What kind of company gives an employee who just barely came back from the dead one dose of medicine, then makes them come to work the very next day??
The answer is the goddamn Lobotomy I work for, fuck...
I am grateful that the one dose of medicine they gave me was a K Corp ampule worth about as much as an ordinary Wing employee’s annual salary, though.
But making me come in right away is too much, isn’t it...
After that conversation in the infirmary, the sun had already risen, and it was time to report for duty.
"Yawn."
Yuri let out a small yawn.
Our steps toward the Safety Team corridor felt especially heavy.
"Couldn’t sleep?"
"What about you, Han?"
"Me neither."
Yuri rubbed at her eyes with a weary expression.
"After talking about something like that yesterday, it wasn’t easy to just go to sleep."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
The dream.
Carmen.
Daneaksuseon.
The impurity.
And the future.
Even now, thinking about it left my head a mess.
Still, it didn’t suffocate me as much as it had before.
Because I knew I had precious colleagues who believed in me.
"Still..."
Yuri spoke carefully.
"You look better than you did yesterday."
"Do I...?"
"Yeah... at least a little."
"Thanks..."
At that moment, the briefing room door opened.
"You’re here~"
It was Captain Mir.
A canned coffee in one hand.
A file folder in the other.
But although she was smiling, her expression looked thoroughly rotten. Was that just my imagination...?
Behind her was Vice Captain Doyoon, carrying documents as well.
"Captain...?"
"Why are you so pissed off?"
"Ah~ Because of those Command Team bastards."
Mir dropped into a chair and waved a hand.
"They really are the strongest in the universe when it comes to raising someone’s blood pressure first thing in the morning."
Fuck... The one thing you had to avoid most at this company was friction with another department...
"Did... something happen again?"
Yuri asked, looking uneasy.
"Something involving you two."
Fuck... What kind of bullshit is this damned company pulling today...
Flipping through the papers, Mir spoke.
"Starting today, you’ll be assigned individual Abnormalities to manage."
"I guess enough time has passed. But after what happened, I thought they’d wait a while before doing that..."
"Normally, it starts after rookies have been here for a week. They’re just following the schedule. But that’s not the problem."
Mir propped her chin on her hand.
"Usually, though, we start you off with TETH-class and work our way up slowly, right?"
The corner of her mouth crooked upward.
"But the ve~ry esteemed higher-ups in Command Team—"
"They saw the report saying you two survived against a top-tier WAW-class entity and got all excited. As if they weren’t the ones who put you in that situation... Ha..."
"Ah..."
"They said you’re personnel capable of field operations, or something."
Mir gave an irritated laugh.
"They dressed up complete bullshit to make it sound plausible."
Yuri muttered quietly.
"Are they insane?"
Whoever they were, they must really be something if they managed to make even kind Yuri swear.
"They are."
Mir immediately nodded.
"That’s what I think too."
She slid one document toward Yuri.
"Yuri."
"You’re assigned an HE-class."
"I’m... a rookie, though?"
"Yeah. I know."
Mir took a sip of coffee.
"Still, it’s one of the Safety Team’s existing management targets, so it’s relatively stable. It’ll be easier for us to respond to, too."
Yuri cautiously looked down at the document.
A black mourning dress.
A long veil.
Black butterflies fluttering around it.
And a pair of ceremonial funeral blades held in both hands.
"It belongs to the same line as the headquarters’ [Funeral of the Dead Butterflies]. Though it’s a subspecies, of course."
Mir tapped the document with a finger.
"[Funeral Director of Black Flowers]."
"It’s usually quiet, but if someone dies nearby, the situation gets... a lot worse."
"And if your mental stability bottoms out while managing or suppressing it—"
Doyoon quietly finished from beside her.
"You die immediately."
"I can’t even pretend that doesn’t scare me."
"That’s just how HE-class Abnormalities are in Lobotomy. Still, at least your limbs remain intact, and cleanup is easy, so it’s not bad."
Doyoon said it flatly.
"You should count yourself lucky if there’s even a corpse left."
"Vice Captain... you’re not very comforting."
"I’m merely stating facts."
I couldn’t argue with that. Starting from WAW-class, it was hard enough just to find body parts to give the bereaved families.
Then Mir’s gaze turned toward me.
"Ha... Han."
She held out a new document.
"You get a WAW-class."
My mind went blank for a moment.
Huh...? Me? A WAW-class—the kind where they can’t even recover your corpse?
"What...?!"
"[Bloody-Scarred Mercenary]."
I slowly accepted the document.
A female-shaped Abnormality wearing a red hood.
A torn coat.
An old musket.
And an axe crusted with dried blood.
A chill ran down my spine.
"This is...?"
"Looks familiar, right? It’s a subspecies from the same line as the Red Hooded Mercenary that escaped yesterday. Its official name is [Hound of Bloody Scars]."
Mir casually leaned back in her chair.
"Its combat strength is at the very top of WAW-class."
"You’re giving a rookie a WAW-class? Isn’t this assignment a mistake?"
"Oh, it’s definitely a huge mistake. That’s why I’m pissed off right now, remember?"
Mir laughed irritably.
"But managing it itself isn’t as hard as you’d think. Of course, those damned Information Team idiots couldn’t even do that and let it escape..."
"It has reason, so management isn’t all that difficult. It’s not entirely bad."
"Still, making a rookie do it seems like the problem..."
"Exactly! Ha... Those fucking bastards."
Mir let out a long sigh.
"I understand that the Information Team is short-staffed because of the incident they caused."
"But I don’t know why they’re trying to solve it by grinding up Safety Team rookies."
"If they spilled the shit, they should clean it up themselves. Why are the people who nearly got our precious rookies killed unable to do even their own work... Honestly..."
"The Information Team itself isn’t guilty... No, if incompetence is a crime, then are they guilty...?"
Her expression stiffened for a moment before relaxing again.
"Anyway, until new personnel are brought in, the Safety Team will handle it instead."
"And it just had to be me..."
"Yep."
Mir snickered.
"Unlucky you..."
Mir’s gaze dropped toward my waist.
"Ah... Right. I need to tell you this!"
She snapped her fingers.
"While you were unconscious, we measured your weapon’s output again."
"[Repentance]?"
"Yeah."
"It was originally ZAYIN-class. Nothing remarkable, just something we hand out to rookies as a stopgap."
"Yes."
"Now it’s risen to WAW-class levels."
I froze.
"Really?"
Mir spoke, the amusement fading slightly from her voice.
"The output itself is completely different."
"Honestly, it leaves me a little uneasy, especially with that dream you had yesterday."
"Still, since you’re being assigned an Abnormality, you’ll be receiving new equipment too."
Mir flipped through the papers.
"Han will continue using [Repentance]."
"But your armor will change to [Bloody Scars], Red Hooded Mercenary-line E.G.O armor."
Mir gave a small grin.
"Your survivability is guaranteed, at least."
Then Yuri carefully raised her hand.
"What about me?"
"You get both new."
Mir slid two cases over.
When Yuri slowly opened them—
Inside was a pair of ceremonial funeral blades made of black metal.
And armor in the form of a black mourning dress.
Black butterfly patterns had been engraved all over them.
"Wow..."
Yuri’s eyes glittered a little.
"They’re pretty."
"Both are [Funeral Director of Black Flowers] E.G.O equipment."
"They’re called [Requiem], and unusually, they’re WAW-class equipment, so make good use of them."
Yuri cautiously lifted a blade.
"They’re... lighter than I expected."
"But the instant your mental stability drops, your head comes right off, so be careful."
"Captain...?"
"I’m not joking~ They’re that good, so you have to accept the downside."
It wasn’t funny at all. The more the company invested in us, the more results it expected from us.
Just then.
The briefing room door flew open.
"Oh~ Rookies."
It was Nova.
Nova entered while shaking a container filled with green liquid. When she saw our equipment, she whistled.
"Wow."
"Why is your rookie equipment so good?"
"Because Command Team has gone insane."
Mir sighed.
"During work hours, follow Nova around and learn as much management as you can. Nova will help you two."
The corner of Nova’s mouth rose.
"Nice~ I’m looking forward to seeing how quickly you break."
"...Senior."
"I’m kidding. Funny, right?"
That look in her eyes... She absolutely wasn’t kidding... What a psycho senior...
Then Mir tapped the desk with a finger.
"But seriously."
She looked at us.
"Managing lots of Abnormalities really is the fastest way to get strong."
"Management...?"
Yuri looked puzzled.
"Yeah."
Mir rested her chin on her hand.
"The longer you manage Abnormalities, the more your E.G.O adaptability rises."
"Your mind and body are trained too."
"And your output itself gradually stabilizes."
Doyoon quietly added on.
"E.G.O equipment is ultimately resonance with an Abnormality."
"The more you handle it, the more familiar with it you inevitably become."
I listened without saying a word.
Honestly, I already knew that.
Lobotomy Corporation.
Even in that game, employees grew through repeated management work.
Lobotomy Corporation had a system of virtues, but perhaps this was what it had become upon turning into reality.
Still, one thing was absolute: the longer an employee survived, the stronger they became.
The problem was that it took countless overtime shifts to achieve that, and now that I was the one experiencing it firsthand, I wasn’t happy about it at all.
Nova grinned.
"Put simply."
"If you don’t die and keep grinding for a long time, you get strong~"
"That explanation is way too crude."
"But it’s right, isn’t it?"
Mir rose from her seat and stretched.
"And after work, past six o’clock."
She smiled at me.
"I’ll personally train you in swordsmanship and weapon techniques."
"Really?"
"Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it? If you made that kind of determination yesterday, then I need to put in just as much effort."
Mir smiled playfully.
"But don’t go crying your eyes out, okay?"
"I’m already scared."
Yuri muttered quietly.
"I suddenly want to quit."
"Too late. There’s no quitting our company."
"Anyway."
She gave a casual wave of her hand.
"Everyone, do your assigned work diligently~"
"I’m off to manage an Abnormality. Later~"
With that, Mir left the briefing room first, shaking her can of coffee.
In response, Doyoon organized his file folder and stood up.
"Then we should be going as well."
The corridor leading toward the Safety Team containment area.
Vice Captain Doyoon and Senior Nova led the way.
Yuri and I followed behind them.
Footsteps echoed steadily over the metal floor.
Beyond the walls, we could faintly hear the low vibrations accompanying mechanical noises.
At the center of the corridor, the path split in two.
To the left was a dark passage descending to the lower levels.
To the right was a corridor lit by flickering red lights, leading toward the Safety Team containment area.
Vice Captain Doyoon stopped walking.
"Where are you going, Vice Captain?"
Doyoon glanced down at the documents he was holding, then answered briefly.
"Down there. To manage an ALEPH-class."
"Ah... Um... Good luck...?!"
Yuri stiffened for a moment, then said it while clenching a small fist.
Doyoon looked at us briefly.
Then, just for a moment, the corner of his mouth lifted.
As he said that, Doyoon’s gaze naturally shifted toward Nova.
His expression changed ever so subtly.
As though he pitied us.
A look tinged with a sigh.
"You two should hang in there too. It looks pretty dangerous. Especially watch out for that crazy bitch."
"That hurts, Senior~"
Nova, who had been walking ahead, grinned.
"I’m an incredibly kind senior to my juniors, you know?"
"I really don’t think that’s true..."
"You caught me."
Nova giggled, then suddenly spun around.
"All right, rookies~"
"Today’s objective."
The corner of her mouth slowly rose.
"Don’t die."
"Is a workplace where that’s the objective normal?"
"You don’t look for normal at Lobotomy."
Clank.
A massive blast door slowly began to open.
Nova smiled.
"Now then, let’s go see your new Abnormalities~"
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