episode_0088

“What do you mean? ‘Ordinary small business’ becomes a really ordinary small business?”

“Hmm, it’s a bit difficult to explain in words… Should I say that there is no more room? Convenience functions have decreased, while work intensity has increased and work hours have increased. It’s as if the company is in a difficult situation…”

“Hmm, I’m not sure just from what you’ve said… Can I take a look?”

Noeul, who thought about my words for a moment, nodded willingly.

“It doesn’t matter. It looks like Han-gil will be part of the management bureau anyway, so it would be good to look into this issue at least once.”

“Then wait a moment. I’ll change my clothes.”

“You can take it slow~ Actually, I barely escaped with the excuse of working outside, so I want to rest a bit…”

You sound like someone is watching you.

After getting dressed and chatting appropriately, we went to the car that my companions came in.

“uh…”

And when I finally arrived, the sight of an ‘ordinary small business’ was enough to catch me off guard.

The old and dirty exterior walls evoked feelings of rejection and discomfort, the windows that were rattling as if they were about to fall off were barely fixed with tape, and there was a ‘security guard’ grunting at the front door, nervously watching over people.

“…How did this happen?”

The difference between it and the ‘ordinary small business’ I remember was heaven and earth.

It was clearly a popular corporate building that boasted perfect cleanliness and sophistication, but how did it change into this?

No, more than that, is it okay for a ‘security guard’, who is a supernatural entity, to appear proudly like that?

“Ha, that’s right… Actually, we don’t know the cause. At some point, space movement to work was blocked, and the welfare facilities and cleaning system stopped functioning, and as if they were possessed by evil, office workers are being forced to work and work overtime.”

“…A useful and useful object of paranormal phenomenon has degenerated into something dangerous? So wouldn’t it be better to get rid of it?”

“We are still looking into the matter, but I think we need to be prepared because it seems like it will be quite a big task to safely rescue the people who are bound by supernatural entities, i.e. ‘office workers’… Besides, there is one more problem.”

“What problem?”

“Paranormal entities in the supply room. ‘Ordinary small businesses’ are holding them hostage.”

“what…?”

Noeul bursts into laughter as she looks at the completely unexpected words.

“Isn’t it absurd? Apparently, there was intelligence in ‘an ordinary small business’.”

“…ah.”

Come to think of it, I didn’t talk about ‘ordinary small and medium-sized businesses’ in detail.

In order to prove the relationship between me and Noeul, I tried to talk as concisely as possible, focusing on events as much as possible, so I left out the details.

“I guess there’s a need to explain in detail…”

“Huh? What do you mean? Hangil oppa.”

“Let’s go in and talk. Oh, where should I put the scouter?”

“That guy is going to the Bureau headquarters, not the ‘ordinary small business’.”

“If it’s the headquarters…is it located on Mt. Baekdu?”

“That’s right. I know very well. Letel is for that…”

“Hello!”

“Wow!?”

I was startled by a deafening cry and looked up to see Retel falling with his limbs spread wide like a flying squirrel.

Hot! Crack!

“Aaaah!?”

The moment I unconsciously took her in, I opened my mouth wide as I heard a terrible bone sound coming from my spine.

“You, Retel…! How many times have I told you not to do something like that…!”

“Ahahaha! I’m sorry! It’s been a while and I’m so happy! How have you been these past few days? Have you enjoyed your leisurely, peaceful freedom? I’m jealous of that! I’ve been busy getting called around to the management bureau and taking care of various things! Well, I’ve already done it once. So it wasn’t that difficult!”

She let out a barrage of words like a machine gun, hanging like a koala, intertwining her limbs and pressing her body together.

“No, hey…! Stay away! Everyone is watching!”

“Huh? That’s okay. I put a space distortion around it.”

“Don’t abuse your power for personal gain!”

I screamed and tried to get rid of her, but it wasn’t easy because they were so close.

Smooth!

“…!”

I felt a soft, voluptuous touch press against my chest, and I gritted my teeth to avoid being conscious of it.

However, for some reason, my body was already hot and uncontrollably excited, and I was craving her touch and warmth even more.

My consciousness and reason were completely focused on her, and I couldn’t turn my attention elsewhere.

“…!!”

No, this is the supernatural phenomenon of the ‘absolute couple ring’!

Damn it!

“Ouch!!”

[A cry of despair, pain, and grief] was expressed very briefly and loudly, and when I let out a scream for just a moment, I immediately felt my head clear and my body feel refreshed, and I sighed.

“Whoa…re…”

“Retel. Why don’t you take it in moderation and leave?”

Letel, who was staring at her at Noeul’s words, chuckles and shakes his body.

“Umm~ What should I do~?”

“……”

When Noeul’s eyes turned cold at the tone and expression that seemed to be teasing, yet subtly looking down, Retel giggled, gave a firm squeeze, and got down on the floor.

“So, is this the scout I’m taking?”

“Whew, yes. That’s right.”

“Hmm…”

“Eup-eup…! Eup-eup!”

Retel, who was staring at the scouter who was struggling while being restrained by Heanna, which he couldn’t see and couldn’t even feel, laughed as if it was fun.

“Wow, that’s fun. You made something strange again?”

“…Can you see it?”

“I don’t see it. I just feel it. Don’t underestimate me.”

I chuckled at the sight of him smiling confidently and straightening his shoulders.

“Oh, by the way, Retel.”

“huh?”

“When will I be able to remove the ‘absolute couple ring’? It’s quite annoying to remove status abnormalities every time we meet.”

“Then I’ll bring you these! It won’t take long!”

Shook.

“……”

Before I could finish my sentence, she disappeared with the scouter and did not return even after several minutes.

“…Shall we go in first? Hangil oppa.”

“Ha…yeah.”

As I sigh and walk away, I hear a whispering sound coming from behind.

“Oppa Gyeong-gu. Isn’t this very exciting? It’s a triangle…or is it a square relationship?”

“Shh. I can hear you. But things are definitely going interesting… I wonder what will happen…”

I suppressed the sigh that threatened to come out again at the sound of their voices.

***

“No, this is a bit… too harsh?”

The inside of an ‘ordinary small business’ that came in with a ‘temporary employee ID’ around its neck was much more serious than I had imagined.

The floor was broken or uneven, making walking unstable, the tiles and wallpaper were wrinkled or completely peeled off, exposing ugly skin, and the ceiling was full of holes, so mice and cats wandering around occasionally looked up. I stuck it out.

“Water! We don’t have enough water!”

“Uuuu…! You have to use the restroom within 10 minutes…!”

“There’s no paper here! Are there any reserves!?”

“I want to sleep, now, it’s impossible…”

“Wow, it was delicious. Today’s midnight snack…”

However, what was more serious than the building was the condition of the people.

It is truly a sight to see them walking around like zombies, soaked in fatigue and madness.

“Why is Apocalypse only here…?”

“Ahaha… I’ve been working overtime for several days already. The ‘ordinary small business’ has no intention of sending me home…”

“…If that’s the case, we really need to get rid of it, right?”

Noeul, Saeron, and Gyeonghyeong suddenly covered my mouth.

When I looked up in surprise, I saw them looking around with nervous eyes and then heaving a sigh of relief.

“Phew…luckily I didn’t hear you.”

“Oppa Han-gil, be careful. If you criticize the company, you will be punished.”

“Something that is annoying, painful, or miserable happens at random.”

“……”

Is it not just an apocalypse, but a dystopian apocalypse?

As I entered the ‘conference room’ with my mouth shut, I was speechless when I saw that the space had lost its previous luxury and elegance.

No, a round plastic table with cheap folding chairs… it’s still too harsh.

“Haaa… I guess I should start by conveying information. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

I explained the past events in detail, in order, and told them everything I knew, including that an ‘ordinary small business’ was a subcontractor, and that a ‘terrible large corporation’ was assumed to be the ‘main contractor’.

“Indeed, that’s what happened… Then, is the reason why an ‘ordinary small business’ suddenly had problems because the original contractor, a ‘horrible large corporation’, went bankrupt?”

She mumbled as if she finally understood and tilted her head.

“But Han-gil, I have one question.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Your brother returned to the past through death regression, right?”

“yes.”

“So death regression doesn’t apply to the other world? Looking at what happened to the ‘ordinary small business’, it seems like the ‘horrible large company’ is still in a state of ruin.”

“That, um…”

To be honest, I wasn’t sure.

Did my death regression cause all universes and dimensions to go back in time?

Anyway, isn’t the scale too big?

“…I don’t know. Maybe so?”

“Hmm, then it’s safe to say that the ‘horrible conglomerate’ won’t do anything strange again, right?”

“Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. Director Romenel also said that he couldn’t do anything about that ‘denial.’”

“What? Really?”

Noeul, Saeron, and Gyeonggyeong look surprised.

It’s worth it. To be honest, I also couldn’t picture her being defeated by something.

However, speaking from the perspective of directly witnessing the process of the accumulated karma being corrupted and becoming ‘unclean’, it is also true that I think that may be the case if it has absorbed a lot of karma and grown into a gigantic state.

“…No, wait a minute. But Noeul, didn’t you hear anything from Director Romenel? He has a good memory, so he would have known everything.”

“Uh…I didn’t hear anything. No, maybe he just didn’t answer because I didn’t ask. That’s the kind of person he is.”

“what?”

“He’s basically like a machine. He’s strong, but he’s extremely passive. If someone doesn’t give him commands, he’ll probably sit still and smile arrogantly for hundreds of years.”

“…You know, Noeul.”

My curiosity was piqued by the slightly emotional tone in my voice, so I asked cautiously.

“I’ve felt it before, why do you hate Director Romenel so much?”

“Did I show off like that? Oh, maybe my future self was like that?”

“That’s right. When Romenel visited regarding the ‘terrible conglomerate’, you told me not to trust Director Romenel.”

“…Yeah. That’s something I would say.”

She thought for a moment, pursed her lips as if she were going to say something, and eventually smiled bitterly.

“It’s because I’m instinctively reluctant to see women prettier than me.”

“…okay?”

“Yes. The pride of a succubus is not easy.”

I knew she was hiding something, but I didn’t bother to ask.

Will you tell me when you get your memories back?

“…But Noeul. Is it still impossible to use points to cause miracles? I want to restore the paranormal phenomenon response team’s memories as soon as possible.”

“Ah, that. I’m also curious about the memories I lost, so I want to deal with them quickly.”

She sighs and frowns as if she is bored.

“There are a lot of procedures. And it’s a bit awkward to say this, but the bureau is very wary of you, so I think it will take quite a long time.”

“…okay?”

“Yeah. He’s a powerful person who suddenly appeared, and he even turned back time through death regression, right? In order to use the points to bring about a miracle, you have to take him to the supernatural phenomenon object at the management bureau’s headquarters, and that’s the management bureau’s most important department. I guess it’s special. “It is difficult to gain trust unless you sign a ‘contract’ or become part of the management bureau.”

“Hmm…”

It wasn’t something I couldn’t understand, so I nodded.

“So, if possible, I would like you to wait leisurely. Can you do that?”

“What is that…”

If restoring memories is a sure thing, it can be tolerated even if it takes some time.

“Noeul. Then is there anything I can help you with? I think it would be a little dangerous to leave an ‘ordinary small business’ like this.”

“Don’t worry about that. The Management Bureau has already prepared various preparedness measures. We shouldn’t underestimate the Management Bureau too much, right?”

“Really? If you say so…”

Bashish, the smiling sunset suddenly points at me.

“I’m more worried about you than I am. You’ve already caused a major accident, right?”

“You kidnapped the scouter?”

“It’s not kidnapping, it’s security. Anyway, Pandora of Salvation could attack you today, is that okay? Should I at least submit a request for protection to the management bureau?”

“Umm…no. That’s okay.”

It’s a bit weird to say this to myself, but I think I’m pretty strong.

If you add a few more ‘Imagination Summoners’ to your house, they won’t be able to touch me by any means possible.

“Really? Would you rather sleep at my house? I’m worried.”

“Ahaha. I’ll politely decline. I’m scared that I’ll be attacked.”

“……”

About half of it was said as a joke, but Noeul did not deny it and just smiled.

A little cold sweat broke out.

-…She is a dangerous woman.

I pretended not to hear Lael’s whisper and quietly got up from my seat.

“Then I’ll just leave. If you really need help, call me right away.”

“Ugh. It’s okay, but… I understand. I’ll do that. Anyway, Han-gil oppa has a lot of affection for me.”

“……”

Are you saying I have a lot of affection?

This is the first time I have heard this in my life.

However, it didn’t feel bad.

***

After returning home and summoning another ‘Imagination Summoner’, I had a good meal with Rael and then went to bed peacefully.

And, I had a dream.

『This station is Hoettegi Station. This is Hoettegi Station.』

“…what?”

One of the most famous urban legends is the ‘monkey train’ dream.