13 - Operation Art Retrieval

TL/Editor: raei Schedule:

Illustrations: None.

Join the discord! Here

3. Second Floor Dormitory Hallway / Night

People were rushing out into the hallway, their faces bright with excitement. They walked quickly, almost running, eagerly anticipating the performance.

Researcher 1: I can't believe I get to see a performance by Leonardo da Seoul!

Researcher 2: This is such a lucky break! I need to get down there early to grab a good spot!

Dr. Kim, looking displeased, pushed his way through the crowd in the opposite direction. His facial muscles twitched in irritation, and his hands moved restlessly.

He stopped in front of the door where the new employees were staying. His body creaked as he moved.

---

---

“Cut! How dare you try to refuse the scenario! That’s not allowed! Actors should stick to their roles! Ready!”

Click!

“Action!”

---

---

4. Male New Employees' Dormitory / Night

The dormitory had more empty beds than occupied ones. The three new employees were sitting on the beds, sharing drinks when they suddenly stopped.

New Employee 1: Didn't you hear something just now?

New Employee 2: I heard it too. It wasn't the sound of glasses clinking.

New Employee 3: It sounded like a slate being struck. Like the ones they use in movies or dramas.

Just then, the door opened. The new employees hastily moved, causing the soju to spill onto the floor.

Standing in the spilled soju was Dr. Kim, looking down at New Employee 3.

New Employee 3: (awkwardly smiling) Ah, well, I brought the alcohol, and I suggested we drink….

Dr. Kim: (firmly) Everyone.

Dr. Kim kept moving his hands and making weird facial expressions, but actions outside the script were impossible.

Dr. Kim: To celebrate completing the training safely, a performance has been arranged. Let’s go see it.

New Employee 1: (confused) Now? At this hour?

New Employee 1 glanced at the clock by the window, which read 11:20 PM.

The new employees began clapping.

New Employee 3: That sounds great! Let’s go see it!

New Employee 2: Let’s go!

New Employee 1: Wow! Leonardo da Seoul, the legendary singer who can move people to tears with just one song! We have to hear this!

Kim and the new employees cheerfully left the room.

---

---

“Cut! …What is this? There’s no way I’d spend this much screen time on extras. Is something interfering? No, I would have noticed if that were the case.”

---

---

As soon as they left the room, the unknown force weakened. Their legs continued moving on their own down the stairs, but their hands and mouths were free.

Yeonwoo grabbed the handrail with his hand, which was scraped as he was dragged down the stairs. He urgently spoke to Kim.

“Dr. Kim. What is going on? Is this some sort of exercise or training?”

“No. We are under attack.”

Kim spoke flatly, his mind focused elsewhere.

Using the brief moment of regained freedom, he quickly typed on his phone.

Using his authority as the director of the research center, he accessed the institute’s management system.

As the scene transitioned, he made steady progress, finally reaching the point where he could execute the emergency containment protocol.

A large red button filled his phone screen.

Kang Yeol, seeing this, calmly asked.

“Who is attacking us, and how? What should we do?”

“The confirmed intruder is the director from the Free Artists Association. His anomalous entity name is ‘Director.’ He has limited reality manipulation abilities—”

As he spoke, his fingers pressed and released the red button.

Although the immediate surroundings didn’t change, the spaces containing anomalies were now secured with iron bars.

The final containment measure, the release of ‘Suddenly, a Ninja Appeared,’ was activated, giving the ninja freedom.

In the meantime, they exited the building and reached the open space.

Then, they heard a sound. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Click!

---

---

4. Open Area / Night with a Bright Moon

The research center staff gathered in the open area, murmuring excitedly. They were looking forward, their eyes sparkling, and jumping in place with anticipation.

Researcher 3: Look over there! It’s Leonardo da Seoul!

Security Guard 3: I can’t believe this day has come! I’m so happy!

Standing at the center of the bright moonlight, Leonardo opened his previously closed eyes.

The people who met his gaze shrieked. Leonardo placed his hand on his guitar.

Leonardo: Is everyone here? No one left out?

All Researchers: (very loudly) Yes!

Leonardo: Ladies and gentlemen, I am Leonardo da Seoul from Seoul.

All Researchers: Wowwwwww!

Leonardo: Before we start the performance, let me give you some instructions.

Leonardo pointed to Security Guard 1.

It was the guard who greeted Leonardo at the main gate.

He was wearing sunglasses. There were also a few other guards wearing pajamas with crooked sunglasses.

Leonardo: Please take off those sunglasses. They will interfere with enjoying my performance.

Security Guard 1: Yes, sir.

Security Guard 1 struggled to remove his sunglasses.

The sunglasses fell to the ground, cracking and breaking. Other sunglasses followed, dropping onto the dirt.

Leonardo looked around at the audience. The spectators, gathered closely together, waited eagerly. Leonardo adjusted his guitar.

Leonardo: Then for the first song...

Then suddenly, a ninja appeared!

Ninja: Domo. Nice to meet you. Ninja desu.

---

---

“Cut! Cut! Cut! How dare you tamper with my scenario! How dare you! This is unacceptable!”

---

---

The moonlight vanished, leaving the open area in darkness.

The ninja, who had sprung to life thanks to the director’s power, disappeared in an instant.

Instead, a white man wearing a flat cap appeared and began shouting loudly.

His neck veins bulged, and his spit flew everywhere.

“How dare you tamper with my work! You’ll pay for this! I only intended to retrieve the artwork, but now there will be no mercy, none!”

But no one was calmly listening to him.

With the force now weakened, the atmosphere shifted drastically.

From an enthusiastic concert waiting for their favorite singer’s song, it turned into a company facing an enemy.

The security guards moved stiffly, as if their joints were rusty, bending to pick up their sunglasses.

The gate guards reached for their tasers.

The supervisors searched their pockets to activate remote emergency devices, while the researchers sharpened their senses to observe, analyze, and remember the anomaly.

Their actions were excessively slow, as if tightly bound by something heavy, moving with great difficulty and sluggishness.

Stalling for time, Dr. Kim shouted loudly.

“Director! I hadn’t heard you entered Korea. Must you really do this?”

“Shut up! You don’t even deserve to speak! You don’t understand art!”

“There are many anomalies here that kill people! They must not be released to the world—”

“They are not anomalies! They are great works of art that move the world and are loved by everyone! And you’ve locked them in boxes! And now you’ve even tampered with my scenario! How dare you!”

The director’s eyes gleamed. Dr. Kim sighed inwardly.

‘He’s not listening. There’s nothing more I can do.’

Still, he had done everything he could.

He executed the emergency containment measures, isolating the anomalies and summoning the ninja.

The institute’s anomalies wouldn’t be stolen, and the ninja might even subdue the director.

Feeling a bit more at ease, Dr. Kim relaxed.

The director suddenly smirked.

“That’s right. There’s no need to get angry. Dealing with unexpected situations is part of a director’s skill. Alright, this will be fun to direct.”

He muttered a few words.

“Total ninja massacre. Provocative and primal violence.”

“Huh?”

Before anyone could understand or stop him, the director shouted quickly.

“Ready.”

Click!

“Action!”

---

---

5. Open Area / Dark Night

The open area with no moonlight.

Then suddenly, a ninja appeared!

Ninja: Domo. Nice to meet you. Ninja desu.

The ninja stood in the darkness! Among us! Cloaked in pitch-black clothes and a hood!

The ninja drew his ninja sword!

The sword gleamed even in the darkness!

The moonlight-like blade flashed among the research center staff!

Once! Twice! Three times! Four times! Five times! Six times! Seven times!

Seven crescents appeared on the ground and vanished!

Bodies fell apart! Blood spurted! Screams echoed!

It was a scene of horrific carnage!

Standing at the center of the field of bodies, the ninja dropped his ninja sword!

Ninja: This... this isn't what I wanted. Aaaah!

The ninja knelt in the pool of blood, his knees submerged!

Then, suddenly standing up, the ninja fled.

Disappearing into the darkness.

---

---

“Cut! Haha! Serves you right! That's what you get for trying to change someone else's work!”

The director laughed, shaking his head as he pointed at the scattered bodies, as if that wasn't enough, kicking them as well.

Thud—

The kicked body parts rolled, leaving a red trail where they had been. The smell of blood was overpowering.

In an instant, over twenty people had died gruesomely.

It felt unreal. The director’s maniacal laughter seemed distant.

The research center staff stared blankly at the bodies of their colleagues. They were speechless, their minds numb.

“Hey, mister.”

Leonardo, whose face was spattered with blood, wiped it off and glared at the director.

“Are you crazy? Why did you kill my audience!”

“Ha! They’re not your audience, they’re my actors! I can do whatever I want with them!”

“No! Anyone who listens to my music is my audience!”

“You’re just an actor moving according to my script! How dare you—”

“What? You have some weird power but haven’t made a single decent piece of work—”

“You—”

The two began to argue.

But Yeonwoo couldn’t hear them well.

He looked down at the ground through his narrowing vision.

The body lying at his feet. Blood pooled around it, soaking his slippers, seeping between his toes.

‘...I survived by a hair’s breadth.’

It was pure luck.

The ninja's terrifying blade had narrowly missed Yeonwoo. The cleanly cut sleeve of his shirt was proof.

But he couldn’t fully enjoy the relief of survival.

It wasn’t just because the source of the problem still remained.

“Ugh.”

“Ahhh.”

Over the past week, he had grown attached to Kang Yeol and Seoyeon.

Both were now slumped over, bleeding.

Kang Yeol’s arm was cut so deeply the bone was visible.

He was calmly tearing his shirt to use as a bandage, but his complexion was pale. He tied the knot with his good hand and teeth, trembling.

Seoyeon, collapsed, was in worse shape. Her left leg, thin as a twig, had been severed. Blood gushed from the stump of her thigh like a faucet.

Kang Yeol crawled over, having managed to tie his bandage.

“Seoyeon, I’m going to give you first aid.”

He started to tie her thigh with the torn shirt. Seoyeon trembled, on the verge of fainting, her eyes rolling back.

“Ghhhhh!”

Yeonwoo slowly moved his gaze again. Among the bodies scattered around, he saw a familiar face.

‘Ah.’

It was the security guard who had shot him with a taser on the first day of training.

They had talked often, and the guard had apologized.

Now, only his head remained.

He was in pajamas, likely having rushed out of bed, with other body parts scattered around.

“I thought you were some great director since you’re an executive, but without your powers, you’re just third-rate—”

“One more word, and I’ll kill you too.”

The intruders continued to argue.

Yeonwoo sent a blurred glance at them, staggering forward like a person drunk with sleep.

He stepped over puddles of blood and bodies.

Toward the taser gun lying on the ground.