The gazes returned to me.

At that, I conveyed what I had seen.

“「False God」 was wrapping its body around the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda. So the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda was mostly covered by those bones, and only the bottom part was visible.”

“I see…….”

The researcher murmured heavily.

Then silence flowed again.

It seemed everyone was thinking something similar.

But no one had yet said that thought aloud.

And as I recalled the form of 「False God」, which resembled a snake, I felt briefly nauseated.

---

Meetings held at the Bureau did not have much completeness.

Most of them were situation sharing rather than reaching conclusions.

So after meetings, it often felt as if more problems had piled up, but fortunately, a change of mood came fairly quickly.

“Oh, hyung. That was good just now.”

Do not lie!

With blood rushing to my face, I barely held back the urge to shout.

Instead, I writhed even more desperately to find a way out.

But Kwak Jae-gyeom, who was mounted on top of me, easily neutralized my struggles and continued crushing me beneath him.

In the afternoon, I returned to the gymnasium and received basic training.

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who treated it as jiu-jitsu training while wiping the floor with me as a mop.

And if I could not put up any resistance like this, advice flew in from every direction.

“Open your elbows and make space. Space.”

“Do not kick your legs around. Your waist. Wrap with your waist.”

“No. Do not keep pulling out in the same direction. That is not it, Agent.”

Ugh, if that were as easy as saying it……!

Enduring the muttering of the spectators, I struggled with all my might to shake off Kwak Jae-gyeom.

After writhing like that for about 10 minutes.

“Stop.”

One word from Baek Sa-ra saved me.

Kwak Jae-gyeom’s thighs, which had been constricting my upper body, finally loosened.

At the same time, the agents who had been murmuring around us scattered as if nothing had happened and disappeared from my sight.

But even if they did that now…….

My body and mind were already in tatters.

“Huff, huff…….”

Today too, my weakness is being proven like this.

When will I be able to flip Kwak Jae-gyeom over?

Still, after I moved my body and completely drained my strength, headaches and worries vanished cleanly.

It truly was an excellent means of changing my mood…….

“You did well. But when your arms are tied up like just now, do not try to pull out with only upper-body strength. You need to use your lower body too. Keep your lower body from floating, or it is fine to hook it onto the opponent and support your strength that way.”

Baek Sa-ra explained calmly and corrected my posture.

So when I tried again with the lesson in mind…….

“Ugh, I almost went over just now.”

“Agent, do not just push. The gap. You have to dig into the gap.”

“Push the hips, the hips. Straight through the hips with your forearm.”

……The result did not change easily.

“You worked hard, hyung.”

Jae-gyeom extended a hand to me as I sprawled on the mat.

Unlike me, who was dripping sweat and panting, Kwak Jae-gyeom was fine.

So I realized anew that the gap between Jae-gyeom and me was not something that could be caught up to in just a few months.

In fact, that was natural.

Because Kwak Jae-gyeom was a brat who had trained for years to become an agent.

The other agents here were the same.

They had all repeated such high-intensity training without missing it.

Not just anyone could be made to play the role of a house guardian serpent.

While I was barely catching my breath, Baek Sa-ra came over and said,

“Lord Otter, I think I will become a bit busy starting next week.”

“Yes?”

“The Special Zones that were reset last time will soon appear again. I think I will be deployed on exploration missions.”

“Ah…….”

The 「Island」 that Apophis had smashed apart.

The 「Hotel」 where the stoppage experiment had failed.

And even 「Ant Hill」, where the core secured by the researchers had broken.

It was time for the Special Zones reset like that to be born again.

So the Bureau had to explore those spaces where new rules had formed again from the beginning.

“If there are days when I cannot look after you, I will contact you in advance. I will find a substitute, so you can keep training at this time.”

“Yes. Please take care of yourself.”

At my words, Baek Sa-ra smiled brightly.

In Greek mythology, there is a figure called Sisyphus.

For the crime of deceiving the gods, he received the punishment of having to push a large boulder up to the top of a mountain, but when he finally arrived at the summit with effort, that boulder would roll back down the mountain.

It was the same even if he pushed the fallen boulder back up to the summit again.

So Sisyphus was a figure who endlessly repeated that meaningless labor.

Repeating the same work without any fruit.

There could be no punishment more futile and arduous than this.

And if I said the work done at the Bureau resembled Sisyphus’s eternal punishment, would that be too much?

Exploring Special Zones and resetting them.

Exploring them again and resetting them again.

Enduring this repeated pain and tedium was probably also one of the roles of the house guardian serpents.

---

After I finished afternoon training and spent some time briefly dead, it was evening.

Once I received individual instruction before dinner, my day was over.

And today, since Kwak Jae-gyeom was on night duty, I ended up spending the evening alone.

When I had time to be alone like this, I read Bureau manuals or exploration reports.

They were not particularly interesting, but my life was at stake, so I opened them whenever I had the chance.

Besides, there were so many exploration reports that I had not even read them all yet.

To continue what I had been reading yesterday, I turned on a document on the tablet.

At that moment, the meeting from the daytime suddenly came to mind.

So I changed my mind and searched for a report I had already examined before, then opened it again.

---

Analysis Report on Special Situations Related to 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」

■ Overview

Exploration of 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」 (hereafter 「Railway Station」), a Type 1 Danger (A) Grade Special Zone, was completed on July 11, 20XX.

It was thereafter managed stably, but due to the high lethality of the Special Zone itself, it entered the reorganization phase around January 20XX.

On January 14, 20XX, the reorganization of 「Railway Station」 was successfully blocked through Intensive Suppression Week.

However, after that point, abnormal luring and hostile reactions from 「Railway Station」 began to occur toward Special Management Bureau employees, and an investigation into this was conducted.

■ Damage Situation

Case 1.

- Time of Damage: January 21, 20XX, 5:29

- Target of Damage: Agent Kim Beom-jun of Response Team 11 (1 person total)

- Details of Damage

While sleeping in lodging, he arbitrarily entered the waiting hall of 「Railway Station」.

51 seconds after entry, he was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

- Notes

Agent Kim Beom-jun had long been dissatisfied that the rescue operation for Agent (deleted) had continued for an extended period.

It is said that in ordinary times as well, he often expressed these complaints to those around him and frequently mentioned Agent (deleted).

Case 2.

- Time of Damage: January 22, 20XX, 10:00

- Target of Damage: Agents Kim Gu-bong and Min Seo-hui of Exploration Team 8 (2 people total)

- Details of Damage

They directly entered the waiting hall of 「Railway Station」 to additionally place rules books and investigate the crushing death of Agent Kim Beom-jun.

52 seconds after entry, Agent Kim Gu-bong was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

109 seconds after entry, Agent Min Seo-hui was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

- Notes

This was the first observation of consecutive occurrences of the 「Siren Sound」.

(omitted)

Case 5.

- Time of Damage: February 18, 20XX, 14:22

- Target of Damage: Researchers Park Dong-hae, Lee Eun-su, and Jeong Pil-hyeon of the Analysis Team (3 people total)

- Details of Damage

While in a meeting in the Research Division conference room, they arbitrarily entered the waiting hall of 「Railway Station」.

56 seconds after entry, Researcher Lee Eun-su was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

121 seconds after entry, Researcher Jeong Pil-hyeon was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

183 seconds after entry, Researcher Park Dong-hae was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

- Notes

At the time of damage, the victims were in a team meeting, and the number of meeting attendees was 7 total, including the victims.

The meeting attendees had reviewed Agent (deleted)’s exploration logs over the past week.

It is said that the 3 victims had not had especially more contact with Agent (deleted)’s materials than the other team members.

Case 6.

- Time of Damage: February 20, 20XX, 10:30

- Target of Damage: Contaminated Person A, Convicts B and C (3 people total)

- Details of Damage

They directly entered the waiting hall of 「Railway Station」 to investigate 「Railway Station」’s abnormal activity.

44 seconds after entry, Convict C was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

98 seconds after entry, Convict B was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

141 seconds after entry, Contaminated Person A was crushed to death by the 「Siren Sound」.

- Notes: None.

---

It was while I was slowly turning through the report.

WEE-OOO—!

A faint siren sound.

I flinched in surprise at that sound, then saw the alarm that had appeared at the top of the tablet screen and let out a sigh.

-Nuruk two.

An alert alarm that appeared every time I was about to forget it.

It seemed another commotion had begun at the contaminated-person detention facility.