Chapter 20: Interview (1)

“Fuuu…”

After sitting on the break room sofa and having a warm cup of tea, my tense mind finally eased.

All the team members were staring at me and Rahee.

They were obviously curious about what had happened inside, but they were waiting for us to calm down first.

I took a deep breath and slowly began to explain to my team what had happened in the isolation room.

First, the slate had turned into an electronic display, and the isolation room had become a space like a quiz show that challenged us.

Then, the strange challenges, the increasingly cruel types of problems whenever we tried to give up, the battle with the Crow Creature, the sword being taken and then retrieved, and finally, the spy’s betrayal.

The expressions of my team members as they listened to my story were pure shock.

“Are you crazy? They told you to cut off your fingers? They told you to commit suicide?”

Han So-ra shouted in disbelief.

“This is not just mindless rampage, it’s clearly a monster with intelligence. Its behavior pattern is completely different from the initial slate form. Especially the part where it recognized Kim Min-jun’s items and suggested offering them as sacrifices…”

Seo Ji-hyun analyzed sharply, her eyes gleaming through her glasses.

“…My goodness, you really had a hard time. And that sword… you made a great choice.”

Team Leader Park Chul-woo had a worried expression at first, but when he looked at my sword, he gave a slight smile, as if feeling a bit proud.

The team members comforted us.

The conversation naturally shifted to the spy, Choi, and the person who had hired him, ‘Baekho.’

“Baekho… I’ve heard about them often,” Team Leader Park Chul-woo murmured bitterly.

“Baekho, is that the company that’s constantly in a rivalry with Dongto? I heard especially that they’re clashing heavily in the pharmaceutical sector.”

At Han So-ra’s words, Team Leader Park nodded.

“That’s right. In the field of developing new drugs using monster byproducts, our Dongto and Baekho are the biggest competitors. So, there’s been a lot of information warfare and sabotage between us for a long time. This incident… probably relates to that as well.”

“Pharmaceuticals…?”

I asked, surprised.

I had never heard that Dongto was famous in the pharmaceutical sector, let alone that it wasn’t just a company for hunting or managing monsters.

Now that I think about it, since I arrived in this world, I had never been to a hospital or pharmacy.

One thing from Team Leader Park’s words, however, bothered me.

“They make medicine from monster byproducts…?”

“Yes. One of the largest sources of income for our company is the development of special pharmaceuticals using monster byproducts. Baekho is the same. So, both sides are desperate to steal related technologies and information. This spy incident was probably because of that.”

“Are the drugs made from monsters safe?”

“Yes, they undergo thorough testing. Of course, the testing process isn’t without risks…”

Team Leader Park turned his gaze away.

Baekho had sent a spy into Dongto to steal data on monster management, and their final mission was to provoke a rampage from the slate monster.

They probably intended to eliminate their spy through that rampage.

If I hadn’t been there, wouldn’t it have been the perfect crime?

“Oh, right. Team Leader.”

As I was listening, something suddenly came to mind.

“The electronic display monster left this as a ‘reward’ at the end.”

I pulled out a small, seemingly ordinary gift box that had mysteriously appeared in the corner of the room right before we escaped.

A reward from a monster… it felt off.

As expected, the expressions of my team members were a bit strange.

“Hmm, how should I put this? It’s a pretty gift box, but maybe that’s why it feels more suspicious.”

“Opening it is dangerous. It would be best to hand it over to the research team for content inspection and safety analysis.”

“Yes, Ji-hyun is right. There’s no need to risk it. I’ll take care of it and send it to the research team.”

Following Team Leader Park’s words, I handed over the box without hesitation.

Whatever was inside, I had no intention of opening it now.

“Today, you’ve all worked hard, so let’s call it a day and head home. Rahee, you should rest today as well.”

“Yes, thank you.”

At Team Leader Park’s words, we stood up from our seats.

Rahee thanked me repeatedly and then headed to her accommodation with weary steps.

I, too, decided to head back to my accommodation for the day.

Back at my place, I finished my shower and sat in front of my computer.

Without hesitation, I accessed the “Monster Gallery” and typed “Baekho” into the search bar.

After hearing the confessions of the spy and my teammates, I felt the need to learn more about that company.

There were plenty of search results.

It was said to be a conglomerate rivaling Dongto, and it seemed people were quite interested in it.

Among them, I could easily find posts that seemed suspicious or cryptic.

[Title: Baekho’s New Drug Clinical Trial Job Review]

I needed quick money, so I did a clinical trial job for Baekho Pharmaceuticals, but they wouldn’t tell me what the drug was.

I just got the injection and was observed.

But for the past few days, my body’s been weird.

I’m seeing strange things at night… this feels like side effects, but the company just says it’s a normal reaction.

Is there anyone else like me?

Should I report this?

It seems to be getting clearer…

[Title: Dongto vs. Baekho Pharmaceutical Line Fight, Only the Companies in the Middle are Getting Destroyed]

These days, supplying monster byproducts is hell because of Dongto and Baekho fighting over prices.

Baekho especially is like a mafia.

If you get on their bad side, your company will go under in an instant.

Be careful, everyone.

[Title: Hey, Baekho Employees, Fact-Check Please]

I heard that people in their exploration team are dying off recently, what’s going on?

I asked my friend, but they said they weren’t in the exploration team so they didn’t know.

But still, how can you not know if people from the same company are dying?

I swallowed dryly as I read through the posts.

Baekho.

A powerful competitor to Dongto and a rival in the pharmaceutical industry.

And based on these posts, it seemed like they might be a dangerous group that wouldn’t hesitate to engage in unethical experiments or activities using monsters.

Of course, I knew not to believe everything posted in galleries like these.

However, the fact that so many posts were saying similar things…

“I need to be careful.”

***

The next day, I went to work at Dongto’s headquarters as usual.

I had spent the night tossing and turning, thinking about the company Baekho and the posts I had seen in the Monster Gallery, but it only made me uncomfortable in bed.

When I arrived at our team’s meeting room, Team Leader Park Chul-woo, Seo Ji-hyun, and Han So-ra were already there.

“Ah, Kim Min-jun, you’ve arrived,” Team Leader Park Chul-woo said, standing up when he spotted me.

There was a slight tension in his expression, unlike the usual awkwardness.

“I have something to tell you today. New directives have come down.”

He lowered the screen and turned it on.

On the screen, the company logo of Dongto appeared with the phrase “Exploration Department Expansion and Mission Restructuring Notice.”

“Recently, the frequency of anomaly appearances has been rapidly increasing nationwide.”

It was information we had already heard several times, and Team Leader Park started speaking.

“Accordingly, the headquarters has decided to increase the number of exploration teams. Soon, through new hires, Exploration Teams 16 to 20 will be newly established.”

It was sudden news.

I had heard that outdoor tasks were increasing, but I hadn’t expected the exploration teams to grow.

Team Leader Park didn’t stop and continued his explanation.

“With the increase in exploration teams, there will also be some changes to the missions of the existing teams. Especially for Teams 11 to 15… from now on, in addition to managing low-risk anomalies, we will also be involved in supporting the exploration or handling of anomalies with slightly higher risk levels, which would be classified as level 2-3.”

“What?!”

Han So-ra shouted in surprise. I was just as shocked.

It hadn’t been long since we gained confidence from securing an item, and now we were already talking about an increase in difficulty.

Lately, I had been overflowing with confidence, but hearing this made my shoulders feel like they might slump again.

“For now, it’s not immediate. Until the new teams stabilize, our existing tasks will remain the same. But I still need to inform you in advance…”

Park Team Leader said, calming us down, and continued with the next point.

“Starting today, our Teams 15 and 12 have been assigned new tasks. They are for the recruitment of new team members—’practical interviews’ and…”

“Observation.”

“Observation of the interviews?”

“Yes. The official task title is ‘Safety Management and Support.’ It’s a role to prepare for any unexpected situations that may arise during the interview process.”

An interview, huh.

Now that I thought about it, I had been scouted into the company through a somewhat special route, so I didn’t know what process the exploration teams normally go through to become part of the team.

I had thought there would be an interview, but there was also a practical exam.

What could the practical exam for the exploration team be like?

I doubted it would involve dealing with anomalies in the underground hotel like I had experienced.

Team Leader Park lowered his voice and approached us, continuing. His gaze became serious.

“However, the real mission assigned to Teams 12 and us is separate.”

He briefly looked around and whispered.

“Given the recent unfortunate incident we’ve experienced… the headquarters has assessed a very high likelihood that a spy from a competing company might infiltrate during this recruitment process. Especially from Baekho.”

“Ah.”

So that’s why it was Teams 12 and ours.

It was because of the aftermath of the slate incident yesterday.

Employee Choi’s betrayal seemed to have shocked the entire company.

“Our team’s hidden mission is to carefully observe the interview process and monitor the applicants for any suspicious behavior. We need to keep an eye on their actions, speech, and reactions during the practical exam. If there are any unusual occurrences, we must report them immediately.”

We nodded with slightly tense expressions.

“Heh, well, maybe there won’t be any spies… so there’s no need to be too nervous.”

Saying that, Park Team Leader awkwardly smiled, though it seemed like he didn’t quite believe it himself.