144 - Alien

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

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The next day was a weekday. Since Yeonwoo didn't have a home, he stayed in the investigation team's building, arriving early at his desk and sitting in front of the computer.

'Didn't they say my security clearance had increased?'

In the office, bathed in morning sunlight, only the sound of Yeonwoo clicking his computer could be heard.

As he logged into the company system, all the measures and responses related to Pluto's contamination were visible at a glance. From the most recent documents to the initial discovery.

'The observatory staff should be fine.'

The unaffected employees were to be reassigned to other departments, while those who had become anomalous entities were apparently isolated in appropriate departments.

For example, an employee who loved stargazing and had become a telescope-like entity was going to a space observation facility.

'The satellite weapon incident was handled as a meteorite fall. False information was spread, and it became just another news story people glance over.'

For the mist appearing on Earth, the outcome was relatively good.

After a moment's hesitation, Yeonwoo clicked his mouse. He went back to earlier documents to look at the research records on Pluto's mist. He had a question.

'Why did the mist that appears when observed show up on Pluto?'

Long records of exploration, experiments, and countermeasures. Quickly flipping through pages and skimming keywords, Yeonwoo finally found the information he wanted.

"It was because of the company..."

His expression turned strange.

Extraterrestrial meteorites that fell on Pluto and Earth.

Following the procedure for dealing with extraterrestrial anomalous entities, the company sealed the meteorite on Earth and sent an exploration ship to Pluto.

While searching for the meteorite's origin on Pluto, they observed a small amount of mist that had survived a star's explosion, and the mist was summoned to Pluto.

The exploration team quickly reported its characteristics, and the company blocked Pluto's observation by applying noise. They occasionally sent explosives to prevent the contamination from spreading.

Yeonwoo clicked his tongue.

"They're just a bunch of troublemakers."

Investigating and nearly blowing up Pluto. The observatory researcher not receiving the notice, trying to observe Pluto out of curiosity and exploratory spirit despite it not being part of his job.

They work hard, but it seems they cause just as many accidents.

Anyway, he'd just looked at the records out of momentary interest. Yeonwoo took his hand off the mouse and leaned back deeply in his chair.

His unfocused eyes stared into space, lost in thought.

'Contamination. Self-awareness. What should I do?'

Although the observatory was gone, he'd gained a lot. He'd wielded enough power and senses to survive while contaminated, and experienced the level he could reach in the future.

Above all, the side effects of the dice. The lost sense of self and the overwhelming wave of information.

'Honestly, I don't mind becoming an anomalous entity. But I need to remain myself. Being swayed by power would be a weakness too.'

Tap, tap, tap, he drummed his fingernails on the desk. Yeonwoo sank into deep thought. Various methods flashed through his mind. Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

'Should I keep grasping the possibility of maintaining self-awareness? No, that's unrealistic.'

It might work for a while, but in the long run, he'd still lose his sense of self. It was like trying to quench thirst with seawater.

Yeonwoo lowered his head. He looked at his own body. The contamination that had risen in opposition when the dice's contamination had run wild.

He muttered in a dubious voice.

"Human Qualification Certificate?"

If that thing stating "This entity is human" was also an anomalous entity, and if it caused contamination that fixed one as human...

"But that alone feels a bit insufficient..."

At that time, the contamination had also run wild. And in the future he'd seen then, the dice's contamination had ultimately prevailed.

"Ah, my head."

Yeonwoo frowned, his head aching.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. His mind, already tired, lost focus, and random thoughts popped up haphazardly.

Disorganized thoughts. Ideas that came up by chance. Among the notions that bubbled up and disappeared like foam, one shone.

'Is something like survival instinct also an anomaly?'

Yeonwoo sat up straight. His eyes sparkled. Lightning struck in his mind.

"Ah. Oh."

A strange exclamation of realization escaped his lips.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The abilities that had manifested so far weren't just superhuman strength appearing in crisis situations.

It surpassed the urban legend about cockroaches' IQ rising to 340 when they sense danger. On top of that, hadn't he even detected the house's attack and countered it with an eraser in the house where you die if you ██?

'If this is right, it's actually better.'

It was safer and more suitable than the dice. It matched his preferences and personality, and it shouldn't be a power he couldn't handle.

Unable to contain his excitement, Yeonwoo sprang up from his seat. His face flushed red as he paced around the empty office.

At this moment, Yeonwoo's experience as a company employee and the classified information he had seen blended together, opening a limit to his perception that had been closed.

A new path.

"It doesn't have to be the dice. I don't need to be omnipotent or powerful. It's enough just to survive."

As he muttered to himself, Yeonwoo's eyes suddenly lit up.

"If survival instinct is an anomaly. If I could reach Danger Level 6 with survival instinct."

That power shown by the dice, Golden Omnipotence, the Association President. If he could obtain the power to move the world at will and fix the future through survival instinct.

Yeonwoo, who had been moving restlessly, stopped in place and murmured like a dreamer.

"This is it. An existence that doesn't die. Dangerous realities move away, and it heads towards a future where survival is guaranteed."



The dice? Not needed. It's just a nuisance that contaminates one's sense of self and brings danger through failures and critical failures.

'Rather, if I reach Level 6 with survival instinct, the possibility of me being in danger will move away, so only results favorable to me will come out. It's enough to use it as a tool.'

Yeonwoo decided to walk a different path from his future self. A more suitable path.

At that moment.

The door swung open and the team leader arrived for work. He strode in but stopped when he saw Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo was jumping up and down in place, pacing, and grinning to himself in excitement.

The team leader discreetly averted his gaze.

"Well. Yes. That can happen when you're alone."

"Ah, I just had a good idea. ...How was your lecture?"

Yeonwoo hurriedly changed the subject, feeling embarrassed, and the team leader took off his thick padded jacket.

"Nothing special. Just talked for two hours and came back."

Then Yoo Ji-yoo arrived for work, and the Anomaly Investigation Team's day began.

---

---

Yeonwoo stared blankly at his computer desktop. He couldn't focus on work, unable to escape his other thoughts.

'How do I reach Danger Level 6 with survival instinct? Is it even possible? Do I need to borrow the dice's power?'

At times like this, there's no friend as reliable as the dice. The last resort that creates miracles, a dependable secret weapon that protects life.

Couldn't he use the dice to realize the possibility of survival instinct being at Danger Level 6?

'6 feels impossible, but it'd be great if it worked. ...If I could raise the dice, rain, certificate, and instinct all to Level 6, wouldn't I be invincible? Ah, if that were possible, the Artist Association or the Club would've mass-produced them already.'

As he was lost in thought, Yoo Ji-yoo suddenly made a sound of surprise.

"Isn't this about you, Yeonwoo?"

"Huh?"

Yeonwoo snapped back to reality. Yoo Ji-yoo spoke as if she couldn't believe it.

"There's a story about you on the company intranet. Wait, what did you do on that request yesterday?"

"Well, one department did get wiped out..."

Yeonwoo scratched his cheek and logged into the intranet. He immediately saw the post Yoo Ji-yoo mentioned.

Don't request anything from the Gambling Eradication Center, an employee who loves the night sky did a joint experiment with that center, and that day the department disappeared....

Now only ruins remain where the department was, reporters looking for a story are prowling around like wolves, and the unaffected employees are all waiting for reassignment.

Yeonwoo made a dumbfounded expression.

"I mean, I was the trigger, but it happened because of the company's mistake."

Those words. The fact that he didn't deny it and made excuses suggested the exaggerated post wasn't far from the truth. Yoo Ji-yoo quietly pushed her chair away, distancing herself from Yeonwoo.

"...Did it really turn into ruins?"

"Well, some dangerous material leaked, so they had to do something like a bombing."

Yoo Ji-yoo was silent for a while, then looked at the team leader.

The team leader had an expression that said he'd expected this, but suddenly he started tapping his fingers on the desk nervously.

'Our office isn't going to explode too, is it?'

How many things had Yeonwoo blown up? He went for interrogation and got robbed by the Club's spy, went to the Intelligence Department and a doomsday cultist with an eraser attacked, and even the apartment building and shelter he was living in peacefully got destroyed.

At this point, it'd be stranger if the office remained intact.

The team leader spoke hurriedly.

"Security staff. We have anomalous equipment in our building too, should we request security personnel?"

Investigators mainly worked in the field, and since there was no important information or anomalous entities in the building, they didn't have dedicated security guards.

But with anomalous equipment being supplied, they now met the conditions to request them.

Yoo Ji-yoo opened her mouth to speak but then shook her head.

"I don't think it'll make a difference. ...Yeonwoo, quickly choose the next request! It's the center's first month, we need to work hard!"

Her intention was transparent. If it's a bomb that's going to explode anyway, place it outside. Pass the danger to someone else.

Yeonwoo was about to say something in response to this truly investigator-like thinking, but he held back.

'I'm still eating and sleeping here until I find a place to live.'

Yeonwoo looked at the Gambling Eradication Center's request list as if following Yoo Ji-yoo's words. He blinked.

Overnight, the list of requests had shrunk. Perhaps having heard about the observatory incident, several departments had cancelled their requests.

Of course, there were still new requests coming in. People who still wanted to gamble with the dice. Or messages sent like this:

- There's a doomsday cultist in your heart. We know. You've caused more damage than most doomsday cultists. Stop deceiving your heart, break free from the company's shackles, and become a true doomsday cultist.

A recruitment attempt from the doomsday cultists.

'What nonsense!'

Yeonwoo recoiled in shock and immediately hit reject, then browsed the list looking for rewards he needed.

'I probably can't find a way to protect my sense of self while resisting contamination. It'd be good to have, though. Since the dice is certain.'

Then he suddenly saw an interesting request. It was a new one, and the term "blessed child" caught his eye.

[Dice Experiment Request]



- Wouldn't it be innovative if we could control the risks of the dice? Couldn't it be safely used in all sorts of experiments? If a child blessed with luck is nearby, wouldn't unfortunate results not happen?

The message continued at length after that.

Our researchers see the dice as a tool for experiments, so we decided to find a way to use it well, and so on.

But Yeonwoo was purely interested in the blessed child. Not for the dice, but for himself.

'Wouldn't accidents stop happening if an entity like that was next to me?'