Chapter 56

WAAAAAAIL—!

At the sharp siren sound, I opened my eyes.

Outside the window was still dark, so with my head on the pillow, I doubted it.

Did I really hear a sound just now?

Or was it my dream?

WAAAAAAIL—!

At that moment, the siren sound rang out again.

THUUD—!

A vibration climbed up through the floor.

The moment I realized it was not a dream, I kicked off the blanket and got up.

Where is this again?

Is this sound the 「Railway Station Where the Siren Sounds」?

No, it is not. This is my room.

I have not yet been dragged into a Special Zone.

When I came out into the living room, Kwak Jae-gyeom was already out before me.

Jae-gyeom, standing there in pajamas and holding a tablet, glanced lightly at me.

“Oh, hyung.”

“What was that sound just now?”

“I think it’s from the contaminated-person detention facility, but it’s probably nothing serious.”

Jae-gyeom spoke as if it was no big deal and sat on the sofa.

Ding—

At that moment, an alert appeared on my smartwatch too.

-Nuruk two.

It was a simple alert indicating the Bureau’s internal situation.

“Nuruk” was a code word used when a contaminated person detained by the Bureau caused trouble.

“Two” was a mid-level alert.

It meant a contaminated person was causing somewhat of a disturbance, so respond calmly.

WAAAAAAIL—!

The siren sound repeated again.

The sound came faintly from far away.

The contaminated-person detention facility should be much farther underground than this place, so it was simply astonishing that it could be heard all the way here.

The vibration also continued intermittently, but Jae-gyeom sat on the sofa as if used to it and only looked at the tablet.

I sat on the opposite sofa too.

“Hyung, just go back in and sleep.”

THUD—!

“It keeps shaking, though?”

“Haa…….”

Kwak Jae-gyeom sighed and raked through his messy hair.

For some reason, he did not look relaxed.

“Is this the contaminated people caught this time rioting?”

“No, that’s not it…….”

Then what is it?

This guy, who usually went on about all kinds of things on his own, was strangely tight-lipped right now.

I could not tell whether it was because he had woken up from sleep, or because the situation was serious.

THUD—!

Even in the meantime, the vibrations continued.

THUD— THUD— THUUD—!

Just when I thought the vibrations were growing more intense, they stopped abruptly at some point.

Ding—

-Nuruk two cleared.

The alert had been lifted.

“The situation is over. It’s fine now, so go to sleep, hyung.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had received the same alert, stood first and said this.

At that moment, the time was 2:19 a.m.

---

The next morning.

Cha Si-eon had scratches on his face.

Wow, who managed that?

“Did something happen?”

I asked while sequentially looking at Cha Si-eon’s split lip, cut forehead, and bruised cheekbone.

“It is nothing.”

Cha Si-eon refused to answer.

Team Leader Cha always had this attitude toward private conversation unrelated to work.

I too had never had any particular reason to make small talk with him, so I had let it pass.

But today, I deliberately asked again.

“You seem fairly injured.”

“There is no need for you to worry.”

“I am not worried.”

“Well done.”

“Not at all.”

Damn it……. Do you have no concept of social life at all?

Cha Si-eon not only blocked unnecessary conversation at the source, but even employed a way of speaking that neutralized all attempts at conversation.

Even if I asked that bastard about the 200 million won, I did not know if I would get an answer.

I was curious about the huge compensation I had received, but because of Heo Gu-yeong, I was holding back the question with all my strength.

Senior Associate Heo Gu-yeong, who had struck his own mouth over and over while asking me to make sure the Field Division people did not know he had spilled it.

Right, I met Senior Associate Heo yesterday, so let me endure for exactly two more days.

Then on the third day, I will try saying, “The compensation I received seems different from Bureau regulations.” Yes.

I decided to wait for the right time.

And this plan of mine was quietly crushed beneath another major event and fell apart.

---

“Your contamination level is normal.”

Kim U-in said as he flipped through the chart.

As I stroked down my chest at the good news, Kim U-in took out the candy he was holding in his mouth and grew serious.

“What are you relieved for? Didn’t you hole up there like that because you wanted to become contaminated?”

“No way…….”

“I thought that was exactly it. You were eating snacks and living there like it was your own home.”

“Hahaha…….”

Kim U-in looked at me with eyes asking whether I could laugh.

That was right.

My attending doctor was quite displeased because I had stayed in a Special Zone for 6 days.

“The regulations said up to 9 days was fine, so I planned to come out before then.”

I watched his mood and explained.

I should have just stayed quiet.

Killing intent formed in Kim U-in’s eyes.

“What are you talking about? What regulation says up to 9 days is fine? It says never exceed 9 days. If a poison has a lethal dose of 100ml, are you going to say it’s fine because you drank 90ml? Do you think this is a game where you can neatly move on to the next round as long as you finish 1 or 2 seconds before the time limit?”

“That is not it, but I heard there are cases where people stayed for more than 1 year and still did not become contaminated…….”

“That’s a case, an exceptional case written down because it was unusual! No, if there are people who are fine for up to 1 year, why do you think the regulation says under 9 days? It means individual variation is that severe. But they needed a standard, so it’s a regulation created by forcibly reaching a compromise, and why are you trusting that and gambling with your own body!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be careful from now on.”

In the end, I failed to recover my losses and shrank back.

“I’m not saying you did wrong. I’m saying rescue is good too, but take care of your own safety first. You should understand how frightening contamination is…… Haa.”

Kim U-in sighed and put the candy back in his mouth.

For some reason, it reminded me of Jae-gyeom sighing at dawn.

After pouring out a round of nagging, Kim U-in softened slightly and continued.

“In any case, Do-un, your stay time in this Special Zone was 120 hours and 12 minutes. Under Bureau regulations, when you enter and leave a Special Zone, you must rest outside for 3 times the duration of your stay.”

This too was a Bureau regulation for preventing contamination.

If one wandered through a Special Zone for 6 hours, one had to rest outside for at least 18 hours.

This regulation probably had not been created for no reason, so I should not slack off and should observe it properly.

Three times 120 hours and 12 minutes was 360 hours and 36 minutes.

In other words, 15 days and 36 minutes.

Since a week had already passed since I came out of the 「National Theater」, I would only have to be careful for about 8 more days.

Of course, in my case, this was force majeure…….

“But Do-un, it’s not as if restraining yourself keeps you from being dragged there.”

Perhaps Kim U-in was bothered by this fact too, because he irritably rubbed between his brows.

“Acting Team Leader Oh said the dates of your full recovery determinations and your Special Zone entries overlap. Would you rather try getting hurt?”

“Are you serious?”

“It was a joke.”

Kim U-in spat this out briefly and bit into the innocent candy.

Looking at the lollipop being brutally crushed, I let out a dry laugh.

He was prickly to begin with, but today, he is even more like sandpaper than usual.

Of course, he was not being like this for no reason.

“You heard next week is Intensive Suppression Week, right?”

“Yes, I heard.”

“I heard Response Team 3 will also be deployed on operations. Then who is watching you during that time?”

This was why my attending doctor’s nerves were on edge.

Next week, a major Bureau event called Intensive Suppression Week was scheduled.

The stars of this schedule, which came around every few months, were Response Teams and Exploration Teams.

Response Team 3, which supported me, was no exception, so an unavoidable gap was expected to form in my protection system too.

Kim U-in seemed worried that these circumstances overlapped.

So, meaning to reassure him, I said,

“I will receive support from Field Operations command staff during that period.”

Within Field Operations, there was another higher department that managed and commanded Response Teams, Exploration Teams, and so on.

The command staff to which Manager Kwon Mu-seop belonged.

In other words, a higher line than now would look after me, so I thought there was nothing bad about it for me.

But why?

“By command staff, do you mean Manager Kwon Mu-seop?”

“Yes.”

At my affirmation, Kim U-in made an extremely sour expression with all his might.

It was an expression fully capable of eating away at my trust in the command staff, or Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

---

Intensive Suppression Week.

To understand this, one first had to understand the cycle of Special Zones.

Special Zones had cycles.

Stage 0, nascent phase.

The stage in which a completely destroyed Special Zone was formed again.

During this stage, the Special Zone could not be approached.

Stage 1, active phase.

The stage in which a Special Zone that had taken form pulled in humans and became active.

All the Special Zones I had been dragged into were in the active phase.

Stage 2, reorganization phase.

The stage in which a Special Zone briefly stopped for the sake of growth.

A Special Zone in this stage did not pull in humans, but entry was possible through entrances secured by the Bureau.

Stage 3, awakening phase.

The stage in which a Special Zone that succeeded in growing began activity again.

An awakened Special Zone acted more actively than before and sucked in humans.

In other words, Special Zones grew.

And to prevent the growth of Special Zones, the Bureau periodically smashed them apart.

Because if that happened, recovery became more urgent than growth, and the Special Zone’s awakening itself was frustrated.

To summarize, it was a kind of pruning.

What mattered was that this pruning was not done by simply picking a day, but carried out to match a Special Zone’s reorganization phase.

A Special Zone in the reorganization phase stopped activity like a larva that had entered a cocoon.

This was the right time to smash a Special Zone apart, but the problem was that this stage normally lasted only 4 days.

So when this period arrived, the Bureau ran around like mad and poured in firepower.

This was Intensive Suppression Week.

It was an extremely important regular event for Special Zone management.

---

■ [72nd Intensive Suppression Week] Mission Assignment Table

Group 1

Composition: Response Team 2, Response Team 3, Response Team 4

Personnel: 30

Mission: Reset 「Island Where Blood Falls」

Group 2

Composition: Response Team 5, Exploration Team 1, Exploration Team 5, Exploration Team 7

Personnel: 29

Mission: Growth suppression and follow-up exploration of 「Church That Draws Revelations」 and 「Abandoned Factory Where You Get Caught If You Move」

Group 3

Composition: Response Team 6, Exploration Team 2, Exploration Team 4

Personnel: 24

Mission: Growth suppression and follow-up exploration of 「Amusement Park That Seeks Angels」 and 「Water Park Connected to All Water」

Group 4

Composition: Response Team 7, Exploration Team 8

Personnel: 17

Mission: Growth suppression and follow-up exploration of 「Funeral Hall Visited by the Dead」 and 「Meditation Center Where Bodies Change」

Group 5

Composition: Response Team 8, Exploration Team 9

Personnel: 9

Mission: In-depth exploration of 「Forest of Fruit Trees Where Memories Blur」

Group 6

Composition: Response Team 1, Exploration Team 3, Exploration Team 6

Personnel: 26

Mission: Standby in the Situation Control Room and field support

---

The first day of Intensive Suppression Week.

“With that, I hope all of you return safely. Then, good luck.”

Before the 135 agents standing in formation, Manager Kwon Mu-seop spoke in a solemn voice.

The agents saluted silently and then boarded the official vehicles.

A short while later, the space everyone had left behind grew quiet.

A feeling like the eve of a storm.

As I was considering the lingering trace of that place, Manager Kwon Mu-seop came down from the platform.

“Do-un, this is your first Suppression Week, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’ll be a little unsettled, but nothing much will happen. This is what we always do.”

Manager Kwon Mu-seop smiled good-naturedly as if to reassure me.

“We’ll take care of your safety too, so don’t worry.”

Manager Kwon Mu-seop spoke in a friendly way and held out his hand.

Thinking he wanted a handshake, I naturally held out my hand too.

But Kwon Mu-seop did not shake my hand and instead hooked something onto my wrist.

Clink—!

This is……?

“Then let’s get along well for the week, Do-un.”

I looked at Kwon Mu-seop in slowly growing shock.

Astonishingly, Manager Kwon Mu-seop was connecting his wrist to mine with a cord, just as Kwak Jae-gyeom had once done.