Editor’s Survival Guide — Chapter 17
Chapter 17. Episode 4. Welcome to the Special Management Bureau (2)
—It looks as though you’ll continue being pulled into Special Zones from now on.
This sentence was an informal colloquial expression.
“From now on” was a syntactic compound indicating repetition over time.
“Continue” was an adverb indicating the persistence of an action.
Because the two contained overlapping meanings, deleting one would make the sentence more concise.
“It looks as though” was a sentence ending that conveyed conjecture.
It tended to evade responsibility for the explanation and was therefore inappropriate as an official expression.
Furthermore, explicitly stating the subject would communicate the information more intuitively and minimize confusion.
Taking these points into account, the sentence could be revised as follows.
—Seo Do-un will continue to be pulled into Special Zones.
……Once revised, it sounded like Cha Si-eon. Damn it.
“Hyung, are you all right?”
When I remained frozen in place, Gwak Jae-gyeom asked.
But instead of answering, I thought calmly.
What had I done wrong?
Over the past few days, I had assumed God’s existence just to tell him to go to hell a few times. Could this be because of that?
Surely not. If God existed, he couldn’t possibly be so petty.
Then was it because I had survived by a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of fortune, yet remained obsessed with Special Zones?
But I had said I would cherish my daily life……?
No, more importantly—
Why had Cha Si-eon and Gwak Jae-gyeom taken such a roundabout path to say this one thing?
Ah. They had been building up to it in case I failed to understand.
After all, I needed to know what hell was before I could fear being dragged there. Damn it. Damn it.
“Hyung? Do-un Hyung?”
When I remained silent, Gwak Jae-gyeom called me.
So I cut off my thoughts and asked briefly,
“Why?”
“What?”
“What grounds do you have for making such a definite claim about my future?”
“Ah, well. Your present condition is very unusual, Hyung. Your readings are clearly normal, and you display no trait alterations, but you seem more contaminated than most Contaminated Persons. In other words, we estimate that you are bound to Special Zones in a pattern entirely different from the existing framework…… Does that make sense?”
“Do you imagine it would?”
Without intending to, I asked in a contemptuous tone.
If someone rattled off strange lore known only to himself and told me to understand, how could I?
That was the sort of mistake novice authors made, and I had no composure to indulge it now.
At my mercilessly immediate answer, Gwak Jae-gyeom scratched his head.
“Then I’ll start by explaining contamination. Hyung, you remember the rulebook you saw in the railway station, right? One of the precautions said not to eat, drink, or read anything inside a Special Zone.”
Of course I remembered.
When I tore into Cha Si-eon for writing the rulebook badly, that was the exact passage I had criticized.
—
All acts of consumption—such as eating, drinking, or reading—are prohibited inside a Special Zone.
Such acts may cause severe damage to your body and mind.
—
“That warning exists because of contamination. If matter from a Special Zone enters your body, or if your senses are exposed for too long to writing, images, sounds, or similar things within one, contamination can occur.”
“What happens if someone is contaminated?”
“It differs by situation, but you remember the short, plump friend you met in the hospital Special Zone this time, right?”
“You mean Orange?”
“Yes. That friend changed in a rather distinctive way at the end, didn’t he? That was also a form of contamination.”
At those words, I went slightly rigid.
In his final moments, Orange had transformed into something that could hardly be called human.
Was I going to become like that too?
When my face went pale, Gwak Jae-gyeom hurriedly explained.
“But physical transformations like that occur only in truly extreme cases. That friend directly injected matter from the Special Zone into his body. Not everyone who becomes contaminated changes like that.”
“……That injection was part of a mission *you people* ordered.”
“Huh? Ah, that’s true. Hahaha. I don’t know anything about it. We’re the Response Team; that was the Exploration Team’s doing.”
Don’t laugh, you devil-adjacent bastard.
“So are you saying I’m contaminated too?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“You don’t know?”
“The Bureau defines contamination as ‘every form of trait alteration arising under the influence of a Special Zone,’ but you aren’t displaying any such alteration yet, Hyung.”
“Then doesn’t that mean I’m normal?”
“It does. If you hadn’t been pulled into another one this time, we would have concluded you were normal and let the matter pass too.”
What kind of nonsense had he been talking from the start……?
“Ah, wait a little. Did you know you’re really frightening when you stare at someone with a serious face, Hyung?”
For some reason, Gwak Jae-gyeom complained with an aggrieved expression.
But I had not adopted any particularly serious expression.
I had merely looked at him in a way that meant he should say something sensible.
“There was a similar case before. Only one, but apparently, that person’s Contamination Level was normal and they displayed no trait alterations, yet for some reason, they kept getting pulled into Special Zones. Sometimes after only two days, sometimes after as long as three months—more than twenty times in total.”
“What happened to that person?”
“The agent died in the line of duty while devoting themself to the nation and its people. They were a Bureau agent.”
Read only on MUGEX
Gwak Jae-gyeom’s matter-of-fact explanation left me speechless again.
When I thought about it, the conclusion was obvious.
Being pulled in more than twenty times meant escaping more than twenty times.
That was an achievement difficult for an ordinary person to attain.
And a reality difficult for an ordinary person like me to accept.
“So you’re saying I’ll keep being pulled in the same way?”
“That is our estimate.”
“Isn’t that too great a leap? Being pulled in again this time could genuinely have been a coincidence.”
“That’s true. So if you aren’t pulled in again, that’ll be wonderful. We simply want to prepare in case you are.”
Wonderful? When I had no idea what would happen to me?
As anger surged, Gwak Jae-gyeom quickly added,
“Besides, as a rule, the Bureau isolates Contaminated Persons and suspected Contaminated Persons. It’s a measure for the safety and well-being of our society!”
……When he put it that way, I had nothing to say again.
Whatever else was true, if there was a possibility I could become like Orange, remaining here was the right choice.
“Even so, your case is somewhat different, Hyung. Once the detailed test results come back, you’ll probably be able to visit home or go out occasionally.”
“If I’m fine, you should obviously send me home. Why are you making occasional visits sound like an act of generosity?”
“Ahaha, you’re incredibly sharp.”
Gwak Jae-gyeom laughed cheerfully, while I merely released a long sigh.
My situation, as explained so far, was extraordinarily frustrating.
It wasn’t certain, but I might be pulled into Special Zones again.
It wasn’t certain, but I might be contaminated.
Both involved my life, so I couldn’t dismiss either casually.
Damn it. Trials could come into anyone’s life, but this was going too far.
Pitying the future that had become hopelessly tangled before me, I asked again,
“Then how am I supposed to prepare? If I really do continue being pulled into Special Zones.”
As though he had been waiting for my question, Cha Si-eon took out a small box.
When I accepted and opened it, a smartwatch lay neatly inside.
“This watch possesses communication capabilities. Put it on immediately.”
As instructed, I fastened the smartwatch around my wrist.
“Unlike ordinary communication devices, it can receive signals inside Special Zones. Wear it at all times, and do not remove it while sleeping or bathing. When its battery reaches the replacement interval, we will exchange it for a new one.”
Even while bathing…….
Those words gave rise to a terrifying hypothetical.
What if I were suddenly dropped into a Special Zone while showering completely naked?
In that situation, what would happen to my social life?
I broke into a cold sweat without a sound, and Cha Si-eon continued.
“Whenever you are pulled into a Special Zone from now on, we will transmit the survival rules through that watch.”
So this was something like a device the police provided to people under protective custody.
But was that the end of the explanation?
They would simply transmit survival rules and stop there?
Unable to believe it, I asked,
“And the rescue team comes afterward, correct?”
“No.”
No?
“Due to circumstances within the Bureau, we recommend that civilians who enter Special Zones escape by their own efforts. It is therefore impractical to dispatch a rescue team every time you fall into one, Seo Do-un.”
“Then you expect me to escape alone?”
“For the moment, yes. However, we have a proposal for you in connection with that.”
What kind of damned proposal followed a declaration that they would abandon me?
I looked at Cha Si-eon resentfully.
Then unexpected words came from the bastard’s mouth.
“Would you be willing to serve as an agent of the Special Management Bureau?”
A Special Management Bureau agent?
Who, me? A humanities man to my very bones?
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“If you agree, we can regard you as an agent isolated during exploration whenever you are pulled into a Special Zone.”
“And if you regard me that way?”
“It becomes possible for us to rescue you directly.”
Then I’ll do it.
The words nearly burst out the instant I heard *rescue*.
But I swallowed the premature excitement rising to my chin and asked,
“Why are you suddenly making an offer like that?”
“The Bureau places a high value on your capabilities, Seo Do-un.”
“I have a glass body with a herniated disc…….”
“Your memory, judgment, and decisiveness are objectively excellent. Your abysmal physical fitness can be improved as much as necessary.”
Abysmal? I hadn’t gone that far.
Then again, if he was opening a path to survival for me, did his manner of speaking matter?
The offer was so ideal that it seemed suspicious instead.
Doubting Cha Si-eon’s intentions, I asked casually,
“Is the reason rescue teams can’t directly rescue citizens a manpower shortage?”
“It is the primary reason.”
“And that’s why you’re recruiting talent?”
“Something similar.”
“Having an agent inside the organization who is constantly pulled into Special Zones would increase the workload, not the manpower.”
Cha Si-eon, who had answered like a machine until then, glanced at me.
“What is the real reason you’re offering to make me an agent?”
When I looked directly at Cha Si-eon and asked, a brief smile appeared on his gloomy face.
Why was he smiling?
Was it awkward because he had tried to coax me gently and failed?
As though my guess were correct, Cha Si-eon confessed,
“The agent Jae-gyeom mentioned earlier exploited the phenomenon of being pulled into Special Zones to explore them. It produced many achievements. Therefore, we hope you will serve the same role, Seo Do-un.”
“You said that agent died in the line of duty.”
A heavy silence passed.
But only for a moment.
Snap, snap, snap—!
Gwak Jae-gyeom spread out a collection of documents with perfect efficiency.
And Cha Si-eon proclaimed solemnly,
“These are the terms of appointment to the Bureau.”
Ugh. Ghhhk!
I groaned at the contract like an evil spirit that had swallowed holy water.
No, was money important right now?
That was all danger pay!
I knew it with my mind, but to a poorly paid editor, the contract terms were dazzling beyond endurance.
No, no! Even so, get a grip.
My life was at stake, so I needed to think this through properly.
Do Not Become an Agent
1. If pulled into a Special Zone, survive through my own efforts.
2. Have a smartwatch and need only worry about making it out alive.
3. Even if I return home, I might be pulled in again, so I cannot keep working at my company.
4. Unemployed with a break in my career.
5. Have the 100 million won received as compensation, but do not know when I might die.
6. Can live extravagantly until I die; no future.
Become an Agent
1. If pulled into a Special Zone, agents will come rescue me.
2. In exchange, I must do whatever work they assign.
3. Receive a salary even when I am not pulled into a Special Zone.
4. Become a public servant.
5. Have 100 million won in cash at home and receive a salary, but do not know when I might die.
6. Obviously destined to be put through the wringer; at least have some chance of survival.
Both were truly awful.
Even so, if I had to choose, “Become an Agent” was somewhat better.
But that side had a serious problem too.
“What are you agonizing over, Hyung? The Save the Otter Campaign Headquarters enthusiastically welcomes Seo Do-un!”
I didn’t need that.
Ignoring the nonsensical attempt to coax me, I looked at Cha Si-eon.
Then I asked him bluntly.