155 - Love

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

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In the dark hideout of the doomsday cultists, a plot was brewing. A woman holding a perfume bottle looked up from her phone.

"You want me to use my feminine charms on this guy?"

"That's right!"

The Ghost of the electronic world nodded. They waved their hand, and all sorts of information about Yeonwoo downloaded onto the woman's phone.

It included his personality profile analyzed by company profilers, his work history, and personal relationships.

The woman read the documents, her mouth hanging open. The Ghost waited patiently, creating a quiet atmosphere in the hideout.

After some time had passed, the woman's expression turned confident.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot."

Truthfully, just looking at the documents, the chances of failure seemed high. Yeonwoo didn't seem like the type to fall for feminine wiles.

A man who ate and slept in his office. Someone only interested in his own survival. No hobbies, no weaknesses.

But they had the perfume. The love potion. An anomalous entity that made anyone who smelled it fall madly in love.

Both the Ghost and the woman felt confident. No matter how much of a survivalist he was, he'd be blinded by love. Even if that emotion was artificially created by an anomalous entity.

The Ghost of the electronic world smiled contentedly.

"If we can get Yeonwoo on our side, we can rest easy."

------

Time passed.

The woman acting as a spy for the doomsday cultists waited in her car. She watched keenly from an apartment parking lot, waiting for someone to come out.

'I'll approach the investigation team leader first.'

Since Yeonwoo wasn't taking any requests and was holed up in his office, she planned to use the team leader as a stepping stone to meet him.

For example, she could cause a traffic accident with the team leader, then visit his office with coffee or food as an apology.

She needed a plausible reason, as Yeonwoo would be suspicious if she just showed up out of nowhere.

'Once I naturally meet Yeonwoo, I'll spray the perfume and it's over.'

Just as she was checking the jewel-encrusted bottle, the team leader came out for work early in the morning. He was yawning widely and walking lazily.

"Damn. Don't feel like going to work."

There he was. The woman's eyes lit up. Now she just had to crash into his car as he was backing out.

She started her car, and the team leader slowly began backing out of his parking spot near the sidewalk. Before his car was fully out, the woman quickly stepped on the accelerator, turning the steering wheel sharply.

Her car rushed forward with bright headlights.

"Damn."

The team leader's reaction was swift.

In a split second, barely a few seconds.

He shifted gears from reverse to drive and floored the accelerator. The woman's car lunging forward and the team leader's car driving onto the sidewalk happened almost simultaneously.

The result was simple.

Crash!

The woman hit the car next to the team leader's instead. The innocent car crumpled.

In contrast, the team leader's car sat unscathed with its front wheels on the sidewalk. He had avoided the collision in that brief moment.

'He dodged that?'

The woman was flustered, but she got out of her car and bowed her head. Her glossy hair flowed down, and she spoke in a clear, urgent voice.

"I'm so sorry! My car suddenly accelerated! Are you hurt anywhere?"

"..."

The team leader rolled down his window and stuck his head out. Then he spoke gruffly.

"Move your car. I need to get to work."

"But what if there are aftereffects-"

"My car wasn't even scratched. Just move your car first."

Thanks to his quick investigator-like reflexes, the team leader's car was fine. Moreover, he had no intention of wasting time on this kind of accident.

'She seems like a normal person. No one's hurt, nothing's damaged, so let's just move on.'

The team leader waved his hand out the window.

"I'm fine. Worry about the car you hit."

The woman's eyes trembled slightly. The plan had gone wrong from the start. As expected of an investigation team leader.

'I'll give up on approaching through the team leader. If I push it here, it'll only make things worse.'

In the end, she kept her mouth shut and moved her car to let the team leader's car out.

The team leader drove out of the apartment parking lot without much concern. Left alone in the early morning parking lot, the woman looked at the car she had hit, then sped away.

She quickly recalled her backup plans.

'I can't approach Yoo Ji-yoo. There's the ghost from the Intelligence Department and she was a high-ranking official's family member. The student is tricky too.'

Finally, the woman gripped the perfume bottle tightly. A direct approach was the best option. She had Yeonwoo's credit card usage records, after all.

He went out for hamburgers every few days, so she'd wait for that opportunity when he briefly left the office.

The woman's car sped towards the investigation team's office. She'd wait for a chance to encounter Yeonwoo.

------

As time passed, the investigation team members recovered from their colds. Choi Jae-min, about to graduate, went out with his high school friends, while the team leader and Yoo Ji-yoo came to the office and chatted casually.



The team leader said, "Be careful of car accidents too. I've seen some cars suddenly accelerate. There's no helping it if you get hit by one of those."

"Right. My sister says traffic accidents are the most dangerous," Yoo Ji-yoo replied, thinking of her sister.

Yeonwoo just nodded vaguely.

'Car accidents are nothing.'

He had enhanced recovery from the rain. Unless he was hit by a speeding truck on the highway, there wouldn't be any problems. Even if such an accident happened, he had the dice.

'I'm pretty much okay with normal dangers now.'

Of course, accidents that destroyed important points were still dangerous. Like getting hit on the head by a flowerpot falling from a high-rise building, or being struck by construction materials near a work site.

'Whew. That's scary.'

Yeonwoo shuddered, getting goosebumps for no reason.

Yoo Ji-yoo looked at Yeonwoo strangely, then rubbed her eyes with dark circles under them.

"It's tough getting back to work after a break..."

"Work my ass. We're just killing time in the office."

"That's true. But still, we came to work. That itself is..."

As they were talking, they looked at Yeonwoo. For him, coming to and leaving work had no meaning since he lived right next to the office. No, he actually ate and slept in the room next door?

Wouldn't that have more downsides than upsides?

"Yeonwoo, are you okay? I mean, is it livable here?"

"Actually, I'm planning to get a place. I found a good one."

Yeonwoo pulled out a document with a satisfied expression. It was the Goldberg Club's real estate contract.

At that moment, the team leader stood up. He approached to look at the contract.

"Where did you get this? The Club doesn't distribute these outside."

"I got it as payment for a request. If I get a shelter and use this contract, wouldn't it be safe?"

Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-yoo blinked. She felt like she had seen that contract before. Didn't her sister from the Intelligence Department bring it to show off once?

At that point, Yeonwoo handed the contract to the team leader and stood up.

"Team leader, take a look. I'm going out for lunch."

"Look at what? Never mind. Why don't we eat together?"

"I'm going to get a hamburger..."

The team leader waved the contract he was holding and handed it back to Yeonwoo. Hamburgers, really?

"Alright, go eat. Be careful of accidents."

"Yes, sir."

With that, Yeonwoo left the investigation team's building and entered the busy street.

It was crowded, probably because it was lunchtime. Yeonwoo walked cautiously, unnecessarily watching out for cars and the sky.

Then, he saw the woman. Was she ordinary-looking? She seemed to have a common appearance. But Yeonwoo couldn't take his eyes off her.

Spritz, spritz-

The woman sprayed perfume as she walked. The wind carried the scent towards Yeonwoo. The fragrance penetrated deep into his lungs as he breathed in, taking effect immediately.

It was the love potion.

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Yeonwoo fell in love. It was love at first sight.

His heart pounded. His palms got sweaty. Adrenaline rushed through his body.

That reaction was the same as when he sensed danger.

'I'm screwed!'

Yeonwoo perceived love as a crisis. The suspension bridge effect worked in reverse. Wasn't it said that when you get excited in a dangerous situation, your body reacts similarly to being in love, making it hard to distinguish between excitement and love?

For Yeonwoo, who had experienced so many dangers, this got twisted strangely. The physical reactions of love were interpreted as his survival instinct going haywire in the face of danger.

Yeonwoo turned on his heel, sweating profusely. Forgetting his hunger and hamburgers, he dashed back to the investigation team's office.

His pounding heart felt ominous.

'This is almost on the level of a climate anomaly, right? It's like a doomsday scenario is unfolding!'

He needed to contact Mark Jung as soon as possible and get information from headquarters.

So Yeonwoo ran full speed without looking back, leaving the woman on the street staring at his retreating figure with a bewildered expression.

"He's running away? Why?"

The love potion wasn't broken. People walking on the street who smelled it fell in love, approaching the woman with dazed expressions.

Ignoring the people asking for her number as they pulled out their phones, the woman walked away briskly.

'He didn't even have time to resist? What's the reason? Did I look suspicious? I don't think so? Should I give up now? No, I still have options.'

The woman retreated for now, planning her next move.

Meanwhile, Yeonwoo rushed back to the office and started moving frantically. With one hand he called Mark Jung, with the other he searched the company intranet.

In the empty office, as the team leader and Yoo Ji-yoo had left for lunch, Yeonwoo's voice echoed as he spoke on the phone.

"Yes, it's me! Is a doomsday scenario unfolding? No. I just suddenly felt anxious. There isn't one? Are you sure? Ah, I see. No, it's nothing."

Hearing Mark Jung's puzzled voice, Yeonwoo leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat relieved.

He stared blankly at the ceiling with a dazed expression. Slowly, he moved his hand to his chest. He could still clearly feel his heart pounding.



"Then what is this? Is danger approaching?"

The excitement he only felt in life-threatening situations. Yeonwoo checked his bag with a serious expression.

It seemed an unknown threat was approaching Yeonwoo personally. It was time to prepare for that.

The woman he had encountered on the street didn't leave even a trace in his memory. His survival instinct completely filled Yeonwoo's mind.

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