Chapter 53

“Huh? Hello, Otter Agent!”

I had come to Baek Sa-ra’s hospital room, and an unexpected person greeted me.

It was Ha Yu-ju, sitting across from Baek Sa-ra with her left arm wrapped round and round in bandages.

After having finger reattachment surgery due to her severed wrist, Ha Yu-ju was still recovering.

In the middle of that, it seemed she had come to visit when Baek Sa-ra was hospitalized.

But what are the two of them doing?

Nail art?

Surprisingly, Ha Yu-ju was decorating Baek Sa-ra’s fingernails with one hand.

“Hello, Ms. Ha Yu-ju. I didn’t know you were here first.”

“It’s fine, so come in! Ah, wait. Should I leave you two alone?”

Ha Yu-ju grinned and looked back and forth between me and Baek Sa-ra.

At that mischievous face, I also smiled and shook my head.

“No, please stay. I only stopped by for a moment to give her a book.”

I slightly lifted the book in my hand.

Then Ha Yu-ju’s eyes, which had turned back toward me, grew round.

“Huh? Agent, are you going somewhere?”

It seemed she had only now properly noticed my outfit.

I was currently wearing the Bureau’s full dress uniform.

The Bureau’s uniforms were divided into full dress uniforms and service uniforms.

Among them, the full dress uniform was sharply tailored to suit formal occasions.

So I looked grand, as if I were going to receive a commendation, but in reality, I had been asked to provide simple work support.

“The Aftercare Team asked me to meet Mr. Choi Sang-eun once.”

“Aha. It suits you, Agent. Since you’re dressed up, would you like to decorate your nails too?”

“No, I’m all right.”

Ha Yu-ju asked while attaching glitter to Baek Sa-ra’s fingernails, and I quickly refused.

I had already been a bit nervous since a few of Jae-gyeom’s fingernails had been glittering light green since yesterday, and so it was Yu-ju’s doing.

Careful not to interfere with Ha Yu-ju’s work, I placed the book gently on the table.

Then Baek Sa-ra, who had followed my action with her eyes, greeted me.

“Thank you, Mr. Otter.”

“Not at all.”

Baek Sa-ra, who had been hit in the head by 「Alpha」 at the 「National Theater」 and fallen from the height of the third floor, had ended up hospitalized.

So I had brought the book I had promised, so Baek Sa-ra could read it while resting.

“Done…….”

Ha Yu-ju, who had completed her work, pulled back proudly.

Ha Yu-ju was indeed good with her hands.

Baek Sa-ra’s fingernails were glittering neatly in a pale rosy color.

“Unni, don’t break them this time, okay?”

After giving that firm warning, Ha Yu-ju began packing up her tools efficiently.

Amazing. That she had that much ability with one hand, and that she was still so spirited even after being hurt that badly.

Ha Yu-ju was from Page too, right?

On top of that, unlike Jae-gyeom, who first saw Baek Sa-ra after being appointed to the Bureau, Yu-ju had overlapped with Baek Sa-ra during their time at Page too.

Perhaps because of that, Ha Yu-ju and Baek Sa-ra looked almost as close as biological sisters.

“Right, Agent.”

As if suddenly remembering, Ha Yu-ju spoke to me.

“Those contaminated people, apparently they were all arrested. Did you hear?”

“Yes, I saw that the photos were posted too.”

“Huh? The mugshots are up?”

After hearing my words, Ha Yu-ju hurriedly ran to the bed.

Then she grabbed the tablet that had been rolling around on top of it and came back.

“Wow, they really are.”

---

■ Notice to All Employees / May 4

All 17 contaminated people of the illegal organization related to 「National Theater That Roots Out the Fake」 arrested.

---

It was a post uploaded to the Bureau’s internal network.

Below that short sentence, the mugshots of the arrested contaminated people continued in a row.

“Unni, are there any faces you know?”

“Mm…… I wonder?”

“Ah! This is the person. It says ‘Threatening to Kill an Agent.’ Do you know this person?”

“No, I think it’s my first time seeing his face?”

“What the……. Is he just small fry?”

The criminal Ha Yu-ju pointed out as having threatened to kill an agent.

That bastard was the teddy bear’s boss, the one who had said he would kill me.

Therefore, he was also the bastard who had pretended to know Baek Sa-ra while talking about being her oppa, but Baek Sa-ra seemed to have no idea who he was.

So I also silently agreed with Ha Yu-ju’s dismissal.

Old sayings were not wrong.

Birds of a feather flock together, and empty wagons make the most noise. Both were true.

It seemed this bastard too was small fry with only a loud voice, just like the teddy bear.

“In any case, that’s good, Mr. Otter.”

“Haha, yes…….”

The bastard who had sworn to kill me had been caught.

For me, this was a good thing. But, mm, how should I put it?

I think I should slowly reconsider my perception of the Special Management Bureau.

To me, the Special Management Bureau had been people who acted extremely superior but did not actually work, who idled around with all sorts of excuses.

But I was now going to acknowledge it.

They were superior.

They were a group that did things properly when they set out to do them.

Most of all, the Save the Otter Campaign Headquarters was far more powerful than I had thought.

In fact, the reason the teddy bear’s boss was caught in an instant was rather absurd.

“Boss says he’ll kill you.”

Did he know?

That this one sentence enraged the members of S.O.C.H.

Of course, he would not have known. I had only found out yesterday too.

Five days ago, while I was still in the 「National Theater」, the S.O.C.H. people had also been watching me.

So the moment they heard those words, they rose up like fire.

Otter Agent already has it hard enough, so who are you to threaten him? We’ll grind you to powder first. Apparently, that was roughly their stance…….

In truth, the teddy bear’s boss had bad luck.

S.O.C.H. had already been in a state of severe frustration because they had no choice but to watch me roll around like a hoop.

Then, when a target they could directly catch and beat down appeared, they united under the banner of, This bastard is just asking for it.

The sparks even flew to the external contractor that had been managing the 「National Theater」.

Even the Head of the General Affairs Division stepped forward and strongly protested, saying, “Your poor management and omitted reports put our Otter—no, our agent—in danger.”

“The Head of the General Affairs Division is a big spender in S.O.C.H. Number one in donations!”

Thumbs up!

Yu-ju raised her thumb and boasted about S.O.C.H.’s potential and financial power.

“So the people from Apophis admitted all their mistakes this time and even apologized. They’re usually really shameless.”

“Apophis” was the name of the external contractor that managed Special Zones.

I had heard it was a company created by retirees from the Bureau.

Its advantage was that its operational capabilities were excellent.

Its downside was that they still expected to be treated as seniors.

Putting it all together, they seemed to be “capable but difficult external collaborators,” and the contractor in charge of the problematic 「National Theater」 this time was precisely Apophis.

And that Apophis had also been forced to take responsibility this time without making a peep.

As a result, those contaminated people were handled with truly lightning speed.

Analysis Team tracked their base, Control Team determined the organization’s scale, Exploration Team secured the entry route, and the Head of the General Affairs Division pushed Apophis hard.

“Yes, I heard. The S.O.C.H. people worked very, hmm, hard.”

“Worked hard? Our name is literally ‘Save the Otter Campaign Headquarters’!”

Thumbs up again!

Right, ability worthy of becoming Bureau agents.

Fan devotion powerful enough to turn a human into an otter.

It was a combination of those two, so there was no way they would not be powerful.

So I will no longer mock you, S.O.C.H.

I still wonder whether this is right, but please keep taking care of me, S.O.C.H…….

---

And when one has received something, one must also give something.

“I understand what you mean.”

At my persuasion, Choi Sang-eun answered reluctantly.

“It is a story that would turn the world upside down. If it becomes known that things like this exist, the confusion will be great.”

This was an interview room of Crisis Management Division’s Aftercare Team.

Choi Sang-eun, sitting in front of me now, was wearing the gray tracksuit provided by the Bureau.

On top of that, he had not shaved for ten days, so he looked 5 years older than when I first saw him.

Five days ago, Choi Sang-eun had come out of the 「National Theater」 with me.

But he had not yet returned home.

Because Choi Sang-eun had held out without signing the confidentiality agreement.

So the Aftercare Team, which was in charge of sending citizens home, had asked me for help.

Because I was acquainted with Choi Sang-eun, they wanted me to persuade him instead.

“I’m sure the institution’s people have many difficulties too. Mr. Park Hyeon-jin also risked danger……. Is your name Park Hyeon-jin?”

“No, my name is Seo Do-un.”

When I revealed my real name, Choi Sang-eun laughed weakly.

Certainly, the atmosphere softened quickly as soon as Choi Sang-eun saw me.

He still had feelings left from sharing hardship with me for six days while trapped in the Special Zone, and more than anything, he had mistaken me for something like “an agent who entered a dangerous zone barehanded to save citizens.”

“Yes, Mr. Seo Do-un. I also personally saw you work devotedly.”

Mm, yes. I am sorry, but I will use that misunderstanding a little.

“I only did what I had to do. All of our employees are the same.”

“You fought almost like it was a war, and I am grateful that you risked your lives to rescue us. I truly respect you.”

No, Reporter…… The truth is a little different…….

“Still, this is not something happening in some remote border area, but something that happens to an unspecified number of people in the middle of Seoul. The people who died before the performance even began—perhaps they could have lived.”

Choi Sang-eun’s argument was this.

If innocent citizens being dragged into Special Zones was something that would happen anyway, then people should be informed, just as they prepared for fires or landslides.

That was also correct at a glance.

But those familiar disasters and Special Zones were different in nature.

“Revealing the truth is, of course, important. But I think you know too, Reporter. Some truths are more useful buried.”

“…….”

“Later, once all of this has been sorted out, perhaps it can be made public then. But not now. What would happen if this lawless space became known without any safeguards?”

“It would stagnate.”

Stagnate?

“Like filthy water stagnating in a sewer, all kinds of things would fill it. There, no matter what people did, whether they killed someone or trafficked humans, no one could stop them. On top of that, if people even gained monstrous strength, everyone with no tomorrow or who hated reality would flock there. And if the problem grew that bloated, it would eventually leak outside too…….”

I had not thought that far.

As expected of a reporter. You have mastered the darkness of the world.

“It cannot be helped.”

In the end, Choi Sang-eun was persuaded by his own words.

“I will keep silent. Instead, later, when the time comes to organize the records, please contact me. I would definitely like to participate.”

At Choi Sang-eun’s declaration of surrender, I glanced at the door over his shoulder.

A man was pressing his face against the glass window attached to the door and watching us.

It was Senior Associate Heo Gu-yeong of the Aftercare Team.

I gave him a slight nod.

Then Heo Gu-yeong covered his mouth, almost in tears.

I looked back at Choi Sang-eun and said,

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Mission complete.

May Senior Associate Heo Gu-yeong be freed now too.

Before saying my final goodbye to Choi Sang-eun, I brought up one question.

“And Reporter, there’s one thing I’d like to ask you.”

“Ah, yes.”

“The performance you saw in there. You remember it, right?”

“Of course I remember.”

“The white male figure that appeared in that performance. From when was it stretching its neck toward me?”

On stage, the performance had gone from creation to apocalypse, and white roses had bloomed.

And those roses had formed the shape of a hanged man.

But I had had to close my eyes to endure the strange pull.

So I had not seen it.

When that figure had thrust its face toward me.

That sight was chilling from my perspective too, but from the gaze of another audience member, it must have been extremely bizarre.

“A white man?”

But Choi Sang-eun tilted his head as if hearing this for the first time.

Then he instead asked me back,

“Was there something like that?”