161 - Headquarters

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

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"You want me to create anomalous entities?"

Yeonwoo frowned. His steps, which had been keeping up with Mark Jung, slowed a bit. It was possible, but wasn't it a bit dangerous?

"The plan is to experiment on harmless objects like pens, bags, or handkerchiefs, according to what's written," Mark Jung said.

"But if a critical success happens..."

Mark Jung spoke casually, but Yeonwoo muttered with a skeptical tone.

A critical failure would probably result in something like an ordinary bullet, but he couldn't predict what a critical success might bring. It was impossible to know how far the object's potential for anomaly might be maximized.

Despite clearly understanding this risk, Mark Jung walked on confidently.

"That level is fine. Headquarters is protected by several Extinction Defense Devices. To be precise, they're protecting the world, but headquarters receives even stronger protection."

Extinction Defense Devices protecting headquarters.

Yeonwoo suddenly felt curious. He looked up at Mark Jung.

"You mean like the broken clock that stops time?"

"That's just an emergency measure. As far as I know, there are two devices always in operation. Safety measures 001 and 002."

Their footsteps and voices quieted down in the parking lot where security squads patrolled on motorcycles.

Mark Jung said, "Safety measure 001 is a device that tilts the world to suppress accidents caused by anomalies. It works especially strongly in densely populated areas."

This was also one of the reasons why abandoned houses or eerie uninhabited areas were the main stages for ghost stories.

Because safety measures were weaker in such areas.

Yeonwoo wondered, "For something like that, there seem to be quite a lot of accidents in the world."

Even the Human Qualification Exam would pop up in test centers, and the worm cult operated freely in the middle of the city. He himself had been caught up in all sorts of incidents and accidents.

Mark Jung's expression turned gloomy for a moment.

"This is the result of the company tilting the world. If safety measure 001 didn't exist, chaos on a completely different scale would unfold."

Like in the distant past. Like in an era when myths and legends walked the earth, and people struggled just to survive rather than develop civilization.

Even now, they still couldn't completely block anomalies, but compared to that era which only remained in stories and history, it was like heaven and earth.

Humans had built their own civilization, and human society dominated the earth, didn't it?

Yeonwoo relaxed a bit, his expression easing.

'So the company does have some conscience.'

Seeing that they maintained peace and protected the world, they weren't complete sociopaths without blood or tears. They just made final decisions when necessary, but at their core, they seemed to serve humanity.

However, that sense of relief was shattered by Mark Jung's next words.

"And it's also the company's weapon."

"Weapon?"

Yeonwoo tilted his head. Weapon? A device that protects humanity?

"If you block an attack with a shield, it's armor, but if you strike with a shield, it's a weapon, right? Originally, safety measure 001 is like a dam blocking a flood, but what if we threatened to blow up that dam?"

"...What?"

Mark Jung spoke cheerfully with a hint of laughter, but Yeonwoo blankly doubted his ears.

They were walking, looking for the employee elevator. As they walked down a dimly lit corridor, shadows fell across Mark Jung's face.

"The Goldberg Club, artists, demon worshippers... They're all friends who rely on humans and society as their foundation."

The Club needs cities. Artists need audiences, and demons need worshippers.

In other words, they had more to protect than the company.

To put it extremely, the company could abandon Earth at any time. If necessary, they might even be prepared to blow up the Earth with their own hands.

"Those who can't give up the current world can't go all the way against the company. Because the company created this order."

From the beginning, the company didn't tolerate groups that weren't based on humans. Even magicians cared for Earth, their home star, and even the doomsday cultists were originally an organization that split off from the company.

The current world existed on the order created by the company. That order was the company's greatest weapon.

Yeonwoo blinked, thinking hesitantly.

'So, if other guys piss them off, they threaten to die together? No, they only let those who would be affected by such threats live?'

It seemed mixed with pride or bluster, but there must be some truth to it. Yeonwoo wasn't sure whether to call the company's capabilities impressive or insane.

'The company is scary... It's a good thing I'm part of the company.'

Yeonwoo started to follow this train of thought but soon gave up.

Anyway, he was high-level personnel for the company, so it should be fine to gloss over this, right?

"Ah, I can see the elevator over there."

Mark Jung, walking ahead, pointed to the elevator. The employee elevator looked exactly like a normal elevator.

There was just one call button.

Click, Mark Jung pressed the button, and the elevator moved busily. While they waited briefly, Yeonwoo suddenly asked,

"Then what's safety measure 002?"

"I believe it's related to fate or precognition. It gives the impression of fixing a future where humanity survives, but to be honest, I don't really know the details..."

And then, the elevator arrived.

Ding, the doors opened with a cheerful sound. The two entered the elevator.

"The lab coordinates..."



Mark Jung took out his phone to check something, then carefully pressed what looked like a keyboard screen. Instead of buttons indicating floors, it was a system where you input a serial number on a keyboard.

"lab_007. Done."

Having finally input the coordinates, Mark Jung said jokingly,

"There's even a ghost story in headquarters. They say if you input coordinates that don't exist, you arrive in a strange space."

"...Is that really just a ghost story?"

Yeonwoo felt uneasy, alternately looking at the screen of Mark Jung's phone and the coordinates entered in the elevator.

No matter how he thought about it, it didn't seem like just a ghost story.

Mark Jung shrugged.

"The elevator management department and the higher-ups insist that accidents don't happen, but there are actually records of experiences and malfunctions."

"That's not a ghost story, it's just not counting accidents as accidents, isn't it?"

Yeonwoo fidgeted, shifting his weight from side to side while glancing at the elevator screen.

The coordinate screen, constantly changing letters and numbers like a malfunctioning meter, was dizzying.

Fortunately, they arrived at the lab without any problems. The lab was visible through the smoothly opening doors.

------

In the lab researching [Project: Ordinary World], a researcher frowned deeply while on a call.

Even though they held the phone far from their ear, an irritated voice could be heard loudly from it.

"That Yeonwoo or whatever, kick him out quickly! The headquarters area is under strain, so before an accident happens!"

It was a call from the person in charge of safety measure 001. As soon as Yeonwoo arrived, the world tilted by 001 started to shake unstably.

It was as if the luck of a blessed child was being neutralized.

The researcher responded indifferently.

"Even if an accident happens, it's fine, isn't it? We're on the highest alert level, almost at wartime status."

"That accident! Shouldn't we prevent it from happening in the first place!"

Their opinions weren't converging.

So what if an accident happens? If this experiment goes well, they might be able to achieve the company's dream. That level of risk should be taken.

Just as the researcher was about to spit out some irritated words, the elevator arrived with a ding, and two people walked in. Mark Jung and Yeonwoo.

A gleam appeared in the researcher's eyes upon seeing Yeonwoo. The researcher quickly spat out a few words.

"If you want to stop the experiment, contact the Board of Directors. I'm hanging up now."

"Three hours! Finish within three hours! After that time-"

Click, the call was cut off. The researcher smiled happily and hurried towards Yeonwoo. The precious experimental tool had arrived.

Yeonwoo, who had been looking around with a tired expression, saw the researcher. The researcher spread their arms wide.

"Welcome to the Ancient Technology Restoration Research Institute!"

The researcher tried to hug Yeonwoo, but Yeonwoo pushed them away with an uncomfortable expression.

"Yes, I'm Investigator Yeonwoo. Let's get straight to the request."

"I like your enthusiasm! Then let's go right to the lab!"

The researcher, pushed away by Yeonwoo, didn't seem to mind and led Yeonwoo and Mark Jung to an inner room.

The room simply had one table. On the table were small props like pens or handkerchiefs, and there was one loaded gun.

Yeonwoo recognized that gun. His eyes widened. He had seen this gun before.

"...An ordinary bullet?"

"It's a weapon prepared in case of a critical success. So feel free to roll as much as you want. If there's a critical success, we'll shoot it immediately with that."

Yeonwoo felt both a sense of crisis and relief from the ordinary bullet.

'I guess this is okay then.'

Looking closely, even the experimental materials like pens were firmly secured. With wires or adhesives.

If a real problem occurs, they can just shoot and destroy it with that gun.

The researcher, doing a final check on the experimental materials, explained the disguised purpose of the experiment.

"In the distant ancient Earth, anomalous entities were everywhere. Of course, the contamination from them was serious, but the current Earth is clean. Do you know why?"

Yeonwoo played along with a suitable answer.

"Was there ancient technology to remove contamination?"

The researcher nodded at the answer Yeonwoo had roughly guessed based on the institute's name.

"Lost technology. So today's goal is actually twofold. One is to observe the transformation into an anomalous entity upon success, to analyze the principles of anomaly generation."

"And the other is to analyze failures, I guess."

Yeonwoo vaguely guessed.

The possibility of this object being an anomalous entity. If that possibility fails, the possibility of it not being an anomalous entity would be realized, so they planned to analyze that.

'So it doesn't matter whether I fail or succeed?'

Yeonwoo marveled quietly.

The researcher grinned. They hadn't mentioned the true purpose. The real goal was top secret, after all.



'If we get enough data from this experiment, an ordinary world might not just be a dream.'

Having finished the checks, the researcher turned around.

"Well then, let's start right away. Roll for anything you like." S~eaʀᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Yeonwoo closed his eyes. He could see the dice in a corner of his mind. He called upon the dice, and the experiment began.

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