117 - Contamination

TL/Editor: raei Status: 5/week mon-fri

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The company's declaration of war spread throughout the anomalous world. The venue: the afterlife. Participants: everyone. Date: one month from now. No exceptions.

The anomalous world held its breath at the implicit order to participate fully unless they wanted to see Earth destroyed. Performances, businesses, and worship ground to a stop.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, covert movements stirred, probing the company's true intentions.

Spies extracted information, anomalous entities infiltrated, special effects were used to spy on the company, and employees were persuaded.

They reached a conclusion.

"Ah, why again? They're having a fit and going crazy."

"They're serious. Dead serious. This is insane."

"Is it paranoia? Persecution complex? Even humans only start getting contaminated after about 10 years. Why are they worrying about this already?"

Contamination was fairly well-known, so they grasped the company's resolve to some extent, but couldn't quite empathize.

Instead, they racked their brains in suspicion, searching for a more plausible motive they could understand.

"Looks like they're just trying to keep us in check."

"They limited it to the afterlife. Seems like they're planning to use the war to erase it."

"Probably trying to kill two birds with one stone."

"Seems the company's developed anger management issues. Let's give them some therapy."

One thing was certain - the company was serious and war was unavoidable.

Their eyes grew manic too.

It had been a while since the last war. This was an opportunity. Win or lose.

"War means profit!"

"A large-scale war? This is practically an art exhibition! I think I can find some inspiration."

"Oh great demon of hell! We shall offer you sacrifices, so many sacrifices!"

"Sounds good. It's a chance to use magic we couldn't before because of the aftereffects."

The winds of war were blowing.

The anomalous world fell into the calm before the storm. A heavy, dark atmosphere hung over every group, as if awaiting a funeral. They moved to the afterlife and prepared materials.

And the doomsday cultists laughed.

"Haha! It's a festival!"

At that moment, Lee Yeonwoo was preparing to infiltrate the doomsday cultists' stronghold.

An agent from the Intelligence Department came to Mark Jung's hotel room. The agent opened a bag full of what looked like cosmetics and prosthetics and approached Yeonwoo.

"Don't laugh or move."

"Okay."

A brush applied something that changed his skin color, and his eyes and mouth appeared different. Clay was attached to change his entire facial structure.

Yeonwoo just rolled his eyeballs.

"So, what kind of scheme are the doomsday cultists plotting?"

"As soon as they heard about the war, only the high-ranking cultists gathered for a meeting. They're probably planning to use the war to cause some incident."

Mark Jung typed on his laptop, head bowed.

"We couldn't find out that much, so you'll need to investigate, Mr. Yeonwoo. Disguised as the spy we planted."

"Spy... I'm not good at acting."

"It's fine."

Fine my ass. If I get caught, I'll have to fight. Just as Yeonwoo was about to make an anxious expression, the agent clicked his tongue.

"Stay still. You're ruining the makeup."

"Okay."

Mark Jung smiled.

"That's exactly what you need to do."

"Pardon?"

"We've preset the dialogue and behavior patterns to be easy to follow. Yes, no, that's all you need to say. Just don't say anything else."

That sounded doable. Yeonwoo instinctively tried to nod, but feeling the brush touch his cheek, he stiffened his neck.

Then he spoke without moving his lips, like a ventriloquist. The pronunciation was awkward.

"Will there be compensation?"

It was his duty as a special investigator, but given the nature of the job, he hoped for some special compensation. Like getting a new shelter, or something like that.

Mark Jung glanced at Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo's counseling records had been sent up to the Korean branch and headquarters, where profilers had analyzed them in detail.

Seeing the results, Mark Jung thought: S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

'We should be grateful he's even taking on the job.'

Survival and safety were his top priorities. He had no desires for the company to fulfill, and conversely, he was a double-edged sword that could harm the company if used recklessly.

Since headquarters already treated Yeonwoo as an elite agent, they had prepared compensation.

Clank-

Mark Jung pulled out a metal cube. He manipulated it for a moment like solving a puzzle, with its complex mechanical appearance.

"An advance payment."

Click, inside the opened cube was a single bullet. One ordinary bullet.

In that instant, Yeonwoo leapt up and jumped backwards. The agent's brush streaked across his face, drawing an ugly line. The agent heaved a deep sigh.

"Come on. I'm trying to do your makeup here."

But Yeonwoo stood stiffly, glaring at the bullet. Only the case and bullet were reflected in his fully dilated pupils.

"That's."

His hair stood on end, instincts blaring alarms. This is dangerous. One wrong move and I'm dead.

Mark Jung took out the bullet and rolled it in his palm. The bullet gleamed smoothly in brass.

"It's an ordinary bullet. It inflicts one shot's worth of damage on any entity, and no interference works against it."

No anomalous entity's interference worked - it couldn't be judged with dice rolls, wounds couldn't be regenerated with rainwater.

Yeonwoo realized its power and broke out in a cold sweat. Then he slowly exhaled.

'I just need to attack the person with the gun.'

Still, it could be used as a trump card. Yeonwoo looked for the gun. That bullet didn't seem compatible with the Goldberg Club's pistol.

"Where's the gun?"

"Right here."

It was a pistol. Mark Jung even loaded it himself before placing the gun on the table. Mark Jung observed Yeonwoo's reaction.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

His words were nonchalant, but his voice and eyes told a different story. Slightly excited, sparkling.

It was no less than an advance payment. With just this, the chances of killing an enemy before dying himself increased dramatically.

At that point, the agent sighed and handed over some kind of bottle.

"We need to redo the makeup from the start, so wash it all off and come back."

After a considerable amount of time, the preparations were complete. Yeonwoo had become a different person. His face was changed, and using some tools, even his physique was altered.

'Even the team leader wouldn't recognize me like this.'

Yeonwoo cleared his throat, ahem. A gravelly voice came out, altered by the drugs the agent had given him.

"Then-"

"Don't speak. Your habits are dangerous. Just say yes or no."

"Yes."

Yeonwoo left the hotel, hiding the pistol loaded with the ordinary bullet and a tightly folded bag in his inside pocket.

---

---

'Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, yes.'

Repeating the words in his head, he arrived at a public restroom in some campground. He'd been told it was a campground where doomsday cultists had been gathering recently, and the spy had just left.

Leaving behind their phone, wallet, and such in the restroom.

'Got everything.'

After retrieving the hidden items, Yeonwoo walked as naturally as possible.

Not far away, several tents were clustered together. The scruffy-looking doomsday cultists were grilling meat over charcoal, drinking beer, and chatting when they spotted Yeonwoo.

"Why are you so late? Stomach ache?"

"Yes."

"This guy, nervous about the meeting, huh?"

"Yes."

The cultist flipping meat with tongs shook his head. He'd known this guy for years but had never seen him speak more than two words.

Then again, how many doomsday cultists were in their right mind?

"Let's get ready to go. It's time for the hijacker to open the portal."

The cultists started packing up their things. They checked a cart piled with boxes of unknown contents and folded up the tents.

Yeonwoo stood quietly to one side, blinking.

'They said the doomsday cultists were gathering today. It's a place for high-ranking cultists to make announcements, and I just need to extract information.'

Given the nature of the gathering, it would be dangerous, but Yeonwoo felt somewhat relieved.

'I have the vest, stones, and bills. And dice too. I can definitely extract myself.'

At that moment.

Suddenly, a blue door opened. From beyond the door, the hijacker just stuck out a hand. In the hand was a sketchbook with writing on it.

- Open for 20 minutes. Move quickly.

The hand that had been extended for 10 seconds retreated.

"Let's go!"

The doomsday cultists moved. The cart passed through the portal. Then people rushed after it in droves. Yeonwoo also mixed in among them and crossed the portal.

The world changed.

It was some island. Blue sky and sea stretched out, and people were crowded around the remnants of a house.

Yeonwoo stared unblinkingly at the people in the innermost circle.

'Those people are.'

Each one was a Red-level wanted criminal. They were drinking, lying down, smoking, looking at their phones, sprawled out, but survival instincts set off alarm bells.

'They may look relaxed, but they're on guard. Ready to move at the slightest sign of attack.'

They gathered so openly. Was it to draw the attention of other groups?

At that time, the cultists who came from Korea were busily moving luggage, and Yeonwoo and a few others sat down haphazardly on the outskirts of the crowd.

At the very center of the crowd were the leaders, then those with anomalies, and on the outermost edges were cultists like them without anomalies but with somewhat loud voices. Below that, people were working.

Someone opened their mouth.

"Heard there's gonna be a war. Guess they'll tell us what to do."

"That's great. It'll be fun to watch the world burn."

"I'd be happy if just the company went down. Damn bastards."

While talking amongst themselves, they didn't speak to Yeonwoo. The spy planted by the company was pretending to be someone who didn't usually converse.

Time passed.

More and more doomsday cultists gathered, and invisible sparks began to fly in the air around the area.

Yeonwoo's senses were already on high alert, so he caught it precisely. He'd seen his future self do something similar.

'Information warfare.'

Sure enough, a cultist looking at their phone raised their head. With an expression full of irritation, the cultist spoke.

A strange electronic sound.

"Ah, I can't block anymore. Should we just make the announcement now?"

"Let's do it."

A cultist wearing glasses stood up. Holding a megaphone, he looked around. His glasses flashed. It felt like he was seeing something invisible.

Screech-

The megaphone shrieked before carrying his voice.

"In one month, there will be a war in the afterlife. We'll lie low for a month, then strike Earth the moment the war begins. As we always do, you know."

A voice that pierced the ears.

In that moment, the cultists' faces were filled with near-manic glee.

Those who wished for destruction even during the climate anomalies.

Those who truly wanted the world to burn had seized an opportunity.

The bespectacled cultist added fuel to the fire.

"We've gotten our hands on some of the entities that made up the climate anomalies. We'll distribute them. Take them, and those who want to band together, stay behind."

At that moment, Yeonwoo was certain.

'A lie. No, bait. A feint?'

While the less dangerous cultists strike Earth, the dangerous ones are aiming for something else.

Even the climate anomalies were bait.

'No way it ends with just this. The real thing must be elsewhere.'

Yeonwoo's hand went into his pocket, into the folded bag. And, he grasped a stone.

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