Chapter 135

“The Director already died at the beginning, and that may be an abnormal phenomenon interfering with us.”

At my assertion, gazes gathered on me.

Director Go, in particular, had the face of someone asking what kind of bullshit that was.

Everyone’s reaction was lukewarm, so I argued again.

“Think about it. He keeps causing danger, does he not? When we first went out to the lobby, he also used the word ‘core’ precisely and nearly got us all annihilated. Was that merely coincidence?”

Director Go’s brow narrowed.

After rampaging once, the Director was again acting the part of a dignified middle-aged man.

Perhaps because of that, he did not react immediately to my provocation.

Or perhaps he endured it once because the person speaking was not Kwon Mu-seop.

“Moreover, you all saw it just now. Before he exploded, he tried to drag Manager in too and kill him. Is that not strange?”

“What are you talking about right now? Who tried to kill whom?”

At my continued words, the Director hurriedly objected.

He looked as if he truly did not know, so the Deputy Director asked,

“Director, up to what point do you remember what happened just now?”

“That…… I remember up to the woman I grabbed swearing at me.”

Not simply “the woman I grabbed,” but “the woman whose hair you grabbed,” surely.

The Director was subtly minimizing his own disturbance, perhaps because he felt awkward about it.

“Is saying you do not remember the end of it? Everyone saw it. That person grabbed Manager Kwon. That is why Deputy Director kicked him too.”

At the words that the Deputy Director had kicked him, Director Go’s eyes widened.

Confirming that Director Go was shocked, I continued speaking.

“That person is trying to kill us. Very intentionally.”

“Do this in moderation. What absurd nonsense have you been saying since earlier…… And ‘that person’? Why are you so lacking in manners? Manager Kwon, are you going to just leave your subordinate like that?”

Unable to keep listening, Director Go ordered Kwon Mu-seop to chew out his subordinate.

At that, Kwon Mu-seop tried to stop me.

“Do-un, I think this is a little excessive too. To conclude it like that right now…….”

“No, Manager, you saw it yourself. Does that behavior make sense to you?”

“Still, I cannot say he is an abnormal phenomenon…….”

“Yes, he might not be an abnormal phenomenon, but the Director himself in a delirious state. What matters is that he is putting us in danger. And our manual says, ‘personnel who bring danger to the group shall be excluded.’ We have to follow that principle. We could all die because of that person.”

“Seo Do-un, why are you suddenly acting like this?”

When I came out even more strongly, Kwon Mu-seop spoke as if flustered.

I appealed to that Kwon Mu-seop.

“Manager, could you trust me a little right now?”

Kwon Mu-seop looked at me half in doubt.

He looked into my eyes as if trying to read something.

At that moment, Director Go shouted.

“What do you mean, trust him, Manager Kwon!”

At Director Go’s rebuke, Kwon Mu-seop took his eyes off me.

Then he murmured lowly toward Director Go.

“……I think there is some reason in Seo Do-un’s words as well.”

“Hah!”

The Director lamented loudly and looked back at the Deputy Director.

At that, the Deputy Director also glanced at me, then spoke as if he had no choice.

“I apologize. This is the field, so I will also follow Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s judgment.”

“What did you say?”

Director Go looked at the Deputy Director as if he had been betrayed.

No, in this situation, it was actually a betrayal.

Director Go had been abandoned by the people who were supposed to assist him, and I asked the now-alone Director Go back.

“If you feel that wronged, try explaining yourself at least.”

“How dare you tell me to explain or not explain…….”

“Look at that. He cannot even explain his own actions. He is dangerous. We have to exclude him according to principle and go.”

As if I had been waiting for this, I tattled to Kwon Mu-seop and Kim Seon-ung.

“Mm…….”

The two of them groaned as if troubled, and Director Go inhaled in disbelief while looking back and forth between them.

Then he suddenly pressed me.

“What exactly are you telling me to explain? If there is something you want to hear, you should ask a proper question first.”

He had gotten angry about how dare anyone make him explain himself, but his attitude had changed.

But I pretended not to know and asked back seriously.

“Why do you keep causing danger?”

“Do you think I did it on purpose? I am not someone who originally did this kind of work, and this is my first time entering a place like this.”

“You did it because you did not know? Does that make sense? When you have been Director for over 2 years?”

“Deputy Director receives the field reports. I mainly handle organizational operations and external activities, and our roles are different, so what do you know to insist so forcefully and slander me? How frustrating, for a young man!”

“Then Director, you know nothing at all about the field?”

“I do not know it well.”

“Then why do you go charging out without receiving instructions?”

“…….”

“See? Anyone can tell this is strange!”

“No, this person……!”

At my shout, Director Go cried out with me as if horrified.

And I loudly proclaimed Director Go’s strangeness to the whole neighborhood.

Perhaps because he thought he might truly be abandoned, Director Go was reacting almost like a button had been pressed.

But I did not think he needed to be this desperate.

I did not know what Deputy Director Kim Seon-ung would do, but Manager Kwon Mu-seop would never abandon a living, intact Director Go.

I had this faith, and because of that, I instead demanded without reservation.

“We must exclude him according to the manual!”

“What do you mean, exclude, exclude since earlier! By what authority are you saying such things?”

“You said it yourself, Director. That excessive preferential treatment does no one any good.”

At my answer, Director Go lost his words.

“Here, taking the Director with us is preferential treatment, and that is why I am saying we should follow only the manual. Because it is better to shake it off quickly before the matter grows.”

“……!”

There is a phrase called being bound by one’s own rope.

There is also the saying that one dug one’s own grave.

People ordinarily help someone in trouble.

But a person who falls into his own words, into a trap he dug himself, finds it difficult to earn sympathy.

Because that is what he had been trying to do to others.

So I returned exactly what Director Go had said in the Director’s office only 1 hour ago.

Perhaps Director Go realized that this was not a situation where he could keep holding out, because he abruptly became silent.

Anxiety he could not fully hide showed in his eyes.

It was obvious his momentum had broken.

With this much at least, he would now refrain from impulsive actions.

But there was still an important issue remaining.

“Why did you try to kill Manager Kwon Mu-seop earlier?”

“……I have no memory of that.”

“We all saw it.”

At my interrogation, Director Go’s face distorted.

Director Go seemed to find this situation extremely dreadful.

Of course he would. A bastard who had lived 20 years less than him was insolently tormenting him.

And not only that, the bastard was a distant lowest-ranking member of the organization he led.

But this too was being bound by his own rope.

“Could it be that you think Manager Kwon should die and come back to life like you?”

“No!”

“Then what is it? We all heard what you said then too.”

“……!”

“Are you seriously insane?”

Director Go could not properly refute me.

Watching him, I sneered and continued speaking.

“Should you not refrain from that much, as a human being? To speak frankly, there is no guarantee that you will be fine even after leaving this place. If you are unlucky, you will die. If you are lucky, you will live. Still, we are trying to take you with us because we never know. But in the middle of that, are you trying to make someone else end up the same as you?”

Go Hong-sang’s gaze trembled finely.

He had no memory, so he could not explain accurately, but he also could not deny with absolute certainty that it was not true.

He would know his own insides best.

Earlier, grabbing Kwon Mu-seop’s ankle had truly crossed the line.

Of course, I understood that this was a situation where Director Go would find it hard to maintain reason.

Naturally, he must be afraid.

Because whether he had died or survived was ambiguous, and whether he was real would be confusing too.

I understood those feelings, but if we left this as it was, it truly would not turn into porridge or rice.

Someone had to grab those reins, but because of various personal feelings, the atmosphere seemed like Kwon Mu-seop stepping forward would only provoke even stronger resistance.

Whether the Deputy Director would step forward was unknown.

So I decided to shoulder the gun barrel.

From Director Go’s perspective, an unfamiliar creature like me defying him would be far more bewildering too.

Fortunately, Manager Kwon Mu-seop and Deputy Director Kim Seon-ung understood my intent and played along.

With that, Director Go was left speechless by a young bastard’s backtalk.

Having roughly finished arranging things, I signaled Kwon Mu-seop with my eyes.

Kwon Mu-seop looked at me with somewhat troubled eyes, then soon opened his mouth solemnly.

“Leave it at that, Do-un. He is, for now, our Director.”

“…….”

When Kwon Mu-seop finally took his side, Director Go raised his head and gazed at him faintly.

Kwon Mu-seop forced himself to ignore that sticky gaze and continued speaking.

“There is reason in your words as well, so let us find a method. Director, safety measures are necessary. Will that be all right?”

“…….”

This gentleman is not answering again.

“No, I cannot go with that person. It does not align with principle, and what kind of law is this?”

I shouted, pretending to be agitated.

Then Kwon Mu-seop answered back while pretending to be angry too.

“Seo Do-un, listen.”

“Why are you only doing this to me? Manager, do you not remember what that person did to you?”

At my finger-pointing, Director Go turned deathly pale again.

Yes, this too was being bound by his own rope.

To think the subordinate he had been chewing out as if determined to kill him was his only lifeline.

This is why people should live kindly, if possible.

“Moreover, he still has no explanation at all. And yet we accept him?”

I continued applying pressure, hoping Director Go would learn how precious Kwon Mu-seop was.

“Director, if you have something to say, say it. Right now, this is not a situation where the people around you are taking care of your mood on their own. This is a situation where you need to persuade us, Director. Do you still not grasp the atmosphere?”

Mm, is this a bit much?

Director Go said nothing, his gaze dropped to the floor.

I also thought I should stop around here and let out a deep sigh.

“Whew…….”

But it seemed my sigh sounded a little different to Director Go Hong-sang.

Go Hong-sang looked at me with a desperate face.

With an expression as if something inside had collapsed.

“Deputy Director…….”

Go Hong-sang lowered his head again and murmured in a hoarse voice.

“Because of Deputy Director…….”

Suddenly, Deputy Director?

I looked back toward the Deputy Director.

Kim Seon-ung shook his head, looking like he was watching a fire across the river.

“Because Deputy Director, carried my arm around, that is why.”

Director Go continued alone, haltingly, in words that were difficult to understand.

But, uh……?

“My arm was cut off, it was cut off, and the person called Deputy Director carried it, threw it…….”

Director Go squeezed out a locked voice.

Was it my imagination that there was moisture in that voice?

No way. Director, no, right?

Flustered, I checked the Director’s complexion.

Since his head was lowered, I could not see properly.

But the next moment.

“Deputy Director, my arm, even now, like that……!”

Director Go abruptly began sobbing.

He covered his face with both hands and began outright wailing.

“…….”

I froze as I was.

Then, after hearing Go Hong-sang repeatedly mutter “Deputy Director” and “my arm,” I barely came to my senses.

This is Deputy Director’s fault.

Wanting to avoid responsibility, I looked back at the Deputy Director.

But the Deputy Director was also looking at me.

You made him cry.

The face smiling subtly toward me seemed to be saying exactly that.