Chapter 131

“What does it make me if you submit something like this after the conclusion has already been made?”

Director Go Hong-sang said, leaning back against the sofa.

“Just dealing with these unnatural-death victims is giving us headaches. The police side is already complaining that unsolved cases are about to increase. Things outside are noisy too, so I would like it to be quiet inside, at least.”

Director Go Hong-sang’s tone was monotonous enough that it could be called gentle.

But it was difficult to find warmth within it.

His low voice was closer to expressing annoyance with dignity.

If even I, meeting him for the first time, felt that, there was no way Manager Kwon Mu-seop did not know the pressure contained inside it.

Even so, Manager Kwon Mu-seop opened his mouth again.

“This is not a matter to quietly cover and move on from, Director. It is directly tied to our employees’ morale.”

“That is why it would have been better to shake it off quickly instead. Why hold on to something hopeless and make the matter grow to this point?”

But what returned was only a cold reprimand.

“I feel sorry for Contaminated Person No. 146 too. Are other contaminated people not the same? They are all the same. No. 146 already received excessive preferential treatment. That did not help in either direction. So now I am saying we should follow the manual. Why are you being this stubborn? Is this not the manual you people wrote while getting blood on your hands?”

“With all due respect.”

“No, Manager. If you know it is with all due respect…….”

“With all due respect, manuals are made by people too. Moreover, manuals cannot encompass every situation. So if necessary, one should also be able to exercise discretion.”

Manager Kwon Mu-seop spoke in a firm voice.

Go Hong-sang looked at Kwon Mu-seop like that for a moment, then pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses and murmured,

“That discretion, at this particular point?”

Was it just my imagination?

That his refined voice seemed mixed with mockery.

“And only for someone you know, at that? Then what do ordinary citizens with no connections in the Bureau become? Is it not a little shameless to have stood by so well until now and then do this?”

So it was not my imagination.

Go Hong-sang was looking at Manager Kwon Mu-seop in a fairly displeased manner.

Kwon Mu-seop only sat silently with his fist clenched, as if such treatment was nothing new.

It seemed I was the only one flustered right now, directly witnessing Kwon Mu-seop’s humiliation.

Director Go Hong-sang had mentioned the 「Railway Station」 special operation as soon as I sat down.

What followed after that was reprimand and denunciation directed at Manager Kwon Mu-seop and the Field Division.

As Yoon U-jeong had said, the upper level seemed to view the Bureau’s movements regarding Lee Sol unfavorably.

Perhaps because of that, Go Hong-sang openly rebuked Kwon Mu-seop, and I was watching the scene while feeling restless.

Of course, a director could scold a manager.

But breaking him down in front of his subordinate seemed a bit much.

Manager had his dignity too.

Could he possibly be doing this on purpose to press Manager Kwon Mu-seop down?

“Director, even so, saying they stood by…… is a little excessive.”

It was when I was suspecting Go Hong-sang’s intentions.

The Deputy Director, Kim Seon-ung, who had been sitting quietly, cut in with a gentle voice.

“Do you not know better than anyone how hard these friends work?”

When Kim Seon-ung mediated in an appealing tone, Go Hong-sang sighed as if yielding reluctantly.

Then he spoke again in a much softened voice.

“You said No. 146’s father is Manager Kwon’s friend. I understand how you feel. Because I understand, I have yielded until now. But no more than this. I am sorry, but I owe that agent no debt, and I have a responsibility to lead the Bureau down the proper path. So let us leave this conversation here.”

“Director, this is not a situation we can move past like that…….”

It was when Kwon Mu-seop opened his mouth again.

Ring ring ring—

The intercom on the table rang, and Go Hong-sang ignored Kwon Mu-seop and picked up the receiver.

“Yes. Ah, they have arrived. Understood. They say the audit committee members have arrived, so let us go out first. Agent Seo Do-un, wait here.”

Go Hong-sang spoke quickly, as if sick of this wrangling.

Then, before rising, he drove in the wedge again.

“I would like the Bureau to stay as quiet as possible. As if it exists and does not exist, at least while I am Director, there must absolutely be no incident like before. Do you understand?”

“…….”

Go Hong-sang rose from his seat as if he had nothing more to say.

Watching him, I understood vividly.

Why Manager Kwon Mu-seop looked so drained and exhausted every time he came back from going outside.

Director Go Hong-sang was like a wall with only a human outer skin.

A wall that spoke human words, but could not be communicated with.

Moreover, although he had said various things as if targeting Kwon Mu-seop’s weaknesses, those all seemed nothing more than excuses.

Director Go Hong-sang’s true feelings lay in his final words.

“Exist as if you exist and do not exist.”

“Do not cause trouble while I am here.”

It seemed this was the operating philosophy of the Director who had created the Bureau’s current policy line.

When Director Go Hong-sang rose from his seat, Kim Seon-ung and Kwon Mu-seop also rose together.

And I swear, I did absolutely nothing.

WEE-OOO—!

It was simply that, at that moment, the siren sound rang from underground.

THOOM—!

Director Go Hong-sang simply staggered in surprise at the vibration.

“Oh my.”

Then the loyal Deputy Director simply supported Go Hong-sang.

Kwon Mu-seop simply got jostled by that and pushed one step to the side.

Because of that, Kwon Mu-seop’s lower back simply touched the back of my head lightly as I sat there…….

There was merely a simple event of “stagger, tap, thud, tok.”

That was all.

But the next moment, our vision changed into pitch-black darkness.

……At first, I thought perhaps a blackout had occurred.

So each of us lit up the area with our cell phones.

“Huh……?”

And everyone realized the anomaly.

Beside us was a large bed.

A bed covered with white sheets, which had not been there a moment ago.

This place was no longer the Director’s office.

The moment I realized that, bewilderment came before tension because of the number of cell phone lights moving in front of me.

I was not the only one dragged into this unfamiliar place.

The Director, Deputy Director, and Field Division manager of the Bureau, all moved together with me in perfect harmony.

It was the largest number of people ever to enter a Special Zone together.

---

To think the upper leadership of the Bureau had all been dragged into a Special Zone together…….

Swallowing my dismay, I turned on the searchlight.

Then I swept over the space submerged in darkness.

The ceiling was not very high.

The area of the room was enough that there was ample movement space between the large bed and the furniture.

There was a large bed in the room, and a large TV was attached to the opposite wall.

If one only looked at this, it seemed like an ordinary master bedroom in a house, but the details were a little different.

The light gray carpet laid on the floor.

The small refrigerator in one corner of the room.

Most of all, the bathroom beside the bed was made of open glass, so the inside could be seen clearly.

In my common sense, there was only one kind of area where the variant known as a transparent bathroom existed.

This was inside a hotel room.

“How did this happen……?”

At that moment, Go Hong-sang whispered in the darkness.

To that, Deputy Director Kim Seon-ung answered.

“It seems all 4 of us have flowed into a Special Management Zone.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Most likely through Seo Do-un…….”

Go Hong-sang inhaled, then rebuked me lowly.

“You should have been careful. What is this carelessness?”

Are you talking to me……?

I was only sitting there.

You people came closer to me, and 「Crow」 moved us without hesitation, so what are you doing saying that to me?

“This is not something to blame Seo Do-un for, Director. For now, let us grasp the situation first.”

The Deputy Director calmed the Director in my place as I stood there bewildered.

Then he looked around and continued speaking.

“This place seems to be 「Hotel」. How long has it been since 「Hotel」’s core was destroyed?”

“「Hotel」’s core was destroyed on June 3. Today is July 1, so this is now the 28th day.”

“Then is it not still early?”

At Kwon Mu-seop’s answer, Kim Seon-ung murmured as if talking to himself.

No matter how much a Special Zone was smashed, it appeared again after time passed.

And the time it took for a reset Special Zone to be generated again was roughly 50 days.

So even 「Island」, which had been broken earlier than 「Hotel」, had not yet newly appeared.

Moreover, the Bureau’s established theory was that one could not access Special Zones in this nascent phase.

“Have we entered a zone that is still being generated…….”

“How is that important right now? Send a rescue request first.”

The Director urged on the Deputy Director, who was murmuring leisurely.

Though he did not show it because of dignity, Director Go Hong-sang seemed rather bewildered by this situation.

On the other hand, Deputy Director Kim Seon-ung was calm to the point of seeming composed.

“Director, we cannot deploy agents into a Special Zone in an unknown state.”

“Is this the time to be considering that when the command staff has been dragged in? Activate emergency measures.”

“Hmm…… Manager Kwon, can you contact headquarters?”

“No. I checked with Agent Seo Do-un’s smartwatch, but communications are cut off.”

There were several Special Zones where communications were cut off.

「Island Where Blood Falls」, which had successfully reorganized twice.

「Circulating Library」, where neither memories nor records could be left.

Unlike places like that, the existing 「Hotel」 had been a zone where communications were possible normally.

Then why was it dead now?

Was it because we had entered a zone that could not yet be accessed?

If so, perhaps it was a situation where no one could enter from outside either.

I swallowed dryly at that ominous inference.

「Crow」, you bastard, what are you thinking, arranging things again?

The Director, Deputy Director, and manager had become tangled together and bumped into me only for an instant.

If there had been just 1 or 2 more seconds, the Director would have stood properly, and the Deputy Director would have taken his hand away.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop, who had been caught between them and me, would also have stepped back to an appropriate place.

But to think it had aimed for that brief gap and dragged us all in.

There was no choice but to see intent in this.

If it was 「Crow」’s intent at this point, could it be.

To remove the obstacle interfering with its plan……?

At that chilling thought, I looked back at the Director.

At that moment, Director Go Hong-sang was closely looking down at the table placed beside him.

“Everyone, look at this.”

The Director pointed at the table in a serious voice.

I shone the searchlight toward that side, and we all witnessed it together.

The sight of the table by the window sinking as it swirled like water in a bathtub whose plug had been pulled.

What was clearly a solid object was being sucked somewhere like a liquid.

Without a single sound, quietly, like fine particles placed in a blender.

At that bizarre sight, we were rather flustered.

On top of that, the light of the searchlight I was shining was also being pulled in along with it, forming a round distortion.

As if a black hole had appeared in midair.

With an ominous premonition, we slowly retreated from that distortion.

In the meantime, the table was eaten cleanly.

Next were the wall and floor.

The wall and floor around the table also began being sucked into one point.

Just as I thought the space was rolling inward more and more, I slipped on the floor.

“……!?”

I had been standing on the floor, but suddenly began to fall.

Not downward, but toward the window where the table had been sucked in.

As if the direction of gravity had changed, I fell sideways.

I was not the only thing falling like this.

Small objects in the guest room, such as chairs and pillows, had already poured down and been eaten by the hole in midair.

Just as I thought I too would be dragged in like that.

Thud—!

Manager Kwon Mu-seop, who had grabbed a pillar on the wall and was hanging on, seized my wrist.

Then he pulled me in and shouted,

“Do-un, step on me and go toward the door!”