Chapter 127

Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s face without a smile felt more distant than I had imagined.

“You crossed the line, Do-un.”

Kwon Mu-seop murmured lowly toward me.

“The fact that your life is our priority does not mean you can drag other lives into use as you please.”

It was a clear warning.

He was still speaking calmly, but Kwon Mu-seop had no intention of tolerating our recklessness any further.

But this side had no path to retreat either.

“I have no intention of dragging them into use as I please either. So please let us receive volunteers.”

At the word volunteers, Kwon Mu-seop’s brows furrowed further.

“We will try it with people who participate voluntarily. And we only need 5 people. If they are agents rather than convicts, the operation can be carried out with only 5. Moreover, if I, the siren’s priority attack target, enter together with them, it will be much safer.”

“Seo Do-un.”

Kwon Mu-seop called my name in a low voice.

That voice was fairly chilling, but I pretended not to notice and continued speaking.

“Manager, you said this to me in the beginning, did you not? That you do not merely watch because you like it either, and that if you see someone in trouble, of course you want to save them.”

“…….”

“Of course that would be true. People’s hearts are all the same. So it will not be only Team Leader Cha and me who cannot accept Lee Sol’s situation and cannot stand by and watch this. There must be more people who want to resolve this problem even if it means risking their lives. This is not dragging other lives into use. It is giving those people an opportunity.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

In the end, anger mixed into Kwon Mu-seop’s voice.

“No matter what you say, what cannot be done cannot be done.”

“Manager…….”

“Do you even know what you are saying right now?”

“…….”

“What you are saying right now ignores the entire meaning of how our agents move. This is not merely a problem of a few people taking a risk once and being done with it. With this one time, the possible range of missions will change, and the danger will rise by that much too. And you call that an opportunity? Tearing away every safeguard is an opportunity?”

For an instant, I was rendered speechless by Kwon Mu-seop’s roar.

It was then.

“In that case, I would at least like to gather opinions.”

Cha Si-eon, who had been listening from the side, cut in.

“If there are not even 5 volunteers, I will give up as well. I will not mention this matter again.”

“Did you not hear what I said?”

“If we had never intended to accept danger in the first place, we would have done different work from the beginning.”

At Cha Si-eon’s answer, this time it was Kwon Mu-seop who was rendered speechless.

Before him, Cha Si-eon continued speaking calmly.

“Most of us came in prepared, and there is no one among us who trained and endured merely to stand by and watch. We are people who came not to cheer for the otter, but to do that role ourselves.”

The otter suddenly dragged into this was a little bewildering, but Cha Si-eon made his argument seriously.

At that, Kwon Mu-seop seemed quite flustered.

As if he had not expected even Cha Si-eon to come out like this.

Kwon Mu-seop looked back and forth between me and Cha Si-eon with dumbfounded eyes.

Then, as if his head hurt, he lowered his head and rubbed his forehead with his hand.

“Whew…….”

When a sigh leaked from his mouth, Cha Si-eon continued speaking again.

“So please let us at least confirm the employees’ intentions.”

“Stop with this nonsense…….”

“If even this is not allowed, I will resign.”

“…….”

“…….”

Hey, you were doing so well. Why would you…….

At Cha Si-eon’s statement that he would resign, Kwon Mu-seop’s sigh abruptly stopped.

Kwon Mu-seop slowly lifted his head.

The manager, whom I had always thought had a good impression, began glaring at Cha Si-eon with murderous eyes, having wiped that good impression clean away.

Cha Si-eon faced that superior with a stubborn posture.

A soundless battle of wills began, and stuck between them, I sensed ruin.

Cha Si-eon had declared that he would leave if things went wrong.

Kwon Mu-seop’s expression was growing worse and worse at Cha Si-eon’s rebellion.

“M, Manager!”

Before the atmosphere grew more brutal, I hurriedly cut in.

“You said this to me not long ago, did you not? To think about why my seniors endure in the Bureau.”

When I had been frustrated by the Bureau’s situation without any completeness.

Kwon Mu-seop had said it.

That everyone thought similar things.

To think about why my seniors endured it.

If I understood it, then I would endure with them. If I did not, then that was as far as I would go.

“At least, it will not be because of money. If they wanted to earn money, the Apophis side would be better. It is not that they have nowhere else to go either. They are people who could do above average in anything, even if they did not do such harsh work. Even though they have other choices, the reason they endure here is probably because of a sense of mission that someone has to do this work.”

Kwon Mu-seop’s gaze, which had been glaring at Cha Si-eon, turned toward me.

Kwon Mu-seop’s expression was still coldly stiffened.

But I could read the emotion contained in those eyes.

Believing that Kwon Mu-seop’s true feelings would not be different from ours, I continued speaking.

“I do not think people like that would be satisfied with the current situation. And if they have endured this much, it is time for them to feel that enduring was worth it.”

---

In the end, we were both kicked out.

“What will you do if you resign?”

“Whew…….”

And Cha Si-eon had suddenly become someone who lost his job.

Sitting on the bench on the terrace, he had his head lowered deeply toward the floor.

I felt similarly, but if I took the same posture beside him, the misery seemed like it would double, so I leaned back.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

I had thought he would not be easy, but to think he would be this much of an iron wall.

What should we do now?

Should I say, “I will resign with him, so please give me just one ring as payment for supplying the materials,” and make Kwon Mu-seop clutch the back of his neck…….

It was while we were each looking at the sky and the ground, sighing deeply again and again.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

A cheerful voice came from the entrance to the terrace.

When I turned my head toward the sound, I saw Deputy Manager Yoon U-jeong with both hands shoved into the pockets of the service uniform.

We stood toward Yoon U-jeong, and Yoon U-jeong lightly gestured as if telling us to sit back down.

Yoon U-jeong naturally approached us.

Then Yoon U-jeong grinned at Cha Si-eon.

“I hear you threatened Manager? Wow, you’ve grown a lot, a lot!”

“…….”

It had now been about 30 minutes since we had left the manager’s office.

But Yoon U-jeong spoke as if already having heard everything about our conversation.

“You bastards, going around together and doing bad things…… Do you think I assigned you together as handler and charge so you could do that? How dare you go at a manager who is like the sky above you?”

Yoon U-jeong scolded us as if joking and as if serious.

So I listened quietly, and Yoon U-jeong lightly added,

“But our sky is a little low.”

To diss Manager even in the middle of this.

Did Yoon U-jeong just come to tease us?

I examined Yoon U-jeong’s expression to grasp the situation.

Then Yoon U-jeong grinned and said,

“He says you can try it once.”

“Yes?”

“What you talked about earlier. Manager said you can try recruiting just once.”

At the unexpected words, I opened my eyes wide.

When I looked to the side, Cha Si-eon also seemed rather surprised.

“Why suddenly…….”

“What do you mean, why? You threatened Manager. You really are a funny bastard. When he laid out a red carpet for you to leave nicely, you ignored it, and now you’re threatening people by saying you’ll resign.”

“…….”

“In any case, that is how it turned out, so try accepting volunteers once. Manager said he will look at the employees’ reaction and consider it.”

Yoon U-jeong spoke refreshingly toward us, who still half doubted it.

Then added this.

“The volunteer pool is agents belonging to the Response Team and Exploration Team, and team-leader-level agents are excluded. And all of Response Team 3 is excluded. It would not do for innocent team members to suffer because of their team leader.”

Yoon U-jeong was right about this.

Since this was something led by Cha Si-eon, the team leader, there would be team members who joined out of loyalty.

If not that, an atmosphere of needless pressure might form.

So it was right to exclude Response Team 3 entirely.

“And 5 people will not be remotely enough. Gather 11 as in the original plan.”

11 people among agents of the Response Team and Exploration Team, excluding Response Team 3.

The recruitment difficulty had gone up quite a bit.

The Response Team had lost more personnel during the last Intensive Suppression Week.

They had not been replenished yet either, so the current total number of Response Team personnel was around 70.

And the Exploration Team had around 60 people.

If Response Team 3 was excluded from that, roughly 100 people belonged to our recruitment target.

Among them, we had to find 11 people who would risk their lives.

“Only post a recruitment notice and do nothing else. Do not go find people who seem persuadable, and do not burden anyone else. They volunteer after seeing only the notice, and if 11 volunteers do not appear, this matter is scrapped. Do not talk about it again after that. Got it?”

Yoon U-jeong then drove the wedge in firmly.

I understood these conditions too.

Asking someone else to risk their life was absurd, and for the person receiving the request, refusing it would also be painful.

After considering this and that, the conditions were quite strict.

But we could not complain.

“Yes, understood.”

“Good. Do well, you bastards.”

As if having finished saying what needed to be said, Yoon U-jeong turned around with hands still shoved into the pockets.

So I hurriedly asked,

“Is Manager in his room right now?”

“Yes, so do not go anywhere near there. Manager is in a very bad mood right now.”

I had been going to thank him.

It seemed I should do that later.

---

The next day.

Cha Si-eon posted a notice on the Bureau’s internal network.

---

■ Volunteer Recruitment Notice for Special Operation on 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」

Volunteers to participate in the special operation targeting 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」 will be recruited as follows.

1. Operation Objective

: Neutralization of 「Giant Siren」, the main dangerous entity of 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」

: Securing the core of 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」 and stopping its operation

2. Operation Date and Time: To be discussed after recruiting volunteers

3. Number Recruited: 11 total

4. Eligibility: Agents belonging to the Response Team or Exploration Team

(Team-leader-level agents and team members belonging to Response Team 3 are excluded.)

5. Support Benefits

: Hazard pay provided upon deployment to operation

: Special allowance provided upon operation success

: S.O.C.H. merch provided only to volunteers who desire it (choose 1 from limited merch packages for first- to third-generation members. Ends when quantities are exhausted.)

6. Inquiries: Team Leader Cha Si-eon of Response Team 3

7. Notes: Refer to attachment for operation overview.

---

A recruitment notice with no merits at all except allowances.

On the other hand, the risk was more than sufficiently expressed by the name 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」 alone.

How many people would volunteer for such madness?

Feeling belated skepticism, I waited nervously for the result.

Like that, half a day passed.

People’s hearts were mostly similar, and the people gathered here were more suited to personally doing that role than cheering for the otter.

Yes, I had worried for nothing.

On the first day the notice was posted, no fewer than 27 people volunteered.

It felt as if I could hear Manager Kwon Mu-seop clutching the back of his neck.